by Lynn Hagen
Speaking of the devil, Jericho couldn’t hide his smile when Ben walked into the bar. Holy crap he was sexy with his leather on and a day’s growth on his jaw. Jericho pressed the heel of his palm against his boner, praying it went down.
Jericho had started to come around the counter to meet his mate when the door opened again and in walked Landon.
Chapter Four
Ben walked toward the bar, ready to pull Jericho into his arms for a much-needed kiss, but his mate’s eyes widened and he ran through a door to the left of the counter.
That hadn’t been the reaction Ben had been hoping for. He knew Jericho was shy but not that damn shy. Confused, Ben walked through the door to find himself in a kitchen. He scented the air to find his bunny but smelled rhino and wolf.
“I’m sorry, but you can’t be back here,” a guy in an apron said. He was the rhino. The guy had green eyes and dark hair and was around six feet three inches. He expected the stranger to be thick with muscles since he was rhino, but he was more on the chiseled side.
A snarl rumbled in Ben’s chest. “I’m looking for Jericho. I just saw him run back here.”
Ben looked around despite the rhino’s protest. He found Jericho by the back door, hiding behind a shelf.
Jericho blushed as he gave Ben a small wave. “Uh…hi.”
Ben frowned. “Why are you back there?”
“Doing inventory?” Jericho tapped a few cans as he silently counted them. He cut his gaze at Ben then quickly looked away.
Ben grabbed Jericho’s hand and pulled him toward the back door.
“Hold the hell up,” the rhino said as he barreled their way. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” He turned to Jericho. “Do you know this guy? Is he the one who popped you in the eye?”
Ben snarled at the accusation. “I’d never lay a hand on my mate.”
“It’s okay, Reese,” Jericho said. “He’s my mate, and no, he didn’t do that. I told you I hit my eye on my dresser.”
Reese glared at Jericho. “You told me you hit it on the coffee table.”
“Same difference.” Jericho pulled Ben through the screen door.
“So which is it?” Ben asked.
“Which is what?” Jericho kept looking past Ben as though he was looking for someone.
“How you blacked your eye.” Ben crossed his arms.
Jericho arched a brow. “I don’t even know you. Do you think just because we’re mates I should become an open book?”
“I’m not asking you to tell me your life story. I just want to know who the fuck did that to you. Is that asking too much?”
Clearly it was, because Jericho curled his lips in and glanced away. His mate was right. They didn’t know each other. It wasn’t as though Ben was jumping at the chance to tell Jericho about his past, either. But Ben didn’t have some asshole popping him in the eye.
“It’s not that I don’t want to trust you. It’s just that my life is a fucking mess, and I don’t want to get you caught up in it. You seem like a nice guy, and since you’re not from around here, you won’t be sticking around.” Jericho let out a long breath. “So why bother telling you anything?”
Ben opened his mouth then closed it. He hadn’t given his living arrangement any thought. Milo had gotten them a room at the local motel, Maple Inn, which consisted of six rooms, no cable, and lukewarm water. Ben had checked the room out before he’d come to the bar. He’d showered but still didn’t feel clean.
His entire adult life Ben had simply drifted through it, never settling too long in one place. He’d been restless and looking for something that would cement him.
Now he’d found that reason.
“I could move here.” He shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”
Jericho eyed him warily. “You would uproot your life? Just like that?”
“For you?” Ben pulled Jericho into his arms. “Just like that.”
He’d been dying to touch his mate, to hold his little bunny, to kiss and caress him. It had been killing Ben to keep his hands to himself. Jericho curled against him and rested his head against Ben’s chest.
“Where would you live?”
“Don’t you mean where would we live?” Ben wasn’t sure of Jericho’s living arrangements, but if he wasn’t safe at home, his mate was moving in with him. If his mate argued the point, then Ben would cross that bridge when he came to it.
“You’re very presumptuous.” Jericho looked up at him. “How do you know I want to live with you?”
Ben grinned. “Because I’m an awesome roommate.”
