Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“But then you needed to break the curse,” Vasily chimed in. “Now all the mages are trying to get their hands on you and what’s in that brilliant brain of yours. New mates need alone time.”
A low, happy hum rose from Amaru, and he squeezed Vasily a little tighter. “Alone time is very needed.”
They’d gotten several corridors away from the crowd. Vasily stopped and placed Amaru on his feet just outside their door. The mage had been in the clan house for less than a day, explored countless rooms, but they hadn’t taken him to their apartment yet. This was special. It was what they hoped would be Amaru’s coming home for the first time.
“What’s this?” Amaru asked as he looked around the long corridor decorated with bright art and vases filled with flowers.
“Home,” Luka murmured. He nodded toward the door in front of them and a nearly ear-shattering squeal erupted from Amaru a heartbeat before he lunged for the door, throwing it open.
With his heart in his throat, Vasily followed Amaru inside with Luka. The mage zipped from room to room, flopping on the sofa only to bounce to his feet a second later to turn on the TV and touch every gadget he saw. The mage might have drooled a little at Luka’s collection of world history, folklore, and mythology books.
“What’s this?” Amaru held up one of the gaming system controllers.
“That…is going to be a hell of a lot of fun.” Vasily chuckled. “It’s a controller for playing video games on the TV.” He had little doubt their techno geek was going to enjoy video games.
They continued on through the rooms until they reached an empty one. “We cleared this one out for you,” Vasily said as he stepped inside behind Amaru. “You’ll have your own workspace in the mages’ wing to work and experiment, but we thought you might want your own place to tinker with things while you’re relaxing at home.”
Amaru threw himself at Vasily and Luka, clutching them tightly. “You both understand me so well. This is amazing! And I promise that you can come in here anytime you want, and I won’t neglect my mates.”
Vasily lowered his face into Amaru’s hair, nuzzling him. “We just want you to be happy.”
The mage cackled and stepped free of them. “I was in heaven camping in a tent next to a lake with my two dragons. Living here with you is going to be double heaven with a side of chocolate.”
Luka nodded and took Amaru’s hand. “I can accept that.”
He led their mate to the bedroom, which required much bouncing and flopping to test out the worthiness of the mattress.
Amaru stuck two thumbs into the air. “You’re right. This bed is better than the hotel one. I am willing to test it with sex. In the name of science.”
“We appreciate your sacrifice,” Vasily drawled, winning a cheeky grin from both of his mates. “We also cleared space for you in the closet for your clothes.”
“Pfft,” Amaru scoffed from where he was still starfished across the entire bed. “You keep trying to get me out of Luka’s clothes. I’d wear yours too if I didn’t drown in them.”
“Yes, but we thought you’d want your own,” Luka said. “Besides, your section is between my clothes and Vasily’s. That way your clothes will smell like both of us.”
Amaru thrust one hand into the air. “That makes sense. Let’s go with that plan.”
Stretching out on the bed alongside Amaru, Vasily placed a hand on the mage’s flat stomach. His dragon was purring. Both of his mates were in the nest and safe. He wanted nothing else in the world. “So, do you like your new home?”
“I do. I love it!” Amaru had barely finished speaking when he sat up, lines crisscrossing his brows as he looked around. “Wait a minute. This is the entire place?”
“Yeah. What’s wrong?” Luka asked as he came to sit on the edge of the mattress.
“It can’t be. You haven’t shown me your hoards yet.”
Vasily shared a smile with Luka as he rubbed his chin with one hand. “Actually, there’s only one hoard now.”
“Vasily and I combined our hoards about a century ago. Seemed silly after a while to keep them separate.”
Amaru was practically vibrating out of his skin. “Can I see it? Please! We’re mates now. You know you can show it to me. I’d never share it with anyone else. I’ll always keep your secret.”
“Of course.” Luka laughed. As if they would even think about not showing their hoard to their mate. The idea was ridiculous.
Still smiling, Luka rose to his feet and walked over to a bare expanse of wall and lifted a hidden panel. He pressed his hand to the biometric reader and Amaru gasped when a doorway opened out of the wall.
“What?! You have a secret panel and a secret room!”