Chapter 18

Eighteen

Before I left work,I typed out my daily text to Bel.

Me: Stay one more night? Please?

Sleeping with Bel these past few weeks had been better than anything I could've ever imagined, and I was even more positive he was my viramore now. I knew, deep in my soul, that he was. I just didn't know how to broach the subject with him.

I glanced at my text to see if he'd read it yet.

Sometimes Bel didn't see it right away—depending on whether he was still busking or not, or whether he had to think about the answer—but today, he didn't make me wait very long.

Bel: Okay. See you soon.

It made me smile, and I wrote him back.

Me: I'm leaving the office now, so I might beat you back. Do you want me to come pick you up?

Bel: I can walk.

That made me scowl. Did that mean he actually wanted me to pick him up and was afraid to admit it? Or did it mean that I was annoying for asking in the first place?

I hesitated for a moment before replying.

Me: Can I come pick you up? It's really cold out today, and I know you've been outside all day.

Bel: Fine.

A grin spread over my face. I'd take that small win.

Quickly, I shut everything down, stood, and grabbed my winter coat from behind my door, shrugging it on. As I walked out of the office, I called out, "Tan! Sav! Isa!"

Three heads popped out of their own offices, and I snorted because it looked like they'd planned it or something.

Tan asked, "You rang?"

"Bel's letting me pick him up today. Are you guys almost done? I want to head to him as soon as possible."

Tan's eyebrows rose. "You've never picked him up before."

"I'm aware."

He stared for another moment before looking at Sav, then Isa and turning back to me. "We can go now."

"Sometimes I think the three of you share a brain or something."

They all chuckled as they disappeared inside their offices. It was less than a minute later when they all turned back up, wearing their winter gear. I'd driven to the office today, despite how close it was, because it was so damn cold out. It was the coldest day yet this season, and we hadn't wanted to freeze our patooties off on the short walk.

I hated to think how cold Bel must've been after staying outside all day. Or how cold any of the others on the street were. I wished there was something more I could do to help keep them warm, but buying those blankets had been my best bet.

I was even more grateful for using the car now that Bel was allowing me to pick him up. As we headed down the steps, I sent my sweet fae another text.

Me: Walking out of the office now. Gotta drop the others off, then I can come to you. Where do you want me to pick you up?

Bel: There's a snack shop on Ice Desert Boulevard called Ice Cream Desserts. The owner lets me come inside sometimes on cold days. I'll wait in front for you.

Me: Why not inside?

Bel: Because I already used up my twenty minutes for the day. If I try to go in again, I'll get kicked out and won't be able to use the place again. It's fine.

That made me frown. What was the point of that owner even letting him inside if he was limiting it to twenty minutes per day? Honestly, some of the people in this city were complete assholes. I sneered and almost tripped coming out of the elevator because I wasn't paying attention to where I was going.

"Whoa, there, buddy," Tan said, grabbing my arm and catching me before I face-planted. "You okay there, Rem?"

"Yeah. Thanks. Sorry, wasn't looking."

"You think?"

I flipped him off, and he sent me a cheeky grin as he grabbed my arm and led me to the front doors.

Me: Do you at least have your heat charm blanket?

Bel: Of course. Been a lifesaver today.

I blew out a relieved breath. Hopefully that meant that he'd been using it throughout the day today. Mother of All, I wish I could convince him to come work for me or something. Or even just stay inside our apartment all day where he was safe and warm. But I wouldn't do that to him. His pride would be hurt if I brought it up, and he'd be pissed at me.

Me: Good.

It had been four weeks since I'd first brought Bel home. Two weeks since the first time he'd slept in my bed. And every single night since then, we fell asleep in each other's arms—and made love nearly every night. Yet, I was still nervous that this would be the day he was gone.

These four weeks had been the best of my entire life, and I supposed I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Tan, Isa, and Savelle got in the car with me, and Tan said, "I have security systems being set up in the Magical History Museum tomorrow. I'll go down to check on their progress tomorrow afternoon and make sure they're installing things correctly."

I nodded. "Good."

"You know," Tan started, and Savelle, Isa, and I all exchanged looks as I started the car, already knowing what was coming. "Mr. Sourpuss hasn't come out of his tower in over two decades. Two whole fucking decades. Some people think it's closer to twenty-five years, possibly more, but no one has seen him in his human form out here with all of us peasants for at least twenty years."

"We don't need more useless dragon king facts, Tan," Isa complained. "We already have enough." It was true. Every time the king was brought up, or one of his properties was, Tan sprouted off some new, strange, sometimes ridiculous, dragon fact.

"And," he continued as if he hadn't heard her, "no one has even seen his dragon form—ever."

That got my attention. "Surely that can't be true."

Isa and Savelle both groaned, and Sav whispered, "Don't encourage him."

I sent them a shrug.

Tan nodded. "It is. No one even knows what color his dragon is."

My brow furrowed. "What do you mean? We saw?—"

"No one besides us." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Don't tell anyone else."

That made me roll my eyes, and I steered the conversation back to where it needed to be as I pulled out of the parking spot. I had no idea where he was getting these facts, and I didn't think I wanted to. "This museum job is the biggest one we've had yet, and our guys don't have a lot of experience yet."

"That's why I'm going myself." Tan sneered like he always did when he talked about the king of the Sedoba Territory. "Plus, I don't want his highness complaining that we did a half-ass job. Figured I'd go down and ensure everything's up to par before we have to deal with that asshole again."

"I like the sound of that." I sure as hell didn't want to have to see that dragon shifter anytime soon. It was bad enough dealing with his assistant.

