14. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Maeve

I ’d been up for a million hours already and it was only four in the afternoon.

First, I’d worked on the branding, then attended another lecture before doing groceries with my roommates.

I was dying to get home, take a long, hot shower, and snuggle up in front of the TV with my friends.

The new season of Ash Soul had just aired: twenty-five episodes of delicious slow burn between Molten Claw and Nir .

The last season had ended with Molten Claw snatching their Pooka heartthrob out of Bog’s clutches.

“Holy fuck, who’s this?” Vaughn suddenly muttered in a sexy snarl, and I looked up to see what he meant, spotting it right away.

A tall, muscular person, wearing all black, with thick gold-adorned horns curving around the back of his head, stood facing us.

He had his shoulder propped up on the column by the entrance to our house.

His face lit up when he spotted me and he waved me over, the shy smile he’d worn for the first months of his visits to the cafe on his lips.

“Oh my God,” I muttered without moving my lips, and waved back.

“Is that your secret admirer?” Tiff asked in barely a whisper.

“Yeah—I mean, no, he’s my boss.”

“Maeve, hi,” Taran greeted me sheepishly, rasping his hand over the nape of his neck. “Sorry to intrude, but I… Your neighbour caught me ringing your doorbell and told me you’d be back soon.”

Tiff snorted. “Yeah, Mrs Parker notices everything. Hi.” She extracted a hand from the heavy bag and held it out to him.

“I’m Taran. It’s so nice to finally meet you. Mave told me about you.”

“Wish I could say the same,” my bestie chuckled and I could have kicked her.

Taran’s tail twitched nervously behind him. Ugh, I’d have a word with Tiff later about making him this uncomfortable. Precious baby. Must protect.

“Don’t be a dick, Tiff. Maeve told us about you.” Vaughn jumped to my rescue. “I definitely remember her mentioning you on multiple occasions. Good to meet you.” I might not have told them his name, but they knew he existed.

“Sorry, I guess we’ll get this upstairs and leave you two, uh, to it.” With a wink, Vaughn pushed open the front door, and they were gone.

“Sorry about that, she—”

“No, it’s okay. I’m sorry for intruding. I was in the area to pick up my suit for the weekend and… Why would you tell them about me?” he added in a fake unbothered voice.

“Is that a rhetorical question, Scales?” I asked quietly and his mouth snapped shut.

“I was going to ask you if you wanted to have dinner with me,” he said slowly, tail thumping against the wooden front door with every word he got out.

Oh my God. He wants to…

“Like a date?” Shut up, Maeve!

The way he fidgeted on the spot, I was sure Taran would have blushed a deep burning crimson. “Yeah,” he eventually bit out, looking mortified at his own brashness.

You want to date me? I mean I might be thick at times but he had definitely been flirting with me. But dating?

“I had an extremely long day and I am super tired, so I’d rather not go out tonight.” His face fell at my words, so I hurried on. “Why don’t you come upstairs, though? We wanted to watch one of our favourite shows—it just got a new season—and have some popcorn.” Let’s cuddle on the couch?

“Oh. No, I wouldn’t want to intrude, I— ”

“Scales?” I nudged him with my elbow and got him to look at me. “Stay. Please.”

He insisted on carrying my shopping bag upstairs and into the kitchen. Seeing Taran in our flat was so bloody strange but I would have lied if I had said I didn’t like him there.

“Be right back. There’s ice cream in the bag. Could you put that in the freezer for me, please?”

I heard him rummage as I left for the bathroom to wash my hands, then went to Tiff’s room.

“Babes, I’m sorry,” she blurted out when I shut the door behind me.

I pressed my finger to my lips. “He’s in the kitchen!”

Tiff clapped a hand over her mouth, blanching comically. “I’m sorry. I swear it was just a joke. Shit, I hope he’s not mad at me, or you are? OMG, you hate me, right?”

“I don’t hate you! But come on, I totally told you about him. No need to make him so uncomfortable.”

You never said he was a Dragon.” She mouthed the last word.

“Does it matter? I like him.”

Dashing over to me, Tiff flung her arms around my neck. “Oh babes, he likes you, too. Oh my God, that’s so romantic!”

“Is it okay if he watches some Ash Soul with us?”

“Are you sure you want us there? Vaughn and I just said we could stay in our rooms. You know I have these amazing noise-cancelling headphones, and he gets so deep into hyperfocus, the world could end without him noticing.”

I snorted. “I’m sure. Come on. Let’s not keep him waiting.”

Taran had his phone in hand when we entered the kitchen. “Hi again,” he nervously greeted Tiff.

“Hey. Listen, I’m sorry about earlier. I can be a sarcastic bitch sometimes.”

