"It can wait until tomorrow. For now, I'm going to take you to the shower," Cosimo said, nuzzling the soft skin of her tummy.
"You are going to have to carry me because I think you fucked away my ability to walk," she replied.
With a wild grin, Cosimo happily obliged her.
38
Any chance of Cosimo and Marcella sneaking back into the villa the following morning as easily as they slipped out was dashed when they opened the door to find Apollo sitting on the stairs.
"Busted!" he hollered, loud enough for the whole house to hear.
Cosimo tried to close the front door again, but Marcella pushed her way past him, giggling.
"Is that really necessary, my darling?" she asked Apollo.
"It's just nice to have someone else do the walk of shame for once," he replied, getting to his feet with a wide grin.
Marcella gestured to herself. "Do I look ashamed right now? If you're curious, I can tell you exactly what your father did to me to get my skin glowing this much. He does this thing with his tongue that..."
Apollo's smile vanished, replaced with a look of horror, and he slapped his hands over his ears. "Lalalala, not listening!" he cried and raced towards the kitchen.
"That was easy," she said, turning to Cosimo.
He dropped her bags and kissed her quickly.
"That was masterful. I have never seen Apollo shut up so quickly," he said, letting her go. "If I wasn't already in love with you, that would have done it."
"Boys are so silly. The girls would still be listening," Marcella replied, giving him a big wink.
Cosimo groaned. "Please don't tell my daughters about our sex life."
"Spoil sport," she teased and followed Apollo.
A cry of greetings went up before the kitchen doors swung shut again.
"You told her she is your mate yet?" Taranis asked, appearing silently behind Cosimo. He leaped in fright and swung round to glare at the fae king.
"No, but she loves me. She told me," Cosimo replied smugly.
Taranis cocked a brow. "Everyone loves you. She needs to be told about the bond, little brother. The sex might be good enough to keep your dragon content for the moment, but it will start to eat away at you if you don't claim her."
Cosimo knew it was pointless trying to argue with him. The fae were stubborn on the subject of mates, and the dragons were more so.
"The dragon and I have an agreement on when to tell her."
"And when would that be?" Taranis asked, crossing his arms. "She is magically sensitive and is bound to be feeling it. If she already loves you, what's the hold up?"
"There's a difference between I love you and I want to be bound to you for all eternity, Taran."
"Not for dragons. Which you are."
Cosimo ran a hand through his hair. "She's not a dragon. She's human. She needs to get used to us all first."
There was an explosion of laughter from the kitchen, and Taranis pointed at the door.
"Sounds like she fits in just fine."
"I know she does," Cosimo replied with a small smile. "I'm man enough to admit that a part of me is scared of binding her to me and then losing her. I couldn't survive it a second time."
