Chapter 13
Ian
My nerves are jangling as loud as the bells on the door of Dog-Eared Pages when I step inside. I’m so tense, my tail’s sticking straight out behind me.
I don’t know why I’m antsy today. I’m just here to pick up the contract. In and out. Keep it simple, stupid.
Who am I kidding? If I was going for simple, I would have timed my visit for the beginning or end of her shift, not smack in the middle when she’s tied up with reading picture books.
I find a chair near the back next to an elderly-looking dragon.
“Which one’s yours?” he asks gruffly. He nods to a small, blue dragon in a purple T-shirt sitting in the second row. “That’s my granddaughter.”
“The one reading,” I say as Julia takes a seat on a plump ottoman at the front, a stack of three slim volumes on her lap.
“Ahhh,” the old dragon chuckles. “Must be a new bond. It’s hard to leave them alone at first, isn’t it? Those are good days, enjoy it.”
Julia spots me and gives a small wave, flushing when half her tiny audience turns to look at me. I wave back and then settle in as she begins to read in her clear, expressive voice. I’m quickly drawn into the stories, as engaged as the children.
I can’t help picturing her reading to our kids. Or singing to them. It’s not fair that they won’t get to know her the way that all these random kids at the bookstore get to know her.
Maybe I can bring our pups in to listen. It’s a public place, kind of. Would it upset her to see them? Would she ask us to leave? Would she quit?
I want to howl at the thought of never seeing her again. Of our pups never knowing their dam. I know this is how it has to be, but I really fucking hate it.
“Settle down, son,” the dragon mutters under his breath. “Your scent is ruining the mood.”
I look around and see several of the monster children closest to us have their ears flattened or are plugging their noses. “Sorry.” I take a few deep breaths to let go of the negative feelings. Thankfully, Julia starts a sing-along that distracts the kids while my scent clears.
The old dragon turns to me. “She’s got you in knots, eh?
Running around with someone else?” He must spot my surprise at his close guess, because he nods knowingly.
“Happens a lot when you’re fated late. My advice is don’t let it fester.
Take it to Court and let a Fate sort it out.
They’ll figure out a way to make it work, even if it looks a little different than the standard model. ”
“We’re okay.” I promised her I wouldn’t force her into anything, and I won’t. I’ve got a mating and a full pregnancy to show her the kind of mate I can be. If she still doesn’t choose me by the end of it, I’ll have an answer I can live with. “Sorry about the scent. I just got in my head.”
“Pops! Pops! I got a sticker!” His little granddaughter runs up and climbs into his lap to show him her prize, a sparkly sticker shaped like a frog.
He holds it up so the shiny paper catches the light, admiring it. “Well, isn’t that a beauty? What a treasure. Keep it safe so you can show Aunt Dayna.”
She tucks it into the pocket of her overalls, and I can’t help wondering why she’s not going to show the sticker to her parents. I guess maybe all families are a little bit complicated.
The children and caregivers begin to disperse, some wandering into the aisles of the store and others heading for the front door.
The dragon stands, picking his granddaughter up at the same time, and claps me on the shoulder. “Good luck, kid.”
I chuckle at being called a kid when I’m heading toward forty, but I could use the luck. “Thanks.”
“What was that about?” Julia asks. In the bustle of families, I hadn’t noticed her walking over. She still has the picture books tucked under her arm.
“Just chit-chat. Your stickers are a big hit.”
She lights up. “Aren’t they? I thought they were so cute when I found them. Perfect to go with the stories today.”
“Very cute.”
“Do you want one? I have extras.” She dives a hand into the pocket of her apron and pulls one out for me. I take it, of course. I don’t have any use for a sparkly frog sticker, but she’s so damn adorable, I can’t refuse.
I stick it to my phone case with the same reverence as the little dragon who saved hers. “Thanks, pretty girl.” I know I’m being too flirty, but I love seeing Julia change colors and smelling her scent strengthen. I love affecting her.
“You’re here for the papers,” she says, fanning away her fluster. “Let me go fetch them from the back.”
“I’m here to see you,” I say to her fleeing form, although I don’t think she catches it.
