Page 24 of Briggs (Paranormal Council Enforcers #16)

Briggs chuckled. “We’re going to shower. You agreed to a shower and then a run, did you not?”

“Yes. But…” I glanced back at the bed. “How did you just stand while holding me?”

“You’re not exactly heavy, Todd. And I have excellent balance. In both forms.”

We were in the bathroom now, and I let my legs drop when I felt Briggs slowly start to lower me to the floor.

“Wow, your bathroom is nice.” I had a nice bathroom too, but it was obvious that my place had been built with smaller people in mind—omegas.

“Thanks. I didn’t do anything except add the towels and stuff.” Briggs kissed my nose, then took a step back, causing me to have to drop my arms from where they were around his neck. I looked around a bit more as he went to start the shower.

“Is it all right if I use your toilet?” I asked. It was incredibly embarrassing to even have to ask that, but, well, I was still clenching things.

“Absolutely. You don’t have to ask to do such things.” Briggs kissed the side of my head. “I’ll be out in the bedroom stripping the bed while you take care of those things. When the water is hot, feel free to hop on in even if I’m not back.”

I didn’t get a chance to say anything back before he was gone. We would have plenty of time to talk while in the shower, but I had more urgent things to take care of, so I hurried to the toilet and sat down.

I sighed in relief when I was able to finally take care of stuff.

Obviously, things of this nature happened, and it was super sweet of Briggs to leave the room so I could do it in private.

But what about when I went into heat? He said he had been told it was going to happen.

Dr. King had said the same thing to me. As had Dr. Swift.

Not that he was the same kind of doctor.

But he understood just how much trauma my body and mind had gone through and how that would affect how everything functioned. I wasn’t so sure though.

I finished quickly, then flushed and dove into the shower.

I wanted to see about washing certain parts before Briggs came into the bathroom.

I wasn’t sure if I still had my thoughts completely open to him or if it was honestly just coincidence or what, but I somehow managed to do just that.

Seconds after I finished rinsing certain parts, Briggs came strolling back into the bathroom.

He leaned against the doorway all sexy-like and grinned.

“Mind if I join you, or would you rather shower alone?”

“It’s your shower,” I said.

Briggs shrugged. “Sort of. At the moment, it’s ours. We’ll have to figure out where we’re going to live, but we have time.” Briggs stepped into the shower, and I wondered if the lack of shower door or curtain was because it was easier or for some other reason.

“You mentioned the mated enforcer housing.”

Briggs grinned at me. “I did. We can pick one out next week. The council isn’t going to kick either of us out of our current places.”

That was something that was so new to me.

I had somewhere safe to live. Not that I felt unsafe growing up.

It was different though. There were weird sounds out in the desert, and the pride was always just…

odd. But my parents had been pretty. I stopped my thoughts.

What had my parents been? I remember my mom smiling and being happy when it was just us.

And Dad had gone to work, wherever that happened to be.

And they seemed like they were a happy couple.

They never mistreated us. But the pride itself had been incredibly whack now that I was older and could look at it from the outside.

“Did you want to shampoo your hair?” Briggs asked.

I blinked a few times before nodding. I’d stood under the spray completely when I first got in the shower, so my hair was already wet.

I took the bottle from Briggs and squeezed a small amount into my palm before handing it back.

We spent the next few minutes taking care of washing and rinsing everything.

When finished, Briggs turned the water off and stepped out.

I followed and quickly found myself wrapped up in a large towel.

I laughed as Briggs playfully pulled the towel away, then tossed it onto my head, then pulled it off again.

I took it and found him smiling. He was such a gorgeous man, but even more so when he smiled like that.

“You know, I’m immensely grateful that you think I’m gorgeous. Personally, I think I’m average-looking, but if my mate thinks I’m gorgeous, I’ll take the compliment.” Briggs leaned in and kissed my nose. “You are adorable and quite handsome yourself.”

I smiled at him. “I’m not sure how to turn those off. Can you teach me?”

