Chapter 24
Dakota woke just as dawn was lifting the darkness of the nighttime sky.
Usually, the first thing he thought about was what was he going to make for breakfast, but today was different because his mate was not only in his thoughts, but had wrapped himself around him; Slate’s arm and leg were draped over him.
Inhaling his mate’s scent, Dakota smiled, then realized he had smiled more in the last few days than he had in a long time.
Chuckling at his foolish decision never to mate, that thought quickly ended as another from last night surfaced; the doubt that his parents were ever Fated Mates.
He kept drawing a blank when he tried to remember who told him that when he was young.
Giving up on that for now, as sleep called to him again, Dakota decided to ask Oracle today when they met.
Moving closer to the warmth of his mate’s body, Dakota drifted off with a smile as he felt a twinge reminding him he now belonged to Slate.
~/~/~/~/~
The chatter around the dining table in Logan and Kieran’s hotel suite was almost impossible to follow—everyone was talking at once about what they did yesterday. Logan homed in on Kieran’s discussion with Fionn, Theo and Norman about the clothes they’d picked out for the young dragon.
“What’s your favorite piece we bought yesterday?” Kieran asked his friends.
“I love the black mesh top,” Fionn answered, “I think it makes me look hot.”
“Ohh, yaaasss! Pair it with the black skinny jeans and the black sneakers you got! Hot and sexy! Sure to attract a gorgeous guy! OMG! You have to wear that to the club we’re going to tonight. Everyone will want to undress you,” squealed Theo.
“Except you, right?” asked Norman.
“Of course! Why would I look at Fionn when I have you to drool over?” exclaimed Theo.
“That’s right, Norman,” giggled Kieran. “Fionn, you just have to find your own sexy guy.”
“What if I don’t want just one guy, maybe I want to play the field,” Fionn said, “you know, to see what I like.”
“Cool, you should definitely go for it. Who knows when you’ll meet your Fated Mate,” Kieran said.
“I’ll never have a Fated Mate,” replied Fionn.
“Why the fuck not?” demanded Theo.
“Yeah, who told you that?” added Norman.
“My father. He said since I was gay, the Fates wouldn’t waste their time finding a Fated Mate for me because we could never have children.”
“Ahh, Fionn? No disrespect, but I don’t think you should take the word of someone who’s trying to kill you,” Kieran said.
“Ki’s right,” Theo said. “Your father is an asshole and I wouldn’t believe anything he ever said about Fated Mates.”
“Theo! That’s not polite,” Norman chastised.
“That’s all right,” Fionn said. “I wasn’t offended because my father is an asshole. Still, what he said about Fated Mates makes sense, but it really doesn’t matter to me one way or the other. Right now, I simply want to have some fun.”
“Ki, what’s the name of the gay club we’re going to tonight?” asked Norman.
“The Meat Locker.”
“Babe, how did you find out about this place,” Logan asked.
“On Shiftagram. Yesterday I posted a picture of you and me in front of the Mermaid Fountain and asked for recommendations for a gay club in Edinburgh and the one that kept popping up was ‘The Meat Locker’. I looked it up and it has dancing, go-go dancers, strippers…”
“Strippers?” asked Theo. “Like real strippers…do they take off everything?”
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out when we get there. The main thing is there will be lots of men for Fionn.”
“Hey Colton,” called Logan, trying to be heard over the racket.
Colton looked over at his brother, “Yeah?”
“Are you coming with us tonight?” he asked.
Holding up a ‘wait one moment’ finger, Colton bent and whispered in Ian’s ear. After getting a grin and a nod, he said, “Yup, we are.”
Kieran looked at Logan, his vivid blue eyes sparkling, “Macushla, we are going to have so much fun tonight. I can’t wait to do the bump and grind with you.”
“Just make sure I’m the only one you do it with,” Logan growled, his low voice sending shivers down his mate’s spine.
“Of course,” Kieran responded sassily, “if you can keep up with me.”
His eyes narrowing at Kieran’s comment, Logan stood, scooped his mate up, threw Kieran over his shoulder and gave him a swat on his ass.
“Sorry about that, but there’s an issue that we need to sort out.
We’ll be back shortly.” Turning, Logan strode to their bedroom while Kieran loudly protested to be put down.
Colton smirked as he watched his brother take his mate to their bedroom, very happy to see his brother finally having some fun.
Jackson was in for a big surprise when Logan and Kieran got back from this trip and saw the huge change in his twin.
