“The back seat is safer,” I say. He glares at me as I open the back door for her and then run around to the other side and get in beside her. “Oh, Percy, you’ve gotten a little taller. Your mama must be so proud.” I push the button for the privacy screen to go up. But Roark puts it back down and locks it. “You’re no fun.”
I reach across Raine and pretend to buckle her up. She’s already buckled, but I know it will get under his collar.
Raine chuckles and it goes straight to my cock. “I’malready buckled, Evander.” But she slides her fingers up my forearm.
“Just need to do the safety checks, madam. We’re all set to go, driver.”
“I’d let you drive if I didn’t think you would get Raine injured.”
“I’m a perfectly safe driver,” I lie to Raine. Without my dragon shifter healing ability, I would have been in big trouble multiple times.
After an hour, Roark pulls into the lot for the gondola.
“Oh, are you sure they’re open? There aren’t many cars in the lot.”
“They’re open, Duchess.” Roark pulls the car to the front curb and turns the engine off.
53
RAINE
Evander opens my car door. “Raine, we’re here.” He takes my hand. I’m not used to being treated this well by one guy, let alone two.
I glance around, but there’s no one here. I’ve seen pictures of another mountain and the lines of tourists going up to the gondola.
“Are you sure it’s open?” I ask Roark, who’s left the car at the curb. We drove almost an hour from the castle, past the village and amazing inn that Wren and I almost stayed in, through the valley and around the next few mountains. Past some amazing scenery with charming lakeside cabins. Small sailboats floating over the water. Tons of people. But here, there’s almost no one. “There’s no way the gondola is still open. There’s no one here.” I clutch my arms around my waist. “We must have missed it.”
“We didn’t miss it,” says Evander.
“Mr. Lang.” A young woman wearing a Tecorin T-shirt jogs over to Roark.
“Yes. Everything is ready?”
“Absolutely. We’re so happy to have you with us tonight.”
“Please add another chair,” Roark growls. It’s interesting seeing him here. He’s different at Cloud Rift. His scowl’s back, and the furrow of his brow runs deep.
“Of course. That’s not a problem. We have plenty of space.” She laughs.
I turn to him. “Did you rent out the gondola for the day?”
“No,” he says, his tone dropping.
“If you didn’t rent it out for the day, then why are we the only ones...” It can’t be. “Did you buy the gondola?”
“No.”
“But . . .”
“Did you buy something else?” My heart flops sideways.
“Yes.”
“Tell her, Roark, before you give her a heart attack,” Evander says. He’s wearing a dark shirt and a slim fit suit.
“I bought the mountain.”
“What? You can buy mountains?”
