Page 127 of Destined Paranormals: Volume One

I added a plate of baked goods that Father had sent over with a little bit of magical help this morning. He’d stopped at the bakery next to the council building, and when a box appeared on our counter with a note, I quickly texted him a thanks.

I pulled off a paper towel just in case, and after placing my coffee on the tray, I headed back to my finally awake mate. He was exactly where I’d left him. Not that I expected him to have moved in the few minutes it had taken me to retrieve a small breakfast for him. A snack, if you would.

“I brought mixed fruit juice. I’m a fan of it, but if you find you don’t like it, I’ll get you some orange juice.”

“Oh, I’ve not had mixed fruit. Is it good?” Asher asked, sitting up. I placed the tray on the corner of the tub, thankful it was secure there.

“It’s one of my favorites. And there are fresh pastries from the bakery on Treasure Ridge. Father sent them this morning with well-wishes from him and Dad. They have been reassuring me that you sleeping for two days after your heat broke was actually normal in some cases.”

“Two days?”

I nodded.

Asher took a drink of his juice, and when his eyes widened, I watched as he tipped the glass and drank down half of it in one go.

“I take it you approve.”

“That is good. I’m glad I went ahead and brushed my teeth. I’m sure nothing would have tasted good until I had.”

I chuckled. “It’s understandable. Here, do you like sweet or savory?” I asked, my hand hovering over the pastries.

“Yes,” he told me.

I chuckled again and handed him a cheese danish and took the glass of juice in turn. “How are you feeling? Legs still bread dough?”

Asher kicked his legs up and down in the water and shook his head. He took a bit of the danish, and apparently, it was also a win because after he swallowed his first bite, the rest of the danish disappeared in a hurry. When it was gone, I handed his juice back to him, and when he’d had a couple more drinks, I traded it for another pastry, this one a chocolate croissant. Yet another winner if you were to go by his smile and the quiet moans as he ate it.

“I’ll have to tell Father that you most certainly approve of the pastries.”

“Is this place far? Can we go?”

“It’s on Treasure Ridge. I have to get permission to go on the mountain again, and you as well. But since we are related to my father, there shouldn’t be an issue with that. I had a free pass for the month that I was here before when Eli was pregnant and after he gave birth.”

I took a drink of my coffee, enjoying the taste. I’d missed good coffee. That was something that I missed when traveling.

“Are there any more pastries?” Asher asked.

“There are two more here, but there are more down in the box. I only brought four up. I didn’t know if you’d like them or not.”

“I enjoy bread things. All bread things. These taste different than any that we had in our realm though. But these are so good. Of course, I can’t remember the last meal I had.” Asher took a plain croissant, and I watched as it quickly disappeared and he snatched up the last pastry. This one was an apple scone with cinnamon glaze. He gave it a sniff and then a big bite before moaning. “Oh, that’s definitely a bite of bliss right there. What is this amazing treat?”

I chuckled. “An apple scone. I’ll make sure we get more. And as for a meal, it was sadly the horrible fish and chips and shepherd’s pie in Egypt. That was eight days ago.”

Asher froze. “Eight?”

I nodded. “Yes, sweetheart. You do remember your heat hitting basically the minute after we claimed each other, don’t you?”

“Sort of. I remember having a whole lot of fun on the rug in front of the fireplace but then getting hot. I thought it was because you are so warm and the blanket on us was too much. I went to the bathroom and then came back out. I remember you touching me, giving me cool things to drink. There was a lot of pleasure and a lot of need.”

I nodded. Asher finished his scone, and I gave him back the glass of juice. He finished it in a hurry, and then after I placed the glass back on the tray, he sunk back down in the water. Asher looked at me with worried eyes.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart? Why are you worried?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Why? You did nothing wrong. You had a fertile period. It happens. We were expecting it. We’d already discussed children. We weren’t going to try to prevent them. We’re now living in Montana, and we’ll raise our family here near my parents and my brother and his family.” I moved the tray to the floor, placed my now empty coffee mug on it, and then got to my knees so I could more easily reach Asher. I pushed the sleeve of my long-sleeve henley up and reached into the tub. I ran my fingers through his tousled hair, carefully tugging through the tangles. I moved down to his cheek and was fascinated by the fact that his skin was still as smooth as it was eight days ago. I’d have a bushy beard if I’d gone eight days without trimming or shaving. But I wasn’t fae.

“I didn’t mean to leave you like that,” Asher said, his eyes meeting mine.