Page 22 of In the Light of the Moon

She gave a smile and shook my hand. While Sylvie smelled like the best part of autumn, this woman, her grandmother, smelled of citrus and lavender and summer days. And…fuck.

I started to wonder how I’d missed it, but I knew exactly how. Sylvie’s presence and all it triggered within me clouded my noticing this important detail. But faced with this woman and allof her attention, I knew partly why their scents made my body thrum in recognition. I was familiar with the world around us enough to recognize the pair of witches, now.

“I know you,” Sylvie’s grandmother’s words were loaded, and I worried that she was going to refuse my entry. For, if I recognized her, she certainly knew what I was. Did Sylvie? She hadn’t said anything, and by her reaction yesterday, she didn’t understand the significance of what I’d communicated to the two oafs. I refocused on her grandmother, and her smile brightened in the way that Sylvie’s did. “Please, come in.”

I fought to keep my gait calm and still my fingers down at my side. I nodded in thanks and crossed the threshold. While she closed the door behind me, I took in their home. It was warm and done in calming colors of cream and purple. There was also an aroma of a multitude of herbs and spices that seemed almost baked into the floorboards and sunk into the walls.

Sylvie’s grandmother gestured toward the room to my right, and I gave a longing glance to the staircase in front us before making my way into the living room. It was absolutely dominated by plants in a variety of pots and vases. Though the colors of the furniture and decor were more understated, there was an explosion of green in almost every corner and on absolutely every windowsill.

“Please, sit.” Her tone was welcoming but also firm, and I obeyed, taking a seat on the sofa. I rested my hands in my lap and kept my back straight.

Impressing the family of the one you courted was incredibly important and something I’d anticipated for tonight. However, where the woman had been distracted but kind in the grocery store, she was sharp in more ways than one tonight. I fought like hell to make myself meet her assessing eyes.

“Thank you,” I said.

“So,faoladh,” I flinched, but she perched nonchalantly on a rattan armchair, “what are your intentions with my granddaughter?” We weren’t going for any of the pleasantries, then.

Sylvie’s grandmother held my worried stare, not in challenging or dominance, but with a knowing that made me feel relieved and unnerved at the same time. Was her question intended for a male with amorous intentions toward her granddaughter or for the faoladh, as she identified me, who she’d permitted in her home?

I cleared my throat, swallowed. But when I opened my mouth to give her a response, an exasperated voice preceded loud stomping down the staircase.

“Goddess, Granna, I’m almost thirty. Stop treating him like he’s taking me to the prom.”

My mouth went dry, and I had to take another round of breaths while Sylvie made her way into the room. Her usually bouncing hair was tied into a knot on the crown of her head, and there were meticulously styled waves ending in perfect little curls beside her ears.

The dress she wore was sleeveless and long, but the way it clung to every dip and swell of her curves was a sight to see. Her long, sharp fingernails were tipped in a deep red color that complimented the soft green of her dress. She didn’t wear much makeup from what I could tell, but her doe-like eyes were darkened and accentuated. Her plump lips, reddened.

My heart was beating hard in my chest, my mind reeling from the sight of her, and, embarrassingly, my dick was rapidly growing hard.Fuck,I cursed and tried to clear my thoughts to say something. Luckily, Sylvie and her grandmother commenced to go back and forth.

“Well, he’s come here to the house to pick you up. Why am I not allowed to ask the important questions?”

“Because, you could scare him away,” Sylvie pointed a finger, “and I know how you are. Your size makes you a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and I have seen you in action. Tearing men apart is like a pastime for you.”

Her grandmother threw up her hands and scoffed, “Oh, please. I wasn’t going to say anything offensive. And, it’s not my fault that all men are disappointing at best.” She added, “No offense.”

By then, I’d gathered myself a bit. “None taken.” I looked back toward Sylvie, tightening the leash on all of my instincts that were bucking against my control. “And, you look breathtaking, Sylvie. Beautiful.”

She gifted me with one of her smiles, and if her grandmother weren’t there with her watchful eyes on me, I would have fallen to my knees. Or commanded that Sylvie get on hers. I’d take either.

Instead, I stood, and took two steps to be closer to her. She was a few inches taller than when I’d last seen her, the heeled sandals giving her a bit more height, and my instincts spilled over in the form of a kiss I gave to her cheek.

The grin was still on her face when I pulled back, and I offered her my arm. “Shall we?” I ran a questioning glance at her grandmother, who just returned it with a minute incline of her head.

Sylvie nodded and looked to me sweetly. “Let’s go.”

Sylvie

Orion looked so handsome in his simple jacket and shirt, the dark, earthy colors bringing out the green of his eyes. We both handed our menus to the server, and I stopped myself from running a nervous hand over my hair. I really didn’t want to ruin the bun that’d taken me longer to get right than my makeup and dressing combined. While video chatting with Josie, I’d bemoaned my hair for refusing to be tamed without brute force after she helped me settle on my outfit for the evening.

“Well, that one I think checks all the boxes, so I’d go with it over the top and skirt. Plus your ass looks great in it.” She’d been clicking away at her screen between giving input on the outfit options I modeled for her.

“While I do want to look nice, I’m not trying to give off ‘fuck me on the first date’ vibes.”

Instead of making a snarky comment, Josie turned her full attention to me, eyes uncharacteristically serious. “Is there a reason why not?”

“Well… it’s just been a while, and I don’t want to rush into anything.”

“But you like him.” She framed it as fact, and I nodded. “Why not just let it be known?”

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