Turning his attention back to Ian, he said, “Well, what’s on the agenda today? ”
~/~/~/~/~
Slate opened his eyes, finding himself looking into the sparkling eyes of his mate. “Good morning,” he said in a raspy voice.
“Good morning to you,” answered Dakota. “I think we missed breakfast but that’s a good thing.”
“Why is that?”
“Because I am going to make you a special breakfast so I can watch you kiss the ground I walk on,” Dakota said, grinning.
“Ahhh, can I amend that to say I want to kiss your beautiful ass instead?” Slate asked, his hands kneading his mates plump globes.
“Maybe, but you’ll need to sweeten the pot a bit if you want me to make that trade,” Dakota said, his fingers playing with Slate’s nipples.
“Hmmm, negotiations, you do know that is my forté,” Slate murmured, slowly grinding his hips against his mate’s.
“Then you know your offer better be good.”
Giving his mate a kiss, Slate said, “Okay, in exchange for letting me kiss your ass instead of the ground…”
“That I walk on…”
“Right…that you walk on…I’ll throw in a blowjob whenever and wherever you say.”
Grinning, Dakota countered, “Make it five on-demand blowjobs and you got yourself a deal.”
“Done. This one’s a freebie,” Slate said, grinning, before sliding down and sucking Dakota’s cock, listening with delight as his mate’s moans filled the air.
~/~/~/~/~
Sitting at the island, Slate smiled as he watched his mate’s ass sexily twitch every time he moved from place to place while cooking their breakfast. When Dakota set his breakfast in front of him, Slate was startled out of his reverie of imagining all the ways he could enjoy his mate’s body.
The aroma of food forced his eyes from Dakota to the plate, causing his mouth to water. Holy shit!
Dakota grinned at Slate’s reaction as he sat down next to him. “Bon Appétit!”
“This looks amazing!” exclaimed Slate, taking a bite of a fantastic omelet and moaning as the flavors burst on his tongue, “Oh, my gods, this is fucking delicious!” he moaned.
When he’d eaten the last forkful, Slate leaned back, rubbing his stomach and said, “It’s official, I’m the luckiest fucker on earth because the Fates gave me you as my mate.
In all of my travels, never have I ever tasted food this good…
not even in five star restaurants…nowhere!
You are a master at your craft and I salute you.
” Leaning over and taking Dakota’s face in his hands, Slate rested his forehead against his mate’s and whispered, “Thank you, babe, for making this very special meal; it means the world to me that you did.”
“You’re welcome,” Dakota whispered, then added, “I love cooking for people I love.”
Gathering Dakota in his arms, Slate’s lips met his mate’s forcefully, wanting and needing to own them.
Slate loved it when Dakota’s lips pushed back, deepening their kiss as fire began to burn between them.
Thrusting his tongue between Dakota’s lips, Slate groaned as his mate’s tongue wrapped around his.
Minutes passed and yet Slate refused to end their connection.
Lust began to build in him, the need for his mate made Slate rise, pulling Dakota up tight to his body.
Grinding his hips against his mate’s, Slate felt Dakota’s hard cock against his.
Lost in their passion, neither heard the kitchen door open as Steel walked in, and it took several times before his loud throat-clearing penetrated Slate’s lust-fogged mind, causing him to reluctantly break off their embrace.
Tucking Dakota’s head into his chest, Slate shielded his mate from his brother’s inspection before asking, “Did you want something?”
“Ahhh, sorry to interrupt, but it’s time for me to start making lunch,” Steel said.
With reddening cheeks, Dakota lifted his head and looked at Steel. “That’s okay, we’ll be out of here as soon as I clean up.”
“Nah, don’t bother. Zane drew the short straw this morning as my kitchen bitch today; he’ll be here shortly so he can do it.”
Giggling, Dakota said, “Oh, okay, and Steel? Thanks for your note yesterday, it meant a lot to me.”
“Good because I meant every word. Have you decided which day you want off?”
“Uh, not yet but I’ll let you know soon, okay?”
Steel smirked. “No problemo.”
“Bro, do you know where Mom is?” asked Slate.
“Not really, she might be talking to Jackson right now. I know they were supposed to meet sometime today. Now if you don’t mind, get out so I can make lunch,” Steel said with a smile. Then when he saw Zane enter the kitchen, added, “Just in time.”
“Hi, Kota, Slate, how’s everything?” asked Zane.
“Good. Thanks for helping out,” Dakota said.
Waving his hand, Zane said, “No problemo.”
Laughing, Slate said, “I see Kieran has left his mark.”
