Secondhand Garagyre

Chapter 47

Chapter Forty-Seven

LAITHOG

How much brew did I drink last night?

Memories slam into me, and I jolt up in bed, ignoring the twin fluffy bodies pressed up against the side of my body that startle with my motions. Groaning , I grab at the center of my chest when my sudden movements send jarring pain radiating through my body.

“ PAISLEY !” Calling her name as I carefully swing my legs over the side of the bed, still ignoring the dual vexations following my every move with beady little yellow eyes. I ease to my feet, one hand braced on the tiny table beside the bed, when movement out of the corner of my eye makes me jerk my head towards the bedroom door.

“ Paisley .” Her name is a whisper on my lips as relief fills me at the sight of her standing there, completely unscathed.

Well …

There is a small bandage around her left wrist.

Seeing where my gaze is fixated, she starts talking as she walks towards me. “ Don’t get that look on your face. I didn’t know what else to do to fix you except feed you.” Her words are conciliatory as well as placating.

Huffing in exasperation, I reply as she gets within arm’s reach and I gently reach out and grab her by the back of her neck, dragging her to me as I sit back down on the bed. “ You did not err, little flame. Most likely, your quick thinking saved our lives. Thank you, my love.”

Scrutinizing the bandage, I remove it, making sure I cause her no discomfort with my ministrations as I inspect the wound. It’s a clean line made by a blade, not a bite mark I failed to heal. “ Tsk . I will fix this.”

Leaning forward slightly, I bring her wrist up to my mouth and lave the cut with my tongue, thoroughly coating it in my salvia.Sitting up, I’m glad to see the edges of the cut closing as the wound heals while I watch.

“ Today is Christmas Eve , sugar. That means it’s the day before my version of what you call the winter solstice. After all the excitement of yesterday, I think it best we stick close to home today and most of tomorrow. I’ve already texted my parents and let them know we won’t be over until tomorrow evening for Christmas supper instead of midday.”

“ I think there is much you need to tell me, little one…” my words trailing off in question.

“ Ehm . Yes . I suppose there is.” Tucking her glorious red hair behind one of her ears, she seems almost…bashful. Pulling her more firmly between my thighs, I wrap my tail around her waist and gently roll us onto the bed. Ignoring her shriek of protest as I position her to my liking.

Which , considering my healing state, is cuddled up next to me with her head across my chest. “ Now that we are more comfortable. Tell me what happened after I lost consciousness,” I urge. Taking a deep breath, as if she’s preparing herself for my reaction.

She tells me everything.

She tells me how she faced Rulzik .

She tells me how she shot him many times with her gun.

She tells me how he fell. She tells me that she retrieved Baldr from my fallen figure.

And , finally. She tells me how she beheaded the foul beast named Rulzik and banished him to the abyssal hellscape all demons hail from. Pride fills me and I feel her body relax as she feels my feelings flow to her across our body, her scent calming as her stress dissolves as if it never existed.

Turning my head, I find hers tipped up, gazing at me, relief filling her beautiful golden eyes. “ You did well, Paisley . I will not admonish you for what you did. You protected us and did something others far more powerful and skilled have tried for centuries to do. You vanquished Rulzik . His error was underestimating a human woman, and it was his demise.”

My words are the final validation she seems to be seeking because all the ridged tension leaves her body as her breath gust from plush parted lip. “ Laithog , sugar…there’s something I want to tell you. I know you felt it after you bound Merry and Pippin to us. Get that look off your face! I’m trying to confess my undying love to you and you’re glaring at my dogs!”

The edge to her tone doesn’t bode well for me at all, so I assume an innocent expression after one last glare towards the little bastards loitering at the foot of the bed. “ I am listening intently to what you say, little flame.”

She rolls her eyes at me in exasperation. “ Anyways , as I was saying before you so rudely interrupted me, was that I love you. Because I do love you, deeply, without reservation or end.”

Her words fill me with delight bordering on ecstasy. Of course, I felt her love for me the evening past, but hearing the words hits all that much deeper because she admits her love with a conscious mind to me willingly. It’s not a developing feeling submerged in her subconscious and it makes all the difference in the worlds.

Just because you love someone doesn’t necessarily mean you want to love them. “ Thank you for giving me the words. You’ve made me the happiest Garagyre in existence. Know that I will love you until the breath leaves my body and we ascend to the next life, and then I will love you there for the rest of eternity as well.”

My heartfelt solemn words cause tears to well in her eyes, until they spill, unchecked, down her rounded cheeks, as she beams at me in happiness.

“ I promise you that I will wake each day beside you and do my best to make every day worth your acceptance of me.”

“ Oh , Laithog , you already do. Didn’t you know that?” Is her profound response.