Warm breath tickled the back of my neck as he leaned in to lick over the claiming bite he’d left there, my body growing limp and pliant as he nipped at my skin. “Fur-time, baby,” he murmured, making me shiver as Leo stood, but only long enough to help me up and hold me steady as I stepped out of my sleep pants. The moment I was naked, I shifted, while he shed his shorts, revealing the mossy green lace boy shorts he had on underneath. Tonight, as I snuggled up in his lap and rubbed my fur over his body, it wasn’t about turning him on; it was just about comfort and appeasing the senses, and maybe a bit of scent marking, just to let anyone who happened to smell him know he was mine.
Chapter 16
Briar
Mrrrrrrr plop!
Watching Maverick do belly flops off the wide railing surrounding the back porch into the fresh powder that had gotten dumped on us the night before was positively endearing. The best part was Leo out there taking pictures so the moment would never be forgotten. There were snow leopard-sized holes in several mounds, but this latest one was the best impression of all. It showed all four paws and his tail, fully outstretched, like something straight out of a cartoon, especially when he popped his head up with snow clinging to the scruffy tufts of fur on his ears and the side of his face.
Laughing, Leo kept on taking pictures, while Mav let out a squeaky roar, then another more ferocious one. Sliding overhead drew my attention to the ceiling, then back to the window in time to see exactly what was causing that noise. Snow, a whole avalanche of it, sailing over the lip of the roof and onto Maverick’s head. He realized it a split second before it happened and tried to leap, but the snow was too high, andhe just wound up floundering face-first into the white, fluffy powder surrounding him right before he got buried.
I could tell, by the way Leo moved, camera lens pointed at the heaving, crumbling mound, that he hadn’t stopped taking pictures for a single second. Hell, he might even be taking video, which would be even better. Judging from the movement beneath the snow, Maverick would have himself free soon, but I waited until his head popped up again and he cast a wary glare at the roof before I turned my attention back to the surprise I was putting together for them.
Tonight was our last night in the cabin and the end of the wildest two weeks of my life, and I had something special planned for my mates once they finished playing in the snow, and judging from the scent wafting from the oven, it was almost ready.
I lit the candles I’d placed on the table beside the bay window, looking forward to our first night in our new home, where we’d christen our new bay window with the same kind of setup, and later, when it was warm enough outside for Leo to be comfortable eating on the deck, we’d christen that space too, with sweet strawberry and pineapple liquor, crisp cider, and Leo’s favorite dish, which I’d unfortunately lacked the ingredients to pull off tonight. Fortunately, he’d also professed a love for one of Maverick’s favorites, and that was one I had the ingredients for, since I’d planned to make it for him during the trip. Once I’d learned that Leo loved it too, it had been a no-brainer to save it for tonight and go all out to make the evening truly special.
Laughter and pleas for mercy caught my attention, and I returned to the window to see that Leo had taken his kitty protection device, aka his camera, off and put it back in his camera bag, leaving himself at the mercy of a very bouncy, excited, snow-covered snow leopard who hadn’t thought twiceabout pouncing him into the snow. Maverick made biscuits on Leo’s chest and arm like he was about to curl up on top of him, in between licking him and nuzzling him with a cold, wet nose, which just made Leo laugh and wiggle around in the snow.
Watching them, it struck me that the two shared the same playfulness and ability to get lost in simple moments like the one they were currently sharing. The image in front of me was replaced by one floating around in my head, of the two of them romping with snow leopard cubs, Maverick playfully batting snow at them and teaching them how to pounce by letting them leap and bounce all over him, while Leo picked them up from time to time, held them against his shoulder, stroked their fur, and carried them when they got too tired to keep up on a trail. I really hoped that was what the future had in store for us.
Oh yeah, the food was definitely ready, and the small, three-layer cake I’d baked was already in the fridge, the top covered in cheesecake-stuffed strawberries and dusted with crumbled bits of graham crackers.
Laughter again.
I got the food situated on the hotplates on the table before I peered out to see what in the world was going on now.
