“Well, maybe your secretary or someone cleaned it,” Asher offered.
“Yeah, I thought about that at first. I even asked her, and she said she hadn’t done it.” He shook his head and chuckled without much humor. “Then the gifts started. Just little things at first like flowers or chocolates.”
“What gifts?” Asher sat up straighter, eying his mate. “You never told me about any gifts.”
“I know,” Zaiden murmured. “I didn’t want to worry you.”
“You said they started small at first. So what happened after that?”
“I started getting more expensive gifts like watches, and bracelets, and things like that. Then, about three days ago, there was a little black velvet box sitting on my desk with a gold band inside.”
“An engagement ring?” Asher gasped, his eyes going wide as he slapped a hand over his mouth.
“That’s what I’m assuming. There was a note.” Zaiden finally looked up and Asher could see the unshed tears shimmering in his eyes. “It basically said that you weren’t the right person for me, and I needed to get rid of you or bad things were going to happen.”
“Where’s the note?”
“In my desk at work, beside the ring. I was going to call the police, but then decided getting plastered sounded like a better idea.” Zaiden slid his hand across the table, palm up in an obvious sign of needing to be touched and comforted.
As much as he wanted to remain peeved at his lover for hiding things from him, Asher knew the reasoning behind it. He would have totally freaked if he’d known about any of those things. If he were being honest with himself, he would have done everything in his power to keep his mate from something like that as well.
His fingers trembled as he slowly placed his hands inside Zaiden’s and squeezed. “You should have told me.”
“I know,” Zaiden whispered. “I was scared, and I didn’t know what to do. I would never put you in danger for anything in the world.”
“I know that,” Asher answered just as quietly. “But I could have helped you deal with this. You didn’t have to take it all on yourself. That’s what mates are for isn’t it? We’re supposed to be there for each other. If you shut me out, how can we really be a team?”
“I know, baby. I’m so damn sorry. Can you forgive me?”
Asher didn’t say anything for a long time. Of course he was going to forgive the man, but maybe it would be a good idea to let Zaiden fidget and worry for a little while. “So, why have you been staying out late and coming home drunk?”
Zaiden dipped his head as though he understood that Asher wasn’t going to just roll over and forgive him on the spot. “I stayed away as much as possible because I thought that if I wasn’t with you, then you would be safe. Whoever this is wants us apart. If I’m not with you, then they’re not a threat to you.”
“And getting drunk?”
“I missed you,” Zaiden whispered thickly. “I missed just holding you, laughing with you, the way your nose scrunches up and your tongue sticks out between your teeth when you get into your writing. I just miss every damn thing about you, baby. I was miserable, and the booze helped dull the pain.”
“That is one pathetic story, Zaiden Reed.” Asher swallowed around the lump in his throat as he released Zaiden’s hand and stood from the table. He’d heard enough.
Zaiden’s head popped up, and he looked so lost, so afraid, Asher couldn’t take anymore. Hurrying around the table, he crawled into his lover’s lap, wrapped his arms tightly around Zaiden’s neck, and planted a kiss on him that he hoped would rock his mate to his core.
Zaiden responded with appropriate enthusiasm, gasping and groaning, crushing Asher to him as he devoured his mouth with enough heat and passion to set the room on fire around them. Long minutes later when they finally broke apart, Asher nuzzled his nose into Zaiden’s neck and tried to catch his breath.
He just couldn’t hold it in any longer. “I love you, Zaiden,” he whispered softly, peppering wet kisses over the damp skin of his lover’s throat.
His mate tensed, his arms tightening around Asher, and a soft moan vibrated his chest. “Thank God,” he whimpered.
Struggling against Zaiden’s hold, Asher leaned back and stared up into his mate’s eyes, cocking an eyebrow in confusion. “What does that mean?”
“It means that I was so worried that you wouldn’t forgive me, that I was going to lose you. It means that you are the best thing that ever happened to me, and the most important person in my world. Hell, you are my world.” He brushed his lips over Asher’s once, twice, a third time, before he smiled widely. “It means I love you, too, baby.”
