Chapter Thirty-two

NATE

Half an hour later, we were waiting for Margaret in the deserted hotel lounge. I took the opportunity to return my phone to factory settings. According to online articles, that should disable the spyware, but I was going to buy a new phone. I'd never be able to trust this one again.

"Aunt Margaret, you are awesome," Alex declared as she appeared in the doorway, pulling a battered suitcase behind her. He turned to me. "Looks as if I'm not going to need to squeeze into your underwear now. At least," he added, bouncing his eyebrows suggestively, "not in that way."

I froze at Alex's words, not knowing how to react to what he'd just said in front of the head of his family.

"Alexander," Margaret said, handing him his case and pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. "Behave, and stop embarrassing your friend."

Unsure what to make of the fact I only registered as Alex's friend, I offered to order her a drink. That, at least, won a slightly approving smile.

"So come on, Aunt Margaret, tell us what happened when you returned to the house? Was it threats of flaming or repressed fury and stiff upper lips?" Alex was asking as I joined them again. "My bet's on stiff upper lips."

"Neither. Quite a let-down, though in fact I'm glad of the lack of drama. There was no sign of James or Steven when we returned," Margaret said. "Merely our packed cases piled in the hall, and a message delivered by an apologetic Taylor that there had been a family emergency and they could no longer accommodate us. I think James must have messaged Anna while we were on the boat, because she disappeared upstairs without a word."

Margaret leaned forward to snag a chip out of the bowl Alex had in front of him. "I plan on getting a train back this evening, so the others are heading for the station. Dan wanted to stay with Rose's family, but I'm not leaving anyone in Bath on their own. Not at the moment. They'll have to use Skype like everyone else."

The world tipped around me. Alex couldn't leave.

"Nate and I are set for the night here," Alex said.

"Yes, well, it appears you have Abimelech Mortimer's protection, so I have few qualms about leaving you here," she allowed. "But before I go, I want the full story rather than the somewhat disjointed highlights reel I got earlier."

Even though she didn't seem too keen on me, I liked Margaret. I could see where Alex's straightforwardness came from.

I recounted my part of what had happened, and Alex followed with his perspective. It was the first I'd heard of his fight with Steven, which he'd somehow left out earlier, and I grabbed his hand, not knowing how I hadn't noticed the cut on his thumb. It was scabbing over, and the thumb didn't look as if it was going to drop off anytime soon. Pressing a small kiss to it, I released it again, only to find Margaret looking at me. Shit. I'd forgotten we had an audience.

Her eyebrows rose slightly, and then she told Alex to continue. I think he'd spent too much of his life dreaming of those myths and legends he talked about, because he made my attempt to get James to let him go sound like some sort of heroic sacrifice. When he reached Bim's dramatic entrance, Margaret turned to me.

"What brought him to Bath, today of all days?"

That had been easy for me to work out, knowing my grandfather the way I did. "I told him about Steven's machinations. Bim needed to stop him in his tracks—what else might Steven be willing to do that could have catastrophic consequences for us all? I told Bim yesterday, so I imagine he spent the rest of the day arranging for the hacks on the Fortescue bank. It would appeal to him to arrive when the attacks were in progress, thereby ensuring maximum humiliation."

"I see."

I waited for her to ask what would happen to Steven and was deeply relieved when she didn't. I was carefully not thinking about it.

"It's not precisely the way I'd envisaged our visit to Bath going, but at least we're out of it with wings unsinged. It sounds as if the Fortescues aren't going to be in a position to make any more trouble for quite some time."

"You don't think they'll drop down a social level and start whipping up antagonism against the first three families?" Alex asked.

"Alex, dear, you're too idealistic. I'd bet my bottom dollar that the dragons just below the top tier are going to be jostling for a chance to replace the Fortescues. The last thing they'd risk would be offending Abimelech Mortimer." She looked at me. "If you don't mind me saying, you don't seem much like your grandfather."

I was unsure whether or not that was an insult.

She stood, and Alex and I followed suit. "I need to leave if we're going to catch a train that'll get us in before midnight."

"We'll drive down tomorrow," Alex said. "If that's okay?"

Margaret said nothing and a frown furrowed her brow. Suddenly, I could scarcely breathe. What if her disapproval meant she wouldn't allow me on Teague territory? I couldn't see how Alex and I could stay together if that happened. He'd never be completely happy away from Cornwall, and I didn't want to be the reason for his unhappiness.

She turned to me and put out her hand. "Welcome to the family, Nate."

Alex gasped. I shook her hand, confused yet delighted by her unexpected turnaround. "Thank you."

We saw Margaret off in a taxi into the cold Bath night. Back in the brightly lit hotel lobby, we looked at one another.

"Blimey," Alex said, and I couldn't stop laughing.

ALEX

The thing that Nate didn't know about Aunt Margaret was that she had a gift for seeing things before they happened. She couldn't control it, and it had only struck a handful of times. But I couldn't think of another reason for her to have said what she had.

