Page 8 of Orlando (Council Assassins #20)
ORLANDO CROSSED HIS arms under his head and stretched out on the mattress as he watched Liam move around the bedroom. He still felt slightly awkward living with Liam, but he’d get used to it. The apartment would eventually feel like his home.
Liam already did.
“I don’t know,”
Liam said as he checked his reflection in the mirror.
“I feel this is too bulky.”
He was wearing a brown sweater over jeans, and he looked delectable.
“I like it.”
“I’m going to be sweating as soon as we step out of the apartment.”
“Then change. You look good, though.”
Liam turned toward the bed and arched a brow.
“I’m pretty sure you’d think I look good in a trash bag.”
Orlando sat up, dislodging Parsley, who’d been napping on his chest. The cat glared, but Orlando ignored him and reached for Liam’s hand.
“That’s because you would. You’re beautiful.”
Liam’s cheeks flushed.
It highlighted the freckles on his cheeks.
Orlando wanted to kiss all of them, but unfortunately, they didn’t have time.
They were meeting Orlando’s friends for dinner at Seymour and Jimmy’s house, and Liam had been adamant that they couldn’t be late.
Orlando had to resist the temptation to drag him back into bed, but it felt like the hardest thing he’d ever done.
How was he supposed to watch Liam change several times without tumbling him back between the sheets?
Liam squeezed Orlando’s hands, but when Orlando decided to try his luck and pulled, his mate resisted.
Liam rolled his eyes and pulled Orlando out of bed.
Orlando went because he had to.
He’d never hear the end of it if he and Liam were late.
Seymour and Lewis had been chomping at the bit to get their hands on Liam.
They hadn’t met yet and had been grumpy about the fact that Orlando hadn’t needed anyone’s help to move.
He didn’t own that many things, and Liam’s apartment was already pretty full of stuff anyway.
But tonight, the people who had helped Orlando to keep Liam safe would meet Liam, and Orlando was a bit nervous.
He hadn’t become an assassin, and he didn’t work for the council anymore, but some of his friends did.
Kennedy was already training the next batch of assassins, and while he wouldn’t talk about it over dinner, Liam knew that most of the people in Orlando’s life were or had been involved with the council.
Liam had said he didn’t have any problems with that, but Orlando couldn’t help but wonder if it was true.
“You need to start getting ready so we’re not late,”
Liam said as he pulled off his sweater, revealing a white t-shirt that clung to his chest and waist.
Orlando’s mouth went dry.
“No one would care.”
“I would. Come on, Orlando. I want to make a good first impression.”
“You don’t need to. You’re my mate. Everyone will welcome you even if you show up wearing dirty jeans and the boots you keep at the community garden.”
“I want them to like me for me, not because I’m bonded to you.”
Orlando could understand that.
Liam had told him he didn’t have many people in his life, and he was both excited and nervous at the thought of meeting Orlando’s friends.
Orlando considered most of the people who would be there tonight like family, and if everything went well, they’d soon become Liam’s family, too.
It didn’t take Orlando as much time to get ready as it had Liam.
His friends had seen him in every state of undress and dressed in anything, from jeans and a t-shirt to a uniform to only his underwear.
They wouldn’t care if his t-shirt had a hole in the hem.
Liam still made Orlando change his t-shirt before patting the cat and finally leaving the apartment. Orlando did it grumbling just because he could.
“Your friends invited us for dinner. The least you can do is wear clothes without holes in them,”
Liam gently scolded.
“Babe, they saw me naked. They wouldn’t have cared.”
Liam frowned.
“How many chances are there that they’ll see you naked again?”
Orlando grinned.
“Why? Are you jealous?”
Liam’s cheeks flushed.
“I know I shouldn’t be. You’re a shifter, and you need to undress to shift.”
“I do, but I could carry around a blanket or towel if it makes you more comfortable. I don’t have to strip in front of my friends.”
“I don’t want you to change that kind of thing for me. I’ll be fine.”
Nothing was far in town, so they were walking to Seymour’s house. They were holding hands, and Orlando used his hold to get Liam to stop walking. He waited until Liam was looking at him to smile.
