by J. D. Light
Foster was sitting beside me with his arm stretched over the back of the couch, his thigh pushed up tight to mine and occasionally reaching over and running the backs of his fingers over my arm.
"Okay, Rids. It's time to head home," Flynn said, standing with Ridley in his arms. "I wish you would just quit the diner. But since you insist on working until you start showing, then you at least need extra rest."
Ridley made a face. "True. I've never been so tired in my entire life."
"We better leave too, Bennett said, rising out of Thompsyn's lap and reaching a hand out to pull the giant man up from the chair they'd been sitting in.
How the thing didn't break under their combined weight, I had no idea. They were both pretty good-sized guys. Especially Thompsyn.
After goodbyes were exchanged and the door was closed right in Bennett's face by a snarling Foster when the man again offered to show me around to all the single, male leap members, I shook my head.
"I keep tryin' to imagine what Bennett is gonna look like pregnant. Hell, I'm trying to imagine Ridley pregnant. It all seems so bizarre."
Three sets of eyes turned on me and I knew immediately I was missing something, because they were all wearing the same mirth filled expressions.
"Bennett isn't the chosen," Sutton said, giggling. "Thompsyn is."
"You. Have. Got to be kiddin' me." I knew my mouth was hanging open unattractively. "That giant of a man is gonna get pregnant?"
I was pretty close to squeaking at that point. But seriously, the man was every bit of 6'7"-6'8". And built not unlike a wall.
"Why is it that you people keep managing' to shock me? One would think findin' out about shifters, and the fact that I'm the future mate of one that will possibly live forever, and be able to have children, really should be about as shockin' as it gets. But trying to imagine that man with a baby bump makes my entire brain ache." I thought about my words for a moment. "Not that he won't probably be adorable. In a giant with a bun in the oven type of way."
I frowned, wondering if I was being completely insulting. Hard to tell, really. Who the hell knew the proper way to act and react to a pregnant male, giant or not?
"I'm glad you're finally getting a little more comfortable around Flynn, Foster. You used to be so damn uptight." Ronny laughed, shaking his head. "Sir this, and sir that. I was starting to worry you were trying to steal my position."
A smirking foster was a sexy thing to behold. Get it together, Burke!
"No way." Foster said, shaking his head. "Too much Bennett for me." Shrug. "I just really respect him. My alpha was a terrible man. Flynn seems like the exact opposite of that. He doesn't command with fear. He doesn't use weapons and torture to get you to do what he wants. It's just nice to see."
I blinked at him, trying not to picture Foster, with all his snark and assertiveness, being under the thumb––and apparently whip––of a man like that.
"So," Sutton said, thankfully saving me from doing something humiliating, like crying in front of everyone. "You're old as fuck, huh?"
Foster smirked, drawing my attention to his delicious looking mouth for the seventy-fourth time that night. "Maybe a little older."
"Were you in the Revolutionary War?" The question just slipped out of my mouth, but once out, everyone turned to Foster like they were really curious about the answer.
"No. Not in the sense that I was fighting for anything. My skulk…Let's just say they were opportunists. They had deals going with just about every nation. Selling secrets, basically. Whoever paid the highest got the information they wanted." With every word out of his mouth, Foster sounded angrier.
"My skulk was mostly family. They were all bad. And I spent far too long trying to change them from the inside. The final straw was about twenty years ago, when I found out my alpha––my father––was working as a go between for human trafficking."
Taking a deep breath, Foster looked me straight in the eye. "I killed him without hesitation that night while he slept. And then I ran."
I knew my mouth was hanging open, but it wasn't from disgust. It was surprise of course, and awe. This man had killed a very, very bad man. But it had been his father. I couldn't stand either of my parents, because of what they did to Sutton, and how they tried to keep me away from him. But I didn't know if I'd ever have had the strength to kill them. Even if they were doing something that despicable.
Why couldn't he be mine? I would give anything to be the man he came home to.
Clearing his throat, my brother got everyone's attention. "What's a skulk?" Sutton looked adorable with that scrunched up look on his face.
