Page 80 of Lessons with the Mothman

Elias's head tipped, and his eyelids sank suggestively. "No, you usually aren't."

"This place is…unimaginable," Hannah whispered to me, distracting me from Elias's innuendo.

"He gave you the full tour?" I asked her as Elias turned back to his friends.

She nodded. "He started leading us here, but then Khell was asking about original finials and we had to start over from the front door."

"Believe it or not, I think he's a little shy of showing it off," I answered in a low tone. Elias flashed me a glare.

"He does seem…giddy," Hannah noted.

"Okay, no, I'm drawing the line at a string quartet," Rafe called. "I don't have the budget for that, anyway."

Elias crossed his arms. "One cello.I'llpay."

"We only have a month. I don't think I can really do your vision justice in that amount of time. I do have other ongoing commissions," Khell said, but I caught the way he started eyeing the space.

"I have some pieces in my storage unit we could look at repurposing," Elias said.

"Storage unit?" I echoed.

Rafe held up his hands, stopping Elias before he could continue. There was a tense moment of quiet, where both their wings spread slightly open, their stares challenging one another. Hannah's head tilted where she stood at my side, eyes narrowing speculatively, like she was gauging the threat Elias posed to Rafe.

"I need to see the kitchen," Rafe said, surprisingly imperious. "I won't know if this will work until I've seen what you have to support my culinary skills."

Hannah's lips twitched and she relaxed, twisting back to me. "Did we interrupt your work plans? Elias told us to come by for a quick meeting about the dinner club, but Rafe will keep him in the kitchen for another hour at least," Hannah said.

"Not today," I said, and she didn't press me further.

In fact, I was here because Elias had sent me a cryptic email reminding me it was time for my "annual check-up." I had a sneaking suspicion that somewhere in the house was a staged doctor's office. Which would hopefully be leftoffany tour he might be offering his friends.

Investigatingthe kitchen became marveling at the unstocked pantry, which led to an interrogation about Elias's eating habits that resulted in the whole group of us going up to Elias's personal apartment. Elias remained more or less silent as his friends peeked around the comfortable space, but his hand slid into mine behind our backs.

"I made that bench," Khell said, pointing to the beautiful hardwood bench inside the door, where Elias's shoes were lined up below.

"Yes."

"These are some of Sunny's pieces," Rafe mentioned. He pointed up at the wall, and Khell spun and marched over to examine the artwork.

"I ordered some," Elias said, with carefully simple answers.

"I like your style," Hannah said, and Elias straightened with a hint of a smile.

"I can't know if the kitchen downstairs will work unless I try cooking in it," Rafe said at last.

Elias shrugged. "So cook in it."

And so the evening became an impromptu dinner party. Khell called his human mate, Sunny, while Hannah and Rafe pressed Elias to include three others in the invitation—another werewolf named Theo, his human wife, Natalie, and their son, Emmett. My head spun with new names and a web of acquaintanceship. Elias introduced me in relation to my study but was freely touching me when we passed near.

In spite of my previous claim to Elias that our connection wasn't solely about sex, it became clear to me that we'd never spent so long in each other's company before without sex as the topic or activity. He was surprisingly stiff with his friends, like he'd held himself apart from them for so long that he wasn't sure how to invite them closer.

They had no such concerns.

"I could do some amazing portrait work here," Sunny declared as Elias focused on mixing us drinks. He glanced up, nodding for her to continue. "You have great natural light, and all the different styles of rooms…just saying."

"Any time you like," Elias said easily. "I could get you a key made so you can come and go."

"Thiswouldbe a great event space. Weddings or parties. Even a more upscale vacation rental," Natalie continued. Elias had unearthed a massive set of vintage blocks from a "toy room" that her son was determinedly building a cityscape out of on the checkerboard kitchen floor.

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