I was almost trembling with the knowledge that Nate and I were going to be together long-term. I loved Nate more than I'd thought was possible. And seeing the laughter on his face now, the happiness in him, I wanted him more than I'd wanted anything, ever. This must be what full dragons felt for their treasure.

I leaned in and kissed him slowly, gently, hoping he could feel my love for him. Just in case he couldn't, I said it. "I love you."

He smiled so widely that his eyes crinkled at the corners, and I wanted to kiss him again. I resisted the temptation because I'd realised that the woman at the front desk was watching us with interest.

"Food?" he asked me.

"I could eat." Then I paused. "But maybe room service? I…" Oh, sod it. She probably worked long shifts and if it got her through the night, I didn't mind being the entertainment. "I don't want anyone else around. Just you."

He took my hand and we returned to our room. There, we lay on the bed together as we waited for our food. I was sure—well, fairly sure—we weren't going to spend the rest of our lives gazing into one another's eyes like this, but for now, nothing else seemed to matter.

NATE

We ate supper on the sofa in front of the window, looking out over the city. Judiciously placed spotlights along with streetlights showed off a skyline that would have been familiar to Jane Austen.

Alex had just put his plate down and relaxed against me with a satisfied sigh when my phone chimed.

I thought the message would be from Bim, updating me. It wasn't.

"Charlie," I said, my heart plummeting. "Crap. Ella's told him."

She'd only told him half the story, if Charlie's confused questions were anything to go by.

"I didn't think you were allowed phones in rehab," Alex said.

"You're getting confused with prison," I told him. Anything to put off the moment when I'd have to confess. Perhaps Alex saw my worry, because he put his arm around me, a warm, comforting weight, while I set out in a text the basics of what had happened.

Charlie didn't respond for so long that I laid my phone down to run my fingers through Alex's hair. He appeared to like it, practically snuggling against me. The butterflies in my stomach came back full force when my phone chimed again.

Cannot believe how fucking stupid my family is. Glad you're ok.

I scarcely had time to draw a breath of relief before another message arrived.

Have a nice life with that Cornish dragon, Nate. You deserve it. I bet he's glowering at the phone right now.

I glanced swiftly at Alex. Perhaps it wasn't fair to say he was glowering, but he was staring at my phone from beneath lowered brows.

You, too, I sent back, and turned off my phone. I filled Alex in on the content of our texts. I wasn't going to keep any secrets from him, especially not concerning Charlie.

"He said he hopes I have a nice life with my Cornish dragon," I told him, my voice somehow hoarse at the phrasing.

"So do I," Alex said softly, and kissed me.

ALEX

I awoke next morning to Nate curled up around me and something unmistakeable poking against my arse. When I turned in his hold, he greeted me with a kiss. A kiss that started as a good morning, and ended up deep, open-mouthed and needing. Kissing Nate like this was like setting a flame to dry kindling.

He eventually relinquished my mouth. I wanted to keep kissing him, but I also knew what his move meant, and I was breathless with anticipation. Having encouraged me onto my back, he worked his way down my body with licks and kisses before positioning himself between my open legs. He looked at my very awake, very ready cock with deep appreciation.

"Did you just say good morning to my—ungh," I said articulately, as he slid his mouth down on my cock and just kept going. Nate was going to kill me.

As he sucked me, he reached up and pinched my nipples until I was writhing with pleasure and need, unable to bear the sensations. He finally pulled off, his lips dark and wet, his pupils so large as he looked at me that his eyes were almost black with desire. He was beautiful.

I drew him back up the bed, then I flipped him over, where he landed with a laugh, and it was my turn to work my way down his body. He spread his thighs in invitation.

Damn. "Lube," I said. How the hell could I have forgotten—oh yes. Nate had basically sucked my brains out. I was excused.

He passed me the bottle, and when I took it from him, I held onto his hand for a moment, pressing a kiss against his strong fingers. "Love you," I said, and his smile was so soft as he looked at me.

"You, too," he murmured, then he gasped, arching up. "Fuck!"

Maybe I should have basked in his declaration of love a little longer before putting my mouth to his cock, but that was okay—we had the rest of our lives to practice getting that right.

By the time I'd opened him up, he was panting, his broad chest gleaming with sweat as it rose and fell. God, he was the most gorgeous thing I'd ever seen. And he was mine.

"Please," he said. "Alex."

I pushed inside him, and he groaned. I leaned down to kiss him before I began moving, holding his gaze as I did so. Neither of us lasted long after all that teasing.

Afterwards, I held him and marvelled that I could have this. That I could have him.

The rest of the morning passed in a haze of loving and laughter, with an occasional annoyed bang on the wall of our room when Nate got loud. I didn't care if the whole world heard our love, though I was kind of glad I lived in a detached cottage. One where Nate, too, was going to live if Aunt Margaret was right.

Turns out, she was.