Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
“People around here need better gossip.” Lorne frowned and sat up straighter. “I don’t care if you want a vanilla mating cake or if Tuesdays are bakery day for Carrick.”
“What the fuck?” Carrick sat up, glaring at both of us. “Now they’re monitoring when I have a fucking muffin?”
Evidently so.
“That’s not the point.” Lorne glared back at the grumpy mage. “We’ll talk privacy once we figure this out.”
He was adorable…and possibly insane because he seemed to be channeling Carrick.
“You’re right.” Taking a deep breath, Carrick studied me like it was his final exam in law school. “It can’t be cars. That’s too obvious and you only own one.”
He was right, so I kept quiet and glanced over at Lorne.
The monkey was still just as thoughtful. “There’s all that diagnostic equipment that does stuff on new cars. But I don’t know if that’s a hoard or just a business expense.”
Oh, that was an interesting idea.
But not correct.
“What about parts? New parts? Used parts?” Lorne looked at Carrick and frowned. “Can someone collect spare parts like some dragons collect cars? Oh, Kenzie said he met a dragon online who said their hoard was wheels. I think someone is lying but I can’t prove it.”
Everything with Lorne just got stranger and stranger.
“It might be Kenzie but I think it’s that dragon he met online. People just like to fuck with Kenzie sometimes because he’s really good at his job and that drives some collectors nuts.” Lorne frowned, completely getting distracted by the story.
It was adorable and even Carrick wanted to smile.
“We have to stay on topic.” Turning back to study me, Carrick’s brows pulled together. “There are no spare parts lying around here.”
Lorne sighed, not quite ready to give up on the idea. “But he’s got his workspace, so he might not bring big parts home. His spare parts there might just be nuts and bolts, and well, I don’t know any car parts but that’s not the point.”
He didn’t know any car parts?
Maybe he just meant small ones?
“How big is the engine?” Lorne cocked his head. “Could that fit in a drawer?”
Carrick just looked at him unblinkingly before shaking his head. “No. That wouldn’t fit.”
Well, at least our mage knew something about cars.
They stared at each other in silence for several long seconds before they both got maniacal grins. Lorne leaned so far over he nearly fell into Carrick’s lap, but the surprisingly cheerful mage caught him and braced our wiggly monkey.
But Lorne was so focused on his idea, he didn’t even giggle as he whispered in Carrick’s ear so quietly I couldn’t even hear what he’d said.
“No, he got those done at a few different studios. The woman at the post office told me.” Carrick’s random information was correct and made me wonder how anyone knew where I’d gotten my art done.
Lorne might’ve sighed, but as the whispering started again, it was all too low for me to catch. I was actually surprised Carrick could understand the words, but when he nodded, I realized our mage must’ve augmented his hearing to be closer to a dragon’s.
Yep, he cheated again.
“Yes, I think that’s the most logical one based on what we’ve seen.” Carrick gave a firm nod and they both turned to me. “We have our answer.”
They were the cutest things ever and both delightfully insane.
“I’m ready to hear your answer.” Honestly, the ideas they’d already thrown out had been interesting but not accurate enough to count.
Their grins were back, but I tried not to smile or laugh, even though it was hard. Lorne gave Carrick a very imperial nod, which seemed to mean the mage was in charge for the presentation. “Tools.”
All I could do was bark out a laugh.
“How did you guess?” It’d always felt like a more practical hoard than anything flashy, so I’d never felt the need to talk about it.
And surprisingly enough, most people never asked.
“I knew it.” Lorne collapsed over both of us, looking like exhaustion had whipped through him. “That was so hard.”
Carrick scoffed but I could see the smile in his eyes. “If you look too tired, he’s going to put you back to bed, not make love to you or let you hump my dick without him feeling guilty.”
And the monkey sprang back up, just enough panic in his eyes to make me want to laugh. “I’m fine. I was just being silly. I don’t need a nap.”
Had that been a good threat because he didn’t like naps or because he didn’t want to risk losing his orgasm?
“You just woke up, but you’re going to fill out my limits list later because I don’t know how to take your reaction.” Somehow, my response made Carrick bark out a laugh.
“He’s dramatic and you worry. He says he was being silly and you find something else to worry about.” Shaking his head, Carrick’s smile got wider. “Lorne’s friends are right. Daddies worry about everything.”