by Stormy Glenn
“I have a silver spoon,” Beauregard said, pulling it out of his purse and holding it up for Sebastian. “You can have that.”
“Bunny, I’m good,” Sebastian said. “You keep your stuff.”
Beauregard started to feel stupid, something that usually only felt when he was at home surrounded by the other rabbits in his colony. He always stuck out at home, whether in human form or shifted into a rabbit. He never felt like he really belonged. He was starting to feel that way again.
Sebastian didn’t want anything he had. He probably felt that it was all stupid junk like everyone else did. Beauregard got it that the stuff he collected was strange, but he never knew what might catch his interest or how he might be able to use it in his crafts.
He liked making things with his hands, usually jewelry like bracelets and earrings and decorated hair clips. Sometimes he even made little jeweled purses. He just didn’t think someone like Sebastian would be interested in any of that stuff.
Beauregard put everything back in his purse, even his bubble gum, and zipped it closed. He wasn’t in the mood for bubble gum right now. It usually made him feel happy and bouncy and at the moment, he was as far from feeling that way as he could imagine being.
“Can we go back inside?” Beauregard asked. “I’m getting cold.”
“Well, we can’t have that,” Sebastian said as he turned them back toward the big double glass doors. “I’ve arranged for Carlos to bring us something to eat. Are you hungry?”
“Who’s Carlos?”
“That would be me, young sir.”
Beauregard jerked around to see a rather staunch-looking man standing in the small dining area with a tray of food in his hands. The man set it down and pulled the domed silver lid off of several different plates.
“I’ve brought you a variety of items, young sir. We have sundried tomato penne pasta salad, a selection of cut vegetables, and some of Jenna’s special homemade sweet bread. For dessert, Jenna made a very nice chocolate mousse cheesecake.” Carlos replaced the domes and clasped his hands behind his back as he looked over at Beauregard. “If there is something else that you would desire, please do not hesitate to tell me.”
“Who’s Jenna?”
“Jenna is Carlos’s wife and our cook,” Sebastian explained. “She is the master of the kitchen.”
Carlos beamed. “Quite right, sir.”
Beauregard smiled even though he still didn’t feel that well. “Did you say chocolate mousse cheesecake?”
“I did, young sir.”
“Please, call me Beauregard.” He gestured behind him to Sebastian. “He likes to call me bunny but—”
“I wouldn’t dream of it, sir.”
Despite the knot in the pit of his stomach, Beauregard could feel himself warming toward Carlos. The man seemed starchy, but nice anyway. He couldn’t wait to meet his wife. He just hoped she was as nice.
“Shall I get you some chocolate mousse cheesecake, Beauregard?”
Beauregard grinned. He started to open his mouth to answer Carlos when Sebastian spoke from behind him.
“Real food first, Carlos. Beauregard was sick on our way here. He needs something light on his stomach before he digs in to dessert.”
Beauregard frowned. “Says you,” he said as he turned to look up at Sebastian. “I think cheesecake is exactly what’s called for.”
“After you eat some real food.”
“Sebastian, I—”
“Please?”
Beauregard rolled his eyes. There was no way that he could deny Sebastian when the man said please. He turned back to face Carlos, surprised when he saw a flicker of amusement on the man’s face. He wouldn’t have thought the stern man would show any emotion.
“Let’s try the pasta salad first.”
Carlos nodded. “Excellent choice, young sir.”
Beauregard made his way over to the table and sat down as Carlos served him up a plate. He stared at the plate of food Carlos put in front of him. There was no way he could eat that much.
“Uh, Carlos, you do know I’m a rabbit, right?”
“Of course, young sir, Prince Sebastian explained it to me when you arrived.”
“Prince Sebastian.” Beauregard chuckled. “Yeah, I’ll never get used to that.”
“The House of Drakus has a long and illustrious history, young sir,” Carlos said. “I’d be happy to explain it to you when you have the time.”
Beauregard blinked. “Um, sure.”
