Page 122 of A Luna's Dynasty
Lita turned and looked at Grayson. She knew he just wanted to keep her safe, but smothering her wasn’t the answer. Honestly, they were both being a bit stubborn. She couldn’t help but feel bad when she saw the vulnerability in his eyes and heard it in his voice.
“Yes, I think we need to talk about earlier. Grayson, I know your job is to keep me safe, but I have a job, too. I sometimes take risks unnecessarily, I’ll give you that. However, the time will come when I have to fight. I have too much strength to be hidden away, so let’s work something out. I’ll try not to take unnecessary risks, and you’ll be understanding and stand by me when I do need to fight.”
Grayson nodded his head after seeing Asher nodding in agreement as well. “Lita, I want you to know something. I know I’m overprotective of you, but you’re all I have. You and Asherare my family. Guardians don’t have families of their own so that their loyalties lie only with the royal family. I don’t have anyone else, not even a pack to return to. If something were to happen to you two, there would be no point for me.”
Hearing this broke Lita’s heart. She felt it stir Asher’s, too. At that moment, she understood him better. If something were to happen to Asher, she would still be surrounded by her pack, and she also had the fairy kingdom. All Grayson had was them. However, she wanted to make sure he knew something. Both she and Asher wanted him to know this.
“You know, the Black Ice Pack is your pack now. I want you to look at the pack as your home. If something was ever to happen to both of us, you belong there. They would also need your strength. Just something to remember. You wouldn’t have to return to the fairy kingdom. You could stay here. Grayson, you’re our family. From now on, you’ll be considered a brother to us. And when the day comes, you can be our children’s Uncle Grayson.” Lita hugged Grayson tightly while Asher came and patted him on the back. “Of course, you know, the closer you are to someone, the more likely you are to fight. Just because we fight doesn’t mean you should think the world is ending,” Lita teased, tapping Grayson’s chest.
“In his defense, I feel the same way when we fight, Lita. I always regret this temper I have, because it gets me in trouble. But it's worse when it's with you, because I'm left without my air." Asher put out a fake, pouty lip toward Lita.
“Smooth. I bet you tell all the ladies that.” Lita tucked herself into Asher’s side, and he draped his arm around her shoulder. She felt his lips brush against her head. In that moment, Lita felt that she really could take on anything with the special group of people she had surrounded herself with. She couldn’t imagine going back to how life was before. Her life had been incredibly lonely. She loved her new family and her strong pack. Whateverdestiny had in store, she was certain they would overcome it. She wouldn’t borrow trouble from tomorrow, though; she was going to live right here, in the present—she would make memories and seize life. No longer would she miss out. She looked up at her two overprotective animals. She loved them both dearly and couldn’t imagine her life without them. “Who wants to take me to the bumper cars?”
“You sure you want to do that? I’ll show you no mercy.” Grayson flashed his bright smile toward her.
“Oh? You aren’t going to go all knight on me and protect my car from getting hit by strangers?” Lita peered up at him, blinking her eyes innocently.
“Naw, you’re strong, remember? You don’t need a white knight,” Grayson teased with a chuckle.
“Man, I wish I had that recorded,” Lita said with sly amusement.
“You two might want to just sit this one out. I mean, you can’t compete with an alpha, sooo …” Asher watched as the two raised their brows up at him.
“To the bumper cars! I’ll mindlink the others.” Lita grinned as they marched toward the battlegrounds. She might love these guys to pieces, but when it came to a competition, all was fair in love and war.
Chapter 72
Lita and Kristen sat there pouting at the bumper cars exit. The guys had all ganged up on them and gotten their cars stuck in the side railings. It was utterly unfair and dirty.
“It makes sense. You have to take out the biggest threat first. They were afraid of us, Kristen.” Lita felt a bit salty, especially after seeing the guys’ smug faces. For some reason, Asher had Caspian put the mate block back up, so she guessed there were more surprises up his sleeve. She didn’t know exactly what he was thinking, but his expression looked cheeky. Lita looked over at Kristen, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
“Come on, Lita. Let’s hit the water slides next. It’s pretty warm out, and I wouldn’t mind cooling off.” Kristen’s eyes flashed at Lita’s as she helped her to her feet. “Let’s head to the locker rooms. I brought our swimsuits.”
Lita read her loud and clear. She turned, stuck her tongue out at the guys, and walked with Kristen. The guys chuckled at the poor sports and walked to the men’s side to change as well.
The men waited on the water side of the locker rooms. Caspian, Grayson, Asher, and Garrett had all changed into their swim trunks and were joking around about beating up on the girls. Asher loved seeing Lita’s pouty lips and was thinking of ways to provoke her again.
Lita and Kristen came out of their changing rooms wearing matching black bikinis, laughing and no longer in a sour mood after the guys’ cheap victory.
Asher looked over Lita with animalistic greed as she walked closer. He reached his arm out to scoop her into his side.
SWAT
“No touchy,” Lita snuffed out, curling her lips up at him. If the boys wanted to play dirty, she could at least get revenge on Asher and Kristen on Garrett.
“Are you punishing me?” Asher asked in amusement. It seemed his sweet princess was a bit vindictive.
Lita shrugged. “Nope, not at all. Just keep your hands to yourself, please.”Oh yeah, she was punishing him.
Garrett received the same treatment from Kristen. “Hey, that’s not fair. What are you going to do to Caspian and Grayson? They’re just as guilty …”
“Yeah, I wonder what we’ll do to them …” Lita smirked at the two other guys. She and Kristen hooked arms and walked toward the nearest water slide.
“I suddenly don’t feel very good.” Grayson let out a dry chuckle as he nervously wondered what they had in store. “Go beg for mercy and get us off the hook,” he demanded of Asher.
“No way. I want to see her play her little game.” Asher’s eyes flickered as he followed after Lita. His girl was always full of surprises. He wanted to see how long she planned on keeping this up, and he was willing to wait, at least until he went crazy and couldn’t take it anymore.
The girls pretended the guys didn’t exist. They went down slide after slide and were now lounging on rafts in the lazy river, sunglasses on and sipping fancy drinks as they flicked their toes in the water. How long could the guys go on being ignored before they popped a blood vessel? Knowing the guys, they had already surpassed their limit. Whatever reserved willpower they were using wouldn’t last much longer.
