Page 37 of Dark Princess Ascending

The possible reason being his truelove mate suddenly appearing out of nowhere, like Margo had appeared for Negal. It hurt when Negaldumped her without looking back, but it would slay her if Rob did that as well.

Then again, it wouldn't matter if they lived together or not when it happened. It would be devastating in either case.

No, that wasn't true. It would be much worse if they shared a house.

"We're perfect for each other, and we're wasting time being afraid." He squeezed her hand. "Let's take a chance on each other."

She met his eyes. "I've lived a long time, Rob. Long enough to know that nothing worth having comes without risk and that it's important to weigh those risks against the benefits."

"Now, you are talking my language." His thumb traced patterns on her palm. "In this case, the benefits far outweigh the risks, and I'm willing to bet everything on you."

"That's so sweet of you to say." She chuckled. "You make it sound so simple."

"Because it is." He smiled. "We love each other. We want to be together. And the odds are in our favor."

Gertrude shook her head, but she couldn't stop smiling. "We should at least wait until after the wedding. I need to talk to Hildegard and ask her if it's okay with her for you to move in with us."

He tilted his head. "Shouldn't we just take the plunge and request a house of our own?"

Her heart skipped a beat at his suggestion. Hewas even more serious about this than she'd thought. "Perhaps after your transition, we will do that. I'm not a big risk taker, and I prefer small steps."

"Fair enough." He lifted her hand to his lips. "But as soon as I'm past the initial stage of my transition, we are moving in together one way or another. I don't care if it's with Hildegard remaining as our roommate, her moving out to room with someone else, or us marching into Ingrid's office and asking her for a house."

"Deal." She cupped his cheeks and sealed the deal with a kiss.

21

MORELLE

Morelle felt the sun on her face, a feeling of warmth and contentment spreading through her. Then again, that pleasant feeling might have come from the inside rather than the sun because she was still basking in the afterglow of the venom trip.

She was no longer dazed, and the euphoria had subsided to manageable levels, but it was still there long hours after it should have completely dissipated. Still, she wasn't overly worried about her mind feeling like it was stuffed with fluffy, colorful clouds or about smiling like a fool.

Brandon said that some reacted to the venom more strongly than others and that the first few times were the most potent.

It would pass, and when it did, she was going to miss it.

She felt relaxed, happy, and loving toward everyone around her.

It would be nice if that was the new her. It felt good to radiate love instead of mistrust, suspicion, and nihilism. Although to be honest, she hadn't felt nihilistic since she'd made the choice to wake up and join the world of the living, and it was all thanks to Brandon.

Well, her mother had been the catalyst, but that wouldn't have been enough to wake her if Brandon hadn't been there to tell her stories and make her curious enough to listen and want to hear more.

He was holding her hand in his lap as he sipped on his coffee, and she gave his hand a little squeeze accompanied by a loving smile.

Naturally, he smiled back, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners and his lush lips curving up. He was such an incredibly handsome male.

All over.

Morelle felt a blush creeping up her cheeks at the memory of what they had done last night. It had been so wicked. She could never have imagined such a thing. Humans had a special name for that particular arrangement, a number, but Morelle hadn't understood why until Brandon wrote it on a piece of paper and then added embellishments to the digits to clarify the symbolism.

She'd laughed so hard that her sides had ached.

"I was so happy to see so many people show upfor Rob's ceremony," Jasmine said, gesturing with her fork. "The energy in that room when everyone started singing was magical." She sighed. "I had forgotten how good it felt to perform. I need to do it more often."

Morelle nodded, only half listening. She was too focused on the way Brandon's fingers intertwined with hers and how his knee pressed against her thigh under the table. The contact points felt electric.

"You were amazing," Ell-rom told his mate. "You enthralled the audience, my love."