Page 7

Tor

Our mate was as jumpy as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs, and right now that had me smiling to myself. I didn’t want to ruffle Harper’s feathers, but the tiger? He reminded me of the time we ‘hunted’ down my grandma’s chickens.

They’d cluck, cluck, clucked blithely when I took fur, not even looking our way as we then crouched down, ready to stalk them.

Our belly fur had brushed the grass, our movements slow, so as not to startle them as I crept closer and closer…

Of course, that’s when my gran came out.

A swift bash on the nose with her broom killed off any desire to attack the chickens, but…

That feeling of exhilaration, of being able to get closer and closer without alerting the chickens, I felt some of that now.

I was gonna sneak up on Harper, get under her skin, and then?—

“I’ll take those.”

Harper had gotten up to clear the table, but both Kieran and I intercepted her. I shot my sleuthmate a triumphant smile when I snagged the bowls first, walking them over to the kitchen.

“Great, so if they’re gonna do the dishes, you can show me where the hooks…”

Mack was talking to the wall, assuming Harper would join him, but she tracked us into the kitchen.

“You bought the food,” she protested. “And you’re doing DIY for me.”

“Not right now, I’m not…” Mack muttered.

“I’ll do the dishes,” Harper insisted.

She tried to elbow her way forward, which forced me to act.

I picked her up, her eyes going wide as I set her down on the kitchen counter.

Kieran ran the water and squirted dish soap into the sink, loading all the dishes in while I went to the fridge and pulled out another beer.

I cracked it open then placed it by her hand. “You relax.”

“Or tell me where you want these pictures. No? I’ll just stand here then.”

“Are you guys for real?”

Harper bent over then and she couldn’t know this, but the floral scent of her filled my lungs.

I barely resisted huffing her in, trying to play it cool.

If this was the pre-Grand Reveal days, we’d just woo Harper, then let her know what we were.

Those were the rules, but now everything had changed.

People knew what we were and had opinions, so many opinions, about shifterkind.

Then she laid a hand on my cheek.

“Like who are you? You bring around amazing food, dish it up for everyone, do the dishes.” Her thumb slid down my cheek and I barely suppressed a full body shiver.

I wanted more, so much more, but I stayed right where I was.

Women and chickens, you can’t scare them off by moving too quickly.

“Is this something you do for women all across the city?” She took a sip of the beer, then poked the air.

“Like are you some kind of outreach program, helping maidens in distress?”

Kieran stopped washing the dishes, looking back over his shoulder at me. Be careful, that was what he was telling me silently. Be very, very careful.

“Not exactly,” I said, staring into her eyes.

I wanted to press a kiss to her palm, mark her as mine somehow. I wanted to step between those beautiful long legs and then tug her close. I wanted?—

“So what’s your deal, then?” She looked from me to Kieran, then snorted when she caught sight of Mack. “I know Mr. Grumpy over there would rather be anywhere else than here.”

“Got that right.”

Mack barely breathed that out, his jaw firming as I glared at him.

“But you guys…” Her finger traced the line of my chin, slowly pulling away, and I wanted to put it right back where it was. “You’re so sweet.”

I closed my eyes. Sweet was the word women used to describe a guy they had absolutely no interest in. Gods, had we screwed shit up already? Should we have been more standoffish and distant like Mack was? Women seemed to see his icy exterior as an obstacle to overcome.

“Have you got really amazing mothers or something?”

“My mum is pretty incredible,” Kieran said, turning around. “So’s Tor’s.”

“She’s actually really, really intense,” I confessed. “Tiger mum in more than one way.”

“OK, so is this all part of the service?” she asked, kicking her heels in the air. “Do I pay extra for dish duty?”

“We won’t be accepting money for this job,” I told her, willing Harper to understand.

“Especially as it’s never going to get done,” Mack said.

“What?” Her brow creased, and I saw the slight shine in her eyes from the one and a half beers she’d drunk. Her hair was a loose black halo, a shadow I wanted to lose myself in. “How the hell do you run a business if you don’t get paid for your jobs?”

“Other people do.” Kieran flicked the water from his hands as he came closer. “Just not you, Harper.”

“So what…?” She looked around from one of us to the next, her back stiffening. “OK, so what were you expecting to?—?”

“Nothing.”

Mack said that way too quickly, but I couldn’t be that noble, not when she was this close. It felt like every damn day of my life had built up to this moment, and I couldn’t let it slip between my fingers.

“Just a kiss,” I replied, grinning to soften my words, then tilting my cheek her way and tapping it. “For that, we’ll do the dishes and?—”

My offer was satisfactory, apparently. Her hands cupped my jaw, and she tilted my head her way. For a moment, she hung there, her lips hovering over mine.

“Tell me you don’t have a girlfriend, or worse, a wife at home.”

“Gods no, Harper. I can’t?—”

“No little tigers? No sister sleeping on your couch?”

“What? No, she’s?—”

I lost all track of whatever the fuck I was saying, because her mouth slammed down on mine.

That was the moment when I did exactly as I’d fantasised. Her legs parted to admit me, my hands dragging her closer so her body was wedged against mine. Her scent turned to the sweet, dense perfume of good quality incense, stealing the oxygen from my lungs as my mouth did its best to devour hers.

Only for her to pull away.

That small smile, it grew by the second, only for her to look over my shoulder, eyes heavily lidded.

