Page 16 of The Devil on my Chest

“Who the heck is this Cyrus? How did he get all his money?”

Mal started to chuckle. It wasn’t easy keeping that quiet. “Cyrus is Blade’s father. You know, Hal’s mate.”

“He’s the gangster.” Rocky shot up into the sitting position. “And he’s living in Arrowtown with Nessie? Do we have to get back to keep the town safe?”

“You idiot. Lie back down.” Mal shook his head. “Deputy Joe has it on good authority, namely Doc and Mrs. Hooper, that Cyrus has promised to keep all of his gangster activities out of town. Mrs. Hooper approves of him. I believe a wooden spoon punishment was mentioned, but he’s good people.” Mal patted Rocky’s arm that was back around his waist. “He didn’t even know us, he’s not met us yet, and he still offered his apartment and car for as long as we needed.”

“You’re usually a better judge of things like that than I am, so I guess it’s okay.” Rocky’s breath skated across Mal’s hair. “You still smell really good. I really like the way you smell.”

“I can tell.” The sweatpants Rocky was wearing had no hope of containing the alpha’s erection.

The pressure from Rocky’s hips on Mal’s back lessened slightly. “Doesthatbother you?”

“No.” Mal sighed. “I’mfeelingthings, new things I haven’t felt with another person before.” He laughed. “Gods, could this be any more awkward? Before anything else, you are my best friend. I know you’re horny. I’m fairly sure I’m horny, too, but it’s a new sensation going from having a hard dick which is just a biological urge to having feelings attached to that erection and wondering what to do about it…with another person.”

“You know I’d never rush you.”

“I know,” Mal cut in quickly. “I’m not the only one who has to put aside the events that led to our meeting. That was decades ago. We have so much positive history in our lives – face it, having sex, fucking, or whatever you want to call it is about theonly thing we’ve never done together. It shouldn’t be that hard, should it?”

Rocky was silent from a moment, and then he whispered in Mal’s ear, “From memory, it does help if it is hard, you know, otherwise a dick’s not going to get very far… If it’s all soft and limp, it’s only fit for peeing out of and even then you have to hold it.”

“Really, Rocky?” Mal burst out laughing, not caring if the guards outside could hear. “Have you any idea how much I love you?”

“About as much as I love you, I imagine.” Rocky’s hips were back to being pressed against Mal’s butt. “Even before I knew we were mates, my dick was always hard around you. So ignore this now, lord knows I have enough times. We can work out what to do with mine, and yours, tomorrow.”

“You’re happy about the idea of staying in a New York apartment for a few days?”

“I don’t really care about the apartment – but I’m guessing this Cyrus is a big shifter which means he’ll have a decent bed. It’s got to be better than this one. Hey, and we get the use of a car and a driver. We can play tourist.”

“That could be fun.” Mal closed his eyes, smiling at the idea of Rocky acting like a tourist in a huge city.

“Maybe Cyrus has a limousine. Oh, my goodness Mal, wouldn’t that be crazy? One of those ones with a sunroof – you know, like you see in the movies where people stick their heads out of them and wave at people on the street.”

“Let’s try not to get arrested. I’ll do an internet search in the morning and see if it’s legal to do that, and then if Cyrus just has a regular car and driver, we can always hire a limo for the day if you want to. Go to sleep, Rocky.”

“You’d let me do it, even if it wasn’t legal.” Rocky chuckled.

“Go to sleep, Rocky.” Mal smiled in the dim light. His mate wasn’t wrong.

Chapter Eleven

“My gods, Mal. Check this place out. Look at all this space.” Rocky could not believe what he was seeing when a uniformed doorman let them into Cyrus’s apartment. It was on the top floor. Of course it would be. It’s not like a gangster was going to have anybody living above him. Rocky secretly thought that Cyrus would be the type to live on the top floor anywhere, worrying if someone was living above him they might burrow through the floor from the apartment above and drop in on him while he was sleeping.

But he could not get over the sheer size and scale of the apartment that Cyrus called home in New York. “This guy must have mega bucks,” he said, running over to the wide expanse of windows. Windows was a relative term. It was a wall of glass, but Rocky didn’t see any catches or anything on it where any of the glass could be opened. Mind you, they were twenty stories up, so that was probably why. There was no balcony, so if anything opened it would be probably a health hazard. But the view was absolutely stunning.

Rocky had no idea where he was, no idea of the layout of New York at all. All he could see as he looked out was concrete buildings stacked around like boxes of various heights with lines for roads in between them and the general bustle of life in a busy city. Cyrus lived above it, and Rocky imagined him standing at the glass surveying it all. It was genuinely incredible.

Narrowing his eyes, Rocky caught a glimpse of water and then the Statue of Liberty far off in the distance. “Look Mal,” he said, pointing in that direction. “It’s actually there, we have to go there, we have to go there, it’s a touristy thing, right?”

“I probably could’ve looked a little sooner if you’d helped with the bags,” Mal said with a smile, dumping their bags on the floorand tipping the doorman, who quietly left. Rocky was pleased Mal came right over to him, sliding under Rocky’s outstretched arm and wrapping his arm around Rocky’s waist.

“It is beautiful,” Mal agreed. “I bet it looks even more incredible at night with all the lights on. And we get to enjoy all this luxurious living for three whole days.”

Their session with the doctor was quick and without any terrible surprises. The doctor agreed that a three-days stay in New York was a good idea, and made sure Mal had his number in case Rocky had any issues. He made an appointment to see them and discharge Rocky back to Doctor Farriday’s care in Arrowtown on Thursday.

That worked because it meant Mal could ring Ra and the others and let them know that they would be back in town on the Thursday without having to lie. He simply told Ra that the doctor just wanted to run a couple of final checks on Rocky on the Thursday, and then they’d be home.

“How are you feeling?” Mal asked.

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