Chapter 8
Leo
“Looks like it wasn’t a dream after all,” I said when Briar stepped through the back door with an energy drink can that he promptly pitched into the recycle bin. “Guess you're stuck with me.”
I watched his grin grow as his gaze swept over me, while Maverick hovered around the coffee pot, waiting for it to finish dripping.
“Thank the Goddess for that,” Briar remarked as he stepped into my space, almost hesitantly.
I hoped it was a hug he wanted, because I desperately wanted a moment in his arms the way I’d had in Maverick’s, once I’d gotten him to shift for me.
“How’d you sleep?” He asked, hand raising, then dropping back to his side, fingers worrying the fabric of his sleep pants as he studied me.
“Like I was wrapped in fluff and tickly whiskers,” I replied, flashing Maverick a grin. “It was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in months.”
Since he still hadn’t given me what I wanted, I snagged his hand and gave a gentle tug until he wrapped me in his arms and let out a sigh so deep it sounded like the prelude to a purr.
I wasn’t a small guy, but in Briar’s arms I sure as fuck felt that way.
He had at least four inches on me, and his chest was solid muscle.
Well, to be fair, all of him was. Was it bustling around a bakery kitchen that kept him this fit, or the time he spent shifted and prowling the forest?
Last night, as we’d been on the verge of passing out, he’d mentioned a trail he and Maverick had found during their romp that morning.
They hadn’t explored it because they’d been eager for a nap and a meal before they wandered too far, so we’d decided to wander it together once we’d pigged out on the delicious crepes Maverick had promised us.
“Oh yeah, come to papa,” Maverick cooed as the final drop of coffee dripped into his mug.
Clearly a true coffee connoisseur then and a firm believer that every drop was precious.
I was so with him in that regard. If the look of utter bliss on his face when he took the first sip was anything like how he appeared when locked in a passionate embrace, then I couldn’t wait until the day when we progressed to that point in the relationship.
From the moment I’d heard the word 'mate,' I’d been curious about what being with them would be like. Rough and tumble, I hoped. I’d never been a fan of slow and drawn out.
Wild, primal—that’s what I’d found myself dreaming of as I cuddled up next to Maverick’s snow leopard form and felt him nuzzle beneath my chin, lick the juncture between my neck and shoulder, and lightly graze the spot with his teeth.
While neither of us had been in the right headspace for him to take things further, there had been a moment when I’d wished we were. Slightly smaller than me, with a more compact build, he wasn’t quite as muscular as Briar; it was more like he was built for speed.
“I showed Leo my bondmark this morning after he asked me to shift,” Maverick told Briar as he stepped away from the coffee pot, cup clutched in his hands. “We wound up comparing them. They’re a perfect match.”
“I told you it was okay,” Briar said, carefully cupping his face so as to not jostle his coffee, and pressing a kiss to the center of his forehead, then the tip of his nose, and finally, brushing their lips together in a sweet, gentle kiss that left Maverick staring starry-eyed after him.
“Let me get about half of this in me, and then I’ll start the crepes,” Maverick murmured.
“No hurry,” Briar said. “Did Leo tell you about our plans for the day?”
“We have plans for the day?” Maverick asked. “I knew we were doing the Pirates of the Caribbean marathon tonight, but Leo never said anything about what our day was supposed to look like.”
I chuckled as I poured my cup, not feeling the least bit of shame over why I’d gotten so distracted once he was naked and human and lying in the bed pressed up against me.
“The opportunity didn’t arise,” I said as I leaned against the counter and took a sip. “Oh man, that’s good coffee.”
“All coffee is good,” Maverick proclaimed. “Despite what your taste buds might tell you.”
“Yeah, no, you’re on your own on that one,” I declared. “My tongue does not appreciate acrid, bitter, or charred; that’s a hard no right there, but I’ll happily leave it all for you to enjoy at your leisure.”
“There is nothing leisurely about the way he consumes coffee,” Briar pointed out.
“He’s scorched more than a few taste buds, not to mention the back of his throat, trying to pound a cup of coffee too fast. I keep telling him to get an iced coffee to drink while he waits for his regular one to be cool enough, but do you think he listens to me? ”
“Hell no,” Maverick grumbled, and sure as shit, while I was leaning there blowing on my coffee in between sips, he’d already managed to gulp down over a quarter of his cup. “I hate watered-down coffee.”
