Page 49 of The Doctor's Wolf: Part Two
Maxim winked at him.
He didn’t get a chance to answer.Gordon’s head of messy blue hair forced itself into Adler’s field of vision, and Gordon, dressed in Adler’s robe, shoved the bedroom door open wider despite Adler doing his best to stand firm and keep it closed.
His mate dressed in his very own clothes made a powerful bout of possessiveness and desire flood Adler’s blood, but he shut that down.Focus.There’s a hunter in your apartment too early after a full moon.Focus.Protect your mate.
“Maxim, what are you doing here?And why did you bring the Lar?”Gordon asked.“Also, ever heard of a doorbell?”
Maxim huffed.“I brought the Lar in lieu of having to use the doorbell.I thought you two might be bonding.With your genitals.In addition, I figured bringing Clement would be easiest, even if he was quite loath to leave the bar, seeing as how he’s a bar Lar.But I needed him to wolf-sit.Gentlemen, we need to get to work, and there isn’t even time for you to shower off that powerful scent of sex and lust before we leave.”
“The kid’s in the kitchen, Maxim, can you please lower your voice?”Gordon hissed.
Maxim clicked his tongue.“Werewolves, to everyone’s delight, don’t suffer from excessive prudishness.Besides, if I can smell it, the small wolf most assuredly can too.Now, get dressed.Time’s a-wasting.We must attend to our work.”
Gordon and Adler both rushed to get into their clothes, and Adler hated that his mate was being rushed like this.
Maxim was waiting in the kitchen, showing Mil how to play cat’s cradle.
“Look there they are,” the hunter said to Mil.
“Gordon, Uncle Maxim says I get to show Clement all of my books,” Mil said, raising her hands, the string winding around them.
“Wow, that sounds like fun.”
Adler put a hand on Gordon’s shoulder and smiled.He thinks he’s only good with corpses.He doesn’t even know how amazing he is with the living.
As Maxim stood, Clement pushed a bagel and a large cup of coffee into Adler’s hands and just a large cup of coffee into Gordon’s.
“Not even showing her the public library,” the Lar mumbled.
Adler decided it was best to ignore the acerbic Lar.
They all headed out of the apartment, Mil waving to them.Adler had devoured half his bagel by the time they were stepping out of the building.
“I think Clement probably means well,” Maxim said.“I’m parked over there.Come along.”
“What happened?”Adler asked rather than getting into Clement’s behavior.
Maxim looked back at them.“Murder, Adler.The gruesome kind with a note scrawled on the wallpaper in blood.I know that on occasion, I may jest, but not even I would walk into the den of a wolf, his mate, and their little one for anything less than that.”
Chapter 27
Gordon’sgriponhiscoffee tightened even as Adler walked close enough to him their shoulders were touching.The werewolf was still eating, looking as if he had slowed down with the bagel for propriety’s sake.Gordon hooked his free hand under Adler’s arm.
They left the courtyard surrounded by apartment buildings and headed toward the parking lot where Gordon could already see Maxim’s fancy silver BMW.
“I had hoped you all were wrong about the conspiracy, Maxim.I’d hoped I could just go to work at the morgue today.”
Maxim shrugged, hit the car’s fob, and opened the driver’s door to lean on it and face them.
“So did I.But sometimes, such hope is like rats’ feet over broken glass, hollow and meaningless.”
Gordon blinked and raised his coffee at Maxim.“That’s TS Eliot.I’m not sure it’s the most uplifting of poems to quote from.”
Maxim’s smile was stale and never reached his eyes.“Now, my darling corpse whisperer, you cannot expect me to lift your mood on such a day.I believe that’s a mate’s prerogative.”
Adler grunted in the affirmative as he held his bagel with his teeth just so he could open the car door for Gordon.
“Adler is plenty uplifting,” Gordon said.
