Page 27 of Love Bites (Timber Creek #2)

CHAPTER 27

MAX

My thumb tapped the edge of my phone in my pocket, feeling like a lead weight dragging me down. Summer and I had spent yesterday getting her bakery and bookstore organized, the simple tasks taking my mind off the unsolvable puzzle in front of me. Rather than dwell on my father’s absence or the impending party, I alphabetized books and restocked ingredients, following her instructions.

The news of my father’s absence seemed to have popped the lust-filled haze we’d both been under, but thankfully, jetlag drove us both to an early bedtime. Neither of us had the energy for more than sleep, but our unconscious bodies gravitated together on their own, a tangled mess of arms and legs.

Dawn rose soon enough, and I pried myself out of her sleepy hold to shower early. After making myself a cup of coffee, I took the stairs to her rooftop patio, overlooking the small mountain town. Old pipes squeaked in the apartment below, telling me Summer must also be up and showering.

Today was our wedding reception. Summer had said the party would be “Colorado formal.” I wasn’t sure how to interpret that, but I’d gone with a simple black shirt and pants, no tie.

We were already married, so it shouldn’t have mattered much, but this felt… different. More . Intentional, as compared to our spontaneous night in Vegas. But then again, so did the way she’d defended me in Paris.

That hadn’t felt staged, or fake.

It had felt all too real, like she cared about me, not just traveling with me to check off her bucket list. It was too good to be true.

No matter how much I was beginning to care about Summer, I couldn’t let it distract me from my job. I cleared my throat, pulled my phone from my pocket, and tapped the screen to call my father. Peering over the railing to Main Street below, I listened to the call ring, unsure if I was more nervous that Malachi wouldn’t answer, or that he would.

If he didn’t answer, then my questions would go unanswered, and Rhain’s assumption he was missing might be true.

If he did answer, then I’d have to confront him about Project Oleander, and his decision to keep me in the dark yet again.

The call reached his voicemail, and I frowned as I hit redial.

Five ring-throughs later, and still nothing.

I stared down at my phone, scenarios whirling through my mind. Even if I wanted to leap off this rooftop and hunt him down, I had no clue where to start looking for the Conclave, and that was assuming he was with them. My father was the leader of the supernatural world — it took no stretch of the imagination to pinpoint dozens of people who would love to see him taken down. With nothing else to go off but Rhain’s lead, I didn’t have much choice but to sit back and wait.

I hated fucking waiting.

Gritting my teeth, I tapped on a different contact, calling Evangeline, another angel who worked closely with my father.

“Massimo, this is a surprise,” came Evangeline’s smooth voice almost immediately. “Did you get yourself in a spot of trouble and need a bail out? Again?”

There was no hint of concern in her voice, no sign anything was amiss in Headquarters. “Not yet, but it’s early,” I replied, leaning back on the roof’s railing. I kept my tone light, unwilling to reveal my own worry until I knew more. “But I did need to talk to Malachi and haven’t been able to reach him. Have you seen him? Old man probably forgot to charge his phone again.”

Like Malachi would ever forget anything of the sort, but I kept that part to myself.

Evangeline hummed in thought. “Malachi? Not today, I haven’t seen him, no. But that’s no surprise — he’s out of office this week on a Community Outreach assignment. Something about image control with shifter packs in Canada. Didn’t he tell you?”

I ignored her dig, my spine straightening as alarm bells went off in my head. “He told you himself he’d be out for the week?”

“Well, no. But a little over a week ago he sent a memo to a select few of us to let us know he’d be out for the foreseeable future with little to no cell reception.” She adopted a mock-pouting tone. “I guess that didn’t include you?”

I bit back a few choice retorts. “Goodbye, Evangeline.”

“While I’ve got you, Massimo — that human you brought in a few weeks ago, you remember, the one whose partner you weren’t supposed to kill but of course you couldn’t follow orders? Again? Well, he’s been —”

Rolling my eyes, I hung up before she could have the last word. I didn’t have time to deal with whatever complaint that human garbage was trying to make against me. Wouldn’t be the first time anyway.

Community Outreach? What a load of bullshit. My father didn’t even mingle well with other supes, let alone humans. And besides, why would an angel go lead shifter relations meetings? That was the type of thing he used West for.

That, along with the fact Evangeline and the others only received a memo, only confirmed my suspicions.

Malachi was missing.

