Page 7

7

BOAZ

“How did I get here?”

My mate scrambled for the covers and pulled them over his naked body when I stepped in.

I stood back from the bed, not wanting to overwhelm him.

“You’re…” He gulped. “You’re my mate.”

Phew, that was a load off my mind. At least we didn’t have to dance around one another, date maybe, and endure the pushing and pulling I’d observed with humans.

But the poor guy had no memory of how he got here.

“I’m Keane. I should’ve mentioned that.”

“I’m Boaz, and I’ll explain what happened from the time we met, but can I get you coffee and something to eat?”

He peered out the window. “From? Looks like we’re in the middle of nowhere.”

“I have supplies. Nothing fancy, just coffee and toast?”

He nodded, but his pained expression and wiggling butt had me pointing to the bathroom before I skedaddled out of the room.

I jumped up and down in front of the sink and did silent clappy-claps because he recognized me as his mate. But the images burned into my mind of his naked body after he shifted led me to burn something else: the toast.

The smoke alarm blared, and Keane raced out with a towel wrapped around his hips. He clutched it with both hands, but it slid lower, giving me a glimpse of a patch of dark curly hair.

“What’s happening?” He tore toward the front door, rattling the handle but unable to undo the bolt. He lost his grip on the towel, but while his shifter reflexes may have been suppressed, he was able to catch the fluffy piece of flannel before it hit the floor. I did get a good look at his butt cheeks and crack. Nice.

“Sorry.” I reached out to grab him but reconsidered. Not knowing what to do with my hands, they dangled in the air. “That was me burning the toast.”

Keane glanced at me over his shoulder. “That’s it?” He sniffed. “Oh. I thought the cabin was on fire.”

“I’ll start the process again.” I tossed out the incinerated pieces of bread and poured a cup of coffee. “While you’re waiting for food, here’s something hot to drink.

Keane grinned after taking a sip. “Ahhh, that’s good.” He eyed the toaster. “Interesting you refer to toast as food.”

Hmmm. I wondered if cat shifters had an aversion to bread. “I can make something else.”

“No, it’s fine. Toast is great, but I never understood how people can go to work or school after eating only a crispy piece of bread.”

We had something in common. I wasn’t much of a toast guy either. A few bites and it was gone, leaving crumbs everywhere.

“Go back to bed and I’ll bring the toast in with more coffee.” Keane had already drained his cup, and I poured him another one.

“And then we’ll have the talk?”

I’d overheard humans refer to the talk as a precursor to a break-up, but we weren’t mated and technically we’d only just met. It was either that or he needed me to explain how babies were made. Pretty sure I’d read in a novel that was how some humans approached the sex talk with their kids.

“Okaay.” This was going to be interesting.

“About how I got here.”

“Right.” Light dawned in my befuddled brain. “The talk. Yes, I’ll get you up to speed.”

I inwardly cursed at my choice of words, as I’d made him sound like a car. But Keane trotted back to bed, and I got cracking on making more toast. Not wanting it to burn again, I readjusted the timer and stood by the toaster waiting for it to pop up.

Placing honey, butter, jam, cheese, and ham on a tray, along with more coffee and milk, I strode into the bedroom.

“Wow! A feast!”

“Wasn’t sure if you’re a sweet or savory person… in the morning.”

Keane closed one eye. “I can be either.”

I guzzled half my coffee to avoid responding, though my cock did.

“Now I want you to fill me in.”

Gods, he had to stop talking like that. My dick swelled even more.

“Okay.” I had another kind of filling in mind, but that would have to wait. “What do you remember?”

“Alphas following me out… I think.” He rubbed his scalp. “My memory is fuzzy.”

We had to discuss the drug situation. No detours or delays allowed.

I cleared my throat and took some seconds to formulate my thoughts.

“I know what you’re going to say,” he added.

I almost fell to my knees and thanked the goddess for getting out of that awkward situation.

“You’re thinking when are we going to get naked and mark one another.”

Wait? Was I? No, absolutely not. I was about to discuss something else, but I couldn’t quite grasp what that was. It eluded me.

“Ummm, can we put a pause on that? Ummm, this is a little delicate.”

Hysterical laughter filled my head as I imagined my five siblings reacting to me using the word “delicate.” That wasn’t me. I didn’t dance around difficult situations but rather jumped in with both feet.