She returns a minute later with the folder and hands it to me. “I signed all your paperwork, and Richard’s too, so everything is a go. Do you think we can schedule something on such short notice?”
She worries her lower lip with her teeth, and I stare, mesmerized, at the tiny stripe of pink wetness where her lip skin meets the inside of her mouth.
All I can think about is how much I want to kiss her.
How it won’t be long until I can cover her in kisses now that I have this folder in my hand.
It won’t be a relationship, but I’ll have one night to give her all the kisses I can squeeze in.
She asked a question, though. I need to answer it.
“Um. Yes. Of course. Saturday.” I have a lot to do in the next couple days.
I need to talk to the lawyer and clean my house and figure out what to cook for her.
I need to get new sheets for the bed. I need to finish decorating the nursery so Julia can see it while she’s there, since it’s possible she’ll never come back.
She breathes a sigh of relief. “Oh, good. I was worried we might have to wait another month, and then it’d be tougher to hide the pregnancy from my kids. This is great.”
“Great,” I repeat, even though it doesn’t sound so great when she puts it like that.
“Text me the time once you make the appointment, and we can meet at the clinic.”
“Okay,” I say, mind still caught up in how I’m going to impress her. I’m outside on the sidewalk before what she said really sinks in.
We can meet at the clinic. Why would we—?
Ohhh.
Shit.
She thinks our mating is going to be a medical procedure. Something clinical involving Dr. MacDougal and a high-tech turkey baster. Something that happens in separate rooms.
That’s…not what I had planned. My stomach hollows.
I have to tell her. Obviously, I have to tell her. She consented to something without fully understanding what she was signing up for. If she was thinking a doctor was going to impregnate her, I’m pretty sure that knotting her all night is going to be a dealbreaker.
I don’t know why I didn’t see this coming. If I’ve learned anything about my mate, it’s that she’s loyal to a fault: loyal to her children and friends who deserve it…and her husband who definitely doesn’t. She’s not going to cheat on him.
“Excuse you,” a human man huffs as he steps around me to enter the bookstore.
I move to the side so I’m out of the way. How fitting for the situation. Ever since I found Julia, I’ve been standing to the side so I’m not inconveniencing her crappy human husband with my needs. From what I gleaned during our karaoke night, he’s not meeting her needs. He never even kisses her.
How cold and cruel must he be if he looks at his perfect peach of a wife and doesn’t want to worship her with his tongue?
Damn it, I don’t want her to say no. I deserve my mate, and more importantly, she deserves me.
I march back inside and around the store until I find her in a back corner on a ladder, hanging little bats above a display of ghost stories.
“Julia.”
“Ian!” she squeaks in surprise and nearly falls backward off the ladder.
Instinctively, I reach out to steady her and end up with a handful of plush ass.
I am really not sorry about it. She quickly dismounts, so I reluctantly have to let go of her, but my fingers and cock twitch in tandem at the memory of the soft feel of her.
She glances at the folder I’m still carrying. “Sorry. Do you need something else? Did I miss a signature line?”
“No.” I take a deep breath as I scramble for the right words.
The bookstore is busy, still milling with leftover story-time kids and their parents along with other customers.
This is not the right place to have this conversation about whether I get to put my dick in her or not.
“Listen. I think there’s been a misunderstanding.
Is there somewhere private we can talk? It will only take a minute. ”
She glances around and then pulls me into a small alcove near the restrooms that houses a fire extinguisher and a drinking fountain. It’s so small that we both barely fit in it. “What is it?” she asks in a low voice, sounding worried. “Were you wrong about us being mates?”
“No!” Fuck. I want to kiss her. Our bodies keep brushing against each other in the tight space, elbows and hips and shoulders. “It’s about this weekend. About… we’re not… it’s not… we can’t meet at the clinic, Julia,” I finish in a rush.
“We can’t?” Her brow furrows. “Is it at a different doctor’s office?”
I run my fingers through my fur, alarm bells ringing in my head that this is the day I lose her.
It’s only a week after I found her, and now, squashed between a leaky drinking fountain and an avocado-green wall, I’m going to lose her.
But still, I can’t stop the growl that comes out of me.
“No. There won’t be any doctors involved.
You’re my mate. We’ll do this as nature intended. ”