by Honor James
“Oh God, honey,” she whispered and, looking up at him, asked, “And your sister, is she okay?” He had mentioned a sister, but he had been very closemouthed about her, and she hadn’t wanted to push then. “Talk to me, Tryggr. Let me in?”
“Something broke inside of her that day,” he whispered softly. “She was raped, but she had been so young, and I think the knowledge of everyone dead, what that group did to her, and what I did to stop them…” Tryggr cleared his throat harshly and swallowed. “She was never the same after that. Most of the Royal Guard remain with her. That’s why I only actually have four here. The standard is twenty-six. I don’t know why, but it is. She has the other twenty-two and will until she mates, and then she’ll keep half and the other half will come here, minus the four I have already, of course.”
“So you will each have thirteen guards?” Chrissy asked with a frown. “I would like to meet her. Do you think that we could do that one day? I would very much like to get to know your sister, as well.” Chrissy wanted them to be a family. All of them. “What about if we have children? Will they have to walk around all the time with guards as well?”
“I want you to meet her very much,” he said pushing his head into her hand slightly to remind her she was supposed to be petting him. “You and Bethany are going to get along famously, I’m very sure. Mainly because you both love and adore me.” Tryg grinned at her. “And you have a general love for animals.”
“That I do.” She began to pet him again and added, “Even pushy ones that try to remind me that I need to be petting them.” She teased him happily. “But I love you, darling, and I will pet you from now until forever.”
Chuckling, he closed his eyes as he soaked up the sensation of her fingers running through his thick hair. Purring softly, he rested his cheek on the edge of the tub. “I love you, too, darling, and I love that you pet me. Gives me all these warm and tingly sensations.”
“I love to pet you, Tryggr. It makes me all kinds of happy to know that you enjoy it as much as I do,” she confessed. “However, you should know”—she pressed a kiss to his cheek—“I’m getting all pruny and ready to get out. How about you give a girl a hand?”
Grinning at her words, Tryg lifted his head and got to his feet. Grabbing a towel, he set it on the toilet seat before holding out his hands to her. “Come on, love,” he said to her. “Good foot braced and use me for as much as you can to keep the weight off your bad ankle.”
“Gotcha.” Chrissy braced her good foot on the bottom of the tub and then used Tryggr’s arms to pull her up and out of the water. She groaned when she put pressure on her foot and whimpered. “All right, yes, definitely ice and a compression bandage are needed, darling mine.”
“Hands up on my shoulders to brace yourself,” he said. “I’ll lift you out, balance you, and then you can sit on the toilet. We’ll grab a second towel and get you dry before I carry you to the bed.” Sprains were always bad, especially in ankles. Depending on how bad they were they sometimes took a lot longer to heal than if it had been broken.
“Sounds good to me.” She lifted her bad foot even closer to her body and leaned against Tryggr. Keeping him close to her, she let him move her around, trusting him to ensure that she didn’t get hurt along the way. When she was seated on the toilet she looked up at him and grinned. “I guess that all that petting earned me this, huh?” she teased.
Growling at her, Tryg snapped his teeth close to her ear. “Like you even need to bribe me to help you, woman. How could you think such a thing, babe?” he muttered, grabbing a second towel and passing it to her so she could dry herself.
“I know that I don’t have to,” she said with a grin. “I love petting you, and I know that you love it, too, so we can do that often, just as I love you taking care of me.” She didn’t know how he felt about that though, and the question hung unspoken between them.
Leaning forward, he kissed her hard. “You don’t even have to ask. You are mine. I will gladly do for you anything and everything I can, woman.” Staring into her eyes, he smiled. “Besides, I like having you rely on me. Makes me feel all powerful and whatnot.”
“Oh you are very powerful, darling. You and you alone can make my knees weak with just a look. Only you can make my heart skip a beat and my mouth water. Trust me, darling, you are very, very powerful.”