Money wasn’t something Ben worried about. Not only had he worked and saved his entire life, but his grandparents had left him an inheritance. He only lived in a trailer because Ben knew he would be moving on from Montana, so why bother spending a large amount for mortgage or rent?
“Tell me you’re serious,” Jericho said. “Tell me you’d really move here. Maple Grove is my town, my life, and I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”
Ben wondered what it would feel like to love a small town so much. He wanted to find out. “Now that we have that settled, tell me who hurt you.”
Jericho pulled away, and the mistrust he’d had earlier in his eyes returned. “You move here and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”
They were practically strangers, so Ben understood Jericho’s reluctance to trust him. Come tomorrow, he was gonna find a place to live. Being away from his mate wasn’t an option.
“Then I guess we’ll talk tomorrow evening.” Ben wasn’t leaving without tasting Jericho’s lips. He hauled his little bunny back into his arms and gave Jericho something to think about all night. The kiss was slow, but passionate, telling his mate without words that he wanted to fuck him again.
When they broke apart, Jericho looked dazed as he licked his bottom lip. “I gotta get back to work.”
No sooner had he said those words than Reese popped his head out the door and looked between them. “Emilio’s looking for you. He says he needs help behind the bar.”
Ben and Reese measured each other up as Jericho walked back inside. The rhino shifter gave Ben one last look before he followed Jericho.
Ben wasn’t sure what Reese’s problem was. Did the guy simply look out for Jericho, or was he interested in something more? Ben wasn’t going to go in there and act like an ass, putting Reese in his place. He would assume their friendship was platonic until proven otherwise.
Besides, he was dead on his feet. He’d caught about an hour’s sleep earlier, but that hadn’t been enough. Ben and Milo had driven through the night last night, and Ben had used up most of his energy earlier. His eyes burned, telling him he needed to shut shit down for the night.
But he would definitely be back by closing. He planned on getting another motel room so Jericho could spend the night with him.
He drove back to the motel to find Milo standing outside. The guy looked wrecked as he clutched his phone in his hand.
“What’s going on?” Ben asked when he parked and cut the motor off.
“It’s Alice,” Milo said. “She’s been in a car accident.”
“Is she okay?” Milo’s stepsister was human, and Milo loved her to death, although he hadn’t seen her in two years. She’d been the apple of Milo’s eye when she was younger, and they still kept in touch, even if they didn’t see each other very often.
Milo cleared his throat and shrugged. “I don’t know. Her boyfriend was the one who called me. I need to head to Kentucky.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” It was a knee-jerk reaction to be at Milo’s side. They’d been riding together for over thirty years and were hardly ever separated.
“Nah, man. You got your mate to look out for. I can handle the ride on my own. I’ll keep you updated.”
That was when Ben noticed the saddlebags on Milo’s motorcycle. They hadn’t been there when Milo had rented the room. He’d taken them inside.
Ben gave him a quick hug. “You b
etter fucking call me if you need me, got that?”
Milo nodded. “I got some shut-eye. I should be good to drive the distance.”
Ben seriously didn’t want his best friend to drive by himself. Not when he was sleep-deprived. But Alice needed him, and there was no way Milo wouldn’t hop on his hog and be at her side.
He watched Milo take off before he headed into their room and face-planted onto one of the beds. He didn’t even bother to remove his boots. He was that tired.
* * * *
Jericho still had Ben’s earthy odor in his lungs when he entered the kitchen. His body was buzzing, and he wanted to go back outside and throw himself into Ben’s big, thick arms. The kiss they’d shared had only whet Jericho’s appetite, and he craved more.
He wanted to march into Mike’s office and tell his boss that he was newly mated and that he wanted time off for his honeymoon period with Ben. But Jericho didn’t go inside his office. He marched right into the bar and threw himself into his work.
If Jericho asked for the time, Mike would have given it to him. But it would be unpaid leave. Also, Landon wasn’t an idiot, although Jericho was starting to question that since his uncle had buried a body somewhere in their backyard.
