Page 11 of Dream Lost (The Fae Universe #12)

11

B ridget’s mind was racing. Bas was right about her needing sugar. She was going to need to eat the whole batch of chocolate chip deliciousness just to keep her brain working.

She was fixated on the idea of a creature waking up and hunting dreamers. She could feel the threads of obsession wrapping around her. And it wasn’t just about the monsters.

Watching Bas bake for her had unlocked a kink she didn’t know she had. She had run her mouth about cookies and didn’t know if she had been flirting or not. If she had been, he had flirted back, so she guessed it was reciprocated.

If she had thought he was hot before—and she had—then it was nothing compared to the slow heat that was starting to burn through her now.

She wanted to blame it on how good he smelled and how he enticed her with baked treats and magic. They contributed, but it was more than that. For the first time, she felt like maybe another person would understand half the crazy shit that went through her mind on a daily basis.

The house was ridiculously huge, so when Bas offered her a guest suite, she knew it would be an actual suite.

She was also trying really hard not to show how freaked out she was about the idea of some mythical creature hunting her. Bas was right that she didn’t know how to deal with that. She hated it, but she would be foolish to pass up his offer of help. Bridget wasn’t foolish. She just didn’t want to say yes right away.

“You want to tell me about the dragon thing now?” Bridget asked as she followed Bas up a staircase. Really, his ass was a work of art.

“Nope. I need to have some mystery to convince you to come and stay here,” he replied, sending a smile over his shoulder that had her missing a step.

“I’m not going to drop it.”

“I know you won’t. It’s why I’m not telling you yet,” Bas teased. He pushed open a set of double doors, and all thoughts of sexy little grins and dragons went clean out of her head.

“Books,” she squeaked and stared up. The library wasn’t just a large room. It was a godsdamned tower that spiraled up and up. She couldn’t remember seeing towers on the house when she had been outside, but holy shit, there was a tower of books.

“Is it catalogued?” she asked, a little breathless at the sight.

“It is. Most of it is magical knowledge,” Bas said slyly, his voice dropping to a seductive whisper. “ So many secrets. The real history of the human and magical world. You could spend a lifetime in here, reading, and never get through them all. What would you choose to learn first, I wonder.”

Oh, dear god. She really didn’t need his already deep voice going down another octave. “Are you...talking dirty to me, Greatdrakes?”

“Why? Is it working?” he asked, then bit his lip and wagged his brows at her.

“Wanker,” she said with a laugh.

“That’s not a no.”

Bridget stared up into his laughing eyes. “Yeah, it’s working.”

“Then my plan is working too,” he said. He gestured around him. “I can’t go through all this hunting rare dream creatures on my own. Help me. Marge won’t mind, especially when we tell her that you’re in danger. If she puts up a fight, I’ll get Dad to call her. I’ll pimp him out if I have to.”

“Ew. I am owed a bunch of leave that I haven’t taken.”

A treacherous thought slipped through, Plenty of time off to hunt dream monsters with a sexy magician who bakes .

Bridget stared at the treasure around her so she would stop looking at him. “And to be clear, I can come in here and read whatever I want?”

Bas nodded. “Absolutely. The guest wing is very private too, so you’ll have your own space.”

Bridget again looked around at the books and let out a sigh of longing. She was defeated. “But I don’t have any clothes.”

“I can drive you to go and pick things up. We will need to tell Marge. Maybe I should bring her cookies too?”

Bridget frowned. “Marge can get her own damn cookies. They are mine. You baked them for me,” she said, surprising herself at her own vehemence.

“I did. If you are feeling that possessive over cookies, I’ll have to make another batch because once Apollo smells them, he will be all over them,” Bas replied.

They hadn’t been introduced, but she remembered that he was the other brother. The blond from the bar.

Bridget tore her eyes from the books and back at Bas. “Okay. I’ll stay here until the dream creature is killed. But if I want to leave because I feel threatened or pissed off, you’ll let me.”

“You’re a guest, not a prisoner, Bridget. I’m glad you’ve agreed,” he said, that same irresistible smile on his face.

“You are way too happy about this,” she said, shaking her head.

“I like to know that you’re safe.”

Bridget blew out a breath. “You’re a bit intense, you know that, right? And I still want to know about the dragon thing.”

“Stay with me, Bridget, and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.” Bas reached up to touch the corner of her mouth with his thumb. Bridget froze, her heart in her throat.

“You had some chocolate there,” he said and sucked the dark smear off his thumb.

Jesus fucking Christ. Lust punched Bridget in the guts, and she wanted to kiss him so badly, her bones hurt. His lips would taste of smoke and chocolate, she just knew it.

“Ah, thanks. I guess we should go get my stuff,” she managed to stammer out before she followed up on grabbing him and finding out just how good he kissed.

A fierce look of triumph and happiness flared in Bas’s eyes, and Bridget didn’t know if she was more in danger of him than any dream monster.