Chapter 4 #2
“Are you all right with her being gone?” Tank had been asked that several times over the last several days, and he really was all right with it. “I’d be up the walls worried that something would happen to her.”
“I might too if I didn’t understand that she’s immortal like I am.
Not to mention, we’ve been talking every night since she left.
It’s been really nice. We’ve been getting to know one another through our link, and I’ve been satisfied with that.
Do I wish she were here? Of course I do.
But she’ll be back, and we’ll have gotten to know one another better in the long run.
I’m enjoying this.” Ace asked him about the house.
“I’ve gotten a tour of it, and I love it.
She said she has a lot of memories there, but none of them are bad.
She told me that she could live there with me if it came to that.
She’s still having trouble wrapping her head around the fact that we’re mates and will be forever.
When she gets back, we’re going to decide where she wants to live, and I’m going to show her my dragon.
I think she’s still having trouble with the fact that I’m a dragon, much less her being one as well. ”
“You’re much calmer than I’ve ever seen you.” He told him that he was in love. “Already? That’s fantastic. I can’t wait to meet my mate. Do you suppose there is one out there for me, too?”
“I have to believe that. Otherwise, I’d be depressed about myself finding one, and you didn’t.
” They talked about the things going on in the office and how much more work they were finding when Ace asked him if he wanted to get lunch.
“Yes. Do you want me to go and get it? It’s cold out, but I don’t seem to mind it as much as you do. I can be there and back in no time.”
“That would be great.” As soon as they figured out what they wanted, he called the Dairy Bar and ordered.
He would be able to pick it up without having to wait for it, and they’d be back to work faster.
There was so much going on that they wanted to keep on top of it so that they didn’t get behind again.
As soon as he got back, they ate and then cleaned up their mess.
It was turning out to be a good day for them.
Tank decided that he was going to try to get the others to call him Sherman.
It was a name that he’d never been called but by Serenity.
He liked the way that it spilled over her lips and the way she made him sound less like an old, retired football player, like he was.
Had his knee not blown out like it had, there is no telling what sort of life he would have had as an athlete.
However, now that he could shift into his other self, something that he loved more than anything else, his knee didn’t bother him anymore, and he was able to get around better than he’d ever been able to.
Not only that, but it seemed to him that his whole body was in better shape than it had been because he’d been given extra magic.
Magic that he was still discovering daily.
“Can you change your clothing at will?” He told his brother that he could and thought that was the best sort of magic.
“Not having to change every time I get something on my clothing sounds like something that I’d enjoy as well.
I have to stay clean and pressed while on this job.
It’s why I keep another shirt and tie here all the time.
It’s so I can look good for the part of mayor. ”
“I have the same thing.” The two of them laughed. “I find myself messier now that I can change into something else. I don’t know if I told Serenity that. I hope it doesn’t freak her out the first time it happens to her. Surely she would have told me if something like that happened.”
“More than likely. Since she is in the clothing design business, she must look neat and well-groomed every day.” He said that she wore just jeans and a sweater unless she had to present something to someone.
“I would imagine that she does a good job, or she’d not be able to go back after taking time off. ”
“I don’t know. I’ve asked her about it, but she blows me off.
I think she’s embarrassed about how well she does.
That’s what I get out of it anyway.” He thought about how she’d been working until midnight last night while talking to him.
“I know that she works hard. She works from her apartment, too. Did I tell you that she’s looking for a place to buy while in New York?
It must be hard to find places there. She said that she’s been saving her money since she moved there.
Places like she wants cost upwards of a million dollars or more. ”
“Christ. And we were complaining about having to pay for our house at only fifty grand when we bought it all those years ago.” Ace shook his head before he continued.
“Do you suppose she’ll want to live around here?
It’s nothing like New York. All the fast-moving and such doesn’t happen around here. ”
“We’ve been talking about it. Like I said, she can work anywhere and get her designs done, but she might miss all the nightlife when around here.” He thought about their last conversation.
She told him that she’d worked hard to get to where she was and wasn’t going to give it up because he wanted her to.
He was still having a hard time getting her to believe him when he said he wasn’t going to rule her around.
He’d just have to prove it to her when the time came.
He could live anywhere with her. He’d miss his family for sure, but it was only a plane ride away when he wanted to visit.
They worked in their different offices until four.
Ace was headed home because he had dinner with some of the ladies who called themselves the Sewing Basket.
They made blankets that they sold for money to the public.
The money, the profit anyway, went to the flower and basket fund for the summer and fall baskets around town.
They’d been donating money to the fund for the last decade, and they wanted some kind of recognition.
Ace loved to go to those kinds of dinners, and he was happy that he got to go.
By five, he was ready to call it a day, too.
“I was wondering something.” He smiled when he heard from Serenity. “Will I be marked in any way? I mean, will I have to be branded so that people know that I’m a dragon and that I’m mated to someone?”
“Not that I’m aware of. I’ve never been marked.
Other shifters will know what you are. Humans might guess that you’re a shifter, but they won’t know what you are.
Why do you ask? Have you been marked?” She said that she hadn’t, but didn’t want to be marked anywhere it would show while she was working.
“I understand that. I’ve never heard of anyone being marked by their mates.
I know that sometimes we bite during sex, but that heals quickly and doesn’t leave a mark. ”
“Biting during sex? How does that work? Is it painful?” He said that he’d never bitten anyone before. But he would imagine that it would be somewhat. “I guess since you mate for life, you wouldn’t have met your mate until me. That makes sense.”
“Before I forget again. You can change your clothing at will. I wouldn’t do it out in the open unless it’s an emergency, but when you get up in the morning or whatever, you can just think about what you want to wear, and you have it on.
It doesn’t matter if it’s jeans and a shirt or a formal gown.
” She must have tried it because she was laughing when she got back to him.
“It’s pretty nice to be able to do that.
I’ve been making sure I’m neat too while I’m at work today. ”
“I can see all kinds of things that I could use it for. If I want to see a design that I’ve been working on, then all I’d have to do is think about it.
This is going to come in handy.” He said that he’d never thought about something like that.
“I’m going to use it all the time. I hope there’s no limit on it. ”
“Not that I know of. No one has ever mentioned it before.” He was going to ask Kings as he had been chosen as king of their kind a while back, but had decided that he didn’t want the job. “I’ll ask around and see what I can find out. I doubt it, but you never know with magic.”
“Let me know what it is you find out. I’d hate to get used to something like this only to have it go away.” She laughed a little. “Being your mate might have better perks than I thought. Magic is kind of cool, don’t you think?”