That broke the tension.
"A fox pack," I said, smirking at Foster who just rolled his eyes at me.
"A group of foxes is a skulk."
"That sounds so…creepin' around." Sutton looked disgruntled.
"Well, Foster does tend to skulk around. No wonder you can FBI so well." I laughed when Foster flipped me off.
"I'm leaving. NBB is getting mean, and I have a meeting with my boss. He says he has something on that pride in Kansas."
I frowned at that, for some reason worried I'd actually hurt Foster's feelings. "Are you leavin' town? Where do you have to meet him?"
Smirking, because he was a cocky punk, Foster moved closer, stopping right in front of me. "Are you worried I might not come back, baby?" He leaned his face in, putting it within inches of mine.
"Uh. N-no." I shook my head, hard, unable to come up with something snarky at the moment. "Uh uh. Nope."
Still smirking, Foster spoke almost against my lips. "Don't worry, NBB. It's a video meeting. I'll be here bright and early in the morning to watch you trip through the kitchen and make love to your coffee." And then he pulled back, looking entirely too proud of himself as he walked toward the door.
He was already through it with the damn thing shut, before I could even reply. "I wasn't worried!"
Ronny and my brother just stood there, looking stupid, while trying not to smile.
Groaning, I spun and stomped toward the stairs. "Shut up! I wasn't worried." Then I threw a hand in the air just as I took the first step. "I'm goin' back to Georgia!"
The assholes didn't even wait until I was behind the closed door to start laughing at me.
***
I really needed to finish this paper, and email it to my professor, but all I could think about was fucking Foster. Well, not fucking Foster. I was pretty sure I wanted him to fuck me. Had for entirely too long.
And now that I knew what he looked like naked and aroused, I also knew that I needed a bigger dildo.
Off topic.
The knock on my door interrupted my pacing. I thought Sutton and Ronny had gone back to Ronny's for the night.
For a split second, I worried Grady had found me, but then I realized the crazed shifter wouldn't knock, he'd come right in.
"Yeah?" I asked, still wanting to know who was on the other side of the door before I unlocked the thing.
I know it was my brother's house and I was probably safer smack dab in the middle of a leap of leopards than anywhere else, but I didn't feel safe unless the thing was locked. It was a ridiculous precaution, especially given just what was stalking me, but I couldn't help myself.
"It's Sutt. Can ya let me in?"
"Sure." Unlocking and then opening the door, I stepped aside and let Sutton into his own bedroom. "What's up Sutt?"
"I just wanted to check on ya. I know ya said you are okay over and over, but it's a lot to take in. And you've been actin' down still. Are you worried about Grady comin' here and gettin' ya?"
Shaking my head, I plopped down on the edge of the bed. "Not as much as you'd think. I have moments of worry, but honestly, I've kinda forgotten about 'im"
"So, what's goin' on then?"
Biting my lip, I wondered if I had the balls to confess what had been on my mind the last three days. Taking a deep breath, I said, "Foster." It came out a whisper and I had to clear my throat.
"I kinda thought…by what you described…but he never…and now I'm kinda worried."
"Slow down. What about Foster?"
"You told me when I find my mate, I'd be drawn to 'im. I wouldn't want to be separated from 'im." Sighing, because this was really hard to admit, I rolled my eyes. "I've been drawn to and obsessed with Foster since that first time I saw 'im when you called for my eighteenth birthday, and he was there.
"I was so damn jealous because I thought he was your boyfriend. And then the next time I talked to you and you told me he was just your best friend and that there was absolutely nothin' between you, I was so damn relieved.
"When you told me about the mate thing, I thought, that must be it. All this time I've thought I was pointlessly obsessed with some guy I hadn't even met, but there were other forces at play." I frowned looking down, feeling lost and hurt. "But, I don't think he feels the same."
I felt my throat getting tight and I tried to hold my breath so I wouldn't cry, but a tear slipped out anyway.
"Oh Burke," Sutton whispered, right before he threw his arms around me. "Fucking Foster."