Asher couldn’t speak, couldn’t think—he could barely even breathe. He had never thought to find a mate, let alone, someone to love him. It was more than he could have ever hoped for. He just hoped he could be enough for his mate.
“You will not keep things from ever again. Are we clear?”
“Crystal,” Zaiden answered seriously with a quick nod of his head. “I promise, baby. Never again. And the same goes for you.” His eyes narrowed as he looked at Asher. “We need to talk about what happens if I die.”
Asher pouted. He didn’t want to talk about anyone dying. He wanted to take his mate to bed, strip him down, and lick every inch of his body. He wanted to make love to his man, take a nap, then wake up and do it all over again. Several times, if he had his way about it.
“Asher, I’m serious.”
“Fine,” Asher sighed. “Let me get more coffee, and I’ll try to explain it to you.
* * * *
“So, that purple fire that you do when we’re making love. That comes from me? You can’t do that without me?” Zaiden’s head reeled with the information Asher had just given him.
“Nope. Only orange flames without you, babe. I told you that you were my fire.”
“Yeah, I get that. I just don’t understand what that has to do with you dying. You’re saying that if I die, I take your fire with me?” Zaiden tried to work it all out in his muddle brain. “But you had your flame long before I came along.”
Asher smiled sweetly and nodded. “Yes, I did. But when I mated you, and my phoenix accepted you, we gave you that flame.” He leaned over the table and took Zaiden’s hand. “And we bound our souls together. Neither my phoenix nor I can live without our soul.”
Zaiden’s throat burned, and he blinked rapidly to dispel the tears he felt gathering there. It was probably the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to him—in a completely morbid kind of way. “And your fire? You said you couldn’t live without your fire, either.”
Asher sighed and dropped his head to the table to roll his brow against the wood. “Are you even listening to me?” He raised his head and looked into Zaiden’s eyes. “You. Are. My. Fire!” He banged his other hand against the table. “I gave you that gift when we mated. If you die, you take that gift with you. Bye-bye, flames. Bye-bye, phoenix. Bye-bye, Asher.”
“I don’t like this.” Zaiden didn’t think he could handle such responsibility. “Take it back. I don’t want it.”
“It’s too late. I can’t take it back, and I wouldn’t if I could.” Asher smirked at him and winked. “You’ll just have to take better care of yourself and stop doing stupid shit like driving while you’re smashed.”
Guilt and shame overwhelmed him, and Zaiden couldn’t speak for several minutes. “I’m sorry, Ash. I didn’t know. I would have never done anything so stupid if I’d realized what could happen to you.”
“I know. And it’s partly my fault for not giving you the full facts. Now that you know, I expect you to treasure and protect the gift I’ve given you, though.”
“Always,” Zaiden whispered. “You are my gift, Asher. I never thought I would be mated. After what happened with Darkin, and the way he left me broken, I never wanted to inflict myself on someone else.”
“You are not broken,” Asher said fiercely. Then his eyebrows drew together in confusion, and he cocked his
head to the side. “Who’s Darkin?”
“The witch who took my magic. I told you about him.”
“Yeah, I remember. I just never got a name.”
“So, what do we do now?”
“That, I don’t have any answer for,” Asher said, shaking his head and standing up from the little table. “We need to figure out who’s harassing us because I hate this stupid hotel bed, and I want to go home. This atmosphere is not conducive for good writing.”
Zaiden chuckled, feeling better than he had in days as he stood to his feet and moved around the chairs to his mate. “Ok, so let’s go over the facts and see what we have. I really want to hold you though, so can we do that in the bed you hate so much?”
Asher laughed as he pulled his shirt off and headed into the adjoining bedroom. “It’s not so bad when there’s someone here to share it with.”
“You mean when I’m here to share it with you.” Zaiden’s jealously at the thought of his mate in the arms of another man boiled under the surface, and he had a hard time choking it back. “No one else, Asher. Never anyone but me.”
