I was almost certain he hadn’t been aware of the double entendre but, just in case, I quickly hurried away, feeling my cheeks heat up.
Despite any awkwardness from the encounter, I was glad I’d bumped into Adam. Seeing Charles perform magic had reignited my desire to learn more about what I was.
Being that close to magic had felt so... right. It felt familiar, like it was supposed to be a part of me.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The door opened shortly after I knocked and Vince pulled me into a kiss. “You are a lifesaver,” he told me, acceptinging the cake tin which I’d been holding out.
“It’s the least I could do after you agreed to help us with the barn,” I said, following him to the kitchen. I’d made a casually comment about Trip getting too big for the house and Beth, sensing my dismay, had come up with the idea to convert the old barn into a living space.
“I think it’s a good idea, getting a little more space to yourself.”
I grinned. “I bet you’re also not hating the idea that I’ll be getting some more distance from the guys.”
Kit ran up to me as I stepped in the kitchen and I reached down to ruffled her hair before bending down to greet her with a hug.
“The thought hadn’t crossed my mind,” Vince said innocently, the dirty liar.
Jem sat on the table, playing with brightly coloured dough. “Is there going to be enough room for everyone?” I asked. Like the rest of his house, the kitchen was very... cosy.
“I was thinking we could eat outside, I can chock up the heater, and maybe your dragon can help out if it gets too cold.”
I smiled. “Absolutely, sounds good.” I lifted Kit, kissing her forehead and placing her in the seat next to Jem before turning to the man of the house. “What can I do?”
“Hmm, well, first things first, you can do this-” He snagged my hand and pulled me against him, cupping my face with his free hand as he claimed my lips. The kiss was long and deep and made my insides melt into a puddle.
“I meant how can I help with dinner?” I murmured when he finally pulled away to let me breathe.
“That helped,” he insisted.
I laughed and reached to brush away some flour from his cheek, he lent into the touch with a small smile. “Seriously, give me something to do.”
“I could give you someone to do,” he whispered against my ear.
I lightly hit his chest. “Behave! There are children present,” I said in a hushed voice.
He chuckled. “I suppose you could peel some vegetables, although I can assure you it won’t be anywhere near as fun.”
I smirked but walked over to where he had already put out vegetables and a chopping board. “Where’s April?” I asked.
“Held up at work, she shouldn’t be much longer.” He walked past me, pinching my ass on the way to the fridge.
“Hey!”
He grinned devilishly and winked at me.
I shook my head but blushed as I began cutting.
By the time I had just sat down with the kids and Vince was finishing up, we heard the front door opened. Kit had climbed onto my lap and was marvelling at the small bunny I’d made out of blue dough. She giggled and clapped her hands as she put another blob of dough in my palm.
“What should I make now?” I asked. I glanced up and smiled as April, Vince’s mum, and a woman I didn’t know walked in.
“Ducky,” said Kit.
I smiled and rubbed my cheek against her hair. “Alright, sweetie.”
“April, could you keep an eye on everything while I light the heater outside?” asked Vince.
“No problem,” she assured him, moving over to the table and returning my small wave of greeting.
He smiled at her before heading out the back door.
The two other women took a seat with me and the kids. “Elsa this is my aunt, Amber, and you know Madge,” introduced April.
I smiled shyly. “Nice to see you both.”
Kit tugged at my hair to get my attention back to the problem at hand. I smiled and went about moulding a duck for her amusement.
“She clearly adores you,” said Amber.
“I think it’s because she has to put up with Vince too much, anyone else is pretty great in comparison,” I said, grinning.
“You evil little Witch,” growled Vince as he stepped back into the kitchen, I wasn’t sure how he had heard me through the door.
Kit giggled and climbed under the table after taking the duck from my hands.
Vince grabbed me from the chair and yanked me over his shoulder.
“Hey!” I yelped.
He chuckled as he carried me out of the house.
“Put me down,” I growled.
“No, you’re mine now,” he slapped my ass.
“Vincent!”
He laughed. He set me down and kissed me before biting playfully at my neck. “You would insult me in front of my child?” he demanded playfully.
“Don’t think of it as an insult, think of it as honesty.”
A growl rumbled through his chest. “Insolent little Witch,” he murmured, balling my hair up in his fist as he claimed my mouth again.
I moaned softly as he pulled back.
He let go of my hair and it swung loose around my shoulders. “You’re lucky there are kids around, otherwise you’d be in real trouble,” he murmured against my ear.
I shoved him away, blushing a little. Trip jumped down from the roof just behind him, landing lightly on the deck. “Why don’t you bring out the cutlery and we can set the table,” I suggested.
Vince grasped my chin. “You’re adorable when you’re acting all domestic,” he informed me.
I rolled my eyes. “Go on, you fool.”
“You need to learn a little respect.” He leant closer, as if to kiss me, but at the last minute, he pinched my ass again before moving around me and heading back inside.
I sighed softly and glanced at Trip. “He’s the devil,” I told the dragon. I sat on one of the deck chairs and he trotted over to me.
“I never thought I’d see the day.”
I glanced up to see the Aunt, Amber, standing in the doorway.
