Page 11 of Midnight in the Garden of Okay and Meh
“Oh, very well. I never could resist seeing your six-pack in action. Feel free to stay here where it’s warm and dry, ladies,” she said, grabbing both her phone and Baltic’s coat to wrap around herself as she followed him out.
“It’s wet out there,” May said thoughtfully.
“They’re shirtless,” Karma added, looking speculatively at the door. “Shirtless and wet, their skin glistening in the light as their muscles flex.”
Silence fell for three seconds; then we were all at the door trying to get through it at the same time.
We made it to the garden with less than seemly haste, taking up positions next to Ysolde where she stood under an eave.
“Really?” I asked her when I noticed her filming the men’s scrummage.
“I thought it would be fun to have for those moments when Baltic is away,” she said with an arch look that had me getting out my own phone.
“Next time, you have to stream it on YouTube,” Jim offered as it emerged from the restaurant. “Bet you could monetize this. Ow. That looks like it hurt.”
“Drake, was that a tooth or your lip?” I called when Baltic and Adam, having taken offense to Drake’s spinning kick that sent Baltic staggering backward, both jumped him. They went down in a tangle of limbs, and when Drake fought his way out, his mouth was bloody.
He paused for a moment, obviously running a tongue around his mouth. He then swore in Zilant, the archaic dragon language, and slammed his fist into Adam’s gut before charging toward Baltic.
“Dammit. We’ve single-handedly funded our dentist’s summer home in Nice,” I said.
“They will insist on doing this,” May said, then shouted, “I saw that, Bastian! It’s not very sporting to punch Gabriel when Baltic and Adam are sitting on him. Oh, well done, Gabriel, although I’m not sure biting is within the rules.”
We all looked at Ysolde, who gave a barely visible shrug. “I wouldn’t want to bite any of them except Baltic, but I don’t know that it’s strictly out of bounds. Shall we make it so?”
“I think that would be best,” Allie said, looking worriedly as it was Christian’s turn to be pig-piled upon by Drake and Bastian. “After all, if Christian bites them, they’ll really feel it.”
“Allie has a good point,” Ysolde conceded, and, raising her voice over the London nighttime sounds and rain, yelled, “Biting is hereby forbidden. And before you dragons protest, recall you have a vampire in your midst.”
“Dark One,” emerged from the pig pile, which then exploded to the side as Christian leaped to his feet.
“Five more minutes,” I called, admiring the sight of Drake happily taking on anyone who came within reach.
“You know, the first time they did this, I thought you all were crazy,” Allie said.
“I’m so there with you,” Karma agreed, then applauded when the team of Adam and Baltic linked arms and mowed down everyone else. Gabriel kicked out and Baltic went down on top of him, obviously knocking the breath out of Gabriel.
“But I’m starting to see the reason behind it,” Allie continued, her eyes huge as she followed Christian and Bastian now dancing around each other in the classic pose of boxers. “You have to admit that it rates a hundred on the manly meter.”
“It’s one of the reasons why we let them beat the crap out of each other,” May agreed. “Dragons being so emotionally volatile, it vents their steam, so to speak, and makes them much more reasonable to deal with.”
“Little bird!” Gabriel’s head popped up out of the writhing mass that was the men trying repeatedly to get to their feet, only to be dragged back down into combat. “We are not unreasonable! Dammit, Drake! Bastian just kicked me there. Two inches higher and I’ll reciprocate.”
“You boys know the rules. No attacks on any parts we want working hale and hearty. Three minutes,” Ysolde told them.
As was usual in these skirmishes, the bond of pairs broke down in the last few minutes, and it was every man for himself. By the time they dragged themselves inside to our table, they were all limping, were covered in wet grass and flecks of mud, and had a generally bedraggled state that did not diminish their inherent sexiness one single iota.
“I think ... yes, I think we’ll take up your friend’s offer of using his office for a few minutes,” Allie said, studying a slightly wobbly Christian. “Come along, you valiant vamp, you. Let’s get you fed so you can heal up.”
“Interesting that feeding fixes vampires hurts,” May said as Gabriel plopped down in a chair with a whole lot less grace than was normal.
Drake limped over to hold my chair, but I pushed him gently into his own before dipping a napkin in water to clean up his mouth. “Please tell me it wasn’t one of your real teeth that was knocked
out. Oh, man. It was. Well, you now have a full house of implants. You’re just lucky dragons heal so fast from dental surgery.”
“Baltic still has all his original teeth,” Ysolde said with zero modesty as she took care of Baltic’s gruesomely bleeding ear and face.
Bastian, who had collapsed onto an extra chair he’d dragged over, was sipping at the glass of wine Ysolde had given him. “Not for lack of us trying to make him swallow them. Peste! I think one of my fingers is broken. Phyllida will have something to say about that.”