“I’d do anything in my power to make you more comfortable. You know that, right?”
“I do, but you don’t have to. I’m a shifter’s mate. I’ll just have to get used to it. Besides, most of your friends are bonded, right?”
“Not all of them, but yes. Seymour’s mate is Jimmy, Lewis is with Kennedy, and there are a bunch of others, too. There are a few single guys and girls in the group, though.”
“You’ve never been with any of them?”
“God, no. I trained with most of them, and I always felt it would be too much trouble to start something.”
“Aren’t your friends bonded with people they worked with?”
Orlando laughed and reached up to kiss Liam’s cheek.
“They are, but they’re not dating. They’re with their mates, so even though they worked together, it makes sense for them.”
Liam nodded. Orlando hoped he’d reassured him, but if he hadn’t, Liam would soon see that he had nothing to worry about.
“Liam, you’re my mate. I’d rather cut off my arm or never shift again than hurt you. You don’t really think I might cheat on you, do you?”
Liam instantly shook his head.
“Of course not. Just ignore me, okay?”
Orlando wouldn’t, but it was a conversation they could wait to have.
Liam had briefly told him about the failed relationships in his past, so Orlando understood why he was a bit wary, even though they were mates.
He wasn’t a shifter, and even though he knew what being mates meant, maybe he didn’t fully understand it.
Orlando hadn’t been lying when he’d said he’d rather hurt himself than Liam. If there was anything he could do to make sure that his mate never felt pain again, he’d do it.
Orlando reached up to kiss Liam again. Liam gave in, and Orlando felt his smile against his lips. His mate knew he could trust him.
“Let’s go,”
Orlando said, pulling Liam along.
“You didn’t want to be late, so maybe we shouldn’t start kissing in the middle of the sidewalk.”
“I don’t know. I’m starting to regret not taking you up on your offer earlier.”
Orlando groaned.
“Of course you tell me now that it’s too late to go back.”
Orlando got more serious.
“But you really don’t have anything to worry about. They’re going to love you almost as much as I do.”
Liam sucked in a breath.
Orlando had known what he was doing when he’d said those three little words.
They hadn’t told each other that they were in love yet, but it was what Orlando felt.
He wanted Liam to know it, especially in a moment in which he felt insecure. He didn’t need his mate to say it back. He could feel the love coursing through their shared bond.
Liam got tenser when they reached Seymour’s house.
There was nothing else Orlando could say to reassure him, so he just squeezed his hand and knocked.
He didn’t wait for an answer.
He opened the door, ignored Liam’s whisper to wait, and walked in.
Seymour was coming toward them from the kitchen. He was drying his hands on a towel, and he looked delighted.
“Liam!”
he said.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Seymour bypassed Orlando completely in his rush to shake Liam’s hand. Orlando could only step aside.
“I’m here, too,”
he complained.
Seymour narrowed his eyes at him.
“I see you almost every day, but I’ve never met your mate. Let me enjoy his company.”
“You think you’d enjoy mine, too.”
“Considering you’re insufferable, sometimes, I wonder why I became your friend.”
Liam made a strangled sound, but when Orlando looked at him, he was smiling. He winked, enjoying the way Liam’s cheeks turned pink.
“See? I told you there was no reason for you to worry about meeting Seymour and the others.”
“That’s easy for you to say,”
Liam grumbled.
“Just so you know, Tex is here,”
Seymour said.
“I know you didn’t meet him in the best of circumstances, but he’s a friend.”
Liam’s attention turned back to Seymour.
“I wouldn’t dream of not being polite to him. You don’t have to worry about me causing a scene.”
Seymour grabbed Liam’s arm.
“Good, but I wouldn’t mind. At the very least, it would be entertaining.”
Seymour dragged Liam away. Orlando watched them go, still smiling.
He’d known Liam would find a home here, and he loved that Seymour had taken to him so easily. It wouldn’t have changed much if he hadn’t because Liam was Orlando’s mate, but Orlando wanted his mate and his best friends to get along.
It looked like they would.