Penny & Her Heru Ch 10

Rent-A-Witch: Whynot Coven

10 - Meet Your Parents?

I shook off the tingling sensation that always lingered after stepping through a mirror portal, unfortunately, I couldn't shake off the gnawing sense of irritation that had been with me since I left Heru on the sidewalk this morning.

Padma handed me a glass of water with a smile. "I wasn't expecting you till six o'clock. Couldn't stay away from your male?"

It was tempting to say something snarky to the apprentice gatekeeper, but I didn't. I’d be seeing a lot of her over the next two weeks, and it would just make things difficult if she didn't like me.

"Something like that." I signed the logbook on the counter. "Would it be a problem if Heru goes there and back with me every day?"

I pretended not to notice the way she rolled her lips to hide a smile. "Nope. That wouldn't be a problem. I can add him to the list. You will just go on weekdays, right?"

I nodded and picked up a bag that landed in front of the mirror and set it on the counter for her. "I'm not sure if he is going to go every day, but I want to plan for the possibility."

Padma checked the tag hanging on the bag before adding it to the log and setting it on the counter behind her. "I get it. Trust me. When Ming found me, I was living in Dubai. We took a lot of portal trips back and forth while we were courting."

I stopped halfway to the door and turned back around. "How does someone go from Dubai to living in Whynot?"

Padma just smiled. "That is a story for a different day. Pretty sure you won't have time to appreciate it in a second."

I tilted my head in confusion. I'd gotten back to Whynot three hours before Heru was expecting me. No one but her knew I was in town. Why wouldn't I have time to listen?

Before I could ask the ball of emotions in my chest went from a dull thrum to a throbbing mess. Padma called 'See you in the morning' at the same time Heru strode through the front door.

"How did you know I was back early?"

Instead of answering he scooped me into his arms and buried his face in my neck. I hung in the air stunned for a moment before I wrapped my legs around his waist and buried my hands in his hair. The chaotic throbbing in my chest moved south at the feeling of him pressed against me in all the best ways.

In that moment the last bit of resistance I was holding onto was smashed like an overripe grape in a wine press. My soul clearly wanted his as much as my body did. It didn't matter that living in a small sanctuary wasn't in my plan. He proved today he’d let me go wherever I needed to as long as I came back to him, and with a Gatehouse in Whynot I could go anywhere in the world I wanted to without having to step foot in an airport. Heck, I could go to other worlds using the cloth doors rumored to be in the basement below our feet if I found my way down there.

A grin spread across my face when Heru murmured something against my neck that I couldn't make out. I tugged on his horns until he looked me in the eye. "What was that?"

"I missed you." He brushed a soft kiss against my lips. "It was harder than I thought it would be." Another kiss. "I'll do it every day though."

"I'd planned to ask you later, but I might as well do it now." I bit my lip. "Do you want to go with me to work every day?"

Heru bounced my bottom in his hands to adjust my position. "Would you like me to?"

"Yeah." I nodded, making sure to rub my nose against his just because I could. "Nora would like you to go with me too. She suggested it around lunch, and then pretty much told me to bring you tomorrow as I was leaving. Turns out I wasn't my normal sparkling self today."

A bark of laughter escaped him. "I see."

"Hey!" I tugged his horns. "Are you saying you were able to go about your day like nothing was the matter? You were perfectly fine with me across the country?"

His eyes flashed red as a low growl vibrated against my chest. "I've been sitting in the bar across the street for the last four hours. My uncle tossed me out of the clan office this morning."

It was my turn to bury my face in his neck. The fact he had as much trouble being apart as I did made me ridiculously happy. It was tempting to tell him I'd made up my mind, but I didn't want to do it in the lobby of the Gatehouse where anyone could walk through and gawk at us.

Heru reluctantly put my feet on the floor when I wiggled my hips. "Did you talk to Darla about me staying at Pink House?"

"Yeah. You are good as long as you want to stay there. She said she'll talk to you about a job when you get a minute." He snagged my hand and headed for the door. "I also talked to my parents. They want to meet you when you're ready."

I nodded as I followed him out the door. Of course, his parents would want to meet me. They probably met me yesterday at the wedding not realizing their son would claim me. "We can knock that out today if you want."

I slammed into Heru's wings when he stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk. I put on my best poker face when he slowly turned around to study my face.

"You're ready to meet my parents?"

"Technically I already met them at Bea's ceremony. This would just be saying hello to people I already know." I shrugged trying to look as nonchalant as possible.

His eyebrows dipped as he turned to face me completely. "Just saying hello?”

I nodded and fluttered my eyelashes, trying to keep my face as straight as possible. I tucked my hands in my jeans pockets when Heru unconsciously rubbed the center of his chest in the same spot I felt our bond. The longer he studied me while gently rubbing his chest with an adorable frown on his face the harder it was to keep my poker face. I lost it when his tail started flicking against his ankles in agitation. That tail was going to be the death of me.

"Ok fine." I threw my hands in the air as dramatically as I could. "I want to meet your parents. I want to see your house; though I'm gonna tell you right now if you have just open balconies like Bea fell from in Venn's house you should go ahead and call Toolbelt so he can put in railings."

His tail flicked back and forth like a mad cat, "You want railings?"

"That is what you got out of all that?" It was my turn to scowl. "I tell you that I'm choosing you and you get stuck on the fact that I don’t want to fall to my death on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night?"

One second, I was building up to a speech about priorities and the next I was in his arms pressed against his chest as his wings formed a shield around us. Heru plundered my mouth while his tail stroked my thighs and bottom. For a split second, I worried about the fact we were making out in the middle of the street in downtown Whynot. The thought flew from my head when his fangs grazed my bottom lip.

He rested his forehead against mine when someone cleared their throat.

"You two love birds need to move along. I hear the cops are cracking down on making out in the middle of downtown.”

"Cyrus, don't you have a waitress to harass?"

Instead of letting me down when I wiggled, Heru tightened his grip. "Don't move Dove."

"We can't just stand like this forever," I whispered near his ear hoping his friend couldn't hear me. "I think it's time for you to give me that tour of your death trap."

Heru pressed a kiss against my forehead before letting me slide down the length of his body – which did nothing but stroke the fire he'd started. His friend from the cafe stood six feet away with a big grin on his face.

"Don't grin, you look like you're going to eat villagers." Heru glared at his friend before tucking me under his arm and leading me past the minotaur – who did kind of look like he was going to eat someone.

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