Briggs’s smile dimmed a bit, but not so much I would have noticed if I hadn’t been staring at him so intently. “I can. We’ll work on it while we’re running,” he said. He froze as he was hanging up his towel. “Actually, after. That way, if you can’t turn them back on, we can still communicate.”

I reached out and touched his hand, which had him looking back at me. “I don’t want to lock you out. I just…at times, I’d like to not share everything with you. What if I want to surprise you, but I can’t because I end up sharing everything with you all of the time?”

“Fair enough. But I’d still like to wait until after the run.

” I nodded. “Good.” Briggs took my towel from me and hung it beside his.

“Come on. Let’s go.” Briggs tugged on my hand, and I readily followed him out to the bedroom and then down the stairs.

If we weren’t shifters and about to go outside and shift, I might feel a bit odd about walking through his house naked, but we were.

Briggs led me out the back door, and we found ourselves not quite alone. I heard talking off to the left and immediately moved closer to my mate. “Do you know who that is? Should we wait to shift?”

“It sounds like Felix and some of the other fae enforcers. They live in this row and the one directly in front of us. They’re probably just having a get-together.

They have them a lot.” Briggs turned and placed his hands on my cheeks.

I expected the kiss and was all too happy to kiss him back.

That was until he pulled away and shook his head at me.

“Run first. More kissing later. I want to see your cheetah. Will you shift for me?”

There was no way I would ever deny this man if I had the ability to give him what he was asking.

I smiled at him before I knelt down and called for my cheetah.

It wasn’t a difficult thing since he and I had such a strong connection after everything we’d been through.

My cheetah was just as excited to meet Briggs as I had been for him to claim me.

In seconds, my feline side replaced the human one, and I sat there staring up at Briggs. His eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he knelt down and reached for me. He stopped just inches from my head. “Can I touch you?”

“You can,” I tried to tell him through our bond. “Did that work?”

Briggs chuckled. “It did. You are adorable and gorgeous in your human form, and your cheetah is stunning,” Briggs said as his hands gently touched my cheeks.

They quickly moved up to my round ears, and I couldn’t help but start purring.

This was our mate, and he was touching us.

He thought my cheetah was stunning! Seriously, what more could I ever ask for?

“Wow.” Briggs shook his head. “I work with all types of shifters, but you are just gorgeous, Todd. Truly.”

I opened my eyes and stared up at my mate’s face.

“My cheetah and I are both pleased you are happy with how we look. Can I meet your wolf now?” I asked.

I heard talking that seemed to be getting closer, and I didn’t know if it was because we’d just claimed one another or if I was simply going to be possessive over my sexy mate, but I didn’t want anyone else seeing him naked at the moment.

Briggs chuckled, leaned in, and kissed my nose, then let his hands drop. One moment, I was staring at all of that gorgeous skin, and the next, there was an overly large wolf sitting where my mate had just been kneeling.

“Your wolf is beautiful. And so fluffy! I can see why he would love the snow. He’s built for it.”

“He is indeed. Shall we go for a quick run? I can show you the mated enforcer housing and a few other places if you haven’t already explored them.”

“I’d like that. I’ve only been around the council building, my little area, and then back around here.

Banner and I don’t really venture far. Oh, and by Alpha Babak’s because that’s where John is.

We shift there and come this way before going back.

It’s not a lot, but I’m usually pretty tired by the time I get there. ”

“We’ll have to change that. For all of you.

Call out if I’m going too fast for you,” Briggs said as he started off in a trot.

I sat there, staring at him trotting away.

Did he really say that? To me? Did he not remember that cheetahs were fast?

I let my mate get to the end of the building before I took off.

I caught up in seconds and was past him like he wasn’t even moving.

I heard laughter through our bond as I slowed down so my mate could catch up.

When he did, he tugged on my tail. I playfully turned and swiped at him but found myself tackled to the ground with a very happy wolf above me.