Louisa blinked through her damp eyelashes, her chest still heaving slightly as she tried to comprehend the absolute ease with which he had granted her first condition. Realizing she actually held power in this negotiation, she swallowed the lump in her throat and gathered her courage for the second demand.
"Then... then I want my mother to always stay with me," Louisa whispered, her voice tightening with fierce protective instinct. "You can't separate her from me, and you can't cast her out."
"Whoa, hold on a second," Ethan interrupted, a look of pure, unadulterated amusement washing over his handsome face as he let out a low chuckle. "Your mother left this room entirely on her own two feet, Louisa; I didn't kick her out. If she wants to pull up a chair and watch while I thoroughly breed you, or if she wants to jump into this mattress so I can take you both together, she has my absolute, unconditional approval."