For all I knew, I was the last one to see him several weeks ago.

Shit.

My skin felt twitchy all over, sparks shooting over my arms with my disquiet. I leaned both hands on the railing, and let my wings burst free, shaking them out to relieve some of my tension.

Soon enough, Rhain and the others would have the location of the assembly, and we could go get him, if that was where he was.

But fuck, no one had heard from him in over two weeks. That was a long time when you were being held prisoner, or worse.

My fingers tightened on the railing, shadow magic painting my fingers the same color as the metal as my head tipped forward. Malachi and I might not have had the relationship that Heath Larkin had with his sons, but he was still my father. My only family, the only one who’d known who I really was for most of my life.

I nearly leapt into flight when a soft hand landed on my shoulder, and I whirled around with my shadows coiled around my hands.

“Whoa there,” Summer said, holding both palms up. “Who’s afraid of little old me?”

Any words, any thoughts died immediately at the sight of her, worry over my father ushered quickly to the back of my mind. She was a beautiful distraction, temptation I had no power to resist, a lifeline thrown in the midst of my turmoil.

Her white silk dress was overlaid with a delicate layer embroidered in little white daisies. It hugged her curves in all the right places, and the slit to her thigh nearly had my fangs punching out, desperate to taste her again. She’d painted her lips in a deep red, making them look blood-covered, and they matched the heels peeking out from the hem of the dress.

She smiled self-consciously, swishing the skirt side to side. “I thought it matched the ring.” She held up her hand and waved her fingers. “And, of course, I needed to show off my mark.”

She twirled and the moment I spotted her back, my fangs punched through.

Perfectly framed by her backless dress was my shadowmark. She’d even swept her golden-blonde hair into a curled ponytail to show it off. Proudly displayed.

My hand reached out of its own accord, tracing the swirls on her spine, and she shivered. I stepped closer, and she leaned back into my touch, tilting her head so naturally.

So trustingly exposing her neck to me.

I couldn’t resist her. Skating my lips across her shoulder, to the point where her shoulder met her neck, I inhaled her sweet lemon scent.

She pressed her back to my front, like she wanted more, and I let my teeth graze her skin, but didn’t break it.

“Summer,” I breathed. My hands wrapped around her waist, tugging her even closer. “Are you trying to kill me, sunshine?”

“Now, why would I do that? I’m not the tease, here.” She peered over her shoulder to meet my eyes, long eyelashes fluttering as she blinked innocently. Mischief danced in her expression, the corners of her lips tipping up as she slid her hips to the side, grazing my crotch just right. “That’s your job.”

I should have loosened my hands around her waist, should have stepped back, should have done anything but lick across her exposed shoulder before placing a gentle kiss there. She sucked in a breath, and my nostrils flared as her arousal blossomed in the air. “Careful what you wish for, wife.”

Squeezing her waist, I let her go, already missing the contact. She turned to face me, her chest rising as she breathed heavily. “What are the rules for tonight?” she asked, her eyes darting from my eyes to my mouth, to my chest, lower, and back up.

I smirked, glad she was as affected by me as I was her. “Rules?”

“Yes.” She nodded vigorously, blinking several times. “Rules. My family will know something’s up if we don’t sell this.”

I raised a brow. “Do we need to sell this to them?” I didn’t relish the idea of coming clean to the Larkins that I’d been using their baby sister to hunt vampires, but it seemed inevitable we’d be found out. “How about I just act like I can’t keep my hands off you, and look at you like I know exactly what that dress will look like on the floor later?”

Summer poked my chest. “Quit distracting me. And yes, we need to sell it. They cannot know what’s going on, or they’ll throw a fit over me coming with you to find your dad.”

Her words drew me up short. “You’re not coming with me. Once Rhain gets a location for me, I don’t need you. And it will be way too dangerous.”

She sucked in a breath, and immediately I regretted my words. “Summer, wait —”

“Nope.” She shook her head, pulling back from me, but there was fire in her eyes. “You’re right. My super nose might not be as useful once you have a direction, but that’s not the same as not needing me, and you know it. Besides, who is watching your back while you go out looking for trouble?”

I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it again, no retort coming to mind.

No one had ever watched my back, not until Summer.

“This is a terrible plan.”

“New plan is no plan.” She nodded, maybe trying to convince herself. She stuck her left palm out, the golden bands glistening on her ring finger, and I couldn’t find it in me to deny her anything. “We stick together until the job is done.”

