Page 34 of Honorable Convictions
“Why can’t you let me in?” Mitchell asked gruffly. “I’d cut off my fucking arm before I’d hurt you.”
That statement caused a bubble of laughter that held his desire to weep in check. “You’re an immortal fallen knight, and the only weapon on the planet that can cut your skin does so long enough to allow you to bind your blood to your mate. I’m not that person, Brooks. It’s going to be someone else who shares their life with you. Any declarations like that should be saved for him or her.”
“This is the point where you think I’ll respond in temper, and you can use an argument to further the distance between us,” Mitchell accused, releasing Pierson. To his surprise, Mitchell laid his palm on his hip, threading his fingers through the belt loop of his faded jeans.
Confused, Pierson frowned and finally turned his head. In Mitchell’s blue eyes, determination blazed without anger, and Pierson had no idea what to do with the kindness his conscience refused to allow him to ignore. “What makes you suddenly think you know me?”
“I pay attention, Blondie,” Mitchell said with a grin, taking a quick step so their bodies were lined up, and he rested his free hand on his other side. They were mere inches from each other, and Pierson’s heart galloped. “There’s nothing about you I don’t notice. And you’re wrong. Youarethe man who is going to share my life. You’re my perfect match. That’s why I have no intention of paying any attention to your rants about separation agreements or demonic spells. I don’t ever settle for second best, and anyone else would pale in comparison to you. I spent a century letting this void between us grow, and that was stupid, but I’ll be damned if that’s going to dictate our eternity together.”
Licking his suddenly dry lips, Pierson tried not to notice the way Mitchell’s gaze tracked the movement of his tongue. “We’re enemies, not perfect mates. Allowing you to come over here every night for the past couple of weeks was clearly a mistake. I didn’t know that it’d allow your fantasies about happily ever after to run rampant. It’s best if you stopped showing up after work.”
Mitchell bared his throat as he laughed. It was a hearty chuckle, and yet Pierson understood enough about Mitchell to know it wasn’t aimed at him in a contemptuous way. There was warmth in it, and he nearly smiled but carefully schooled his face to show no reaction. That caused Mitchell’s expression to harden, and the amusement dried up. “Don’t you do that, Pierce. No more shutting me out.”
“I have a boss and it’s not you, so stop giving me orders.”
A hand came up to grasp Pierson’s chin, and he tried to turn his head, but Mitchell’s grip tightened. Why he simply didn’t walk or teleport away was a mystery to Pierson. Instead, he glared. “Let go of me.”
Leaning in so Pierson could feel his breath, Mitchell’s smile was feral. For some reason, it made the blood pool in his groin, and there was heat in his cheeks as he hoped to hell he didn’t get an erection. “You’re certainly no expert in brawling, but if you wanted to get away from me, you’d already be gone.”
A lie at the ready, he never got it out because Mitchell laid his soft lips on Pierson’s. His eyes shut of their own accord, and he pressed his mouth closer. Arms dangling uselessly at his sides, his instincts took over and he simply enjoyed when Mitchell changed the angle and flicked him with his tongue. Desperately wanting more, Pierson opened, deepening their kiss and experiencing the delight of being tenderly devoured.
Mitchell yanked him flush with his hard body, and his bones liquefied. Pleasure danced through every nerve ending, and he clutched at Mitchell’s biceps. Time was irrelevant as they learned and explored, and Pierson allowed himself to simply let go. It was probably madness as he was supposed to be planning a separation, but desire was turning his pragmatic brain into mush.
When their lungs were burning, Mitchell pulled away, irritating Pierson. His breath coming in pants, Pierson lifted his lashes. Inches away were a pair of blue orbs filled with nothing but want. It was disconcerting and wonderful to know that craving was for him. In that instant, Pierson might’ve promised anything simply to get another kiss, but Mitchell frowned, which effectively broke whatever spell that had consumed them. Pierson flexed his fingers and released Mitchell, then took two giant steps away until he was smashed against the wall.
“We probably weren’t ready for that, but I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself. Do you have any idea what it’s like to be around you constantly and have to behave myself? Do you even understand how bad I fucking want you? Stop talking about yourself with someone else, because it pisses me off. You’ve got this fucking stupid fantasy of dissolving our bond, which boils my blood. I don’t like doing separation agreements for other people, Blondie. Ihatethem. If I were in charge, they wouldn’t exist. As Fate intended, mates should be together forever. That demonic spell? It’s ghastly.”
His foray into work aspects made it easy for Pierson to do the same. Shutting down the raging fire inside him, he picked up the scattered pieces of his mind. “The two cases we did weren’t matebonds that had any chance of working. We did the right thing by paving the way for those men to get freedom.”
“I know. Cases like that are the only reason I continue to do them. We’ve done too many that are simply a lack of communication or some other kind of bullshit.”
“You should opt out of them. They make you unhappy.”
“You’re a fucking good kisser, Blondie.”
Blinking at yet another abrupt subject change, Pierson led with the truth. “So are you.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Mitchell promised and teleported out of the apartment. Sucking in a deep breath and shaking his head, Pierson nearly pinched himself to test if he was dreaming. The entire day had been strange, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about any of it. Deciding there was no choice but to simply soldier on, he went to the bedroom to get some sleep and ruefully acknowledged that there’d be no rest until he relived that kiss.
Chapter 19
Pierson had already started his new position as liaison for the Juris Knights when Mitchell finally learned of it. That was because instead of giving him his big news, Pierson had needled him with his complete inability to think of them together, and Mitchell had lost his temper. But instead of cutting into his mate with harsh words, he’d yanked that gorgeous blond close and ravaged his sweet mouth. Days later, Mitchell still grew hard when he thought about it.
As for the stunning man Fate paired him with, he was perfectly content to pretend that it never happened, leaving Mitchell angrier by the minute.
“Court that bad this morning?” Juris Knight Noah Cavendish asked from the doorway of Mitchell’s office.
“No, it was actually fairly easy and quick to get my client what they deserved.”
“It must’ve been a separation agreement,” Noah decided, waltzing in, and dropping into one of the guest chairs. “They always make you testy.”
“What makes you think I’m testy?”
“The murderous scowl was pretty much a dead giveaway. I keep telling you to opt out.”
“I can handle them, and this was an intellectual property issue, not a separation agreement.”
“So, you got a judge to side with you, and it was intellectual property, which normally doesn’t piss you off. Explain the bad mood.”
