“This okay?” I whispered.
“Yeah… yeah, of course.” He surprised me by wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me closer so my head wason the front of his shoulder, and my hand automatically rested on his chest.
I really wanted to turn my nose into him and give him a good sniff, or lean up and run my tongue along his neck, but… but that was pushing it too far.
Instead, I scooted in a little until I could press the top of my head against his neck, and Roman let out a long sigh that sounded suspiciously like contentment.
With him holding me like this, it was impossible to let the bad memories pull me under, and I found myself nuzzling into him a little with a smile on my face.
Watch, now that I had him where I wanted him, our backup would show up and ruin it.
As if on cue, there was a knock on the door, and I held in a sigh. I wanted to see them, but for crying out loud, I really wanted to cuddle with my big, strong dragon bodyguard.
Roman kissed the top of my head, making my eyes widen, slid out from under me, jumped to his feet, grabbed his sword, and said, “Stay here,” before I could really react.
I blinked a few times, surprised by… everything, then rolled my eyes at him and got up, getting my own sword out and ready. We had strong wards around our place, so it was difficult to determine who was on the other side of our front door with scent alone, but the second Roman opened it, I sheathed my weapon.
I’d recognize Tan’s scent anywhere.
He hadn’t been my stepfather for very long, but he’d been better to me than my own mother ever had, and I felt a kinship to him in a way I hadn’t expected. In a way I’d never experienced when I’d lived with the Gepisha’s Iron blood witch cult. I’d never felt safe there or like I could truly be myself, one hundred percent. Ever.
And yet, after even a few weeks with Tanyl Helegolor, I’d felt a connection. And that connection had grown into a familial love that I now cherished.
So I pushed past Roman and engulfed Tan in a big hug.
He hugged me back tightly, holding me like a father would as he whispered, “It’s so good to see you, Oak. I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” I mumbled into his shoulder, breathing him in. He smelled like home—a scent I didn’t realize I’d missed so much until now—and I couldn’t help but take an extra moment to soak in his warmth as my eyes watered a little before letting him go.
He held my shoulders, staring up at me as if he was looking into my soul, then shot me a wide grin. “You look good, Oak.” He rubbed the top of my head, making me squawk. “Your hair’s starting to grow in some.”
I smacked his hand away with a laugh, then jumped when a meow echoed up from my feet. Looking down, I found Tan’s Bonded One staring at me. “Well, hello there, Orangelica.” I bent down and scooped her into my arms, hugging the orange tabby cat tight, who was actually a chimera—a sphinx, dragon, and hellhound mix. “I missed you, little miss.”
She meowed in response, purred, and rubbed her little head against my chin.
Tan smiled at me, then randomly grabbed the cat out of my arms and nodded behind himself. “You better greet them before they jitter out of their pants.”
I snorted and faced the rest of the group, who were all finishing up their greetings with Roman. It looked like Tan had brought half the Orsova vampire den with him.
Phaeron, Beshiro, and Jedediah Orsova all stood there with varying expressions on their faces. Phaeron looked bored and serious as always, Beshiro had a small smile on his face and waved at me when I made eye contact, and Jed looked like hewas about to pop right out of his skin with excitement, literally bouncing around on his toes and wiggling his fingers like he couldn’t wait a second more to come over and give me a hug.
He was on me in a flash, pulling me into a huge hug and rocking us back and forth as he mumbled, “Oh my word, Oakley. It’s been soooooooooooooo long since I’ve seen you. Holy smokes, I need an Oakley fix more than a drink.”
I snorted at him and hugged him back. “It’s good to see you too, Jed.”
“Psh. Of course it fucking is.”
Before I could respond to that, I heard a loud growl, and Jed was suddenly yanked away from me. I blinked in confusion as Roman stepped between us, looking pissed off and ready to murder Jed. Like… actually murder him.
He growled loudly, and Jed backed up, holding his hands up in surrender.
“Hey,” I said, grabbing Roman’s arm. “What the hell was that?” I pulled him back. “Roman.” When he wouldn’t look at me, I growled myself, letting a little dragon into the sound. “Roman. Cut it out, you asswipe.”
That seemed to knock some sense into him, and he shook his head as if coming out of a haze and stepped back. “I… I… um, sorry.” He glanced at me, looking embarrassed, then rushed away toward the bathroom and bedrooms before I could ask him what that was all about.
I turned to Jed to apologize, even though it wasn’t my fault, and I found the vampire staring at me in glee. What the fuck was that look for? Creepy ass.
It actually made me take a step back. “What?”
