Chapter Nine
“I’m not taking stuff for nothing.” Marty panted as he scrubbed along the already bright tiles. “Taking a few pieces of fruit or vegetables from a neglected garden is one thing. But no, my mate is apparently that…that…” Marty couldn’t think of a word to describe someone he didn’t know. “That whatever, he can just give out houses, and food, and fireplaces that don’t need wood added to it, and then just wander off, wiping his hands of his little mate problem. Well, I don’t have to take it.”
We’re not leaving our new house, are we? His raccoon sounded genuinely alarmed. Please tell me we’re not going to go back to living under a pile of twigs. Not that. Anything but that.
Marty blew a raspberry. “I’m not silly enough to do that. I’m talking about the principle of the thing. That’s why I’m scrubbing tiles that are clearly cleaned by magic, the same as the rest of the estate. Besides, giving back a gift is rude.” Marty straightened, brushing his hair out of his face with his forearm. His hands were still dripping. “But you tell me. When have you known me to be the type of person to just sit down on my skinny ass and expect everything to be handed to me? When have I done that?”
It might have been nice if you had done that once in a while. Marty got an image of his raccoon resplendent on his back in a pile of cushions, munching on grapes fed to him by a male hand. I don’t mind being pampered.
“You’d be bored in a week.” Marty went to attack the tiles again, but his fingers slipped, and the brush flew out of his hand and sank into the water. “Darn it. I hate getting my face wet.”
Inhaling deeply, Marty held his breath as he ducked under the chilly water. He had to open his eyes so he could see where the brush went, but even so, his lungs felt as though they were bursting as he grabbed hold of it and pushed his head above the water.
“That was not fun.” Marty gasped in fresh air, hurriedly wiping the water off his face with his free hand. Deciding he’d had enough of cleaning tiles that were already sparkly clean, he hoisted himself up onto the edge of the pool, dangling his legs in the water. “It’s invigorating weather, I’ll say that much.”
It's the middle of winter. What did you expect? Get your butt inside.
Marty knew his animal side was right. Inside the pool house the air was warm, he could relax on the couch, and…and… That was the problem. Marty had been in survival mode for so long his down time was reduced to snatched moments under the moon or when he stopped for a breather during the day. Not whole days stretching out in front of him with nothing to do. “Have you ever thought about how long a day is when we don’t have any chores or the need to find food?”
I think you should go inside and get warm. Your brain is freezing up. One day is always as long as the next one.
“No, no. I mean, I know you’re right.” Marty waved his brush around for emphasis and flicked his face with water again. “I do hate doing that.” He quickly swiped the drips off his cheeks. “But I think I’m onto something. I never felt as if the hours dragged when we were busy trying to keep body and soul together. There were always places to go and things to see…”
We were always looking for food because we were perpetually hungry. Go inside, or I’ll shift and take us into the house myself. Your toes are going blue.
“You can’t open the door to get inside. That’s why you have me.” Marty sighed. “Maybe I should just stay here and become a block of ice and then… No. That’s ridiculous. Just because our mate doesn’t want us, that’s no reason to suffer. If the man doesn’t care, it’s a waste of time, really, and I’m not one for playing emotional games anyway. Answer me one thing,” he said as he sensed his raccoon was getting pushy. “Just one thing, and I’ll take us inside. Why do you think our mate rejected us when we didn’t even have a chance to say hello? Most people wait for that before they reject me.”
I don’t know. Perhaps he has devils of his own, and technically, he hasn’t rejected us because he hasn’t talked to us yet. He’s just not here right now.
Marty hadn’t thought of things that way, and while he knew his raccoon was trying to make the best of a bad situation – he’d been rejected as often as Marty had been – Marty could go with that for now.
“Okay. We’ll go inside. I’ll cook something yummy. Oh, or maybe I’ll make a cake. That’s something we haven’t done for ages.” Resting his hand on the side of the pool, Marty pulled his legs out of the water, putting his heels on the edge of the tile. “Ouch, I’ve got cramp,” he said as one of his heels slipped off the tile. “I do not want to fall in.”
The chill didn’t make moving any easier – it was as if it had seeped into his bones - but Marty managed to straighten up slowly. He was just about to turn around when a loud, deep voice yelled behind him. “What in Zeus’s name are you doing out here without clothes on?”
“Hey, what? My bits are covered.” Marty went to turn, but his left calf muscle spasmed, and his foot slipped off the tile again. Before he knew what was happening, he had fallen back into the water with a huge splash.
/~/~/~/~/
“Shit!” I should never have yelled. Ares blamed the fact that as he crested over the hill from the main house, determined to actually talk to the man the Fates deemed perfect for him, his eyes were riveted to a very skimpily clad ass poked in his direction as his mate was standing up.
It was a shock – not seeing the ass as such, but Ares was overwhelmed by his own body’s reaction to seeing it. His cock hardened as if it was on a spring, and Ares’ whole body heated. No time to think about that now.
With a wave of his arm, his mate was plucked from the water by invisible hands, swaddled in a blanket, and deposited into his arms. Without looking at his mate’s face, Ares stormed toward the pool house.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were a penguin shifter,” he grumbled as he fumbled with the door. “Have you no sense of preservation? It’s winter and that water is damned cold. Running around with nothing on…”
“Excuse me. I had pants on.”
“White pants that leave nothing to the imagination when that material gets wet.”
“Oops. I didn’t think about that.” His mate actually giggled. “Thank goodness you don’t have close neighbors. Are you going to put me down now we’re inside?”
“No, I don’t think I’m inclined to.” Ares closed the door behind them and made his way to the corner of the couch closest to the fire. “Knowing my luck, you’d just sprint outside again and freeze to death. Let’s get you warm.”
Sitting down, Ares rubbed up and down his mate’s arm, which was covered with a blanket. He thought that was something someone would do to a cold person. Apparently, it stimulated blood flow, not that Ares knew. Looking up, because if he looked at his mate’s face he might kiss him, Ares was shocked for a second time in five minutes, seeing his image staring back at him.
“That wasn’t there before.” He pointed at the picture.
“No, it wasn’t. I drew that this morning.” His mate yawned, covering his mouth with his hand. “My raccoon told me what you looked like – he saw you when you dropped us off in this house of yours. Are you going to tell me your name, or is that a secret?”
“They call me Ares.” Ares was still stunned by the picture. It was incredibly detailed and looked almost as if the face could just come away from the page and speak.
“Ares? That’s a nice name. I’m Marty. Hmm. I’m feeling much warmer now, thank you. Oh, I must’ve scrubbed those tiles harder than I thought.” Marty yawned again. “I’ll just have a little nap, then I’ll make us something to eat.”
Ares froze as Marty snuggled into his chest, and before he had time to blink, his mate was asleep.
What in Hades’ Garden just happened? He peered down at Marty’s sleeping form. Even asleep, Marty’s nose was twitching and that gave Ares his lightbulb moment. Shifters relied on scent, and clearly, his scent made Marty feel safe enough to sleep.
The problem was Ares hadn’t exactly planned on staying. His only plan had been to talk to his mate to find out if there was something lacking from the house – why else would the man be outside when he didn’t have to be?
But now Marty was in his arms. His mate had a name, and Ares now knew the feel of the man against his body. I can’t disturb his sleep. Yeah, that was the excuse Ares was going for, not just dumping Marty on the couch and making a speedy exit. With a flick of his finger, the coffee table moved so he could rest his feet on it, and with a sigh, Ares kept one arm around Marty, while he leaned back and closed his eyes. He really hadn’t had a lot of sleep recently, either.