“I’m not amused.”
I give him a look, my eyebrows shooting up. “And you think I am?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps. You are smiling.”
“It’s just how I react to things,” I snap defensively. “I mean, the girls smuggled an animal into the palace and now the poor, scared thing is hiding under the bed. It’s not funny, it’s just, you know, off, I guess.”
“Off? It’s certainly that. What is it?”
“A ferret,” the girls and I say in unison.
“Girls, we need to set it free.”
“No!” they cry out as if their worst fears have just been realized, and the tears start all over again. “Please, Papa. We want to keep it.” Sabrina wipes under her leaking nose with her arm. “He has no home. We adopted him.”
“Yes! He was shivering when we found him. Please, Papa. Don’t make us set him out in the cold. He’ll die.”
“Oh, Phaedra.” Sebastian curses in Latin while running a weary hand across his forehead.
Sensing an opening, she immediately continues. “We’ll take good care of him. We promise. Don’t we?”
“Yes!” Sabrina exults. “We love him already.”
Oh, boy. Way to lay it on thick. Sebastian doesn’t stand a chance with them double-teaming him like this. I sure as hell don’t, but wisely I’m keeping my mouth shut right now.
“We’ll walk him and clean up his poop and read to him because he’s smart like we are. We read on our tablets that ferrets make excellent pets and are very intelligent creatures.”
“Phaedra…” Only Sebastian is already running out of ammunition.
“Please, Papa. Pretty, pretty please.” Both girls hug him. It’s a nice touch with their big green eyes all watery and round. “We want a pet. We spend so much time in this palace away from everyone else.”
That was the kill shot. He’s got no chance now.
A point he proves with a groan and yet another curse in Latin. “Fine. But I swear it, girls, if I see it or smell it or it causes destruction or messes, he’s gone. And he has to see a vet immediately to make sure he’s safe and healthy to be here. Bellamy is pregnant and I know you already know that we cannot risk her safety or the safety of the growing babies.”
“Yes, Papa,” they both agree solemnly. “We understand.” Only the not-so-covert high five they give each other isn’t selling anything.
With a grunt, he gets himself up off the ground and extendshis hand to me. “If you think I punished you last night, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
I do my best to suffocate my smirk, but it hits my lips anyway. “I’ll attempt to be remorseful, but I think we both already know how that goes.”
We exit the girls’ bedroom and in a heartbeat, he has me pinned against the wall, his hands in my hair, his hard body pressed against my own, his mouth hovering a centimeter over mine.
“What the fuck did I just agree to?”
I smile because it’s just so ridiculous, it’s funny. “A ferret.”
“A ferret. A goddamn rodent is now living in my palace.”
“Technically I think they’re mustelids, not rodents, and the girls are right about them being smart and excellent pets. It’ll be cute.”
“Cute?” he snarls incredulously. “How did you miss that?”
“Seriously good question. They snuck the sleeping thing in their backpack, and I fell asleep on the ride home. Althea missed it too.”
“Marvelous.” A sigh. “Everything is all fucked up.”
I rub against his hardening cock straining through his slacks. “Care to share with me, Your Majesty? Or not, since you don’t seem to like to do that.”