Tan patted my shoulder. "You should invite Bel over to my place for dinner this Saturday. I want to get to know him better, and I'm making your brother's lasagna. All of you are invited." My brother, the famous chef, had taught Tan and me both how to make his lasagna, and it was to die for.

Mm. Who could resist an invitation like that? "I'll ask him."

"Good."

I pulled up in front of our building, and Tan shot me a grin and patted my shoulder before opening his door and climbing out.

Isa said, "See y'all in the morning." She hopped out before I could reply.

Savelle said, "Goodnight," before getting out and following our friends inside the building.

I quickly typed in the name of the shop Bel mentioned, then listened to my GPS as it took me to the other side of the city. I made sure to turn the heat way up so it'd be nice and toasty for my little may'ezza when he got into the car.

When the shop came into view, I didn't see Bel at first, but I pulled into an open parking spot and figured I'd get out to look for him and give him a call. Before I could do either of those things, I saw a figure peel away from the side of the building and head straight for me.

Bel had been using his glamor so I hadn't noticed him at first, probably because he was wrapped from head to toe in his blanket. Only his pretty face was left uncovered, and really, it was mostly his eyes since he had his nose buried in the blanket too. Hopefully it was helping with the cold, but I honestly didn't think anything but four walls and a massive heater would stave away this horrible freezing weather.

He slid into the passenger seat and let out a strange sound. "Brrrrr. It's so fuckin' cold today. Sorry to make you come all the way out here to get me."

I blinked at him in shock. "Are you serious? I wanted to come pick you up, remember? I should be thanking you for letting me."

He faced me, but only so I could see him roll his eyes. "Whatever. Thanks for comin'."

"Anytime." I leaned over the center console, snagged the edge of his blanket, and pulled it down to reveal his mouth. Then I pressed a quick kiss to his puffy lips before re-covering him since I knew he was still freezing. "Hey, may'ezza."

He smiled. I could tell because his eyes lit up with it. "Hey, wolf boy."

"Are you okay?"

"Still got all ten fingers and nine toes."

I jerked back in surprise and perhaps a little horror. Hadn't he had ten toes just this morning? "What? Nine toes?"

He blinked innocently at me for several beats before he cackled. "Your face. Oh my Mother." He let out a few good laughs. "So gullible."

"I am not."

He snorted. "Says the man that believed I'd lost a toe, and then, what? Just decided to keep busking out in the freezin' cold for a few more hours?"

"I wouldn't put it past you."

He chuckled and patted my forearm. "Don't worry. I still have all my fingers and toes."

"Well, I wasn't really worried about it before now, but now I feel like I need to do a visual exam to confirm."

"No need, but I suppose I'll allow it. Only, not yet. I'm still too cold to take my shoes off."

"That's fair." I leaned over and nuzzled the side of his head for a moment, inhaling his unique scent that both calmed and excited me at the same time. "Glad you're okay. Let's get home and get some food. I'm starving."

"You're always hungry."

"Hey, you eat every time I put food in front of you, so it's not just me."

"Well, I mean… yeah, of course I do. Not ever gonna say no to food. You eat while you can before you can't."

I held in my wince at that, but just barely. I hated the fact that he'd gone without so often in the past. It made me feel… murdery. Like I wanted to let my teeth and claws out and find the next asshole who said something rude to him. Or maybe go back and hunt down all the dicks that wouldn't hire him simply because he was fae.

Bel's hand came down on top of mine, and he softly said, "Hey. Sorry. Didn't mean to make it weird."

"You didn't."

"You should tell that to your face."

I snorted and gave him a small push. "Now that's just uncalled for."

He laughed and reached for my hand again, so I turned mine over so we were palm to palm. He threaded our fingers together, and all the frustration and anger that'd been threatening to boil over simmered and then slowly faded away.

Lifting his hand, I placed a kiss to his cold skin. "Good grief, you're freezing."

"Yeah, but it feels good in here, so I'll be alright."

I gave him another kiss, then reached over, keeping our hands clasped so he could cover his hand back up with his blanket. He didn't hesitate, and I'd never been so happy that I'd gone with the bigger sized blankets. He was able to cover his entire body, make a hood, and still have enough blanket left for a good snuggle.

After a few minutes, he said, "Um, I, uh… I have a question to ask you."

I shot him a glance but kept my focus on the road. "Okay. What's up?"

"So I told you about my cousins, right?"

"Yeah. Keryth, right? And his little sisters?"

"Mhm. So Ker, uh, he wants to meet you."

I didn't know he wanted a response at first, but when I realized, I said, "Okay. I'd like to meet him too."

"Really?"

My brow furrowed, and I shot him a glance. "Yeah, of course. He's important to you, so he's important to me."

Even though I wasn't looking at him, I could practically feel him sag. "That's good news because I was wondering if maybe you'd want to go to Alsira's concert with me this Saturday, then stop by their house afterward?"

"I'd love to." After a second, I added, "Oh, and Tan wants all of us to come over for dinner this weekend too, but I can tell him we can't go until Sunday, if you're okay with that."

"You're agreeing? Just like that?"

"Of course I am, may'ezza. I'd be honored to meet your cousins."

"Alright. So Saturday's the concert, and Sunday will be Tan's dinner?"

The fact that he was planning things a few days ahead, things to do with me, made me extremely happy, and I knew the smile on my face was wide. "Sounds perfect."

He held my hand the whole way back home, and that smile stayed on my face, even when we ventured out into the cold to walk inside the building.