André groaned and hid his face in his hand. “Boy?” he mouthed at Nicky when he looked up again.
Nicky shrugged, but he couldn’t help the smile that was forming on his lips.
“They’re mates, hon. They’re made for each other. André’s mate can’t be a bad guy, I just know it.”
“I guess we’ll see that soon enough.”
Apparently, that was André’s queue to enter, because he pulled on Nicky’s hand and stepped into what Nicky could now see was an open living room. There was a kitchen on the right, separated from the living room by the counter. The windows were huge, from ceiling to floor, and they made Nicky feel exposed, even though he knew they were high enough that no one could see them.
One man was standing behind the counter, wearing an apron, while the other man was sitting on the living room side of the counter, facing his husband. They both looked up when André and Nicky walked in, and the sitting man jumped off his stool and hurried toward them.
Nicky swallowed and steeled himself. He’d never had to meet parents, and these were his mate’s parents. He wanted to run. He fought the instinct as André’s parents hugged him, and when one of them turned to Nicky, Nicky shook the hand that was offered to him.
“I’m Paul.”
Nicky nodded and shook Paul’s hand. Was he supposed to call the man Paul? Nicky wasn’t about to call him Dad or anything similar, but Paul hadn’t said he could use his name.
Nicky shook his head. He was being an idiot. Of course Paul wanted him to use his name. He would have said something if he didn’t. “I’m Nicholas.”
“Call him Nicky, Dad,” André said as he extracted himself from his other father’s arm.
Paul nodded. “Nicky. Nice to meet you. We’ve heard so much about you.”
Nicky looked at André, wondering what he’d told his parents, and André chuckled. He kissed Nicky’s cheek, making Nicky look around to make sure André’s fathers didn’t have anything to say against that gesture. “I only told them good things, Nicky. Don’t worry.”
André’s other father stepped forward, and Nicky noticed his apron said Kiss the Cook.
André’s father noticed him looking and smiled. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to kiss me. I’ll make do with a handshake.”
Nicky could feel his cheeks heat, but he shook the man’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Gérard.”
André leaned against Nicky’s side. “He’s the one who decided my name, in case you were wondering.”
Gérard crossed his arms on his chest. “André is a perfectly fine name.”
“It is, but you can’t deny it’d be more at home in France than in the States.”
Gérard shook his finger in front of André’s face. “You shouldn’t deny your origins.”
André laughed. “Dad, I was adopted. There’s nothing French in me, except for my name.”
“Shut your mouth.”
“Make me.”
Gérard rolled his eyes. “Lunch is almost ready, so go wash your hands.”
Nicky followed André to the kitchen sink and they both obeyed Gérard’s order. Nicky idly listened to the conversation between fathers and son, not knowing what to say. They were talking about things Nicky already knew—how Dominic was, how life with the pride was. He listened, glad for the reprieve, but as soon as they were sitting around the counter, steaming plates of soup in front of them, Gérard and Paul turned their attention to Nicky.
“So, Nicky?” Gérard asked. “We don’t know much about you. André did say you were incredible and everything, but he didn’t give us details.”
Nicky looked at his bowl. “There’s nothing much to say.”
“Aww, come on. Please. You’re our son-in-law now.”
Nicky realized Gérard was right. Gérard and Paul might not be his parents, but they were the closest thing Nicky had to parents ever since his father had died. He choked on his spoonful of soup, and André had to rub his back for a few minutes before he could speak again.
Paul and Gérard looked worried when Nicky looked up, but when Gérard said, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to trouble you,” Nicky waved his words away.
“It’s fine. I just... I don’t have my parents anymore, so hearing I’m your son-in-law touched me more than I thought it would.”
“I’m sorry,” Gérard said.
“It’s fine. It’s been a while. I’m used to it.”
Thankfully, Paul steered the conversation away from Nicky’s parents. Nicky didn’t think he could have made it through a conversation about what had happened to them and to Brian, so he was glad when the other men started talking about André’s job.
It wasn’t something he could talk about, but they made sure he wasn’t completely excluded, and when André took his hand under the table and smiled at him, Nicky knew he was home.
Chapter Seven
Nysys was waiting for them in the entrance when Aeron shimmered them back to the mansion on Tuesday morning. He was sitting in one of the chairs, his arms crossed on his chest, a stubborn expression on his face.
André rolled his eyes. “Hey, Nys.”
Nicky chuckled by André’s side. “How were the last three days?” he asked.
Nysys scowled at him. “Hell.”
“Aww. You know, that’s how we always are. I mean, us normal people.”
Nysys got up. “In what world would you be considered normal?”
“He meant us non-Nix,” André replied, just in case. Nysys already looked too much on edge. He might be cute, cuddly, and non-violent most of the time, but André had heard about how he’d kicked another council member in the nuts once. He didn’t want to fight with him, and not only because he didn’t want to be kicked in the nuts.
Nysys waved. “I know that. Do you have the key or not? Because I tried to go search your room, but Morin stopped me.”
“Oh my God, you’re just not able to learn, are you?” Nicky asked with a groan.
“I am, I just choose not to.”
“You’re a pain in the ass.”
Nysys smiled slyly. “Not in yours, no.”
Nicky threw his hands in the air. “Fine.” he pushed his hand into his jeans pocket and took out a plastic key. He threw it to Nysys. “There. Can you at least wait until we’re done putting away our things?”
Nysys batted his lashes at Nicky. “Wait for what?”
“I’m not stupid. I know you’re planning revenge. Just leave André out of it, please.”
“I don’t think so. He’s my friend, he should have told me you were planning something.”
“Hey, I had nothing to do with it,” André protested. “Besides, you’re my friend, but he’s my mate. Mate trumps friends. Sorry. You know you’d have done the same.”
