by Mary Calmes
“Drink this,” I said after I gently set him on the closed toilet lid and handed him the bottle of water I’d had ready and waiting on the counter. “By the way,” I said as I stepped over to the tub. “It turned out it was a good thing you left me in here, because from the look of this place, I got the sense you’d abandoned housekeeping in favor of frat life.” I started the water and then turned around to face him.
“What does that mea—”
His jaw dropped and words stopped coming out when I reached over my shoulder and stripped off my shirt. “It means there were beer cans everywhere—on your pretty tables and your wood floor, next to your bed, on your back porch.” I shoved my sweats down, leaving myself as naked as him. “I even found a couple of cans in here.”
“I’m allowed to, uh—” He darted his gaze from my groin to my face and back again. “I’m twenty-eight.” He licked his lips. “I’m old enough to drink.”
I walked over, lifted the hand holding his bottle to his mouth, and waited until he started drinking before I responded.
“Yup. You’re old enough to drink. You’re old enough to leave dirty laundry everywhere. You’re old enough to ride a motorcycle without a helmet. You’re old enough to go on to jobsites when you’re sleep deprived and careless. You’re even old enough to put yourself and whoever is counting on you in a dangerous situation by refusing to admit you’re too tired and stressed to be in the middle of a fire, but—”
“Now wait a minute!” He slammed the empty bottle on the counter and tried to stand up but his legs were too weak, so he flopped back down on the toilet lid. “Who do you think you are? You’re not my mate. You can’t—”
“Let me tell you something about myself, Vy.” I tangled my fingers in the back of his hair and tugged until he was forced to lift his chin and look up at me. “I have never in my entire life wanted to spend more time with a guy than however long it takes to get off once. Twice if he’s really good.”
His eyes burned with anger, and his nostrils flared. I hoped it was because I’d mentioned the men in my past, but I couldn’t be sure.
“I’ve never let someone yell at me the way you do or dismiss me the way you do or ignore me the way you do,” I said.
He lowered his gaze, and I released my hold on his hair, rubbing the back of his head instead.
“I’ve never broken into someone’s house so I could clean it for him,” I said more quietly. Hunching down, I wrapped my arm around his waist and pulled him to his feet. “I’ve never had trouble sleeping because all I want is to be with one guy and I’m terrified I can never be good enough to earn that privilege.”
“Robert, no.” He jerked his gaze up to meet mine. “That’s not….” He shook his head and bit his lip, letting the words trail off.
“Yeah, it is.” I lifted the toilet lid and seat, turned him so he was in front of it, and stood behind him as I circled one arm around his waist and the other around his hip.
When I gripped his dick, he gasped. “What are you doing?”
“I figured you’d need to take a leak after your long drive. Better here than in the shower.” I stayed still and kept him steady by pulling his lean, sinewy body against my larger one. Holding his penis in my hand, I aimed it at the open bowl. “Go on. I have you.”
After a moment, I felt him relax against me and the stream started. I held on to him until he was done, shook him off, and then kissed the side of his neck as I bent around him to flush.
“Let’s get you cleaned up.” I led him to the shower and climbed in after him.
“What’re you doing?”
He was asking me that an awful lot. “I’m washing you.”
“I can take a shower by myself. I’ve been doing it a long time. I’m—”
“Yes, I know.” I moved him under the water and watched as black grime slushed off his body. “You’re twenty-eight years old.” I picked up the shampoo, tugged him forward, and started lathering his hair. “You’re the kuar of your ket.”
“Yeah. I….” He nodded. “Yeah.”
It was easier to talk to him when he was way past of the point of tired. He argued less and gave me a chance to get in a word every so often. I tipped his chin up so his hair was under the water and rinsed the shampoo off.
“Vy?” When he met my gaze, I took a deep breath and started talking. “From the moment I met you, I wanted to be with you.” I moved him forward, out from under the spray. “And when I spent more time with you, got to know you—” I shivered. “I think you’re amazing. Smart. Talented. Tough. Passionate. That’s how I feel about you.” I took the soap in my hand and ran it over his body. “And I’m getting really tired of having that dismissed like it doesn’t mean anything, because it means a hell of a lot to me.” Once I had his neck, arms, chest, and back lathered, I dropped down and washed his legs. “I’m sure if you felt like this, you’d understand, but until that happens, you’ll need to take my word for it.”
“You have no idea what I feel,” he snapped, sounding sad and angry. It was unfortunate that I found the tone familiar. “You’re my mate. I knew it before I even met you. Just your scent in the hardware store was enough to make me crazy with want”—he rubbed his palms over his eyes—“and you have no clue!”
“Before you met me, huh?” I stood up.
He nodded.
“So you didn’t know me.”
“You’re my mate. I didn’t need to know you.”
Which was the whole problem, but I wasn’t giving up.
“I could have been anyone, Vy. Don’t you get that?” I circled one hand around his hip and gently coaxed my fingers into his crack, cleaning him tenderly. At the same time, I caressed his balls and cock with my other hand.
He made a gurgling sound, and his breath came out faster. I kissed his forehead, his temple, his cheek, his jaw.