Taran chuckled. “Apology accepted. Sorry for crashing your evening. I was just in the area and… Anyway, I hope it’s okay that I ordered some food for us? I just realised I haven’t eaten all day and I don’t want to raid your fridge.”

Scales! Stop it with the cuteness already!

“Oh God, yeah. We never say no to free food, do we?”

“Nope,” Vaughn agreed from the door, sauntering in, absentmindedly fondling the tip of his thick tail. “What did you get for us? Hey, mate. I’m Vaughn.” He let go of his tail and held his hand out to Taran.

“Taran.” They shook hands, then Mr Hot Ass Dragon turned to look at me. “Oh, uh, remember that restaurant you told me you’d never been to?”

“Hosier’s?” I gaped at him.

“Yes, that’s the place. I was going to take you there this evening, to see what all the fuss was about. But I thought if we’re not going there, why not bring the food to us? ”

“Do they even deliver? I thought they were a dine-in restaurant,” Tiff asked him, her head tilted to the side.

“They don’t.” Taran gave her his shy smile, making me melt a little. “My driver picks the food up for us.”

There was no need to say any more. He had probably flaunted his expensive credit card in their faces to convince them to make an exception for Taran Atax.

“Handy.” My best friend grinned. “Let’s get this cleared away so we’re ready to eat when he gets here.”

We quickly put the food into the fridge and our little pantry, then gathered plates, cutlery, condiments, and the two bags of popcorn we’d bought.

The doorbell rang as we plumped the cushions, and Tiff navigated our Claw app to look for the first episode of season three.

“I’ll get it.” Taran left the room and returned a few minutes later laden with six enormous paper bags emblazoned with the restaurant’s logo.

By the looks of it, he had spent hundreds of copper crowns on food for our movie night. Holy shit.

“Oh, are we expecting a hockey team to join us?” Tiff snorted when she turned away from the TV and spotted the bags.

Scales contemplated her for a moment, looked down at all the food now piling on our coffee table, and joined in the laughter. His posture loosened, and it was a beautiful sight to watch him carve a spot out for himself in our midst .

“I might have gone a bit overboard, yeah. I think I’ll have to excuse myself, there’s no way I can fit into this once we’ve eaten.” He ran a large hand over his corset.

“The bathroom is at the end of the hall, or you can use my room, it’s the door on the left of it,” I told him before busying myself with unloading all the bags.

“He’s really cute,” Vaughn mouthed when she heard a door close behind Taran.

“Right?” Unable to keep a sheepish grin off my face, I snuggled into my seat, hugging a pillow to me.

He’s so fucking cute. And hot. Woah. I’d never seen Taran without a corset. I loved the emphasis on his narrow waist and the elegant jackets he usually wore on top. Him in a black dress shirt, with the two top buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up, had me notice for the first time how brawny he actually was.

“Where can I sit?” he asked in his deep, rasping voice and I was moments away from offering him my spot and curling up on his lap.

“Here,” I replied, indicating the spot next to me in a voice almost as hoarse as his had been.

Behind his back, Tiff bit her lip hard to stifle her grin or keep any teasing words in. Good for you, babes. ‘Movie Night Gone Wrong’ wasn’t a headline I wanted to read in tomorrow’s newspaper.

We made it through most of the first three episodes, and most of the food. It was fucking delicious and part of me cried a little when my stomach gave up eventually and I couldn’t fit another single morsel in even if I’d wanted to .

Taran had suggested eating the things that wouldn’t keep well first, the burgers and chips, and leaving the soups and salads for tomorrow.

“You’ll have enough for another day or two, at least.” He contemplated the mountain of stuff we had left, and the untouched popcorn we’d thankfully kept in the bags. “I’m curious about this French salad. I hope they’ll have it at the party so I can try it.”

“If not, you'll just have to visit the restaurant at some point,” I suggested, earning myself a soft smile.

“Perhaps when you’re not tired after a long day.”

“I’ll take this to the kitchen. Wait for me with the next episode, yeah?” Tiff said, getting to her feet and clearing her throat noisily.

Taran, who was clearly as flustered as me, muttered something and shifted in his seat, and neither of us mentioned the restaurant again.

Half an hour later, Tiff had fallen asleep with her back to us and Vaughn, who seemed distracted and had been glued to his phone all evening, had excused himself for a moment.

That was twenty minutes ago.

I was wide awake, hyperaware of Taran’s huge, warm body next to me. That man was way too well behaved, though. At no point had he tried to hug or touch me, and I appreciated that he hadn’t just groped me. But damn, Scales, you really need to grope me.

As if he’d heard my inner monologue, he suddenly straightened and turned his horned head at me. For a moment his eyes burned with something close to lust, before they softened. Holding out an arm, he invited me to his side, and I hurried to take him up on it.

God, I had missed his scent, and inhaling deeply, I snuggled my face into his chest.

“Maeve?”