Chapter 6 Calder #2
He’d met the young shifter at the bakery. He was handsome and appealing, if you liked that sort of thing, and it had become immediately clear that Adam wasn’t attracted to him at all. No drowning necessary.
Adam laughed softly. “To hear my dad tell it, every shifter has wiles. He blamed the shifter entirely for Mom running away, and of course I didn’t want to think about my mom choosing to leave us, so I didn’t question it too closely.”
Calder pressed a kiss to the top of Adam’s head. “It’s all right, sweetheart. I understand.”
Adam sniffed and continued. “My Aunt Susan, my dad’s sister, helped raise me after that. She was great. I didn’t see my Aunt Lucy much because she was in the army. She was a, uh, shifter. Aunt Susan’s familiar.”
Calder stiffened but kept petting Adam’s back. “What happened?”
“Aunt Lucy died overseas when I was seventeen. And it killed Aunt Susan.”
Sighing, Calder cuddled Adam closer. “Which made you even more wary of the bond.”
Adam buried his face more firmly in Calder’s chest, so his voice came out a bit muffled. “I know it wasn’t Aunt Lucy’s fault! It was sad that she died, but it felt… it felt like Aunt Susan got taken away from us.”
“Because of the bond.”
Adam nodded against his shirt.
Calder took this to its logical conclusion: “And so you decided no bonds and no familiars.”
Adam pulled back a bit to look at him.
Calder cleared his throat. “I, uh, might have overheard the first day you were talking with Simon when he came to get you in the kitchen.”
He worried this would upset Adam, but after a startled moment, a blush heated his cheeks.
“I’m sorry! You weren’t meant to hear that!”
Calder couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “Sweetheart, I was eavesdropping. That was definitely not your fault.”
A look of resolution crossed Adam’s face.
“No, it wasn’t okay whether you were listening or not.
I ignored the evidence of all the many happy familiar and shifter witch bonds, like two sad things happening to my family outweighed everything else.
That’s not right. I’m sorry I got you mixed up in it. ”
“I understand how what happened to your mother and your aunts hurt you,” Calder told him gently. “Emotions aren’t logical.”
“But I still possess logic!” Adam argued stubbornly.
“People shouldn’t be ruled by their emotions.
I mean, that’s what Dad always said about shifters, like their…
their emotional charisma was something witches and humans couldn’t combat.
But that’s coming out of feelings and faulty logic. I want to do better!”
“You’re already doing better, sweetheart,” Calder told him with a small smile. “We’re having this conversation right now. And you brought me flowers. No one’s ever bought me flowers before.”
Adam smiled shyly at him. “Really?”
“Really,” Calder agreed. “But there’s something else I should—”
Adam yawned hugely before he gazed sheepishly at Calder. “Sorry. What did you want to say?”
Calder was reminded in an instant how late it was for Adam, how he must have spent the day stewing about what had happened and thinking that Calder was ignoring him.
“It can wait,” Calder assured him. “You need to get some sleep.”
“I’m okay,” Adam promised, even as he yawned again.
“Yeah, no,” Calder told him affectionately. “You definitely need to get to sleep. We have time, don’t we?”
Adam smiled at him, eyes soft. “Yeah, I guess we do. But I’m really sorry about being a jerk.”
Calder leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. “You’re forgiven. And I should have told you right away that I was a shifter. I’m not blameless in this.”
Adam grimaced. “No, I’m glad you didn’t. If you’d told me right away, I probably would have been stupid—even stupider—about it and not given you a chance. I, uh, I’m really glad we’re here now.”
“Me, too.”
Adam fidgeted, eyes slipping down below Calder’s chin. “I don’t suppose you’d like to stay? Just to sleep! Only I have to get up in a few hours, and I’m sure you don’t want to—”
Calder used a finger to lift Adam’s chin. “I’d love to.”
Adam’s face lit up. And then he yawned again.
Calder prodded them into motion, putting the flowers into water, getting their teeth brushed—he still wasn’t sure how Adam had managed to trip on the toothpaste, but no matter, because Calder had caught him—and finding an old t-shirt that was much too large for Adam that Calder could just fit into.
Adam wriggled a little closer once they were in the bed, but like he was trying to be subtle about it. Calder slid across the bed and spooned him.
Adam hummed happily, already sounding like he was half asleep. “S’nice.”
His mate was warm in his arms, and the only thing that would make it better was if Calder could wrap all his arms around him. But they’d made a lot of progress today, and Adam was in no fit state for any more revelations right now.
Calder closed his eyes and listened to the comforting sound of his mate’s even breaths.
The week before Valentine’s Day was busier than Calder had imagined, even with everything that Adam had said about it.
His mate was working stupidly long hours as the bakery catered multiple corporate events and sold hundreds—probably thousands—of cakes and cookies.
Maggie, the owner, had brought in some extra help, but there was too much that Adam needed to do on his own.
Calder would like them to rectify that, but he knew that now wasn’t the time to add to his mate’s workload by bringing it up.
Instead, he made sure to bring Adam a nutritious lunch, dinner, and snacks every day. There might be plenty of food at the bakery, but most of it wasn’t geared towards nutrition, and Calder knew it wouldn’t be doing Adam any favors to either eat only sweets or forget to eat entirely.
It was worth it just for the look on Adam’s face every time Calder showed up.
Simon high-fived him the first time, told him he was glad he could see Adam’s value—and then pulled him aside and warned him that he knew how to poison the baked goods, and if Calder ever hurt Adam, no one would ever find his body.
Calder inclined his head. He could respect this fierce witch and his desire to protect Adam.
(Also, no poison Simon was likely to be able to get his hands on would be able to kill Calder.)
Calder walked Adam home every night—Adam always saved the most delicious slices of cake for him—and cuddled up with him on the couch for more documentaries… and then usually carried him to bed because he made it about twenty minutes before he was out like a light no matter what time it was.
“You’re the best,” Adam told him on Friday evening, leaning into his side where they were sitting on the couch. Valentine’s Day was tomorrow. “You’re making this so much better than it usually is.”
“I like taking care of you,” Calder said, before hastily correcting himself. “I know you’re able to take care of yourself, but I’ll always want to make sure that you’re safe.”
“It’s nice,” Adam assured him. “That you like me the way I am.”
“Exactly as you are, sweetheart,” Calder assured him.