Page 38 of Missiletoe
Paris tightened his hug, and I melted into him. Nothing had ever felt so right in my life. He didn’t even mind the impressive boner I was pressing into his stomach.
You want to know why? I think it was because he had one pressing against my ass, only his was a lot more impressive. Or at least my ass thought so.
“You can have anything you want, bunny, but would you like to get out of here? I’ve noticed you don’t get a lot of say in when you get to leave.” Paris looked a little like he wanted to sling me over his shoulder whether I said yes or not, but that he wanted to give me the option anyway. Part of me wanted to say no just to see what he’d do, but there was no way I’d risk him leaving now.
“Yes! Oh my god, yes, please!!!! But also no, because I’m stuck here. The second I try to leave, this will tell everyone in the house that I’m making a break for it.” I held up my hand and showed off my unwanted jewelry. “I’m pretty sure someone snuck a tracking device on me as well. Maybe two.” Gareth had probably added one to the bracelet, and I think Baz had managed to stick one on me as well.
That’s family for you.
Paris looked down at his dog, which was when I noticed he had the dog from the hallway with him. I was pretty sure it was the one from the shelter too. That detail had gotten lost with all the kissing and stuff.
And, hey! I hadn’t hallucinated the hallway dog. Go me!
For a moment, it almost looked as though Paris and his dog were talking. I laughed at myself because as weird as I was and as much as I loved Disney movies, I knew animals couldn’t talk.
“We can help with this,” Paris touched my bracelet. “As long as you want to go, I will get you out of here.”
“This isn’t the best way to win my family over,” I hedged.
“They haven’t tried very hard to win me over, either. Life is about give and take.” Paris stood up, and I made sure he took me with him by wrapping my legs around him monkey-style and hanging on for dear life. “It’s also about learning and growing. And not shoving tiny magic guys at people and throwing them out of a house.”
“I know. Vale shouldn’t have done that, but he’s paid for it. Apple and his husband have already made sure of that.” I didn’t say I was planning on making Vale pay a little more because I was afraid it would be letting the evil cat out of the evil bag too soon in the relationship.
I wasn’t planning on hiding the evil stuff from him, okay? I was going to let it out slowly over time. You know, like when you need to fart somewhere fancy and don’t want anyone to know.
But, like, if it was an evil fart.
Paris nodded, but instead of asking me to elaborate, he simply said, “Good,” and left it at that.
I was beginning to realize that Paris was a simple, straightforward guy, and I was really digging it. He didn’t seem to mind the weirdness I’d shown him so far, and other than my family, no one else reacted that way to me.
“I am so glad you aren’t a hallucination,” I blurted out.
Paris gave me a funny sort of smile and gripped my butt in both hands to hold me up so I didn’t have to keep holding on so tightly. What a total sweetheart. My little arms were getting tired, and it was so nice of him to notice.
“Is that common for you?” Paris asked.
“Ummm…” I guess I was going to test his weirdness boundaries right away. But if I was going to instabond with him, he might as well know what he was getting into. “Yes? Is that okay? It comes with the narcolepsy.”
“What’s narcolepsy?” Paris asked, not acting like he was about to toss me onto my bed and make a run for it. His expression was nothing but kindness and curiosity.
I dug my fingers into the soft material of his sweater because I never wanted him to leave, but I was about to tell him some pretty freaky stuff about myself.
I took a deep breath and dove right in. “It’s a sleep disorder. It comes in all different flavors, but for me it means I’m generally a sleepy person, and when I get overly excited, I pass out. I also get kind of floppy sometimes and disoriented when I’m stressed out. My narcolepsy is part of why my family is so overprotective. I can’t control it at all, so they developed a protocol for wrangling me, so I don’t get lost, or taken, or something.”
“Taken?” Paris’s chill attitude vanished. “Why would you get taken?” His eyes darted around like he was looking for secret ninjas, and suddenly my room was filled with mice.
“I may be hallucinating right now, actually. Do you see mice?”
“Yes, they’re with me.” Paris said it like it was a normal, everyday thing, so I decided to roll with it.
What was normal, anyway? I had an ex-supersoldier for a boss, an assassin for a brother, a mad scientist who may or may not be a vampire—no one had ever given me a clear answer on that one—and the luckiest unlucky couple on the planet living with me.
A shit ton of mice as my new sweetie’s entourage was relative.
“Wonderful!” I said. “I just wanted to check. So about the getting taken thing, I make some neat stuff sometimes, and it makes people want to…hire me? But, you know, in a mean way where they won’t let me say no, and maybe they might try to beat me up some to get me to do it. Also, I doubt they’d pay me for it.”
“Kidnapping. You’re talking about kidnapping, bunny.” Paris’s jaw was clenched, and more mice filled the room.