“So am I just supposed to kiss one of you, or…?”

“You want to kiss Baloo over there?” I grinned. “You’ll make his week. No, month.”

“It’d be the highlight of my life, Harper.”

Despite his silent warning, Kieran was losing his cool rapidly. His eyes glowed bright gold and fur prickled over his arms as she slipped down off the counter and sauntered closer. I was right on her heels, the tiger tracking her far more closely than he had any chicken.

“So same question,” she said, lifting her arms to tug his head down. His hands went to her waist in an instant. “No?—?”

“Girlfriend, fiance, wife, or significant other of any kind,” he told her, unable to stop himself from staring. “Just a couple of annoying brothers.”

“Well, that’s OK then.”

I couldn’t help but draw closer, watching her claim his mouth before he took over.

That rapid intake of breath told me this was hitting him just as hard, but it was her little moan that had me stepping closer.

I pulled her hair back into a ponytail, heard her moan deepen as I wound it up and onto her head and then pressed kisses to the back of her neck.

This is what it’d be like if she accepted the bond.

My fangs ached with the need to sink them into her neck, right as she came apart on my cock, marking her as mine.

Her wedged between us, the two of us, three of us if Mack got his head out his arse, worshipping our mate.

Right now, that involved tracing the line of her neck and shoulders, learning every curve with my lips.

Until she broke away.

“Whoa… You…” Her hand waved in the air. “That… I…” Watching her shake her head, as if trying to dispel the haze we were all marinating in, was just perfect. I needed to know she was feeling this too. “So am I supposed to?—?”

“Tell me where the hooks need to go?” Mack was holding on by a thread, his eyes as silver as the moon. “Then I can get out of your hair and leave you to it.”

She smiled, strolling over to the couch and then pointing to the big wall above the couch.

“Three over there would be perfect.”

“Great.”

Mack had always been a master craftsman, but right now he was damn fast with it.

The holes were marked, the holes drilled, and then the hooks were threaded into the plugs, secured tightly.

I thought he’d bail at that, but he picked up the frames and hung each one, checking if they were straight with the spirit level; but when he was done, I saw how hard the wolf was pushing him.

“I…” His hands rose, clawing at the air, because he couldn’t bring himself to reach for Harper.

Of course, that was the moment he saw his claws begin to lengthen.

Perfectly pale, his eyes blazed pure silver before he turned and shoved his tools into the toolbox.

“I’m done,” he announced, then turned to me. “Gimme the keys, Tor.”

“Mack.”

“Gimme the fucking keys, Tor.”

I threw them through the air and he went to catch them, but Harper’s arm shot up. She snatched them out of the air, holding them close to her chest when his lips curled into a snarl. I moved, Kieran moved, ready to step between them, but Harper seemed intent on going where angels feared to tread.

“You did a good job.” Did she see the fine tremor in his body as her hand went to his shoulders? “Fast, perfectly executed. I can write you a Google review if you like.”

“Maybe you should.” His growl echoed through the apartment. “Just as long as you step back.”

“I will in just a second, right after I…” He’d bawl me out for this later, but I saw it now.

She was just a little human woman and he could bench press her with one hand, so Harper was no threat to him.

So why was he completely stricken? His snarl fading as she drew close, and I knew what he had to be feeling.

Like his lips needed hers more than he needed his next breath.

“One kiss, that was the agreed price, right? Just one?—”

When he grabbed her, Kieran and I lunged forward, just in time for us to watch him pick Harper up and slam her against the wall.

That little sound killed me, the tiger ready to burst out and tear his face off when I realised what it was.

A guttural sound of pleasure as he thrust forward, grinding himself into the apex of her thighs, over and over as he claimed her mouth with his.

Right before he jerked away.

Just as fast, he plucked the keys from her grip as he set her down carefully, grabbing the toolbox and marching out the front door, letting it slam behind him. We all just stared. The sound of our truck’s engine, then a sharp beep of the horn, let us know that fun time was over.

“We’ve gotta go,” Kieran said.

“Yeah. Of course.” Harper’s legs seemed a little wobbly. “Um… thanks?”

“To be continued?” I moved in closer, wrapping my arm around her waist until I was sure she was stable.

“With service like that?” She looked up at me with a grin. “How could I say no?”

“Well, alright—” Another impatient beep. “Sleep well, pretty girl.”

“And lock the door after we go,” Kieran instructed.

She did just that. I stopped to check once we were in the car, watching her silhouette through the curtains obsessively.

“Shut up,” Mack snapped, even though no one had said anything. “Just shut up and let me get us home in one piece.”

“And then we’re going to fucking talk about this,” Kieran snapped. Mr. Chill could only be pushed for so long, and apparently now was his breaking point. “Because that’s our fated mate up there.”

“Your—”

“Ours,” Kieran growled, using all of his bear’s ferocity to silence everyone.

“You can try to bullshit your way through this, but that…?” He glanced at the apartment stairs.

“That changes everything. We’re a sleuth, and we’re going to work through this like one, so drive safely, or I’ll take the wheel. ”

Had an amazing night , I tapped out a message to Harper on my phone. Those lips are gonna feature in my dreams.

My butt shifted in the car seat, trying to get comfortable when my hard on was trapped in my jeans. In my dreams and in my fantasies, because we’d been waiting for years to find our fated mate, and now we’d discovered her, we wouldn’t stop wooing her until she accepted that she belonged to us.