Chapter 14 #2
He turned to Alison and pulled her further against him, leaning back as he laid her atop himself, pulling the afghan to cover her as he laid them down on the sofa together.
Alison moaned softly as she snuggled in against him, and went right back to sleep.
Feral smoothed a hand up and down her back, his other hand cupping the back of her head and holding her gently to him.
He sighed and released so much pent up stress he almost cried in relief.
He pressed his lips to her forehead and closed his eyes.
“This. This is what I need, only you, only this,” he said softly.
He could feel his heart rate slowing as he relaxed, and his jaw relaxed as opposed to its almost always clenched position.
It wasn’t much longer before he, too, fell asleep, with the weight of his mate against his body to ground him, and her scent permeating every pore and sensory perception his body relied on for survival.
He slept better than he had in years, and so did she.
~~~
Savage and his team sat around the pool, most of them relaxing, but two of them visibly out of place.
Menace and Rage were just too military to be able to relax around anybody other than their own kind — and even then it was questionable sometimes.
It was just hard for them to relax at all, which was what made them so good at what they did.
“I’m telling you, they’re up to something more. It’s like they antagonized us just enough to keep us looking in their direction,” Jack said.
“Distracted you from their real goal,” Frenzy said, from his spot in the pool still floating in his inner tube, with his feet propped up on the edge of the pool to keep from floating away from the group sitting and lounging at the tables near the pool’s edge.
“Felt like it. I have no proof, but I can’t see it any other way,” Jack said.
“Then we got the call on the way back that Grail’s mate and some of her Pride members arrived here.
Is that why they distracted us? They thought they’d take out the entire Gamieyon Pride, not expecting Gwen and those with her to make it out alive?
It doesn’t seem likely. The more I think about it, the more I realize that we couldn’t have gotten there in time to help them regardless.
And then Rance overheard some of them talking about burning the town to the ground.
But why fight for it, if you just want to destroy it? None of it makes any sense to me.”
“Maybe they were afraid you’d contact us. We can be anywhere pretty quickly,” Savage said.
“True, but how would they know we had connections to your people?” Jack said.
“I tend to agree with you, Jack. They were keeping you occupied. Even if it was only to keep you off kilter until their real fighters could arrive to take care of you. Or maybe there’s something we’re missing.
But based on what you’re telling me, I wouldn’t let my guard down no matter what else had my attention.
They knew you were in town, they know who you are, and they played at antagonizing you.
They baited you. Almost like they didn’t want you to see what else they were doing when you weren’t looking,” Frenzy said.
“Maybe we’ll find you some answers in the next day or two. ”
“You heading out tomorrow, then?”
“Got to. I’m going to have Sin breathing down my neck if I don’t give him some feedback soon.”
“Sin breathing down your neck. Would Sin happen to be a female?” Titus asked.
Hail and Storm laughed riotously.
“What’d I say?” he asked, looking at them.
“Don’t even,” Hail said, glaring at Storm.
“Oh, I wasn’t saying a damn thing,” Storm said.
Hail was smirking when she noticed that Titus was still waiting for an answer. “Oh, you really want an answer.”
“Mmhmm.”
“How should I describe Sin?” she asked rhetorically as she gazed off into the distance.
“Tall. Muscular. Dark, dangerous as fuck. Too pretty for his own good. Sensual and sexy in a way that even other males notice when they’re not gay.
Wicked sense of humor, smart as a whip, and not afraid to use any of his attributes to get what he wants, loves to be underestimated.
Except now he’s mated and would not in any way, shape or form do anything to risk his mate’s happiness or faith in him.
The rest is still on the table, though,” Frenzy said.
“Sounds like you have an unhealthy appreciation for him,” Titus teased.
Frenzy smiled easily at Titus. “I’d have been put down a long time ago if it wasn’t for Sin taking hold of me and forcing me to get myself in check.
He was the only one who could step inside my insanity with me and yank me back into that slim reality I walked for some time.
He’s my best Variant friend and truly the only reason I’m still breathing. ”
“Put down? As in a rabid dog?” Draven asked.
Frenzy nodded slowly as he met Draven’s gaze. “Some of us are so damaged, so dangerous, that we’re a threat to anything living — even ourselves. Our people try, use every tool at their disposal, but sometimes, not often, but sometimes, our males just can’t be saved.”
“Sonofabitch,” Titus said.
“Lucky for y’all, Sin saved me.” Frenzy stopped and thought about his statement then started grinning. “Regular sin, saved me, too, or the act of. But, yeah, Sin the male, he’s greatly responsible.”
“Despite his reputation, he’s actually a good male. Kind of arrogant because he knows he’s good — at everything — but honestly a good male at the core of him,” Storm said.
“I’m here to tell you that he didn’t use anybody in any way they didn’t want to be used.
And he did whatever he had to, including trading favors for the lives of his team while they were in captivity,” Valid said.
