by Anna Durand
"We can't have sex now."
His lips kinked into a devilish smirk. "But I can finish you off."
"There's no time. Your family—"
My voice died the instant he shoved his hand between my folds and plunged three fingers inside me, pumping hard and fast. He stretched his thumb up to rub my hard nub.
And I came. Just like that. My back arched, my mouth fell open, and my entire body went rigid for a split second before the climax pulsated deep inside me and stole my breath. I clenched the sheets.
Damian covered my open mouth with his, silencing the single sharp cry that burst out of me.
"There," he said, "you're all done."
He jumped off the bed, grabbed my dress, and tossed it at me.
"Are you kidding me?" I asked. "You can't give me an orgasm, then take me out there to meet your mother."
"Get dressed, Heidi. She'll be here any second."
He didn't sound or look panicked. The idea of his mom finding us in flagrante didn't seem to bother him at all. I felt a little shaky, but that might've been from the climax I'd experienced seconds ago. It had been like a bomb exploding inside my body.
I got dressed.
So did Damian, and he found a hairbrush for me too. At least my hair wouldn't flash like a neon sign announcing, "Just got fucked by a hot gypsy." My dress was a little rumpled, that was all.
He gave me a quick kiss. "You look beautiful, baby."
"You're full of it, but your bullshit is sweet."
The door burst inward.
A dark-haired woman stood on the second step, her mouth tight. Her gaze locked onto Damian, then swerved to me. She lifted one perfectly plucked brow, staring at me for a second or two before zeroing her attention in on Damian again. "Bună ziua, fiu. Are you going to introduce us?"
"Mamă," Damian said, "you can't barge in like you own the place. It's my wagon, not yours."
"If my boy has taken up with a sallow blonde, it's my responsibility to make sure he's not in over his head."
"You're being rude, Mamă. Heidi is my girlfriend, and she's not sallow."
The woman stepped into the wagon and marched straight to me. "Scuze, child, but I need to speak with my son alone."
Damian slung an arm around my shoulders. "No, you don't. Since you haven't bothered to ask, this is Heidi Mackenzie. We're dating. I like her, a lot, and you are not chasing her away."
The woman scanned me up and down, then offered her hand to me. While she shook it, she said, "I am Monica Petrescu, royal seer of the Ludar and divine conduit to the spirit world."
"Cut the crap, Mom," Damian said, though he didn't sound angry.
I leaned in close to him and whispered, "I thought your mother's name was Ileana."
"No, that's her stage name when she's doing her shtick for the neighbors."
His mother shouted over her shoulder, "Adrian, what in heaven's name are you doing out there? Come meet the foreigner our son has taken up with."
A man with salt-and-pepper hair mounted the steps, halting at the threshold. He smiled when he saw Damian. "Hey, kiddo, what's up? Is this your new girl? She's a looker, for sure."
Monica Petrescu shook her head, her lips ticking up into a faint smile. "Introduce yourself, dear."
The man climbed into the wagon and offered me his hand. "Adrian Petrescu. I'm not a royal anything or a conduit, and neither is my wife."
"It's nice to meet you," I said as we shook hands.
Adrian glanced at his wife. "She doesn't sound foreign to me."
Monica huffed. "She is clearly not Ludar. Her skin is so pale."
"Stefan's wife isn't Ludar either. We love her anyway."
Damian tightened his arm around my shoulders, and I let him tug me closer.
This was going to be one doozy of a day.
Chapter Eighteen
Damian
I could've wasted hours on trying to convince my mother that Heidi was not a foreigner just because she didn't have Ludar ancestry. Mom loved to trot out the Romanian phrases whenever I introduced her to a girl. How many Ludar women were there in the world? Probably not that many these days, at least not many who knew they were Ludar. There weren't exactly hordes of Rom of any ilk these days.
Heidi took it all in stride despite Mom's attempts to unsettle her. She might've looked a touch anxious now and then, but I stayed close to offer silent support. I also provided vocal support when my mother got too involved in her gypsy royalty routine.
