Anthony could understand where Farro’s son would want to share the story of Christmas with a younger child, but Silver should know better than to dump the Santa issue on him. Anthony struggled against the urge to zap his wide-eyed mate who was trying, poorly, to look innocent. “Of course he did.”
“Well?” Trin folded his arms and stared Anthony down in the cutest imitation of Silver he’d ever seen.
Anthony held back a smile. He didn’t want Trin to think he was laughing at him, even if he was giggling madly inside. He swept Trin off the kitchen stool he’d been perched on during his interrogation and onto his lap. Nestling his face in his son’s soft hair, he came to a conclusion. “According to the stories I’ve read, Santa is rumored to be made of Christmas snow and children’s wishes.”
“Like me?”
“What?” Anthony lifted his head so he could see his son’s face. “What do you mean like you?”
“Everyone says Grandpa Zeus made me with magic. Isn’t it the same thing?” Trin’s little nose wrinkled as if he were trying to solve the mysteries of the universe and Christmas all at the same time.
Anthony let out a strangled laugh. “Not really.”
“Anthony, love, could you come to my office to talk for a second?”
If he hadn’t been sitting, he would’ve jumped. He turned his head to find Silver scowling at him.
“Um, sure, love.” Anthony stood, still holding Trin. A feat that was becoming more difficult every day. “Trin, sweetie, why don’t you go find Henry. I believe you were going to make cookies today.”
“Yay!” Trin wiggled until Anthony set him down, then scampered away.
“I still think he’s a bit young for cooking,” Anthony complained.
“He’s a child created from a god. He’s never going to be too young for things, except Christmas. He’s like every other child when it comes to Christmas. Come on.” Silver left the room.
Anthony followed his love, curious over what this was about. Silver had used his Alpha tone as if daring Anthony not to agree with him. Anthony thought over anything he could’ve done to irritate his lover but came up blank. They hadn’t had a fight in several months; maybe they were due.
Silver didn’t speak until they were inside his office with the door closed and they were both sitting on the couch. “You were going to tell Trin there wasn’t a Santa, weren’t you?”
Anthony shrugged. “I was trying not to. I know you all think it is part of a childhood hazing ritual, but I don’t really like lying to our child. I never believed in Santa, that isn’t something witches or the fae believe in. We celebrate Yule and my mother enjoyed buying us gifts, but she didn’t tell me a fictitious story about a red-suited man bringing me presents. On the other hand, I don’t want it getting back to the other pack children and causing problems. Farro won’t like it if Trin blabs to Sammy that there isn’t a Santa.”
Silver sighed and took Anthony’s hands in his larger ones, sharing his intense body heat. “I want Trin to enjoy at least one childhood tradition. Let Dare hire us a Santa and we’ll see how it goes. If Trin figures out the truth, you can always make him promise not to ruin it for the other kids.”
“The tradition of lying to children about Father Christmas is the one Christmas tradition you want to keep?” Anthony stared at his mate. He never thought they would disagree on holidays. Of course he never thought they’d have a child at all.
“Yes.” Silver squeezed Anthony’s hands. “I’ve given up on chopping down a tree. You can give me Santa.”
“Murdering a tree, you mean,” Anthony teased, remembering the argument fondly. “And you didn’t back down. We compromised. This is different. You still get a tree.”
Silver didn’t say anything else, but the fond expression in Silver’s eyes had Anthony melting. “Fine. If it’s that important to you, I won’t tell him. He already thinks Santa was created like he was.”
“How does he even know Zeus made him?”
Anthony shrugged. “Either he heard someone talking, or Zeus told him. You can’t exactly censor a god, and Zeus is fond of telling things as they are.”
“True. Well, it’s not like he wouldn’t be asking how he has two daddies sometime soon. At least we can avoid most of that awkward conversation. Now that we have our Santa decision out of the way, how have you been doing? We haven’t had a real conversation since Monday when we had lunch together.”
It took Anthony a second to process Silver’s change of conversation. “You’re right. It has been that long. Wow, we need to pencil in an appointment every day so we can spend more time together.”
Silver cupped Anthony’s face. “I agree. We see each other way too little without work being involved.”
Anthony tilted his head and accepted his lover’s kiss. No one kissed like Silver. Warm, comforting, and sexy as hell. To Anthony, Silver smelled like everything best in the world. If asked, he wouldn’t be able to pin down the exact scent, but it always made him want to devour his mate. A low groan filled the air as Anthony returned the kiss with full passion. It had been at least a week since they had last been intimate, an unheard of amount of time in the past. Their lives had been busy and tension-filled, not a recipe for sexy times.
He straddled Silver, gazing down into his gleaming silver eyes. “Hello, lover.”
“Hello, mate. You have far too many clothes on.”
“I was thinking you had the same problem.” With a wave of his hand and a pulse of magic, Anthony locked the door and stripped them both. “Much better.”
Silver shuddered. “I’ll never get used to your magic across my skin.”
Anthony rubbed their erections together. “Doesn’t feel like you object.”
“Never.” Silver wrapped a hand around the back of Anthony’s neck and pulled him down for a kiss. It took several minutes before he spoke again. “I love you, Anthony Carrow.”
“I love you, too, my mate.” He dived back in for another kiss. After Trin, there were less days of lazy sex and heated kisses and more quickies in the closest location before they were caught. It didn’t help when their child could teleport wherever he wanted. Having a superpowered child made life challenging.
Anthony bit Silver’s bottom lip. “Where’s the lube?”
“Lube?” Silver attempted a shocked expression. “In my office?”
Anthony cracked up.
“Just magic it here. I don’t remember where I left it.” Silver squeezed Anthony’s nipples in a tight pinch. Jolts of pleasure shot through him, fast and tingly.
“Okay.” Anthony barely got out the word over his lust. He yanked with his magic and a bottle of lube floated into his hand. “Do you want to do the honors?”
“Absolutely.”
There were a lot of benefits to having a longtime lover. They knew all your best spots and how loose you needed to be before they could shove their massive cock through your tiny hole.
Anthony gasped, his head going back as he adjusted to Silver’s entry. If he took a bracing breath and left bruises on Silver’s shoulders, it would never be mentioned. Silver rubbed Anthony’s hips in a soothing motion. After a minute or two, Anthony was able to move without more than a pinch of pain.