Chapter 17
Chapter
Seventeen
D aniel woke up starving.
He was so hungry, he could just eat the whole house. In fact, he didn’t think he’d ever been this hungry. But then, Hayden had been enthusiastic.
Acrobatic.
Inventive.
And he had been utterly exhausted by the time it was over, as if his body had burned out a giant fever.
He was pretty sure, in fact, that they’d been in bed for way longer than a couple of hours.
But he hadn’t heard Jacks cry for them. He hadn’t noticed time passing, or the sun rising or setting or anything. But right now, it didn’t matter because he was fucking hungry.
Daniel blew out a hard breath, wiping ice away from his upper lip, and went to grab a robe.
Did he need pants?
He probably needed pants.
If the ladies were downstairs, he’d want pants. God damn it, did he have pants?
He headed to the room that had been his. He really needed to move his things into Hayden’s room.
He’d do that today, whatever today was. After food.
He tugged on a pair of sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and a pair of socks because he didn’t know where the hell his house shoes were. And he didn’t really care because he was starving to death.
He growled softly and hurried downstairs to the kitchen.
Sitting on the kitchen counter was a tray with a note on it. Hopefully it didn’t say something like, We quit, Rita and Denise .
He opened it up and read, Everything for snacks is in the fridge. Jacks is with us. Love you two. R the air was cold. Whatever.
Hayden took the tray and put it on one of the tables next to the bed, then came to grab him and reel him in for a wonderfully warm hug. “You’re icy cold, baby.”
“I know, I keep breathing frosty air it seems like. Is the heat on in the house? Do you think the ladies turned it all the way down?” Daniel kissed Hayden’s chin before heading over to the tray because he was still so hungry and he needed more cookies.
The food was all great, but he didn’t know exactly what he was craving. There had to be something that would satisfy this.
“I think I need to get some more milk. I think it’s absolutely time for some more milk.” But he didn’t want to get back out of bed, so he got some cheese. That was all right.
It wasn’t milk, but it would work.
Hayden was like a furnace against him, and the heat felt so good. He snuggled in, nibbling on cheese and having a nut or two as he went.
Everything tasted so good, and every so often he fed Hayden a bite. It didn’t take long at all before they had completely decimated the tray.
Hayden chuckled softly, “Better?”
“Yeah, I’m still hungry, but I’m not grinding anymore. We worked out a lot, I guess.” At least that was what it felt like, that they had worked the hell out of each other. “It’s a good thing, right?”
“It is a good thing, right?” Hayden kissed his nose, chuckling softly. “My amazing mate.”
He hummed deep in his chest, but he could accept Hayden’s words, he supposed. He’d seen things, felt things, and he wasn’t interested in arguing about it.
It seemed ridiculous, as a matter of fact, because now how did he argue about the truth?
He might not understand why dragons were here, but he knew that they were. That was enough.
He snuggled in a little more, kissing the underside of Hayden’s chin. He wasn’t ready to get busy again. His body didn’t think it could handle that and told him with many, many twinges in many places. But he needed something. He needed pressure and comfort. He needed Hayden to hold him tight.
Hayden really seemed to understand and hugged him close, legs tangling with his. That was as good as milk, for sure.
But he still wanted milk. Maybe he would talk to Hayden about getting a little refrigerator to keep in the bedroom so he didn’t have to go downstairs to get milk.
“Do you want me to go down and get you some more, my love?”
“No, don’t be silly, I’m fine. I can go get my own.” That did sound amazing, though.
Hopefully they’d be able to get milk when the snow was really deep. Because if they didn’t, that would suck. Babies needed milk. He needed milk. People needed milk to cook. He wanted- could they freeze milk? Dried milk was a thing, but that kinda tasted like shit…
“I’ll be right back, don’t worry.”
He thought somewhere Hayden was laughing at him, but hey, that was a thing that happened.
Hayden disappeared, and Daniel finished the last crumbs of the food.
When the door opened again, there stood Hayden with another gallon of milk and a carton of ice cream.
Frozen milk.
Go figure.
“And don’t worry, we have a snowmobile. They can get milk to us.”
“Yeah, I’m glad because otherwise, well, nobody wants a milk-less existence.” Jacks would cry. So would he.
“Absolutely. Nobody wants a milkless existence.” Hayden didn’t break a grin as he filled a huge glass with milk.
Daniel sucked it down, and he swore it felt like the milk was hitting his empty belly, which he knew was impossible.
He’d been eating for the last half an hour. How could his belly possibly be empty? But he was so hungry and so empty, and he needed the milk— that was what his body was craving.
He grabbed the ice cream carton and the spoon, because frozen milk. Yes. He could have that too.
Hayden just watched him, a little smile playing on his mouth, but it didn’t seem cruel. It seemed fond and really, really happy. He loved the light in Hayden’s eyes right now. They were twinkling, and Hayden just looked pleased.
So he ate because if that made Hayden happy, he would do it right, and it made him happy also.
Everybody was happy. Daniel hoped Jacks was happy. He should probably check in on Jacks, but he just felt like the ladies had it well in hand. There hadn’t been any screaming or crying or holes burnt in the carpet, he thought.
“I think I could take a nap again.” Daniel leaned into Hayden. “That was some wild lovemaking.”
“It was good for me.”
Daniel nodded. “Oh, for me too. I liked it a lot.”
Although ‘like’ was such a little word for something that blew his fucking mind and turned him inside out. “Is it awful to say that after a nap I want to do it again? Probably, huh? We need to go be dad and nanny.”
“I think we’re going to have to talk about that.”
Daniel frowned. “Talk about what?”
“Talk about the fact that I would rather be mates than dad and nanny. I think at this point we should discuss our relationship.”
That made him a little nervous. “What does that mean?”
“It means you’re so much more to me than just someone who’s here to take care of Jacks.
I mean, I need you to help with Jacks, but I want you to help with Jacks because you love him and because you’re parenting him with me.
Maybe you have to take a little bit more of it on because I have to work at a different job, but you’re not his nanny. You’re his Dan Dan.”
Oh. Daniel was going to just shake apart. The feelings in him were huge, overtaking him. He searched Hayden’s eyes. “You mean it?”
Hayden nodded, reaching up to stroke his cheek. “Every word.”
Tears stung his eyes, but they were good tears, not bad ones. And he nodded. “I would love that. I want to be with the two of you so badly. I want you to be my mate, and I want Jacks to be my kid, and I’ll be his Dan-Dan.”
Hayden gave him a relieved grin, those eyes flaring gold for a minute. “Good. I wouldn’t want to live my life without you now,” he said. “And you mean so much more to me than being an employee.”
He sniffled, taking another bite of ice cream because what else could he do? He had to have emotional support milk. “I think I might be in love with you, Hayden.”
Hayden bent forward to take a kiss, which was sort of ice creamy, but that was okay. “I love you too, baby.”
“Okay.” He took a deep breath, his heart feeling like a weight had been lifted off it. “Okay, we’re going to do this. You and me together.”
“You have my word.”
And that was all he needed.