Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 119764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
She makes a face at me and grabs the long dangly parts on the sides—sleeves, I remember—and ties them to my waist. The front part flaps and covers my cock, once again proving just how protective she is of me as her territory.
I do not mind. These small moments when she asserts her ownership over me are my favorite ones.
Dakota adjusts the material around my hips, then gives me a little pat and steps back. She puts her coat back on and eyes me as she does. “Not cold?”
I shrug. I do not have the words yet for “the breeze is annoying but I am fine.” “Dragon warm. Always warm.”
“You should change to dragon, then.”
Brushing a lock of hair behind her ear with my claws, I grin at her. “Later.”
She blushes furiously, my human, and it only makes me grin wider. It is fascinating that she thinks the others have no idea about us. That we meet in Dakota’s bed every night for kissing and caressing before she curls up into my arms and goes to sleep. That she is covered in my scent and touches me constantly, and we spend all of our time together. I only kiss her when we are alone, as I have been taught, but I do not mind if the others know how I feel about her.
I would make Dakota my mate, give her my bite, my fires. The only reason I have not? I want her to ask me first.
And she has not asked. She will kiss me happily, but she has not asked for more.
I must be content…
My nostrils prick as a strange scent fills the air. It is coming from inside the bookstore. Nostrils flaring, I move toward the front doors and nudge Dottie and Aggie aside. They move their folding chairs, complaining. Opening one of the doors, the scent grows even stronger, and I turn to the others. “I smell blood?”
“Ohmigawd!” shrieks Aggie. She flings aside the book in her lap. “I bet Stella’s having her babies!”
CHAPTER 51
DAKOTA
No one goes to sleep early that night. Stella pushes out puppy after puppy, much to Aggie and Rabbit’s delight. By the time she’s done, there are nine of them, like little wriggling sausages curled up against her belly. They vary in color from pale to dark, and Aggie is already busy naming them based on the personalities she thinks they’ll have.
“We’ll call the gray one Prince,” she declares, pulling off her wig and setting it on the styrofoam mannequin head she keeps next to her bed…which also used to be my bed. I haven’t had the heart to kick them out of my cozy set-up. It was easier just to set up another room farther back into the bookstore. She yawns and gives Stella a fond scratch behind the ears. “For Prince Charming, isn’t that right, baby girl?”
Rabbit doesn’t care for that name. “You can’t call it Prince!” she says with a laugh. “What if it’s a girl?”
“Well, then it throws off the entire naming scheme, doesn’t it?”
“What naming scheme?”
“Prince Charming, Snow White, and then the seven dwarves.” She gestures at the row of wriggling puppies. “Unless you can think of another set of nine. I was going to use the names from Friends if there were only six, but she had to go and give us three more.”
“The friends from who?” Rabbit asks.
“You’re too young,” Dottie says, sounding cranky. She’s curled up in her bedding a short distance away, less charmed by the puppies. “And I’m too old. Can we please go to sleep now? I’m exhausted and y’all are making far too much noise.”
Aggie leans in and rubs Stella’s head. “Someone’s not an animal lover like us.”
“I am, but I am also very tired,” Dottie says, and yawns again. “I promise to love them more in the morning.”
She does look exhausted, and Aggie, too. Rabbit might be able to stay up all night, but not the rest of us. “Why don’t we give the new mom some time alone? Let her bond with her babies. We can check on them in the morning.”
I tap on Rabbit’s arm and she gets up, heading to bed. Aggie’s a little harder to convince, but I remind her she can see Stella’s nest in the plastic kiddie pool from her bed. If the dog needs anything, Aggie is right there. Because I’m a helicopter parent, I make sure Aggie’s comfortable and has enough pillows before heading out of her room. I take our candle (really a teacup filled with tallow and a shoelace for a wick) over to Rabbit’s room to check on her. My daughter is in her bed, three cats curled up next to her and another tucked under her arm like a stuffed animal.
“’Night, Mom,” she says, not stirring. “Night, Murr. See y’all in the morning.”