Chapter 12
“Papa, it’s too early,” Lily complained as Sailor carried her from the apartment a few days later. Dropping her head to his shoulder, she closed her eyes and relaxed, knowing he would never drop her.
“I’m sorry, little flower, but Papa has to go back to work today. You’re going to spend the day with Hollister and Sullivan and the animals,” Sailor said softly before brushing a kiss on her temple.
“Yay,” she breathed as the cool early morning air wrapped around them as they left the dormitory.
Lily’s life at Bratburg had fallen into a comfortable routine of sleeping late in the mornings and then coloring or playing at the apartment or walking in the woods in the morning. This allowed Sailor the near solitude he’d enjoyed before her arrival to Bratburg.
After eating lunch in the apartment, she would lay down for a nap.
After that, she would join the other Littles for playdates and movies and various other activities followed by dinner in the dining hall.
Since there were currently no trainees, the Littles pushed tables together and ate as a rowdy, noisy giggle while their Daddies watched from tables nearby.
Evenings included a bath and new bath toys before snuggling in bed while Papa read to her from the book of fairy tales he’d gotten from somewhere.
While moving around Bratburg, Lily kept watch, searching for infractions of health and safety laws, unhappy residents, or any other negative issues that she could report to the governor.
Her problem was that there was nothing negative to report.
The Littles were happy, cheerful, and obviously loved their Daddies with their entire beings.
The men—while some were grumpier than others—watched over all the Littles and kept them safe and out of trouble, for the most part.
She witnessed small pranks but nothing dangerous or so offensive as to close Bratburg Institute down.
Even if the governor did manage to shut the place down, Lily had a feeling the residents would not scatter as the man might hope. They were an extended family who loved each other, and she was growing to love them as well.
She would have a hard time leaving everyone, but especially Sailor, which stunned her.
She had not come to Bratburg to fall in love, but that’s what was happening.
She’d also learned to relax and release her Little side, allowing her Papa to make most decisions.
She was having a hard time even thinking about returning to the capital and her job in another six days.
When the air turned warm again, Lily opened her eyes and looked around, squinting against the bright light. They’d just entered the dining hall.
“Do you want to choose breakfast or do you want Papa to fix your plate?” he asked as he set her down on a chair.
“Pancakes and chocolate,” she said before folding her arms on the table and laying her head down.
“Excuse me?” Papa’s voice turned hard.
Sitting up and opening her eyes, she blinked and studied Sailor’s face for a moment. Obviously her answer was not what he’d been looking for.
She swallowed hard before trying again. “I’d like pancakes and hot chocolate, Papa. And crunchy bacon, please.”
Sailor nodded as he stroked a hand over her hair. “Better, little flower. Stay here, and I’ll go get the food.”
“Okay, Papa,” Lily answered through a yawn as she laid her head back down on her arms again.
She allowed herself to drift until the scent of bacon and cinnamony goodness filled the air.
“Time to wake up and eat, little flower,” Sailor said, rubbing a hand up and down her back.
“Don’t wanna,” she grumbled even as she sat up and looked around through still-sleepy eyes.
Sailor slid a plate full of food in front of her before taking his seat across the table from her. When she didn’t move, except to look around to see Hollister walking like a sleepy zombie as she followed Sullivan into the building, Sailor pulled her plate toward himself.
Snitching a piece of bacon from his plate because he’d taken twice as much as he’d given her, Lily ate it while he doctored and cut up her pancakes before sliding the plate across the table again.
“Thank you, Papa,” she said.
“You’re welcome, sweet girl. Now eat up. You’re going to have a full day of fun playing with Hollister and the animals and you need your energy.”
“Can’t I go with you, Papa?”
“No, Little girls don’t patrol the woods or work at any of the hard jobs at Bratburg,” Sailor said as he tended to his breakfast.
They ate in silence, and when they finished, Sailor used a wet cloth to wipe her face and hands free of syrup.
Wrapping his arms around her, he gave her a long, strong hug and dropped several kisses on the top of her head.
“I want you to be good for Sullivan today, little flower. Don’t talk back or cause any mischief.
