Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
He was so efficient, my mate was out the door before I could ask if squirrel play was appropriate around family members.
Another discussion on human social norms was going to be necessary.
Chapter 15
Wren
“I’m back. I’m ready.” Running back to my room, I tackled Daddy and pushed him back onto the bed. “Let’s play.”
He’d been doing research and wasn’t scared or worried or anything bad.
“Your cousin knows about us, my mate, but has he guessed where I am from?” Daddy was watching me more carefully than my fun toys. “What was his expression like when he told you to be careful?”
Hmm.
“Um, I think he’s guessed that I found my mate but he didn’t say anything about the portal.” I shrugged. “If he’s surprised I’m mated to an alien then he hasn’t been paying attention.”
Not telling him about my mate right away should’ve been a big enough clue.
Daddy didn’t seem to agree with me based on his frown. “Is squirrel play private, my mate? Is the discussion of being Team Squirrel different than the activity? You are fully clothed.”
Daddy asked good questions.
“I think it’s different since I’m just pretending and not actually Team Squirrel.” Maybe? “We won’t confuse the diner men with it, but Pierce is a Daddy, so he understands. He’s never been my Daddy or anything like that but he knows about that kind of stuff, so he wouldn’t be upset.”
He’d thought I was a cute squirrel…I could tell.
“Do you want squirrel time to be private?” That wouldn’t be hard. “We can’t put me on a leash in the woods if we keep it private, though. I’m not sure if we could guarantee that.”
People were nosy…someone would figure it out and ask questions.
“There are ways of guaranteeing privacy.” Daddy probably meant magic but I didn’t know anything that could do that.
Oh, maybe Merritt could?
I’d been listening to him and Pierce and he was a mage who did good big magic.
“However, I think keeping this play to our private space would be best.” Daddy glanced toward the door and looked even more thinky as I ignored Pierce talking to himself. “I do not know how to describe this to the diner men.”
“Yeah.” They’d get confused. Playing squirrel and being Team Squirrel were different, but explaining that in the diner would be hard. “We’ll keep squirrel time to our room, but we won’t worry about little stuff?”
Daddy nodded, looking more relaxed. “Yes, I can answer those questions and they appreciate being able to help.”
“Okay.” Giving Daddy a kiss, I wiggled on his lap. “We can keep other kinds of playtime private too.”
I didn’t need to talk about floggers or gags in the diner…Miss Nancy would make me eat soup if I wasn’t careful and then I’d have to pretend to hate it too. But me and Daddy could have lots of fun doing private playtime.
Looking innocent had smiley kind of feelings coming through the bond. Daddy thought I was funny, so I gave him wide eyes and looked very sweet. “Should we practice to make sure playtime should be private? We need to figure that out.”
And I needed to figure out which toys he liked and which ones he didn’t.
“Research is important, my mate.” Daddy shrugged, still looking serious even though he was nearly giggling inside. “We may have to practice in a variety of ways to make an educated decision.”
Yay.
“I think that’s a good idea.” So were wiggles and butt clenches. “How should we start, Daddy?”
Did he want to be in charge?
Pierce didn’t seem like he was ready to be in charge based on the conversations I was ignoring, but my Daddy was different.
He was thinky and smart and liked to know things.
“We will go through your toys, my mate.” He looked stubborn about that, so I knew he wasn’t going to let me distract him. “We will rank them from best to play with to just okay to play with. Then we will decide which devices need education before we use them together.”
Nodding, I sat straighter and looked like a cute little soldier. “I’m a good helper and good education person, Daddy.”
Daddy smiled but happy and naughty things were mixed up together in the bond. “You are going to be a very good helper and enjoy explaining your toys to me.”
Oh yes.
“I’ve got lots of favorites.” But that was okay because he’d love them too. “Come see.”
Climbing off Daddy, I grabbed his hand and gave him a tug. “You’re too big. Up, Daddy. Ugh.”
He was very big.
He was very strong.
He was very silly.
“Am I stuck? Oh dear?” Daddy was learning to be funny and looked down at our hands. “Help, my mate.”
I tried to look serious as I tugged and pulled and even bounced, but he kept snickering in his head and was looking very proud of himself.
He was suspiciously stuck.