Like when she waved a hand in a grand gesture and said, "Give me your hand, child. I need to read the lines and determine whether you are the right woman for my boy."
"Stop that, Mom," I said. "It's up to me to decide if Heidi is the right woman. Besides, I've already given her a palm reading, and it told me she has a beautiful heart. That's all I need to know."
Mom squinted at Heidi, roving her gaze over my girlfriend like she was checking for signs of demonic possession. "All right. If you read her, then I accept your assessment. Provisionally."
"Gee, thanks, Mom." Yeah, there was sarcasm in that statement. I loved my mother, but she seriously needed an editor to review every word she wanted to speak before she spoke it.
We all climbed out of the wagon.
My brother and his wife were waiting nearby, and they hurried over to us.
Before my mom could speak again, I barged in. "Heidi, this is my brother, Stefan, and his wife, Emily. Where are the kids, Stef?"
"We left them with Emily's parents. This sounded like an adults-only reunion, and I'm not talking about the nudist thing."
He threw a meaningful glance toward our mother.
Yeah, we both knew she was going to keep harassing Heidi, all in the name of protecting her full-grown son who knew how to take care of himself.
Stefan shook Heidi's hand, then looked at me. "Wow, you hit it outta the park this time, didn't you? This girl's wicked hot."
"And also a very nice person and very smart," I said pointedly.
My brother grinned. "You must have it bad. Should we start thinking about wedding dates?"
"No," our mother said. "I have not fully approved her yet."
I sighed. "Mom, you don't get to pick my girlfriends anymore. I haven't let you do that since I was fifteen, and we both know why."
Stefan chuckled. "Yeah, Mom only wanted us to date Ludar girls, but the only ones she could find had buck teeth and hairy moles on their faces, or they dressed like vampires." He glanced at my clothes, his brows lifting. "Guess you're into that now, though, huh? Does Heidi bite your neck, or do you bite hers?"
I rolled my eyes.
"Damian looks good in black," Heidi said. "But he dresses that way strictly for the tourists. The rest of the time, he wears a uniform."
"Uniform?" Stefan said, looking way too pleased about that. "Thought you quit the prison-guard thing so you could get away from that stuff."
"No, I quit to get away from the prison."
Heidi, who was standing next to me, slipped her arm around mine and leaned in to whisper, "Sorry. I didn't know the uniform thing was a secret."
"It's not, but I hadn't mentioned it to my family yet."
"Maybe we should show them your pilot project."
Would that appease my mother? Probably not, but it might distract her for a while. My mom wasn't an evil queen, but I knew she'd keep up the act for as long as possible to see how Heidi reacted.
"Okay," I said, "let's do it."
Heidi kissed my cheek.
Mom raked her assessing gaze over Heidi from head to toe. "Is her dress on backwards?"
I probably growled. "Mom, cut it out."
Heidi's dress was wrinkled and not exactly on straight, but it wasn't backwards.
My mother harrumphed, but then something past my shoulder caught her attention. Her expression brightened. "There's my darling Ollie. I have to say hello to that dear boy. Scuze."
She march
ed toward Ollie with Dad trailing after her.
"Don't worry about Mom," Stefan said to Heidi. "She's testing you, that's all. As long as you don't run away screaming or whack her with a baseball bat, you'll do fine."
"Thanks," Heidi said, sounding less than convinced.
"Ignore my brother," I said. "He's on strong meds to keep him from seeing leprechauns under every tree."
"Not leprechauns," Stefan said. "Vampires. I have erotic hallucinations about a sexy female vamp sucking on my…" He glanced down at his groin. "Neck."
"I don't think your 'neck' is big enough for anybody to suck on it."
Stefan threw an arm around his wife and hugged her close. "Oh wait, it wasn't a vampire. It's Emily who likes to sink her teeth into me."
Heidi smiled and laughed. "Guess naughtiness runs in the family, huh?"
