Page 38 of Bombshell

“You’ve redecorated,” I commented dryly as I looked around at the new, much cozier space.

Previous to the change in our relationship I’d made it a point not to come down into Dallan’s grotto.

It was a line in the sand that I’d created for myself. If we were up in my apartment collecting ink, then I could control every aspect of our interactions and Dallan knew it.

So, the last time I’d been here had been a few years ago when Dallan was sick and no one else wanted to risk pissing off the magic of the submarine. There was a false door up in the shop that could transport you down into his grotto and I’d tangledwith the magic until it gave up and let me inside to take care of him.

Before, Dallan’s apartment had been sleek and modern, like the fanciest of penthouses in New York City.

Now, however, it actually looked like a nicer version of my own apartment except all of the windows, even the massive bay window, showed the dark ocean beyond the glass.

“I did,” Dallan said from behind me as he placed his hands on both of my shoulders and steered me further into the space. “Do you like it?”

There was an innate, knee-jerk urge to run screaming from the place because I knew without him even needing to say anything that he’d done this for me.

Everything that I liked was here. From the warm woods to the large, plush furniture that you could melt into if given half a chance.

There was even a larger replica of my potions station from upstairs. If I wanted to, I could step right into life here. With him.

The question hadn’t been asked out loud, but as I turned to look at him it may just as well have been.

We kept dancing around the elephant that had been in the room for a month now. We slept together in the same bed most nights now and I’d systematically broken all of my rules over the past month. Business-with-Benefits had been chucked clear out of the window the moment I let him stay the night.

But I was still scared.

Dallan, always able to read my thoughts and emotions without even needing to access the mental bond we now shared, leaned down so our faces were level with each other.

“You don’t need to move in tomorrow, Lass,” he reassured me gently. “But I want this to be a place for you and for me.”

It was just about as close as he’d ever gotten to outright saying what he’d been trying to for years.

Instead of answering him out loud, I gently grasped the tentacles on his face and pulled his mouth to meet mine, my eyes drifting shut as our tongues intertwined.

“Can I show you the bedroom?” Dallan asked, his voice husky with need.

That was an easy yes.

Taking my hand, he led me down a long hallway past several doors. This space was definitely much bigger now than the bachelor pad that Dallan’s grotto used to be.

At the end of the hall the door was open to a massive master bedroom that still had all of the warm tones from the rest of the apartment, but it was much bigger than my room upstairs. A large bed sat on a carpeted pedestal in the center of the room, the tall wicker headboard going nearly up to the ceiling.

On one side of the bed there was a large, two-person hanging chair gently swaying by its tethers to the ceiling and around it were several houseplants that I wasn’t sure would be able to survive under water without sunlight or my own magical interference.

On the other side was the same window bench as in my bedroom upstairs but now it was bigger and wider. The image of cuddling together on a cold morning with Dallan flashed into my mind as clear as day.

“We can change the enchantment on the window to be the same at the window upstairs too,” Dallan told me softly, wrapping his arms around me from behind as I took the room in.

A life seemed to span out before me—one that I never thought I was capable of having.

I’d always been the disappointment. The science experiment gone wrong. The daughter who couldn’t do magic.

But Dallan never saw me like that. No, even now he was looking at me with affection as he waited for me to speak.

“Come here,” I said, reaching back to cup the back of his head and pull the beanie he was wearing off as I pulled him in for another kiss.

This was perfect. Everything about it was just perfect.

Chapter 11

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