Purring at her words, Tryg barely managed to keep from puffing his chest up and out. “You do know just how to stroke your mate’s ego, darling,” he said with a grin. Chuckling, he took the damp towel from her and hung it up before scooping her up with care. Carrying her to the bed, he settled her down with a couple pillows under her ankle. “I’ll grab you an ice pack and we’ll put it on your foot for a while before we wrap it for the night.”
“That sounds good to me, darling.” Wrapping her hand around his when he put her onto the bed, she gave it a squeeze. “I am happy, Tryggr. I just want you to know that. Even with the little turkeys tripping me up and hurting me, I’m very happy.”
“Good, I’d hate to have to find them a new home.” Especially since they’d already wormed their tiny little furry way into his heart. Dropping a kiss on her lips, he grinned. “I’ll check on them before I come back, so have some patience with me, darling.”
“Thank you. You read her mind. I need to make sure that the little fur balls know that they are still loved, even if they are in trouble. Give them a good nuzzle from me please? Tell them that I still love them, too.”
“I will,” Tryg assured with a chuckle. Stepping back, he headed out of the bedroom and went to find her an ice pack. Digging around, he managed to find one of the liquid ones which would be better than the hard-pack ones for her ankle. Humming, he checked on the kitten and pup, giving them a little love before putting them into their crates for the night. Turning off their light, he confirmed the night light was on and went back to join her. “So they say they still love you, too, and are super sorry, but they were just too excited about everything and anything around them,” he told her, grabbing a towel to wrap the pack up in before gently settling it on her foot.
Chrissy grinned and nodded. “I will give them some extra love tomorrow and let them give me some extra love as well.” The puppy especially would likely want to give lots and lots of love as was a puppy’s way. “I adore them both. They are our first babies,” she said with a grin. “And we will always adore them as such.”
“Course we will,” he said with a slow grin. “Gives you good prep for when you have a litter or two,” he managed to get out without laughing hysterically at her horror-ridden face. He was totally yanking her chain, but seriously, it was too much fun not to. “All those little rug rats running around on four legs, the quads tearing one room apart, the triplets another, good times to look forward to.”
Chrissy paled and felt the breath leaving her lungs. “What?” she squeaked out. “No, oh no. Not triplets or quads. I can handle one at a time, but not multiples. Four legs?” she said in absolute horror. “Why four?”
Letting his eyes change, he growled at her softly before letting his eyes return to normal. “Because they will likely want to run around in their natural form more than not,” he said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Don’t worry, darling, it’s not really that bad.” He smiled gently at her.
“Oh lordy.” She rubbed her temples and shook her head. Taking a breath, she looked to him. “Good thing that I love you so much and I know that I’m going to love our children even more. Sorry, but I just know our children are going to be another bright light in my life just as they will be in yours.”
“Absolutely,” he said and smiled slowly. “And the fact you bought that load of bull makes me all the happier. Means you’re likely game to buy this bridge I have to sell in the middle of the Sahara,” he teased with a chuckle.
Smacking him on his arm, Chrissy frowned. “Oh, you dirty rotten…” She growled. “I should make you sleep with the kit and pup.” She grumbled, “But I won’t, because you are
far too warm and comfortable not to keep close. Damn your beautiful hide.”
Grinning smugly at her, he got up and stripped down. “I knew you loved me, darling mine.” He chuckled. Tossing everything into the laundry baskets, he slid into the bed at her side. “I love tweaking your tail, sugar. It’s just so much fun.”
“I do love you, honey,” she told him happily. “Just try not to tweak my tail too much, darling, because sometimes I might not be as easy about the issues that there are. Believe me, honey, I can get upset. You know that, darling mine.”
“I would never yank your tail on the serious things, love,” he said, quietly shifting to his side to face her. “I know the line never to cross and I swear I will never cross it.” At least Tryg hoped he never crossed it. He didn’t want to lose the best thing in his life.
“Good.” She smiled up at him and sighed. “So tell me, darling, when will our children be able to shift? Will it be from birth, or will it be from puberty, or what?” she asked. “I have to know, darling. I need to know what to plan for.”
