Uh …” he rubbed the back of his neck, realising they were indeed very exposed where they were. Thankfully, the only other people outside were his four paladins. But that brought no comfort at all. He was never going to hear the end of this.
“Maybe you should talk?” Madigan suggested, using his head to gesture toward Dana – who still looked highly uncomfortable.
“Right. Talking. Good. I can talk. Can you talk?” Mordecai questioned – like a total fucking moron.
Dana’s smile was genuine and relaxed this time. “I can talk,” she confirmed. “Tomorrow? I have yet to tell Max I am back. I want to see our daughter very much.”
“Our daughter …” Mordecai mumbled, feeling the truth of those words for the very first time. They shared a daughter together and he knew absolutely nothing about her – other than the fact she was a great kisser and a goddess.
“Mordecai?” Dana asked.
He jolted. Hard. “You called me Mordecai.”
Dana looked confused. “That is your name.”
“Yes. But you never call me that. You always call me Warden,” he pointed out.
Dana looked startled for a moment, and then thoughtful. “I suppose I do.”
“I like it when you say my name,” he said, just for clarification in case it wasn’t obvious.
Dana smiled, “Then I shall call you Mordecai from here on in.”
His name on her lips had his dick twitching once again, and he wondered if he was going to regret telling her that.
Chapter Eight
Dana blinked a few times, wondering if she had somehow transported herself to the wrong property. The front of Max’s home looked nothing like it had just a month ago. When Dana had last left, the house had been surrounded by trees and rather dense bush on every side. The only clear area had been the driveway and the back of the house – and that was because the back was all beach and ocean. Now, huge areas of trees had been cleared and four smaller log cabins appeared to be emerging from the earth. Dana’s powers burst forth in a rainbow of light as wind swept them from one structure to the next. Each building was being made from the trees that were cleared from their exact locations. Each tree had been asked and was willing to give up its position so that Max’s Order could extend their home front. Dana blew out a relieved breath, finding no pain or anger from the culled landscape, just acceptance and happiness to be useful.
She should have known better. There was no way Max would allow the senseless removal of living things simply for the sake of affording her paladins some privacy. For that is exactly what they were for. She had been privy to a few discussions about creating more room for the Order of Aurora and their extended family. Ryker had built a truly spectacular home by the sea and although it was large, it was now bulging at the seams. The knights, true to their nature, had refused to move away and simply ‘work in shifts’ as Max had proposed. The building of new homes close by on the same land was a compromise to everyone’s satisfaction. Dana had not been expecting so much work to have been done in the time she had been gone. Two of the four structures were nothing more than foundations. But the other two looked largely complete from the outside. It made her wonder just how much progress had been made at Eden.
“This is what happens when I disappear, I suppose,” she murmured. She had been gone longer than she initially intended, and she also had not checked in via the veil more than twice. It had been difficult because she was fast becoming attached to the mortal plane. But it had been necessary. Not only had she spoken to the other members of her Triumvirate, but she had also gotten a huge surprise in the form of a strapping young man.
Sensing life – endless life – Dana bent down and helped a small beetle onto the back of her hand. Smiling, she said, “Hello there, Bert. How would you like to hear a story before I go in? I could certainly use some advice.” The little slater bug gave no reply but he did continue to sit and watch her expectantly. “Okay, well, I returned to Otherworld in a bit of a tiz …”
“Temp! Tanda!” she yelled into the black void that took up one whole corner of Otherworld. No other occupants of