Page 36 of The Baby Hex
He said that and my heart fell into my chest.
“I hate how difficult everything is! I—I want to be the sort of guy who can just throw caution to the wind and ignore every warning sign flashing off! I hate that I can’t! I hate that I can’t concentrate—”
“Do you want to stop?” I asked. “You’re sending me mixed signals.”
“NO”! He said a little too loud and a bird across the street startled away from a dropped fry on the sidewalk. “I didn’t mean I hate us – this – whatever. I hate that it’s complicated and that there’s so much to do. Am I even making sense?”
“You are,” I nodded, relief flooding into my body. “You’re a naughty little workaholic who wants to be in two places at once. Here to clean up the bar and at my house so I can make good on all my promises to devour you.”
“Yes!” He nodded fast and hard.
“Would you trust a maid service to come in?”
“No,” he shook his head.
“Anyone who would help out that you would trust? Mori and Preston maybe?” I offered.
“I don’t know. I don’t know much right now. I want to take my shirt off. It’s so damn hot!” Crilus sighed. “Aren’t we supposed to have more time than this before the magic sets me off on a heat?”
“Feels like it,” I nodded, “but there’s no set timer on it.” I took his face gently in my hands. “Look at me. I need you to lookat me before we go into any confined space together. Do you want to do this? You want to exchange our claiming vows?”
He nodded.
“I need to hear you say it, mate.”
“Yes,” he said.
“Are you on birth control?”
“Not anymore. I swore off romping after – well, the whole mess with Teal. No birth control equals no sex. I meant with him. Not with you. Not that I want to have sex with him or anything now --- I can’t seem to take my foot out of my mouth.”
“Shhhh,” I said, running my thumb over his cheek. “It’s okay. We could get you the fast-acting heat shot if you wanted.”
“No,” I shook my head. “That gave me nightmares for weeks the last time. No shots except cum shots.”
I laughed despite how serious this conversation needed to be.
“Do you want me to use a condom? If we don’t---”
“You’ll put a baby in me.”
“Yes, but we can wait for that until things—”
“Take me home with you,” Crilus said, leaning against me again. “Take me home with you before Medwin has to come back and tell me to put my clothes on. Does your car have a good AC? It’s really hot out here.”
“You get in the car. I’m going to make sure things are locked up here,” I said.
Once he was in the car, I made a quick circle around the bar, dropping a plop of blood from my palm at each of the major directions: North, South, East, and West. Now if someone fucked with the Raven’s Perch, I’d be the first to know about it. They’d have to fuck with my shields before they ever got near my mate’s magical protections.
Chapter Twenty
Crilus
Against the odds, I fell asleep once we pulled out onto the highway. Heat prickled the back of my neck and under my fingernails. Pierce’s scent filled my head with every breath, but alone with him in the car was safe. Ghosts were bad at following speeding targets. My haunting grandmother had never come near a car as far as I knew. My brain buzzed with hundreds of questions that I’d eventually have the answers to but the whir of the wheels against the pavement lulled me to sleep.
I woke when a woman’s voice asked, ‘Will that be all for you today?’
Where were we? The accent sounded right for this part of the territory, but I didn’t recall a fast food place in the middle of the highway.