“Yes and no,” he told her, taking her hand to press a kiss to her fingers. “A full-body shift doesn’t happen until puberty, but as early as two years they can shift their teeth, eyes, and in strenuous situations, even claws. But the full-body shift, fur, and tail, doesn’t happen until after puberty when the hormones are completely out of whack.”
“Oh heavens,” she murmured. “Right, so I won’t be able to breastfeed them much past their one-year mark, right?” she asked with a grin. Shaking her head, she asked, “What about school? Will they go to public school, or will we need to homeschool our babies?”
“Not sure,” he said honestly. “I’ll have to ask some of the others that have had children in the modern times. But in theory I don’t see why not. We have always taught our children restraint and what was right and wrong from the moment they can understand us. I was born in a different time, darling. I had tutors, since things like schools weren’t exactly heard of back then. At least not as they are now,” Tryggr clarified.
“Oh that’s right,” she murmured. “All right. We will need to make sure to not only teach any child that we might eventually be blessed with restraint, but we will also figure out if we can send our children to school or if we should homeschool them. Part of me wants to keep them with us as long as possible, but another part of me realizes that they need childhood interactions. They need to create lifetime friendships from going to school. But that’s for a time in the far future, not for now.”
“Definitely not now. Besides, we have two kids to screw up, and at least they can’t mouth back to us when we do,” he pointed out. Lifting her hand, he pressed a kiss to her fingers and then nipped at her knuckle gently. “Plus we need a lot of practice on how to make them first and foremost before we worry about actually trying to make any little kittens.”
“Oh, I completely agree. We need lots of practice. Practice is something that we simply must take care of.” She felt his purr and grinned. “And yes, we have two babies to spoil and screw up right now. To raise and teach to be good, so this is a start for us.”
“Exactly,” he said with a smile to her. “Though we won’t be practicing for a while, I think. Your poor ankle needs some time to heal before we get too robust.” Pressing a kiss to her cheek, he rubbed his nose lightly over her skin and breathed her scent in deeply.
“Yes, I agree. I think that I need to heal, and after that we will have days of loving. For now, darling, we will simply lie together and be comfy. For now we will rest because you love me. You are going to hug me and keep me close, darling mine.”
“Very true, sugar,” he said, softly slipping his arms around her, being careful not to jar her. Hugging her gently, Tryg nuzzled her cheek with a smile. “I have many plans still for us to fulfill, and you having a twisted ankle isn’t part of my grand schemes.”
“Exactly. I think that I need to be able to move in every possible way that there is. I think that in order to fulfill these fantasies, we both need to be in peak condition, don’t we, darling mine?” She winked at him and sighed. “For now sleep is good.”
“Very peak conditions,” he promised on a rumbled growl. Nipping at her ear, he chuckled at her shiver. “Sleep, my little mate. We will see how you are doing in the morning and possibly revise our plan of action for your foot. At the very least I may pick you up a set of crutches just so you don’t have to walk on it for a couple of days.” Though Tryg would feel better if she had an X-ray at the very least.
“Hopefully by morning I will feel better or the kids will feel even worse for making me fall down.” People might not think that animals could have feelings, but Chrissy knew that her babies had feelings, and right now they were likely feeling horrible for making her fall.
“You’ll feel worse,” he predicted and then grinned at her look. “Been there, done it, love. The morning after is a hell of a lot worse than the night of. But the day after you’ll feel better and the next day after more so. But like I said, depending on what it bruises like by tomorrow, we may need to go into medical or a clinic and have it X-rayed just to be safe.”
Wrinkling her nose, she sighed and nodded. “All right then,” she murmured. “If you say that this is what we need to do I will trust you, but I would rather not if we didn’t have to, honey. I really and truly would rather not have to go in to medical because I dislike doctors.” She knew how odd that sounded coming from her since she was a freaking vet, but there it was.
“Everyone hates doctors, but it’s really the nurses you should fear,” he told her honestly. “If you’re ever stuck in a hospital for any more than a day, buddy up to the nurses. They can make or break you painfully with nothing more than an evil whim.”
