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“To you?” I asked in an irritated tone.
“No one is mated to me, but three share my bed when they are willing. No other male can touch the ones I’ve claimed. There’s a code we follow and no one is forced to do anything against their will.”
“One isn’t enough?”
I heard the clicking of his teeth. I’m sure he was figuring out how to answer that one without digging himself in a hole, because Lorenzo didn’t really know my stance on such things. He’d never asked me out on a date or bothered to question what my favorite food was or what I enjoyed doing on the weekends.
“All I’m saying, Lorenzo, is that most women don’t want to share any more than you men want to share. They may seem okay with it, but if you married one of them, I can guarantee youshewouldn’t be okay with it. It’s not in our nature to share our man.”
“Which is why I haven’t mated. I’m not asking you to be my life mate, Alexia. I want you to keep my bed warm.”
“Not if someone else has kept it warm for me. And besides that—”
“If you bring up the cousin thing one more time, I’m going to come over there, throw you over my shoulder, and bring you home with me. We’re not related by blood, so let’s drop it. Are you wearing shorts?”
I glanced down. “Uh, yeah. Why?”
He laughed darkly. “I just wanted the mental image of what you’d be wearing while I was wearing you over my shoulder.”
“Someday you’re going to find a woman who doesn’t like it when you talk like that.”
“Suffice it to say I’ve never had any complaints from a woman when it comes to the private words I whisper in her ear.”
I glanced up at a red-tailed hawk spreading his wings across the blue sky and piercing the silence with a scream.
“This is who I am,” he continued. “I have yet to meet a woman who doesn’t accept that I’m a feared and respected man.”
“Oh? Is that the kind of man you think women desire? I guess you’re not the same person who wrote that poetic message on the card that came with my roses.”
“Touché,” he replied. “We are all more than who we portray ourselves to be. So, Alexia Knight, who areyou?”
Suddenly, I wanted to start singing an old classic rock song to those words. “I am a plethora of knowledge when it comes to rock and roll music. I love my family, rum makes me sick, my favorite sport to watch is soccer, and I’m a business owner.”
Wow. It felt amazing to say that last part.
“Impressive. Business owner?”
“Sweet Treats. It’s mine now. The owner recently died and left me the company.”
He was quiet for a moment. “Wouldn’t you prefer to sell it to someone with experience?”
“Not really.” The comment needled me and I pulled at a frayed piece of material on the chair.
“That’s more than a woman can handle. There’s too much involved with operating a business, and I can speak from experience because being a Packmaster is not much different.”
That peeved me. “What’s the matter, don’t like your women with a mind of their own? For your information, Austin supports me and thinks I should do it.” I heard a car pull up out front and I glanced inside. “Listen, I need to go. Don’t call me back on this phone because Austin will probably be the next person to answer, and he won’t like that.”
“Ah, but I will. If you need anything, you know how to reach me.”
Something must have happened for Austin and his brothers to come back so soon. They had planned to stay until dark and when I last talked to him, he said Reno had left to pick up a sack of burgers and fries. That let me off the hook of having to drive across town to deliver their lunch.
The hawk cried out again before disappearing. While sitting in the atrium, I’d come to the decision I wanted to move in with Austin. I didn’t know where it would lead, but I was absolutely certain of it now. My family needed protection and Austin had an accommodating house. It required enough work to keep my mom happy, right along with feeding five hungry men, who would eventually grow into a larger pack.
Then there was Maizy, who needed all kinds of protection if what Austin said was true. What if some pervert wanted to keep her as a little girl, like a Mage or something? I didn’t know much about other Breeds, but there were some twisted people in this world. I was going to have to make sure she concealed the mark and didn’t speak to anyone about it. Once she was old enough to understand, it wouldn’t be a big concern.
I’d have to break the lease at my apartment, and hopefully any evidence of blood had been cleaned up. Even if I didn’t remain with Austin, I’d never be able to go home again. I got chills just thinking about Beckett going savage and all those crimson rose petals scattered across the floor.
A high-pitched scream blared like a siren and I shot up out of my chair, flipping it over. My heart raced as I pulled open the sliding door and ran inside the house.
