Brownie knew that. He already couldn’t wait to get back to Yuri. Brownie hated the way he had left Yuri all warm and cuddly in bed alone. There wasn’t an ounce of duty in the way he felt. In fact, he better understood the greed Lucifer mentioned. He couldn’t get enough. Brownie equally understood Lucifer’s emotional rollercoaster over Riku’s initial rejection. If Yuri had rejected him, Brownie might have torn apart an entire demon village too to release some of the rage.
Lucifer ran his hand through Brownie’s fur, making his eyes fall closed with affection. “Don’t worry, my pet. I see no reason we can’t keep things short today. There’s nothing I’d rather be doing than Riku.” A rumble of naughty-sounding laughter fell from Lucifer’s lips. He sounded as evil as he could be. Lucifer opened the door to the torture room to complete pandemonium. Demons and the damned battled. They exchanged tired glances. It seemed they would be trapped at work longer than expected today. How tiresome.
Yuri wandered into the sitting room with his stomach growling. He felt the hum of Brownie at the back of his mind, but he didn’t look too closely at his thoughts. Yuri had a feeling he didn’t want to know what went on when Brownie worked. He was giddy as hell today, though. A night of sleeping in Brownie’s arms had him floating on a cloud. He had a mate. Yuri wanted to skip like a little kid.
“There he is. I thought you planned to sleep all day.”
Yuri smiled at Riku’s greeting. “Hi. Sorry. I guess I was a little drained.”
Riku’s eyes flashed with humor. “I’ll bet. Care to tell me about it?”
Yuri moved to join Riku on the couch. “It’s nothing. I ran into Fen, and he’s been having a hard time fully recovering since the whole thing with Jörmungandr, so I gave him my blood. It wiped me out more than I expected.”
Riku playfully slapped his arm. “Not that. I meant that lovely new mating mark you’re sporting.”
Heat climbed Yuri’s face. “Oh. That. So I guess I was pretty dumb for not realizing me being able to communicate with Brownie mentally meant he’s my mate.”
Riku made a helpless gesture. “I mean, you’re the son of an alpha and a guardian wolf. He is an alpha. It wouldn’t seem unusual for you two to speak mentally. I wouldn’t have known in your place.”
The comment gave him pause. Riku was a godling. “Did you know? About Brownie and me, I mean,” he clarified.
Guilt passed over Riku’s features. Yuri felt a shot of outrage before Riku immediately took it away. “Not at first, no. Lucifer had to tell me. I wanted to tell you, but he was afraid you two would claim each other out of duty and not love. It seems Brownie is pretty big on keeping his obligations.”
That didn’t surprise Yuri. His claim also planted a seed Yuri hated. Had Brownie claimed him out of a sense of duty?
“Let’s go to town and grab you something to eat. I can feel your hunger and the guys won’t be home for a while. It seems there was a bit of an uprising this morning.”
Yuri’s gaze snapped Riku’s way. “Lucifer told you that?”
Riku was busy looking for his shoes. “Yeah. As soon as he walked through the door down there, it was all cursing and ranting.” Riku flashed him a smile. “His thoughts are actually pretty hilarious. He has a very dry wit I adore.”
Damn. He loved seeing Riku happy. Yuri hated the way he doubted everything now. Brownie hadn’t told him anything about an uprising. His thoughts didn’t bombard Yuri. “Yeah. I guess we should find something to do until they get home.” He couldn’t sit here with his thoughts. Yuri was too used to undermining himself with doubts.
“I let Lucifer know where we’re headed. He’ll probably tell Brownie, but you should let him know too, just in case. I’d hate for an enraged hellhound to storm the diner.”
“Yeah.” It also gave Yuri the excuse he needed to talk to him and soothe the ridiculous growing doubts that were drowning him. It wasn’t Brownie’s fault Yuri was like this. He focused on his other half.Hey, sexy.
Don’t join me here!
The barked order had Yuri immediately withdrawing. He locked down his mind. “Let’s go.” Yuri suddenly had zero desire to be in Hell any longer. He wanted sunshine.
Chapter Five
Itfeltlikethelongest day of his life and he hadn’t been gone that long. Brownie knew it was because he spent the day away from Yuri. He was more than a little irritated when not only could he not find Yuri, but Yuri had him totally locked out of his mind. The quiet was annoying. Plus, it made his chest ache when he couldn’t immediately locate his other half. He was used to having that connection. Brownie hated to ask Lucifer and admit Yuri had him blocked, but desperation won.
“What happened to Riku and Yuri? I haven’t seen either of them.”
Lucifer didn’t seem concerned. “Frost’s place. They went out earlier for lunch and then Frost invited them to stay for a barbeque he’s throwing this evening. I’m surprised Yuri didn’t tell you.”
Damn. Yuri had tried talking to him earlier. “He probably thought you’d pass along the information. Do you need me here?” He had to find his mate before he went insane.
Lucifer gestured with his head toward his bedroom. “Go. You can send my wayward mate home.”
Brownie didn’t need to be told twice. He was in Lucifer’s room and through the mirror in under a minute. Brownie heard the laughter before he reached the backyard. A fire roared. Fen sat close to Yuri and Riku. All three were smiling and talking. Fen was way too close to Yuri for Brownie’s liking. The cool night air had Yuri wrapped in a coat and scarf. It pissed Brownie off to see his mating mark was hidden. He maybe stormed the backyard a hair aggressively.
“Lucifer asked me to send his wayward mate home.”
Riku and Yuri looked his way. No one seemed to notice his rage. Yuri’s mind was still closed to him.
