“Whoa,” Ghost said, stopping short. “What the hell has your panties in a twist? Your mate is now safe from these assholes.”
“But Smokey isn’t. What the hell does this shithead have against him? Smokey’s been out of the business for a long time and before that we were together most of the time, so why isn’t fucking Lee after me, too?”
Ghost tilted his head, raising an eyebrow as he stared at Glenn. “You know as well as I do, it has something to do with Smokey’s disappearance.”
Inhaling deeply, Glenn rubbed his hands over his face as he exhaled. “Yeah, I need to have a ‘come to Jesus’ talk with him. Whatever he was involved in, it pissed off Lee…enough to want Smokey eliminated.”
“Are you still planning to kill those two? Because I have a better idea.”
“Don’t know…still thinking about it. What’s on your mind?”
“Take them back to LA and put them in my underground jail. Keep them there for now to buy us some time to figure out who this Xavier Lee is and why he’s after Smokey.”
“Hmm…if Lee thought Luka was still on the job, he wouldn’t hire anyone to replace him.”
“It would buy us some time for Riley to find Lee so we can take him out.”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
“You don’t have to sound so surprised…I do have them occasionally,” Ghost said, sarcastically.
Punching his friend’s shoulder, Glenn snorted. “That’s why I keep you around. Let’s go check out Luka’s car and maybe we’ll get lucky.”
~/~/~/~/~
Scooping the last bits of ice cream from his bowl, Alex suddenly felt shy, unable to look at Sawyer. The evening went far better than he ever expected. Actually, if he was honest with himself, it was simply amazing. Not once did his mate exert any Alpha power over him, instead, Sawyer was open about himself, answering every question asked, even if it made him uncomfortable. Whenever that happened, Alex lost small bits of his heart to his mate. Adding to the mix was Sawyer’s sense of humor and the easiness of his personality, giving Alex an evening of fun and laughter, something he never had before.
Sneaking a peek at his fox and dragon, Alex bit the inside of his cheek in an effort to hold back his giggle as he looked at both of their puppy dog eyes, begging him to claim his mate. But he wasn’t sure he was ready to take that step, even though he couldn’t figure out what was stopping him. The Fates had given him the handsomest guy in the world as his mate, making the fire running through his veins become more intense as the night progressed. Even his dick agreed since he was sporting a chubby for most of the evening, and that had never happened to him before either.
Thinking back to the dream, Alex remembered how he felt and knew he wanted to feel that way for the rest of his life. Jumping slightly when his fox and dragon nudged him, he grinned at their pushiness. Exhaling softly as he gathered his courage, he looked at Sawyer and asked, “Do you want to stay with me tonight? In my bed? With me? I mean…sleep with me? I’m not sure I’m ready for anything else, but I’d love to cuddle…if that’s all right with you.”
Staring out the window into the darkness of night, Sawyer was thinking about what to do since it was obvious the evening was over. His need to protect his mate meant spending another night outside Alex’s trailer in his wolf form—not that he minded, or to be more accurate, not that his wolf minded, but he’d rather sleep inside, though he wasn’t going to push his mate. Preoccupied with his sleeping choices, it took Sawyer a moment to process what his mate had said. Jerking his face away from the window, he stared at Alex, finally comprehending what his mate was proposing. Sawyer grinned. “I’d love to…cuddle with you…in your bed…absolutely. It sounds so much better than what I’d planned.”
“What were you planning?”
“Ahh…sleeping outside your trailer…my wolf…I mean I’d be sleeping outside in my wolf form.”
“Oh…do you do that often?”
Sawyer’s eyes widened. “No. Not since I was a kid, but there wasn’t any way I could leave you unguarded, so it seemed the best solution.”
“Did you do that last night? Is that why you were naked this morning?”
“Yeah, I’d just shifted back and was heading to get my clothes when you came out.”
“Oohh…lucky me.” Getting up from the small table, Alex held out his hand. “Thanks for protecting me, but I think I’d rather have you next to me…in your human form if you don’t mind.”
Grasping his mate’s hand, Sawyer stood, grinning. “Sounds absolutely perfect.”
Chapter 14
Relaxing in the small living room of their cottage at the winery, Hunter checked his messages while waiting for Fionn to finish reviewing the accounting of his father’s horde Penn had sent last night. Hearing a groan, he glanced over, chuckling at the number of pages his mate still had to do. “Pet, enjoying yourself?”
Rolling his eyes, Fionn turned over another sheet. At this rate it was going to take him all morning. “Not really. Maybe I should just accept it and save myself from death by boredom.”
“Fine with me, but what about your dragon? Does he agree with your plan?”
“Noooo…I have to look at each line so he can memorize the item. That’s the only way I’ll get any peace from him. The other alternative is moving it to my horde and spending who knows how many days down there verifying each item. Trust me, this is the easiest and fastest way.”
