“This would be a great place for a honeymoon,” she commented.
“Oh?” his heart thundered loudly, but he didn’t know why. Not entirely, anyway.
“My sister Roja is getting married, and I think I should tell her about this place.”
“I thought you didn’t get along.”
“We don’t, but I still want her to be happy. I want the best for her even though that sentiment might not be reciprocated.”
He nodded, noting again that mentioning her sister always made her a little sad. He wanted to change that for her. Or, at the very least, make her smile again. That would be nice, wouldn’t it?
Just one paranormal creature being kind to another.
That was all this was.
He pulled away from her, but only enough to look into her eyes. He pressed the tip of his fingers under her chin. “You’re a wonderful person. Caring even when it hurts, but you don’t deserve that, Ruby. You deserve so much more.”
Her lips parted on a small gasp, and he felt her shiver in his arms. A small smile quirked his lips as he realized that he had done so much more than make Ruby happy.
Nope.
Something else happened on that dance floor.
She wanted to kiss him. And fuck it, he wanted to kiss her too. Throwing caution to the wind, he leaned down and pressed his mouth to hers. She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing into him with her full body.
TEN
RUBY
Oh, my god. Ethan Adair is kissing me. Why, but oh, wow! He is a good kisser. He can keep on kissing me until Lucifer gets back into heaven. So basically, Ethan can keep kissing me forever and ever.
Emboldened by the sheer intensity of Ethan’s kiss, Ruby’s hands traveled into his lush, thick hair as he dipped her neck back ever so slightly, taking complete control of the kiss. She moaned into the embrace to overcome to tamp down her reaction. Together, they continued to explore each other, forgetting they were in public … with her aunt only a few feet away, right where she could see them all but going at it. Ruby decided that she would care later.
For now, all she wanted to do was keep kissing him without thinking about the optics. Couldn’t a lady just enjoy a good kiss without freaking the fuck out?
Ethan slowly pulled away. “Ruby,” he whispered roughly against her mouth.
“Ethan?” She could barely hear her own voice over the sound of her thumping heart.
“I’m gonna kiss you again. Soon. But not now. Your aunt is watching us, and if we keep kissing like this, she’ll never believe me when I tell her my intentions are honorable.”
Ruby giggled at his choice of words. “Oh, yeah? And are you honorable, Ethan Adair? Because judging by what I know of you, you’re a good man. I have nothing to fear with you. Do I?”Please don’t hurt me.
The question slipped out before she could think better of it. There was a bit of doubt in the words that came with a lifelong struggle with trying to be seen for who she was. Not her chronic lack of ambition, which was basically a death wish in her family. She didn’t want to be seen in comparison to Roja or her other sisters.
What she wanted more than anything in the world was to be simply seen as Ruby, the woman. She couldn’t erase that hurt or the fear her life had given her.
“You have nothing to fear with me.” He was serious. She couldfeelit. Hell, she could even see it in the intense set of his features. His eyes burned into hers with all kinds of promises. “Ruby, I …”
“Well, well! Aren’t you two cozy?”
Damn Portia and her whole overly involved aunt personality!Ruby longed to know what Ethan had been about to say, but the moment was gone now. He even took a step away from her, though he did keep his hands on Ruby’s waist.
“Quite the atmosphere you give your clients here, huh?” she told her aunt with a pointed tone.You’ve interrupted a good moment!
Portia pretended not to notice her niece’s glare. Instead, she flipped her long hair over her shoulder with pride. “It is really nice here, isn’t it? I’m so pleased with how everything turned out.”
“Oh,” Ethan said. “So, it’s magical, then. All of it?”