Page 180 of A Fate of Blood and Magic
She blew him a kiss. I sat on the other side of the couch and patted my lap. She arched her brows in response.
“Lie down,” I said.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not lying down.”
“You’re supposed to be on bed rest, but I haven’t seen you in bed once since this morning.”
“Really?” She put her hands on her hips, making me grin. “Brent, do me a favor and take my mate to the tavern.”
“Why am I being punished for his bad behavior?” Brenton asked as he stared at a potato with a knife in his hand.
“My company is punishment?” I asked.
Teddy crawled to me and, with a satisfied smile on her face, rested her head on my lap. “The worst kind of punishment.”
Her gaze held mine, and for a few beats, I was lost to the sea of blue watching me.
Before Kieren and Aidas could join Hee-haw on the other couch, I asked, “Do you boys mind going out to get us some food?”
“Feel free to tell him no, Aidas.” Teddy yawned. “Until he learns some manners and treats you nicer.”
One side of his mouth tipped up in a half smile. “I don’t feel comfortable with that, Mama Teddy.”
“What goes good with fries?”Kieren asked.
“Burgers,”Teddy said with a sleepy smile.
“The burgers Alastor brought back were incredible,” Aidas said.
“Grab us some chicken from the diner in Somnio.” Just so she’d gift me with my favorite smile, I told Aidas, “Why don’t you stop at the bakery and get yourself a box of fruit bombs?”
She looked up at me, and there it was. That perfect smile that I could stare at for days.
Before Aidas or Kieren could bend space and leave, I asked them to hand me the book Ryenne had sent for Teddy. I read the back summary and laughed at the ridiculousness I was about to read. When I opened it to the first page, Teddy wound her arm around my thigh as if to hug me closer to her.
“‘Life happens in the blink of an eye,’”I started reading.“‘Decisions, whether they’re thought out or the split-second kind, change things. Sometimes they change everything. You don’t know until you’ve lived it, and I’m about to live out my greatest fantasy. Not wanting to reveal my true nature, I hold on to my magic as Brad, my company’s bookkeeper, slides his slick cock between the folds of my legs. ‘Yes, there,’ I moan, appreciating the full length and girth of him as he fills me and slams my back against the copy machine.’”
I stopped to stare at Teddy when she started giggling.
“You can’t stop there,” Teddy said through another fit of giggles.
“Yeah, Elias,” Brenton said from the kitchen.
I looked over at him to see he’dfigured out how to cut the potatoes into what looked to be the correct size. He poured oil from the jug Evander had sent with him and turned one of the burners on.
“I want to know more about Brad and his width and girth,” he said, shooting me a wink.
Teddy laughed harder.
Guardians, I drank in that sound. I’d read her a thousand more books, just as absurd as this one, if only to hear it over and over again. So I reopened the book and continued.
Chapter
Thirty-Six
ELIAS
At the three-day mark,Hayden again took us to our appointment with Leah in Somnio. Although there weren’t as many injured fae as there were from the first three compounds, the few at the clinic were in far worse condition than I imagined, while much of the rebuilding seemed to have come to a halt.
