Page 141 of Enchanted

What I walked in on had me stopping in my tracks.

Ethan’s back was against the headboard, Quill sat between his legs, head hanging low. In my mate’s hands was a comb. He was talking about someone called Fraser as he gently worked the knots out of Quill’s hair.

“I do feel bad for him,” Ethan was saying, “out of all the chief stews, he really seems to have had the shittest luck in terms of his interior team.”

“He’s very entertaining to watch.” Quill’s voice was barely audible. “Hot, too.”

“That he is,” Ethan said, continuing to work the comb through Quill’s matted locks. “Not my type, obviously, but I can see the appeal.”

Quill looked up, his gaze settling on me, and his lips lifted into what was almost a smirk. “Yeah. I can see that.”

I winked at him. “I can’t help it if I’ve ruined Ethan for all other men.”

“He’s so humble too,” Ethan muttered, but his smile told me he didn’t mind. “But he’s brought us supplies, so I guess he can be forgiven.”

“You don’t have to stay, Ethan,” Quill murmured, his gaze dropping back to the duvet. “You guys are newly mated. I bet there’s a million things you’d rather be doing right now.”

Was that Ethan’s heart aching, or my own? I supposed it didn’t matter now. They were one and the same.

“No,” Ethan said firmly as I nodded in agreement. “The only thing I have to do right now is rewatch season three of Below Deck. We both need the chaos of Rocky to recover from today.”

Quill gave a weak chuckle. “Chaos is the right word.”

“I’ll leave you to it,” I said, leaning past Quill to kiss Ethan’s cheek. “Text me if you need anything, okay?”

“You don’t have to leave,” Quill said. “I don’t mind if you stay.”

The lines around his mouth and the stiffness in his shoulders told a different story. “Nah, it’s all good. I need to debrief with the Seraphim about today anyway. You two enjoy your Below Deck marathon and cereal, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Quill’s shoulders sagged in relief. I met Ethan’s eyes behind him, and the love that shone there had me weak in the knees.

Thank you, he mouthed.

I blew him a kiss before stepping out of the room and closing the door.

As I left my Ethan with another on our first night as mates, there was a lightness in my chest. Without a doubt, I knew I was doing the right thing. Ethan was exactly where he needed to be, and I’d be here when he was ready.

Chapter 39

Ethan

After getting Quill settled on his video call with Dr. Tyler, I let myself out of the front door. I’d shot a text to Rami telling him I was going to walk to his, but I strongly suspected he’d appear before I got too far.

What I wasn’t expecting was for him to drop from the sky before I’d even taken a single step.

“Jiminy fucking cricket,” I cried, clutching at my chest as I glared up at Rami. “You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“Sorry.” He grinned, not looking anything of the sort. “Is this a good time to point out that you technically can’t have a heart attack now?”

“Tell that to my pulse, because it’s currently trying to beat out of my neck,” I muttered before sighing and going up on my toes. “Hi.”

“Morning.” He kissed me. “I didn’t mean to scare you; I was just too excited to wait.”

“How’d you get here so fast?”

“Technically, I was already here. Have you not been up to the roof yet? There’s a little garden up there.”

I stared at him. “Please tell me you didn’t spend the entire night sat on the roof.”