Page 62 of Incurably Cupid

“Huh, I didn’t even know gargoyles could blush,” I remarked, observing my mate’s flustered face.

Mia laughed. “I didn’t either until I met Mesmer, but he’s a sweetie.”

Mesmer, who looked like he could take out a tank and win, blushed deeper and expertly ignored his friend, turning his attention back to the conversation at the other side of the table.

Mia, clearly entertained, laughed at his bashfulness, and I was fascinated by this new side of my mate. I didn’t think cupids could blush; I thought it might be physically impossible for us. I found the fact that my mate blushed adorable but kept my thoughts to myself.

Suddenly, Mordecai blinked in from the ether, standing squarely on the middle of the table with Lady, Mesmer’s enthusiastic dog, in tow. Chaos ensued. Vampires tackled him to the floor while Lady barked furiously, standing on the table right near Mesmer, and growling fiercely at anyone who dared come near him. Mordecai was shouting, “Get off! Get off!” and the ladies sitting in front of me seemed alarmed.

King Draven, however, after a brief and understandable protective reaction toward his wife, sat back down and resumed eating his dinner.

His wife glared at him, but he shrugged. “Look at Mesmer.”

Consort Mia glanced at Mesmer beside me, who was eating just as placidly, and said, “Oh.”

“What does ‘oh’ mean?” Grace asked, keeping a hold on Kazi, the mountain lion, just in case he decided to join in the fun.

Consort Mia shrugged. “Mesmer is incredibly protective of us. If he’s eating, then we have nothing to worry about.”

I laughed as I observed the chaos around me, and then laughed so hard that I had to lean on Mesmer for support when Mordecai started squawking for me to rescue him. I nudged my mate, who, with a long-suffering sigh, got up to talk to thevampires that currently had Mordecai pinned to the floor. They were in the process of cuffing him.

“He’s one of ours.”

The vampires nodded, removed the cuffs, and released Mordecai.

I followed my mate and grinned down at my friend. “You know, before they tackled you, you could have blinked back into the ether,” I said, helping him to his feet.

“I couldn’t think!” he wailed. “Suddenly, massive vampires were tackling me to the ground.” He rubbed his knees. “I think they bruised my knees,” he pouted.

“Why did you bring Lady?” Mesmer asked, holding onto his overzealous dog as she tried to kiss every part of him that she could.

I was worried she would re-open some of his wounds, so I called out, “Lady, sit!” She immediately plunked her butt down on the floor, and I rubbed her fluffy head. “Good girl,” I praised. She grinned at me, her tongue lolling out of her mouth.

“I had to,” Mordecai complained, rubbing her ears. “She stopped eating.”

Sebastian strolled up to us and gave Lady a once-over. “Kazi does too if he's away from me for too long.” He let Lady smell his hand, and when she seemed fine with him, rubbed her nose and behind her ears. “She’s huge. She’s even bigger than Kazi.”

Mesmer chuckled. “Sorry, sir. I’ve never been away from her for very long since I adopted her as a puppy.”

Sebastian waved off Mesmer’s apologies. “It’s no trouble. Maybe Kazi will take a liking to her. He hasn’t had an animal friend in a long while. I think he misses having four-legged companions.”

He turned toward the table and called him. “Kazi.”

Kazi, in typical mountain lion fashion, slunk toward us with sinuous grace. He paused when he came level with his humanand gazed at Lady, who still had her tongue lolling out of her mouth and a happy grin on her face. She didn’t seem to mind a mountain lion less than five paces away from her. She was either a very brave dog or seriously thought she could make friends with everyone.

Sebastian snorted. “I think they have the same personality. Kazi is just cooler about it.”

Mesmer grinned. “Yeah, Lady has no cool and definitely no chill. She wants to be friends with the entire world.”

Sebastian looked down at Kazi. “Do you want to hang out with Lady?”

Kazi looked at Lady again, then seemed to chuff in agreement. “Don’t hurt her, Kazi,” Sebastian warned, and then walked back toward his pregnant wife and his cooling dinner.

“Lady, you okay with Kazi?” Mesmer asked, releasing the clip of her leash, curling it up, and stuffing it into his pocket.

Lady bounded forward and tackled Kazi with a happy yip, kissing him wherever she could inhellosandhow-do-you-dos.

Kazi yowled indignantly and batted Lady gently away from him with soft, claws-sheathed paws. But Lady was undeterred, and finally, Kazi submitted to the indignity, ears pinned back and a patient expression on his face. When Lady stopped kissing him, his ears pricked forward again, and they started romping around the room, both being very gentle with each other.

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