Page 105 of Rebel's Fairytale
“Sure.” Ordys said, an expression on his face Ruby would have labeled amused.
“Can you shift into arealdragon? What color are you when you shift? Do you breathe fire? Is it breathing fire or shooting fire? Do you have a horde or a cave somewhere? Are you drawn to shiny things? How big are you when you shift? Are the Gods real? Like are they corporeal or—“
Kisy put her hand over Ruby’s mouth. “Geesh. Let the man answer.”
Ordys chuckled. “Yes. Dark Green. Yes. It’s not really breathing but… breathing works. I have savings, but I don’t have a cave of gold and treasure hidden away somewhere. It depends on the shiny. Approximately nine-feet tall. The gods are real. They can be corporeal if they want to be.”
Ruby tried to pull Kisy’s hand off her face, but the bitch had a grip.
Kisy smiled at Ordys. “I’ll have her make a list if she has more questions.”
“She’ll have more questions,” Butterfly uttered with a nod. “She’s a librarian.”
Kisy smiled. “Dragon is across the street. And I’ll get with you after lunch about renting Ruby’s place.”
With a grin on his face, Ordys said, “I missed Warden’s Pass.”
Still holding a hand over Ruby’s mouth, Kisy shouted, “Kitty, Ordys said he missed you!”
Rock
When he got out of his new SUV, with the much needed third-row seating, and helped Diamond get the kids out, Rock was waiting for the front door of the house to open and family to start streaming out. It took longer than expected, but as the last child climbed out, Rock heard, “Wes, it’s about time you brought my new grandbabies and daughter to see me.”
He looked over at Diamond and smiled before he called back, “Yes, Mama Nia, I know.”
“You are just a handsome young person,” his mom said to Miles as Rock took Diamond’s hand. He led her up the front walk toward where Mama Nia was greeting the children, with the rest of the family behind her on the small porch. They looked like sardines jammed there. “And you! Goodness! You’re gorgeous!”
“Mama Nia, this is Miles,” Rock put a hand on Miles’s shoulder. “And the gorgeous one is Jenna. Kids, this is Mama Nia. She’s the one who will spoil you, but we don’t sass Mama Nia. Understand?”
Miles gave a serious nod as Jenna giggled and covered her face with her hands.
“Mama Nia,” Mia said in her little girl voice that was unnecessarily high, but Rock loved the sound to depths of his soul, “we get to have sleepoversevery night!”
“Well… that just sounds like a grand time.” She tapped Mia on the tip of her nose with the tip of her finger. “Why don’t you and Hunter introduce them to the rest of the family, while I say hello to Mary?”
“She goes by Diamond,” Hunter said and smiled back at Rock. “Right?”
Diamond giggled as Rock grinned at his boy. “That’s right.”
“Well, she’s as pretty as one,” Mama Nia said as she approached them. “And I already know you’re as strong as a diamond.” Mama Nia took Diamond’s face into her hands and let out a sigh. Rock loved his chosen mother even more as he watched her interact with his woman. As a smile grew on her face, she whispered, “Thank you for bringing my boy back to life.”
Rock’s heart clenched as he watched two of the most important women in his life hug and start what he knew would be a bond stronger than steel.
He felt a hand land on his shoulder and looked over to see Pops grinning at him. Pops cupped Rock’s neck with his other hand and gave him a nod, as pride radiated from him. “You did good, son. You did good.”
“I did, didn’t I?” As they both chuckled, Pops slid his arm around Rock, and they headed for the house, leaving the women to finish their moment alone.
Rebel
While getting his second tattoo inked into his skin, Rebel could hear Ruby talking with the other Ol’ Ladies in the lobby of the tattoo shop. When they started talking about how sweet he was, Ginger snort laughed from her seat next to him.
He looked over at the woman working on the tattoo of the red-riding hood on the back of a wolf. Ginger was still focused, but there was a smile on her face.
“What are you laughing at?” He smiled and joked, “Don’t be fucking up my ink.”
Ginger stopped and looked at him. “If you question my skills, I can always have one of the newbies come in and finish up.”
Rebel shook his head. “No… No one is questioning your skills, oh mighty ink master.”