9. Dragon #2
I bent over and winced as my stomach pinched, but I did get the magazine, glanced at the cover with some feelings of jealousy, that he showed the entire world his beautiful body, before opening it and turning to the article.
Five paragraphs in, I started dozing. The next thing I knew, Horse was leaning over me, his eyes less soft than fixed. He looked at me like I was the only woman in the world.
It was a moment between sleeping and waking that made reality soft and dreamlike.
I reached out and cupped his face, drew him to me, and kissed him, soft, languid, like a dream.
And then reality hit me, and I was pulling him into me, kissing him like he was my breath, my life, my every piece of existence.
He kissed me back with the same intensity until I remembered that we were on a public plane and turned my head, breaking the kiss, breathing hard as I looked out the fogged-up window.
“We’re here,” I said, which was obvious, but I had to say something, and it seemed safe.
“Hotel.”
I made a face at him and then got my things together and made my way, with him, out of the empty plane. Apparently everyone else had gotten off while I’d been sleeping.
The airport was calmer than usual, and Horse had a cab waiting when we got to the curb. He really was organized.
He helped me in the back, and then we were headed down the busy streets towards my parent’s neighborhood.
I held his hand and settled my head on his strong shoulder. He stiffened for a second before he kissed my hair.
I frowned down at his strong fingers. “You really don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do. You said I had to.”
“And you’ll always do what I say?”
He cleared his throat. “Not if it involves you taking my bike into danger. Or anything else involving you and danger. Are we going into danger right now? It feels slightly…”
I squeezed his strong biceps. “You’ll protect me from my family.” I was smiling while he chuckled.
“Honestly, it feels real. Meeting the parents? It’s like the ring. I love it so much, Trixie. You put so much effort into it. And expense. They’re blue diamonds, right? Where did you get them? Can I pay you back? You really didn’t need to…”
I straightened up and glared at him. “My husband deserves the best. Right?”
He blinked at me, his face blank as he just stared at me, like he was as lost as I was. “Whatever you say.”
I grinned. “Mm hm. That’s right. In a healthy marriage, you always do what the woman says.”
“Absolutely want a healthy marriage.”
“The healthiest.”
He ran his thumb over my knuckles, his voice a low growl that sent shivers down my spine. “So healthy.”
The driver cleared his throat, reminding us that he was there. We both straightened up, but I didn’t let go of his arm.
The cab ride wasn’t long enough. When the cabbie pulled up to the brownstone apartment building in not the roughest neighborhood, but not the nicest either, I got out and went to get my bags without thinking about it.
“Allow me, Mrs. Horse,” Horse said, grabbing them out of my hands.
I almost protested before I remembered that I was a delicate little flower. “You should carry me too.”
He raised his dark brows. “Sure. I’ll just take these up and come back for you, unless you think it’s more likely that you’ll be stolen than the bags.” He squinted at me. “Definitely more worried about you than the bags.”
“Are you concerned about losing me?”
He gazed at me with those soulful eyes. “Deeply. So deeply.” He winked, and I rolled my eyes, then led him into the building.
The cool lobby smelled like moldy laundry. In the ancient metal elevator cage, Horse leaned over and kissed me the second the doors clanged shut. I wrapped my arms around him and sank into him, relishing the hardness and strength. I ran my hands over him until we jerked to a stop.
I pulled back and gave him a small smile. “Remember, nod and look sincere.”
My mother and two of her sisters were in the apartment when we walked in. She started yelling in Italian, and both of my aunties got out their phones, taking turns taking pictures of me and Horse, and calling the whole family. The prodigal had returned. It would be a full house for dinner tonight.
I forced a smile and let my mom hug me and then the aunties hug me, and then they were all talking and asking questions, until finally, I managed to say, “We’re just here to say we’re in town before we head over to the hotel.
” That was a fair compromise, right? Seeing Horse in my parent’s place was enough of a reality check.
Us staying here would be so far beyond ridiculous.
My mother grabbed a bag and yanked it out of Horse’s grip before she shook a finger at him, like a short, curly-haired schnauzer.
“Are you taking my baby away from us? And in a hotel with who knows how many bedbugs? No.” She turned to me and then started carrying my bag down the hall, hefting it like it was full of lead.
