Page 41 of Immortal Bonds

Creighton nodded behind Thalric's fingers still pressed against his mouth.

"Now, if we want to talk about something that might really be an issue," Thalric started, "we could talk about your work. Right now, as it stands, you've got that storefront, which is great from what I hear. Eden says it's lovely. But anyone could walk in. Anyone could get to you and harm you. They could flirt with you." Thalric's voice took on a dark edge as the thought alone made him furious.

Creighton giggled and pulled his mate's hand away. "No one is going to flirt with me. They haven't. They come for the stuffies and they leave. That's it."

Thalric hummed, not quite believing it. "And as for my work," Creighton continued, "I have to keep it. There's no way around it. That's my store."

Thalric waited for a moment before he rebutted the notion. He'd already been thinking about this. From the moment he suspected his Little Biter and the stuffy maker were the same person in San Noctis, he needed to come up with a solution. And it was quite simple, really.

"What if you started to wind down the shop? I could come to work with you, and we could get everything packed up."

"You can't go to work with me. You have to deal with the royal court," Creighton said, waving his hand around since he didn't have the words to describe what he was trying to say.

Thalric shook his head. "That can wait. I am thinking more along the lines of me being with you. The court will convene when it convenes. That, or you could text me all day. I need to have eyes on you, ears on you. If I lose contact, my dragon is going to go feral and tear apart the whole damn town."

Creighton smiled softly at that. Thalric could tell he liked the idea of the dragon going on a rampage. Even if neither one of them wanted to see San Noctis destroyed, it was still a romantic gesture of sorts.

"There is another option," Thalric started, "and it would still involve you and me packing your stuff up. But instead of closing up shop with nowhere else to go, you could work here in the castle. My suite is massive, and I could easily carve out space for you to work on your stuffies. If you went from a storefront to an order-only situation, you could work at your own pace from here. We could be together, and I could help you with things. The entire Saint family would support you, and anyone who visited might be interested in something you've made. You can't tell me that Eden and Hadrian don't have people coming by."

Creighton tilted his head. "I actually don't know. Eden and I mostly talk about the stuffies I've made for him or what I'm working on for myself. We don't really talk about the royal family's business too much."

Thalric nodded. "That's understandable, but still. You have to know that there is a reason for my suggestion, and it's not just keeping you close. Your safety is paramount. As the mate to a royal, even if it's a royal outside of the immediate family, a target will be put on your back. People may not even realize who you are when they first come across you, but the scent of me, the scent of someone connected to the Saint family, is enough to bring danger to your doorstep. I would never forgive myself if something happened."

Thalric rushed out the words one after another, hoping to cut off whatever ways his mate could find to get around his suggestion.

It was true. He didn't want to risk his mate's safety.

He didn't know if it would ever come up, but he couldn't take the chance. Why play fast and loose when you could play it safe? They might be immortal beings, but everyone could be killed, and those who wanted someone supernatural dead knew of those ways.

Creighton bit his lip, and his hands ran through the hair on Thalric's chest, as if he was soothing himself. It made Thalric happy. It also reminded him of something. "Oh, I almost forgot," he said.

He turned over to the nightstand. He'd gotten up once in the middle of the night to use the restroom, and he'd grabbed something for his Little Biter while the other man was sleeping.

When he turned back around with the Gnome in hand for Creighton, there was a sharp squeal, and the creature was snatched out of Thalric's hands. He watched as his boy hugged the Gnome to his chest and closed his eyes, rocking side to side.

Thalric took that moment to grab Creighton's glasses as well. When his boy opened his eyes, he motioned to them. Creighton tipped his head forward, and Thalric eased them on, careful not to poke his eye or get anything hung up in his curls.

With his glasses on and his Gnome in his arms, Creighton looked adorable. Thalric pulled him to his chest, and they lay there together. Thalric hummed an old song he remembered his grandmother singing. One that he and his sister had listened to many times. He knew Mira had sung it to her children when they were younger, that the boys knew it by heart and would sing along if he started it out loud.

For now, he wanted to use the song to comfort his mate, to bring him peace of mind, to let him know that their bond was going to become even stronger. Soon they would be able to speak in each other's minds, just like the Saint family did. When Mira married into them, she also gained some of those abilities, and they extended to Thalric. At first, he'd been unsettled by the idea, but now he was thankful for it. Who else got to say that they could connect to their mate on such a level?

Creighton eventually got hungry, and so did Thalric. "Would you like me to send for something, or do you want to go down and see what everyone is doing today?"

Creighton hesitated for a moment. "I don't know. Do I have to choose?" He spoke shyly, as if he was afraid of what the answer might be.

Thalric smiled at him. "You don't have to make any decisions. I can take over if that’s what you feel is best."

Creighton beamed up at him. Then he leaned forward and quickly pressed a kiss against Thalric's lips. The move was innocent, and yet it aroused Thalric so much he groaned and had to take a steadying breath. "I need to let you rest more before we do anything," he said. "So we have to get out of this bed now."

At his insistence, Creighton scrambled out of bed and ran to the bathroom. Thalric chuckled loudly, pushing the blanket off and moving at a slower pace to gather what they would need. He picked out clothes for himself and then went into the closet to the area he had designated for his mate.

You see, in the midst of all those late-night conversations he'd had with his Little Biter, he had asked the most seemingly pointless questions at the time. What do you like to read? Your favorite color? What size shoe do you wear? What is your favorite type of outfit? It was meant to just pass the time. Information they shared because they didn't want to stop communicating. When the deep talks became too much, they'd go back to the more surface-level things.

Thalric had an entire bank of information on his mate, which meant that once he suspected his Little Biter was local, he had some clothes rushed to him. Things he knew might comfort his mate and make him feel welcome. Granted, he didn't know for certain it was his mate at the time.

Creighton poked his head out of the bathroom, his pink cheeks speaking of his confusion. "Daddy, I don't know what to do."

The rushed-out words made Thalric chuckle. He came out of the closet holding up an outfit. Creighton's mouth dropped into an "O." Then one arm came out of the door, and he made a beckoning motion.