Dragos Takes a Holiday (Elder Races #6.5)(11)

His gaze was too keen and filled with understanding. He rubbed her back. “I wouldn’t trade this past year away for anything, but it’s still been hard on us.”

She leaned back against his strong frame, and he wrapped his arms around both her and the baby. “I wouldn’t trade it away for anything either.”

“Things will get easier, I promise.” He rested his cheek on the top of her head. “As soon as all of the sentinels are back at work, let’s go upstate and stay for a couple of months.”

“Are you sure you can take the time away from the city?” She rested her head against his chest, and he stroked her hair.

“Yes. We’ll need to make plans for renovations and building, but we can take things at our own pace and go as slow as we like. If there’s an emergency and I have to work, I’ll make sure it takes no more than twenty-five hours a week. Kris has been my assistant for so long, he should be able to handle most things. We can take Liam hiking. It will be a real, extended break. How does that sound?”

She had to clear her throat before she could speak again. “I would truly love that.”

“I would too.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Consider it a date.”

“Okay.” She turned her head toward him, and he nuzzled her.

The baby stirred in her arms, and Liam lifted his sleep-blurred face to look around. His round eyes and soft, open mouth reflected his astonishment at the change in venue. Pia grinned. The last time Liam knew, they had been on the plane.

“Okay, Peanut, time to show you around. Then you get to play with Aunt Eva and Uncle Hugh while I change into fresh clothes, and Mommy and Daddy go out to eat.”

“Do you want an upscale restaurant, or a beachside tavern?” Dragos asked. “Because if you want upscale, I have to turn my phone back on again to make a reservation.”

She didn’t hesitate. “Ooh, beachside, please!”

He grinned. “That’s what I thought you’d say, which is why I had already turned it off.”

She stood on tiptoe to kiss him. “You know me so well.”

He put a hand at the back of her head and held her in place as he returned her kiss lingeringly, setting her body on a slow burn.

“Get ready.” His voice was so low it was barely more than a vibration against her lips.

Feeling intoxicated, she nodded as he let her go. She caught the heavy-lidded slant of his glance as he turned away, and she knew he hadn’t been talking about their dinner.

Chapter Four

Pia showed Liam the house, along with his room with the crib, his clothes and toys. She knew from past experience that it would be easier to leave him once he saw where he was, and she was right. He didn’t fuss when she handed him over to Eva.

Dragos left the master bedroom and bath to her and carried a change of clothes and his toiletry kit into one of the other bathrooms. Pia opened windows, and the sound of the nearby surf washed in.

She hummed as she shaved her legs and washed her hair. After blow-drying her hair, she chose to leave it down and loose. She slipped on a simple, dark blue sheath dress that ended at mid-thigh and flat, silver sandals that complemented her slender feet and legs. She spent the most time on her makeup, enhancing her eyes with a dark, smoky eye shadow and stroking a cranberry-colored lipstick on her lips.

Wearing such rich colors brought an extra sheen out of her thick, light gold hair and made the most of her tan. After she was finished, she stared at herself. Anticipation made her eyes sparkle.

“Look at you,” she whispered at the bright, vivid creature in the mirror. “You look happy.”

Happy. A year ago she wasn’t sure she knew what the word meant.

Sure, in a lot of ways the last year had been hard. Aside from all the other challenges she and Dragos had faced, she still wasn’t completely accepted by the Wyr community, and while the peanut had gone a long way to softening everybody’s heart, criticism about her unrevealed Wyr form continued to be harsh.

Despite that, her life was pretty damn close to perfect. She had more than she had ever dreamed she could have. She had a husband and mate who adored her with a kind of ferocity that should have been scary but somehow wasn’t, and she had the most precious son imaginable. She had friends, good friends, and while they weren’t close, even Aryal had abandoned her antagonism toward Pia.

A sudden, superstitious fear chilled her skin. She was too happy.

Happiness this intense couldn’t last. Something was bound to happen.

As soon as she had the thought, she clenched her fists and shoved it away. So what if something happened? Something always happened. When it did, she and Dragos would face it as a team, just like they had everything else over the past year. They could handle anything life gave them as long as they were together.

She could handle anything, except for losing either Dragos or Liam.

Angry at herself for letting baseless fear ruin her happy mood, she dragged a brush through her hair one last time, slipped a few things into a small silver purse with a chain-link strap and left the bedroom.

As she walked down the hall, she heard high-pitched baby squeals. In the living room, Dragos tossed Liam into the air and caught him. Liam was giggling so hard his face was almost purple. Nearby, Hugh and Eva lounged on couches, their faces creased with laughter as they watched the pair.

Pia started chuckling too. Liam’s paroxysm of delight was simply too infectious to resist. As she walked into the living room, she said, “If it were anybody else doing that…”