Page 88 of Potions & Prejudice
“Hey.” Elspeth cupped my face with her hand, forcing me to look at her. “This is a learning experience. I’ve had an entire lifetime of raising my sisters. You just got Georgie a year ago. It’s going to take time to learn her moods, needs, wants. Don’t be so hard on yourself, Draven.”
I couldn’t help it. Georgie deserved better, much better than a brother who couldn’t even put his sister above a stupid mug spell. I sat up and reached for my trousers.
Elspeth stopped me, putting a hand on my arm. “What do you think you’re doing?” she asked.
My cock stirred at the heated look in her gaze. “I thought we had to go?”
She lifted up the skirts of her dress and swung a leg over my waist, straddling me, pressing herself right against the tip of my cock.
“I think we could probably spare a few minutes.”
“A few?” I asked, and she laughed, then rubbed herself against me, a groan escaping me at the feel of her slipping up and down my cock “Fuck.” I gripped her hips with my hands. “You’ve cast a spell on me,” I said.
Something flashed in her eyes, gone so quickly I thought I might have imagined it.
“Maybe,” she said, “but at least it’s a good spell.” She lifted herself up, then slid over my cock, both of us moaning.
“The best,” I rasped out as she started rocking back and forth, and soon all thoughts of the tavern, of Georgie, fled my mind until I could no longer think at all.
Thirty-Seven
DRAVEN
I’d never imagined one month could go by so quickly and somehow be so blissfully perfect. One month of Elspeth Moonflower in my bed, in my tavern, in my life. One month and I’d never been so sure of anything as I was Elspeth. I just wished I knew if she felt the same.
“Let me guess,” Georgie said from next to me as we walked through the market. “We’re going to be stopping for some soup?”
“Well, how else can Draven make moon eyes over Elspeth if we don’t?” Edgar asked from Georgie’s shoulder.
I rolled my eyes, already regretting bringing these two with me today. “I heard they have a new soup today: cheddar garlic potato.”
Georgie’s eyes widened. “That sounds amazing.”
“I agree,” Edgar said. “We are stopping for soup, right?”
“Yes,” I grumbled. “And what do you know about moon eyes and Elspeth?” I shot a look between Edgar and Georgie.
Elspeth and I might have been seeing each other nearly every day, but that didn’t mean anyone else knew about us. We’d been careful. Discreet. Always meeting at my manor or our spot, away from prying eyes. Elspeth had insisted on it, said she didn’t want others to ruin what we had. I wasn’t sure how anyone knowing could ruin what wasbetween us, but I also wanted to respect Elspeth’s boundaries, her reasons. I trusted that she’d open up to me when she was ready.
“You stare at her every time she comes into the tavern,” Georgie said. “Could you be any more obvious? Just ask her out already.” Georgie nudged me playfully.
“You should.” Edgar tilted his head. “Otherwise all that staring is just going to come across as creepy.”
“No, Elspeth makes the same moon eyes at him,” Georgie said. “They’re very into each other.”
I elbowed my younger sister, which only made her giggle.
Elspeth wasn’t the only one I’d spent more time with over the last month. I’d also been making more of an effort with Georgie, working less and adventuring more with her. Elspeth had been right. Not that I felt like admitting that to her—she’d have far too much fun gloating. But Georgie had gotten in a lot less trouble over the last month. She’d also been spending more time with Elspeth and her sisters.
I was trying, but it still didn’t feel like enough. It was starting to feel like maybe I was the one who’d run away after our parents’ death, that coming to Thistlegrove was more for me than it had been for Georgie. I wasn’t sure she could thrive here, and the thought nagged me daily. I wanted what was best for Georgie, and I was starting to doubt that I was it.
We approached the little soup stand, a long line stretching from it. Elspeth caught my eye from behind the table where she stood and flashed me a grin.
Fuck, I’d give anything to pull her away into the forest and take her right up against a tree. A gust of cold wind blew, and Georgie shivered.
“You didn’t bring your shawl?” I asked.
She looked at me like I was an idiot. “I don’t have one.”
