Shackled (The Lord Series) by Amy T

323. Mose - Hot cocoa

Somewhere in the middle of the night, Olivia slips out of bed. Ansel and Jasper sleep too profoundly to notice, but as a demon, I only need a few hours of rest. So, as the good mate that I am, I follow her. She goes to the living room, grabs a blanket from the sofa, and steps on the porch. She lets the front door open and only closes the screen one. After turning on the light and scanning the front garden, she sits on one of the rocking chairs and wraps the blanket around her.

I blend in with the shadows and watch her for several minutes. She never takes her eyes off the garden.

Is she worried about Rueben and Tyson?

I slowly open the screen door and say, "Olly." I deliberately keep my voice soft so as not to scare her.

She inhales sharply before her shoulders sag. "Mose. You scared me." She tilts her head to the side. "I thought you were sleeping." I shrug. Her teeth sink into her bottom lip. I imagine doing that to her. "Care to join me for a hot cocoa?" I nod. "You should try speaking more. You sound sexy."

Despite never wanting Olivia and the others to find out I stutter, I let it slip. I cringed inside while I waited for them to mock me, to look at me with disgust. It was the other way around. The vessels didn't care, but Olivia? She looked at me like I was a genius or something like that. Still, talking is not something I enjoy. It's draining.

"Sexy. You," I clip. Only if I sound like a half-ass crazed demon can I contain my stutter.

Olivia throws another glance at the garden and sighs loudly before she stands. "Let's go to the kitchen."

She drapes the blanket over the chair, leaves the light on, and we go inside. She keeps sighing.

Miss Teapot is sleeping in her basket next to the fridge but opens one eye when I turn on the light. After seeing that it's Olivia and me, she turns her back to us and goes back to sleep.

to the fridge, takes out the milk, and puts it on the counter before taking out a saucepan. I turn on the

the saucepan, she

ask,

like four in the morning, and Rueben and Tyson are still not home. What if something happened to them?" Her shoulders drop. "It's

go to her and pull her into my arms.

out a

sound. "It wouldn't be the first time." Her palm comes to rest on my shoulder. "Why do I have no problem being a bitch except when it comes to

hurting them in any way also affects her. The internal pain she is feeling is not

keeps speaking. "Have I ever told you that Tyson and I had a son together?" The pain radiating from her is overwhelming. "I don't know why I'm telling

part with the farm came true. Maybe the part about the family also did, as I have more men than I can handle." A crease forms between her brows. "I never thought I was a hellstar. Imagine my shock when I found out. And to have as my mates the very men who tormented me. Loki got bored and decided to make fun of me." I have a feeling my twin is behind everything bad that happened to Olivia. He has a habit of sticking his tail into everyone's business. Her teeth sink into her bottom lip once

"Baby? Me?"

me. "You know I can't have more babies. It's for the

say something, but the yearning in her voice tells me

I got to keep a

lips

a great cook, but cooking is not something I enjoy-far from it. Still, I get up. "Stay," I tell Olivia

frying pan. But

as many failed attempts, Olivia finally takes pity on me and comes to

is why you keep messing up. You put too much cocoa." I try to be patient, but cooking is boring as fuck. "Now we add the

with some of my divine