I glanced at Mom and Ollie to see her holding his head with both hands and kissing his cheeks. Dad slapped Ollie's arm. Mom dragged Mara into a bear hug, then performed some kind of made-up gypsy blessing by waving her hands and tipping her head up.
Yeah, Mom loved to do that. It was part of her "Ileana the Gypsy Queen" act. Why she needed a stage name, I had no idea. When I was ten, I asked her. She told me she was "building the fantasy" for the neighbors and other people who asked her to entertain them at parties.
And people thought I was a show-off.
Well, I must have inherited it from Mom.
My parents came back over to us, and I led them all into the guest house to show them their rooms. Heidi rushed off to change clothes, but when she rejoined us, she stayed right by my side and didn't seem disquieted at all by my mom's antics.
Since her change of heart happened after we had sex, I could've convinced myself I was just that good in bed. Sure, I was good. But sex with me had never cured a woman of her insecurities. The first time I'd met Heidi, she had been a vivacious, carefree girl who loved to go nude and play miniten. Then she'd embarrassed herself with Ollie and, combined with all the times she'd forgiven her cheating ass of an ex, she'd lost her self-confidence.
Maybe screwing me hadn't cured her, but the time we'd spent getting to know each other must have played a part in her ongoing transformation. It was more like a return to her true self. She didn't need to change, just to get back to that carefree, fun girl she'd once been.
After my family got settled in, Heidi and I took them out to the pilot project. While we petted the horses and talked about my plans for horseback nature tours, Mom gradually let go of her haughty act and turned back into a semi-normal person. Like me, she could never quite be normal—and like me, she didn't want to be. But Mom started smiling and joking with the rest of us, so I knew she wouldn't harass Heidi too much more.
My family might have surprised me with their visit and their early arrival, but nobody surprised me more than Heidi. When Georgie nuzzled her cheek, she not only didn't freak, but she kissed his nose too and scratched under his chin. She also started a conversation with my mother, and they talked about everything from horses to palm reading to embarrassing stories from my childhood. Heidi told her own childhood stories, but she left out the stuff about her parents being such dicks.
I didn't blame her for omitting that.
Not once did Heidi seem anxious. I hadn't seen her this relaxed and outgoing since that day months ago when I'd first seen her.
Watching Heidi with my family, I got a strange pain in my chest. Her eyes sparkled in the sun, and whenever she smiled, I swore the entire world got brighter. I wanted to pull her into my arms and just hold her.
Was I falling for Heidi Mackenzie? I didn't know, but the idea that I might have been didn't bother me at all.
Chapter Nineteen
Heidi
At first, Damian's mom had seemed like a tough cookie who would rather spit at me and curse me to become a toad than call me "sweetie" and hug me. She hadn't done the latter yet, but she hadn't done the former either. That seemed like a good sign.
Monica Petrescu was a performer, like her son, though she played up the magic aspect while Damian relied more on sex appeal. They shared the same charisma and charm, though. I liked seeing him through the lens of his family. It showed me different sides to him that I might not have noticed otherwise and proved to me that he wasn't patient and sweet with only me. He treated his family the same way, even when he was a touch frustrated with his mom's antics.
I liked Monica, but I wasn't sure if she liked me until she cornered me in the hallway of the guest house. Since it was lunchtime, Damian had escorted us to the dining hall, but his mom waylaid me. Damian saw it and raised his eyebrows at me, like he was asking if I needed help. I smiled, and he seemed to get the picture that I could handle his mom.
Compared to my parents, the Petrescus were the perfect mom and dad.
Once the others had disappeared into the dining hall, Monica faced me. "You are not Ludar."
"No, I'm an average American girl."
She squinted at me. "My son doesn't know it yet, but he's in love with you."
Damian in love with me? I kind of doubted that. Sure, we liked each other—a lot—but love seemed like a giant leap. Being with Damian made me feel more like myself than I had in years, since before I hooked up with a cheating loser. Damian would never cheat on me. I had no facts to back up that belief, but I trusted him so much more than I'd trusted any other man in my entire life. I loved being with him, and I loved the way he made me feel, but I had no idea if I might fall for him.
