My One and Only (Bewitched and Bewildered #10)(12)

Around him voices died down. "You finally mated?" Old man Richter asked.

Micah grinned at him. "I sure am."

"Good for you boy. Tell your lady she is welcome here any time," he offered.

"Many thanks," Micah said waving.

Marcy had a shielded expression on her face as she handed over his treat. She leaned in toward him. "Be careful with her Micah, you just broke a lot of hearts."

Micah frowned and looked around. He was shocked to see some of the ladies he knew dabbing at their eyes. He turned back to Marcy. "But they knew I wasn't their mate," he said taking his time reaching for the napkins.

"Which made your kind words all the more special." Marcy shook her head. "Give them a few days to adjust."

He winked at her. "You always take good care of me," he teased.

Even though she was old enough to be his grandmother she blushed before shooing him away. "Go on with you now."

Micah quickly grabbed some crepes and headed back to his mate. She eyed him suspiciously. "You seemed very chummy with that vendor."

He shrugged and sat down across from her. He handed her the sweet treats before murmuring a soundproof spell creating a bubble of privacy around them. "It's not easy being a female in Noctem Falls. It's getting better with Gavriel actively taking a huge role in setting things right. But before Aiden came to visit with his crazy mate and Bethy, the people here romanticized the Victorian Era, including how they sometimes treated women."

Serenity froze holding a fry in front of her. "You're joking right?"

He shook his head. "Everyone was very proper of course and publicly respectful, but I don't think many of the women here heard a kind word behind closed doors." He hummed as he chewed his fries. "So good! Anyway, when I first got here I would wink, flirt and compliment every woman I met. You could see it in their eyes that my silliness gave them just a moment of pride. A unit warrior had called them beautiful. They stood straighter or smiled more. Pretty soon I had a reputation for being a womanizer, but the ladies knew the truth. In all the years I've been here, I've never gone hungry or wanted for anything. Those same ladies would arrange for baskets of food to be delivered to the Unit Level or take in my wash if I was running behind on my home chores. Duties that they normally performed daily, but for the first time, it was something they wanted to do." He looked up at his mate. "I have many friends in the city and about ninety-five percent of them are female."

Serenity's eyes were filled with sympathy. "It's nothing like that in Storm Keep. Women are on a pretty level playing field with men. What matters more than gender are your test scores." She eyed him carefully. "Wait a minute, how are you still here?" She looked him up and down. "You must have tested extremely high."

"You can see my magic?" he asked curiously.

"Sort of. More like a range of color. Yours has amazing depth."

He shrugged. "Like most unit warriors I fudged my test scores so I could come back to the city after testing." He winced then looked at his mate. "And I sort of slept with the proctor's wife."

She started to choke on her crepe. She pounded on her chest before looking up at him. "You what?"

"They weren't mates," he said quickly. "I would never, ever sleep with a mated woman. They had married at her parent's insistence to have more powerful children. I was a weekend delight."

Serenity leaned in. "Which proctor?" she asked her eyes dancing.

He waved a finger back and forth in front of her. "I don't kiss and tell, but needless to say he banished me from Storm Keep for a while."

She frowned. "I may be banished as well."

"Well, you're in good company."

She swirled one of her fries around her plate. "What would I do here Micah? After this virus is cured they won't have a need for a healer."

"Maybe they will. We don't know how long the wolves and kiddos will be here. Plus you could teach healing classes to unit witches, we could always use more healing knowledge amongst the units."

"Kendrick could do that," she started then shook her head. "Never mind."

Micah shuddered. "I respect that man more than any other witch I have met, but I would hate to sit a class with him. His suggestion to Aiden to teach us about childbirth was traumatizing." He shuddered remembering that awful video.

"Gods! He didn't!" Serenity exclaimed before dissolving into a fit of giggles.

Micah stared at her flatly. "It's not funny." His words only seemed to incense her more.

"I had nightmares."

She wrapped her arms around her stomach and toppled to one side on the bench. Her laughter was the only indication he had that she was still breathing.

"Then he had Sebastian serve a stuffed turkey for lunch," he continued.

When he heard a thump he looked under the table grinning. His prestigious mate was on the floor with tears streaming down her face. "Stop, I beg you," she managed to get out waving a hand at him.

He got up and walked around the table to help her up. She was laughing so hard she was practically limp. He held her up by her armpits as she calmed down.

When he looked around he noticed they were getting some strange looks. They must look ridiculous with the soundproof spell still going. He shrugged and the men just nodded their sympathy.