Page 12

Chapter

Twelve

B y the time they got to Rian’s house, Quin was drooping. Hard. He’d been beaten. Tied up. He’d shifted. And he’d gotten a good, solid lead on a human trafficking ring that went way deeper than the fuckers who had used Symon’s Shiftr Inc. app to lure in omegas or than the sheep and his crew who had stolen omegas right out of Quin’s bar…

They were all sitting in Rian’s kitchen with his mate Eyre, who had ordered late-night Italian food. Symon’s mate Adrian and their friend Isaac had come in from Boulder, too, and were munching on garlic bread and meatballs.

God, the Pallas kitty was adorable. He wondered if Thiago thought so too.

He knew Cyrus did. The big mountain lion had a thing. Isaac hadn’t admitted they had a relationship yet, though.

“So do you really think the feds will deal with it?” Quin asked. Rian had called in a few personal friends among them, and it was a legitimate case with across state line kidnappings.

“Yeah. Not only is Grange a good guy, but I explained that they didn’t want us dealing with this. Not even a little. So he’s going to take over the case.” Rian chuckled. “And I will ride herd on him.”

“Good deal,” Thiago murmured, then took a long pull on his beer. “It should be easier with the information you got out of him, baby. The ram, I mean.”

“I sure hope so.” Quin scowled. “I am sick of this shit. I want the Front Range safe for omegas.”

“And everywhere else,” Thiago pointed out.

They all nodded soberly. Or not so soberly.

“I think it’s time for me to take my alpha to bed,” Adrian said, rising. “He looks grumpy.”

Symon snorted, then drained his beer. “That’s because I have to sleep at Rian’s house tonight.” He stood. “Come on, baby.”

They wandered off, hand in hand, and Eyre suddenly flushed. “Um. I think that sounds great. Babe?”

Rian beamed. “I agree. Come on. Night all. Turn the lights off when you’re done?”

Cy got up. “I’ll pack up the food.”

That was his cue. “Mate, I want a shower. Now.”

Thiago leaped to his feet, his cat’s reflexes not at all dimmed. “Of course, love. Come on.”

Quin knew it was babyish, but he held up his arms.

Thiago hoisted him right up, then carried him upstairs, pausing at the landing. “Which way?”

“Since I got beat up, I called the guest suite with the biggest rainbath crosshead shower. So left and all the way to the end on the right.”

“Done.” Thiago paced to the end of the hall, then let him open the door.

“Oh, nice.” Thiago carried him to the en suite, then sat him down on the sink counter to start the water.

“Oh, the steam is already helping.”

“Do I need to clean any wounds for you?”

“No, babe. Let’s just get wet and soapy.” He rolled his head on his neck, the tendons popping.

“Oh, baby boy. You are having a time of it.” Thiago closed the shower door, came to strip him down, kneeling to take off his socks and pants last, then worked his way back up, massaging Quin’s sore muscles.

“Ohhhhh.” He moaned, his whole body clenching up and then releasing. So good. Those hands.

He could write odes to those hands.

Then it occurred to him. What if those hands were done in Denver? And Thiago had to move on to the next assignment.

He peered at Thiago, who was smiling a little, totally absorbed in what he was doing.

“So are you done here? I mean. What happens now?” Quin wasn’t sure he wanted to know, but he thought he’d better so he could prepare himself for the idea of Thiago leaving him and moving on.

He hadn’t asked for a mate. He hadn’t wanted one.

But he had one, dammit, so he intended to keep the fine son of a bitch.

“Now, I clean you up. Then, I’m going to take you to bed. There’s a very good chance that I’m going to make love to you. Then I’m going to hold you all night long. In the morning, I’m going to feed you again.”

He arched an eyebrow. “That’s not exactly what I meant.”

“I know.” Thiago kept petting and loving on him, relaxing him down on a cellular level.

He floated, and when Thiago washed his hair, massaging his scalp, Quin knew he was not just mated, he was in love.

In seconds, or maybe it was hours, he was rinsed and wrapped in huge towels, taken to the giant bed that, while not his, was amazing.

“Oh, this is lovely,” Thiago purred. “Your brother’s home is stunning.”

“It’s ostentatious and classy, but I’m always welcome here. Same with Symon.”

“You’re closer to Rian, I think.” Thiago got him settled in the blankets, scooting right in to cuddle with him.

Of course he was. Symon was…different than them. “He’s my lawyer. Naturally we’re close. He’s the one that bails me out of jail on the regular.”

Thiago snorted. “Happens often, does it?”

“It’s an occupational hazard.” He snuggled in with a sigh, stroking the long, lean planes of his mate. “Sometimes you have to keep your own peace.” He met Thiago’s gaze, putting his will into it. “I don’t want you to leave, mate. Not now that I know how good it is with you.”

Two alpha males, they’d say, anyone who looked at them. Little did they know.

There was something deeply, deeply satisfying about that.

Thiago refocused him with a long, slow kiss that started a fire in the pit of his belly, and then he rubbed their noses together. “I’ll have to talk to Graham, of course. He’s in California. We built this business together, you know? I can’t wait to introduce you to him, but I don’t see any reason I can’t base myself out of Denver. It’s a big city, and there’s always work.”

When Thiago grinned at him, seeming to be waiting for his response, he just blinked.

So Thiago forged on. “Let’s be honest, my business partner? The bear? He hibernates, and I’m not huge on stakeouts outside in the winter. So we tend to do six months on, six months off.”

Quin blinked at him, his mind spinning. “So what does that mean? I mean, six months on, six months off. Do you? I mean—” Quin wasn’t used to being so confused. “Do you have a house? Where is it?”

How did he not know this stuff? They were mates, but this was all so new. “How can I know nothing about you?”

“Because, mate, we spent days fucking like needy bunnies, and then you got yourself kidnapped.”

“What? I did?—”

Thiago winked at him, playing hard. “I have a storage building. I have a really good chair. It’s a double recliner with buttery soft leather and this pillow I picked up in Morocco.” Thiago thumped him with his head, scenting him. “It would go really well in the loft.”

Oh. All right, that felt better, knowing that Thiago wanted to bring his chair. His shit from storage. That actually felt lovely.

“I like chairs.”

“I like you.” Thiago purred. “So… I don’t have to worry about renting a little house anymore?”

He shook his head, fingers tangling in Thiago’s hair and tugging, just enough for his mate to feel. “No, that would be a waste of money because you’ll be with me.” Quin swallowed, even though his throat hurt a little bit. “However, I have to warn you; I do own a biker bar. I don’t suppose that’s going to be a problem.”

“Only if you don’t start stocking cachaca. That could really be an issue for me.”

“Cachaca and limes. Got it. I’ll get a bottle just for you.” He would get two—one for the bar and one for the loft—and put Thiago’s name on them.

Thiago pushed over top of him, licking a long line along his jaw, heavy cock sliding along his thigh and making him shiver. “You’re good to me.”

“I’m better for you.”

Quin wasn’t sure how he’d managed all this, but he was fairly sure he didn’t care. He’d fought the good fight for years. It was about time that someone fought alongside him. And that he took something for himself. Something that was his and not his and his brothers’.

“Focus, baby boy.” Thiago nipped his jaw, the sting enough to make his eyes cross. “We’ll plot tomorrow. Tonight is ours.”

“It is.” He wrapped arms and legs around Thiago. “And I want you to knot me so hard I can’t see.”

“Your wish is my command, baby.” Thiago grinned down at him, and he hummed, laughing when Thiago bit him just hard enough to sting. Tonight was going to be amazing.

Tonight and every night after this. They’d earned it.

They deserved each other.