I laughed and pulled him into my arms, kissing his forehead. “You’re welcome here anytime, love. In fact, I’d love it if you never left.”
“Are you asking me to move in with you?”
“Only if you want to… whenever you’re ready.” Shit, I didn’t mean to pressure him. It was too soon for this, wasn’t it? We were viramores, but that didn’t mean he was ready for such a big step.
He glanced at me, leaned in, and gave me a sweet kiss. “I’ll think about it.”
Well, at least it hadn’t made him run.
After he perused a few of the shelves, I asked, “Can I show you my favorite room now?”
He paused. “Wait. This isn’t it?”
I shook my head and held my hand out, a thrill shooting through me when he took it without hesitation. “This is my second favorite, but my favorite is a little higher up.”
I tugged him over to one of the shelves, pushed a specific fake book, and the shelf popped open like a door.
“Holy shit, a secret passageway! This is the coolest place ever.”
I snickered and pulled him inside. There was a curved staircase that held way too many stairs, so I gestured to the elevator.
“How do you have an elevator in your house?”
I shrugged. “Magic.”
“That’s your answer for everything.”
With a chuckle, I closed up the elevator and hit a button.
Dain stared at the glowing buttons for a long moment. “Huh. You have electricity all the way out here. I didn’t think about that until now.”
“Of course I do, but this elevator is run on—”
“Let me guess—magic.”
“You got it.”
We shared a smile as it slowed to a stop, and I opened the door, revealing a small, circular room at the top of the tallest tower. It was filled with giant pillows as big as a bed, lots of blankets, a bookshelf with some of my favorite rereads, and a telescope at one of the windows that I mostly used to stargaze. There were tapestries and fabric hung along the walls, making it feel even more cozy.
“Wow. This is beautiful.”
“Thank you. It’s my favorite place to read.”
“I thought the tower was here to, like, make sure enemies aren’t attacking or something.”
I nodded in acquiesce. “That’s true, but I haven’t needed it for that in a very long time. Hopefully, I won’t need it for that ever again.”
He offered me a grin. “Hopefully.”
“It seemed like a waste not to make this into a reading nook, so…” I shrugged as he continued taking everything in.
Without warning, I took a running leap, landing heavily on the biggest pillow in the room. Dain laughed and landed on the bottom of the pillow, then crawled up when I opened my arms in invitation. He scooted into my side, snuggling up to me with a soft, satisfied sigh.
Kissing his forehead, I settled in, ready to stay here for the rest of the day and night.
He yawned after a few minutes of cuddling. “Ugh. I’m beat. Take a nap with me?”
I grinned. “Sure.”