“Dude, coffee is nothing but water poured through grounds.”
“And it’s the grounds that make it wonderful,” Maverick pointed out before gulping another hot mouthful of liquid wakeup juice. There was literally still steam billowing up out of his mug, and he clearly didn’t give a shit. “Water is just a means to an end. So, what are our plans for the day?”
“To pack a picnic lunch and explore the trail the two of you found yesterday,” I said as he took one more gulp, set his mug down, and started pulling out ingredients.
“Oh, right on. I’m dying to roll around in the snow a bit more.”
“Are you good with me taking pictures while you do?” I asked.
“Click away and make sure you get my good side,” he remarked with a wink, the shit.
If this was what mornings with the two of them were going to be like, then sign me up for an eternity of coffee quips and snark.
In no time at all he’d melted chocolate and peanut butter with a bit of heavy cream, folded in the bananas, and started pouring out the batter to make the crepes, passing me two beautifully golden confections sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with a sinfully wicked grin.
“Take a bite and tell me if that’s not sex on a plate,” he quipped.
“Ohh, mmmmm,” I hummed the moment the crepe damned near melted on my tongue, revealing all the sticky sweet goodness wrapped inside of it.
“Dude, I’m fixing to lick this bitch clean and beg for seconds,” I groaned after I’d finished swallowing.
“Compliments like that will get you thirds if you’ve got room for them.”
“Hey, what about me?” Briar asked, empty plate in hand as he waited for Maverick to finish cooking the two he was working on.
“I’ll get to you eventually,” Maverick replied with a wink, to which Briar replied by sticking his tongue out at him.
How the hell he managed to work two pans without a single singe was beyond me, but not only didn’t he struggle with them, he shook his ass to the beat of the music as he moved between them with the most serene look on his face, flipping, filling, and folding those crepes until he could slide them onto Briar’s plate.
He served us each a third one before making two for himself and sitting down to eat them, looking quite pleased with the fact that I did lick the chocolate and peanut butter smears off my plate with gusto while eyeing him over the edge of it.
“What’s a guy gotta do to get you two to look at me that way?” Briar asked, but there wasn’t a single note of jealousy in his voice, just lighthearted teasing that I just knew was going to get him a mound of snark, judging by the look on Maverick’s face.
“Well, you could start by cleaning up the mess I just made on the counter, and loading the dishwasher, and pulling stuff together for our picnic this afternoon so we can hit the snow and give our new mate something truly spectacular to photograph while we explore what lies down that trail,” Maverick declared.
Snorting, Briar just shook his head. “Walked right into that one, didn’t I?”
“More like jumped in headfirst and forgot to look to see if the pool was filled first,” I quipped, earning a single-finger salute from him and giggles from Maverick.
Me being me, I flipped him off right back and made Maverick laugh harder. Shaking his head at us, Briar finished his plate and crossed the kitchen to get started on the cleanup.
“Day one, day fuckin’ one and you two are already ganging up on me,” he muttered as he opened the dishwasher Maverick had unloaded while we’d been waiting on our coffee and started rinsing dishes to load into it.
“In all fairness, we’d have started last night, but we were just way too tired,” I pointed out.
Briar shot a glance at the clock on the wall, then over to me. “Oh, you’ve got jokes already? It’s not even eight.”
“Please, I dream up jokes in my sleep,” I scoffed. “You better watch it, or you’ll catch snark in between snores, and I won’t even have to crack an eye open to do it.”
“Bring it on,” Briar grumbled, “and you’ll find that two can play that game.”
“If I get woken up by you two playing the dozens, I will bash you both with pillows and fall asleep with my tail on your heads.”
Snickering, I tried to picture the whole scene playing out and wound up with a hand pressed to my face, laughing at the downturned whiskers and disgruntled look on Maverick’s kitty face as he clutched a pillow between his teeth while he whipped his head back and forth, smacking us until he plopped on it with a huff and let his tail droop across both of our faces.
