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)
Carrick had finally reached that decision too because our phones dinged with text messages within a second of each other.
Help.
Yep, he’d reached his limit for what he was going to put up with.
They’re all too stupid to live so I’m just going to take care of the problem.
When we got that message, we both started walking faster. I wasn’t sure where to start to fix things but Lorne didn’t have that problem.
Our distractible monkey raised one finger and laid into everyone in line. “What do you think you’re doing? This isn’t good manners at all and it isn’t smart either.”
He wasn’t wrong, so I decided I was backup and just let him keep going.
“I’m going to fix it so no one’s gardens ever grow again and you don’t know what I’m going to do to the mail around here.” That was directed at our current postmaster, who was at the head of the line. “I’ll make sure every one of you gets jinxed so you never find what you’re looking for.”
Judging by his expression, he seemed to think they were all lacking a few key brain cells for good decision-making. “Do we piss off mages? No. They won’t just eat you—they’ll play with their food before conjuring a fucking dinosaur to eat you. Think, people. Now go home and stop torturing my mate before I let him get angry.”
Lorne was creative when he was pissed and it all seemed just plausible enough that several of the people in line wandered off muttering something about gossip not being worth getting eaten.
Even several of the mages in line were looking at the house like they were trying to decide exactly how powerful Carrick was.
That was probably a good question that I should’ve asked sooner.
Of course, Lorne’s shooing motion and frustrated glare might’ve helped them decide that the potential gossip wasn’t worth it either. So it didn’t take long before the line had cleared out and he marched right into Carrick’s house like he owned the place.
Hmm, he probably thought he did.
That thought made me smile and Lorne’s fiery defense of his frustrated mate wasn’t helping me keep a straight face either.
They were both completely adorable.
Carrick was sitting in his living room, obviously trying to behave as two older ladies who could’ve been any of our great-grandparents puttered around his living room. They were debating where to hide a listening device.
Great dragons above.
“This is not good manners.” Lorne seemed to have decided that being polite wouldn’t get us anywhere. “We do not plant listening devices and you two clearly need to turn your hearing aids up because you’re not being quiet at all.”
As Lorne turned to glare at Mrs. Ellison, the woman who was perched on the couch like she was getting ready for tea, she smiled as she ignored the chaos her friends were causing. “I’m getting a will done.”
Did she think that was believable?
“Bullshit.” He wagged one finger at her. “I did the appraisals for your last will six months ago and if you’re not careful, I’m going to tell your daughter-in-law what you did.”
What had she done?
Mrs. Ellison huffed and frowned at him. She’d been a day care teacher a thousand years ago and had been pretty good at it. “Young man, that’s just not—”
Lorne cut her off with one word. “Pearls.”
And she immediately stopped talking.
She gave him another huff before rising. “Fine. Girls, I’m sure we have other errands to run.”
They all made snotty little sounds before marching out like we were in some kind of movie. It was actually funny, but I knew better than to point that out while Carrick was still radiating anger. He did a good job of holding it in until the door slammed, however.
When we were finally alone, he clenched his teeth together and started mumbling. “An hour. They were the fifth group to come in and try to either bug my house or just drive me insane or both. I was polite, though.”
I wasn’t sure if we needed to praise him or explain that he didn’t need to be polite, but Lorne didn’t have that problem. He just plopped himself down on his Master’s lap and curled into him. “That’s okay, Papa. I’ll eat them if they’re mean to you again.”
Oh, Papa was it.
Carrick barked out a laugh, shaking his head as he leaned back against his chair and pulled Lorne closer to him. “Those three would probably give you indigestion.”
Lorne nodded, taking the comment seriously. “They’d probably be bony and stringy too, but I’d suffer to make you happy, Papa.”
The Papa part was definitely to manipulate his angry Dom, but I approved since it was making Carrick cuddly and was quickly draining his frustration. He even kissed Lorne’s head as he let out a deep breath. “I appreciate that, sweet boy.”
And we were out of the danger zone.