Even so, Jericho wasn’t going to make any moves until Ben proved that he would move to Maple Grove. He couldn’t throw caution to the wind. Jericho couldn’t simply trust the guy to honor his word.
But damn if he didn’t crave to be near his mate, to feel Ben’s lips on his, the guy’s hands all over his body, Ben’s cock in his mouth.
Spotting Landon from across the room killed Jericho’s boner and made him get his head back into the game. The entire time they sat there, Ivan kept glaring Jericho’s way. The bear shifter had to know Jericho had heard them talking. Why would the guy look at him that way if he wasn’t suspicious?
“Why are you sweating so badly?” Emilio asked. “Do you need a break?”
The last thing he wanted to do was be outside and have Ivan come around the corner to confront him. All Jericho kept envisioning was a shovel and a six-foot hole.
He’d never been so glad in his life when Landon and Ivan left. Jericho felt as though he could breathe again as he shouted that it was last call. The vultures converged to the counter to get their last drink order in.
After the door was locked, Emilio and Jericho cleaned the bar—washing the glasses and closing out the register. Thankfully the kitchen had closed at midnight, so there weren’t any dishes to take in there.
Jericho waved at Emilio as he climbed into the passenger side of a Jeep and took off. Jericho had just opened his car door when he was shoved against it, his arms pulled painfully behind his back.
“I know it was you who made those paint cans fall,” Ivan snarled into his ear. “Eavesdropping isn’t a healthy hobby, little bunny.”
“I swear I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Jericho shouted in a shrill voice as his breath burst in and out of his lungs. Ivan wrenched his arms higher, causing excruciating pain to shoot through his upper body.
“I’m fucking watching you,” Ivan growled into his ear. Jericho hated that the front of the bear’s body was crushing against his back. He didn’t like the intimacy of their positions and wanted Ivan off him.
“If you even think about talking to anyone about it, I’ll make you watch me kill your boyfriend, and then I’ll tear you apart.”
The weight was gone, leaving Jericho to sag against his car. He looked all around, especially behind him, but Ivan was gone. Jericho didn’t want to go home tonight. If Ivan knew, then there was a possibility that Landon knew, too. They’d been hanging at the bar together.
What if Ivan had told Landon to bury Jericho’s body when he got home? He gripped his keys so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Jericho would rather sleep in his car than face Landon.
He gasped and spun when he heard the sound of a motorcycle growing closer. Jericho pressed a shaky hand to his mouth and forced back his tears as Ben pulled into the parking lot. He wanted to throw himself into his mate’s arms and tell him what just happened, but Ivan’s warning kept Jericho’s lips sealed.
How the hell had Ivan figured out Ben was Jericho’s boyfriend?
He cleared his throat and gave Ben a plastic smile when his mate dismounted. “What’re you doing here?”
Ben looked well-rested as he sauntered over to Jericho. “I came to steal you for the night.” Ben looked skyward and chuckled. “Or should I say for the day since it’ll be daylight soon?”
That meant Jericho wouldn’t have to go home. “Where’re we going?”
“Well, since it’s too early for breakfast, I figured you could get some shut-eye at my motel, and then we could—”
“Sounds great. Let’s go. I’ll just follow you in my car.” Jericho hopped into the driver’s seat and pulled from the parking lot, leaving Ben standing there to stare after him.
He needed time alone in his car, time to fall apart, process Ivan’s threat, and find a way to tell his mate without telling his mate. Jericho was never good at keeping secrets, and he was dying to tell Ben, but he didn’t want to get his mate killed for knowing about the dead body.
“You should just leave town with Ben and never look back.” But as Jericho drove through Maple Grove, he knew he couldn’t leave. He knew most of the residents, had grown up here, and had gone to the ice cream shop with his dad when he was little. There were too many memories for him to leave behind.
This was his home, and he wasn’t going to let Ivan run him away from it.
