Glass rained down over us, Riven shielding me with his hard body. Incredibly hard. Since when did bards need all these muscles? His abs felt like they were made of stone, pressed into my back, his bulging arms wrapped around mine.
“Swoon,” Herman said. “That was so brave.”
“Herman,” I yelled from under Riven.
“Oh, right! Let me clean some of the glass from your back,” he said.
After a minute of being crushed by Riven, he sat up, then grabbed me and pulled me to a seated position.
The entire interaction left me breathless, barely able to form a thought.
“What in the fuck was that?” Riven pointed to the window behind me, now nothing but jagged edges of glass.
“Oh, the tea shop hates Emma,” Herman said as his tail swept the glass on the table into a neat pile. He flapped his wings, hovering over us.
“It doesn’t hate me,” I shot back.
“What?” Riven asked with a laugh. “Hates you?”
I groaned. “It’s a long story, and it’s warming up to me. It hasn’t tried to kill me in three days.”
“Kill you?” Riven said, all the laughter suddenly gone from his voice.
I shifted under the intensity of his gaze. “It’s not a big deal.”
“It is a big deal,” Herman said. “I was talking to your father about it the other day, actually, and?—”
I gasped. Witch Superior. I’d completely forgotten about checking on him. “My father!” I scooted around the bench and stood, facing Riven and Herman. “I’m so sorry. I have to go.”
With that, I turned and raced out of the shop.
Chapter Six
RIVEN
My cock still ached from being pressed right into Emma Thorne’s firm, round ass. Why did I have to throw myself over her like that? Why did I always put myself into these situations where my body—and heart—responded to her? This was why I didn’t come home often. Because every time I did, it was a reminder that I wanted something I couldn’t have.
Yet this time I’d been so convinced Thistlegrove would give me an answer about my future, about how to fill this empty hole in my heart.
I stared after Emma as she ran out of the shop, her auburn curls escaping from the messy bun that held them in, her pale cheeks flushed pink.
“What just happened?” I asked the talking dragon, whom I assumed came from Arcane Creatures Emporium. I believed Emma had mentioned his name was Herman?
The pink creature lowered himself to the table. “Oh, that’s just Emma panicking because she thinks it’s her responsibility to take care of her father despite the fact that he’s a fully grown man.”
I choked. Ah. That sounded about right. That had always been the problem. That had always been the one reason that kept me fromadmitting my feelings for Emma. I couldn’t be the thing that came between her and her father. I pushed the painful memories of the past away.
I’d been close, so many times, to asking her to come with me. To travel the realm and make me the happiest man on Thaloria. But that wouldn’t be fair to Emma. It would be dangling something in front of her she couldn’t have—that I didn’t even know if she wanted to have. She’d never shown any interest in me. Except for that one night ...
“Well, are you just going to sit there?” Herman asked, tilting his head. “Or are you going to follow her?”
“She probably wants privacy with her father.” I hadn’t seen her father in years. Any time I’d visited Thistlegrove, I’d only seen Emma, her father always busy with his many creatures.
I was always so impressed with what Emma had done to his shop. The only reason that shop thrived was because of all the systems she’d put in place. The only reason her father thrived was because of all the systems she’d put in place.
“Oh, she doesn’t need privacy. She needs a life,” Herman said.
I gestured at the tea shop. “It seems like she has a pretty good life right here.”
