Page 15

Imri

With time before my moms arrived with the paperwork I needed to keep the town off my back and the kids safe, I roped Rowan and the twins into getting more of the house and yard ready for our visitors.

We talked every day with one or the other of my parents, even my brother and sister called to say hi to their niblings. The cousins were introduced to each other, and my siblings made plans to visit us later in the summer, before school started, so everyone could hang out together.

At no point did I discuss having a fated mate. It was a point of contention between me and Rowan. He didn’t understand why I could trust our family with my kids and not my mate. I even shut down conversation with him over it.

My mate was my business. The less I thought about Sully the better. My entire body ached with a need to hunt him down and claim him. I missed him with a fierceness I thought impossible before I met him.

How could I claim such a sweet little quokka when I was a dingo, literally a quokka’s main predator in the wild?

I made a couple of trips into Haenvale under coercion. We needed supplies, and no one wanted to make the two hundred mile round trip to get supplies elsewhere. Rather than wait for a delivery, it was quicker to just go get it.

Unable to risk taking the kids into town just yet, I went alone, head constantly on a swivel, looking for any sign of Sully. I was in real danger of just appearing at his house.

He wasn’t anywhere, and there was no one in the town I could ask about him. Not that I should. We were a one and done, no matter what my traitorous heart said.

What I did spot was more of a divide than I’d first noticed. The service predators received compared to neutral supernaturals and especially prey ones was usually surface level polite, where everyone else got warmth and interest. The few prey/predator couples I saw while exploring the town were mostly out of towners. They had a look about them which screamed tourist. The ones who lived there were subdued, as if afraid to take up too much space and attract unwanted notice.

It only worked to make me more sure of my decision to keep away from Sully.

“Imri?” Rowan called. He was speaking to Mama on the phone. “Gaga says they’ve finally tracked down their witch friend. She can get the documents in a few more days. A week tops.”

Yes, my moms had chosen their titles. Mama was Gaga and Mom was Noona to my kids, the same as their cousins, my niblings.

Rowan had a playful grin playing about his mouth while he held the phone to his ear. I wondered what Mama was saying to him. He knew he was winning our bet. My moms had tried to find this witch for days with little success.

“Cool. Gives us time to get the flooring down in the spare room if you’re up for it.”

“Yeah. Gaga’s also asking if she can share my number with Ginger. They think she might be good at training me to control my sparks.”

We’d nicknamed his overpower as his sparks. I thought by giving it a harmless name, it would feel less scary for Rowan and the kids. He was doing it less, powering things around the house instead, so maybe it was doing the trick.

“Sounds good to me.” A witch trainer who knew where he came from without the town being involved was ideal. I needed to thank Mama for that one.

In the kitchen, Mom was cooking via a video call with the twins. She was teaching them how to make cookies.

“Imri, Sandy dropped the last egg,” Berry complained with a whine.

“That’s okay. We’ve got a grocery delivery coming in a few days,” I soothed. I grabbed some cleaning spray and a rag to clean up the spill.

“I want to make muffins tomorrow!” Sandy looked upset by the accident. I guess there were times they had to be careful with food. A spill would mean less for another day.

With a sigh, I sprayed the cleaner over the spot and wiped it away. “Guess I’ll head into Haenvale again. Maybe we should look into building our own chicken shed and run. What do you think?”

“Leave that for your mama when we arrive. She’s built a couple before,” Mom advised, then turned her attention back to Berry. “Great mixing, princess! Sandy, you look ready for the chocolate chips. Great job!”

“Right, if you’re all okay without me, I’ll head out.” I put the cleaning supplies away and grabbed the keys to the truck.

Everyone waved me off, far too occupied to pay close attention to the extra pep in my step.

In all honesty, the last couple of days had been hard. Getting out of bed in the morning, I felt more exhausted than I had the night before. Every part of my body ached, and the only time I felt better was when I was in Haenvale.