“Yeah you could say that. He is something else. Dakota, you should tell Slate about the time Kieran decided Cody and Dylon needed help with their sex life.”
“What? Why did he think that?”
“From what I understand it all started when Kieran thought they were letting themselves go because they were new parents and then it took on a life of its own.”
“I gotta hear this,” Slate said, looking at Dakota. “Tell me what happened.”
“I don’t know exactly because I was in the kitchen, but afterwards Lizzie told me Kieran wanted her to help pick out sex toys for Cody and Dylon, you know, to spice up their sex life.”
“Oh, my fucking gods, they must have been pissed. And in front of Dylon’s mom?” Slate asked, trying to keep a straight face.
Giggling, Dakota replied, “Lizzie told me Dylon was furious at Kieran, and Cody had to step in to make peace.”
“He better not try to do that to us,” Slate growled, refusing to think about his mother looking at sex toys.
“Well hopefully, Logan now has him under control so we’re safe from Kieran,” Steel said.
“No offense guys, but I don’t think anyone will ever have Kieran under control,” Zane snorted.
“Maybe,” said Steel, “but I need to get cracking or I’m going to face one disgruntled, hungry crowd. Now out you two, and have fun.”
Slate took Dakota’s hand and led him from the kitchen to a sofa in the deserted great room. Sitting down, he tugged on Dakota’s hand until he joined him.
“Babe, when we talk to my mom, do you want Jackson to be there also?”
“I don’t know. What do you think?”
“Well, it depends on whether you want him to know what happened. If you want my opinion, I have no problem with him being there. I don’t know what happened to us but I’ll bet it has to do with your gift.
Since he already knows about it, I figure he should hear the rest of it too.
He is our Alpha, and I don’t like keeping those kinds of secrets from him. ”
Nodding his head slowly, Dakota realized Slate was right. “Okay,” he said, “then he should be there.”
“Good. The other thing I have to do is to discuss with my father and Steel my decision to stop traveling so someone can be hired to do it instead of me.”
Worrying his bottom lip, Dakota asked, “Do you think they’ll object?”
Slate pulled Dakota onto his lap as he heard the concern in his mate’s voice. Reaching up to smooth the crease that had appeared between Dakota’s eyes, he said, “Not at all. My father will want what’s best for me and that’s staying with you and our pup.”
Smiling, Dakota said, “I’m glad. It must be nice to have a father like that.”
“Yes, it is, but I never really appreciated him when I was growing up. It wasn’t until I saw so many cases of bad fathers in my travels that I began to consider myself very lucky to have him as my dad.”
“I agree,” Dakota said softly, thinking about his father and how different he was compared to Maximus.
“Babe, he’s your father now too,” murmured Slate.
“I know, but I don’t think he wants somebody like me for a son, not when he has you and Steel.”
“Stop it, babe. Stop putting yourself down. There’s nothing wrong with you, in fact, quite the opposite.
Only a very few are ever given what you got from the Fates and the fact that you’re one of the few, says more about the person you are than anything else.
When I was taught about all the gifts the Fates could bestow, empathy was only given to shifters who cared more about others than themselves.
Do you know how rare those shifters are, babe?
Well, let me tell you, they are fucking rare.
I’ve met thousands of shifters in my life and the only ones that even came close to being that way were Colton, Cody and Kieran.
The Fates gave Colton and Cody other rare gifts.
With Kieran, the Fates also gave him attitude and a mouth! ”
Snickering, Dakota said, “That, they did, but I think that is exactly what my brother needed…someone who could make Logan young again. You haven’t met him yet but trust me, my father’s hatred did a number on him too.
I don’t know how he survived…all I know is it changed him in a way that sucked all the happiness out of his life. ”
“Did you ever ask him what his father did to cause him to feel so bad?”
“No, I couldn’t. I was afraid of what he’d tell me. Besides, how could I ever have explained that I felt his pain without telling him I was an empath? You’re the first person I ever told, and I broke my promise to my mother when I did. She feared for my life if anyone ever found out.”
“Don’t worry about it, babe. I’m sure your mother would understand and be grateful you have someone to protect you now,” Slate said, before kissing Dakota’s mating scar. “I promise, babe, you will always be safe with me.”
Framing Slate’s face with his hands, Dakota looked deeply into his mate’s eyes and whispered, “For the first time since my mother died, I do feel safe, thanks to you being in my life. Love you so much.”
“Love you too, so much, babe.” Giving Dakota a quick kiss, Slate said, “Let’s go tell my father about what I want to do and see what he says.”