Sebastian chuckled as he sat down across the small table from Beauregard. He gestured to the plate piled with food. “Eat up, bunny. I want to see you clear at least half that plate before you leave this table.”
“Half?” Beauregard gasped as he looked down at the plate. “Sebastian, I don’t even know if I can get through a quarter of this. Rabbits just don’t eat this much.”
“Just try, okay?”
“I’ll try,” he said as he picked up his fork and dug in, “but I’m not making any promises.”
“Once you’ve eaten and cleaned up, I’ll show you the rest of the castle.”
Beauregard nodded as he had a mouth full of food. Once he had chewed and swallowed the delicious food, he glanced over at Carlos. “This is really good. Please tell your wife thank you for me.”
“Of course, young sir.” Carlos bowed his head slightly then left the room.
Beauregard returned his attention to his food and the man sitting across from him. “Aren’t you going to eat?”
“I had breakfast this morning before we left the council castle. I also didn’t get sick on the way here. I’m fine.”
Beauregard snorted and went back to eating. “I’m a bunny, not a baby.”
“Beauregard!”
Beauregard set his fork down on the table, suddenly not hungry anymore. Why did Sebastian’s use of his name in that particular shocked tone make him feel like shit on a hot summer day? It wasn’t fair.
“I’m sorry.”
He seemed to be saying that a lot lately. Maybe he was never going to fit in here. It would make sense. He didn’t fit in anywhere else. Beauregard’s stomach suddenly started to roll. He covered his mouth with his hand and glanced wildly around.
“Bathroom!” he cried out through his fingers.
“That way,” Sebastian pointed as he jumped to his feet and ran around the table. Beauregard raced to the door Sebastian pointed to. He made it into the bathroom just in time to drop to his knees and throw up in the toilet. He threw up until there was nothing left in his stomach.
A cold cloth smoothed over his forehead. Beauregard groaned and dropped his head onto his arms. He felt like death warmed over. He never wanted to eat another thing in his life.
“I’m really starting to get worried about you, Beauregard,” Sebastian said quietly from beside him. “This is the second time today that you’ve been sick. I think maybe you need to see a doctor.”
“No.” Beauregard shook his head until his stomach threatened to rebel again. “I just need to rest.”
He didn’t want to see a doctor. He suspected he knew exactly what was wrong with him. He just hadn’t expected it considering he had mated a dragon. And he certainly wasn’t ready to tell Sebastian why he was sick.
With the way things were going, he wasn’t sure he was going to be around long enough to explain it. Sebastian seemed to be irritated with him every time Beauregard turned around. It wouldn’t be too long before the man became fed up and tossed him out.
Beauregard wanted to be good, really he did. It just seemed that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t fit in with other people. Conforming wasn’t something he was very good at, but maybe if he tried hard enough, he could be. Beauregard couldn’t think of anything he wasn’t willing to do to be able to stay with Sebastian, even give up his bubble gum.
“Can we see your castle a little later?” Beauregard asked as he turned his head to look at Sebastian. “I’m really tired.”
“Of course, love, whatever you need.”
>
There were a lot of things that Beauregard needed, but he wouldn’t ask for them. He was being enough of an inconvenience to Sebastian. He didn’t want to make any more waves than he really had to.
He sent Sebastian a weak smile. “I just want to take a little nap.”
Chapter 8
Sebastian paced back in forth between his desk and the window. He was going out of his mind. Beauregard was sick, and he knew it. Hell, everyone knew it. They just all pretended like nothing was going on. Even the doctor was in on it.
Beauregard had been sleeping on and off for nearly a week. When he was awake, he was getting sick to his stomach. He was pale and losing weight. By the second day, Sebastian put his foot down and called the doctor.
That visit in itself made Sebastian want to growl and smash something with his fists. Beauregard refused to be examined by the doctor with him in the room. Sebastian had protested, but the damn doctor had backed his little mate up.
When the doctor came out, he had announced Beauregard healthy and hale, something Sebastian knew his little mate wasn’t. Beauregard continued to be sick even after the doctor left, and that had been days ago.
