12. Davien

Chapter 12

Davien

The bed was empty when I opened my eyes, and I groused to my beast that he should have woken me up when Errol left.

He's still here and making breakfast , my unicorn huffed. Bacon. Ewww!

I apologize . Now that he mentioned it, I focused on the delicious aroma wafting into the bedroom. My beast was vegetarian, but I wasn't, and he had a hard time whenever I consumed meat. And bacon was especially pungent.

Errol stood in the doorway, dressed only in an apron. Did I own an apron? I didn't recall buying one. This was a Christmas-themed one, and it must have been from a Secret Santa giveaway at the office. One I'd never used and shoved in a drawer.

Shame it was covering up his bits, though.

"Your coffee is served."

He placed a mug on the nightstand, and when I attempted to flip the apron out of the way, he stepped back.

"Hey, no harassing the chef." He winked and accompanied it with a wide grin. "Until after we eat." He giggled, a sound that tickled my heart. "Eat the food, not other things." His cheeks were such a beautiful shade of pink I wanted to squeeze them, but he was too far away.

"You're not joining me?" I patted the mattress.

"In a minute." He headed out. "Just gotta cook the eggs and I'm done."

I sipped the coffee, and this morning, that first mouthful was extra special. A night spent between the sheets with my mate. Nothing could be better than that.

You're not mated yet, my beast sighed. Once I'd marked Errol, my unicorn would get off my ass.

I'm not on your butt. Ewww! I'm close to your heart and you know that .

We'd both be happier once I'd drawn blood and scratched or bitten Errol. But first, I had to show him who I really was.

Me! Me! Me!

I'd never revealed my unicorn to anyone, except to others of my kind. And unlike wolves or bears, unicorns were rare, and even other shifters were wary of unicorns, the so-called mythical beast.

Goody, we get to visit the orchard .

Mmmm . I'd suggest to Errol we go fruit-picking and make a pie for him and Grams.

"Ta-da." Errol arrived, still with the apron wrapped around his narrow hips, holding a tray aloft. He played it in front of me before turning around and wriggling his naked butt.

If he hadn't spent the time making me breakfast, I'd have put it aside and ravaged his very cute ass.

There was a plate of bacon, another with two eggs, and a third with a pile of toast, plus two glasses of orange juice.

"I'll pay you to make breakfast every morning." I was more of a coffee and bite of toast before running out the door guy.

His smile faded, and his expression changed to one of confusion. I backtracked, wondering how he'd misunderstood my statement.

"You want to employ me?"

"It was a joke because this is amazing." I extended my hand and pulled him to the side of the bed. "But what I'd really like is to wake up beside you every morning. The breakfast, as nice as it is, pales compared to you in my bed."

"Oh." His face brightened. "We can dream, but it's not possible."

I nodded. "Grams." Unless Errol invited me to live with him and his grandmother, there'd be few opportunities for us to sleep in the same bed.

"But we have this morning, so climb in, and let's tuck into this feast."

He offered me a piece of bacon, and I bit it, the delicious salty flavor flooding my mouth. We made egg-and-bacon sandwiches with the toast and fed one another, making sure to kiss after each bite.

"I have a surprise for you." I dabbed his mouth with a napkin.

Errol lifted the covers. "Even after last night, I'm still amazed at how big you are."

He was stroking my ego, and I was up for that—and so was my cock. But before we could continue our relationship, he had to know the real me. Otherwise, what we had was a lie.

"I was thinking of something a little different."

"Little doesn't describe your length." He munched on another piece of toast.

If he didn't stop, we'd never make it out of bed.

I grabbed his hand. "How would you like to visit one of my favorite places? And no, not your hole, though that is number one on my favorites list."

"Okay." He swirled the juice around in the glass. "Where?"

"It's an orchard outside of town, but it could be on another planet. It's so different from the city. Peaceful and full of the aroma of ripening fruit."

He quirked a brow. "Okay. Not what I expected, but I'm eager to learn more about you, you fruit-loving fiend."

He bopped my nose as his phone rang. "Grams," he noted before he answered. There were a lot of "Yes," and "No," and "Have you looked in the cupboard by the fridge?" responses before he ended with, "I'm coming home now."

He didn't have to tell me our plans had been upended.

"The neighbor had to babysit his grandson, so I'm on duty." Grams had mislaid something and our one-on-one time was at an end.

"Sorry about your orchard. Raincheck?"

"Absolutely."

"Or you could come home with me?" He bit his bottom lip and tilted his head, something he did when he was uncertain.

"I'd love to."

We hustled to clean up, shower, and get to Grams. Though Errol said she wasn't as confused now that the doctor had regulated her meds, I worried we might find her on the roof or dancing in the street. Though there was nothing wrong with the latter if the traffic had been diverted.

Errol raced in ahead of me while I parked the car, and when I got inside, he was in the kitchen with Grams.

"Ta-da!" she yelled and extended both hands toward a perfectly formed chocolate cake with icing spread evenly over the top and dribbling down the sides.

"I fibbed. There's no emergency. My apologies. But I saw that sorry-ass cake my grandson took with him yesterday, and I had to show you we are a proper cake-making family. No soggy middles for us."

Errol hugged her, and I gave her a high-five.

Not only was I admiring the cake, but Grams's confusion and memory lapses appeared to have disappeared now that she was properly medicated. Not only was that pretty freaking great for her, but that would remove a lot of the pressure on Errol.

"Shall we?" Grams handed Errol a knife.

He sent me a glance, and I nodded. We'd just had a big breakfast, but there was always room for cake. Besides, we couldn't disappoint Grams.

"Coffee?" she asked.

"Sure," Errol and I said in unison. I had caffeine surging through my veins, but there was no such thing as too much coffee.

Liar .

My beast was right. Too much caffeine made him jumpy too.

We're never getting to the orchard , are we? My beast was disappointed, but pleased we were spending more time with my mate.

Another day, perhaps .

"What shall we toast to?" Grams asked as he poured our coffee. "You and my grandson finding one another?"

Errol and I shared a glance. "It's early days, Grams." He mouthed to me, "She loves playing matchmaker."

I squeezed his knee and raised my mug. "To us. All of us."

"To all of us," Grams and Errol echoed.

Grams made a mean cup of coffee, and the cake was scrumptious. I refused to compare it with Errol's lopsided version. They were both yummy in their own way.

Errol took a big bite and moaned. "So good, Grams." He had a dollop of icing in the corner of his mouth, and he licked it. My body reacted, leaving little space in my jeans.

"You remind me of someone, Davien." Grams licked her fingers.

I wondered if Grams hadn't just seen unicorns in the garden but had witnessed the human shifting. But I couldn't try to get to the truth until Errol had met my beast.

"It's so good to be me." Grams wrapped her hand around the coffee mug. "Everything is clearer instead of fuzzy around the edges."

Errol patted her hand. "You have Davien to thank for that. He was the one who suggested looking at the meds you were taking."

Grams raised her mug again. "Seems we have much to celebrate." She busied herself putting the rest of the cake away. "Do you have any plans for the weekend? You should be out having fun."

"Davien wants to take me to an orchard."

Grams's brows shot up.

"Not today," I clarified. "We have time."

"An orchard? Interesting. I had a friend who loved visiting the orchards outside town." She caught my eye. Was she sending me a message?

Or did she just love fresh fruit?