I giggled through my tears, but that broke the damn I was using to hold my emotions at bay. I sobbed into my brother's pressed button down.
"You need to call 'im. If I give you his number, will you call 'im?"
Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself down enough to hiccup through a sentence. "Wh-what do I s-say? 'I wish I w-was your m-mate. But I'm n-not?' What would b-be the purpose?"
Sighing, Sutton hugged me tighter and then pressed a quick kiss to the side of my head. "It's going to be fine, B. I promise. It will all work out."
Nodding, because I didn't have the strength to argue, I didn't fight it when Sutton pushed me down onto the bed and covered me with a blanket. Kissing me one last time, he headed to the door.
"Would you l-lock it, Sutt?"
"Yeah, B. I'll lock it," he whispered as I fell asleep.
Chapter Four
"What do you mean you can't find him," I demanded, glaring at my superior. "Like at all, or like not at the moment?"
"There is no information on a Grady White before December 5, 2017. Nothing. And when we went to check the residence he was renting under that name, the landlord said the man had come home a few days ago with red, swollen eyes and screamed at her to leave him the fuck alone and then packed a bag and hasn't been back since.
"I got a picture from his student ID that was in the system and we are going to run it through facial recognition. We also got a sample of DNA from one of his cups in the sink. We'll run that too. But until we know who he is, or unless he uses the name Grady White again, we have no way of tracking him."
Running my hand through my hair, I had a thought. "You keep working on your end. I might have something here. What about the Pride in Kansas?"
Agent Kinsey Walk sighed, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and index finger. "Gone. All but three bodies accounted for. I'm betting they're the Kool-Aid drinkers. We've got people all over searching every crap-hole from here to New Mexico. Nothing yet."
"Okay. Besides the three that were killed in the flower shop, the other day, there are two members unaccounted for in the leap, and coincidentally, the offerings have stopped. We aren't sure if the missing two are connected, or not. But a day ago, a man with an eye patch matching the description Sutton gave of the forth guy at his shop that night, showed up at a hotel two towns over. The owner of the hotel is a bat shifter who is long time friends with the Alpha's tech man."
"Send me the information and I'll send someone over. What kind of idea do you have that you're not disclosing to find this Grady guy?"
Snarling, I curled my lip. "A stupid one. I'm about to ask a really annoying leopard and his mate for a favor. If I weren't so desperate to keep my mate safe, I'd rather lose an arm than be indebted to Bennett James."
"Whatever it is you do, Foster, it's worth having your mate. Especially for such an old man." Kinsey snickered and I hung up on him.
Shooting a quick text to Bennett, asking him and Thompsyn to meet me at his mom's diner in the morning, I shut everything down in my hotel room and started to get ready for bed. It was already almost four in the morning and I'd asked them to meet me at eight. That didn't leave much time for sleeping.
Just as I got naked and comfortable under the blankets, my phone buzzed with a text.
Sutton: You're an idiot! Your mate needs you. RIGHT NOW!
Me: What's going on?!
I was already up and sliding back into my clothes before I even hit send. I was grabbing my keys and opening the door when it buzzed again.
Sutton: I think you broke his heart.
I froze with my hand on the door handle to my rented SUV. My heart clenching and my breaths coming a little too fast to be normal.
Shit! Was my mate really hurting? But how? He didn't know we were mates. Did he? Did he think I rejected him?
Finally getting myself going again and ignoring the pain in my chest, I jumped in my car and raced at a definitely unsafe speed to Sutton's house, pulling up in the yard and throwing it in park, too harried to worry about how pissed Sutton was going to be in the morning once he saw the tracks in his yard.
The front door was locked, but come on. I'm an FBI agent and a former thief. There wasn't a lock I couldn't pick. It took less than ten seconds to pick the lock and go inside. I locked the door back and practically sprinted up the stairs, following the scent of my mate to Sutton's bedroom.
Well, truthfully, it wasn't really his room anymore since he'd already moved quite a bit of stuff over to Ronny's. I took a moment to wonder if Burke would want to buy this house with me once we mated, while I picked the lock on the bedroom door as well.