“And I can attest to that personally. I was his Three. I’d still give my life for him. ”
“Me, too. I was his Two. And everything Valid said is true. Gotta admire somebody that selfless, as if there weren’t more than enough reason already,” Fierce said.
“Sounds like somebody I’d like to meet,” Jack said.
“Plus he’s pretty,” Titus said.
“Oh, God, yes,” Hail said with a laugh. “He saunters into a room and the whole room stops.”
“What does he do now?” Jack asked.
“He’s Law’s equal. He’s good at it, too. Has all kinds of power heads in Washington jumping as soon as they hear he’s on the phone for them. He’s not afraid to throw out a veiled threat or two, where Law tries to maintain diplomacy,” Storm said.
“That’s true,” Frenzy said. “They are equally effective, but for different things. Kind of like good cop/bad cop.”
“It’d be interesting to see Alliance some time and see how it’s run,” Jack said.
“That can be arranged. But why? You have a fucking sanctuary, a haven. Why would you ever want to leave it?” Frenzy asked.
“I’d like to see how it runs,” Jack said.
“Well, I’ll tell you what. Before I leave it for the last time, I’ll take you there,” Frenzy said.
“You leaving us?” Savage asked.
“Someday,” Frenzy said, winking at Savage. “A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do, you know?”
“Yeah, only you’re not a man,” Savage said.
Frenzy grinned at him. “And that’s true, too.”
“And this man’s gotta go home and get some sleep. I gotta be up early,” Titus said.
“You working security first thing?” Valid asked.
“Naw, unless something unexpected happens, I’m getting back to my regular job,” Titus said.
“Which is?” Fierce asked.
“Contractor. I’m the builder for all the construction on the mountain. Have a crew that works with and for me. With all these new arrivals from the Gamieyon Pride, we’re going to need some more homes.”
“I’m thinking duplexes for the most part,” Jack said.
“I was, too. You want two or three beds on each side? It doesn’t take any longer to build one than the other. It’s just a matter of a couple of smaller bedrooms and a wall between the two. Bunk beds could work in the smaller rooms.”
“We can do a couple like that. But let’s try to build them with three regular sized bedrooms. If you have a site that is good for a single family, rather than a cluster of duplexes, start on a couple of single family, too.”
“Sure, I got time,” Titus said, with a smirk.
“Nothing but,” Jack said with a smile. “See you in the morning. I’ll come to you so we can compare notes and figure it all out — what we’ve got versus what we need.
The whole point of the new cabins was to make more room for our own people, but they’re filled with our guests now.
I want to be sure that we can leave them in the new builds you just finished, or are about to, with the balance of them in the duplexes.
But I want to build an equal number of single family homes to replace those that are now unexpectedly filled.
I got a feeling some of our own will be mated and looking for their own home soon. ”
“I’ll be there when you get there. You know where to look,” Titus said. He looked at Hail sitting quietly beside Storm. “Thank you for sharing dinner with me. I enjoyed our time together.”
Hail looked up at Titus. “I did, too. Maybe we’ll run into each other again sometime.”
“Y’all are leaving in the morning,” Titus said as more of a question than a statement.
“We are,” Hail said.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you, then,” he said, leaning over and hugging Hail quickly before he winked at her and walked away.
Frenzy watched Titus go. Then watched Hail as she stared at the ground, before she looked at Titus again, or at least his retreating back. “Hail! You not going after that male?”
Hail shook her head. “Not much reason to. I live in Alliance. He lives here. He’s not looking for more than just a few minutes, and neither am I.”
“So? You’re here now,” Frenzy said.
Hail shrugged and looked off into the distance. “Yeah, anyway, I think I’m going to head on over to Alison’s.”
“Okay, this is not how I saw the dalliance between the two of you turning out. Frankly, you disappoint me, Hail,” Frenzy said, from his inner tube.
“Bite me, Frenzy,” Hail said, as she stood up and walked toward the outside corner of the house.
“You know how to find it?” Bonnie called out.
“Yes, I got directions,” Hail answered. “Thanks, Bonnie. Y’all have a good night.”
Hail walked out of sight, stopping only briefly at the front of the house to scan for Titus, but he wasn’t there.
Huffing out her own disappointment, she started down the path that would lead her to Alison’s house.
As soon as she was out of sight of the house, Titus stepped out of the trees ahead of her.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “I could have hurt you.”
“Did you really think I was going to let you spend the night anywhere other than my bed?” Titus asked.
“Seemed so.”
“Wasn’t sure if you wanted to hide it from your people or not. I’m being discreet and elusive,” he said with a waggle of his brows.
Hail broke out into a full on run, leaping into his arms when she was close enough, slamming her lips against his and plunging her tongue into his mouth as she straddled him, his hands under her ass holding her securely against him.
He kissed her back until they were both breathless. “Fuck! We gotta get to my house!” he said, his voice deeper and growlier than usual.
“Hurry,” she encouraged, as she started kissing him again.