Bas’s heart tripped as her slender fingers twined with his. He didn’t dare open his mouth and risk her letting go.
“Okay, Marge, we are leaving,” Bridget called out through the stacks as they wended their way to the front door. “Stay off the damn ladders while I’m gone, and no online gambling or flirting with anyone who claims to be an African prince who just came into his fortune.”
“You want to ruin all of my fun,” Marge said, coming around the corner with a pile of books under one arm. “Remember to use protection and hydrate, you crazy kids.”
“We will,” Bas replied and winked.
“Oh my god,” Bridget groaned. “Go. Now. Or she’ll start suggesting positions.”
When Bridget didn’t let go of his hand when they were out of the store, his heart soared. Bas knew their dating ruse wasn’t real, but his dragon didn’t know that. He was happy in the knowledge that Bridget would be tucked safely under his wings…where she belonged.
Yeah, it was definitely time to talk to Taranis.
13
Bas showed Bridget to the guest rooms and left her to settle in. The sky was starting to darken, and he was already thinking about what he had available to make everyone for dinner. He needed to talk to Taranis, but he didn’t want to bother his uncle with his troubles just yet.
He had a brother who was having issues with his own dragon impulses that he could talk to first.
Bas loaded up a plate of cookies and made some of Apollo’s favorite tea. He would also need to make Bridget a fresh batch of cookies.
Bas didn’t like Apollo being upset, and he should be made aware that a woman was in the house and that he probably shouldn’t walk around not dressed properly.
Bas didn’t want Bridget to feel uncomfortable staying in a house full of men. She was showing a lot of trust, and the last he wanted was for her to have an encounter with Apollo in a satin robe he hadn’t belted properly.
Apollo’s tower wards sizzled against Bas’s skin as soon as he tried to step through the door. Bas put the tea and cookies on aside table, spent ten minutes disabling the wards, and continued up the stairs.
“Put your sex toys away, I’m coming for a visit,” Bas called at the top of his lungs.
There was no one in the lab on the first level. Pots and beakers bubbled away, the walls covered in Apollo’s bad handwriting. They had painted the walls with blackboard paint when they were younger, and Reeve still went out of his way to draw dicks amongst Apollo’s formulas. Valentine occasionally came in and added his own corrections to the formulas. What were brothers for?
Bas knocked on the bedroom door. “Open up, big brother. I have treats for you.”
“I’m not hungry,” came the sullen reply from within.
“You don’t want tea and fresh cookies? They are chocolate chip?” Bas wheedled. “Come on, Apollo, I need to talk to you.”
When there was no reply, Bas went with the one thing Apollo wouldn’t be able to resist. “I got a photo of Lachie coming back from training with your sword today.”
The door opened, and Apollo squinted at him. “That better be my French Earl Grey blend,” he said and took the cup and cookies from him.
“Of course it is,” Bas said and followed him into the bedroom.
Apollo’s room always reminded Bas of Howl’s bedroom in ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ except it had even more color. There was stained glass and crystal mobiles, a red and gold brocade bedspread, and velvet throw pillows for days. Apollo put the tea and cookies on the bedside table and flopped down face-first onto his bed. Bas kicked off his shoes and climbed in beside him.
“What do you want?” Apollo grumbled into his pillows.
“Advice. About my dragon.”
Apollo’s eye cracked open. “What about it?”
“How do you know if it’s the dragon or just you?”
Apollo lifted his head and grabbed a cookie. “Kind of the same thing, isn’t it?”
“So yours doesn’t randomly try and say and do things? I feel like I’ve got an extra personality living inside of me,” Bas admitted. He had sometimes worried about multiple personalities when he was younger, but this was the first time he had something separate in his brain.
“Mine...wants to bite Lachlan. A lot,” Apollo admitted, rolling over to stare up at the painted frescoes on the ceiling.
