“I love that idea,” Kieran exclaimed, “it will bring a little bit of their old home to their new home. Well done!”
Logan smiled at Kieran’s praise. “Thank you. These are the colors I picked,” he said as he handed paint chips to Kieran. “The soft yellow of tundra grass, the soft spring green of the bearberry and, of course, the creamy ivory of caribou moss.” Next he handed a dark brown wood chip to Kieran. “I’m using the dark brown of the grizzly bear for the color of the furniture in the room…grounding the room. On the walls, I’ll paint a mural of the tundra so even though Jake and Jessica are no longer there, they will grow up knowing what the place they came from looks like.”
Kieran’s eyes sparkled with delight as he pictured the finished room. His heart swelled with love as he discovered how caring his mate was. Never in a million years did he think he’d ever find a mate who cared as much as he did about shifters, but after hearing the details and thoughtfulness Logan had put into the design, he knew he had.
“I think that is the loveliest design in the world,” said Kieran, “Jake and Jessica are so lucky to have you as their uncle. You know, I was so worried about what would happen to them, but I guess that was for naught.Tell me, have you thought about a rug? You know, so they’ll have a soft place to crawl on.”
“Well, I would like to use this area rug…wait…here’s a picture. See how it has the soft spring green in the middle with replicas of the flowers found on the tundra around the edges. Dylon, who knows the tundra, can spend time teaching them about the flowers and life of a wolf living there.”
“Perfecto! But is it soft? You know some rugs can look great, but they would be too tough on their tender bare knees.”
“It’s a chenille rug, so…”
“Fantastic! Very soft and well padded. The twins won’t hurt themselves when they begin to walk.” Kieran gazed again about Logan’s choices and agreed with every one. “So, what do you do next?”
“Well, look at the room that will become the nursery and take measurements. Then I transfer those to paper and draw a preliminary plan.”
“Oh, I can’t wait to see that,” Kieran said, looking at Cody and Dylon, sitting there, looking shell-shocked. “What do you think, guys, aren’t you excited to see the design on paper?”
Dylon nudged Cody. After opening and shutting his mouth a few times, and exchanging thoughts through their mind link, Cody finally spoke. “Luckily, Dylon and I love your ideas for Jake and Jessica’s nursery.” Then with a smirk, he added, “Especially since Kieran has approved them. We’ll talk to Jackson about which room we can have for the twins. Babe, you got anything to add?”
Dylon shook his head and then narrowed his eyes at Logan. If Cody was correct, Logan had just found his Fated Mate. But Dylon wasn’t sure. He felt it was more of a case of Logan wanting a quick fuck and he wasn’t going to allow Kieran to be used that way. Though what they’d witnessed just now had surprised them both, Cody had to be wrong because the signs of finding a Fated Mate were missing—such as the smell of arousal, or the possessiveness both would feel or even the can’t-take-my-eyes-off-you weren’t there. Granted, at least Cody had an explanation while he had none, so he fell back to the universal desire of men—the need to fuck. And that’s where he was going to draw the line because Kieran wasn’t going to be anyone’s fuck toy.
Chapter 15
Cody and Dylon left Logan’s studio and met Dakota in the hallway, wheeling his cart laden with food to the door they just exited. Cody’s eyebrows rose nearly to his hairline as he took in many scents which included some he’d never smelled before. “Hey bro, who’s that for?” Cody asked, pointing to the food. “If you brought that for our meeting with Logan, you’re too late. We’re heading down to feed the twins.” Reaching out to lift the cover off a particularly delicious smelling dish, Cody’s hand was promptly slapped by Dakota. “What the fuck? I told you the meeting’s over so let me have a taste of what we missed.”
“Dumbass, this isn’t for you. It’s for Logan and Kieran,” Dakota said. “It’s the first day on the job for Kieran and I thought he’d enjoy having Logan to himself at lunch today instead of dealing with a hungry mob. You know, so he can find out more about what Logan does.”
