by Debbie Behan
Kayden thought about it. ‘Whoever wins gets to choose the destination.’
They agreed and the hands were played.
After an hour or so of playing and when he had only won a couple of games, Conom looked at Cassie with his dark eyes squinted and a look of being sucked in. ‘You were holding back on me, girl. We need to make the stakes a little more even.’ He nudged Kayden. ‘What do you reckon, mate? Every time she wins she has to drink a shot. If the only way a man is going to beat her is when she’s flat out drunk, then so be it.’ He gestured to a servant to bring a carottle of Starshooter.
They both laughed and poured the drinks, Kayden enjoying it as much as Conom now.
‘Gang up on the princess, is it? Okay I’m up for it. The guys do this to me all the time. But don’t go all sooky la la on me if I still beat you both.’
They knuckle-crunched and passed Cassie her drink.
Time ticked away and so did her sense of judgement. She started to muck up the counts and giggle too much and she lost quite a bit. Everyone was happier now. They ended up kidding around and boisterous, the game became unpredictable. In the end, no one cared if they won or lost and Kayden decided to end the game when Cassie collapsed into his arms. He wasn’t much better as he held her, slurring that they had better go to bed. Cassie felt herself being lifted and realised her father had picked her up. He carried her to one of the rooms and she could see Conom arm-in-arm with Kayden, staggering behind them. Cassie was giggling at them holding each other up.
Aldebaran put her on the bed. Cassie felt the room spin. ‘Pops, I’m going to be sick,’ she whined.
‘Well, that’ll teach you for always taking up a dare. I want you to stop being so easily influenced. You will end up an alcoholic, Cassandra,’ he scolded.
Kayden chuckled at him scolding her. ‘Yes, Cassie, stop being a naughty girl.’
Aldebaran growled. ‘Kayden it’s not funny! You both drink far too much and you have to start controlling it.’
‘Okay, Poppa bear, point taken,’ Kayden slurred.
Aldebaran went crook at Conom next. ‘Conom help me with Cassandra. She’s going to be ill. You helped get her in this state so you can sort it out while I get Kayden into bed.’
Chapter Fourty-One
Not my Finest Hour
Conom could tell that Ald was angry that he’d encouraged his kids to drink again. He had no idea how hooked on his damned daughter Conom was and if he did, Conom would be getting more than a cranky sneer right then.
Kayden had called out to Cassie as Ald had stomped off, carrying Cassie to bed. Who would have guessed that a week after I nearly wiped out his team over a card game we’d become best bloody buddies? He was a riot and too easy to like. How we’re going to be on opposing sides in a few days’ time is beyond me. He wanted to go home with these guys and party until they dropped. He wanted to hang with his girl and hear her laugh, watching her every expression and soaking her in until finally his eyes gave him some peace.
‘Dad’s pissed, hey?’ Kayden slurred and then chuckled as they crashed into the wall.
‘Yeah he’s pissed, buddy but not as much as I’ll be if we go through a wall. Concentrate on your walking. Your girl’s in good hands,’ Conom grumbled and then couldn’t help but grin as Kayden gave him the thumbs up and a wink. Conom put Kayden’s arm back around him. ‘Let’s give this another go. Ald will give me a hard time if I leave you to sleep here,’ he said as Kayden started to slide down the wall.
‘Okey-dokey, C-man,’ Kayden said, making him grin more. How could he not like this dude? There was not a damned mean bone in his body. Even growling at him didn’t ruffle him one iota.
In the bedroom, Cassie wasn’t looking too hot. She’d just said she was going to be sick and Ald was growling at her, saying she was going to end up a drunk. She looked like she was going to cry but Kayden was quick, noticing her mood immediately and making a joke of it, telling her she was naughty. She looked over and grinned at him. Ald glanced around at Kayden and went off at him for not taking better care of her.