No one would tell Sebastian what was wrong with his mate. What food that was brought in was hardly touched. Beauregard would be up for an hour here or there but never long enough for Sebastian to really question him.
Not even the workers next door making tons of noise as they retrofitted the place and turned it into an arboretum seemed to bother Beauregard. He just slept right through it. If Sebastian didn’t get some answers soon, he was going to hurt someone.
“Sebastian?”
Sebastian swung around, frowning when he realized he hadn’t heard anyone come in. “Galan.”
“Beauregard’s stuff has arrived. Where would you like it placed?”
“You can bring the personal items in here. Everything else can be placed in storage until Beauregard decides what he wants to do with it.”
Galan’s lips seemed to twist around for a moment as the man frowned. “There are only four boxes, Sebastian. There is nothing to put into storage.”
“Four boxes?”
Galan nodded. “I was a little surprised myself. I guess all of the furniture went with the apartment. His personal belongings all fit into four cardboard boxes, and barely that. There just wasn’t much to pack.”
“Maybe he keeps some of his stuff somewhere else or something.” There had to be an explanation as to why Beauregard didn’t have more stuff to pack from his old apartment.
“Sebastian, there’s a box of clothes, a box of books, and two boxes of odds and ends.” Galan chuckled a little. “And when I say odds and ends, I mean odds and ends. He collects some of the strangest stuff.”
“Well, just bring it in here then. Beauregard will want his stuff near him when he wakes up.”
“Is he still sleeping?”
“Yes, and I want to know why. The doctor keeps telling me that he’s fine, but I know he’s not. No one gets that sick and sleeps that much unless they are sick. If someone doesn’t tell me soon, I may have to call the council and get their assistance.”
“Have you asked Beauregard?”
“How?” Sebastian snapped as he swung his hands into the air. “He’s always sleeping. He wakes up long enough to eat a little something, which is never enough, and fool around, and then he’s right back to sleep.”
Galan’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. “He wakes up to fool around?”
“Yes.”
“And you let him?”
“It seems to be the only thing that keeps him from getting sick. If I refuse to fool around with him, he gets upset and then he runs to the bathroom and throws up. It just seemed easier to fool around with him after he’s eaten something and then let him go back to sleep rather than arguing with him about it.”
Sebastian pushed his hand roughly through his hair. He was at his wit’s end. He wanted his happy, bouncy mate back. He didn’t want to spend an hour with his mate fooling around and then have no one to share his life with. He wanted his relationship with Beauregard to be about more than sex, not matter how good that was.
“I don’t know.” Sebastian planted his hands on his hips and leaned his head back to stare up at the ceiling. “Maybe I’m doing something wrong, and Beauregard is sleeping to avoid me. I mean really, what do I know about bunnies? He could be—”
“Sebastian,” Galan whispered.
Sebastian looked over to find his second-in-command looking across the room. Sebastian followed his gaze to see a white bunny hop out of the bedroom. The bunny hopped across the room and right to the main door. Beauregard stopped and glanced over his shoulder as if waiting.
Curious, Sebastian walked over and opened the door. Beauregard hopped out the door and started down the hallway. Sebastian followed a few paces behind the bunny. He could hear Galan behind him.
Beauregard hopped down the hallway, stopping every few feet to sniff at something, then hopping on. When they reached the top of the grand staircase, Sebastian debated picking Beauregard up and carrying him down. It seemed like a long way down for a bunny to hop.
Before he could decide, Beauregard hopped to the step below him, then the next one, and the next, until he made it all of the way down to the bottom. Sebastian and Galan followed right behind him. Several people stopped to stare. Sebastian just shrugged and followed the bunny.
Beauregard stopped at the swinging door that led to the kitchen and looked up at Sebastian. Smiling down at his bunny, Sebastian reached over and pushed the door open, holding it until Beauregard hopped inside then following him in.
