Chapter 9

9

“I should have lied and said I couldn’t shift my tail so we could have gotten seats with more leg room,” I complained as we sat in our seats on the crowded plane.

Reed raised the arm rest between he and I up so he could reach over comfortably and set his hand on my thigh. “It’s not a very long flight, only an hour and a half. You’ll survive.”

“It’s not like you’re very tall anyway,” Grant commented on my other side and raised the arm rest between us as well, setting his hand on top of his thigh, palm up, fingers spread in invitation.

I accepted and threaded our fingers together. The touch of both of them helped relax me and I closed my eyes with an exhausted sigh.

I hadn’t been able to sleep well due to the anticipation of our trip.

The flight attendants gave their preflight speeches, describing all the features of the plane, emergency exits, and things to do in case of emergency.

They were not instilling confidence in me.

“Flying really isn’t that bad once you get used to it,” Grant said softly and leaned closer to me, rubbing our shoulders together. “The sooner you get used to it, the sooner we can take you on more trips, ones even farther from here.”

“More trips?” I asked, opening my eyes and looking at him.

He smiled and nodded enthusiastically. “There are so many places I want to show you. So many fun cities that I know you would enjoy visiting. Also, other countries.”

Other countries? I had been to several, but had gotten there by swimming.

“Maybe we could take a ship,” I suggested.

“Ships take too long,” Grant grunted. “You’d get there much faster on a plane.”

The plane started moving and I squeaked in fear.

A small child sitting with his parents across the aisle snickered at my fear.

I leaned forward and stuck my tongue out at him, which he did back, earning me a scowl from his uptight father. Judging by the pointed ears and long, straight hair, they were likely elves. Elves were often super uptight, so all things fit. Not that I didn’t like elves, but they weren’t exactly party people. I’d learned quickly not to try to use my pool shark scam on them. They were grumpy when swindled.

“You sure you don’t want kids?” Grant asked softly. “You have a super soft spot for kids.”

I leaned back and closed my eyes with a scowl. “No. I just want to be someone’s crazy aunt.”

He was right, I did love kids, but I didn’t want the responsibility of children or possibly giving them whatever curse I had. Okay, I wasn’t cursed, anymore, but I still didn’t feel right bringing a child into the world as it was. As I was.

“You’d look super cute all round and pregnant with our pups,” Reed whispered in my ear with a growl, his hand sliding higher up my thigh and squeezing slightly.

Desire rolled through me and I exhaled shakily.

“Sir, do you want to get us kicked off this plane?” I asked without looking at him.

He chuckled softly and left me alone, releasing his grip and letting his hand slide back down to just above my knee.

The attendants passed out snacks and Grant ordered drinks for us.

I gladly accepted mine, downing it in one gulp before devouring the snacks, mostly pretzels, as well. My stomach was nowhere near satisfied.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be getting dinner as soon as we check into the hotel,” Reed said and patted my knee.

“I didn’t say anything,” I whispered and looked over at him with a scowl. How had he known I was still hungry? He wasn’t even looking at me.

His brows furrowed and he opened his eyes, blinking up at the plane’s ceiling. “I, uh, felt it,” he whispered.

“You felt my hunger?” I asked in a hushed voice, so as not to draw attention to us. “Is it because of our … unique bond?” We hadn’t really talked about it, but he, Grant, and I had developed a unique bond that first night we’d spent together. When they’d started courting me, it had only gotten stronger.

He closed his eyes, scowling hard. “I don’t know, but it’s best not to think about it.”

His glib response hurt so much that I inhaled sharply and had to turn my face away as tears burned at the back of my eyes.

Of course he wouldn’t want to think about our connection. If he did that, he might have to admit that there was more to us than a normal relationship and that would sway his decision on whether to return to his clan or not.

Grant squeezed my hand and I leaned over against him, rubbing my face against his shoulder to stop the tears from coming and to ease the tension I felt by inhaling his scent.

He kissed the top of my head softly, let go of my hand, and slid his arm around my shoulders to pull me closer into him, forcing my head to rest on his chest.

Closing my eyes, I focused on the beat of his heart and let it drown out everything else.

Everything else except the pain that seemed to beat in time with his heart.