Jeez, he is in such a bloody bad mood. He’s acting like a … father. Wow, so that is what all this is about. My mate’s gone all daddyfied on me. Hell, he’s normally worse than I am. Now, look at him. Bloody hell, he’s going for ‘father of the year’ for sure. Conom wanted to laugh and hang it on him but the mood in the room was far from amusing. Cassie is sick, my man here is hardly standing and Ald looks ready to explode. Then the words he was dreading, that she was going to be throw up.
What am I, frigging nurse Conom? He knew Ald wouldn’t do the sick thing, even with his own kid. Vomit made him heave. I wish she would just let go right here to piss him off. I would never let him live that down. All the crap he puts up with and does to others and yet the smell of puke brings the big man to his knees.
Ald took Kayden while Conom whipped Cassie up in his arms and headed for the bathroom as her eyes began to roll back in her head. He left her on the floor with her head in the toilet bowl. Thank goodness her hair has been braided and is all tied up. Washing sick out of hair is something even I refuse to do.
He went over and splashed water over his own face to sober up a bit. How was he to look after her when he felt not much better? Is it punishment? His face looked back at him in the mirror. Yes, I’ve brought all this on myself and need to suck it up.
Cassie had flushed the loo for the third time and was curling up on the floor. Picking her up, he put her on the bed. She groaned again so it was back to the bathroom. This time he wasn’t mucking around, she had nothing left to throw up so it was time for something more drastic. He turned on the shower and put her under. He could hear Kayden call out for his princess but he would have to wait or come and help. Ald, the mongrel had long gone, probably at the first sounds of her heaving. The bloody weak mongrel. I’ll get him good for this later.
Cassie started to get some colour back in her face but her lips were turning blue and she was shaking. ‘Time to come out, sweetie,’ he said, wrapping a towel around her. The clothes she had on now were drenched. ‘I’ll hold the towel up but you have to take your wet gear off, sweetie or you’ll catch a cold.’ He leant her up against the shower wall and she grinned and started to slip down the wall. ‘Whoa, steady there, little one.’ He grabbed her just in time. ‘It looks like we’re going to have to become very familiar with each other or you will catch your death.’
She lifted up her arms so he could slip her dress over her head. Still holding her with one hand so she didn’t end up on the floor, he grabbed the towelling robe and placed it around her the best he could while she giggled and went all jelly-like on him.
‘Cass you’re a hopeless drunk. How do you manage when I’m not around?’
‘My best friend Woodsta cares for me. I love my best friend to bits. He growls at me more than you do though,’ she chuckled, leaning into him.
‘Okay, I have you decent so while I hold you, can you to wiggle out of your underwear,’ he said, unclipping her bra. ‘You can’t sleep with anything wet on, sweetie. You will end up with pneumonia.’
After a struggle, she was free of clothing. Luckily her hair stayed dry; he was no good at the whole hair-drying thing. He pulled out the scrunchie and let her hair fall out, checking it was dry. Nope, she’s good to go, he thought as he combed it through his fingers. God, even her hair feels and smells divine. She must have seen the look on his face and he flushed with embarrassment. She touched his face, her eyes glazed like she was somewhere else. Maybe I remind her of someone else.
‘I miss my Woodsta,’ she smiled. ‘You’re like my Woodsta, you know. Do you love me too?’
He picked her up. ‘Yes, Cass, I’m afraid I love you too,’ he said, thinking she wouldn’t remember anything in the morning anyway so he might as well be honest. He walked her back over to the bed and pulled the covers back. After helping her in he pu
lled the covers over her. Kayden, out cold, felt for her and reached for her, pulling her into his arms. ‘I missed you, sweetheart,’ he said groggily, cuddling her.
‘I missed you too, handsome,’ she whispered.
Looking down at them Conom knew in that moment that he would make any sacrifice to have a love like that. How could it be that this was the only girl in the universe he had ever wanted that with? Fate was cruel and this was it at its finest. Never had he ever been so low in morals to even think of taking another man’s wife. But here now with her, his morals were so screwed up.
He touched the softness of her cheek. ‘Sweet dreams, Cass.’
