Page 71 of The Forsaken Heir
“Can I sit down?” I said, gesturing toward the couch.
“Fine, fine, let’s havethetalk,” Delphine said.
“Are you serious, Delphine?” I said, flopping on the seat. “Really? I know tab A goes into slot B.”
She gave me a stern look as she sat beside me. “Don’t be a smart-ass. Were you careful? That’s what I mean.”
Careful?
“Uh, yeah, I guess.”
She heaved out a sigh. “Well,thatdoesn’t put my mind at ease.”
“Oh, come on, Delphine. Shifters don’t carry sexually transmitted diseases, I’m on birth control, and even if that fails, I doubt a dragon can impregnate a wolf. Even if I don’t have an inner wolf, we’re still kinda like different species. How much safer can it get?”
“I wouldn’t be sure about that. I’ve heard of shifter crossbreeds before,” she said, sounding affronted.
“Really?” I scoffed, narrowing my eyes at her. “Name one.”
She opened her mouth, paused, then closed it and pressed her lips together in a tight line. “I can’t think of any at the moment,” she said, shaking her head and sounding flustered.
“Because there aren’t any. That’s an old wives’ tale. Rumors and stories, nothing more.”
She straightened her spine. “Forget the sex, then. The physical stuff can take a backseat. What aboutyou?How do youfeelabout it?”
That was a much more difficult question. The lust and sensuality had taken center stage. It had been an outlet for the stress of the last couple weeks. There had been emotion was there, sure, but it hadn’t been discussed at all. Aurelius and I had skirted around each other for over two weeks, both wanting to get closer, but each of us too nervous or uncomfortable to give voice to what we were both thinking. I hadn’t said anything because I was a noble outcast, with no chance at bedding a prince. For him… Well, I had no ideawhatAurelius had been thinking. He was powerful, charming, gorgeous, rich, and sexy. Though, those were mostly outward things. Even the biggest, baddest person could still have insecurities. Had he really thought I’d turn him down? Or had he held off approaching me because I was an outcast? Could the heir to the dragon throne risk being tied to me?
Delphine snapped her fingers in front of my face, and I blinked.
“Elle, you’re zoning out.” She wrinkled her nose. “Oh, you aren’t thinking about what you did?—”
“No. It’s not that.”
“Well, what is it?” She put her hand on my thigh. “Is it more than physical? Are you developing feelings for Aurelius?”
Licking my lips nervously, I looked into Delphine’s eyes, trying to tell the truth, but I couldn’t. Ididthink I was falling for him, but I didn’t know how to verbalize that.
Reading in my face what I couldn’t say out loud, Delphine smiled sadly, and a mixture of emotions washed across her face in quick succession. Happiness, pity, sadness, worry, then back to happiness.
“This isverycomplicated,” she finally said, squeezing my knee with her hand.
“You can say that again,” I muttered. “It’s probablytoocomplicated. He’s a prince, and I’m nobody.”
“Don’t say that,” Delphine said, that motherly and chastising tone creeping into her voice. “You arenotnobody.”
“Yeah,” I said, though I wasn’t sure I agreed with her.
“I don’t like you talking about yourself like that.”
“Like what?” I asked, forcing myself to look at her.
Delphine smoothed out her pants, avoiding my eyes. “The way…” she sighed. “The way your family talks about you. It’s awful and derogatory, and I don’t want my girl thinking of herself like that.” She finally looked up at me. “The prince obviously sees something he likes. Something that’s worth his time.”
Her words drew me out of the hole of self-pity I’d burrowed into. “I guess that’s true,” I admitted, then leaned forward, lowering my voice conspiratorially. “Did you see how everyone was looking at us when we danced?Lotsof the dragon ladies looked jealous. Jealous ofme.” I pressed my palm to my chest. I could still hardly believe it.
“It was hard to miss,” she said, then shrugged and blew out a breath. “It could make your life difficult, though. A wolf with a dragon? Even for a short time, it could make things rough.”
“I really don’t see the harm, Delphine. It’s just a little fun between two consenting adults. Nothing will probably come of it. We’ll probably fu—uh,hang outa few more times before all this blows over. Then I’ll go back to my life, he’ll go back to his, and maybe we’ll keep in touch on social media or something. He’ll end up betrothed to some high-ranking noblewoman, and that will be that. We’ll both have some fun memories of us sowing our wild oats together.”