Oh man, did I have some amazing times to look forward to if the things in my head actually unfolded in reality.
“So, what’s this something truly spectacular you have in mind for me to take pictures of?” I asked, giving Briar a bit of a break from the razzing while I worked out what I’d need to bring on this excursion of ours.
“Just us in all of our shifted glory,” Maverick replied, grinning at me.
“In that case, I need to get the camera set up for snarky-ass fuzzy butts,” I said, laughing as I left the table and headed into the bedroom to check my camera bag.
Long range, wide angle, and just to have a bit of fun, I snagged a macro lens too, so I could take pictures of the snow and frost on the trees and really capture some of the details that weren’t visible to the naked eye.
I made sure my sketchpad was tucked in its usual spot, along with a smaller set of drawing pencils in case I was inspired by what no doubt would be a day full of snow leopard antics the likes of which I couldn’t have dreamed up if I tried.
Unlike the two of them, I required layers, though not nearly as many as some of the folks I knew back home.
I truly was a cold-weather kind of guy. Human skin had limits, though, and I did not want to trigger another visit from the medics by winding up with a case of frostbite.
I doubt I’d live it down either, if the way Maverick and Briar gave each other shit about past indiscretions was any indication.
I got the feeling I was going to learn a great deal about them that way and have plenty of laughs in the process.
The history of Maverick and Briar, wiseass edition. Be sure to check the bloopers and outtakes sections for an unbelievably inspired stream of bullshit. On sale for 29.99.
Honestly, I’d have given my life savings to already have the kind of history between us that they had, but I knew we’d get there.
While my knowledge of shifters was completely relegated to what Hollywood presented on the big screen, I’d done my fair share of reading, and my favorite books had always been about creatures who could change their forms or blend into their surroundings.
Deep down, I’d understood, even back then, that all lore and legends had to come from somewhere, but I’d never taken time to give much consideration to how close to the truth they might be.
I wouldn’t say I’d grown up a sheltered kid; that was impossible when one of your dads put his life on the line fighting fires for a living and the other got paid to beat the shit out of people, but I would say that I lived in a bit of a bubble, my after-school time split between the firehouse, where I helped keep the floors and rigs spotless after I got my homework done, and the gym, where my dad and his MMA buddies trained, which often times included allowing me to get on the mats and roll with one of them or get into the ring with the gloves on and try my hand at a bit of sparring.
Growing up, I’d always known that I could hold my own against any of my classmates, but it had also been instilled in me that I wasn't to start shit, but I was damn sure supposed to end it if someone brought the fight to me.
I wondered now if there had been a shifter among those at the firehouse or gym who’d just been protective of their ability to shift forms out of fear that they’d lose some of the acceptance and brotherhood they’d found among their peers.
It was a shame if that was the case, but it also left me wondering if my mates had reason to fear being exposed for what they truly were, or if their community was filled with shifters of all different varieties who chose to band together and create a place for themselves away from humans.
It’s not like we were known for being the most tolerant bunch of mammals on the planet.
One only had to look at how we treated each other to know that.
How cautious would I have to be in what I told my family?
Was 'mate' even a word I could use? Shit, suddenly, I was hit with a deluge of questions like the ones that had rolled me so bad yesterday that I’d passed out. Yeah, we didn't need another medic visit for a fainting spell either. Not gonna happen. Tonight, after we’d had our adventure and were settled in the living room, I’d lay out the questions and concerns I had about what I could share and what I couldn’t and work from there.
Considering my dads’ relationship, I doubted they’d bat an eye when I came home with two hot men.
But two hot men who turned into snow leopards?
I doubted that was covered in any parenting classes anywhere. Well, at least not human ones. Now I was curious to know if shifter-human pairings were common and if there was a chance for little ones in our future.
Would they be humans?
Cubs?
A mix of both?
Oh shit, just the vibes rolling off Briar.
I knew he was an alpha, but I couldn’t get a read on Maverick at all.
I wondered if, like me, he was an omega who’d learned how to blend in so it wasn’t obvious.
Either way, I suspected things were going to get truly interesting when we reached the living room tonight.
And if interesting included them making a sandwich out of me, then I was totally down with that.