Chapter 40

                                    

                                          
Ethan followed Mila out of the apartment and opened the car door for her before climbing in himself. "Ready?"
"Yeah," she said softly and smiled at him. "That was a nice lunch."
He laughed. "Yes it was." At least some of the edge was taken off, for now. But the sexual tension between them was building. 
She reached over and took his hand in hers, and Ethan smiled. He felt better now than he had that morning, more relaxed and calmer. He'd needed that, he realized. Needed the intimacy between them.
His brother glanced up at him when he walked in. Did you get laid on your lunch?
Ethan glanced at him and shook his head. Not long enough. But my need to mark her is the worst it's been since I've laid eyes on her. I've been obsessing about it all morning.
Isaac looked at him in concern. Because of what happened yesterday?
And our discussion last night about everything. I was very uncertain there for a while. There wasn't much he didn't tell Isaac. It took her a few hours to decide. Very LONG hours.
Are you good for now?
I have to be. Ethan sighed. He didn't have a choice. Not until she was completely ready. The sooner Isaac told Riley, the better for all of them. It would give Mila someone else to talk to about everything besides him. Another human who was basically in the same position as herself, except that Riley already knew about his world. Riley just didn't know about Regal Eclipse and all that entailed. Yet.
He helped Mila with the house plant order that came in, getting joy out of her delight in each plant. It wasn't difficult to figure out which one was the one Riley had mentioned earlier, as Mila went wild over it. It was kind of a cool looking plant, with holes in its leaves and green and white coloring. Then he saw the price tag and his eyes widened in shock. He could understand now why she was hesitant to buy it. But if it made her happy, he didn't care. He loved seeing her face light up when she looked at it. "Get it, Mila."
"I can't afford to. Maybe once we get settled in Pennsylvania and I have a job and a regular income. Then I can think about it. Are we going to have to pay rent?" She looked up at him thoughtfully and he wondered if she was calculating if she could actually afford the plant. 
"No there's no rent. We're building a house and we don't need to worry about rent. We'll own it. It'll be ours," he reassured her.
"Yeah but will we have like a mortgage?" she asked. 
He could see her working this all out in her mind. He wondered what it was going to be like when he could feel her emotions. "No we won't have a mortgage. We'll pay cash for the house."
"Can we afford to do that?" She was biting her lip now, worry creasing her brow, as she looked down.
He lifted an eyebrow at her. "Yeah we can afford to do that." Pack funds always paid for new homes. It wasn't a big deal at all.
"Ethan, I don't want you to think that I can't pay my own way. I don't want to be a freeloader," she said softly, looking up at him.
Her? Never. She was always thinking ahead about stuff like that. "I don't think that, Mila. However I really don't care if you get a job or not. Well I kind of do because I'd rather you were home but as your mate, I will provide for you. I'd really like you to be a pack liaison with me and travel around the world."
"Would that be okay?"
He watched her face light up and he smiled. "Yeah it'd be fine."
"What will your parents think of me?" She looked back down.
He laughed. "You mean like if you don't get a job?"
"Yeah I don't want them thinking I'm freeloading off of you."
He wanted to laugh at that, but he didn't because she genuinely had no idea. His father would actually probably think it odd if she got a job. He knew his father would want her to be with him. He fully understood that bond and how difficult it was for them to be apart. "They're not likely to think that. My dad is an excellent businessman. He's made enough wise investing decisions over the years to keep my family well off forever." Literally. And it wasn't just him. His grandfather had too. Both the pack and his family were in excellent shape. 
"So you want me to just travel the world with you and visit other werewolf packs."
"Yeah I'd be perfectly fine with that. Buy you all the plants that your little heart desires." He smiled at her. "We can go anywhere you want, Mila. Anywhere you'd like to see or visit. We can do it."
She just stared at him for a long moment, seeming to take all of that in, and he realized she was coming to terms with the fact that she wasn't going to have to worry about a job, or money for that matter. It drove him a bit nuts that she basically had nothing now and he could easily provide for her, but they had to get to that point when she would accept that from him. She was a bit stubborn.
"And you can plant all the plants you want at our house once we build it. You can have a garden if you want. Flower beds. Whatever you want. Mila." Maybe he could build her a greenhouse. That was an interesting idea. He could imagine her spending hours out there.
She still was staring at him, not saying a word, her mouth open a bit as she took in everything he was saying.
"And you can help me design our house.If you want like a sunroom or whatever we can do that." He already had some ideas in mind, but he wanted to see what she wanted. He was also trying to think of a location.
"This just feels so unreal," she finally said softly, turning away from him.
"Well it's real," he responded with a grin. He'd give her whatever she wanted.
"So I can get this monstera?" She finally asked, turning back to him.
"Yeah, Mila get the plant. It'll be the start of your new collection."
"Thank you so much." She sat the plant down, then stepped forward and wrapped her arm around him, hugging him tightly.
He smiled at her delight as he wrapped his arms around her. If that's all it took to make her that happy he'd buy her a million plants.
His thoughts went to marking her again, as he realized how badly he wanted to feel her emotions and what she was feeling with all of this. It had to be a bit overwhelming, but he wanted to reassure her that everything was going to be fine. He'd take care of her, and she didn't need to worry about anything.
She finally stepped back and looked up at him, and he saw a bit of the tension she'd been carrying for the last week dissipate. She turned her attention back to the plants, and he kept his solely focused on her. His need to mark her wasn't quite as strong now as it had been this morning, and he hoped it stayed that way for a while. But the sooner they could get home and she was turned, the better. It would give him some peace of mind.