Falling for the Shifter

20

RUBY

Oh, my god. Ethan Adair is kissing me. Why, but oh, wow! He is a good kisser. He can keep on kissing me until Lucifer gets back into heaven. So basically, Ethan can keep kissing me forever and ever.

Emboldened by the sheer intensity of Ethan’s kiss, Ruby’s hands traveled into his lush, thick hair as he dipped her neck back ever so slightly, taking complete control of the kiss. She moaned into the embrace to overcome to tamp down her reaction. Together, they continued to explore each other, forgetting they were in public … with her aunt only a few feet away, right where she could see them all but going at it. Ruby decided that she would care later.

For now, all she wanted to do was keep kissing him without thinking about the optics. Couldn’t a lady just enjoy a good kiss without freaking the f**k out?

Ethan slowly pulled away. “Ruby,” he whispered roughly against her mouth.

“Ethan?” She could barely hear her own voice over the sound of her thumping heart.

“I’m gonna kiss you again. Soon. But not now. Your aunt is watching us, and if we keep kissing like this, she’ll never believe me when I tell her my intentions are honorable.”

Ruby giggled at his choice of words. “Oh, yeah? And are you honorable, Ethan Adair? Because judging by what I know of you, you’re a good man. I have nothing to fear with you. Do I?” Please don’t hurt me.

The question slipped out before she could think better of it. There was a bit of doubt in the words that came with a lifelong struggle with trying to be seen for who she was. Not her chronic lack of ambition, which was basically a death wish in her family. She didn’t want to be seen in comparison to Roja or her other sisters.

What she wanted more than anything in the world was to be simply seen as Ruby, the woman. She couldn’t erase that hurt or the fear her life had given her.

“You have nothing to fear with me.” He was serious. She could feel it. Hell, she could even see it in the intense set of his features. His eyes burned into hers with all kinds of promises. “Ruby, I …”

“Well, well! Aren’t you two cozy?”

Damn Portia and her whole overly involved aunt personality! Ruby longed to know what Ethan had been about to say, but the moment was gone now. He even took a step away from her, though he did keep his hands on Ruby’s waist.

“Quite the atmosphere you give your clients here, huh?” she told her aunt with a pointed tone. You’ve interrupted a good moment!

Portia pretended not to notice her niece’s glare. Instead, she flipped her long hair over her shoulder with pride. “It is really nice here, isn’t it? I’m so pleased with how everything turned out.”

“Oh,” Ethan said. “So, it’s magical, then. All of it?”

Portia’s smile slipped with confusion. “What do you mean, sweetie?”

“Is there something in the air?” he clarified. “You know, are you pumping magic s**t in the air?”

“What do you mean?” Portia repeated, completely confused.

“I was wondering if there was magic in the air. To make people … feel things.” Ethan’s entire face was beet red, and he couldn’t meet either woman’s eyes.

Portia’s grin turned positively mischievous. The kitten had found the bowl of milk. Or in this case, Portia was getting a little tidbit of knowledge about her niece and the resort, Ruby was sure of that, but Portia was also getting information about Ethan and how he felt about Ruby.

“Oh, here we go,” Ruby muttered under her breath.

Her aunt laughed and shrugged. “No, sweetie. There isn’t anything in the air. If anyone feels things in Hellscape Holiday Resort, it’s not fake or manufactured. It’s not magic or science. Well, maybe science plays in. Human biology.” She winked at him.

“Aunt Portia!” Ruby gasped. Her aunt had actually managed to cross a line and shock her.

“What? It’s only the truth. Do you think there’s magic in the air? That’s not me. That’s all on you two.” She raised her hands in exasperation. “If you’re feeling things? Blame attraction, but don’t blame me.” She waved at them with a giggle. “Bye, you two.”

The second Portia was gone, the air between Ruby and Ethan became tense. She looked down to the tips of her high heels, trying to find something clever to say, but her brain was still a bit frazzled by the kiss and the sudden intrusion.

“Your aunt is a very special person,” he commented, shuffling uncomfortably on his feet.

She snorted. “Special? That’s one way of describing her.”

“If it wasn’t for her and the way you feel about your family, I would kiss you again, but I wanna respect your wishes on this, Ruby.”

“My aunt is fine. I don’t have bad feelings about her. We just razz each other. She’ll tease me relentlessly about you, but it’s all good-natured. I just give her a hard time because it’s our thing. We’ve been doing this to each other since I was a kid. It was the only chance I had to speak out for myself without fear of major reprisal.”

“Your sister Roja?”

She shrugged. “Yeah, her. The others, too, my mother and sisters. I was the runt of the family.”

“The smallest?” he inquired with a frown.

She shook her head. “No. In succubi families, the runt of the litter is the ugliest one.”

“That’s f*****g terrible,” he growled, holding her closer to him as if he could erase the words she’d just used.

“You get that we’re demons, right?” She snorted dryly to keep the usual sadness from climbing up the back of her throat.

His frown deepened. “I don’t give a flying f**k if you’re a demon or if that’s what they are too. There’s a way to treat your family, and that’s not it. Ugly? No one is ugly. There are just assholes in the world who like to tear each other down.”