Page 19 of Into the Dawn
“Get out here and ask her yourself, fool.”
All he heard was his brother’s snort of laughter in response.
“Wow, you really are solid muscle.” The female squeezed his bicep. “Hmm, nice. Kylie is a lucky girl.”
Ronan was struck speechless.
Were all females on Earth this brazen?
“What I meant before was how is her appetite? Did she sleep through the night, or has she just been dozing on and off? I haven’t been around for a few days since I had to go out of town, but I wanted to drop by as soon as I got back to make sure she’s been doing okay. She’s so stubborn when it comes to accepting help. It makes me feel better knowing you’ve been here taking care of her. I know my mama dropped by a few days ago to check on her. Did you meet my mama? Of course, not. She definitely would have said something if she had gotten a load of you.”
Ronan was about to respond but stopped himself when she started speaking again. Apparently, none of her questions actually required answers.
“By the way, I’m Layla Ross, Kylie’s best friend and next-door neighbor. Well, it’s not exactly next door since our houses are so dang far away, but our properties are right next to one another. My mama, Abby, is Kylie’s manager. Has been since she started singing. Mama also worked with Kylie’s parents before, well, you know. Oh, and my daddy produces all of Kylie’s music.” She barely paused for a breath before she added, “And you are?”
“He is Ronan, and I am his better looking brother, Dominic.”
Ronan shot his brother a look where he was leaning against one of the columns on the porch. He had known Dom was there, but of course his brother wanted to make an entrance by saying something outlandish. Since their faces were identical, his claim was utter nonsense.
“Oh my, twins!” Layla gasped, clapping her hands together in delight. “This is certainly unexpected. Then again, with all of those reverse harem books she’s been reading, maybe it’s not so surprising.”
Ronan shared a confused look with his brother before saying, “Reverse harem?”
“You know, stories about one woman who falls in love with multiple men and they all live happily ever after together? It’s a really popular theme in the romance genre.” She paused to glance between them. “Or is she just dating one of you?”
“Nay, it is both of us,” Dominic confirmed.
When Ronan shot him a look, his brother shrugged.
“What? You can tell the strange female we are absconding with our mate, but I cannot say we are both courting her?”
Since he had a point, Ronan didn’t bother responding.
Taking mental note of the reverse harem concept, he was pleased at the thought that Kylie might willingly accept them without getting upset over having two mates. Of course, that didn’t reduce the need for them to put forth an effort to court her properly. She deserved to be showered with praise and lavished with attention. They would prove to her exactly how much she meant to them, and they would do their very best to ensure that she never regretted the decision to leave her home world.
Dominic moved down the front steps and came to a stop next to his brother as the female opened the back hatch of the vehicle. Once he saw there was no threat inside, he slid the small knife he’d palmed back into his vest. He had removed his sword before stepping outside, but he’d left his knives on him.
His curiosity had drawn him outside, but he’d made sure to check the perimeter first to ensure no one else was attempting to approach the property without their knowledge. He could never be too careful when it came to their mate’s safety, but there was no point in scaring the female. He enjoyed the female’s sass and could see she had brought a lot of gifts for his mate.
That made him like her even more.
The visiting female’s unconcerned attitude about their presence was highly unusual, and her sheer delight at discovering they were twins who were there to take her friend away was even more puzzling.
“Is this normal human behavior?”Dominic asked through their bond.
“I do not think so,”Ronan said, sounding just as perplexed.
She reached into the back of the vehicle but turned around again without touching anything. Slumping back against the vehicle, she heaved out a loud breath. “I’m sorry. I thought I was handling this well, but my curiosity is killing me. I have to ask, are you vampires or something? No, that can’t be right. You don’t have fangs and the sun is not turning you into crispy critters, so you can’t be.”
Ronan shook his head. “Nay, we are not vampires.”
Thankfully, Silas had already explained what those creatures were. The god had also taken care of hiding their fangs, but something had obviously tipped her off about them not being human.
“You obviously know we are…different.” He cocked his head to the side as he studied her. “Why are you not afraid of us?”
“Oh, I am. At first, I was fucking terrified. Pardon my language,” she said with a weak laugh. “But I figured you could have hacked me to pieces with your sword the moment I arrived if you wanted to.”
“You do not need to worry,” Dominic assured her. “We will not harm you as long as you pose no threat to our mate.”