Narrowing his eyes, Cody stared at his brother. “Really? So, you did this for Theo and Norman on their first day, too?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Dakota said, sidestepping the question. “Theo was with me all day yesterday in the kitchen. Now let me go…this food is best eaten while it’s hot.”
Dylon pulled Cody aside and whispered in his ear as Dakota moved to the door and knocked. Dylon smirked, “Glad to see you approve of Logan and Kieran.”
Ignoring them, Dakota entered and immediately took note of the fresh smell and how neat the studio was—a far cry from yesterday. The startled looks of Kieran and Logan greeted him as he pushed the cart over to the conference table.
Kieran sniffed, then smiled at Dakota. “Wow, I can’t believe you made cottage pie for us! And is that barmback I see peeking out? I haven’t had this since…”
As Kieran’s voice trailed off, Logan felt anger surge through him at the treatment Kieran had received by Arald. Wanting to divert Kieran’s thoughts, Logan took over. “How nice of you, bro, to bring us lunch…here, let me help you,” Logan said, removing items from the cart and placing plates, silverware and glasses on the table as Dakota set the uncovered food between them.
“When you’re finished, load up the cart, place it in the hall and I’ll send Theo to get it,” said Dakota. “Bon appétit!”
Now alone with Kieran, Logan gazed at the happiness reflected in his face as he sniffed deeply at the scents of the food in front of them. “I’m not familiar with some of these dishes, but knowing my brother, I bet those two are from where you grew up.”
“Uh huh.” Bending over to sniff the aroma coming from a big casserole dish, Kieran said, “This is cottage pie, a favorite of mine, made with beef, onions, peas, carrots and topped with mashed potatoes and grated cheese.” Then, pointing to a loaf of bread on a plate next to it, he continued, “And this is barmbrack, a sweet bread with raisons and sultanas baked in. I love it this way or toasted with butter while I have a cup of tea.”
Handing Kieran a plate loaded with cottage pie and a couple of slices of the bread, Logan basked in the radiance emanating from him as he dug into the food. He sat there, feeling like his world might start to turn vivid colors and his heart begin to thump again.
Savoring each bite of home, Kieran’s eyes fluttered closed as he ate slowly, licking his lips between each bite.Small tiny moans slipped from his lips as each tasty morsel burst upon his tongue, igniting his taste buds, reminding him of everything he loved about Ireland. When he finally finished his cottage pie, Kieran slowly opened his eyes and, still licking his lips, savored every last morsel of it. That’s when he saw Logan’s stare and his untouched plate of food.
Never in his life had Logan seen such an erotic display. Those plump lips, shiny and glossy, closed around each forkful of food Kieran had put in his mouth. The sweet, tiny sounds he made while chewing each bite found their way to Logan’s cock making it hard and straining to be free. The blood had left his head and his mind was filled with visions of Kieran bent over the table as Logan buried his cock deep in him. At that moment, Logan knew he had to fuck Kieran. He would never be satisfied until he did.
“Aren’t you hungry?” Kieran asked, afraid Logan didn’t like the Irish food.
Logan blinked.Oh shit!He hadn’t eaten anything while watching Kieran enjoy his food. Picking up his fork, Logan said, “Sorry, I was just thinking about something.”
“Oh yeah? I do that sometimes. My mind wanders off and I get lost in thought. I can’t believe Dakota made this for me, I mean, I know he made it for you too, but he didn’t know if you would like it as you never had it before, but I guess Theo must have told him it was my favorite meal. Theo would know because when they were locked up, I brought them their meals and it was gruel…just gruel. So, every day as I entered their cell, they would ask me what was for breakfast, lunch or dinner and it was always gruel. But one day, I said, ‘cottage pie’ and then the next time, I would say something else. Of course, they never had anything but gruel, but I told them if they used their imagination, their food would become whatever I said it was. After a while I ran out of dishes I knew, so I started asking everyone what they wanted for lunch or dinner or breakfast.” Kieran looked down at his empty plate and whispered, “I would have given everything I had just to give Theo, Norman, and the other prisoners some decent food.”
