Nero - Page 169

“There’s only a bathtub in my room. I really needed a shower,” she explains, sounding embarrassed. I nod.

“The house is yours,Little Fae,” I say, and fuck—how good the words taste in my mouth. Every single one of them. Her letting me call herLittle Faeagain was my second greatest victory, right after earning the right to be part of my son’s life. At least until Nina fully lets me back into hers. All of it. “We can install showers in all the bedrooms if you want.”

“There are twelve bedrooms, Nero! And we’re still going to talk about this strange spending habit of yours.” I smile.

“My ears are all yours. And anything else you want too.” I repeat the words that have become an inside joke between us over the past few weeks.

“Did Kael fall asleep? I didn’t think I took that long in the shower,” she says—and great. Now I have to fight the images of Nina, naked under the shower, that flood my mind. I exhale slowly and lock my expression so she won’t notice.

“He passed out. Didn’t even hear the whole story. At least it gave me the satisfaction of hanging up on Apollo, Drako, and Atlas,” I comment, and Nina throws her head back.

“You’re dying of jealousy, aren’t you?” she asks, teasing, and I cross my arms over my chest. “Well, welcome to the land of replaced storytellers.”

“I wasn’t replaced,” I protest, and she moistens her lips, looking at me with that bold expression I’ve always loved.

I’d huff if it didn’t make her so undeniably beautiful. She can tease me all she wants, whenever she wants, if it gives me the chance to see that expression on her face.

“Have a glass of wine with me? Then you can tell me whatever you want about my extravagant tendencies,” I invite, and Nina raises her eyebrows.

“Wine?”

“One glass. Or maybe two.” She thinks for a moment before nodding.

“One glass,” she agrees. “Just let me put some clothes on.”

A terrible choice of words, because it reminds me she’s completely naked under the silk robe.

I can’t stop my eyes from roaming over Nina’s body again, even though I’m painfully aware she’ll track every inch my gaze travels.

Now, up close, every detail that was just a glimpse before becomes a show of its own. Her exposed collarbone, the curves of her breasts—rounder and fuller than when we separated—the nipples hardening under my attentive gaze, her moist, parted lips, her shining eyes. She’s a fucking vision.

I step closer, just leaning in, close enough to leave us dangerously near while still respecting a boundary. I kiss her cheek slowly and drag my lips along her skin until I reach the corner of her mouth. Nina sighs and doesn’t push me away.

“I’ll wait for you downstairs.”

***

I’m nervous.

Fucking nervous.

The wine glasses are in my hands, the bottle is on the coffee table, the fireplace is lit, and I picked soft music to carry our conversation. I know exactly what I want to do—and I have no idea what I’m going to do.

The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs makes me look up, and I find Nina, barefoot, wearing a loose little dress that’s just as much of a temptation as the robe from before. If I’m being honest, I’ll have to admit that whatever she wears is always a temptation to me.

Her eyes sweep the room—finding the wine on the table first, then the lit fireplace, and finally me.

“This house is excessive,” she says before anything else, stepping closer to me, in front of the panoramic windows from which I’d been admiring the moonlit lake.

“We can choose a smaller one if you want.”

“I thought you said you bought this one.”

“I did,” I shrug. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t buy another.” She rolls her eyes at me. I love when she does that—and Nina does it a lot.

“You can’t just go around buying everything!” she exclaims, stopping beside me.

“And why not?”