“Yep. And my laptop and my porn collection…”
“Cory!” Trey went for horrified, but he knew there was laughter in his eyes. “Is it better than mine?”
“I have no idea.” Cory raised his eyebrows. “Is it?”
He laughed at the teasing, because Cory seemed to have shed his nerves.
A small Ford pickup pulled in, Cory’s mom popping out. “Hey, boys. I brought you tacos and horno bread for the drive.”
“Mom.” Cory went right to her, grabbing her up in a hug. “Hey.”
Trey hung back, giving them some time, some space.
“Hey, baby boy. You’re going to come back for me, right?”
“In two weeks.” Cory looped an arm around her waist, bringing her right to Trey. “We’ll spend a week with Trey’s pack, and we want to take a trip up through Colorado and then come get the rest of the stuff. He says there’s an Airstream trailer until you have a house.”
“Oh, I love those little things. Will I need to buy a window unit?”
“No, ma’am. I have portable swamp coolers for the few times it’s warm.” They were at eighty-five hundred feet. They didn’t need them often.
“Yay! Oh, thank you, Trey. I love the canyon. It’s in my blood. But I’ve always wanted to go and see.”
“Well, you’ll have to talk to Therese. She loves to travel, from day trips to long treks.”
“Oh? Is she, um, closer to my age?” Mom Benally sounded uncertain like Cory had last night.
“She is. Her husband died when he was banished, so she walked away. Her grandchildren visit often.”
“Oh.” Mom B. fluttered. “That’s so sad.”
“She’s happy. She’s safe and home with us. We’re not her mate, but we love her.”
“Of course.” Mrs. B reached out to touch his arm. “I didn’t say she wasn’t happy.”
“I just… I hate how they come to me broken and sad.” He worked hard to make them happy again.
“You’ve helped all of us.” Miguel came over as if drawn by his sorrow. “I need to go, Trey, or I won’t.”
He looked at his best friend. “Maybe River will come out when Cory and I go to Colorado.”
“I would like that.” Miguel glanced at River, who stood to one side, stony faced. “He’s a little mad.”
“He’ll get over it,” Cory said. “Don’t worry, man.”
Miguel looked teary. “I—How did you do it, Wulf?”
Trey shrugged. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“Oh, pobrecito.” Mom B. grabbed Miguel in a hug. “You’ll see him soon.”
“Yeah. And we can FaceTime and Skype.” Miguel glared at River. “I loaded it on your phone.”
“If I’m not busy, I’ll see.”
“Right. I’m leaving. Boss, I’ll call so we can stop for lunch.”
“Okay, honey. We’re right behind you.” Goddess, this sucked.
Miguel flounced to the Mustang and burned out seconds later.
Cory turned to River. “Don’t be a dick. Answer when he calls. Call him and apologize. You’ll fucking regret it if you don’t.”
“He’s the one leaving. Like this is nothing!”
“River.” Cory snapped it out, and River jumped. “He was bawling his eyes out. You both have responsibilities and until you figure things out, you’ll have to see each other when you can. Don’t fuck it up.”
They all stared, Trey admiringly. That was his mate.
He almost sprung wood.
Almost.
“I’m not going to take your fuckbuddy and your mate away, River.”
River growled. “I have to go see if Stephen needs anything.” He stomped off, but they heard him mutter, “I’ll freaking call.”
Can we go? Please, mate? He was so ready to just drive.
“Son, it’s time for you to go. I’ll pack our houses while you’re gone.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Cory kissed her cheek. “River can have the house if he wants it. You know what’s important.” Then he held out a hand, which Trey took gratefully. “Let’s hit it.”
“Yes. Okay. Goodbye, ma’am. We’ll be back.”
“Be safe, you two.” She waved them off, and they headed to Cory’s truck.
“You okay?” Cory asked.
“Yes. Yes, it’s hard. This part is hard. I just want to go.” This part still hurt.
“Well, we’re on our way.” In fact, they were out of the canyon less than twenty minutes. “So, what did you miss from home the most this week?”
