Page 15 of Dead to Rights
“You’re trying to tell me that I’m your mate, right?”
He dipped his head. “How did you know?”
“You weren’t exactly subtle about it.”
“Did I scare you?”
Slender fingers came to rest on his shoulders, and his cock jerked when Noah arched into him. “No. It was kind of hot.” As quickly as it had come, however, the teasing light in his eyes faded, and he leaned away again with a quiet sigh. “Rune is right, though. We should probably talk about it.”
“Nothing good every came from that sentence.”
Noah laughed, and while quiet, it sounded genuine and happy. “I like you, Finn. I have for a while now.”
“But?” He liked what he was hearing, but that statement definitely felt like it had a “but” coming.
Noah laughed again and shook his head. “Let’s go somewhere else.” He glanced over his shoulder toward the kitchen doorway with a scrunched nose. “Too many nosy assholes around here.”
“I heard that!” Keegan called, his voice slightly muffled but much closer than it should have been.
“No, you didn’t,” Noah said, his volume still at a conversational tone. “Rune is just an enabler.”
“Sorry,” Rune said, laughter in his tone. “I really can’t tell him no. You’ll see.”
When Noah arched an eyebrow at him, he realized he had just been caught up in a strange game of Telephone: Otherling Edition.
“Rune says he’s sorry.”
Noah snorted. “No, he’s not.”
Accurate. “And he says he can’t tell his mate no.”
“It’s a real problem,” Noah agreed, but he sounded indulgent rather than angry. “Come on. Let’s go back to my place.”
Finn hesitated, uncomfortable with the possibility of running into his sire on the way to Noah’s apartment. He couldn’t hide forever, though, and he really didn’t want an audience for the coming conversation.
Forcing himself to release his mate, he moved over to the stove to give the chili a quick stir before turning off the burner under the pot. It would really be best to let it simmer for a few hours, but he didn’t know how long he’d be gone.
He doubted any of the other occupants of the castle would notice the difference anyway.
“All right,” he said when he’d finished. “Let’s go.”
They didn’t hold hands as they made the trek to the Tower. They didn’t cast longing looks at each other or share secret glances.
Instead, they walked in companionable silence, their footsteps unhurried and in perfect sync. Occasionally, their arms brushed together, and every time, the soft touch sent a tingle racing across his skin.
The moment they entered the lobby of the high-rise, however, everything about Noah’s demeanor changed. The muscles in his neck and back visibly tightened, his shoulders rounded, arching toward his ears, and his easy gait became stiff and halted.
When the elevator doors slid open, he hesitated at the threshold, a mixture of uncertainty and determination flittering across his face before he stepped into the cab. He stood in the front corner, hands fisted at his sides, and his back to the wall of windows that provided a clear view of the village beyond.
Unease poured off him, thick and cloying, and seemingly, catching. By the time the elevator slowed to a stop on the seventy-fifth floor, Finn could feel his own pulse racing to match Noah’s.
When the doors parted, Noah practically launched himself out of the cab, exhaling in a rush as if he had been holding his breath the entire ride. Without a word, or even a glance in Finn’s direction, he strode quickly down the empty corridor, fumbling in his pocket as he approached the door to his unit.
Only after he had made it inside and slammed the door closed behind him did he finally seem to relax.
“Everything okay?” he asked, aiming for casual but unable to stop himself from veering into concern.
“What?” Noah toed his sneakers off kicked them against the wall. “Yeah, fine. Why?”
