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)
Monroe sighed as he reached for the pajama pants that were covered in brightly colored cars. It matched the top but I wasn’t sure it was Lorne enough.
“Third, we need to make sure you can hang around his friends without trying to magey any of them.” Monroe looked serious, but he squeaked like he saw a mouse as I tweaked Lorne’s pajamas just slightly.
It only took a second for him to find his gumption and glare at me as Lorne awwed over his now sparkly cars. “If that glitter comes off, you’re a dead mage.”
He was so sexy when he was irrationally Daddying.
“I’m the best mage of this generation.” They had to stop forgetting that fact. “My glitter doesn’t fall off.”
“Sparklies.” Lorne was looking down and petting the cars on his shirt. “I so pretty.”
My cars were pretty.
He was insane and adorable.
His Daddy was sexy and just as insane…and just as easily distractible because he sighed and smiled at Lorne as soon as he saw our excited monkey. “Yes, you are very sparkly and pretty.”
And I was badass…and now just as hungry as Monroe.
It was time to get our list ironed out and for me to make dinner. I was already getting a bit tired of moving houses every night, so we were going to figure out how to make the monkey’s Daddy happy before I lost my mind.
Or worse, before I turned into Lorne and started losing my wallet.
Wait. Had I seen his wallet lately?
Fuck.
Chapter 25
Monroe
“Milk or water?” Yawning wasn’t a good answer but it showed how tired he was and that I’d been right for starting his bedtime routine earlier than Lorne had thought was reasonable.
He held up three fingers.
That wasn’t a good answer either, so I waited until he’d stopped yawning. “I…three…I…”
Lorne frowned then walked into me and crashed into my chest. “Uppies.”
Yes, someone was too tired to walk, much less vote on what to drink.
Setting his bottle down on the counter, I picked up the tired monkey and patted his diapered bottom. “Let’s do water and then we’ll have waffles for breakfast.”
There was really no connection between the two things, but I didn’t want him going to bed with milk or whatever he was asking for sitting on his teeth and it seemed like a good distraction. Lorne patted my chest and then stuck his thumb in his mouth, clearly done with even one-word answers.
Carrick was watching from the doorway to the kitchen, trying not to laugh. “You don’t have enough hands.”
He was a genius.
Walking in, he shook his head. “I won’t offer to give you extras. You’d both just worry I’d f—mess it up.”
Carrick’s near slip of the tongue wasn’t enough to even make Lorne giggle, so I knew he was exhausted. The fact that he just waved at his grumpy mage only reinforced it.
“We know what a wonderful mage you are.” How was I going to walk away from this discussion with only two arms? “I just think there are more practical ways we could use your skills.”
Please let that be enough to keep me from having to volunteer to get more limbs.
Lorne’s wave turned into a bid for attention and he even took his thumb out of his mouth for a moment, saving the day for his Daddy. “Think. Smart. Fun.”
Um.
“Yes, we’ll think about a fun way to use Papa’s special skills.” When Lorne stuck his thumb back in his mouth, I knew I’d at least come close to guessing what he’d meant.
I thought we were saved, but as Carrick filled up the bottle with water from the fridge, the look on his face was frightening.
He’d taken it as a challenge.
Dragons above…save me from stubborn mages.
I wasn’t ready to ask what was going through his head, so I focused back on our sleepy boy, who’d gone suspiciously boneless. “Should we cuddle on the bed?”
Lorne shook his head and made a stubborn grunt that made Carrick grin.
Okay, time for a different angle.
“The bed has enough space for all of us to cuddle together?” Making a soft, thinking hum, I shrugged as the bottom under my hand got slightly warmer. “But if you don’t want Papa to cuddle with you too…”
Bingo.
His soft grunt was clearly capitulation, so I jerked my head toward the back of the house as Carrick’s grin got wider. My glare made it clear that I’d kill him if he got Lorne riled up again, but the frustrating mage just shrugged and tried to look like he had no idea what I was so grumpy about.
He got a thrill from driving everyone insane.
But he was my mate, so the only thing I could do was drive him crazy too.
“Will you grab another diaper from the bag?” And our cranky mate’s eyes went wide. “I want him dry before bed.”
Lorne snickered, obviously knowing that his magey mate hadn’t been expecting that. But there wasn’t any tension in Lorne’s body and nothing that I could feel from him said he was unhappy. He knew his mage was very new at the Daddy side of domination, and he seemed to get a kick out of it.