“My hot tub. No, my bed. Or wait, my coffee maker…”
“Oh, yeah. You know what I want?”
“A chocolate croissant?”
Cory chuckled. “A sausage biscuit. From McDonald’s.”
“Oh, we’ll stop at our first McD’s and buy a dozen.”
“Okay.” Cory reached over to pat his leg.
He felt himself relaxing as they drove, a tension he hadn’t known he had lifting from him.
They were going home.
Tears prickled his eyes and he leaned back, telling himself to chill out.
“Shh. You did great, baby. You did.”
“I’m fine. Just resting.”
“Cool. Just sleep, if you want. I know the wedding was stressful.”
“I didn’t know who I was.” He wasn’t even sure what that meant.
“I get that. I’m not sure who I’ll be.”
They sounded ridiculous, but he understood.
“It’s changed everything, us being together.” Neither of them knew how to be a couple, how to be mates.
“It has. I love you, though, and we’ll figure it out.” Cory glanced sideways at him. “Yeah?”
“Yes.” Because the alternative sucked. “We’ll have to.”
“We will.” Cory laughed. “We can have lots of sex.”
“Oh, are you still interested?” he teased. “I mean, the thrill might be gone.”
“Not. Even. Close.”
Something about Cory’s tone told him they could stop right now and have at it if Miguel wasn’t expecting to meet them. Which he should tell Miguel to stop at McDonald’s.
Or maybe they could just drive through and meet at a decent restaurant for lunch…
“You know I can eat a biscuit or three and still eat lunch.”
“I know. It’s so odd and wonderful, the way we hear each other. I thought I’d feel…invaded, but I don’t.”
“I love it. I feel like something was missing all this time and now I have it.”
“We have it.” Even though it had taken him a lot longer to figure it out.
“Yeah.” Cory laughed. “Woot.”
“Hey!”
“What?” Cory dared a quick glance. “You’re ahead of me in everything. Let me have that.”
“I am?” He blinked. Trey sure didn’t feel like it, but he guessed Cory would feel that way.
“You have a house, a business, a pack. I was a sheriff.”
Oh, ouch.
“That’s an important place in the Canyon Pack, Cory.” He knew it was. Order was so very necessary to them.
“I know, but I’m not in that pack anymore. I’m in yours.”
“You are.” He covered his mate’s hand with his own. “We have a place for you. I know it.”
“How do you know?”
“Because we’re mates. Because we were lost so long, lost so much time, we deserve this!” Trey was tired of paying and paying.
Cory was silent a long moment, then he nodded once, sharply. “Okay. I keep trying not to get all wigged out, baby. I swear.”
“Me too. I know this is scary, but I’m here with you, I’ll take care of you.”
“Thank you.” That little smile was self-deprecating, but he knew Cory meant it.
“Always.” He would fight to the death for his lover. Even against his lover’s demons, if need be.
“I feel like singing. Do you want some music?” Cory had always loved classic rock.
/> “Of course. Find something for us, mate. Something with harmony.”
Cory found the Eagles on a classic station, and they sang all the way to the first little town with a McDonalds. Cory seemed so tickled about such a small thing.
“I want a large Dr Pepper too, please.” Trey handed over a twenty.
“You got it, baby.” Cory ordered a very subdued three biscuits, a Coke and the Dr Pepper.
“Ah, the smell of fast food heaven.” He wrinkled his nose at the scent of fake beef fat.
“I know. It’s like crack, but it’s been so long.” Cory grabbed the bag and the drinks, then pulled back on the highway.
“It is like crack. These especially. Of course, you have about a half hour drive to find these from the packland, but someone’s always willing to go.” Trey handed Cory a biscuit. “Is one mine?”
“Yep. We can split the other one of you want.”
“You can have it. I don’t need the calories.” Trey fought his grin for all he was worth. “Unless you intend to work it off me.”
