Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 105815 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105815 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
The vampire wrapped his arms around Leo and sighed as he recovered from his orgasm. “I think you’re right.”
“I’m always right,” Leo replied without opening his eyes. He shifted his head, burrowing his face deeper into the crook of Junjie’s neck. “But what am I right about this time?”
“Sex and teaching you Mandarin don’t go together.”
Leo huffed a laugh and pressed a kiss to Junjie’s jaw. “Yeah, you should know that you have me completely distracted anytime you flash even the tiniest bit of skin. I can’t think of words and whether something has a rising or a falling tone.”
Junjie shrugged. “I guess I can ask Chen to give you lessons.”
Leo placed his hands on the mattress and pushed up so that he could glare at his mate. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“From what I understand, he’s been making progress with Moon, and Erik has learned a lot from him.”
A tiny whine escaped Leo, and he slumped on Junjie. “But he’s so grumpy. He’s only nice to Moon because Moon fucks him. And he’s nice to Erik because he’s freaking adorable. How could anyone not be in love with that little man?”
Junjie’s smile grew at Leo’s indignation. “Everyone loves Erik.”
Leo grunted and rolled off Junjie to flop on the bed. With a few wiggles and some adjustments to the blankets, they snuggled facing each other. Leo frowned at Junjie’s chest, tracing the tip of his finger along the pale skin.
“What’s wrong? Is learning Mandarin bothering you? If you don’t want to, you’ll always have one of us with you—”
“No! That’s not it!” Leo suddenly broke in. “I mean…that’s not all of it.” He paused and chewed on his bottom lip as he tried to figure out how to explain his growing anxiety. Only a few weeks had passed since the great fae mess had been taken care of, and the household had largely shifted to making plans to begin the great trek back to China. And that included all the new mates who had joined the Zhang clan.
“I’m just…frustrated and nervous. Erik is learning Chinese faster than I am. I swear that kid has double the vocabulary I have.”
Junjie chuckled and pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose. “You can’t compare yourself to Erik! He’s a toddler. His brain is geared toward learning a new language right now. He also doesn’t care about whether he’s repeating the word correctly or even if he’s using it right. You’re weighed down by all of that. You’re afraid of making mistakes. He’s not.”
“Lucky,” Leo grumbled, earning several more kisses across his face.
“If it’s too much, we can stop with the lessons. You don’t have to learn Mandarin if you don’t want to. I’m sure one of us will always be close by to translate if you need it.”
Leo shook his head. “No, I want to learn it. I want to know everything about your language and culture. I want to understand who you are and your history. It’s important to me because it’s so much of who you and your clan are. But…I…I feel stupid. I’m not learning it fast enough.”
Junjie gasped softly and scooted lower on the bed so he could meet Leo’s eyes. “You’re not stupid, and I don’t understand your need to learn it quickly. We haven’t set a date for our return yet. And there is no rule stating that you must be fluent in Mandarin before we set foot in China. That’s nonsense. You’ll learn it at your pace, and that is fine. You don’t need to worry about what Moon or Erik are doing.”
“But what if I embarrass you?” Leo gasped and his eyes snapped wide open. “What if I’m trying to talk to some other ancient vampire or powerful creature and my Chinese is so bad that I insult them?”
Junjie pressed his lips together tightly, but Leo could tell the vampire was trying so very hard not to laugh right in his face.
“What?” Leo said flatly.
“We talk to very few other vampires in China, and we’ve met no one else more ancient than our clan.”
Leo’s brain sort of melted as he tried to take in that thought. “Whoa.”
Junjie kissed the center of his forehead softly. “Yes. The Zhang clan is ancient. Everyone else must worry about insulting us. I dare anyone to make a snide remark about your accent or any mistakes you might make. See if they survive that encounter.”
Leo’s heart might have flipped in his chest. On some level, his brain knew that Junjie was thousands of years old and that his clan was powerful and ancient. But this was his Jun-Jun. The guy who was working through a stack of books on proper potty-training techniques. The vampire who was worried about getting their koi back to China safely because he was sure their two-year-old would be able to tell if they swapped in new fish. The same man who’d fucked him senseless.