I’ll be back for dinner, and you can tell me all about the fun you had. ”
Though he would only be gone for the day, Lily’s heart hurt. How could she be so dependent on him after only a few days?
“I’ll be good, Papa,” she whispered, trying unsuccessfully to blink back the tears that filled her eyes. “I love you.”
She said the words without thinking, just needing him to know.
Sailor cupped her head between his hands and tilted it back so she was forced to look into his eyes. His eyes looked serious, but the smile growing on his lips told her he liked her bold admission.
“I love you, too, little flower,” he said then lowered his head and kissed her long and deep, setting her entire body to humming.
When her panties were soaked and her body ready to drag him back to their apartment, he finally lifted his head and smiled down at her. “I’ll see you tonight, little flower.”
“Tonight,” she whispered as he stepped back and then turned away to walk out of the dining hall without a backward glance.
“Come on, Lily. Let’s go see if we can get the goats to play follow the leader with us,” Hollister said as she wrapped an arm around Lily’s back and guided her out a different door.
Though it had been a week since he’d spent any time in his beast form, Sailor could not wait for his shift to end so he could return to the dining hall and meet his beautiful mate for dinner.
It was a strange feeling to have his life so tied up with another person’s that she was all he could think about all day.
Things they’d done since meeting, things around Bratburg he had yet to show her, and all the things he still wanted to teach her about sex, love, and being mates.
Lonergan had agreed they could move into the next available new house, which would be ready for them in just a few short days. And while it would be a warm, private place for them, there were so many things they needed to buy so they could be comfortable.
He wanted her to have a playroom all her own where she could fully indulge her Little.
She also needed more clothes for both sides of her personality.
He’d bought her a couple pairs of jeans and some cute t-shirts, but she needed more.
And he was determined to buy them for her, which meant it was time to reconnect with the outside world and tap into the money waiting for him there.
Which was something he was not looking forward to because the last thing he wanted was for anyone to know where he was.
No doubt the minute he touched the money that was deposited into his accounts every month, they would come and demand he return to the job he was so well trained for.
The job that had killed his soul, the job that caused him to drop off the grid and live on the streets, which was where he’d met Irish and ended up finding his way to Bratburg.
That was before Lily had walked into his life and revived his soul, his heart, and his reason for living other than to stick it to the government agency he’d sworn his life to.
By the end of the day, he raced into Bratburg, heading straight for the playground where Lily would be.
He didn’t think about still being in his gorilla form until two of the Littles saw him, screamed, and ran for their Daddies.
He stopped, confused, until Lonergan and Kodiak ran toward him, followed by his beautiful mate.
He focused on reaching her instead of what the two big men were saying to him. She looked pale and a little scared as she stopped just at the entrance of the playground. Why was she pale? Was she ill?
Shoving his way between the two men, he continued forward, ignoring everyone and everything except his brown-haired, green-eyed reason for living.
Before he could get her, someone landed on his back, pushing him to the ground. Then several other people laid on top of him, holding him down.
“Shift, Sailor. You have to shift. You’re scaring the Littles,” Lonergan said as he moved so they were nose to nose.
The power in the dragon shifter’s voice calmed Sailor enough for him to realize what he’d done. One of the rules for the shifters of Bratburg was not to scare the Littles, which meant no racing about in their beast forms.
Sailor took a deep breath and nodded. The men lying on his body climbed off one by one until only the one lying across his shoulders remained.
“Everyone, turn around right now,” Lonergan looked away for a moment before turning back to look him in the eyes. “Shift. Now, Sailor.”
Sailor closed his eyes and allowed the shift to happen. As soon as he felt himself back in his human form, the man on his back rose, and he could sit up. He reached into his messenger bag and pulled out his clothes. Tugging on his sweatpants, he stood up.
Before he could drop the bag and pull on his t-shirt, Lily was wrapping her arms around him. “Papa! I missed you!”
He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “I missed you too, little flower. Let’s go home so I can show you how much.”
Lily nodded against his bare chest and climbed his body to wrap her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. “Go home now.”
Lonergan patted his back. “I’ll have Chef send food over in an hour or two.”
Sailor nodded and turned and carried his mate away without another word.