Page 23 of Matched into the Mob

My mate padded down the stairs, and like me, he was barefoot. The house was warm and toasty, but the garage not so much. We walked through the door that connected the house to the garage, and the motion sensor lights flicked on. Matt shrieked and grabbed my hand. But it was the hand I’d marked, and he grimaced.

A kiss would make his hand better.

Don’t lie.

I ignored my beast’s truth telling and took the eucalyptus oil from the car, still holding Matt’s hand.

He was lifting up one foot and the other. “It’s cold.”

I’d kiss his feet too if he’d let me.

Back inside, I got olive oil and poured some into a container, doing everything one-handed as Matt wouldn’t let go of me. Not that I wanted him to.

“Olive oil for my cut? Is that supposed to cure me or are you planning on eating me?” His manic laughter was a sign the stress was overwhelming him or perhaps he needed nutrition. His hand wasn’t infected, so that wasn’t the cause.

“Eucalyptus oil will burn a human’s skin.” Matt didn’t comment on my use of the word “human” and it was too late to take it back.

Using a medicine dropper, I put in a few drops of the eucalyptus oil and blended it with the olive oil. I put my hand under Matt’s and dropped some of the liquid onto his palm.

“Do you want to rub it in or shall I?”

“You.”

I gently massaged the oil into his wound. That was how he saw it. To me it was his mark, bonding us if he agreed.

Working the oil into Matt’s palm, two different aromas assaulted my nostrils. The fresh scent of the olive oil contrasted with the sharp aroma of the eucalyptus as my fingers pressed gently on my mate’s flesh. Touching him, having him so close I smelled his chocolatey breath from the candy bars, and inhaling his scent, I wished to freeze this moment and remember it for always.

Matt gasped though he didn’t pull away.

I paused the massage. “Am I hurting you?”

“No.”

He didn’t tell me to stop, so I continued. As I traced small circles over his flesh, not wanting to cause him further pain, I glanced up and our eyes locked on one another. He didn’t look away and neither did I. I was convinced there was a flicker of somethingin his gaze that hadn’t been there previously. Not love, not even friendship. But not fear.

He broke my trance by tugging at his hand and telling me I could stop. The oil left a sheen on his palm, and I tore off paper towels and he dabbed round the cut, soaking up the oil.

I longed to get that moment back, to recreate it, but it had slipped away.

“Ready for food?”

“Very.”

“There’s nothing fresh, but my dad always has the freezer stocked, and there are dried and canned goods in the pantry along with dried herbs and spices.”

I indicated for Matt to sit while I got a meal together. Pasta with tuna mixed with frozen peas would be quick and easy. Matt yawned but nodded when I held up the can of tuna, so I got to work.

I checked my phone constantly for the weather and messages from Flint. His guys hadn’t made it to Dane’s office because of the flooded streets, and there’d be no way the Obsidian people would make it out here. But worst-case scenario, I had to assume they had discovered Matt was my mate.

Matt interrupted my thoughts as the water boiled for the pasta. “I have so many questions, I don’t know where to begin.” He held up his hand, the one I’d marked. “Why this and why were you so concerned that you gave me a warning and then came looking for me?”

That was a whole lot of questions. “And if I hadn’t, you’d be at the bottom of a river by now.”

“You didn’t answer me.”

“Okay.” I wasn’t ready to explain about mating because that came with a big reveal. “I was worried about you. Dane is a bad guy. People who worked for him have disappeared. Isn’t that enough for now?”

While I was hoping my mate would sleep tonight, I’d be awake planning on how to save him when Dane put out a hit on him.

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