“Do you ever wonder about your birth parents?”
She chewed on her bottom lip and then shrugged. “I looked.”
“You looked?”
My voice was a little louder, and she furrowed her brow.
“Yeah.”
“What did you find out?”
“Not much. It’s like they don’t even exist. I was so unwanted they made sure there was no way for me to trace back to them.”
I shifted, pulling her so that she was straddling my waist, looking down. The room was dark, but we’d been up for a while.
Quen ran her hands through my hair and kissed me gently. It was a struggle to keep my hands to myself. Physical touch was what I craved whenever she was nearby.
“Listen to me,” I said. “You were not unwanted.”
She sat up straight and rolled her eyes. “It’s fine, Gray. I made my peace with it a long time ago.”
“Quentin —”
“What?” she snapped, getting defensive.
“You don’t know why they gave you up. They might have had a good reason. Maybe they were trying to protect you.”
“Why are you defending them?” Quen crossed her arms across her chest.
“I’m not.”
“You are. Gray, honestly, I couldn’t care less why they did it or who they are. They gave me up and I’m thankful. I had amazing, loving parents who chose me, and I would have missed out on that. I’m grateful I had as much time as I did with Mum and Dad. I miss them every day.”
I rubbed my hands along her bare thighs, and she uncrossed her arms.
“I know,” I told her. “I was just curious.”
Her hands ran down my arms, moving over muscles. “I just don’t like talking about it much.” She sighed. “What about your parents?”
“My parents? What about them?”
“Are they still alive?”
“Gods are immortal, Quen. Yes, they’re still alive and up in Elysia.”
“But they aren’t part of the elite?”
“They used to be and then when the prayers for them became less and for us became more, there was a shift in the council. They’re happy though. I think you’re much too young to remember them.”
She blushed. We rarely discussed age. It was pointless. I had centuries on her.
“What are their responsibilities?”
“Hunting and fertility.”
“But I thought Sloan deals with fertility.”
I smiled and flipped us so that she was laying under me as I kissed along her jaw.