Even if I did, I shouldn't let Damian feel that way about me. After meeting his family, I realized exactly how screwed up mine was. I couldn't drag him into my mess of a life. He deserved happiness and love, but I didn't know if I could give him that, or if my family would drain it out of him.
What if I was too screwed up to save? Damned by my parents' toxic relationship?
"I like Damian a lot," I said to Monica. "He's a great guy. But I think it's too early to start talking about love, especially with his mother. That's something he and I need to talk about, alone. No offense."
"I'm not offended, dear." She took my hand, turning it over so the palm faced up. Head down, she ran her fingers over the lines on my palm. "I like you, Heidi, but I can't give your relationship with Damian my blessing until I've spent more time with you."
"My relationship with him is something Damian and I should discuss without anyone else involved. I hope you and I can be friends, but honestly, the only person whose opinion matters to me is Damian."
She peered up at me, her head still bowed. "Your lines tell me a lot about you, but what you've said tells me even more."
My mouth had gotten dry, and I couldn't think of any response. What had I said? I wasn't sure which words that came out of my mouth had told her what she needed to know.
She clasped my hand in both of hers and met my gaze. "Your loyalty and spirit are a comfort to me."
Monica released my hand, then walked into the dining hall.
What on earth had she been talking about? I had no idea what our conversation had proved to her. Maybe she'd been reading my palm, and that had comforted her. Whatever.
I wandered into the dining hall, to the table where the Petrescus had gathered. The only empty seat was right next to Damian, so I sat down there.
Damian laid his hand on my thigh and murmured, "Mom saved that seat for you."
"What?"
"Stefan wanted to sit there, but she told him to move his ass. Well, she told him to 'relocate your derriere,' but it's the same thing. She wanted you to sit beside me." He squeezed my thigh, aiming his sweet smile at me. "Mom likes you."
"Oh. I'm glad."
"But not as much as I like you."
Warmth blossomed in my chest, blooming outward until it suffused my entire body. It wasn't lust, though. This feeling stemmed from something softer and sweeter, something that touched a part of me no one had ever managed to touch before. How did Damian alwa
ys know the right thing to say? How did he pull off being arrogant and dirty but tender and caring too? The contradictions somehow made sense because he was…Damian.
I didn't get a chance to respond to what he'd said. His brother started talking to him, and I enjoyed listening to their banter. They loved to tease each other, but underneath the sarcasm, I could tell they loved each other. They loved their parents too, and Monica and Adrian adored their sons.
My parents had worried more about whose fault this or that was than about whether I had a happy childhood.
A lump hardened in my throat.
But then Damian squeezed my thigh again, flashing me his heart-melting smile, and I forgot to worry about the past.
Everyone chatted during lunch, with lots of good-natured teasing and laughter thrown in too, but I couldn't make myself get as involved in the conversation as I used to do. Maybe the old me would come back eventually, or maybe that version of me had been an illusion. Recent events had made me gun shy about pretty much everything, so I probably shouldn't condemn myself as a lost cause until I'd recovered from my own mistakes and come to terms with my opposite-of-perfect family.
Damian kept squeezing my thigh occasionally and giving me supportive smiles. Tender smiles. The kind that made my tummy flutter.
I couldn't help smiling at him too. Whenever our eyes met, our lips curved up. I wondered if he felt the same chest tightness and tummy flutters every time we looked at each other. I hadn't spent much time around Damian until this week, yet I'd started to feel like I'd known him forever. Which was crazy. But it felt too good to fight it.
After lunch, as we exited the dining hall, Damian pulled me aside and waited for everyone else to file out of the building. They were headed for the lawn where Eve and Val had arranged to hold a soccer match. Once they had all departed, Damian grasped my hands and tugged me closer, our bodies almost touching.
"I need to have you all to myself," he said, "at least for a while. Family time is great, but we're still figuring out this thing between us, and having everybody else hanging around makes that more difficult."
