Page 11 of How to Rescue Your Surprise Baby

Telos pounded his chest, coughing harder. His face was turning red. “Fuck,” he wheezed, eyes watering. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

Telos gestured vaguely in his direction. Mav looked down at himself.

“You’ve never seen a naked man before?” Mav asked. They were both shifters. Nudity was a part of their lives.

“Yeah, well.” Telos gulped down some coffee, looking away. “Yours is offensive.”

Mav ignored him and strode into the bathroom—only to have Telos follow him in. “What?”

“Thought you might like some coffee,” Telos said. And he stepped closer, upending his entire paper cup over Mav’s head.

Hot coffee soaked into Mav’s hair and sluiced down his chest, splashing onto the floor.

Mav stared at him in shock. Who the hell poured coffee on their mission partner, in the middle of a mission?

Telos smirked. And he promptly dove out of the way when Mav roared, lunging at him.

“Time to shower, partner!” Telos hopped out of the bathroom and yanked the door shut between them. “We’ve got a mage to track down!”

“You sniveling rat’s ass!” Mav flung the door open, only to find Telos back in his chair, legs crossed, magazine in hand.

“Looking good.” Telos gave him a thumbs-up.

Mav strode over to him. Telos’ eyebrows crawled up; his gaze dropped briefly down Mav’s body. Before Telos could come up with a smartass remark, Mav grabbed him by the front of his shirt, hauling him roughly to his feet.

It took a bit of effort because Telos was a large, muscular alpha roughly Mav’s size. Telos narrowed his eyes, his tongue flicking over his lips. Mav frowned at it.

“We don’t have time for pranks,” Mav growled. “Have you forgotten that we’re rescuingyour baby?”

At that, Telos stiffened. “I haven’t. But you were moving slowly before, and you’re much faster now.”

Mav inhaled. Telos was right. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins, all his senses on alert. He scowled and yanked on Telos’ shirt. “Fuck off.”

Telos grinned. A heartbeat later, he was a sparrow fluttering in Mav’s face, batting Mav’s forehead with the tip of his wing.

“I’m going to make your life hell,” Mav muttered, tempted to breathe a plume of fire at Telos anyway.

Telos flew across the room and turned back into a man, sans clothing. His smile dug under Mav’s skin. “You already make my life hell. I doubt it can get worse.”

Did he really? It wasn’t likeMavwent out of his way to annoy Telos. If anything,Teloswas the one who showed up at Mav’s lair, taunting him and getting on his nerves. Mav kept an eye on Telos because he wanted to stay one step ahead of that crazy fucker.

Especially after that stunt Telos pulled last night.

“Watch your prehistoric ass,” Mav growled, turning back to the bathroom. “You’ll get payback.”

“Every day of my life,” Telos said. He soundedexcited.

Mav ran the shower on full blast, thanking all the gods that Telos’ coffee was black with no cream or sugar to make him itch. Then he dried off and left the bathroom.

Telos was back in his working outfit—a plain gray T-shirt and cargo pants—loose clothes that would give him the freedom to shift in an instant. “Bags are packed,” Telos said easily. “I did yours, too.”

Mav looked around the room. “Yeah, you packedall my clothes.”

Telos grinned, watching with too much glee as Mav leaned over his duffel to pull out his clothes. “With how big those balls are, I’m surprised you don’t walk bow-legged.”

Mav almost said,Sounds like they’re the right size to gag you with,but that would be going too far. Instead, he raised an eyebrow. “Jealous?”

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