Chapter 10 The Lost Child #2
Crush had to gently guide the cart out of their way before he could resume the chase.
“You can’t escape from the wolf pack forever,” Crush declared.
“Naddie and I are not wolves,” Killian pointed out.
“Honorary wolves. I’ll even give you a paw print stamp so you can sign things with a wolf paw print,” Crush replied.
With a laugh, Killian said, “I would be a rabbit in wolf’s clothing.”
“Best not do that when you meet my pack,” Crush said, grinning.
He leaped over a couch to gain some ground with Hansel. The falcon was still flying with his bathrobe clutched in his clawed feet.
Suddenly, Hansel made a sharp turn, flying at them instead. The bathrobe smacked into Crush’s face.
I can’t see! Killian thought. And neither could Crush.
But they were still hurtling forward.
His heart in his throat, Killian batted away the bathrobe. Just in time, too. Crush narrowly avoided tripping over a table.
“Hansel!” Crush snarled.
For the first time since the start of the chase, he sounded truly mad.
Killian stiffened. Hansel flew upward, perching on one of the rafters. Then he dropped the bathrobe. “C’mon, that wasn’t entirely my fault. You are the big bad alpha rescuer. You are used to having sudden obstacles in your way.”
Crush breathed out. “Fuck. You’re right.”
The falcon raised a nonexistent eyebrow. “Something different about this situation?”
Crush stiffened. Then he glanced furtively at Killian, and back at Hansel. “Maybe.”
Hansel cackled.
“I’m going to make some lunch,” Crush said, turning away from his butler. Hansel gave a wolf whistle.
“What was that about?” Killian asked, confused.
Before Crush could answer, Hansel did. “Who knows? But you know what, Howl Consort? I have plenty of Howl Master’s embarrassing childhood stories.”
Crush stiffened and spun around. “No, don’t tell him.”
Killian frowned. Crush? Embarrassing stories? “Surely they can’t be as bad as my foot-in-mouth disease.”
Hansel looked overjoyed. “You have no idea. This is gonna be so good.”
“No!” Crush growled. He looked slightly worried. “They’re horrific stories.”
“All of them?” Killian asked.
“There are several that will make you cringe,” Hansel sang. “All of them are so entertaining.”
Crush bared his teeth and stalked toward Hansel, but Hansel shook his feathery tail at them.
“I could poop on you,” Hansel said to Crush. “Bet you don’t want that.”
Crush flipped him off. “Let’s talk about something else. Anything but that.”
“Wait,” Killian said. “I still don’t know how Naddie escaped from the shopping cart.”
At that, all eyes turned to the cart.
It flipped its front wheels slowly, backing away as though it felt guilty.
“Hey, I don’t think it’s your fault.” Killian reached out with one hand. Crush understood and carried him closer to the cart. “We’re not angry with you. I just want to understand what happened.”
Slowly, the cart rolled forward, nudging its basket against Killian’s palm. Killian smiled and patted it. “If I hand Naddie to you, could you show us how she got out?”
The cart lifted its flap once.
Killian gently placed Naddie on the rumpled clothes in the cart. The cart squeaked its wheels and rocked back and forth, as though it wanted to rock Naddie to sleep. Then it lifted its flap, nudging Naddie’s side.
Naddie squirmed away. For two minutes, nothing happened. Then she shifted into a coyote pup. When the cart lifted its flap again, Naddie wriggled through the hole left by the flap, landing neatly on the floor below.
Killian gasped. Naddie wasn’t hurt, though; she shook herself and trotted over to the leather couch, tail wagging as she sniffed under it.
As though she hadn’t just caused a panic in all the adults present.
Killian laughed weakly. “Oh, hon.” To the cart, he said, “I’m guessing you followed her all the way to the door, trying to get her back into your cargo basket. That was why you made all that noise.”
The cart lifted its flap, like it was shrugging half-heartedly. Killian felt so bad for it; the cart couldn’t have known that Naddie would escape.
“It’s my fault, not yours,” he said, patting the cart again. “I should’ve known that would happen. You can hold Naddie in your basket again, just no more lifting your flap if she’s there!”
The cart flipped its wheels excitedly.