Grabbing her hand, I pulled her into my chest, tipping her chin up with one finger. “How do you suggest we sell this then? Lots of physical contact?”

She swallowed, her fingers twitching against my own. “Yep. Probably that. You know how touchy we wolves are.”

I slid my free hand down to her throat, gripping the side lightly as she sucked in a breath. Leaning down over her, I brought my mouth within an inch of hers. “Kissing?”

Her hazel eyes were rimmed in gold, that fiery passion I’d come to adore blazing bright. “Expected. I couldn’t stop the glass-clinking tradition even if I tried. You have to kiss me every time.”

“Mmm.” I tilted my head to the side, skimming my lips over her cheek, feeling her pulse race under my thumb as I brushed it across her neck. The two kisses we’d shared were seared into my memory, and I was dying for another taste. “What about scent?”

A soft whimper left her lips that had my smirk morphing into a full-on grin. “A mate bond sends wolves into a bit of a frenzy, in a permanent state of arousal that is just uncomfortable for all of us.”

“Terrible,” I said as I dragged my hands down her arms, savoring the feel of her warm skin as a trail of goosebumps broke out over her biceps.

“We’re not mated though, so that’s not as hard to sell.”

“Oh?” My eyes drifted up to hers as I let my hand slip down her back, tracing my shadowmark. “You think you’re not mine?”

She gasped at the light contact. “Yours to feed from, you mean?”

My fingers paused at the base of her spine, pressing lightly into her skin. I’d told her previously that a vampire’s shadowmark could develop on their Source. It wasn’t a total lie, though it wasn’t the whole truth either.

But now wasn’t the time for that discussion.

Instead, I smirked. “Well, I’ve certainly done that.” Summer clenched her legs together, likely at the memory of the last bite I’d given her on her upper thigh. “And if I have to keep you in a constant state of arousal to sell this, that’s what I’ll do.”

Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth like she was about to protest that. I pressed a finger to her lips.

“Do you trust me?”

I hadn’t meant to say it, but once I did, I realized how desperately I needed to hear her answer. Needed to know she did trust me, before we went out and paraded this farce in front of all her friends and family and then some. I couldn’t remember the last time I trusted anyone, but Summer had earned my loyalty time and time again these past couple weeks.

Whatever else we were or weren’t, in this we were allies.

Finally, Summer nodded, one side of her mouth tipping up into a smile. “Yeah, I do.”

I forced myself to take a step back, to take her hand instead, though I couldn’t resist pressing my lips to her knuckles. “Then we’ve got this, sunshine.”

“Turn here,” Summer said from the passenger side of her Jeep, pointing out Heath’s driveway. “Oh, sheesh.”

Cars lined the drive as far as we could see, and Summer muttered under her breath the whole way up the driveway.

The long, long driveway. We were on it for a good ten minutes before we even caught sight of the house, a little cabin popping up in the distance.

I raised a brow, glancing at her. “Does he think we’ll all fit in there?”

Summer shook her head. “Not in there, no.” She pointed in the distance, and I followed her finger to a large barn beyond the house, almost hidden among the trees. Its doors were flung open wide, a space in front of the doors strung with fairy lights. Barrels were spread around as tables in the area, already filled with people mingling with drinks. Off to the side, a dozen kids played lawn games and shrieked happily together.

“Dang it,” Summer muttered, taking a steadying breath. “He went for the tower.”

I pulled into a spot in front of the cabin — conveniently outfitted with a wood pallet with the words NEWLYWEDS spray-painted on it in neon pink to reserve the space.

Switching off the Jeep, I peered out the windshield. “Tower?”

Summer cringed. “Inside the barn.”

More fairy lights draped over rafters inside the barn, casting the whole scene in a hazy glow. And there, in the very center, on a table covered in a white tablecloth, rose a giant Eiffel Tower.

“Are those —?”

“Macarons? Yes. Just in case everyone here hasn’t heard our entire story yet.” Summer sighed, shooting me an apologetic look. “Before we go out there, let me just say one, I’m sorry; two, I tried to warn you; three, I tried to stop them; and four” — she trailed off, pursing her lips like she was trying to think of a fourth — “four, when in doubt, just nod and drink.”

I hummed in thought. “You are a paragon of wisdom, wife.”

Summer gave her ponytail a flick and winked. “I know.”