“I do. I mean, I know your pack will want to see you, but tonight we can break in your bed, right?” Cory munched happily, but the words were serious for all that.
“I will quite possibly die if we are not naked in our bed tonight, mate.” He was only mostly joking.
“Nope. No dying. So, I will just have to love you alive.” Cory tossed a wrapper into the bag in his lap. “Eat a little, baby, even if you’d rather have Mom’s horno bread.”
“I like bread. She’s going to love it at home.” He hoped so; that would give Cory a purpose.
“I bet. Would she cook in your kitchen? She really means to work for everyone.” Cory didn’t roll his eyes, but he did kind of tsk a little. “But she loves it, so it will be good for her to have someone to feed that’s not just me.”
“So, the land used to be owned by a church. There’s a big central building away from the road with a kitchen, seating, sewing machines, computers, all those things. She can cook there. We have my house, then the pool, the other houses, and the big building—we call it the box.”
“Sewing machines too? Oh, Lord, I need to text her and tell her to pack all her fabric. We’ll all have new quilts by Christmas.”
“I’m a designer and I do custom work. There are always sewing machines. Always.” Quilts. That sounded lovely.
“Oh, right.” Cory shook his head. “I forgot! How weird is that? I feel like a doof.”
“No, you have no reason to know what goes on in my sweatshop. I mean workroom.”
That had Cory laughing his ass off, so much that he had to have a drink of Coke.
“Just wait. I’ll put you to work in no time.”
“I can hand sew, believe it or not. Mom has me put most of her quilt bindings on for her.”
Now, that he didn’t know. They had so much to learn about each other.
Trey let Cory have the other biscuits, opening a loaf of fragrant oven bread instead and buttering a piece from the plastic tub Mrs. B had sent.
It was the strangest sensation—the world suddenly was old and new, all at once.
“Can you feel it too?”
“I can, baby. It’s all open.” Cory’s hand was a little greasy, but it didn’t matter.
Trey wanted to hold on anyway.
19
Cory’s hands were sweaty as hell on the steering wheel, and he wasn’t sure he could let go.
They were at Trey’s pack. At his ranch, which was super defensible and well-fenced. Cory approved.
From the gate, you couldn’t even see the packland, but once you cleared this huge rise, there it was—this lovely, serene-looking compound.
He drove up to this huge adobe two-story place, with roses and prickly pear, ocatilla and cholla growing everywhere. It said two things—one, this is a beautiful place, and two, don’t fuck with me.
Sounded like his Trey.
“Okay, tell me to get out of the truck, baby. I’m just being a dork.”
“Come on. Let’s go inside, have a beer. It’s a house, love. Just a house.” Trey winked at him and hopped out of the truck.
That wink gave him the incentive to follow. Well, that and a beer. He loved the sound of that. Trey had surprisingly good taste in the stuff.
The bottom floor was open and bright, the whole space remarkably not designed and fancy. This was a home, no question, with comfy sofas and happy splashes of color.
He would add to it, and he was actually excited now. A few of Lydia Begay’s woven rugs. A few pieces of his Spanish Colonial furniture…
He could fit in this space.
Cory was a little light-headed, the realization. The worry he had about this leaving him with a poof.
Trey grabbed two beers out of the fridge and popped the tops. “Do you want the tour?”
“I so do.” He wanted to see it all, his curiosity raging now.
“The powder room is under the stairs. We have a big open area to visit, entertain, There’s a mud room, a pantry, all the good things.”
“I like food.” He was stuffed, since they’d stopped at a Mexican place with Miguel, but he was happy to see a big pantry. His Mom would be over the moon. “I like the vigas.”
“Thank you. I love them. I love hiding new bits in. There’s a guest suite down here. I’ve never had guests, but there’s a bed and a full bath. Then upstairs there’s our room, two more bedrooms, and the balcony.” Trey beamed like a kid on Christmas morning. “I love the balcony.”
He held out a hand. “Show me. I want to see the view.”
