“It’s one of my favorites. I always turn it on when I need a little something extra to make me feel all warm and fuzzy.”
“Then it’s the perfect choice,” he said.
An hour later, after the rest of the bottle of wine, and watching Feral laugh in all the right places, and seeing the emotion flit across his face in the just missed chances for the hero and heroine to get themselves together, Alison fell asleep wrapped in her mother’s crocheted afghan, with her head leaning against Feral’s shoulder. Feral smiled as he realized she’d fallen asleep against him. He lifted his leg and rested it against his opposite knee, then unlaced his boot and dropped it to the floor before he repeated the same with the other leg. Then he tossed a throw pillow to his end of the sofa.
He turned to Alison and pulled her further against him, leaning back as he laid her atop himself, pulling the afghan to cover her as he laid them down on the sofa together.
Alison moaned softly as she snuggled in against him, and went right back to sleep.
Feral smoothed a hand up and down her back, his other hand cupping the back of her head and holding her gently to him. He sighed and released so much pent up stress he almost cried in relief. He pressed his lips to her forehead and closed his eyes. “This. This is what I need, only you, only this,” he said softly. He could feel his heart rate slowing as he relaxed, and his jaw relaxed as opposed to its almost always clenched position. It wasn’t much longer before he, too, fell asleep, with the weight of his mate against his body to ground him, and her scent permeating every pore and sensory perception his body relied on for survival. He slept better than he had in years, and so did she.
~~~
Savage and his team sat around the pool, most of them relaxing, but two of them visibly out of place. Menace and Rage were just too military to be able to relax around anybody other than their own kind — and even then it was questionable sometimes. It was just hard for them to relax at all, which was what made them so good at what they did.
“I’m telling you, they’re up to something more. It’s like they antagonized us just enough to keep us looking in their direction,” Jack said.
“Distracted you from their real goal,” Frenzy said, from his spot in the pool still floating in his inner tube, with his feet propped up on the edge of the pool to keep from floating away from the group sitting and lounging at the tables near the pool’s edge.
“Felt like it. I have no proof, but I can’t see it any other way,” Jack said. “Then we got the call on the way back that Grail’s mate and some of her Pride members arrived here. Is that why they distracted us? They thought they’d take out the entire GamieyonPride, not expecting Gwen and those with her to make it out alive? It doesn’t seem likely. The more I think about it, the more I realize that we couldn’t have gotten there in time to help them regardless. And then Rance overheard some of them talking about burning the town to the ground. But why fight for it, if you just want to destroy it? None of it makes any sense to me.”
“Maybe they were afraid you’d contact us. We can be anywhere pretty quickly,” Savage said.
“True, but how would they know we had connections to your people?” Jack said.
“I tend to agree with you, Jack. They were keeping you occupied. Even if it was only to keep you off kilter until their real fighters could arrive to take care of you. Or maybe there’s something we’re missing. But based on what you’re telling me, I wouldn’t let my guard down no matter what else had my attention. They knew you were in town, they know who you are, and they played at antagonizing you. They baited you. Almost like they didn’t want you to see what else they were doing when you weren’t looking,” Frenzy said. “Maybe we’ll find you some answers in the next day or two.”
“You heading out tomorrow, then?”
“Got to. I’m going to have Sin breathing down my neck if I don’t give him some feedback soon.”
“Sin breathing down your neck. Would Sin happen to be a female?” Titus asked.
Hail and Storm laughed riotously.
“What’d I say?” he asked, looking at them.
“Don’t even,” Hail said, glaring at Storm.
“Oh, I wasn’t saying a damn thing,” Storm said.
Hail was smirking when she noticed that Titus was still waiting for an answer. “Oh, you really want an answer.”
“Mmhmm.”
“How should I describe Sin?” she asked rhetorically as she gazed off into the distance.
“Tall. Muscular. Dark, dangerous as fuck. Too pretty for his own good. Sensual and sexy in a way that even other males notice when they’re not gay. Wicked sense of humor, smart as a whip, and not afraid to use any of his attributes to get what he wants, loves to be underestimated. Except now he’s mated and would not in any way, shape or form do anything to risk his mate’s happiness or faith in him. The rest is still on the table, though,” Frenzy said.
“Sounds like you have an unhealthy appreciation for him,” Titus teased.
Frenzy smiled easily at Titus. “I’d have been put down a long time ago if it wasn’t for Sin taking hold of me and forcing me to get myself in check. He was the only one who could step inside my insanity with me and yank me back into that slim reality I walked for some time. He’s my best Variant friend and truly the only reason I’m still breathing.”
“Put down? As in a rabid dog?” Draven asked.
Frenzy nodded slowly as he met Draven’s gaze. “Some of us are so damaged, so dangerous, that we’re a threat to anything living — even ourselves. Our people try, use every tool at their disposal, but sometimes, not often, but sometimes, our males just can’t be saved.”
“Sonofabitch,” Titus said.