“You know what I mean, Zaid.” Asher rolled his eyes as he shimmied out of his jeans and went to pull the blankets down. “Lose the clothes and crawl in. I can’t sleep without you here, and I’m exhausted. We can talk until I fall asleep.”
That sounded like the best idea Zaiden had heard all week. Quickly stripping down to his skin, he crawled into bed and immediately reached for his mate, pulling Asher into his arms and tucking his mate’s head under his chin.
“So, I think we can safely assume that this person is after me,” he said after they’d gotten settled.
“Yeah, I think that’s a pretty accurate assumption,” Asher agreed around a yawn. “And I still say it’s that Andrew guy.”
“We haven’t heard anything from him since we went to Memphis.”
“Which reminds me that you never took me to Nashville. You owe me.”
“Ash, please try to focus.”
“Oh, okay, but it does make sense. Perfect sense. Andrew shows up just as we’re about to leave, tells you that he’s got the hots for some guy, and then you just disappear on him. He might have known we were leaving, but we didn’t say for how long or where we were going. He completely wigged.”
As much as Zaiden hated to admit it, his little mate made a pretty good argument. “But why hasn’t he just told me. That’s what we talked about. That he should tell this person he’s in love with how he feels.”
“No, you told him to try courting the guy.” Asher snorted. “He’s courting you, Zaid.”
“Motherfucker! It does make perfect sense when you say it like that.”
“I know. That’s why I’m the smart one, and we just keep you around to look pretty and get the stuff off the high shelves.
“Brat,” Zaiden said around his chuckle. “Okay, enough for tonight. I’m exhausted as well, and we need clear heads if we’re going to deal with this shit. Let’s get some sleep, and we’ll figure it out in the morning.”
“Uh, Zaid?
“Yes, baby?”
“I’m all about sleeping and everything, but there are two things I would like to bring up.”
Zaiden groaned but nodded his head. “Go for it.”
“Number one, you just told me you loved me, and I would really like to make love to you now. And number two, we kind of need to do that anyway because otherwise I’m going to be setting the bed on fire here in about three hours.”
Zaiden wanted to smack himself in the head. With everything going on, everything they’d just discussed, and still feeling a little woozy from the liquor he’d consumed, he’d completely forgotten about consummating their mating every twenty-four hours. He winced as he remembered the nights he’d stumbled into the hotel, barely able to stand and burning from the inside out.
He knew it had to be worse for Asher because the man had basically attacked him on each of those nights. God, he’d been a selfish prick. He really didn’t deserve Asher’s forgiveness. “I’m sorry, baby.”
Asher reached up and placed two fingers over his lips before he could say anything else. “Don’t apologize, Zaid. Just make it right.”
“My pleasure,” Zaiden mumbled around Asher’s fingers. Then he smiled wickedly and dove on top of his man. “Any last words before I fuck you to death?”
“Oh, that was so bad. You really should just try to be pretty and leave the cleverness to me.”
“Okay.” Zaiden shrugged in a noncommittal kind of way. “We’ll wait and see what you have to say about it when I’m finished with you.”
“Hey, Zaid?”
“Yeah, baby?” Zaiden arched an eyebrow. He really liked playing this game.
“I love you, okay?”
Zaiden’s entire body softened toward his mate as he covered Asher’s body and pressed a tender kiss to his lips. “I know, baby, and I love you, too.”
Chapter Seventeen
“Dr. Reed, there’s someone here to see you,” his receptionist said over the intercom.
Zaiden frowned. “I don’t have any appointments for another hour, Abby.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but she said it’s an emergency.”
“Who is it?”
“Denise George, sir.”
His eyes widened a little, and he sat up straighter. “Send her in.” Zaiden straightened his tie and rose from his seat to move around the mahogany desk to meet his former patient. After several weeks of her being missing in action, he couldn’t help his curiosity at what had brought her to his office now.
