“You promise to behave around her?”
“I’m not promising anyone that.”
“At least try and be gentle. I really like her, Apollo. She’s prickly as a cat, and I just want to pat her no matter how much she bites,” Bas replied and then turned red when his brain caught up with his mouth.
Apollo cackled because he could be a right bitch when he wanted to be. “You guys have got a classic black cat and golden retriever energy, and I think it’s adorable.”
“Shut up. I’m not a golden retriever.”
“Hmm, kind of are.”
“You are worse than me with Lachie.”
“Am not. I’m impervious to his charms. I am the black cat here.”
Bas took his phone out of his pocket and held up the photo of sweaty Lachlan Ironwood. Apollo choked on his cookie and coughed crumbs on himself.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Do you want to tell me why you aren’t having a hard run at this? Because look at him, Apollo.Loookkk.” Bas passed him the phone, and an expression of utter misery passed over Apollo’s face.
“He was training with my sword,” he said, zooming in. “I didn’t think he would actually use it.”
“Well, he is. You should also know that the other night wasn’t a date. His dumb ass thought if he made you jealous enough, youwould get mad enough to talk to him,” Bas said. He tried to take the phone back, but Apollo held it out of his reach and, with a few quick taps, sent it to his own phone.
“Doesn’t matter. He’s not the kind to settle down, and that’s all my dragon wants to do. It wants to have Lachlan Ironwood’s babies and…” A look of horror passed over Apollo’s face. “Oh my god, can I get pregnant now my dragon is awake? Is Mpreg really a thing with dragons? Or is that just fiction? Because I am not ready to be a mother, Bas!”
“I think if it were a thing, you would have laid eggs by now, whore bag,” Bas teased.
Apollo hit him with a decorative pillow.
“I amnota whore bag. And I use protection every time, magical and otherwise, thank you very much. You haven’t been laid in so long, you are probably blowing dust,” Apollo snapped back, and they both cracked up laughing. “God, I hate you. How dare you cheer me up when I was determined to be miserable all day.”
“I’m not sorry. Besides, I wanted to talk to you about the dragon thing before I talk to Uncle Taranis.” Bas grinned. “I’ll give you twenty bucks if you ask him about the Mpreg thing. I want to be there to witness the response.”
“He will probably need Quinn to explain it to him,” Apollo replied, and they both collapsed into fits of giggles again. Knowing Quinn, she had probably written a dragon Mpreg serial.
Bas finally sat up. “Okay. I’m going to put some lasagna on for dinner. You coming?”
“Not yet. I need a shower and some alone time with this picture. For science.”
Bas screwed up his face. “Gross, bro. You know you could just ask him out.”
“No, I can’t. The dragon doesn’t understand dating, and Lachie won’t understand why we can’tjustdate. He doesn’t have the same impulse, and I won’t do that to him,” Apollo said, looking at the picture again. It was possibly one of the most selfless things his impulsive brother had ever done. His heart was in the right place, even if he was acting like a total dumbass.
“You won’t know how he feels unless you talk to him, Apollo.”
“Hush. Away with you. I must get ready to meet your lovely Bridget and you have food you must cook for me. I haven’t eaten all day, and I’m wasting away to nothing,” Apollo said, finally getting out of bed. “I want gelato for dessert too.”
“Yes, princess,” Bas replied and headed for the door. He had food to cook, a dragon to wrangle, a monster to kill, and a woman to seduce, and not necessarily in that order.
14
Bridget had expected her rooms to be as fancy as the rest of the house, but reality outstripped her imagination.
It was like she had walked into the set of a Peter Pan movie and was given Wendy Darling’s room to sleep in, complete with window couches, a fireplace, and a four-poster bed with velvet and sheer curtains. There were books on the shelves and a fancy claw foot tub with lavender bath salts.
It was the kind of place Bridget’s mother would have died over. There was money, and then there wasoldmoney. The first was loud and showy. The second was so inbuilt that it was almost natural to the insider because it permeated every inch of their lives. Every picture and piece of furniture had a history, a lineage, and a legacy. Their namemeantsomething. It wasn’t some name that had been made up one day because you had no family that wanted you.
Bas didn’t seem the type to care about that kind of thing. He hadn’t pushed her about her history when others would have. He didn’t seem to be bothered in the slightest that she had a dark past. She wondered if he would be so ambivalent if he found out that she had killed her stepfather and not the fae.
