Page 68 of How to Flirt with a Hellhound
We laid together, holding one another, and eventually when my knot went down I gently pulled out of him. He made a small sound of protest, but he was already half asleep, and we both drifted off, wrapped around each other.
The sound of car doors woke me briefly some time later, and when Jude spoke from outside, I could hear him clear enough.
“Aiden is sleeping. I’ll let you know when he wakes,” Jude said. I heard one of them walk inside with a heavier footfall—probably carrying the man—and the other follow behind.
It was still dark out, and Toby was resting peacefully beside me. I brushed my hand through his hair. He was mortal, just like that man who had been carried inside. He was mortal, and I was not. I didn’t think I’d really grasped what that meant until his stalker had found him.
Some day Toby would die.
Hopefully I would have decades with him, but some day I wouldn’t have him anymore. That was the nature of mortality.
I didn’t think I could bear it. I loved Toby more than I’d ever loved anything in my entire existence. He was more to me than my pack, more than anything in my life. I would give everything up for Toby.
If he died someday, then I would find a way to follow him into the afterlife. I could not contemplate the thought of being separated from him. I would find a way for us to always be together.
With that thought, and a press of my lips against his skin, I let myself fall back to sleep.
Toby’s breathing changed, and I woke instantly. I was on immediate alert, but he was only waking up. I gently caressed his skin, and he rolled into me, smiling against my chest.
“Good morning, baby,” I murmured.
He pressed a kiss against my skin, and I growled, unable to help myself.
“Are you purring?” Toby asked, giggling.
“I… Am Iwhat?” I asked. “I’m not… I’m not acat. I’m ahellhound. We don’tpurr.”
Toby chuckled into my chest, clearly delighted at my response.
“I am… I amgrowling,” I added.
“Nah. Growling is scary. This is all soft and happy,” Toby argued.
I thought for a moment. Ok, perhaps he had a point. Still, hellhounds did notpurr.
“I am rumbling in pleasure,” I finally settled on.
Toby laughed again. “Well, I love your rumbles, my sexy neighbor.”
“Your sexy boyfriend,” I corrected.
“How about just mine,” Toby said, looking up at me and pulling my head down for a quick peck.
“Yes,” I rumbled in approval. I liked being Toby’s. Before I could pull him in for another kiss, Toby jumped out of bed.
“Hey,” I protested, but he just started rifling through his drawers and pulling on clothes.
“Later,” he answered. “Your brothers must be back by now.”
“They are,” I admitted. “They got home in the night. The guy was sleeping.”
“Well, we’re going to go over and check on him,” Toby insisted.
I supposed that was the proper thing to do.
We managed to get dressed with only a minimal amount of kissing and caressing, and we walked over to my house hand-in-hand. When we walked up the steps and into the house, I could hear Jude and Corbin in the kitchen, and even Toby inhaled deeply at the smell of breakfast cooking.
The man was sitting on the couch under a blanket, even though it wasn’t cold. He was thin, and his head was shaved clean. He had eyes that seemed too big for his face, and I could tell that he was very attractive, despite the obvious trauma he’d been through. He didn’t even look over at us.