“My brother has spent his whole life looking for one of them and there he is,” she said, walking closer.
“Maybe he didn’t realise what exactly he should have been looking for.”
Her brow furrowed a little. “What do you mean?”
It was a good question, as I wasn’t entirely sure myself. But I said the first thing that came to mind, “As far as I can tell he could not exist alone, we have formed an attachment, I believe it’s a natural process for his kind. Maybe an evolutionary trait, we take care of each other. If there are others, I figure their people are going to great lengths to protect them.”
Trip nuzzled my neck, his narrow tongue flicking over my skin.
I smiled, I love you too, buddy.
“That fits with something I’ve heard about them. You’ve got some kind of empathetic connection, right? Or possibly even telepathic?” she asked, eyeing me curiously.
My smiled widened. “I’d say it’s a bit of both, we understand each other, even though he doesn’t use words, and he’s pretty good at interpreting how I feel.”
He continued to nuzzle me affectionately. I brushed my fingers over his neck.
Madge came out with the kids and Trip leapt around excitedly.
“No roughhousing,” I said firmly, although I trusted him to be careful.
He whined softly, but trotted over to them and started nuzzling them enthusiastically.
Vince stepped out with plates and I rose to help him. It took only a few minutes for us to get everything set up.
After that, it was difficult to get the kids to stay in their seats, they kept climbing under the table to play with Trip. In the end, I got him to sit between their chairs so they would stay put.
Vince snagged my hand. “Come help me grab a few more chairs.” He kissed my cheek once we were
inside. “Thank you for being here,” he said softly.
I smiled. “No problem.”
Then there was a knock on the front door. “Would you get that, love?” He asked, holding two fold out chairs under one arm and a third in his other hand.
“Of course.” I headed over to door and opened it to an older man. His hair was dark grey but he was in surprisingly good shape. He smiled and my gaze moved to his eyes which were unfocused and milky.
“You must be Vincent’s girlfriend,” he said after a moment.
I blushed, embarrassed that I’d frozen in surprise at his lack of sight, and I was glad he couldn’t see it. “Yes, I’m Elsa.”
He raised his hands until they were in front of my face. “May I?”
“Oh, yeah, sure.”
His hands cupped my face, his expression became one of concentration as he felt my bone structure. It was weird. He smiled as he let go. “Lovely to meet you, Elsa, I’m Felix.”
I smiled. “Nice to meet you too, I think everyone’s in the garden... um, do you need a hand?” I asked hesitantly. Was it rude to offer and therefore imply he couldn’t find his way himself?
He waved me off. “I’ll be fine, just lead the way.”
I bit my lip. “Sure.” I walked back through the house, nudging aside the odd toy which had been left out, then holding open the back door as we reached it.
“Felix, I’m glad you could make it,” said Vince as he walked over and wrapped an arm around my waist.
“You know I’d never miss an opportunity to see the little ones and meet your girl.” He walked over to sit by Amber with surprising ease. Maybe I had been a fool to offer help.
“Food should be done, come help me carry it out,” Vince said softly.
I smiled and followed him back inside. He kissed me softly once we were alone before putting everything on a couple of trays and handing me one. “They hate me,” I informed him.
He smirked, although I was only half kidding. “They don’t hate you.”
“They should, I’m a moron.”
He stepped closer and nuzzled my cheek. “Shut up, you moron. They will love you, in fact, they’ll probably like me more just for being associated with you.”
“Urgh, I’m just so bad with people.”
His eyes shone with amusement. “You work in a bakery, where you serve people on a daily basis.”
“That’s work, I get paid to pretend to be good with people. I’m highly motivated when it come to monetary gain.”
He chuckled. “I love you, they are going to love you. Just be yourself.” He kissed me again, a firm sweet kiss that left no room for argument.
I gave him a flat look. “That is literally the worst advice I’ve ever heard.”
He laughed and lightly spanked my ass. “You are perfect, even without trying.”
“Better but it still needs work,” I said, scowling at him.
Chapter Twenty-Three
We managed to get the food trays outside and on the table without incident. The food even managed to lure the kids away from the Dragon, for the moment. Vince pulled out my chair for me and I sat as he pulled his chair closer.
“Everything looks amazing, you two,” said Vince’s mother as she began to fill the kid's plates.
“Oh, this was all him, I just bought dessert.”
Vince smiled. “Which will undoubtedly be the best part.”
“Elsa and I were just discussing the relationship between a Dragon and his Witch before you arrived, Felix, I know you’ve read a little on the subject,” said Amber.
I glanced over at him curiously.
He nodded. “Ah, yes, Vince mentioned a dragon, although I didn’t quite believe it until I sensed his aura here.” His eyes drifted to where Trip’s head peeked over the table, staring longingly at the chicken.
“You can sense auras?” I asked curiously. That did explain how he had known Vince wasn’t the one who had answered the door even before I’d spoken, and maybe how he got around so easily.
He nodded. “I’ve heard the relationship between a Dragon and his Witch as being symbiotic, I can now see why that might be accurate. Your auras are connected, they’re in sync,” he told me.
