Page 32 of Don't Bite the Botanist
“What? The flower?” she asked, glancing back at the chocolate cosmopolitan or whatever Ethan had called it.
“No,” he said quietly. “Your laugh. It’s incredible.”
Her lips curved up into a small, genuine smile. “I got it from my mom,” she told him. “People used to always say we had identical laughs.”
“Yeah, I used to get that with my mom too.” His words werehesitant, but not as sad as she might have expected from him.
“What was she like?” Tressa asked, wanting to know more about the woman who had clearly shaped Ethan’s life. She just hoped it would bring up some happy memories. Despite all her own trauma, thoughts of her mother could still bring her joy most of the time.
Ethan chuckled and continued through the hedges, thankfully in the direction of the exit. Tressa would need more than one bag of blood after spending the morning in the sun, but she’d gladly empty out an entire blood bank if it meant getting to see Ethan in his element.
“Well,” he said with a new lightness in his tone, “if you believe her word, she was a witch.”
Tressa’s eyebrows shot up, and she looped her arm through his once more. “Okay, you have my full attention. Tell me more.”
“Calm down, it’s not quite so exciting as all that,” he said, a hint of teasing to his voice. “I grew up in Seacliff, Oregon, though I doubt you’ve ever heard of it. There was a large community of women there who called themselves witches, but I think they were just really into nature. That’s how I became fascinated with all this.” He waved his hand around at the bushes. “My mom used to teach me about plants and their different properties. I didn’t quite take to the metaphysical side like she did, but I was always curious about the medicinal aspects. I was never given pills or anything as a kid. If my stomach hurt, I didn’t get antacids, my mom just gave me a bit of ginger to chew on. When the summer mosquitos got to me, she would rub the inside of banana peels on the bites instead of using anti-itch creams. It always worked, too, and the older I got, the more intrigued I became by plants.”
“Sounds like she had a huge impact on you.”
Ethan shrugged, his face closing off once more. “Yeah, well, I never knew my dad. My mom said he was a passing fancy who left her withthe best gift ever, and that was all she wanted from him. Don’t ask me why she gave me his last name when I was born, considering she refused to talk about him.”
Tressa bit back the urge to say anything. She already knew his dad wasn’t in the picture since Baylin had relayed that little tidbit after his initial investigation into her mate. She could tell Ethan it would be easy for her cousin to find the man if he wanted, but since it didn’t sound like his father was a happy subject, she opted to leave it be.
“Sounds like your mom did an amazing job raising you all by herself.”
“She did,” Ethan replied somberly. “She was the most important person in my life. Then she died when I was nineteen. It was…” A flash of pain rolled over his face, the deep-seated kind Tressa often saw in the mirror. “It was awful. She suffered for a long time until the cardiomyopathy killed her.” At Tressa’s blank look, he added, “It’s a type of heart disease. Genetic, I guess, since I’d never met a healthier person. It’s why I went into pharmaceuticals. I wanted to make damn sure nobody else lost a loved one for no fucking reason other than their DNA.”
“I think she would be really proud of what you’ve achieved,” Tressa offered, rubbing his arm. The mate sparks had died down to the point that they weren’t distracting, and she couldn’t help but seize any excuse to touch him.
“Yeah, I think so too,” Ethan said, placing his hand over hers. “She was always proud of me.”
Tressa briefly debated whether now would be a good time to press him. She didn’t want to ruin the way he was currently looking at her, or stop the gentle circles he was now massaging into the back of her hand with his thumb, and yet… “Do you think she would be proud of what you’re doing now?” Tressa asked softly. “Hunting down this vampire? Obsessing over revenge?”
Ethan stiffened, and Tressa almost whined when he pulled away from her. “Of course she would,” he said firmly. “She would want that vile creature eliminated, same as me.”
Tressa winced. She wasn’t shocked at his response, but it still hurt. “The one that attacked you, yeah. But you don’t think they’re all evil, right? Because we’ve found evidence that—”
Ethan scoffed, the harsh noise cutting her off. “Please tell me you’re not about to spout some good vampire nonsense again. I already told you, I’m not buying it. I saw that thing. I saw the emptiness in its eyes. There aren’t good ones or bad ones because that would imply they have souls. It’s a monster, Tressa. An abomination. Nothing more.”
Abomination.
The word rang in her ears. Not that she hadn’t heard it before. Over the centuries, she’d dealt with more than her fair share of humans who believed they were all soulless, bloodsucking fiends. She just didn’t think Ethan, a man who was so logical, would have that same closed-minded mentality. Why couldn’t she have met him before Renata attacked?
Tressa hadn’t ever put much thought into what her mate would be like, but the last thing she saw coming was a grumpy pharmaceutical botanist with a vendetta against vampires and a rose tattoo on his ass.
Allowing her frustration to be replaced by the amusing memory of seeing that bright pop of color on his perfect pale butt, she followed after Ethan as he raced toward another plant with deep purple blooms. Obstacles or no, she would do whatever it took to convince Ethan that he was wrong about vampires. There was more to him than logic and hatred, and she would uncover every layer that made up her unique mate. Even it meant spending the morning in the blazing sun being jealous of a damn flower.
Chapter sixteen
Ethan
“That was incredible,” Ethan breathed out, emerging from the garden back onto the expansive lawn. “And we didn’t even get to see all the flowers because several of those breeds are night blooming. Honestly, I could set up a tent and live in there.”
“You’re welcome to visit anytime,” Tressa said, picking up her shoes. “But I think sleeping in a bedroom would be a better idea.”
Ethan reached down for his own sneakers he’d left outside the garden. “Yeah, about that. You have a room for me, right? I feel a little weird crashing in yours.”
Tressa froze with her foot half into her shoe, then let out what he could only describe as the most pitiful laugh in the history of time. “Oh, uh, yeah, of course we have a room for you. You don’t want to share a bed with me…”
