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Wyatt cleared his throat and River flinched, turning his eyes up to the man holding him. There was a smirk on his full lips and suppressed laughter cutting lines in his face. “Ready for that kiss?”
River rolled his eyes. “Every minute of every day is spent in preparation for that next kiss from you.”
“Smartass,” Wyatt teased.
River was going to say something else snarky, but Wyatt had already plunged his tongue into his mouth, claiming him in a kiss that left him leaning heavily on the man. He gave himself over to Wyatt’s care, loving his feel and his taste. Wyatt was his whole world.
Wyatt slowly broke off the kiss. He pulled away, nibbling a little on his bottom lip. “Having fun with Bel? I heard your laughter.”
“Mmm…” River hummed, trying to get his brain working again. Wyatt’s kisses wiped everything else away. “Yes. He’s funny and strange.” He paused and huffed an extravagant sigh. No one liked admitting they were wrong about anything, so he could at least be playful about it. “But you’re right—he’s a good man. And…” River hesitated, staring at the faded blue-gray of Wyatt’s shirt. They’d always been able to talk about anything and everything, but this seemed a bit much for even their “everything.”
“What are you thinking, baby?” Wyatt lifted his head and brushed his lips along River’s temple in a reassuring caress.
“I feel like I should trust him.” He stopped and frowned. This wasn’t coming out right. “I mean, if he was a wolf we’d just met, and not some vampire, I…I feel like I’d want to bring him into our pack.”
“You want to adopt him?” Wyatt asked, his mouth moving in this strange way, like he was trying not to laugh right in River’s face.
River directed his best glare at Wyatt, not that it made a bit of difference. “He just…feels like he fits. He’s got your same perky, optimistic, ‘There’s always a solution to every problem’ attitude. And his sense of humor is definitely weird like mine.”
“Yeah, I noticed that.”
“But how do we know this isn’t some vampire magic trick to brainwash us into trusting him?”
Wyatt sighed heavily, and River couldn’t blame him. He’d just talked himself into a damn circle. Instincts were screaming to trust Bel and protect him and adopt him into their pseudo-pack of two even though he was a freaking vampire, but he was scared to trust those instincts because of Bel’s magic.
“I’m broken, Wyatt. I can’t trust.”
Wyatt’s arms tightened around him so hard his ribs were in danger of cracking. “You are not broken. There’s nothing broken about you.”
“But—”
“Listen to me. We’ve both been through a lot. I want to trust Bel too, but it’s hard. He does nice things, and I want to believe it’s all a ploy or a trick, but I have to remind myself that there’s no reason for him to trick us. We’re offering to be his wolves. There’s no reason for him to lie or trick.”
River pressed his face into Wyatt’s chest and dragged in a couple of deep, calming breaths. “You’re right.”
“Bel is nice because that is who he is.”
“And kind of adorable in that geeky, eager way.”
Wyatt snorted. “Yes, that too. But I also think he needs us to stick close and protect him because he is so nice.”
River’s heart swelled in his chest at Wyatt’s words. His man wanted to protect the whole damn world. Even if it meant including the vampires, regardless of the pain he and River had already suffered. Falling in love with Wyatt had been the easiest thing ever. How could he not love his strong, brave, protective man with a heart of gold?
“What do we do now?” River asked, hoping Wyatt’s answer didn’t mean he’d have to move or release him. He was quite comfortable standing in Bel’s lab, holding Wyatt.
“I guess we should go find him and see if we can convince him that we’d be useful for more than a science experiment.”
River led the way through the house, checking the rooms on the first floor until they located Bel standing at the center island in the kitchen. There was an empty glass in front of him with a thin ring of red liquid in the bottom. Apparently, he drank a pint of blood when he slipped away from them. Nervous eater?
A strange sense of relief ran through River when he saw that Bel had turned to bagged blood rather than feed from him. He’d occasionally supplied blood to the MacPherson vampires, and it had always been an uncomfortable experience.
“Sorry about that,” River said lightly, drawing Bel’s eyes from where he’d been looking at his phone.
Bel smiled back at him, even if it was a little stiff. “No apology necessary. Marcus and Ethan are much the same way.” He gave a little shiver and added in a low voice. “Rafe and Philippe are worse.” He turned his eyes on Wyatt who was just behind River. “Any problems on the perimeter?”
