29. Ivory
An hour later, chicken simmered on the stove, and its delicious aroma wafted from the kitchen. Snow fell out on the balcony in thick flakes, but the apartment felt cozy, lit by a warm hue from the table lamp next to the couch.
Ivory tightened the blanket around her shoulders, one Adrian had pulled off his bed and stared at her phone screen. His scent washed over her, smooth, rich, and spicy. But distress knotted her insides.
She hadn’t expected to see anything when her phone turned on. It’d only been off for a few hours, and people rarely texted her anyway…but it turned out those few hours were more important than she’d thought.
Three missed calls from her mom.
If that didn’t have her sweating, it was followed by a text that sunk her spirits to a new low, accompanied by a screenshot of her latest profile picture. The one with her purple witch hair.
Adrian walked in from the kitchen, hair in a messy bun and holding one of the flavored margaritas she liked so much. But instead of perking up at the sight, she looked down at her lap.
“Everything okay?” he asked, setting the drink beside her.
“Yeah,” she said but then shook her head. She couldn’t lie to him.
Fitting himself into her cocoon, he wrapped her in his arms. That simple touch cast away some of her dismay, no longer stranded in a tower without a knight to save her. “What happened?”
She sighed. “I missed a call from my mom while everything happened earlier. Then she sent this.”
She showed him the screen.
Mom
Too busy to answer a call from your mother, I see. I hope that means you’re studying and not fooling around—especially not with whoever convinced you to do this to your precious hair! We are going to talk about this.
Adrian’s brows knit as he read the message. “Iv, she shouldn’t guilt you for dying your hair, even if she doesn’t approve. Does your mom really think you’d neglect your studies when you’ve been working so hard to do well?”
She shrugged. “I don’t mind her worrying about my studies. She’s always been that way. I just don’t know how to tell her I needed a change. Or explain that it was my idea in the first place. She wouldn’t get it.”
“She doesn’t have to get it. It’s not her choice to make,” he said. “If she reacts this way to a photo, I can understand how bringing it up would be hard. Has she always pressured you so much?”
“Mom pressures everyone.” She didn’t mean it as an accusation. That was just the way things were. She rested her head on Adrian’s shoulder. “It’s because she sees potential in me, and it’s pushed me to be a lot better than I would have been otherwise.”
“I assume you haven’t told her about Jace, and she wouldn’t understand why you couldn’t answer the call.”
She shook her head. “No, my family are the last people I’d want to know. Mom would…” She cut herself off. If her mom knew all the details, she’d be outright disowned. Her straight-laced Ivy League ex had been the only kind of guy her parents approved of. Not that she would vouch for Jace, but the things she’d asked for, or the reason she’d entertained him in the first place…
Her mom would blow a gasket if she knew the kind of things her daughter wanted in a relationship. Cutsie girl talk had never been a part of their dynamic.
“I don’t want them to see me as a failure,” she whispered into Adrian’s sleeve. “Not that the color of my hair matters, but I’ve never been able to bring home first place or win a scholastic competition or been good at literally anything other than taking up space.”
“Ivory.”
She looked up, eyes beginning to swell with the threat of another round of tears.
“You’re good at a lot of things.” He leaned over, caging her in with his arms. His stance left no room for her insecurities, and her frantic heart slowed down. She sucked in a deep breath. He leveled his gaze to hers. “You may not see the value in who you are—in everything you do—but I’ve seen it. You’re smart and strong and sexy and one of a kind. There’s a million reasons why I don’t want to be with anyone else.”
The gold ring around his pupils gleamed before he ducked his head, lips skimming along her neck. “When I think about making you mine, it drives me wild. Not because I want the sex—I want that too, in every way imaginable—but more than anything, I want you. ”
Her pulse heated against his mouth, the rough scratch of his stubble igniting her senses.
“One day, I’m going to make sure you never question yourself again,” he whispered.
With him, she believed it. He could make her feel things no one else had, help her see things no one else could. Nothing seemed out of reach in his arms. Her deepest desires weren’t a threat anymore, rather a promise. He made her entire being come to life, and instead of guilting her for trivial things, he praised her for earnest qualities.
She turned into his touch, wanting to drown in it until the only air left to breathe was what he granted her.
The kitchen timer dinged, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. Adrian let out a low, rumbling chuckle. “Talk about being saved by the bell.”
She exhaled, heart pumping out of control. “Yeah…” Her voice dissolved into a trembling mess, and she steadied herself. “Except this time, I’m not sure I wanted to be saved.”
“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he groaned into her shoulder. His teeth grazed up her neck, then sunk into her earlobe. “You won’t be safe for long.”
She shivered, and he pulled back with a darkness in his eyes that could devour her whole. “Time to eat.”
She gulped, nodding. “Yeah.”
A grin curled his lips—predatory like his appetite had brought him to the brink of starvation—and she was his next meal.
He turned and went into the kitchen. “We can eat on the couch if you like. Watch a movie. It’s been a long day, and you deserve to relax.”
Relax wasn’t what she wanted to hear at the moment, but he’d said the magic word, so she reached for the remote. “I know the perfect movie.”
Adrian returned with two plates in hand and set one on her lap. Her stomach growled at the sight—chicken piled over a bed of rice covered in thick, spiced sauce. She’d forgotten she never had lunch. “This looks amazing.”
“I should record you saying that and send it to my sister.” He grinned as he sat next to her, a boyish expression that she wouldn’t have expected but instantly wanted to see more of. “She’d be astonished that I cooked anything worthy of eating.”
Ivory laughed. But then the thought of meeting his family stuck in the forefront of her mind. Would that ever be a thing? Would he ever get to meet hers? “Has your family ever met your…arrangements before?”
“You mean, have any of them lasted long enough to meet my family? No. But I want you to.” He leaned over and kissed her, fizzling out all her thoughts except that one word.
Want. It felt good, skating over her skin and diffusing into giddy excitement. “Does that mean I’m one of them now?”
He took the remote and brushed his thumb over her knuckles. “I don’t want you to see yourself as just another arrangement. I want both of us to think of what we want out of a relationship and discuss it before going too far. I should have been more open with you from the beginning, and I’m not going to make the same mistake.”
She nodded. That sounded like a good start.
He continued, “I put a lot of new information on your shoulders today, and you had enough stress to deal with already. I understand if you don’t want to go into this until I’m in a better place—”
“No, it’s…I want it.” They’d kept their distance long enough. By now, all of her concerns had been answered.
His lips twitched. “I thought you’d say that. How about we talk things over this weekend? It gives you time to get your thoughts together. Plus, there’s something I want to show you on Saturday.”
“Oh?” She perked up.
“It's a surprise.” The grin on his lips took form, curling with a secret she was desperate to discover.
She decided she liked surprises, especially ones from him. “Okay. I can do that.”
“Good.” He turned back to the TV and pulled up the selection screen. “Now, what movie did you pick?”
“Don’t laugh,” she mumbled, scooping up some food.
“Why would I?”
“I picked it because the hero reminds me of you.”