Chapter 6
Emmeline’s pulse quickened.
Luke’s arms were strong as he held her upright. His gaze lowered to her mouth, scorching through her. Her hands tightened, and his eyes dropped to where the fabric of his shirt was bunched in her hands, her fingers brushing against his bare chest and the chains lying there.
She felt wholly disarmed, and the moment stretched between them.
Until he seemed to recall something, and his expression shifted. Dark eyes glinting, he gave her an amused tilt of his lips. He leaned closer, and her heart pounded painfully as he brought his lips close to her ears. Inadvertently, she clutched him closer.
“You don’t have to throw yourself at me, you know,” he said, voice husky.
Indignation burned through her.
“You wish,” she snapped. Pushing him away, she righted herself. Grabbing her coat off the floor, she stalked away, hoping he didn’t notice her warmed cheeks.
She couldn’t risk him having the satisfaction.
The only reason she felt hot to begin with was because they had known each other intimately; this was a natural bodily reaction, she reasoned with herself. Plus, he was objectively good-looking, there was no point in trying to deny that.
But neither of those things meant anything.
Emmeline gathered her hair together, twisting it up and holding it in place with one hand to get some cool air on the back of her neck. Her curtain bangs fell forward immediately, over her eyes, and she blew out her cheeks, trying to remember what she was doing.
She had been scoping out a location for the coffee shop. Just as Emmeline was retracing her train of thought, her phone rang in her purse. She dropped her hair, letting it swoosh down her back, and answered. It was her mom, Samreen.
“Hi, Ammi,” Emmeline said, picking up.
“Where are you?” Samreen asked. “It’s loud.”
“Just doing something for work.”
“Tch, always working,” Samreen said, voice displeased. If Samreen had her way, Emmeline’s full-time job would be solely to be her mother’s daughter.
“I like working,” Emmeline replied. She liked it much better when she didn’t need to cross paths with an insufferable chimera owner, but that was neither here nor there.
“And I like being a grandmother,” Samreen replied. “Maybe think about that.”
“Ammi, please.” Emmeline snorted. “Besides, Millie is dutifully seeing to that task.”
“And she’s younger than you!” Samreen tsked. “Have some shame.”
“Ammi! You can’t say things like that. It’s considered rude.”
“Acha, acha. Millie is why I called—the baby is coming, so I’m flying down.”
“What?” Surprise pricked her. Usually Millie told Emmeline things first; the sisters were always united.
Emmeline removed her phone from her ear to check her notifications; she saw four missed calls from Millie, as well as a text from her brother-in-law, Liam.
So Millie had tried telling her. Emmeline had just been too distracted to realize. She snuck a glance behind her to look at the distraction in question: Luke was at the tea table, pouring out boiled water.
She shot him a dirty look, then turned her attention back to her mother.
“I’m flying down to be with her,” Samreen was saying. “I’ve already told them at work, and then the winter holidays begin next week, so I’ll be at Millie’s for the next three weeks until school begins again.” Samreen was a school librarian.
“Okay, Ammi,” Emmeline replied. “Should I fly down now as well?”
Stress bounded through her; did Millie need her? How fast could Emmeline fly down? She’d need to close the roasting plant for a day or two because it was a two-hour flight away.
“Ugh, I wish Millie lived closer,” she complained, not for the first time.
“That is your fault, you know,” Samreen reminded her.
Emmeline frowned. This was the response she got from any of her family members when she complained how far away Millie had moved after getting married, because it was Emmeline who had introduced Millie and Liam.
Liam owned coffee farms. Years ago, when Emmeline was starting out with her business, she’d brought Millie along with her to a variety of farms to see who she wanted to source her beans from.
Coffee had always been Emmeline and Millie’s thing; they both loved cafe-hopping and being baristas at home, so when Emmeline needed to decide where to get her coffee beans from, of course she brought Millie along as her partner-in-crime.
Coffee farms were down south in the warmer, tropical climate: a two-hour dragon ride or a four-hour car ride.
Back then, Torch wasn’t old enough to be ridden, and Millie hadn’t hatched an egg yet.
They could have borrowed their father’s dragon, but they didn’t mind making a whole day out of it, driving down together and talking the entire way over.
When they got to Liam’s farm, it was an instant connection between Millie and Liam.
Millie always fell in love easily, but with Liam, it was different.
A year later, they were married, and two years after that, she gave birth to her first son, then a daughter two years later, and now the third was coming.
