Page 15 of The Devil on my Chest

“One of our friends, Brutus, is a bear shifter. He makes the best, by far, the best chicken wings I’ve ever had, and we used to travel all over the place before we settled in Arrowtown, so we consider ourselves connoisseurs.” Mal sniffed again. “A full plate of Brutus’s chicken wings and they are all mine.” He wrapped his arms around the plate and even dropped his head over them as if protecting them.

“Hey, what about me?” Bending down in front of Mal’s knees, Rocky tried to see his mate’s face. “Mates share everything, right?” He tapped Mal’s knees. “I should have some.”

Mal shook his head, his expression trying to show concern, but Rocky noticed the twinkle in his mate’s eyes. “Doctor Nelson hasn’t cleared you for chicken wings. I mean, you didn’t even say anything nice about the beautifully decorated cake he ordered for you.”

“It’s a cake. It looks nice.” Rocky didn’t even look at it. “A slice of it would probably be tasty with a cup of coffee, but Mal, you’ve got Brutus’s chicken wings. You have to at least share!”

“Er… Doctor Nelson,” one of the goons said. Rocky noticed he had a clipboard and pen. “Is it possible that the wolf’s curse has morphed onto a different food group?”

“No,” Mal said, chuckling, before Doctor Nelson had a chance to answer. “This is normal Rocky – well, as normal as he was before his curse was retriggered. We’ve always said that when Brutus made a plate of wings, you had to get in quick before Rocky did.”

“I still think you should share.” Rocky sat his butt on the floor, giving Mal his best impression of puppy dog eyes. “It would be torture if you ate them all in front of me. Absolute torture.”

“You’ll also note,” Mal added to the goon who was still looking concerned. “When Rocky was in the throes of his addiction, and if this was cake, he would’ve yanked this plate out of my arms, dived under the bed, and fought anyone who tried to take it away from him. This pouting, puppy dog eyes, and hopeful expression is Rocky’s stock-standard way of getting me to share my food with him.”

“It used to work,” Rocky muttered. “I must be losing my touch.”

“I think on that note, I’ll leave you to your chicken wings. There will be two people outside of your door until tomorrow.” Doctor Nelson got to his feet. “As I mentioned earlier, this is just a precaution, but a necessary one. Try to ignore them and perhaps you two should use this time to think about your future life together. I have every confidence that you two will be very happy no matter what you do. In the meantime, I’ll check in with you later.”

He picked up the cake plate. “Are you sure I can’t tempt you Rocky? This was freshly made this morning.” He wafted the plate back and forth.

“I think I’ve had enough cake to last a lifetime,” Rocky said. “But triple meat burgers for later would be lovely, thanks.”

Doctor Nelson was still laughing when he left, although Rocky barely noticed their audience leaving. His eyes were riveted on Mal’s hands which were slowly peeling apart the foil covering the plate.

“I don’t know how they did it, but these still feel warm,” Mal said, leaning forward to sniff at the tiniest of openings he’d made. “I bet Brutus was up first thing this morning getting these ready for me. Do you remember every time he was cooking these things the smell used to linger through the house for hours?”

“You’re being a deliberate tease.” Rocky increased his pout. “I didn’t think you’d do this to me.”

“You know darn well I’m going to share,” Mal said, completely opening up the foil. “But you can go and have a shower first and tidy yourself up. I won’t eat too much in the time it takes for you to get back.”

“Ugh.” Rocky threw up his hands and jumped up. “Just have one and savor it. I’ll be five minutes.”

Chapter Ten

“We should just do a runner and get out of here,” Rocky whispered in the dim light.

Mal shook his head. After the shower, Rocky had demolished two-thirds of the wings and one of Mrs. Hooper’s dinners. They’d also had a fun FaceTime chat with Ra, Seth and the rest of their friends, including the kiddies flitting in and out of view. It was a bittersweet call for Mal.

There was something so comforting about seeing how life was going on as normal for their friends, even when the world had completely changed for him and Rocky. They’d greeted the news that Rocky and Mal were mates with huge congratulations. Mal didn’t even have to say anything because it was obvious seeing as Rocky still hadn’t put a shirt on. “I like showing off my scar,” Rocky had said when Mal asked him about it. “Our scar.”

But now they were curled up on the bed, in human form this time. Rocky had curled up behind him, creating an almost cocoon with his body around Mal’s. But of course, Rocky wasn’t going to let him sleep.

“I can tell one of those guards outside the door is almost asleep,” he continued whispering. “Did you notice the change in their breathing patterns?”

“Rocky,” Mal said keeping his voice low, too. “Don’t you want to be sure this curse business is over? Isn’t that worth one more day?”

“I want to be alone with you.” Rocky moaned into his hair, his hands warm against Mal’s shirt. “When we go home, you’ll insist we be responsible, and I understand, I do. It’s just we’ll have to go to work, and the kids will want to play with us, and all our friends, and everyone else in town will be side-eying me waitingfor me to go near a cake. If we disappeared tonight, we could at least have almost twelve hours together until people expect us home.”

Rocky wasn’t wrong with what he’d said about their friends. Everyone had been seriously worried about Rocky. But Mal still believed that they had committed to an action – working with Doctor Nelson – and that they should follow his advice.

“What if,” Mal said slowly. “What if we stay here tonight, talk to the doctor in the morning and then… then… Cyrus, Nessie’s new mate has offered us the use of his apartment here in New York. What if Doctor Nelson wanted to check you over in a few days’ time, you know, just making sure there’s no chance this curse business could come back…” He trailed off. It wasn’t as though he could see Rocky’s face or his reaction.

“You’d put off going home for a few days just for me?”

Mal tried twisting his head around, but nope Rocky’s head was above him. “When have I ever said no to you about anything? I’m not saying we have to go home immediately. I know our friends want to see us, but… but…” An idea hit him.

“We’re entitled to mating leave and I agree, it’s not like we’ll get any privacy back at the house in Arrowtown, so yes, why not make use of the apartment Cyrus offered us? It’s not likely to be what we’re used to, but Nessie’s plane is ready to take us back to Arrowtown anytime we’re ready. Cyrus offered a car and driver along with the apartment…”

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