“Cart’s a real sweetheart too,” Crush rumbled, rubbing Killian’s chest. “Good news is, Naddie doesn’t smell hurt.”
Killian sighed. “I guess I have an escape artist of a child.”
“You’ll want to be careful when she gets older,” Crush said dryly.
Hansel coughed fakely into his wing. “Guess who was a—” cough “—terror tot.” Cough.
Crush glowered. Hansel batted his eyelids.
“So... Are you going to keep the cart?” Killian said slowly.
Crush hugged Killian closer. Killian was still so aware of where they were joined, and Crush’s arms surrounding him. “I thought we might both adopt the cart together. Would you like to name it?”
Killian’s heart fluttered. Wasn’t pet adoption for people who were serious about each other? Was Crush serious about him?
After spending two days together?
Killian craned his neck to look Crush in the eye. “You want to adopt the cart with me?”
Crush blushed. “Yes?”
“Oh.” Killian blushed too. We haven’t even kissed!
What would Crush’s kiss feel like? Crush’s lips looked soft and damp, and they had felt like bliss on Killian’s throat. If Crush had pressed them to Killian’s mouth instead, if he had wanted to taste Killian and let Killian feel his tongue...
If Crush wanted to kiss Killian like a mate, how would Killian react to it?
“Your pulse is all the way up,” Crush murmured.
Killian panicked. “I wasn’t thinking about your mouth!”
Crush’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh? What about my mouth?”
Crap crap crap!
“There’s saliva on your lips,” Killian said before he could think. “I don’t mean you’re drooling like a dog! Or a wolf! Oh gods. I just meant your mouth looks wet like you just took a swim in an oil slick! But a clean oil slick, maybe olive oil? But it’s not that wet!”
Crush stared at him. And his chest began to vibrate again, his lips tugging up. “Gods, you’re one of a kind.”
Killian buried his face in his hands. “This is humiliating.”
Even Hansel was cackling in the background.
“It’s adorable, actually,” Crush murmured. “But let’s go back to my question. What would you like to name the cart?”
The cart wandered over, looking curious.
“Wonder Cart,” Killian said after some thinking. “It has great potential to be a hero. But no rushing into danger!”
For a heartbeat, he wondered if Crush would think the name was too corny. But Crush laughed and said, “Alright. Wonder Cart it is.”
The cart rolled back and forth, making sharp grr-grr noises with its wheels.
“Do you disagree with the name?” Killian asked the cart. The cart wriggled side to side, as though shaking its head. “Is it the danger thing?” Killian asked next. “Do you want to rush into danger?”
The cart raised its flap.
Killian groaned. “We want to keep you safe!”
But the cart shook itself, as though it wasn’t concerned about its own safety. Killian sighed.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure it’s safe, too,” Crush said, nuzzling his hair.
Killian couldn’t help the relief he felt.
“Cart, your name is now Wonder Cart,” Crush said, patting the cart’s side. “We have a hero in our midst.”
The cart squeaked excitedly; Killian finally smiled again.
“Like you’re not a hero yourself?” he said to Crush.
Crush raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“Yes! You literally look like a hero. You’re big and strong; your everything is big.
” Killian knew he should stop talking then.
But his mouth, as usual, had other ideas.
“Your pecs are like padded leather cushions. Your biceps are like melons. Your thighs are like tree trunks, the big girthy trees.” Killian gulped when Crush’s eyes widened.
But he had a point to prove! “Your cock is so heavy, you could knock someone out with it. Like, have you ever leaped at someone without any pants on? I think your cock would poke their eye out. And you would win just because of that. You would defeat the supervillain and the town would call you Super Dick Man. They would erect statues of your cock everywhere and people would worship it.”
Killian finally managed to slap his hands over his mouth. Why did I say all that?
Somewhere out of sight, Hansel was snickering very loudly.
Crush grinned. “You like my cock that much, huh?”
“No!” Killian lied. “I just... Have you seen those balls?”
“Yes, they’re mine.”
“Oh gods. Just when I thought this couldn’t get any worse.” Killian hid his face in his hands. “Let’s please talk about something other than your balls. Like I think I actually had my heat today.”
Okay, maybe not that.
Crush went completely still against him. “What?”