Page 49 of Buckle Up, Buttercup

“Make mine a double,” I mutter as I reread the letter, freshly shocked by the absolute godsdamn gall of Hadrian’s parents to send her without even calling. Even if she wanted to come, they should have come too.

A surprise sister and oh, by the way, please watch her for some unspecified amount of time? What in the actual fuck?! I know they’ve always been locked into their research, so forgetful of the fact that time moves faster inside the haven system than outside. A week for them in the human world is a whole month here so they’ve lost years with Hadrian. I think it’s why he’s so much the opposite of that now.

“She’s got nowhere to go,” he says, tucking a stray lock of hair over my shoulder. “Showed up with just a bag of clothes but wanted one of my sweatshirts at bedtime. I don’t know how to take care of a nine-year-old. I couldn’t hide her from you, Blue, but I want you to know that her sudden appearance changes nothing about my intention toward you.”

I stuff the letter back in his shirt pocket, considering my response. “Don’t you think it’s weird how stuff keeps coming up, though? Between us, I mean?”

He scoffs. “Just because something is challenging doesn’t mean it’s not worth pursuing, Bluebell. But I will make you a promise right now. I won’t run from this, and I will always talk to you, because the foundation of this house, our house, is built on decades of friendship. Don’t run from me, little witch, and I will honor that bravery by doing the same.”

Those words make me care for him more than anything he’s said since our attraction became apparent. But they don’t soothe the worry inside me.

“How you doing with this, Bluebell?” He slides a hand up my back and into my hair while he pours a glass full of whiskey from a bottle next to his chair. “I know it’s a lot to lay on you, and I put you in my lap so I can read your scent. Talk to me, please.”

“It’s a lot,” I admit. “She’s so young, it’s like you became a dad this afternoon.”

“I tried comming my folks,” he says with a sigh. “No answer, of course. I suspect it’s true that they’re so deep into the forest that they won’t come out for years.”

“How are you with all of this?” I stroke my knuckles along his angular jawline. “I know it always bothered you how they left you here for such long stretches, and now they’re doing it again.”

“They’re…unusual,” he says with a shake of his head. “I guess I thought, eventually, I’d put all of that behind me. That somehow once I was grown, the power dynamic between us would change simply because I didn’t need parenting. I barely spoke to them while I was at the academy. But now? Her? She’s so…tiny. Just a youngling. She needs guidance, a mother, a father.”

“I’m here for you,” I whisper. “Even as a friend I’d help you, you know that.”

He shakes his head. “I won’t ask you to do that, Bluebell.” He sucks at his teeth. “I’ve seen your to-do list.” Reaching around my waist, he pats my back pocket, and we share a wry chuckle at the sound of crinkling paper.

I shrug and thread my arms around his neck. “I’m in shock. I’m worried for you and for her. But I’m here for you no matter what. This isn’t the last convo we’ll have about Petra, I’m sure.”

“No.” He bites his lower lip, staring at me. “Can we set that topic aside, though? I needed to tell you immediately, but I’ll admit to having an ulterior motive in getting you out here alone.”

The drag of his knuckles along my collarbone to my shoulder sends shivers skating down my spine.

I lean forward, resting my forearms on his chest and staring up into those gorgeous purple eyes. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” He smiles, but it’s soft and tender at the edges, tinged by what I can only assume is the weight of today’s revelation.

For a long minute, we say nothing. Hadrian rubs my back. I’m sure we’re both lost in thought and I can’t think of anything else to say on the topic right now. I’m gonna need some time to process that.

He shifts beneath me, moving his hips while the chair creaks under his immense weight. “Blue, have I ever told you about my sex toy collection?”

My brows rise at the very welcome change of subject, and I shake my head. “Might those be the toys I carried into your apartment that had you blushing dark purple?”

“The very ones,” he says with a grin, handing me the glass of whiskey. “All of my toys are shaped like human pussies, Bluebell, because I thought of you every time I fucked them. And I fucked them near constantly.”

My mouth goes dry.

His smile becomes a full-on smirk. “You wanna see me do that sometime? Maybe tell me about what you like? If I had a guess, I’d assume there’s at least one or two gargoyle-shaped cocks in your arsenal. Am I right?”

A hot blush fully overtakes me.

“That’s what I thought,” he says while he pours a second glass of whiskey. He takes a sip and lets his head fall back against the chair, throat bobbing as he swallows.

My fingers itch to run down over that muscular column, maybe cover it with bites and kisses. But I’m also shocked as shit about discovering Petra, and even though he asked to move on from that convo and decided to talk about sex toys, my mind keeps drifting back to it.

Hadrian swoops a big wing around my back, cloaking us in darkness as he tightens both big arms around me. I can’t see him like this, although I bet he can see me just fine with his excellent senses.

My big predator.

“I can tell your mind is still spinning, Bluebell,” he says with a low snarl. “Allow me to distract you…”