“It’s about the Duskthorn in your system.” There I said it, and there were no take-backsies.

Who are you? Even my wolf picked up on the change in me.

Keane held up his hands in surrender mode. “I swear I didn’t ingest that on purpose.” He grabbed me. “Please, please believe me.” Teardrops lined his eyelashes, and they sparkled in the early-morning light.

His sincerity was apparent in his eyes as he pleaded, and also his shaking hands and the blood draining from his cheeks.

“I do.” Whew. That was one huge potential problem crossed off the list. “My brothers and I suspect patrons’ drinks were spiked. You were lucky because some shifters died.”

“Were there any cat shifters?” he asked.

“They were not among the dead.”

There was a pause as I thought back to our meeting in the alley. That extended until the break in the conversation was beyond awkward. We’d leaped from the drug issue to people dying, and that led me to the killing in the alley.

“I was there,” he said in a quiet voice as his lower lip trembled. “Hiding under the dumpster. I have vague memories of getting from a bar to the alley—I think I was looking for a job.”

Perhaps he’d shifted and leaped into the killers’ car. Not that it mattered. That was the past.

“I’m sorry, not for what I did but that you witnessed me slaughtering one shifter.”

Keane clamped his teeth on his lower lip before replying. “More of a massacre. I remember it now.”

Ouch! If I could have planned how to meet my mate, that wasn’t it. I could almost smell the blood, though I’d had multiple showers since.

“If me and my men hadn’t eliminated them?—”

My mate put a finger to my lips. “They had to be crushed. I don’t know how I know this, but I do. My cat trusts you.” He fisted his hands, and his nostrils flared. “I wish I could have joined you but a house cat isn’t much of an adversary against a wolf.” He forced a chuckle.

Another hurdle cleared. He didn’t think of me as evil. I was calling it a win.

“You’re not scared of me?”

“No way,” he scoffed. “But is that your job? Taking down bad guys.”

Shit. I hadn’t prepared for the question. Telling a mate that I was mafia, my whole family was part of organized crime, that had been a big deal. And now it sounded like maybe he didn’t fully remember. Gods, I hated drugs and what they had done to my mate.

“On TV, guys like you are?—”

“Mafia.” I blurted it out because my wolf was nudging me to be honest. Keane would have to decide if being my mate trumped that. Being mafia wasn’t a job. It was who I was, and it was intertwined with being a shifter.

My mate nodded. “I kinda suspected.”

I let his words hang in the air. It was up to him to speak up, and I had to count the seconds until he did. One, two, three. Gods, why was he taking so long?

“If someone had told me my mate was mafia, I would have cowered, thinking I’d be hiding from possible assassins 24/7 if we were together.”

I sensed a but coming, and not waiting for Keane to say it, I piped up. “But?”

He grinned, and that smile gave me hope. “You’re not known for your patience, are you?”

“Not really.”

“The mating pull is so strong, I’m willing to accept your way of life with conditions.”

I had to ask. “What are those?”

“That you allow me to come with you when you get the rest of those fuckers.” He punched the air and mimed shooting a gun. “I’ve never owned a gun, but I could learn.” He added that cats weren’t much use in a war unless it was with other cats or dogs. “I’ve had standoffs with dogs.”

“I should call the doctor.”

“Because I fought dogs? I don’t have rabies.” Keane screwed up his nose. “And if you’re referring to that asshat who suggested I might be a drug addict, could I take a pass?”

“Ummm. We could see another doctor.” If my mate was pissed at the guy, I was too, even though I had thought the same thing. Hmmm, I’d better be honest before we started our relationship. “He’s not the only one. An asshat. I wondered that too.”

My mate shrugged. “It was a reasonable assumption.” He purred, and my body tingled. “But he’s not my sexy mafia mate, so I forgive you but not him.”

Shoot, I was going to come in my pants if he kept talking.

“We should call him.” I had to change the subject or my pants would split and my dick would bound out.

“You do that.” Keane licked around his lips.

I turned my back on my mate, trying to stop my heart from racing and my length from swelling. The doctor said to see him in twenty-four hours to make sure the drug was no longer in Keane’s system.

“Oh, whatever shall we do while we’re waiting.”