Considerably easier, and not really made for protection, the door was opened quickly, and I was walking into the darkened room, my eyes adjusting almost immediately.
My mate, whom I had adored from afar for over three years, was curled in on himself in the middle of the bed. The comforter was tucked carefully around his shoulders, telling me Sutton had been the one to do it, and his face was red and puffy like he'd been crying.
Was Sutton right? Had I done this to my mate?
Reaching out, I brushed the strands of gold away from his beautiful face and leaned down to kiss his forehead. He smiled slightly in his sleep, making me melt.
"Burke," I said softly, gently shaking his shoulder. "Wake up, baby. I need to talk to you."
"Foster?" He opened his eyes and then squinted in my direction.
I wasn't sure if it was because it was so dark in her, or the fact that he didn't have his glasses on, but it was obvious he couldn't see me. Leaning sideways, I clicked on the lamp and grabbed his glasses before sliding them on his face.
"Hi, baby."
Blinking at me in confusion for a moment, he asked, "What are ya doin' here?" And then his eyes widened and he jerked to a sitting position, almost busting my nose with his head. "Is everythin' okay? Is it Sutton?"
"No, baby. Everything is okay." I grabbed his face in my hands and stared down into his beautiful blue eyes.
"Then what are ya doin' here?" Narrowing his eyes, even as I rubbed my thumbs across his cheeks, he asked, "Did you break into Sutton's house?"
I smirked. "And parked on the lawn."
"Sutton's gonna kill ya."
I shrugged. "He might let it slide."
"I doubt it."
"I needed to see you, baby." I nuzzled my nose with his and couldn't help but chuckle when he looked at me like I'd lost my mind.
Frowning, Burke reached up and latched on to my forearms. "Why do ya keep calling me baby? Why do ya touch me like I belong to ya? That first night you came over, after Sutton explained what a mate was, I thought ya might be mine. But you're not, are ya?"
I opened my mouth to answer, but stopped, completely horrified to watch a tear and then two roll down his beautiful face. "Burke," I whispered, broken. "Please don't cry. You are my mate. Of course you ar
e. I haven't touched another being romantically or sexually since the day you told me to stop creeping around your brothers room like I belonged in some kind of vampire movie that very first time I interrupted your video call."
Somehow, I made it worse. A sob escaped my mate and more tears fell. "Are you rejecting me, then? Is that why you haven't said anything? Do you now want me, Fos?"
"No, no, no, no, no. Please, baby. Of course I want you." I gathered him in my arms, tears building in my eyes. "I was trying to give you time to adjust to our world. And I wanted you to like me for me first, before you found out we were mates and felt obligated to be with me."
My mate smacked me in the back, hard. I let go and leaned back, shocked.
"I know we just met in person a few days ago, but what about any of our interactions, led ya to believe I'd sell either of us short and mate ya just because we were mates and everyone said we needed to?"
I opened my mouth to answer, but Burke shocked me again.
"Shut up. It was a rhetorical question." He jerkily wiped the tears from his eyes and glared at me. "I don't need to be hearin' whatever stupid answer is about to come out of your stupid mouth."
"Burke." It was supposed to come out a warning, but instead it sounded more like a whine. I sure hope Bennett never heard about this.
"I'm so mad at you, right now. I can't believe I cried! Why do I keep fucking crying?"
I couldn't help but grin at how worked up he was getting. When he looked at me and saw it, he opened his mouth to lay into me again, but I stopped whatever insult was next to fly out of his mouth, with mine.
Maybe someone should have warned me. I know someone somewhere had mentioned the effect a mate's taste had on a shifter, but I felt like whatever explanation had been given, wasn't good enough.
He was absolutely delicious, and I went from half-mast, where I had been since I walked in the house and smelled his glorious scent, to nearly busting out of my jeans in seconds.
When he moaned into my mouth, I wondered if I could come, just from tasting his mouth and the snug fit of my jeans.