I smiled and glanced over at Trip. “That doesn’t surprise me. What else do you know about Dragons?” I asked curiously, taking a bite of the chicken on my plate.
“Witches were said to be the original Dragon riders because, supposedly, their magic comes from the same place.”
“Wow, that’s cool.” I chewed thoughtfully.
“He’s a little smaller than I expected, how old is he?” he asked.
“Two but age doesn’t seem to be the biggest factor in his size, he seems to grow whenever he’s worried or angry. I think it’s a stress response.”
I’d been hesitate to bring him and let him interact with everyone. After all, his existence was supposed to be a secret. But now I was glad I had, it felt wonderful to be able to talk about this kind of stuff with people who actually seemed to understand, people I could learn from.
Felix tapped his fingers on the table thoughtfully as he ate. “I suppose it’s a good thing. To survive and stay hidden it makes sense for him to be more compact.”
I smiled. “Yeah, although hiding no longer seems to be one of his priority.” Especially as he was currently vying for attention from Jem, who was eating a large piece of chicken.
“He knows he’s safe here,” said Vince, lifting my hand to his lips.
I glanced up at him with a small smile and, when I turned back to Trip, I realised he was right. With our empathic connection, was that because I felt safe here?
The Dragon met my gaze briefly. He huffed.
I smiled.
We ate for a while, talking casually, about nothing important. I felt my earlier tension begin to melt away. There was none of the grilling or judgement that I’d expected, in fact, everyone seemed totally at ease.
By the time we finished, Jem had found his way onto my lap while Kit played with Trip at Vince’s feet. Vince eased back in his chair and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
“That was really good,” I told him, gesturing to the empty plate in front of me.
He smiled and tilted my chin up so he could kiss me. “I’m glad you thought so. Stay put, I’ll grab dessert,” he murmured, kissing me against briefly before rising to his feet.
I wasn’t exactly going anywhere with a child on my lap, I thought with a wry smile. I wrapped my arms around Jem and rested my chin on his head.
“We don’t often get a chance to get out of the city, the town here is really pretty,” said Amber.
“Yeah, it’s nice, especially this time of year.” Vince’s garden backed into a forest, which meant we had a spectacular view of the autumn coloured leaves, that still clung to the trees in some places and littered the ground in others.
“And where do you work, Elsa?” asked Felix, his expression one of mild curiosity.
“I work in a small cafe in town,” I told him.
“Do you enjoy it?” he asked, his expression just curious, without even a hint of judgement.
“The work’s fine, and my boss is great.” I smiled.
He nodded thoughtfully.
Vince set the dessert things on the table and leant down, taking my lips again. I blushed a little as he pulled away. It seemed like he was always finding excuses to kiss me or touch me, even the presence of his family apparently wasn’t enough to dampen the desire. Squeezing my shoulder, he turned his attention to cutting the cake.
He placed one piece in front of me before handing Jem a fork.
Jem laughed softly before digging in, only using the fork about forty percent of the time. Kit immediately leapt into her chair at the prospect of cake. I grinned. Vince chuckled. Sitting beside me, he leant over and kissed my cheek. “Thank you,” he whispered.
I glanced at him. “For what?”
He just smiled and kissed me again.
Trip’s head
lifted suddenly and he growled. I lifted Jem and rose, placing him back on the seat before turning to the forest. “Where?” I asked softly.
He turned his head.
“Maybe we should head inside, it’s getting chilly,” I suggested.
Amber’s eyes narrowed at me. “I know that look, what is it?”
“Probably nothing.”
“Mum, why don’t you take the kids in?” suggested Vince, resting a hand on my shoulder.
She and Amber went about doing just that. I hopped off the decking, onto the grass and stared at the forest, in the direction Trip had indicated.
“What do you even call one of those?” I murmured to Trip as he gave me the impression of what he was sensing.
“A troll,” offered Felix.
“What’s he doing here?” I asked, frowning.
“Oh, I imagine they’re here for your boyfriend,” said Felix, leaning back casually in his chair.
I glanced up at Vince who stood beside me. “What did you do?”
He gave me a guilty look, then grimaced. “I tried diplomacy... in retrospect, it was never my strong suit.”
“He’s like a bulldozer, no finesse,” Felix commented.
“You’re the ones who decided to point this bulldozer at a bunch of trolls,” Vince retorted.
Felix had assigned him a job? I tucked that tidbit away to think about later, too distracted by the coming threat to give it much attention.
“We thought you could handle it, you managed to steal the Axitross and save your mother from the Underworld, for crying out loud.”
I glanced at Vince. “You did that?” I had no idea what an Axitross was but I knew what the Underworld was. I was beginning to realise he had really downplayed his links to the supernatural world.
“It wasn’t just me,” he told Felix pointedly.
Felix snorted. “Clearly.”
Even I could hear the trolls approaching now. Trip grumbled at my side. “Yes, juvenile is the word,” I told him. “Hide on the roof for now.” My hand reached to my hip to grasp... nothing. Why had I thought something would be there?
I let that thought slip away too as I refocused.
Trip hesitated but did as he was told. I snagged an old shovel which had been left lying against the deck. When I turned to Vince he was carrying a large sword, where had that come from?
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