‘I missed you too, handsome,’ she whispered.
Looking down at them Conom knew in that moment that he would make any sacrifice to have a love like that. How could it be that this was the only girl in the universe he had ever wanted that with? Fate was cruel and this was it at its finest. Never had he ever been so low in morals to even think of taking another man’s wife. But here now with her, his morals were so screwed up.
He touched the softness of her cheek. ‘Sweet dreams, Cass.’
The Big Dipper
Dad woke them up the next morning. ‘Are you two sleepyheads ever going to get up?’ he asked, sitting on the bed and passing them a coffee. Cassie checked she was decent and remembered she had woken in the middle of the night and put a nightie on. She stretched and sat up, taking the coffee from her father.
‘If this is how you’re going to wake us up every morning, Pops, you’ll never get rid of me.’ She joked with him and made him smile.
Kayden groaned and sat up, throwing pillows behind Cassie so she could lean back. He kissed her cheek. ‘Morning, beautiful,’ he said sweetly. Then glancing up at Aldebaran, he grinned. ‘What time is it, Poppa bear?’ Kayden joked.
‘Midmorning and your porridge is lumpy and cold, you bastard,’ he grumped back, making Cassie and Kayden crack up laughing. Aldebaran shook his head, amused. ‘Okay, you two stirrers. I wanted to take you somewhere fun for the day but now you can both stay here and Conom and I will go on our own.’ He laughed with them.
Cassie stopped mucking around. ‘Really? Where’re we going?’
‘It’s a surprise. Now get up. Breakfast is ready.’
After getting out of the shower, Cassie braided her hair back and her outfit changed to a pair of shorts and a girlie top that showed off her tattoo. While she slipped into the flats that her shoes had magically turned into, Kayden came out the shower, towel drying his hair and grinning at her.
‘That looks pretty hot, honey,’ he grinned.
‘Maybe it’s the way I did my hair. The magic just keeps mixing things up. Should I take it out?’ she looked in the mirror, unsure now.
He grinned. ‘I thought as much. It is your magic that’s making all these changes. I think your subconscious actually knows what’s coming up next and dresses accordingly. Don’t stress, just go with the flow and don’t you dare spoil my enjoyment by changing a single thing, you little hottie. Get here now!’ He laughed as he chased her around the bed, joking and having fun with her.
Finally ready, they took the elevator to the bottom floor where they found the others eating breakfast. Conom looked up and nodded, his face pale, his eyes dark and tired-looking.
Aldebaran was reading as usual as he ate. Cassie put her arms around him and he smiled, looking up at her. ‘You’re looking a bit better now.’
‘Sorry about last night, Pops. We’ll try to behave a bit more today.’
‘Somehow I don’t think either of you will, but it is nice to hear you’ll try.’
Cassie let him go. Grinning, she walked past Conom, ruffling his hair. ‘Thanks for last night, ace. Hope I wasn’t too much bother.’
He had a tired expression. ‘You were no trouble, little one.’
She grinned back at his sweetness. ‘Even so, thanks for being a good friend.’ Sitting down next to Kayden she picked at a bit of fruit and some juice and waited patiently for them to finish eating so they could go do something. ‘So Pops, give?’ she finally asked, unable to wait any longer.
‘How does a fun park sound?’
Cassie jumped up and pulled at him. ‘Let’s go then, we’re wasting the day,’ she nagged, going over and pulling Kayden and then Conom up. ‘Come on, guys, get with the program. Pops is waiting.’
‘Who’s waiting?’ Conom asked, a little annoyed.
‘Did you have to tell her where we were taking her, Ald? I would have liked to at least finish my coffee first,’ he grouched.
Cassie put her hands on her hips. ‘Come on, ace, stop acting like a princess and toughen up,’ she baited him.
‘Why you little …’ he grabbed her under one arm and in seconds had his other arm around Kayden’s shoulders and had transported them to the fun park. Aldebaran shimmered in straight after them, still laughing at how easily she could work up Conom.
‘I think you’ve met your match there, Conom.’
‘I’ll give her princess! After what she drank last night it’d be my pleasure to watch her go green,’ he said mischievously. ‘You’ll be begging us to go home after you’ve ridden the Big Dipper.’ His ruthless expression didn’t worry Cassie one little bit.