The grocery store wasn’t too far away. I got a couple of boxes of eggs, more flour and sugar, just in case there were more baking accidents.

On the way home, I found myself driving back to the street where Sully lived. His house looked empty, though it would in the afternoon on a gorgeous summer’s day. Everyone was likely at work.

Further up, there was a sign for the road down to the lake. Instinct pulled me that way.

I parked my truck under some shady trees and wandered to the water’s edge.

My breath caught in my throat. Sully was in the water.

Standing alone, looking completely naked, his pale skin gleaming, he’d never looked so beautiful.

There was a wistful expression on his face. I wanted to kiss it. Completely wrong of me considering this mess was my fault, but I couldn’t help how my heart leaped at the sight of him, his head raised to the light, his eyes closed.

Without thinking too deeply, I stripped down to my briefs and waded into the water.

Fuck, he was a sight for sore eyes. Getting closer to him without him even noticing, I spotted what he was wearing. Those were sinfully tiny!

“Didn’t know they made trunks that small, or that quokkas could swim,” I remarked, sure he could hear my splashes by now.

He turned to face me, his eyes lighting up when they landed on me. His hot gaze roved my body, taking in how my wet briefs clung to me and how I was reacting to the sight of him.

I stood still, waiting for his answer. He slowly made his way closer.

“Are you going to tell me your name this time? ”

“No.” I didn’t know why it was something I wanted to keep from him until I discussed it with Rowan. In part, it was so he couldn’t look up every detail in my life before the paperwork was in place. I’d have to ask Ginger to manufacture some social media or something for the kids.

Magic was also about intention and names. Having my name would make it easier for him to break through the barrier Rowan had put in place to protect the house. The look away spell was now keyed to make people turn back as if there was nowhere else to go.

Sully looked slightly amused. “Of course. I didn’t expect anything else, Frank.”

“Frank?”

“Not a Frank then. Maybe a Tom?”

I shook my head with a laugh. “You can play all you like. I’m not going to tell you.”

“That’s okay, Joe. I can try other methods of persuasion.” He closed the scant distance between us, tucking himself under my chin and nuzzling my throat.

“Is that right?” I murmured while I wrapped my arms around him.

Everything felt good now Sully was close. Nothing else mattered, not the town, not my worries over the kids. Nothing except how good he felt in my embrace.

“Hmm… you smell so good, Keith.” I laughed. The touch of his fingers on bare skin and his lips on my throat had a shiver running down my spine. “My house is empty. Will be for hours, and I forgot to put on sunscreen.”

“Why didn’t you say anything sooner?” I hoisted him over my shoulder, earning a squeal. I swatted his ass lightly while he smacked mine as he hung there, not fighting me while I walked back to shore.

I leaned down to gather up my stuff, giving him time to escape my clutches, but he stayed hanging upside down, perfectly content to let me carry him.

“Ivan, my stuff’s over there!”

His name choices were ridiculous. I gathered up his things and walked along a path I hadn’t noticed before. It led straight to Sully’s street. His house was still empty when I got to it. I walked straight to the front door.

“No, round back! We need to shower off.”

Following his directions, I walked around the house, past the pool, and to the outside shower. It was completely hidden from prying eyes .

I set him down just outside it so he could turn the water on. Every movement he made was graceful and easy. I wondered if he’d been struggling being apart like I had. He’d looked so relieved to see me, I thought he must have been.

He stepped close, his fingers lingered on the waistband of my briefs. “Want to share the shower with me, Bob? I can wash you, then you can wash me, and if there’s orgasms in there, all the better, right?”

With a chuckle, I let my gaze fall to where he was touching me. “We should conserve water where we can.”

“I knew you were environmentally responsible, Jeff,” he said with laughter in his eyes as he shoved my briefs off.

His scent sharpened with his arousal at the sight of my hard cock. Naughty little quokka wasn’t wearing his inhibitor.

