His Reluctant Luna

Ch 1 - A Family Dinner

ATTENTION RADISH READERS! Please don't leave any spoilers in here or you'll be getting a spanking from Iona. Or Kole. Or Konnor. Whoever you'd prefer. 😘

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Okay, where in the back arse of bum fuck nowhere was I?

I wound down the deserted country road in my rust bucket Honda. The peering lodgepole pines looming in the night made me feel like I was at the start of a bad horror film. But what did I expect? A tourist heading to an unknown location in the middle of the woods? Woods that the townspeople believed was home to a rabid beast?

If I get kidnapped it's my own damn fault.

I'd put the address Kara had given me into my GPS but my signal had died fifteen minutes ago. Still, I had a rough idea of which way I was supposed to go. She'd told me her folks place was off the beaten track and damn, she wasn't kidding.

Just as I was about to turn around and backtrack until I got a signal and could call her for directions, suddenly, the road opened up and I found myself pulling into a clearing. My jaw dropped as a stunning ranch style house came into view.

I pulled up outside the natural stone building and switched the engine off, relieved I wasn't late. I stared out at the house, mentally gearing myself up for an evening of small talk with strangers.

Why had I agreed to this?

Well, partly because I never said no to a free meal, but mostly because Kara was a sweet person who had gone to great lengths to track me down. After all her effort, saying no to dinner was a level of rude beyond even me. So now here I was, about to enter my least favourite kind of event – a family dinner.

I climbed out of my car, scooping up the lily bouquet I'd brought with me. My boots crunched on the gravel as I walked, my jeans and leather jacket protecting me from the cool wind sifting through the air.

I could hear faint voices inside, music, laughter, the sound of a happy family. It was a sound familiar yet alien to me. A sound I was too used to hearing from the other side of a door but never experienced in the flesh.

I took a deep breath and knocked. Immediately the door was flung open and there was Kara, looking a lot more put together than the last time I'd seen her. Her dress was blush pink and light.

"Iona! I'm so happy you made it!" She must have been freezing but that didn't stop her stepping out into the night to embrace me. I stiffened as her arms came around me and gave her an awkward pat on the back, the lily's getting squashed between us. "Oh!" She gasped, pulling back, "are these for me?"

"Uh...Sure." Technically, they were for the host but this worked too. I didn't like to show up at a family's home empty handed. Even as a child I'd always made a thank you card for when I was taken to each new place. She scooped up the flowers and pulled me inside.

"Come in! My family are so excited to meet you." She spun, her nut brown hair flying as she led me through the house. The interior was a beautiful mix of rustic and contemporary. I felt thoroughly underdressed. I pasted on my best smile and followed Kara into the sitting room. It was a vast space, all rich mahogany woodwork, white oak flooring and exposed cliff stone. I tried not to gawp. It was beautiful. As were the four people staring at me.

"Iona, these are my parents." Kara gestured towards the older couple. A woman I presumed was her Mother approached me first, sharp, dark eyes appraising me. Her greying hair cut to brush her shoulders, her body looked strong under a simple wrap dress.