Beauregard went right for the fridge. Sebastian walked over and opened the door. Beauregard pushed himself up onto his back legs, resting his front legs on the edge of the fridge, and started sniffing around, his little pink nose practically vibrating. He seemed particularly interested in the vegetable bin.
Sebastian squatted down and opened the bin. Beauregard’s hind legs wigged like mad as he tried to get over the edge into the drawer. Sebastian chuckled and lifted Beauregard up until he could climb in.
He slid down and sat on the floor next to the drawer and watched his mate start to nibble on the vegetables in the bin. It was the first time in days Sebastian had seen his mate have any type of appetite. He didn’t care if they were sitting on the floor of the kitchen with the fridge door open. If Beauregard was hungry, he could have whatever he wanted.
Beauregard seemed to have no particular aversion to anything in the drawer. He chewed on lettuce, carrots, bell peppers, and celery. When he came to a large avocado, he just looked up at Sebastian.
Sebastian chuckled and reached for a knife off the counter. He carefully peeled the avocado and removed the pit. After slicing what was left into small sections in the palm of his hand, he held his hand out to Beauregard.
The bunny ate every last slice then licked Sebastian’s hand clean. Once he was all done, Beauregard climbed back out of the bin and jumped across to Sebastian’s lap. Sebastian’s mouth dropped open when he suddenly found himself with a lapful of naked man.
“I need a bath.”
Sebastian quickly stripped his shirt off and placed it around Beauregard’s shoulders, knowing the man’s dislike of anyone seeing him naked. He buttoned it up, then grabbed Beauregard in his arms and stood up.
He wanted to say something to Beauregard as he carried him out of the kitchen, but he was afraid to upset the silent truce that seemed to be going on between them. Besides, he didn’t know what he would say if he did say anything.
He carried Beauregard up the grand staircase and down the hallway to his room. When he reached the bathroom, he set Beauregard on the bathroom counter and turned to get the water going in the tub. He even added some bath bubbles.
“Are you mad at me?” Beauregard whispered from behind him.
“No,” Sebastian said quietly, without turning toward his mate, “I’m not mad, but I am confused.”
“Yes?”
“Would you please look at me?”
Sebastian sighed deeply then turned to look at his mate. “Why don’t you climb into the bathtub? We can talk while you’re soaking.”
Beauregard pressed his lips together and climbed into the bathtub. Sebastian waited until the tub had filled up then turned the water off. He handed Beauregard a washcloth and bar of soap.
“I know apples make you drunk. I learned that at the council castle. What’s making you sick this time? Is there some other fruit I need to be aware of?”
“Carrots are an aphrodisiac.”
“You’ve mentioned that before. Anything else I need to be aware of?”
“I’m a bunny.”
“I’m aware of that.”
Beauregard stared down at the bubbles in the tub for a moment then looked up at him. “Bunnies are unique in the shifter world. I suppose all species have one thing or another that they can do, and bunnies are no different.”
“Beauregard, you’re rambling. Just tell me.”
Sebastian’s heart began to pound frantically when Beauregard’s eyes filled with tears. Did Beauregard have some sort of disease? Was he dying? What was wrong with his mate?
“I’m pregnant.”
* * * *
Beauregard felt tears slip down his face when Sebastian stood up and walked out of the bathroom without a word. He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He closed his eyes and dropped his head down on his knees.
Being mated was stupid. His life back home was pretty lonely and miserable, but at least he didn’t feel like his heart was being ripped out of his chest, like he did now. Beauregard just wanted to curl up in a hole somewhere and hide.
He didn’t want to be mated anymore. It took so much and it gave almost nothing in return. Sure, the sex was great, and Beauregard loved being with Sebastian, but this deep, aching pain he had in his heart just wasn’t worth that. It hurt too much.
Beauregard didn’t think he asked for much, not really. He tried real hard to not make waves, even though he knew he tended to do just that. He tried to be good. He had even tried real hard not to leave his gum all over the place. He just wanted to be accepted and wanted in return.
