came to mind. “My only excuse is that to me, you’re my whole world now. And I don’t know why, but when I knew you had pixie blood, I just assumed everyone else could see it too. In my head, and I know this sounds silly, but it’s honestly how I’d been thinking, it was like I imagined you had a huge neon sign above your head with an arrow pointing down and a sign reading ‘Mated Pixie Here’. I never said it was a rational way of thinking but hopefully it explains why I panicked this afternoon.”
“Your imaginary sign could explain why I’ve had a headache all afternoon.” Kee looked up, managing a smile. “I do understand, although it’s not a rational way of thinking. Would it have made any difference if I’d told you before we claimed each other?”
“To be honest, I’m glad you didn’t.” They walked on a few more steps before Dian spoke again. “Face it - I came into our mating with so many issues of my own – worries that you handled calmly, and with just the right amount of pushiness.”
Kee chuckled. “Is there ever a right amount of pushiness?”
“For gargoyles, take any simple push and double down on it, twice. We’re very set in our ways about a lot of things.” Dian’s arm around him tightened, and Kee was feeling better with every step they took closer to home. “The thing is, you handled my shifted form without a blink, and I… I… I feel like I let you down. I let my fears about your shifted form… no, not even your shifted form…”
“Hey, that’s a thought.” Kee stopped, right there on the street, turning so he was facing Dian. “What is a pixie’s shifted form? I never saw my dad as anything but human, but he might have shifted when I wasn’t around. Do they even have one? What about my fox? What will happen to him?”
“My sweet, you won’t lose your ability to shift into your fox form. You’ve been able to do that since you were a teenager. Being mated doesn’t change that. As for your pixie side, if it ever comes out, you will just look the way you do now with cute little wings and maybe a spot of sparkly skin. Nothing drastic.”
“Unless I’m trying to hide who I am. Hmm.” Catching Dian’s hand, Kee turned and started walking again. Their house was in sight. “Oh, I interrupted you before. I’m sorry. I do tend to do that sometimes. You were saying something silly again about letting me down this time?”
“I did let you down. I upset you. I wanted to hide you, and I made you think my job was more important than you are, which it isn’t.”
“Aha, and when did you decide that? When I walked out the door to my job?” Kee looked up with a quick grin. He had a feeling it would take a lot to change his mate’s stubborn attitude.
“I wish I could say it was that quick, but gargoyles are also known for being slow to change their mind.” Dian shrugged. “After you left, Cam had a go at me, reminding me that I’d waited a long time to meet you, and I was in danger of screwing things up from the get-go. That wasn’t so bad, he definitely got me thinking, but then Eagle had to step in after Cam had gone home because I was still worried sick about protecting you. He was going on about how you were everything I’d ever wanted in a mate, and how if I didn’t get my head out of my ass, he’d find me the next time I shifted into my stone form and knock my head off with a sledgehammer.”
Kee’s eyes almost fell out of his head. “That’s a horrible thing to threaten.”
“Yeah, things might have gotten out of hand for a minute after that. We need another coffee table.”
“Another one?” Kee laughed, loudly this time, and because he was so damned relieved his mate still wanted him, and wasn’t going to leave, he was still laughing as they went into the house. But then he went through the small hallway and stopped just inside the living room and gasped, his hand up in front of his face. “Oh, Dian.”
Chapter Nineteen
Dian had taken things to heart – everything that Cam and Eagle had said. And seeing as he had to order another coffee table anyway, given the last one was crushed