“Come up. The laundry’s upstairs, too, and the master bath.” Trey grabbed him and hauled him up to a landing filled with books and two armchairs. “Laundry and empty rooms are to your right. Paradise to your left.”
“That sounds more than promising.” Hell, he liked the reading nook.
“Yeah.” Trey opened the purple door and the scent of his mate almost knocked Cory to his knees. Trey was everywhere, from the huge bed to the Spanish Colonial dresser and chest of drawers. The wall was glass, leading out to a vast balcony that faced the mountains. The balcony was big enough for four loungers, a table, a few dog beds.
Christ, that was amazing. “Oh, baby. Look at that.”
“I spend a lot of time up here, soaking in the sun. Come look over the edge, you can see everything.”
Cory moved to the edge of the balcony. Years of canyon living meant he had no vertigo looking out. “Wow.”
There were little houses, the Air Streams, a gorgeous pool, the big building with—whoa. “Trey, look at that.”
Someone had painted a heart with C&W on the roof.
“Josh. Possibly with Quinn’s help. Welcome home.”
Cory felt a huge wave of emotion well up his chest, “Thank you. This is wonderful.”
“It’s ours.” Trey clinked their bottles together. “So, feel a little better?”
“I do. I didn’t know what to expect, and I didn’t think you would be all hard to live with, but this… I can live here, baby.” Maybe even thrive there.
“Oh cool.” Trey came to him, kissed him good and hard enough he lost his breath.
He grabbed Trey, holding him close. Yum.
He let out a deep breath, the tension he’d been holding dissipating. When Trey was touching him, he felt invincible. Capable of anything.
“What do you want to do? We can laze out here? Explore? Unpack the truck?”
“Well, I don’t see any rain in our future. Can we hang out up here for a bit?” Then he would be ready to explore.
“As long as we want.” Trey pulled two loungers together and plopped down in the shade. “The bathroom is through the bedroom, if you need it.”
“Oh, now I have to go look. Be right back.” Had he missed the hot tub?
The bathroom was…decadent. Rain shower, garden tub with jets, huge vanity, a toilet and a bidet, a goddamn massage table—it was sensual and sexual and huge.
This was g
oing to be fun. He liked to think maybe Trey had him in mind when he designed it. Cory knew that was bullshit, but the idea made him smile.
He washed off his face, then went back to his mate and his beer.
“We’ll go down to the hot tub tonight and soak our bones.”
“Yeah? Cool. You talked it up good.” He settled his bones, creaking a little.
“I love it. It’s got a privacy fence.” Trey stripped off his shoes and socks, his shirt. “Mmm…I like this.”
“It’s warm but shady, comfy.” He did the same, getting comfy.
“Yes. I love the sky. It looks endless from here.”
“It does. The mountains make my soul happy, Trey. Really.”
“Good.” Trey reached out and held his hand.
They sat there for a long time, just breathing together like they’d been doing it their entire lives. Soon he would have to go meet these amazing people who would get on a roof to paint him into their world, but for now, he and Trey could be together without the old pack watching.
20
They managed to get about two loads before people started coming to see the new guy.
Quinn came first, the man wandering over, his long red hair blowing in the wind. “Wulf! You’re home!”
“I am. I brought my mate. Come meet Cory.” He hugged his friend, careful not to overbalance him on his prosthetic.
“Cory, pleased to meet you.” Quinn held out a hand, which Cory shook easily.
“Good to meet you, too.”
“Do you need help? I’m decent at carrying shit.”
He half expected Cory to worry about Quinn, but he never batted an eye. “Those bags all need to go to the kitchen.”
“I can do—”
“Dude, no fair! You met the new guy first!” Josh came running up, covered in paint.
“Did not. Miguel met him first. You were lost in la-la land.”
“I was painting, butthead.” Josh swatted Quinn’s ass.
“Boys,” Trey muttered, but Quinn decked Josh and Josh took the fake leg out from under Quinn and—
“Enough.” The single word from Cory was filled with command and both young men stopped short.
In Wulf’s Clothing Page 18
