Page 21 of Dewitched

Seeing his mate pout because Owen had to return to his own cabin to get ready had been cute. Being carried there because he didn’t have shoes had been a little embarrassing, but not enough for him to complain. He also hadn’t protested when he had exited the shower to find all of his belongings packed and waiting by the front door.

At least Fenix had thought to leave him a change of clothes out on the bed.

Once he’d dressed in a pair of ripped jeans and a pink hooded sweater, he returned to the bathroom to pack his toiletries and add them to the suitcase. By the time he shoved his socked feet into his favorite worn combat boots, Fenix had returned. Without so much as a perfunctory knock, he pushed the door open, grabbed his bags, and left again.

“Well, okay then,” Owen mumbled as he hurried to follow after him.

“I can’t sleep without you,” Fenix grumbled, slowing his strides to allow him to catch up.

He ducked his head to hide his smile, but he couldn’t resist teasing his mate. “You did it just fine for…how old are you, anyway?”

“Two hundred and nineteen, but I don’t see how that matters.”

“Wow, you’re old.” The words just spilled out before he could stop them, but it was totally worth it to see the look of disgruntlement on the shifter’s face.

“And you’re itching to get your ass reddened.”

“Promises, promises,” he sang. Granted, he’d never had a spanking, but the idea held a certain appeal.

It wasn’t lost on him that two centuries separated them. Because of that, there would be people who protested their relationship. They’d say he and Fenix couldn’t possibly have anything in common. They’d say he was too young, that he didn’t even know what love was.

Those people could fuck right off.

His parents had started dating at fifteen, married at eighteen, and were more in love than ever nearly thirty years later. There had been a lot of people with opinions about their relationship in the beginning, but they hadn’t let the naysayers influence them.

He and Fenix had always been destined to meet, possibly before either of them had been born. If fate was powerful enough to do that, it didn’t make much sense that it would screw up the timing. Besides, as long as neither of them minded the age gap, that was all that mattered, and in a few years, no one would care anymore.

“What are you worrying about?”

Owen blinked, surprised to find himself standing on the front porch of Fenix’s cabin. “Nothing. I’m not worried.”

“Liar.” Cradling the side of his face, Fenix pressed the pad of his thumb right between Owen’s eyes and rubbed gently. “You always get a little wrinkle right here when you’re anxious about something. Tell me.”

“Do you think we’re too different?”

“No, I think we’re just the right amount of different.”

“But other people—”

“I honestly don’t give a fuck what other people think, and you shouldn’t, either.” With an indifferent shrug, he placed Owen’s suitcase inside the cabin, then closed and locked the door. “Now, are you ready to go shopping?”

While he wouldn’t exactly call it a pep talk, Fenix’s easy confidence did make him feel a lot better. Shaking off any lingering doubts, he pulled himself upright and smiled.

“I’m ready.”

Three SUVs for eight people seemed a tad excessive, but then again, he had never traveled with royalty before. He and Fenix had a whole car to themselves as they led the way to Colorado Springs. Seneca and Draven rode behind them with the princess, and the other three Guardians, whom he still hadn’t met, brought up the rear.

“Are you warm enough?” his mate asked as he turned onto the highway.

Owen leaned back in his heated seat with a quiet sigh. “I’m good. I didn’t expect it to be this cold so soon.”

“This isn’t cold,” Fenix responded with a chuckle.

“It is when you’re from Arizona.”

Temperatures in the mid-sixties might not be a big deal to locals, but Arizona had still been experiencing triple digits when he’d left Tucson. As they headed deeper into fall, the nights would, of course, become colder, but it just hit different in the desert than in the mountains.

“Point taken.” Fenix laughed again. “So, what do you do there? Are you in university?”

---