A series of howls sounded from outside, and a heartbeat later, our doors were wrenched open. My gaze met Summer’s as she mouthed Sorry before we were pulled bodily from the car.

“Hands off, wolves, I can walk.” I shoved their hands off me, straightening my shirt as I found myself face to fang with Cooper, Aspen, and West.

West clapped me on the back — hard — and gave me a nod. “Welcome to the family, Max Larkin.”

I frowned. “Not happening.”

Cooper hummed, arms crossed over his broad chest, looked me up and down and merely licked his fang. Aspen, in an almost matching pose, narrowed her eyes at me.

Summer came around from her side of the car, followed closely by Leif and Terran.

“Why is West the only one of you idiots who’s dressed appropriately?” She laughed, wrapping West, then Cooper, in big hugs.

She turned to Aspen next, and the sisters seemed to have a silent conversation before Summer grinned with a squeal, and squeezed her arms around Aspen.

“Okay, okay — need — oxygen —” Aspen swatted at Summer’s back, but they were both smiling as they pulled apart.

I watched the two women, looking for any lingering animosity after their fight the night before we got married. Summer had pointedly avoided talking about Aspen in her ramblings over the last week, but she leaned into her sister, stealing another side hug.

“I was not prepared for how badly I’d miss you fools,” Summer said as she returned to my side, grabbing my hand and smiling up at me, and my chest felt buoyed. “Apparently I should have sent Indi to pick all your outfits in my absence.”

“What’s wrong with this?” Leif tugged at the vest he wore over a plain t-shirt, and which he’d paired with ripped jeans and black Vans.

Summer booped him on the nose. “A for effort, Leify.” Then she waggled a finger between Cooper and Terran. “D minus for you two.”

“Hey!” Terran exclaimed in outrage at the same time as Cooper gave a disbelieving chuff.

The big cat gestured at his shirt. “This is my good flannel.”

“Yeah, and I hosed down these boots for you and everything, sis,” Terran added, lifting up one of his hiking boots, then adjusted the hem of his black t-shirt. “And this is brand new last year. Not even a beer logo on it.” He lifted up his backwards baseball hat, ruffling his hair, then slammed it back down.

West, dressed in a blazer, dark jeans, and oiled cowboy boots, shook his head at them. “Someday you might want to make yourself presentable to someone, you heathens,” he said, giving Terran’s hat a sharp tug that nearly had him falling on his ass.

“You —” Terran fixed his hat, righting himself, and raised a pointer finger at West. “This is my favorite hat.” For a second, the two were frozen, preternaturally still in that shifter way, then Terran lunged for West, who was already leaping back. Without batting an eye, Aspen and Cooper bodily moved Leif out of the way of their tussling. I slipped a hand around Summer’s waist, holding her to me, and felt her soft chuckle beneath my fingertips. Happiness radiated off her, and I felt it to my bones.

“BOYS! Boys,” came Heath’s booming voice as he joined us. The two brothers broke apart, hands up, letting Heath step between them and shove them apart. West pointed two fingers at his eyes then stuck them towards Terran, the universal sign for I’m watching you .

Heath had donned a blazer and dark jeans like West, but paired it with a dark cowboy hat. He beamed around at all of us, then pulled Summer into a hug.

“Sweetheart,” he said, stepping back to hold her by the elbows and look her up and down. “You look beautiful.”

Summer smiled, blinking. “Thanks, Dad.”

He turned to me then, and without realizing it, I braced, unsure how he would react to the male who’d eloped with his youngest daughter. Then, before I knew what was happening, strong arms wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me in tight and thumping my back.

A hug.

“Welcome to the family, son,” Heath said, close enough the others wouldn’t hear. Just for us. He thumped my upper arms again as he pulled back. “I’m so happy to have you. And may I say you also look very handsome, young man.”

His hazel eyes glistened a little, and I felt an unfamiliar lump in my throat.

“Thank you,” I croaked.

He nodded, holding his arms out wide to the others. “Now, I believe a celebration is in order! Summer? After you two, sweetheart.”

With a theatrical bow, he swept his arms towards the barn, and the siblings parted to make way for us.

I met Summer’s eye, holding out my arm for her, and she wrapped hers around it.

As we stepped forward, another chorus of howls burst around us. Summer laughed, then joined in with them and broke into a half-skip-half-jog towards the party, tugging me with her.

I hurried to match her step, and we threw ourselves to the wolves.