Ahh. A snow-flinging war had broken out, with Maverick using his paws to bat snow at Leo, who was still seated in the snow, flinging handfuls of snow back at him. They were evenly matched that way, until Maverick got smart, turned around, and kicked snow all over Leo until he started hollering for a truce and for me to come out and save him. Alrighty then, Alpha to the rescue, or so I thought. I shoved my feet in my boots and hurried down the stairs, so intent on stopping Maverick from burying our mate that I missed the snowballs Leo had lined up on the other side of him, the sneaky shit.
Thwap!
The first icy cold ball of packed snow caught me on the shoulder; the second caught me square on the nose. Staggering backwards, I tripped over the laces I’d neglected to tie and landed on my ass in a messy pile of pawprint-covered snow. It was game over for me then. Between Maverick kicking snow and Leo throwing it, I had no choice left but to retaliate. For almost five wild minutes, we waged the messiest snowball war I’d been engaged in since I was a child. When it was over, I was certain I’d come out on the losing end, not that losing felt bad in the slightest when Maverick wiggled into my lap, murphed, rubbed his big head beneath my chin, and started purring. I hugged him while Leo went to his knees beside me and hugged us both.
“You guys are just so amazing,” Leo said. “I’ve had more fun in the past two weeks than I’ve had in the last few years. This whole adulting thing hasn’t been a great deal of fun, but then, I haven’t had many evenings at home that I’ve particularly looked forward to, at least not since I moved out on my own. Now, no matter what the day is like, I know I’ll be coming home to two men who will always make it better.”
“You’re damned right we will,” I replied, while Maverick just purred louder. “Come on, it’s time to head back inside. Supper is ready, and we all need dry clothes or clothes, period, in some instances.”
Mav and that cold-ass nose—he damn near shoved it in my ear this time, and with Leo hugging me, the only thing I could do was shiver and run my fingers over the back of his furry neck.
“Move it, fuzzy butt,” I grumbled and got to listen to him not only huff in my ear but also sneeze all over the side of my neck too.
“Oh, eww, ick, come on, Mav, that’s it, inside and back in skin, you’ve had enough furry time for the day,” I told him and turned him loose so he could bound up the steps and wait by thedoor for Leo to extract me from the mound of snow I’d landed in so we could let him in.
At least the meat had plenty of time to rest, and with the foil on top, it wouldn’t have started to cool or dry out either. Mav shifted as soon as the door was closed behind us and walked bare-assed into the bedroom, with my eyes, and likely Leo’s, glued to his backside the entire way. If it wasn’t for the food, I’d have been tempted to bend him over the bed and have a bit of fun tormenting him after the way he’d kicked snow all over me outside. Instead, I slid my arm around him the moment he was dressed, tugged him against my side, and covered his face with kisses until he started giggling.
“Did you get all of the wiggles out of your system?” I asked.
“Uh-huh, and Leo said that if I absolutely needed to, I could shift during the ride and curl up in the passenger’s seat, but I think I got my fill of fur for a while, at least until we all get settled in at my place anyway.”
I smiled over at Leo, who was watching Mav with an absolutely adoring look on his face.
“He told me that he gets fidgety when he has to stay in skin for too long,” Leo admitted. “He said you do too. I’m glad he told me. I was doing a bit of thinking about this Japanese-style desk that I’d been putting off getting for a while now. They call it a low writing table; they come in several shapes and sizes, including a wide, square one that would be perfectly suited for more than one person to work at. It works just as well with round cushions as it does with chairs, so I was thinking, why not get that setup for our office? That way, you guys would be comfortable in skin and in fur, and I could still pet and cuddle with you while I was getting work done.”
Leo had barely finished his statement before Maverick was hurtling out of my arms and into his, crushing their lips togetheruntil Leo groaned and palmed his ass in both hands. I gave them several seconds to enjoy themselves before clearing my throat.
“Food first, then we can make pinning each other to whatever surface we’d like our priority for the rest of the night.”
Mav was giggling when they broke apart to walk hand in hand to the kitchen, where everything smelled just as amazing as it had when I pulled it out of the oven.