“Tammy is using your room while she goes to the beauty school in the neighborhood. You know, the one Jackie went to. You’ll have to use your brother’s old room.
He’s staying with a friend until the end of summer.
Maybe longer. Who knows why, because he wants to waste his life.
Your friend can keep his bags in the room, but he’ll be sleeping on the couch until he talks to your father.
” Her gaze was like lightning, suddenly fierce.
“Sure, mom. Come on, Nate.” I grabbed his wrist and dragged him after me.
I closed Joey’s door with its car pinup girl and leaned against it, staring at the large man who stood there, looking incredibly out of place.
My heart was still beating too fast from the last part, when my mom looked at me like we were going to war.
“There must have been a better way to deal with this.”
“She’s lovely,” Horse said, sticking the bags between the desk and the bookshelf before going to the double bed and sitting on the edge. He bounced twice. “If you want me to sleep on the couch, I will, but I’d rather get a hotel so we can both be comfortable in separate beds.”
My stomach tangled as I stared at him on the bed that was too small for him to get away from me, if we were both sleeping in it.
He leaned up on his elbows, looking at me with concern. “Trix? Are you okay?”
I took a deep breath when I realized I hadn’t been breathing. “You aren’t sleeping on the couch.”
He raised a brow. “I’m not?”
“No. We’re married. And my parents need to respect that because I’m an adult. And maybe you could ask my dad for permission when you see him if you’d like, but we aren’t medieval. If we want to sleep together in the same room, that’s what we’ll do. We’re married.”
He smiled slowly, cocking his head. “You wouldn’t rather get a hotel?”
“No.” A hotel would probably have two beds, so I’d be more comfortable, and he’d be further away. I wanted him to be out of options. He’d said yes and wanted a real marriage. That meant this bed. Tonight. After we ate more noodles than we could possibly survive.
“All right,” he finally said. He lay back on the bed, arms behind his head so his muscles flexed as he stared at the ceiling. He was so delicious. There was a shadow where a Godzilla poster used to be. “So this is where you came from.”
“Joey. I come from down the hall.” I lay down on the bed next to him and put my head in the hollow beneath his shoulder. “Is this okay?”
He put his arms around me and stroked my hair. He didn’t pull it, which was a miracle. “Not okay. Perfect. Are you still tired?”
“Maybe.” He felt so good. Was I tired? Tired of not touching him. “I’ll just close my eyes for a second.” I snuggled into him. He was better than a body pillow, warm and shifting so we fit together better on the narrow bed.
I woke up to his deep breathing. That wasn’t what woke me up. It was the pounding on the door.
“Get out of there before your mom comes to get you! Dinner’s on the table.” Was that Marco?
I rolled off the bed in a panic. Horse came with me. We’d been thoroughly tangled together. I smoothed down my clothes guiltily while he sat on the floor looking up at me with a soft smile on his face. He looked so good sleepy, soft. It softened the edges of his mask.
“Come on. Dinner is ready,” I said.
He ran a hand over his face. “I really fell asleep. You feel so good.”
My skin felt hot for no reason. “Thanks. You too.” Why did I feel so awkward and shy?
We were married! And I’d made out with him in an elevator.
And under a table. But when he held out his hand for me to take, a rush of delight came back to me like I was in fifth grade and someone gave me a valentine.
Of course the valentine had been meant for Tracie, not Trixie, so the rush was short-lived, but now it was lodged in my heart, growing larger with every breath.
He smiled at me. We came to the end of the hall, and he didn’t say anything else. He didn’t need to.
The dining room was opened up into the living room, and my mother had four tables stuck end to end. My mouth watered because it had been too long since I’d eaten my mom’s cooking.
“You’re Horse,” my mom said once we had all settled down, said prayers, and filled our plates.
Horse nodded and tried to clear his mouth to say something, but she only elbowed my auntie to her left. “I told you. Those eyes. They have a fire that could light up any girl. Trix, none of that here until he’s talked to your father.”
Horse took a drink of water and smiled at her. “If you aren’t comfortable with us sharing a bed in your house, we’ll happily go to a hotel.”
She swung her sharp gaze at me, pinning me like a rabid terrier.