It would’ve been cruel to do so. Their current arrangement was both involuntary and temporary. He’d be gone in seventeen days…
And she’d be alone again.
Why did that thought produce a hollow ache in his chest?
He needed to steer the conversation away from such matters. He needed to prevent Ember from dipping into these moments of longing and sorrow.
Keeping up pretenses, Nyte took another sip of his water before setting the glass on the table. “Ember mentioned you make costumes, Levi.”
The man’s face lit up, and he nodded. “I do! I work in special effects makeup, prosthetics, and sculpting. I branched off and started my own business…”
Levi spoke passionately about his work and the costumes he crafted during his free time, with both Maggie and Ember adding little tidbits and offering him praise that he hesitantly and humbly accepted. Nyte found it engrossing, even though he didn’t fully understand everything the man was talking about.
Part of that fascination was in humans as a whole. They invested so much thought, effort, talent, and artistry into making the fantastical seem real when it had always been all around them. He should’ve seen that as foolish, as another irrational human quirk, and yet… Amongst this company, seeing that twinkle in their eyes, it was almost endearing.
The conversation paused when the server returned to deliver their food, naturally picking up right where it had left off after Maggie and Ember ordered fresh drinks.
Nyte had seen many humans in such settings, sharing food, drink, and camaraderie, and he’d overheard many conversations. He would’ve been content to simply observe here, but the mortals continually involved him, asking questions to draw himin. It was refreshing in a way he hadn’t expected. To be part of something he’d only watched from the outside…
But it was the attention from Ember that affected him most profoundly. Not just the way she smiled at him, but the little touches. The brush of her fingers on his forearm or shoulder, a gentle squeeze of his thigh, the fleeting glide of her foot against his. He craved more. Needed more.
Though he couldn’t recall doing so consciously, he’d apparently shifted closer to her during the dinner, until their thighs were pressed together and her heat was radiating into him. Without his conscious thought, his tail curled around her calf.
Even when he realized what he’d done…he didn’t withdraw from her.
More drinks arrived to replace Maggie and Ember’s empty glasses.
“Oh, oh!” Maggie exclaimed. “Ember, do you remember the night you locked us out of the apartment?”
“Nooo,” Ember groaned, turning her face and pressing it against Nyte’s shoulder. “Don’t remind me.”
Nyte found himself suddenly despising his clothing. It was the only thing blocking her lips from his skin.
Levi grinned. “I need details.”
Maggie giggled. “Ember woke me up in the middle of the night because shesworeshe heard noise outside.”
Ember lifted her head. “I did hear something. So did you.”
“I did. And what did we do?”
“We went out to investigate of course,” Ember chuckled. “In our freaking nightgowns, in the dead of winter.”
Nodding, Maggie took another drink from her glass before proceeding. “And our boots.”
“Why didn’t you call the police?” Levi asked.
Maggie pursed her lips to the side in thought. “I don’t know. I don’t remember.”
Ember waved a hand nonchalantly. “Because when there’s a noise outside at night, you have to go check on your animals and make sure they’re safe.”
“But we didn’t have any animals.”
Levi grinned. “You were in the city, Ember. Not back on the farm.”
“It was instinct,” Ember said. “Anyway! I grabbed a flashlight and the bat we kept by the front door, and Maggie…” She broke out into laughter. “Maggie wrapped one of her spike bracelets around her knuckles.”
“Those things were over an inch long! It was a legit good weapon.” Maggie held up her fist and threw an unsteady little jab.
