Page 10 of A Clutch for Hutch
Hutch whispered encouragement to me, words so naughty, that sweet face colored red when he said them, but they were not making it easy for me to hold back and after a few short minutes, I gave up on even trying, spilling myself into him, into my omega, and marking him more deeply than teeth on his neck would ever have done. My knot swelled, binding us together for longer.
I held him close, my mate, the dragon I’d been writing about all along. No wonder I’d had such a hard time ever getting anything quite finished and ready to either submit to a publisher or even put it up myself as an independent writer. Until I met Hutch, dragons had only been a figment of my imagination. Nobody I’d ever known had met one, and I only knew of them from stories and movies and other “fictional” material. Or at least stories with no real backup as being more than legends.
Everyone agreed they’d been around at some point, but most thought they’d died out long ago. And yet, I’d shifted with one, seen his magnificent wings, and wondered if I’d ever be able to create a novel that lent credence to the reality of dragons.
After a while, my knot shrank, and I moved my mate into a more comfortable position, my eyes growing heavy with exhaustion.
“Alpha?” Hutch’s voice broke through my descent into sleep. “Want to tell me why you didn’t want to mark me. Because, I can’t lie, I’m pretty sure we’re mated now, mark or no mark.”
“I just wanted to give you the option if you don’t want to step into my life. Because I have commitments. I’m training to be the alpha of my pack, and my father is counting on me.” I sucked in a breath, something I seemed to be doing a lot lately. “My brother was born three minutes before me, and he was intended to be the alpha of the pack, but then he had this huge car accident, lost his hearing, and became ineligible. Even if Father had tried to make him alpha anyway, someone would have challenged him, either from outside or the fluffle itself, and basically the challenge would have come from me.” It tasted flat in my mouth, the sentence, but it was true. And I did not want that job, but there it was. Someone had to be responsible. Before I could figure out how to get out of it, my brother left, saved me from challenging him, hurting him or maybe worse—which was not happening. But in saving me, he also cost me my freedom.” I paused, waiting for the judgment. Surely someone else could have handled it better.
“That must have been rough.”
“You don’t think I was wrong?”
“I think you were in a corner, and you did what you had to. So, are you saying your mate would need to be the fluffle alpha’s luna?”
“We don’t use that term, but yes, whoever is my mate would have to come live in the fluffle and do the omega leader’s job. It’s not what I want, but it is what I committed to, and that’s why I didn’t mark you. You needed to know what committing to me was attached to.”
“Mate, I am committed to you. We’ll make it work one way or another, but I do want to be marked and start out together on our new life. Then we’ll figure it out.” He wriggled until histhroat was near my mouth. “Please? I understand that your life is mine. If I need to work in the fluffle, move away from here, then I will. But we’ll figure it out.”
I pierced his skin, fangs sinking deep, copper filling my mouth, marking my mate. Anyone who saw him now would know he had a mate, and the contentment that followed assured me we’d made the right decision.
I only hoped he wouldn’t regret the choice.
“Mate?” he said when the moment had passed. “If you don’t want to be the fluffle alpha, what do you want to do?”
“I want to write dragon romance.”
“That makes so much more sense.”
Chapter Ten
Hutch
“Burns. I’m serious. I need your help. I don’t understand half of these directions.”
He shook his head, very obviously amused. I had my iPad propped up in the kitchen, food everywhere as I tried to create one of my mate’s brother’s favorite dishes. I’d called Burns as a last-ditch effort.
“I hear you, and I know you’re serious, but why? Why did you pick something so complicated? Even if I were there with you and did it for you, you’re not going to get it done in time for lunch.” So much for him being my hype-team/tutor.
“What if we eat it a little later?” Our plans were more about getting together than the meal.
“Read to the bottom of the recipe.”
I read it. Line by line by line by line, and then I saw exactly what he was talking about. “It has to stay refrigerated overnight before cooking.”
“Yeah. So I can help you get it set up, but it won’t be there in time for your mate’s brother to eat lunch.”
“But I want to make a good impression. I want him to see my place but also think I’m good enough for his brother.”
“He is going to think that, trust me. You’re an amazing catch. Now, show me all the ingredients you have and I’ll see if I can piece something together that can be done on time.”
I took my iPad down and showed him the ingredients one by one, and then, as he talked me through a new recipe, he reassured me time and time again that Dirk’s brother was going to love me.
“You don’t understand. He’s not just a brother. He’s a twin.”
“Do they look alike?”
