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“Wanna share what’s got you so grumbly?” Baer said in a light voice.
Wiley tried to frown at him, but he could feel some of the frustration giving way to amusement, and Baer smiled at him. “When you said that Queenie was a bitch, I had no idea that you were being serious. Holy shit, she’s a total bitchy diva!”
Laughter erupted from Baer’s throat. Of all the things he’d expected to come out of Wiley’s mouth, that was not it. Of course, he was never quite sure what Wiley would say next, even if they could feel each other’s emotions now.
Wiley pushed his hands down into the couch cushions and scooted his body up so that he could rest his head in Baer’s lap while giving him better access to his hair. Following the unspoken request, Baer continued to run his fingers through Wiley’s hair and rub on his scalp. “She giving you grief?”
“Ugh. I guess it’s no more than usual. It’s just weird to be able to hear her thoughts to go along with her demanding meowing or how she keeps pawing at me when she wants attention.” Wiley paused and narrowed his eyes up at Baer. “Are all cats like that?”
Baer winced. He didn’t spend a lot of time listening to the thoughts of cats. Other than Ruby, all the animals he was used to hearing from were wild and certainly didn’t look to him for food or affection.
Wiley made another exasperated noise and threw his arms up. “Of course. And it’s probably all my fault for babying her from the first moment that I got her. Spoiling her absolutely rotten.”
“At least she knows that she’s well loved. She’s confident that she can depend on you for love, food, and protection at all times.”
Tension flowed out of Wiley’s frame and he exhaled a deep breath. “Yeah, okay. That’s a good point.” Wiley grunted. “She does not like Ruby.”
“But she is strangely fond of Lucien.”
Wiley snickered. “Freaking slut for him. Earlier today, he called for her and she ran over me to get to him. She’s started sleeping in his room as much as she sleeps in ours.”
A little thread of jealousy shimmered through Wiley, and Baer raised one eyebrow at him. He probably shouldn’t have been surprised. Queenie and his grandmother had been his entire world for a while. It couldn’t feel too good to have his precious baby running to someone else for affection. Baer had gone through a similar moment when he noticed Ruby choosing to hang out with Dane at times rather than him.
Of course, Ruby’s love for him had never wavered. Not in the slightest.
It was just that in a competition of Ruby’s stomach against a chance for a walk with Baer, Ruby’s stomach always won. And Dane was notorious for sneaking his spoiled mutt snacks.
“Is Queenie what you were thinking so hard about when I came in?” Baer inquired, earning a snicker from Wiley.
“You mean when you caught me staring at the ceiling and playing with my pencil?”
Baer had to bite his tongue to hold back the crude comment that rose to the forefront of his mind. From Wiley’s wicked grin, his man knew exactly what he was doing, and Baer wasn’t going for that low-hanging fruit.
“Yeah, when you were playing with your pencil,” Baer repeated with a straight face.
His lover’s expression became serious again, and he shook his head. “I was thinking about Ardette.”
Baer gently brushed silken blond strands from his face, loving that he could touch Wiley whenever he wanted. He could hold him and kiss him. They belonged together. And Baer would do whatever it took to protect his man. “You don’t need to worry about Ardette. We’ll handle her.”
Wiley shot upright and leaned in so that his nose nearly touched Baer’s. “Are you kidding me right now? You’ll handle her? I don’t think so!”
“Wiley, I didn’t mean it like that,” Baer quickly backpedaled. He hadn’t realized how badly he’d stepped in it until Wiley’s anger scorched along their connection and fucking lit him up.
“Then what, my big, strong protector? What did you mean? Think because I can’t shift that I can’t help? That I’m too weak?”
“Hell, no!” Baer snapped. He closed the last inch between them, bumping his nose against Wiley’s. “I just don’t want anything to happen to you. Never in my life did I think I would find anyone who meant as much to me as you do. Just the idea of something happening to you…it’s like the air gets sucked out of the room. I can’t think. Can’t breathe.”
Shoving to his feet, Wiley climbed across the couch until he was straddling Baer, his arms wrapped around his shoulders. “And nothing is going to happen to me so long as we are watching out for each other. You think I don’t feel the same way when you head out with the others to fight the pestilents? Dear God, I’m surprised Dane hasn’t tied Clay to their bed and simply left him there.”