“Ah yes, this is very true. They are the ones that will call the doctors to get you more pain meds if you need it, too.” She murmured, “And hopefully they would also not come in every five freaking stinking minutes to check your vitals and stuff.”
“Only if they like you.” He grinned. “If you piss them off…” Tryggr shuddered. “You don’t want to know some of the shit they will pull if you piss them off. They can get you tests that you didn’t even know existed until it’s being performed, and then you might as well just pray for death.”
“Oh yeah, no kidding. Yeah I have to admit that I’ve ordered tests on animals that they didn’t need. Not ones that hurt the animals, but ones that cost the owners.” Granted, she donated the money to the shelters, but there had been a couple of owners with more money than brains, or manners, that she had been a little mean to.
Chuckling at her words, he hugged her closer to him. “Oh, my little darling, you are just so cute,” he teased her. Pressing a kiss to her cheek, he breathed her in. “Sleep, babe. I’ll take the pack off in a few minutes and then put it back on in a few cycles, but you should rest. And remember, if you need to get up for any reason, smack me and get my ass up to help you. Do not dare to attempt anything that may cause you additional harm or I will tan your gorgeous and perky little ass.”
She nodded and then quickly she licked her lips. “Oh my. You know that only makes me want to do something that might hurt just to get you to spank me.” Bad, she knew, but there it was. “I really, really like that idea, darling mine.”
“A little kinky, but you don’t need to get hurt to have me give you a tap on your tush, love.” He smiled at her. “Because there is a difference between the smack you’d get for trying to damage yourself and the one I’d give you during sexual play.” At least in theory, but really, he didn’t think there would be. She didn’t need to know that though…Hopefully she didn’t.
She nodded and grinned. “Well, it’s something we will definitely have to try, darling. I think that I would like it because of how much I liked the thought of you swatting my tushy, darling.”
“Anything that gets you naked in the same room as me I’m all for.” He grinned at her. “But then again, I’m easy like that,” Tryg teased
and nipped her shoulder very gently. “Now sleep, woman. You need your rest, my love. You can’t heal without letting your body have downtime.”
“Right, sleep.” Chrissy grinned back at him and snuggled in closer to him. “God I love you, Tryggr. I’m so very happy to have you in my life.” Nothing made her happier than having him as hers. He was her heart, her soul. He was her life, and she knew she was his.
“I love you, too, sweetheart,” he assured her. Tugging the blankets up higher around her, Tryg tucked her in securely. Nuzzling at her cheek, he rubbed her back and purred subvocally to try and soothe her into a restful slumber.
It didn’t take Chrissy long before she was soon sleeping softly at Tryggr’s side. Before long she was sound asleep.
Chapter Eight
A few days later, sitting in the yard, she looked up. Giving the kitten a nuzzle, Chrissy watched Tryggr as he tossed a stick for the dog to run after. Shaking her head, she grinned and began to scratch the kitten’s tummy to get it to start purring, smiling as she did so.
Romping with the puppy, Tryggr growled at the little guy and grinned when he growled back. Feinting to the left, he outsmarted the pup for a moment before he gave chase. Laughing, he raced toward Chrissy and used her as a shield, carefully watching the pup for any tendency toward lunging. He didn’t want her getting hurt by a too-excited pup.
Chrissy grinned when the puppy gave up on him and hopped up into her lap. She gave a laugh when the kitten growled at the pup before moving up onto her shoulder. “Well, honey, I think you lost your play buddy. Sorry about that,” she told him and began to pet the puppy whose tail was wagging so hard that it was nearly a fan.
“He just knows where the best place is to curl up for some petting.” He chuckled. Sitting down next to her hip, he gave the kitten a little nuzzle before resting his cheek to her shoulder. Closing his eyes, he listened to the sounds of nature around them. Yes, there were sounds of cars and such beyond, but he tuned it all out to just listen to his world, the world that calmed him right down to his irritable other half.
