Page 16 of Paper and Passion
“Not all the time.” Alex nips at my shoulder.
“I’ll wait another decade if we have to,” Adrian says, as calm and cool as ever. “Now that we’ve found you, I’ll wait however long you need.”
“And I’d bond you right this very second.” Alex drops a line of kisses up my neck.
Adrian chuckles, the sound vibrating against my back. “She’s always been the impulsiveone, but you should know, I’m just as all in. Say the word, and I’ll pull my cock out right here and coat you with my cum.”
Unable to speak, I tremble between them. Why is that so hot? I want his cum in me more than I’ve ever wanted anything. I want a part of both of them inside me. A family. With them.
But I shouldn’t want that. Not yet. It’s too soon. We just met today.
How do I know they won’t end up exactly like Chad and Samantha the second we’re bonded? What if they’re just using me in order to have a child, and once I give them that, they’ll ignore and reject me? I can’t go through that again. Especially with them. I already feel so connected to them. Losing them would devastate me.
“I need time.” I push out of their arms, and they let me go. My car is parked back at the visitor center, and I don’t feel like making that trek right now, so I go back to Sheet-y to clean up and think about the mess I’m in now.
They don’t protest or follow.
But as I open the door to the shop, Alex calls out, “See you tomorrow, pretty girl.”
Chapter 9
Tillie
It’s been a week since Adrian and Alex told me they wanted to knock me up and bond me. They’ve been coming to the shop every morning and staying until closing, but they haven’t pushed. They’ve just been there, quietly supporting me. And with each day that passes my resolve to wait weakens.
“Morning,” Mappy says. He’s sitting on the steps to the visitor center, leaning back on his elbows, wings stretched wide like he’s sunbathing even though it’s cloudy.
“Would it hurt you to put more clothes on?” I ask, handing him his morning coffee.
“It would destroy me.” He winks, takes a sip of the drink, then hums his approval. “Cinnamon latte. Are you trying to butter me up?”
“No. I just thought you’d enjoy it.”
He lifts his eyebrows and smirks. “There are other things I’d enjoy more. You know, Mabel’s not in the visitor center yet. We could?—”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” Alex says from behind me. I hadn’t noticed her and Adrian walking up. Normally, I’m already at the shop by now, but this morning I couldn’t find my tennis shoes, so it took me longer to get out the door.
Adrian looks down at my flip-flops and frowns. It’s a little cold for bare toes, but I’ll be inside soon.
“Ah, the gangs all here.” Mappy grins up at us without leaving his reclined perch. “You know what’s even more fun than a third? A fourth.”
“Not interested.” Adrian slings an arm around my shoulder. “We’ve got all we need right here.”
My heart does a little pitter patter.
“You know, you three do make a nice image together.” Mappy flaps his wings. “Just don’t ever have kids, ‘cause then I’d have to give up my position as the most attractive creature in town.”
That fluttery feeling moves from my chest to my belly. We really would make beautiful babies.
“You’re far from the most attractive creature in town.” Alex rolls her eyes and shakes her head.
Mappy sits up straight. “What? Do I need a haircut? Maybe I should do some more sit-ups. I already do a hundred a day, but you can never be too?—”
“Just tell us where Sheet-y is,” I groan, cutting him off before he gets lost in his worries about being the fairest in the land.
He stands up and straightens his wings. All three of us lean in to study the map that sprawls across them.
“Here it is,” Adrian points to the tip of Mappy’s wing. “Up by the Wonder Hole.”