Chapter Fourty-Two
The Big Dipper
Dad woke them up the next morning. ‘Are you two sleepyheads ever going to get up?’ he asked, sitting on the bed and passing them a coffee. Cassie checked she was decent and remembered she had woken in the middle of the night and put a nightie on. She stretched and sat up, taking the coffee from her father.
‘If this is how you’re going to wake us up every morning, Pops, you’ll never get rid of me.’ She joked with him and made him smile.
Kayden groaned and sat up, throwing pillows behind Cassie so she could lean back. He kissed her cheek. ‘Morning, beautiful,’ he said sweetly. Then glancing up at Aldebaran, he grinned. ‘What time is it, Poppa bear?’ Kayden joked.
‘Midmorning and your porridge is lumpy and cold, you bastard,’ he grumped back, making Cassie and Kayden crack up laughing. Aldebaran shook his head, amused. ‘Okay, you two stirrers. I wanted to take you somewhere fun for the day but now you can both stay here and Conom and I will go on our own.’ He laughed with them.
Cassie stopped mucking around. ‘Really? Where’re we going?’
‘It’s a surprise. Now get up. Breakfast is ready.’
After getting out of the shower, Cassie braided her hair back and her outfit changed to a pair of shorts and a girlie top that showed off her tattoo. While she slipped into the flats that her shoes had magically turned into, Kayden came out the shower, towel drying his hair and grinning at her.
‘That looks pretty hot, honey,’ he grinned.
‘Maybe it’s the way I did my hair. The magic just keeps mixing things up. Should I take it out?’ she looked in the mirror, unsure now.
He grinned. ‘I thought as much. It is your magic that’s making all these changes. I think your subconscious actually knows what’s coming up next and dresses accordingly. Don’t stress, just go with the flow and don’t you dare spoil my enjoyment by changing a single thing, you little hottie. Get here now!’ He laughed as he chased her around the bed, joking and having fun with her.
Finally ready, they took the elevator to the bottom floor where they found the others eating breakfast. Conom looked up and nodded, his face pale, his eyes dark and tired-looking.
Aldebaran was reading as usual as he ate. Cassie put her arms around him and he smiled, looking up at her. ‘You’re looking a bit better now.’
‘Sorry about last night, Pops. We’ll try to behave a bit more today.’
‘Somehow I don’t think either of you will, but it is nice to hear you’ll try.’
Cassie let him go. Grinning, she walked past Conom, ruffling his hair. ‘Thanks for last night, ace. Hope I wasn’t too much bother.’
He had a tired expression. ‘You were no trouble, little one.’
She grinned back at his sweetness. ‘Even so, thanks for being a good friend.’ Sitting down next to Kayden she picked at a bit of fruit and some juice and waited patiently for them to finish eating so they could go do something. ‘So Pops, give?’ she finally asked, unable to wait any longer.
‘How does a fun park sound?’
Cassie jumped up and pulled at him. ‘Let’s go then, we’re wasting the day,’ she nagged, going over and pulling Kayden and then Conom up. ‘Come on, guys, get with the program. Pops is waiting.’
‘Who’s waiting?’ Conom asked, a little annoyed.
‘Did you have to tell her where we were taking her, Ald? I would have liked to at least finish my coffee first,’ he grouched.
Cassie put her hands on her hips. ‘Come on, ace, stop acting like a princess and toughen up,’ she baited him.
‘Why you little …’ he grabbed her under one arm and in seconds had his other arm around Kayden’s shoulders and had transported them to the fun park. Aldebaran shimmered in straight after them, still laughing at how easily she could work up Conom.
‘I think you’ve met your match there, Conom.’
‘I’ll give her princess! After what she drank last night it’d be my pleasure to watch her go green,’ he said mischievously. ‘You’ll be begging us to go home after you’ve ridden the Big Dipper.’ His ruthless expression didn’t worry Cassie one little bit.
She ran over to her father for protection, pretending Conom scared her and laughing at how quickly he reacted. His mood is going to make today so much more fun, she thought.
‘Being Daddy’s little girl is not going to protect you today, young lady.’ Conom put his arm around Kayden and whispered something. They both came over and kidnapped her from her father’s arms.
