“I’m not doomed to never be happy?” Rupert asks again, like he can’t believe what she’s saying.
“Depends on how well you treat your woman.” She winks at me.
After thanking her for her time, I help Rupert to his feet. He walks as if in a dream through the door of the apartment and down the steps. A drunk stumbles out of the bar, in the middle of saying something when he stops and registers Rupert.
“Whoa. It’s… the guy. From the videos.” He shakes his head. “You’re crazy tall, man.”
Ignoring him, I guide Rupert into the car and close the door. Eventually, he starts the engine but doesn’t drive away. Instead, he turns to me and takes my hand in his.
“I’m so sorry, my little flower.” He bends his head until my hand is pressed to his nose. “You were very wise to come here.”
“Thanks,” I say, a little imperiously. “Don’t withhold information from me again.”
He nods, properly chastised. “I would never.”
After a few moments, I ask, “Do you really want to be a man again?”
Quizzically, Rupert raises his head. “Of course I do. How much easier would our lives be if I were?”
“Even if no one else in the world existed, would you still want that?”
He studies me, seeking out the reason for my question.
“I suppose I don’t care what I look like if I’m with you,” he says at last.
I smile. “Well, good, because I much prefer you this way.”
It almost looks like he doesn’t believe me, the way he stares down at the steering wheel.
“How is that possible?” he asks after a long moment of silence. “That someone like you would love someone like me?”
I furrow my brow in confusion. “What’s not to love?” I run a hand through the soft fur on his shoulder. “You’ve always been generous with me, caring about me and loving me without reserve. Your heart is just as big as your stomach. And you cook the most amazing beef Wellington.” I reach up to kiss his cheek, and he rubs the spot where I pressed my lips to his scales. “You may not think so, but I find you very handsome. I could never love someone else the way I love you, Rupert.”
He grins a small, reluctant grin back at me. “Lucky for you, then, that the old guy died.”
A laugh bursts out of me, making his smile even wider, and I just have to kiss him on his perfect lips.
thirty-three
. . .
rupert
Imake love to Peony long into the night. With every fiber of my being, I show her how much she means to me, how my world turns because she’s in it. When she cries out my name, clinging to me as if she’s about to be whisked away into a storm, I hold on to her tightly—and I never plan to let her go.
Strange questions cross my mind as I lie beside her sleeping form, my arm curled under her neck as she uses it like a pillow. Would she marry me if I asked her? She wants a family someday. Sure, she said she would set that aside for me, but what do I want? Is it even possible that I could succeed at putting a baby inside her?
That’s getting ahead of myself, but still, I consider it as I lie awake, playing with Peony’s hair. It feels like everything is suddenly possible. Our future is uncertain, but now I amsurer than ever that I was meant to spend this life by her side.
I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her.
We agree in the morning to take a few weeks away from the manor and retire to my cabin, hoping we can get some peace from the vultures and, perhaps, they’ll get bored and move on. Kellen asks if he ought to come with us, as used to taking care of me as he is—but I wave him off, suggesting he have Ignacio come stay with him while he watches over the manor in our absence. He’ll bring us supplies every week or so.
He’s surprisingly sorry to see us go, but then Peony whispers something in his ear that must be dirty, because he turns bright red and waves us both away, scurrying back into the house.
It’s a few hours’ drive, and Peony falls asleep in the passenger seat on the way. The boot of the car is loaded with our belongings and enough provisions that we should have no trouble getting by for a month, perhaps more.
She awakens when the road gets rougher, and peers out the window into the forest. She gasps, sitting forward in the seat with wide eyes, as if she’s had a frightening dream.