The willowy woman slipped into the room, looking very lovely in her beige lightweight sweater and black skirt. She closed the door quietly and hurried across the room to him, throwing herself into his arms and sobbing.
Stunned into action, Zaiden wrapped his arms around her and petted her head awkwardly. “Denise, what’s wrong? What’s going on?”
“It’s Andrew,” she sobbed. “He’s completely crazy.”
“Did he hurt you?”
“No, not me.” Her sobs faded after a few seconds, and she leaned away to blot at her eyes with her fingertips. “He’s going to hurt your lover, Dr. Reed.”
“What!” Zaiden yelled. “How do you know this?”
“He keeps calling me. I don’t know how he got my new number, but he keeps begging me to help him. He’s obsessed with you, Doctor. He never talks about anything else. That’s why I changed my number in the first place. I was scared.”
“Asher’s safe,” Zaiden said firmly. “Andrew doesn’t know where he is.”
“You’re staying at the Dorchester,” she answered back with confidence. “Andrew told me that he followed you there after work one night.” She took a couple of steps away and shook her head sadly. “He’s on his way there now. You’ll never make it in time.”
“Call the police. Room four-forty-one.” Zaiden growled the words as he shoved past the woman and hurried toward the heavy wooden door on the other side of the room. Pausing for just a second, he looked over his shoulder and nodded once. “Thank you, Denise.”
“Please hurry, Dr. Reed. I’ll call hotel security and then the police and have them meet you there.”
Zaiden nodded again then hurried out of the room, rushing past his very confused-looking secretary and out the doors of the lobby to the parking lot. He would make it in time. He’d just found Asher, and no one would take his mate from him.
Pulling his cell phone from his pocket, he quickly dialed Asher’s number as he fumbled in his pocket for the keys.
“Hey, babe,” Asher answered on the second ring. “What’s shakin’, bacon? We still taking that note to the police department on your lunch break?”
“Asher, lock the doors and do not let anyone in that room. I’m on my way.”
“Zaid, what’s going on?” He sounded nervous, and Zaiden couldn’t help but be thankful for the fact. If Asher was scared, he’d be on his guard.
Yanking his keys out w
ith shaking hands, he dropped them to the ground, and cursed as he bent to retrieve them. He didn’t have time for this crap. “I’m on my way,” he repeated.
Something big and heavy hit the side of his head, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground on his hands and knees. His phone skidded across the pavement and underneath his sedan. Before he could shake off the attack, another blow caught him in the temple, and Zaiden fell to the ground as the world went black.
* * * *
“Zaiden!” Asher yelled into the phone, panic rising up in his chest and making his throat burn. He heard a muffled thud and a loud grunt, then everything went silent. “Zaiden!”
When he received no reply, Asher snapped his phone closed and sent it sailing across the room to smash against the opposite wall. Raking his fingers through his hair, he paced the carpet, trying desperately to figure out what to do.
He assumed Zaiden had been at his office when he called, but Asher didn’t even know where that was. Almost two months they’d been together, and he’d never been to his mate’s work, or even thought to ask where it was located.
Still, he couldn’t just sit there and do nothing. Should he call the police? He honestly didn’t have any information to give them, nor did he have any proof that Zaiden had actually been hurt. “Fuck!” he screamed as the frustration wrapped around him in a strangle hold.
Grabbing his keys from the end table, he hurried across the room to the door. He didn’t know where to start looking, but he had to do something. Jerking open the door, he almost collided with a very flustered looking Andrew. “You,” he growled vehemently. “What did you do to him!”
Andrew took a hasty step in retreat and held his hands up, palms out, in a show of surrender. “I didn’t do anything, Asher. I swear it.”
“Where is Zaiden?”
“I d–don’t know,” Andrew stammered. “I came to speak with you.”
“Well, I’ve used up my quota of friendly conversation with the room service guy, so try again tomorrow.” Asher shoved past the man, almost knocking him down as he took off running down the long corridor.
Evans, Gabrielle - Fire and Ash [Midnight Matings 3] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) Page 11