Nysys reached behind his neck and after fumbling for a few seconds, the collar snapped open. Nysys took it off and craned his neck to the left, then to the right. “It’s so good to be free again.”
Nicky snorted. “It’s been only three days, not three years.”
“You try to have to stop doing something you’ve been doing since you were born, then you tell me about how hard it was.”
“Fine, whatever.” Nicky held his hand out, obviously wanting the collar back, but Nysys tsked and shook his head. “Do you really think I’m going to give it back to you? You’ll just snap it around my neck again.”
Nicky shrugged. “It was worth a try.”
“Yeah, nice one, but I’m taking this back to Dominic.”
Nysys shimmered away and André looked at Nicky. “How long do you think we have until he starts?”
Nicky hummed. “I’m ready to bet there’s already something in our room.”
André groaned. “Great. That’s the last thing I needed.”
He was tired. Being with his parents had been fun, and he’d loved watching them and Nicky interact. Nicky had been hesitant and reserved at f
irst, but once he’d realized André’s parents weren’t going to try to separate them, he’d relaxed.
André was grateful for his dads. They’d included Nicky in all their conversations but hadn’t pushed when he hadn’t talked much. They’d told him about when André was a kid, but hadn’t asked questions. André knew it would come later, and he hoped Nicky would be ready to face it by then.
Nicky took André’s hand and gently pulled. André looked at him, his heart feeling like it might explode from the amount of emotions he was feeling. It felt so much like love, and it scared André. He wasn’t scared of loving Nicky, but he was scared of how Nicky would react if he told him. Would he close down and try to become his own personal island again? Or was André enough under his skin and in his heart for him to stay open?
“I’m not sure I want to see our room right now,” he said.
“Still scared of what Nysys has done?”
“Yeah.”
Nicky took André’s bag from his shoulder and put it under one of the entrance chairs. He put his own next to it, then pulled André along toward the kitchen.
“Where are we going?” André asked.
“Kitchen.”
The kitchen was surprisingly empty, but André was glad for it when Nicky started stripping down. André’s eyes went wide, and he couldn’t look away. He didn’t want to. He’d seen Nicky naked plenty of times, but never in the mansion’s kitchen.
“What are you doing?”
Nicky turned to look at him, and André had to work to keep his gaze on Nicky’s face. Nicky obviously knew it, because he smirked before turning to fold his clothes. “I’m going to shift.”
“Oh.” André hadn’t had the opportunity to see Nicky in his jaguar form. He knew what kind of shifter Nicky was, of course, but Nicky didn’t shift often. André knew it had to do with what had happened the year before, with the challenge and the period of time after it, but he hadn’t pushed when Nicky hadn’t wanted to talk about it. They had all the time in the world to do that.
Nicky finished piling his clothes on the counter, winked at André, and shifted. Once in his jaguar form, he sat in front of André and looked at him.
André knew Nicky wasn’t dangerous. He’d grown up around shifters bigger than Nicky was at the moment, like Dominic and his lion half. It was still a bit weird, because it was Nicky, the man with whom André had made laughed, the man he’d kissed so many times.
André kneeled in front of Nicky and rubbed the top of his head, smiling when Nicky closed his eyes in delight. André could feel how happy Nicky was. “You like that, huh?”
Nicky turned his head and licked André’s wrist. André grimaced, but Nicky would be able to feel he was playing around. “Okay, eww. I don’t mind it when you lick me in your human form, but this is just weird.”
Nicky head butted André’s hand, then turned to face the window they were standing in front of. André got the hint and reached for the handle, opening the door and letting Nicky walk out before following him and closing it.
He turned on one of the heaters on the porch and huddled next to it while Nicky bounded down the stairs and disappeared between the trees. André stayed right where he was. He was already freezing his ass off as it was, and he didn’t have fur to keep himself warm.
He pushed his hands into his pockets and tried to find Nicky, but he was nowhere to be seen. It made André wonder what he was doing, and how it felt to be an animal. Sometimes he wished he were a shifter. He’d love to share that with Nicky, but he was only human. The only way he could was through the emotions pouring through their bond.
He focused on it, smiling when all he could feel was happiness and giddiness. He’d have to tease Nicky about it later, but really, he was glad. Those weren’t emotions André usually associated with his mate. He knew Nicky was happier now than he’d been over the past year or so, but Nicky wasn’t one to show it. André had to rely on the emotions, and he didn’t mind. He’d known how Nicky was before they mated. Besides, he wasn’t exactly one to talk about feelings either. It was enough that he could feel what he needed to know.
Something crashed through the trees and a yellow and black ball of fur rolled into the empty space in front of the porch. André laughed, and when Nicky untucked himself, he hurried up the stairs, colliding with André’s legs and nearly toppling him down.
André caught himself on the heater, but Nicky actually seemed to want him on the floor, so he lowered himself and sat down. Nicky didn’t lose time—he climbed into André’s lap, his lower half spilling on the floor, his head pressed against André’s stomach. André would never have guessed the jaguar was Nicky if he couldn’t feel it, but he gave in to the urge and reached down to rub Nicky’s stomach.
Nicky rumbled, and André rubbed harder. He knew they should go up to their rooms. They needed to clean up whatever mess Nysys had probably left for them, although André held hope Nysys had been nice, if anything because André had nothing to do with what had happened.
It could wait, though.
About the Author
Catherine lives in Italy, country of good food and hot men. She used to write fantasy as a child, but it was reading her first gay erotic romance novel that made her realize that that was what she really wanted to write.
After graduating from college in English language and translation, she divides her day between writing, reading, taking care of her son and reading some more.
You can find her on Facebook and Twitter or on her website: authorcatherinelievens.wordpress.com
Email: [email protected]
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