His friend Lila, who he did charity work with, laughed too at his bemusement. “You’ll need them. I promise. I have to say, I love the bib and washcloth llama that Reed made you.”
“Oh, me too.” That might be his favorite. “I’m just waiting for cake.”
“It looks stunning,” Lila said.
The cake had nothing to do with llamas, and it really was beautiful. It was three tiers, frosted in ombre yellow and green, with a sign sticking out of the top that said, “Oh, baby!”
It made him giggle every time he looked at it.
Des was the best part, though. As it turned out, his mate was extremely competitive with party games. He had won every one, from the collecting spoons that everyone held whenever someone crossed their legs to the baby food tasting.
Hilarious.
Alistair loved him even more after today.
He yawned, and Lila winked. “I’ll go get the cake cutting started.”
“Thanks, sweetie.”
Sure enough, a minute later, Des had wielded the cake cutter like a ninja, and Alistair had a slice of cake on a llama shaped plate, fork stuck in it.
“Yummy.”
“It’s pretty good. I like the white chocolate and lemon together.” Des sat down next to him, a giant piece of cake on his regularly shaped plate.
“It was a good call. I need to go lie down after this.”
“Sure, baby.” Des looked him over with a critical eye. “You okay?”
“Mmm. Just tired, and my back is sore.” He was kind of generally uncomfortable, but that had been going on for a couple of weeks as he got really big. And close.
“I’ll haul you up after cake. Let me tell Reed to get everyone to come over a few at a time and say their goodbyes. They can hang out and party for a while. We’ll go snuggle.” Des waggled his eyebrows.
“Oh, even better than cake.”
His ass was dragging by the time everyone cooed and kissed on him, but finally Des lifted him into his arms, and they headed for the stairs.
A loud scream rent the air just as they reached the base of the stairs, and the roar of a huge dragon echoed through the vaulted ceiling of the entry hall.
Starry grunted when Des put him down and moved to stand in front of him, growling deep in his throat.
What the hell was going on now? Who dared to interrupt his party?
Chapter
Eleven
Des pushed Starry behind him as gently as he could and turned to confront the three Galandel clan toughs who had forced their way into his home, his fire drawing up inside him.
Of course he couldn’t use it. Not inside the house with Starry right there and a houseful of guests on his fucking hands.
“Security! What the hell is going on?”
Hamish appeared beside him, a deep growl coming from him. “I don’t know, Boss, but I damn sure intend to find out.”
Two more of his security men appeared behind the three, and Des felt better about those odds.
“Get out. Of my house.” He forced the words out like rocks over a cheese grater.
