The crackle of the mate bond shot through him, fierce and powerful, and somewhere in the background his pegasus was hooting triumphantly – but Ethan could only think one thing.
My mate. My Chloe.
He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her, cradling her head and deepening the kiss. She made a surprised sound, but then quickly gave back as good she got, her hand sliding suspiciously low down his back.
He could’ve stayed there doing that all day – or maybe he could’ve stopped long enough to lay her down amongst the flowers and then pick up where he’d left off – but eventually, after what seemed like way too short a time, he broke it off.
They had a mission to accomplish, after all, and the last thing they needed was to end up traipsing around the mountains in the dark.
Pulling back reluctantly, he looked into her hazel eyes. They were still sparkling, but this time it was with happiness.
The aftershocks of her touch danced on his skin.
Ethan’s mind spun, a strange feeling engulfing him. It took him a long time to identify it asgiddiness, as he’d never actually felt it before.
I could get used to this,he thought, even as he schooled his face back into what was, hopefully, a more or less neutral expression.
His pegasus was pretty much flying around in circles with unbridled joy at this point, but Ethan was feeling benevolent enough to let it continue to do so without making any sort of snide comment.
Chloe continued to gaze at him for a long moment, and Ethan could see that she was brimming with questions, but also that she was willing to put them aside for now.
Ethan had questions of his own. Questions he’d never even considered before now.
Like,Do I actually want to abandon my entire life, and start over afresh in a small town with no future plans beyond being with my mate?
And okay, on one level, that sounded incredibly appealing. But he wasn’t the kind of person who just went into things without a plan. The idea of heading into the unknown was much scarier to him than the thought of standing up in front of a group of CEOs and giving a two-hour presentation.
Well. As long as there aren’t any YouTube videos of trains involved, anyway.
But maybe doing things that scared him was okay, if he had Chloe at his side. All he knew was that the life that had meant everything to him a few days ago was now something he had to abandon.
It seemed insignificant. Hollow.
Chloe seemed to know that his thoughts were turbulent; she cupped his cheek with a smile, running her thumb along his cheekbone. Helplessly, he smiled back.
She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
“Let’s go find this necklace, shall we?” she said, slipping her gloves back on, and he nodded.
Hoisting the backpack over his shoulders, he started heading down the hill toward a path that was still thankfully intact, letting the pegasus guide the way. It was still a bit delirious about the whole mate thing, but it had gotten its head together quick enough when it realized that this was an opportunity to impress Chloe with its navigational prowess.
I’m glad that at least someone here has navigational prowess,Ethan thought, ignoring the feeling of smug triumph that radiated from the pegasus. He could admit that this was an area in which he himself knew relatively little, as much as it galled him to admit it. Unless you counted navigating the warren of identical cubicles and offices at work, anyway.
He’d never quite been able to wrap his head around the fact that sometimes the pegasus knew things that he didn’t. Not only was it strange that they could share thoughts while notsharing understanding, but also the pegasus could be downright dimwitted at times. It was galling to think that it could ever be more knowledgeable than him about anything.
He was used to it now, though. He didn’tlikeit, but he’d gotten over it years ago. Mostly.
And at least he could be comforted by the fact that there wasplentyhe knew that the pegasus would never understand. Some of the things that came out of its mouth were simply breathtaking, and not in a good way. It had taken him way too long to convince it that humans couldn’t eat hay, for example – and he was pretty sure that the pegasus still wasn’tquitebuying it.
He restrained the urge to bury his face in his hands and groan.
Chloe has no idea what she’s gotten herself into. I hope she finds the pegasus’s… quirks…charming, is all I can say.
Instead of venting his frustrations to the wind, he instead looked down at Chloe, walking happily at his side with her fingers entwined in his, and all of his concerns vanished.
She was perfect. Absolutely perfect. She seemed to practically glow with happiness, her eyes sparkling in the sunlight. Even his comically oversized, completely out-of-place suit jacket looked better on her than on him.
Ethan didn’t know what he’d done to deserve a mate as wonderful as her, but he did know that he’d never take her for granted. Whatever he could do to make her life better, he would do.