Jericho pulled into the motel lot and parked his car, his hands still shaking from Ivan’s threat and the way he’d yanked Jericho’s arms behind him. He rolled his shoulders as he watched Ben park next to him.
His mate opened the driver’s door and pulled Jericho from his seat. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m just exhausted.” He hated lying to his mate, but what choice did he have? He felt as though Ivan was watching him this very second, which made Jericho want to get inside Ben’s room. “Which room is yours?”
Ben took his hand and led him to the last room, the farthest one from the rental office. Jericho felt better when Ben closed the door, sealing out the rest of the world and possible prying eyes.
The room smelled a bit musty, but the beds looked comfortable as Jericho collapsed onto the closest one. Nope, not comfortable at all, but he was too tired to care. “I wanna sleep, but I need a shower,” he said against the cover.
He felt his shoes being removed and then his socks. Jericho rolled over and let Ben slide his pants off. He sat up and removed his shirt before Ben led him to the bathroom.
“I hope you’re not looking forward to a hot shower. Lukewarm is all you’re gonna get.”
At this point, Jericho didn’t care. He was with his mate, safely tucked away from his uncle and Ivan. Jericho curled against Ben, holding on to his mate as he buried his face in Ben’s neck. He was so tired of Landon’s shit, of keeping secrets, of going this alone.
“Are you sure it’s just exhaustion?” Ben curled his arms around Jericho, and Jericho felt as though he was in the safest place on the planet with Ben’s strong arms around him.
“I just need to feel you wrapped around me,” Jericho said. “Can you just hold me for a minute?”
“I can hold you for as long as you need me to.” Ben rested his head on top of Jericho’s. “Tell me what’s going on, pup.”
God how Jericho wanted to spill the beans, to lift the burden off his shoulders. But Ivan was twice Ben’s size, and Jericho feared for his mate. “I told you, I’m just tired. I must be feeling alone in the wee hours.”
Ben chuckled. “Then let’s get you into the shower and underneath the covers.”
Reluctantly, Jericho let Ben go and walked into the bathroom.
Chapter Five
“Let’s see what this one has to offer,” Ben said after he unlocked the door for his self-guided tour. The key had been
in the lockbox that had dangled from the doorknob. After the realtor had texted Ben the code, Jericho and his mate had gotten dressed and headed over to the vacant house.
“I still can’t believe you’re actually looking at houses,” Jericho said as he walked through the living room. He smelled the fresh coat of paint and loved the woodwork over the fireplace. There was an actual fireplace. Jericho felt giddy because he’d always wanted one.
Ben wandered into the kitchen, and Jericho followed. The kitchen was plain, nothing to brag about, but it was spacious, and Jericho envisioned an island in the center where he and Ben could share their breakfast in the mornings.
This all felt too good to be true. Ben was keeping his word and finding a place in Maple Grove where they could live. But he also felt unsure. Ben had told him that he’d wandered the country for most of his life. Was it fair for Jericho to ask the man to finally settle down? What if Ben became restless and wanted to leave?
And why in the hell did Jericho keep worrying about things that might not happen? He needed to live in the moment and let tomorrow worry about tomorrow.
They checked out the rest of the house and ended up in the master bedroom. “Spacious,” Ben said as he moved in behind Jericho and wrapped his arms around him. “What do you think?”
“I looked out one of the windows and saw a garden,” Jericho said. He turned in Ben’s arms. “I really like this house.”
Then again, Jericho would like any house that didn’t have Landon in it. Besides, this house was in town, and Jericho could walk to wherever he wanted to go. He liked the idea of getting his exercise on.
“Look at the view from this window,” Ben said.
Jericho wasn’t looking at the outside view. He was staring at Ben’s ass. It was nicely encased in his jeans, and Jericho wanted to fall to his knees and bury his face between Ben’s ass cheeks. He’d planned on seducing his mate when he’d gotten out of the shower, but Jericho had been more tired than he’d realized and had slept a good eight hours tucked in Ben’s arms.