“You didn’t see me across a crowded room and think, ‘Hey, that guy’s hot.’ You didn’t meet me and think, ‘That guy’s nice.’ We didn’t have a conversation that had you thinking, ‘Robert sure is smart.’ There was nothing about me that you chose.” I met his gaze. “Even you letting me be here right now, letting me touch you like this.” I pushed the tip of my finger into his hole and slowly stroked his hot, silky skin. “It has nothing to do with me. It’s my pheromones you trust, my pheromones you want.” Once I was sure he was clean, I moved him under the shower spray.
“You don’t understand,” he said yet again. “It’s not pheromones. You’re my mate. If you shifted, you’d get that.”
The conversation was so much harder than I thought it should be. Then again, a lot of things about Vy were hard. The man was not easy, and if I were being honest, I’d have to admit that I liked that about him. I reconsidered my approach as I turned off the water.
“How about this?” I suggested. “You explain it to me.”
“Explain what?”
I helped him out of the tub and then picked up one of the towels and began drying him off. “Explain what you mean by mates.”
“You can’t explain mates,” he huffed.
“No?” Once he was dry, I quickly ran the towel over my own body.
“Of course not. Mates are—” He took a deep breath. “Mates are innate, they’re instinctive. A mate is the one person out there fated just for you.”
“Fate, huh?” I lifted him into my arms and smiled when he cuddled close instead of complaining again.
“Yes,” he said, like he had explained everything.
“Doesn’t that bother you?” I asked as I walked us into the bedroom.
“Doesn’t what bother me?”
I set him onto the freshly washed sheets. “Well, from what you’re telling me, you could get stuck with someone you don’t want, or don’t find attractive, or don’t even like very much, just because of some instinct or urge.”
For the first time since he realized I had no idea we were mates, I saw an inkling of understanding in his eyes.
“It’s fate,” h
e said quietly. “Destiny.”
“Fate,” I repeated as I crawled in bed next to him. “Destiny. What does that even mean?”
He blinked rapidly, looking shaken. Not knowing if it was because he finally understood where I was coming from or if it was because he was too tired to think, let alone have that conversation, I decided to wind down the talking so he could get some sleep.
“What I’m trying to say is, it’s your whole life, right?” I tugged him close, pulled the blanket over us, and rubbed his back gently. “It seems to me you’d want to spend it with someone who adores you, someone who’ll take care of you, someone who’ll consider what you want and what you need and do everything he can to give it to you.”
For a man who normally wielded words like a weapon, Vy was awfully quiet. He’d put his head on my chest, his hand on my stomach, and curled his leg around my thigh. Close, touchy, and quiet. I didn’t know whether I should be worried or grateful.
I kissed the top of his head and said, “In my experience, fate can be a cruel bitch. You can believe whatever you want, Vy, but take it easy on me with the constant attacks and accusations and dismissals, okay?” I caressed his ass, feeling a thrill shoot through me when he pressed into my touch. “I know I’m a bear, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have feelings.”
“Robert, I never—” He lifted his head, met my gaze, and shook his head regretfully. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
“I know.” I sighed. “But you did.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“You’re forgiven.” I cupped his chin, held it still, and stretched my neck until our lips met. “Let’s leave the past in the past and focus on where we go from here.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
I cupped his cheek, rubbed my thumb over his plump lip, and looked at his handsome face. Being in his home, in his bed, and having him actually listen to me instead of ignore me or talk at me was more than I thought I’d have during the nights I’d spent parked in front of his house. I wanted to hold on to it with an almost debilitating desperation.
“I’ve spent my entire life telling fate to take a hike,” I said. “I try hard every day to be the man I want to be, not the one destiny had in store for me. All I’m asking for is a chance to see if maybe you can like that man.” I bussed my lips over his. “How about we get a good night’s sleep, and then I’ll make you breakfast, and we can see if you’re willing to give a chance to a man who wants to be with you because of who you are—not because of fate, not because of destiny, but because you’re special.” I swallowed down the thickness in my throat. “Please let me show you what it’s like to be cherished, Vy. I promise you won’t regret it.”
Eleven
Vy
IT WAS absolutely diabolical. I had never had a man be nice to me to keep me in bed without any ulterior motive.
“What?” I called out toward the kitchen, where the incredible smell of bacon was coming from. Whatever he’d just shouted, I’d missed.
“I said I was almost done with breakfast, and why are you yelling?” Robert teased me as he breezed into the bedroom with a mug of steaming coffee in his right hand and the morning paper in the other.
“I thought you were in the kitchen,” I growled. “You don’t need to bring me coffee in bed. I can get—”
“Just sit there and look pretty.”
“You did not just say that to me,” I said, trying for annoyed but failing miserably. The man was far too beautiful first thing in the morning. Hooded eyes, hair sticking up in tufts, and stubble covering his face—he was a vision of warmth. I wanted him to get back in bed and cuddle with me. Sadly, he had other plans.
He bent and kissed me, but instead of giving me the coffee, he looked at me, surprised.
“What?” I grumbled.
“How come no morning breath?”
“You like morning breath?”
He laughed and passed me the coffee. “No. I was just wondering why you don’t have any.”
