Page 89 of The Dragon's Gambit
“Talk about the kiss of death,” Xander laughed. “Except for me, who gets to kiss your neck tomorrow.” Xander winked playfully. He caught the deadly eyes of Lee locked on him. “Too soon?”
“Yes. It will always be too soon.” Lee sighed. He would never be able to listen to Xander talk about kissing his mate’s neck. The very idea of letting him touch what was his was driving him mad. He knew he couldn’t be anywhere near the area when he did it. He would lose control for sure.
Chapter 59 Always Be Mine
“So, how do we plan to handle this little situation now? You know, with Lee kissing the king’s mate?” Reiya giggled as she wrapped her arms around Lee’s neck.
“Look who the troublemaker is now.” Lee chuckled and pecked at her lips again.
Reiya gasped. “He did it again!” she said in a tattletaling voice.
This time, Lee pressed his lips onto hers, singeing them with his heat. “These …” Lee brought his finger up and traced it over her lips delicately. “These are mine and mine alone.”
Reiya giggled. “Well, so much for pleading not guilty.”
“I’m trying to think how I would actually handle the situation, and I honestly don’t know. I guess I trust Levi too much. I don’t know if I could ever think badly of him, because I know he would never do anything to intentionally hurt me. In fact, you could argue that he felt the most comfortable kissing my mate knowing it wouldn’t mean anything.” Xander was also possessive and wouldn’t share what was his. However, things were different with Levi. He had stepped in and taken on the role of big brother. He taught him and protected him. His father never paid him any attention, and Levi filled that void. So, if Levi did something, his first judgement would be to think he had a logical reason for it.
“Aww, Xander, that’s so sweet. You really care for Lee, don’t you?” Reiya smiled at Xander with appreciation. He believed in Lee like she believed in her brothers. She could never think they would do something to intentionally hurt her. They wouldn’t, just like Lee wouldn’t. She looked up at Lee. She could see how touched he also was by Xander's words. Sure, they bickered at times, but that was normal for brothers.
“Thank you, Xander. I also trust you. I must … I mean, if I’m letting you touch my mate, I have to trust you.” Lee shook his head with a smile. It was a new realization to him as well … just how much he trusted Xander. The little boy he looked after had really grown on him. He was now a man that he fully trusted. There was no one else he could trust with his mate but Xander. No one that he trusted enough to touch his mate in the way hewould be. Even how he’d been holding her and treating her as his mate. Xander was the only one he could tolerate it from. He used to brush off the joke of them being like brothers, but they were. Xander was like a brother to him. He filled a void in his life that had long been empty.
Reiya took a step back and reached out, beckoning for Xander to come closer. He smiled and walked up to them. Lee reached out to pat Xander's back as Reiya leaned in and hugged both men. More and more, the longer she was here, it was starting to feel like home. These men were family to her. And subconsciously, she was not as homesick as she used to be. She looked up at the two men and grinned. “So, we will just brush off the earlier incident as a big joke, one that none of us took seriously. I think if we act like it wasn’t a big deal, then it will only reflect the closeness of you two. If anything, it may make people a bit leerier of Xander, knowing how close their deity is to him.”
Xander stepped back and grinned. “I think that’s the best action to take as well. We’ll play it off. It was a statement to them, but didn’t mean anything for us, since we know that he wasn’t serious. When in reality, he was serious and was making a bold statement to all of us that this little fairy is off limits.” Xander chuckled.
“Right, we can laugh it off because I’m Lee’s mate. However ...” Reiya lifted her finger and poked Lee in the chest. “If you ever do kiss Xander's mate, I’m cursing your immortal life. I’ll become a dark fairy and make your immortal life a nightmare.”
“Yikes. She’s scary.” Xander watched as Lee grabbed her hand and kissed her fingers.
“That will never happen. You’re the only one I will ever kiss. Well, you and maybe our children.” Lee winked down at her and grinned as he saw the faint blush creep upon her cheek.
He brought up children on his own. Now, my question won’t seem crazy obsessive and weird.“If we have kids, would they be immortal too? How does that work?”
“Taking an interest in our future children?” Lee chuckled. She was too adorable. “I’m not entirely sure. I’ve never had children before. They would have longevity for sure, but there’s a chance they wouldn’t be immortal.”
Lee would be around to see his mate die. His children might possibly die. His grandchildren could die. And so on. He would see them all live and might see them all die. There was a small pang in her heart. While Lee would be there to watch over his legacy, he might also have to see them die. Endlessly. She wished she could at least always be by his side. Of course, if she got the Ocean’s Tear, she would. There would never be a time that they wouldn’t have the other, because their lives would be linked together and his immortality would be taken away. Immortality. It was both a blessing and a curse.
“No, what will be most interesting is to see if they’re wolves or dragons … or both! That would be wicked sick.” Xander was now speaking in excitement at the idea of a dragon being able to shift into a wolf. “They would be part fairy, part werewolf, part dragon and part god. They’ll be the coolest kids ever. It’s like creating your own tribe of superheroes. Of course, you must have a dozen kids or so. Your kids would be too cool not to have that many.”
Reiya held her hands up in front of her and chuckled nervously. “Heh heh… I’m not sure about going through that a dozen times. And, as tradition, the first born will be a girl in order to take on the role of fairy princess. But I heard about what will happen when I become pregnant. My mother made sure to warn me, because she was never warned. She told me that it can get pretty painful and exhausting.”
“What do you mean? You won’t be in danger, will you?” Xander was suddenly concerned for her. It made sense, since he lost his mother in childbirth.
“No, I won’t be in danger. But I guess having a magical child will drain all my energy and can become painful. I’m not sure how it works exactly, but I guess having your partner near you keeps it away. Almost like he shares his energy with you or something. And the amount of time you can be apart from them gets shorter and shorter as your pregnancy progresses. My father was missing for a few days while my mother was pregnant. She said she never talked about it then, but it was torture on her body. She was too concerned about finding my dad, though, and she ignored the fatigue and pain. She said she had no clue how she would have gotten through the pregnancy if she’d never found him.” Her mother was so strong to endure such a painful experience. She was in physical and mental distress. Still, she never gave up on finding her daddy.
“As long as Levi is by your side, you won’t be in any distress then?” Xander felt a bit better.
“That’s what I’m told.” Reiya shrugged and felt Lee pull her backward into his chest.
“Then I guess I’ll have to always be by your side when that time comes,” he gently cooed next to her ear.
She tilted her head back into his chest and grinned up to him. “When the time comes. I’d like to have a bit more time just enjoying you and having you to myself for now.”
Lee chuckled and kissed her forehead. “That sounds good to me, too.”
“Sooo … no Uncle Xander anytime soon then, huh? Bummer.” Xander let out a disappointed sigh. “Well, maybe Brody and Chelsie will pull through, then. I wonder what a water bear will be like.”
Reiya began to giggle. She hadn’t thought about what their children would be like.
