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)
He had bugs.
Wait.
Were beetles bugs?
“At least they’re in a cage?” Carrick’s logic was helpful and made me glad I wasn’t the only one a bit freaked out. “It’s got a spell around it that keeps them from escaping. I can feel it. But don’t worry, I’ll reinforce it.”
“Thank you.”
Bugs.
Lorne had sparkly bugs.
“Aren’t they pretty?” His face lit up as he turned back to us, vibrating with excitement. “They sparkle. They’re so pretty and sweet. You’re going to love Mary. She’s so funny.”
He’d named the bugs.
They had personalities?
“I have questions.”
I wasn’t sure who I was talking to but Carrick snorted. “You’re not the only one.”
Frowning at the rainforest-looking setup, Carrick moved a hand behind my back and gently pushed to inch us forward. “It’s a very well-crafted spell.”
Repeating that was making me feel better, so I was glad he’d mentioned it again.
“And you’re going to make it even better.” I was starting to be very grateful that he was one of the best mages of our generation.
We were going to be living with bugs.
“They’re so pretty, Daddy, right?” Lorne’s excitement was starting to dim. “You said you didn’t have any phobias.”
“It’s not a lion or anything like that.” Carrick’s response had my head bobbing before I could process it.
“And he doesn’t have Nessie in his tub. I was kind of worried about that.” I hadn’t thought about beetles, though. “Did you know bugs came that sparkly?”
They all looked like they had really expensive paint jobs and were almost iridescent. I could see why Lorne liked them and it gave me an idea for what we could do with his car when he wanted it to sparkle again.
But bugs?
“No.” Carrick took a breath before he tried again. “No, I wasn’t aware they came that brightly colored.”
Lorne was studying both of us closely, so I knew we had to do a better job.
“Which…which one is Mary?” That had him perking up again and he pointed to a pretty one on a leaf.
“She’s an asshole and pushes everyone else off the limb she wants.” Lorne laughed like it was adorable. “You’re going to love her.”
No, but I loved him, so that would have to be enough to get us through this.
“I can see why you don’t want to move.” Carrick didn’t touch the enclosure, but he did inch us closer again. “This would be a pain in the ass to move.”
Agreed.
“Yes, and I have a basement for my hoard that would be a pain in the butt to move too.” Lorne was shaking his head as he turned back to watch his…his friends? “But we can make changes. I want to have a Scrooge McDuck vault, please.”
Carrick laughed. “Real gold in that would be too hard to dive into. You’d hurt yourself.”
Or get buried alive.
Lorne shrugged, not worried about reality. “It just needs to look like gold.”
We were going to end up with the strangest house.
“That’s fine then.” Carrick shifted his gaze back to the beetles and seemed to be watching them move around the trees and leaves. “You just want it to look like gold and to be able to dive into it, correct? Nothing else is important?”
“No, that’s it. Oh, and we need to make sure my sex dungeon is down there too.” Lorne started moving around the side of the enclosure, smiling at his bugs and petting on different parts of the glass and mesh structure. “Good girl.”
I wasn’t going to ask about the bugs, but before I could bring up his gold vault, he started chattering again. “Kenzie and Stefan and Alick said that I had to stop pretending you were a dragon and accept you for being a mage. I didn’t realize I was hurting your feelings, but I’ll do better.”
Still wearing his beaming smile, Lorne hurried over to give Carrick a quick peck before going back to his creatures. “So I’m going to ask you to do magey things and I’m going to let you be helpful.”
Carrick was barely holding back a laugh. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Still nearly sparkling with excitement, Lorne decided I need a kiss too and then bounced back to his friends. “If I love you, I have to love all of you. That’s what being mates means.”
Oh.
Carrick blinked before nodding slowly. “That’s right. So you love me and love my magic and I’ll love you and learn to love your beetles.”
How he said that without at least rolling his eyes I’d never know.
“We’re going to love our mage mate lots and let him be a mage, right, Daddy?” Lorne looked at me and frowned, clearly thinking I wasn’t being appropriately enthusiastic about Carrick’s magic.
“Yes, we’re going to love him and his magic, and we’re all going to understand that relationships grow and change.” Eventually I knew I had to promise to love the bugs, but I wasn’t there yet. “And right now, I love my mates more than anything.”