“The doctors say it’ll be another day,” Samreen said. “I’m going early to watch the children. Check in on your father and brothers and come down tomorrow.”
“Okay, got it,” Emmeline said. She chatted with her mother for a few minutes more. After hanging up with her mother, Emmeline dialed her sister. It rang twice before the call went through, but instead of Millie answering, it was Liam.
“Hey, Emmy, Mills just fell asleep,” Liam said. Emmeline could hear her niece in the background demanding juice. “Ira, one second!” Liam said. “Sorry, it’s a madhouse in here.”
“As per usual,” Emmeline replied with a laugh. “But don’t worry—Ammi will be there soon, and I’ll come tomorrow. Do you need anything? Millie? The kids?”
Anxiety shot through Emmeline as she thought of her very pregnant sister about to go into delivery. Millie had done it before twice, but still. Emmeline knew she couldn’t relax until both her sister and new niece were safe.
“We’re okay—but actually, Noah has been remembering your cookies, if you could bake some?” Liam asked.
“Of course.” Emmeline froze large batches of cookie dough for this precise reason (and because she needed an emotional support sweet treat every other day).
“You’re the best,” Liam said. Ira shrieked in the background. “Okay, see you soon.”
“Bye!”
Putting her phone away, Emmeline released a long breath. Unbidden, a pang of jealousy went through her; she wanted what her sister had, a little family of her own.
The Sterling family was huge, but it didn’t feel like any of those people were just for her.
And while Emmeline was really close with different people, they all had lives of their own—their partners.
Aiden and Saphira. Millie and Liam. Even her parents; even her two younger brothers, who were a unit on their own.
Most of the time, Emmeline enjoyed her independence, but sometimes, she felt so lonely.
Emmeline looked up and caught Luke watching her. His expression was soft and curious, and for some reason she felt exposed, as if he’d read her mind. She glared, and he only raised his brows before turning his attention back to his notebook.
He was surely making astute notes for his proposal—something she needed to be doing as well. While Emmeline was happy for her sister, the timing wasn’t the best. Flying down and back would take all day, and she needed to get to her parents’ place now to check on the men of her family.
Putting on her hat and jacket, she headed out into the cold. She called for Torch, and a few moments later, the dragon swooped down.
“Let’s go visit Dad,” she told Torch, mounting. Torch took off, and Emmeline relished the cold wind against her cheeks as they flew to her parents’ estate, on the land neighboring her uncle Edmund’s estate.
After dismounting, she walked to the front door, while Torch headed for the dragons’ stables where the dragon caretakers would be. Torch knew the drill, and so did Emmeline. She punched in the code for the front door and entered, inhaling the familiar scent of cardamom and cloves.
“Hello!” she called, taking off her shoes, but there was no answer. Finally, a fat little creature came into sight. “Hiya, Motu.”
Her brother’s one-year-old baby dragon bounced over to her, and she smiled, crouching down to hug him hello. Motu flapped his wings happily. She knew half of his delight came from the fact that where Emmeline was, Torch was. Motu was one of Torch’s eggs.
“Come on,” she said, scooping Motu up. He was heavy in her arms as she opened the front door and called out Torch’s name.
Torch peeked her head out from the stables at Emmeline’s call, and when she saw who Emmeline carried in her arms, Torch immediately flew over. Motu bounced in her arms.
“Go on,” she told the baby dragon, as Torch came to collect him. Motu jumped out of her arms, flying toward Torch, who picked him up in her paw and flew back to the stables.
Emmeline headed back inside, turning in the direction of her father’s office, where she found Charles at his desk.
“Hi, Dad,” she said, entering. At her voice, her dad looked up from above his glasses. Surprise lit his face.
“Oh, hello, darling,” he said, standing. She went over to give him a hug, and he kissed her cheek. “How’s Char doing? Not giving you trouble at the plant, is he?”
“He’s wonderful, as always,” she said.
“Splendid.” Charles nodded. “It does the old boy good to have something to do. And how are you?”
“I’m well, too, thank you,” she said. “Just came by to check in since Ammi’s gone.”
“Ah, well, thank you, but we’re all fine, really,” he said. “We can order in for dinner. Nothing to fret over.”
“It’s alright,” Emmeline replied. “I can make something.” She knew her father and brothers were fussy about eating out, so she went to the kitchen, poking around the fridge and cabinet to see what was in store.