“Hello, old friend,” he muttered. His fingers closed around my length and stroked from root to tip with a delicious twist at the end.

I groaned. “Are you talking to my dick?”

“Maybe.” His fingers tightened their grip. “Depends on if you’re going to give me what I need.”

“What do you need, Sully?” Unable to resist, I dipped my head to his throat, my hands to his ass. I pushed his tiny speedo down to tease a finger around his leaking hole. He groaned when I breached him.

“If I can’t have your name—“

“You can’t.” I pumped two fingers inside him. He was so wet for me.

“Then I want your cock inside me.” He didn’t pause his strokes.

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” I said against his ear. I nipped at it and he moaned.

“Probably not, but I want you anyway. Give me your knot, Ivan.”

“You’ve used that name already,” I teased, hating the other names, but unable to risk him having my true name. Still, I worked him open for me.

“I’m horny, Randy. Give me that knot. Make me come so I can sleep without dreaming of you.”

My stomach churned with guilt. “Sully—“

“Just… just fuck me, please. I need to feel you deep inside me again.”

I cupped his chin to kiss him soundly. He returned it enthusiastically, walking backwards until we were both under the warm spray of the water.

Sully found the soap and rubbed it over my back and ass while I enjoyed the taste of him, the feel of his body pressed up against me. I hiked one of his legs over my hip, exposing his hole. He was slick and ready for my cock. I pressed him against the tiled wall while my tip met his entrance.

With one easy thrust, I was inside him to the root. He dropped the soap to claw at my back, voicing his pleasure while I pumped into him.

My lips barely left his the whole time, totally addicted to his kiss. All I wanted to do was fuck Sully until he forgot every name in his head, including his own. Until he could barely stand. Until he understood this situation was fucking me up, too.

He clung to me, returning each kiss, each touch, until he whimpered and came, all without my touching his neglected cock.

The feel of him coming pulled me into my own orgasm. My knot grew, stretching his rim. I pumped my hips in shallow thrusts while I filled him. Sully came once more with a deep moan against my mouth. All I wanted to do was sit with Sully in my arms until my knot went down, then fill him up again.

Coming home with him was a mistake. Each taste of him was pulling me further into his life. I wasn’t ready for the chaos that being his mate would cause. I might never be.

He found more soap and handed it to me, letting me clean him up as best I could without moving too much.

Sully studied my expression, then sighed. “This wasn’t enough, was it, Billy?”

I struggled to smile. “Everything is perfect when it’s just me and you, but I’ve got the kids—“

“The kids aren’t a problem for me!” he protested. “I love that you’re a dad!”

“Rowan is nearly your age, and that doesn’t bother you?”

“No. At his age, he needs a friend, not another parent. We would find our own thing in time.”

“Okay, but what about the town?”

“What about it? There’s no rules against predator and prey shifters being together. It’s not like it bothers you either.”

“It doesn’t, but I’ve been around prey shifters my entire life. Growing up, I had mouse friends.”

“See? Not a problem.”

“Sully… the to wn—“

“They’ll get used to it. We’ll start a new trend!”

He was so idealistic. Life wouldn’t be that easy. “Do you really want that for your life?”

“We could move!”

I stared at him in shock. “You’d do that.”

“You’re my fated mate, I’d do just about anything for you.”

“Sully—“

“This isn’t fair, Steven.” Neither of us could muster a smile at his name game. “You can’t just appear, give me hope, then vanish again. Don’t you want me?”

I rested my head against his with a sigh. “This isn’t easy, Sully.”

“Am I not worth fighting for?”

“You are. You really are, Sully. I’m just not worth damaging your life for.”

My knot went down enough for me to slip free of his body less than a minute later. Neither of us spoke. Sully was doing his best to push back tears. I kissed him gently one last time, gathered my dropped clothes, and left Sully to cry alone.

Only when I was back in my truck did I give in to my own tears. I’d just made the biggest mistake of my life: hurting Sully.