‘My own husband!’ she laughed as they took an arm each. ‘Traitor!’ she added, stretching up and kissing his cheek, loving every minute of it.
Kayden told her they had landed on the Big Dipper constellation which is part of the Ursa Major Great Bear constellation. He and Conom took her through to the main entrance. She could now see that the Big Dipper was just a big fun park with heaps of rides and games to play.
To get to the rides, they had to pass by some of the Great Bear constellation and could see bears roaming in their natural habitat. She would have loved to have gone in for a closer look as they were quite magnificent to watch; however Conom was dragging her away.
‘Come, inquisitive one, I’ll bring you back another day.’
They stopped in front of a set of carts. ‘Here we are,’ Conom said with a little snigger in his tone. ‘The longest ride in the universe: the Big Dipper. It starts here and curves around like a big snake, the speed whips you around and goes so fast it almost takes your breath away, it drops you so rapidly, so be ready,’ Conom explained, putting her between Kayden and himself. ‘Do you need a spew bag?’ he joked.
‘No, it’s okay. I’ll just use your lap.’ She stirred him up.
‘You dare!’ He looked at her, shocked, and Kayden cracked up laughing.
‘Don’t worry, Conom, she’s just having a lend of you. She’s tougher than that.’ He calmed him as they took off.
The ride was nothing like those at the fun parks she knew: it was way cooler. They dropped so fast it felt like their stomachs were in their throats and it corkscrewed around until their heads spun. With all the stars, you couldn’t even focus on a horizon to steady yourself. They just looked out at the atmosphere. When they reached the whip-around they thought they were going to fly off the edge and each felt as though they would continue to travel out into space with no end. It was freaky and scary, exhilarating and fun.
When they pulled up it was Conom and Kayden who looked a bit green. After Cassie laughed heaps, she got back in with her father and went around one more time. He held her all the way around and when they reached the whip, both put their arms up and screamed really loudly and then laughed all the way back. When they stopped, her father gave her a big hug for including him by going around again, just with him.
Kayden raced over, grabbing her for the next ride. ‘Come and have a look at this one,’ he said, keyed up. ‘It’ll blow your mind, Cass.’ He explained it. ‘You have to sit on a rubber tube with handles. It shoots you through a tube and up high into space. You came down and land on a white puffy cloud that softens your fall. But it’s like a trampoline that bounces you up and onto another four clouds before you stop. The whole time you spin and have
to hold on or you end up in space and they have to come get you.’
‘Cool, let’s go,’ she said as he took her hand and they ran over to it. Luckily they could fit four on the tube so this time they could all go on the ride together.
The first time Cassie’s hand slipped off, her father grabbed her and held her until she steadied herself again. The second time, Kayden and Cassie were laughing so much they both let go, accidentally on purpose, so they had to be rescued. It was so much more fun floating, waiting for pick up. They copped a scolding from Aldebaran for deliberately doing it to see what would happen.
He is so cute the way he worries.
The park was closing so they only had time for one more ride. Kayden wanted to go on a star ride that spun you while dipping five ways before spinning high into the atmosphere and down fast like a top.
‘You’re used to chasing stars and catching them. This is right up your alley but for me, not so much.’ She was unsure. ‘However, I might not get up here for a holiday again for a while so will give it a go.’
Boy, was she sorry she’d agreed to go. By the time the ride finished she was dizzy and they had to hold her while she steadied herself. Conom transported her directly to the top deck, helping her onto the lounge by the pool.
‘She looks pale, Kayden. Is she going to be alright?’
‘I’ll live.’ She frowned at their fussing.
‘She just needs a rest. Don’t forget we had a late night as well. I’ll take her for a sleep. She’ll be fine.’
Kayden walked her back to the room, lying with her on the bed. She felt better in a horizontal position and brightening up, they talked about how much fun it had been. Conom knocked and asked if they were decent and came in with water and a tablet. He saw Cassie was starting to look better from just lying down and suggested they have a quiet one, maybe have a cinema night so Cassie could continue lying down on a recliner.