“Because, like you, I was not raised in a barn, and when I got up to piss—all on my own, I might add—I brushed.”
“I do that too,” he said, chuckling. “So you’re saying the not being barn-raised is what accounts for that?”
“Yes,” I replied, returning his smile before he started back toward the door. “Thank you for the coffee, and where are you going?”
“To make you a plate. I just finished the bacon.”
“I am not eating in bed,” I told him, throwing the covers off, surprised it wasn’t cold. “Is the heater on?”
“Hell yeah,” he answered, grinning at me as he left the room.
I hadn’t turned the heater on when I got home, and Robert had been with me the whole time, which meant it had been on already because he was there. The more I thought about it, the better it got. Coming home to Robert—I couldn’t think of anything I loved more.
When I walked out to the kitchen, I noticed the house smelled better than when I’d left, like pine or lemon. He’d cleaned my house. My heart melted even more.
Taking a seat at the table, I watched him bustle around and enjoyed the view: the play of muscles under his T-shirt, and the way it stretched tight across his shoulders and clung to his biceps, made my mouth dry. When he turned to put the bacon on the plates, I got to watch the muscles in his abdomen ripple. I made a noise accidentally, and his gaze flicked to meet mine.
“You all right? Something hurt?”
“No,” I said quickly, searching for something to…. “That’s not bacon.”
“It’s like bacon.” The irresistible grin was too much for me. “Just try it.”
“You lied to me.”
He chuckled softly.
“You made it smell like bacon in here. I’ve been duped.”
“Where’s your sense of adventure, Kuar?”
I growled, and he came around the table and kissed my nose.
“Maybe you’re not so adventurous in here, huh? Maybe you’re mine when we’re alone. Just mine.” He smiled and rasped, “My little bird.”
My pride bristled, but I felt the animal inside me settle, soothed by his words, his scent, his nearness, and the touch of his lips.
“Where,” I began, and then I cleared my throat to get my voice to work, “did you get the faux bacon?”
“At the grocery store,” he said, piling two plates with eggs sprinkled with cheese, bacon, fruit salad, and then finished off with the biggest muffin I’d ever seen.
I stared at my plate as he put it down in front of me before lifting my head to meet his gaze. “So, is there anything on this plate that’s real?”
He squinted playfully. “The muffin.”
I groaned.
“Oh, come on. It smells good, right?”
I gave up and started eating. “So what did you say to my guys?”
“First, let’s start with the death of your alarm clock,” he said quickly. “I will replace it today, and I sincerely apologize for killing it.”
I couldn’t hold in the smile. He was too cute to resist.
“So after the murder at 6:00 a.m., I got up, found your phone, and called Lou. I told her you couldn’t go into work today, and she said she’d take care of calling your foreman and telling him.”
“Oh God,” I moaned. “You know I’m gonna hear about it for weeks, right?” I cleared my throat again and used an exaggeratedly rude tone to say, “You had to get your boyfriend to call the deputy?” I rubbed my palm over my eyes. “I will never live this down.”
With a resigned sigh, I picked up my fork and dug into the surprisingly tasty meal. After a minute of shoveling food into my mouth, since it felt like I hadn’t eaten in a month, I noticed that Robert was sort of frozen across the table from me.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Something,” I insisted. “You’re doing a really great statue impersonation.”
“Boyfriend.”
“Sorry?”
“You said boyfriend. Not mate, not friend. Boyfriend.”
I grunted, going back to eating. “Whatever.”
He reached out and put a hand on my cheek, lifting my chin gently so our gazes locked. “I like it; you can say it whenever you want.”
Leaning away from his touch, I continued eating.
“It must be terrible,” he teased me.
“No,” I gasped, snapping my head up. “It’s really good, thank you for cooking. That was really nice of you.”
“You’re very welcome,” he sighed, gazing at me.
“What?”
“This is nice.”
It was. What was also nice was staring at the man—the laugh lines around his eyes, the stubbly chin, and the affection I could read all over his face.
“Vy?”
“Sorry,” I said quickly. “When did you shop?”
“I don’t mind. You can sit and look at me all day if you want.”
“When,” I repeated, trying to change the subject, “did you shop?”
“Yesterday.” He grinned, his eyes sparkling.
“And where do you get faux bacon?”
“We say fakon.”
“Oh, you do not.”
He waggled his eyebrows at me.
“And I got it at your grocery store,” he apprised me. “There’s a whole section that Claus says—”
“You and Claus Brenner are close now?” I asked disbelievingly.
“He’s a very nice man, and he and his partner Gary are—”
“Claus is gay?”
Robert laughed. “Uh, yeah.”
“Well, I didn’t know that. He’s not a member of my ket; not everyone in this damn town is.”
He snickered. “Okay, little bird, don’t get your feathers all ruffled.”
I glared at him, and he snorted out a laugh before getting up, coming around the table, and sitting down in the chair beside me. Leaning forward, he took my face in his big hands and kissed me.
I opened for him, and he slipped his tongue inside, sliding it over mine, rubbing as he took and I gave. It felt so good, and when he moved his hands to my thighs, shucking me forward, lifting me out of my chair and into his lap, I moaned hoarsely.
