Page 29 of Lost Mate

“Why did you come here?” Ross asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Eli always said you would split the Cavalry into two sections. You’d man the one back in San Antonio and Eli would man the other section here. Now you’re here too.”

“I don’t know, to be honest. I feel like I need to be here.”

“Maybe your mate is coming here too?”

Niles reared back as if Ross had said something frightening. “Hell no, I’m not taking a wolf mate. I like women, remember?”

Ross rolled his eyes. “There are female shifters too.” He bit his lip. “We need a mating pair to continue the pack line.”

“You can look elsewhere for your baby wolves. My mate will be fully human.” Niles held up his hand. “And before you accuse me of anything, I’m not bigoted, just practical. My family are good ole Texas boys. I know how they’d react to a wolf shifter. I wouldn’t expose my mate to that.”

“My mate.”

Niles furrowed his brow. “What?”

“You said ‘my mate’. Not girlfriend, partner, or wife, but my mate,” Ross said, not bothering to hide his grin.

“Slip of the tongue.”

“Uh-huh.” Ross drawled the word. Oh yeah, Niles was just waiting for his mate. He couldn’t wait to watch it play out.

Niles made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat. “You’re all wolf obsessed.”

“About our mates? We are.”

Which reminded Ross, his mate was due to check in again. Before he’d even completed the thought, Dylan walked in, naked and filthy and wearing the biggest smile Ross had ever seen.

“Geez,” Niles muttered.

“And that’s the other thing you’ll get used to.” Ross held out his arms for Dylan. “Nudity isn’t an issue for shifters.”

“We can’t run in clothes,” Dylan agreed, before stepping into Ross’s arms and reaching up for a kiss. “Sorry I took so long, Milo joined us.”

“I guess I’ve got a lot to learn,” Niles agreed. He sighed as Ross deepened the kiss between him and his mate. “I’ll be back later, guys. Get this out of your system because you will have to work sooner or later.”

Ross waved him off. He had a mate to reconnect with and if Niles didn’t want to be even more shocked, the straight man needed to vamoose.

Dylan raised his head as the door closed, leaving them alone. “Make love to me?”

Ross picked him up in his arms and kissed him again. “Always. But in the shower. This kiss is gritty and I don’t want to think about what you’ve been eating.”

Chapter Nine

Dylan leaned against Ross as they stood under the hot stream of water. There wasn’t a lot of room for two grown men in the shower stall, but they managed. Ross had no issue being skin to skin with Dylan. He massaged shampoo through his mate’s hair, twice, because the dirt streamed out, then slowly washed him from head to foot, swiping bodywash over him until Dylan’s creamy skin was exposed. Dylan leaned against the tiles, passively accepting Ross’s help, his eyes closed. Ross was convinced he was asleep, standing up.

Not asleep. Just content.

Ross smiled and carried on with his task until Dylan was clean. Then he cupped Dylan’s jaw and tilted his head to kiss him. Thankfully, Dylan had cleaned his teeth before he’d gotten in the shower. Now he melted against Ross, his dick hardening as it pressed against Ross’s thigh.

Take me to bed?

I can do that. Ross held his breath. It was the first time Dylan hadn’t blocked him today.

Dylan sighed in his head. I’m sorry.

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