Page 29 of How to Flirt with a Hellhound
“What’s a Q?” I asked.
“Give me strength to deal with idiotic hellhounds,” he muttered to himself.
I growled into the phone at him, but I don’t think it did much good.
“Q is the guy you dropped off on my porch, hellhound. And he’s settling in just fine. Sort of. I’m sure you were super concerned and all,” he grumped.
“I knew you’d take care of him. You’re a good soul. I never leave strays with humans who won’t take care of them,” I defended.
“Strays?” he sputtered. “He isn’t a freaking dog, Dexter.”
Ah, so he remembered my name. That was nice.
“Yes, Cassius,” I replied, emphasizing his name, because I wanted to show him I wasn’t clueless. “I’m well aware he isn’t a dog. Or a cat. And I don’t know why people keep talking about stray humans like that. It’s pretty disrespectful, you know.”
Cassius sputtered and mumbled to himself some more, and I continued looking up tiny tracking devices I might be able to slip on Toby. Maybe one on his car and one in his wallet? And on his cell phone. It would be even better if it was on him, since a kidnapper would surely take everything away. I wondered if I could get him microchipped. Huh—that would actually solve everything. I pondered it for a moment.
Nah, that was probably a bit much. He’d probably notice if he fell asleep suddenly and woke up with a small scar. I shrugged to myself and was about to continue my search, but Cassius apparently got his shit together enough to get to the point.
“Toby was here,” he finally said.
I perked up at that. “Was he ok?” I asked, and I knew my voice was more guttural. I really needed a run in my hellhound form after this.
“He was fine,” Cassius reassured me. “I take it you know that he’s in some sort of danger?”
“Yes,” I ground out. “Did you get anything specific?”
“No, unfortunately. Just a sense of danger and then a whiff of smoke with a feeling of safety. When I came back to myself, I realized he actually did smell like you, so I figured you were already on your way to marking him,” Cassius responded.
“Marking him?” I asked. Could I mark him? Was there something I didn’t know?
“Oh, look at that, time to go! Q is fine, the dogs are fine, and I’m sure you’ll keep Toby safe! Bye!” Cassius rushed out, hanging up before I could ask any more questions.
Fucking oracles and seers. So damn annoying. They never told you what you needed to know.
I knew I needed to call Liam, but I was kind of obsessively sniffing the air now, and I was debating getting in my car and heading into town to find Toby when I heard his car in the distance. I closed my laptop and sat nonchalantly on my porch.
When Toby drove up, I could see the relief on his face when he saw me on the porch. That was good, at least.
He got out of the car, and I jumped off the porch, strutting a bit when I smelled Toby’s arousal. He was so fucking cute.
He blushed prettily and then opened his back door, grabbing a bag. I walked over and grabbed the rest out of his car. He just sort of stared at me, and I made the go ahead motion with my head. I didn’t have his key after all. Not yet, anyway.
“Oh, yeah, duh, sorry,” he mumbled, rushing up the porch and opening the door. I noticed the slight crack in the doorframe where I’d broken it and reminded myself to fix that as I went in and put the bags down on his table.
“Everything ok in town?” I asked.
“Yeah…” he said, starting to unpack the groceries and shoving stuff into the fridge. I sensed his hesitation.
“What is it? Did someone bother you?” I growled.
Toby chuckled nervously. “No, no, nothing like that. There wasn’t even anything in my PO box.”
I growled again. “Don’t check it again without me,” I ordered. That was a way to find Toby, and I didn’t trust it.
He stared at me, and I slow blinked, making sure my eyes were normal. Fuck. I was totally losing control. I felt like a fucking puppy around Toby, but I couldn’t help it.
“Ok,” he breathed out, still staring.
