“There’s only one bed,” Quinn objected.
“And it’s big enough for the two of you to share. That way Kir will be close to you at any time.” Oh, Kameron was sneaky.
When Quinn didn’t add anything, Kameron nodded. “I think we’re done, unless someone has something else to say?”
Everyone turned to look at Quinn, and Quinn rolled his eyes. “No, I don’t have anything else to say. Besides, I’m ready to bet that even if I did, you’d find a way around it.”
Kameron grinned. “Probably.”
Quinn got up. “Right.” He looked at Kir. “I’ll show you the room.”
Kir rose from his chair and followed Quinn toward the door, but before they could exit the office, Kameron said, “And when I said he’s your bodyguard, I mean it. He needs to stay with you at all times.”
Quinn snorted. “I’ll make sure to tell him when I need the bathroom. He can wait outside then, right? Or does he have to come inside with me?”
Kameron shook his head. “Why do you have to be so difficult?”
“Eh. Join the group of people wondering, Kameron. My mother still has no clue, and she’s known me for far longer than you have.”
“Maybe Kir will find out.”
Quinn glanced at Kir, then back at Kameron. “I doubt it.”
* * * *
Zane looked at Iggy before leaving the office along with Malik. Iggy wanted to follow, but Kameron was still in the office, so he stayed right where he was. He couldn’t help but notice the sly smile on Kameron’s lips, but he tried to convince himself it was due to things that had nothing to do with him. He managed until Kameron opened his mouth.
“Zane, huh?”
Iggy shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I can’t deny he’s cute.”
Zach swatted Kameron’s arm. “I’m the only cute guy in your eyes.”
Kameron laughed. “Right. Zach is the only cute guy in my life.”
“But yeah, he’s cute,” Zach added. “So, do you just want to fuck his brains out, or is it something more? I vote for something more. It’s time Zane stop moping around.”
“He’s moping around?” Kameron asked.
“Not really, but you know he asked Elias out right before Elias met Blake, and as far as I know, he hasn’t gone on a date since then.” Zach eyed Iggy. “Iggy will do him good, even if it’s only for a fuck.”
Iggy groaned. “Do we really have to do this?” There was little Iggy could think of that would be worse than having to discuss his sex life with his alpha.
Zach grinned. “No, but it’s fun.”
There was a knock on the door and Iggy was relieved about the interruption for all of two seconds. Then the door opened and Zane stuck his head through the opening. “Uh, I forgot to ask if I was supposed to move in with Malik and Simon.”
Kameron waved at him to enter and Zane obeyed, leaving the door open and hovering by it. Iggy could hear Malik talking in the hallway, so Zane was already taking his job seriously and staying close. That was good, at least when it came to the job. It wasn’t as good when it came to Iggy and his dick, because they both wanted Zane closer to him than to Malik.
“Yes, you should move in with them,” Kameron said. “Not indefinitely, because they don’t have a free room, and they won’t need a bodyguard once this is over, but you should stick close for now.”
Iggy should probably offer his room. It was furnished and everything, and Iggy had slept there only a handful of times before he’d had to move in with Kameron.
The idea of having Zane in that room made him a bit angry, because it was his, and he’d never had a room that was only his, a room he didn’t have to share with his brothers. But it also made him happy. Zane would sleep in his bed. His scent would be all over it, all over the sheets, and damn if Iggy didn’t want that.
A suspicion niggled at his mind, but he pushed it away, because he had no time for that. He should have known Kameron would meddle, because the man might be the pack’s alpha and a council member, but everyone knew he liked to play matchmaker and blame Zach for it.
“You’ll have to settle for the couch,” he told Zane. “Unless Iggy volunteers his room, of course.”
Everyone in the room looked at him, and even if he’d wanted to say no, he couldn’t have, not without sounding like a huge asshole. “Yeah, sure. It’s only temporary anyway, right? And it’s not like I’m using it right now.”
“Good. Why don’t you go with Zane, then? You can help him take his things over and show him around the house.”
Oh, the man was smart, and sneaky. He’d set Iggy up, and Iggy hadn’t been able to do anything to stop him. Nothing he’d say would convince Kameron now. “I need to stay with you,” Iggy tried anyway. He didn’t have much hope for it to work, and he was right.
“I’m at home, and Malik is here, too. We’ll be fine for a few hours.”
Iggy knew insisting wouldn’t change anything, so he sighed and walked toward Zane. Zane was out the door before Iggy could reach him, and Iggy followed, closing the office door behind himself. Zane was hovering in the hallway, looking awkward and cute, and how was it possible to look both at the same time?
“Ready to go?” Iggy asked.
“Sure. I can stop by the living room to tell Malik as we go.”
Iggy made sure there was enough space between them, because he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t jump Zane if he came close enough. He didn’t know what Zane had that none of the guys Iggy had been with in his life had. Not that he’d been with many—his nest wasn’t accepting of anything that wasn’t white and straight, so his sexual experience was limited to getting off in an alley or in the dirty bathroom of a club. None of the guys he’d been with had looked shyly at him like Zane had, and Iggy wasn’t sure why he found that so sexy, but he did.
“I’m, uh, going to go get my things,” Zane said, looking into the living room. “Kameron said you’ll stay here and that I had a few hours, so if it’s fine with you...”
Iggy saw Malik wave at Zane from the couch, and when Zane took it as a go ahead and headed to the front door after bundling up in his jacket and hat, Iggy followed him. The cold air was enough to knock some sense come back into him. He might want to fuck Zane six ways from Sunday, but he couldn’t really let himself indulge in doing that, so he’d better make sure there was plenty of space between them.
Zane pointed toward the left. “My house is over there.”
“Lead the way.”
They trudged through the forest, snow clumping on their boots and the bottom of their jeans. Iggy hadn’t had the opportunity to explore pack territory yet, and his bat wasn’t too happy. It wanted out, and Iggy would have to talk to Kameron about it. Maybe he could have a few hours to fly around. It would help with his job, too.
“So, uh, you’re new,” Zane said.
Iggy pressed his lips together, because he didn’t think laughing at Zane would go well, but damn, he was too cute for his own good. “Yeah. I bet everyone knows about me by now.”
Zane shrugged. “I guess. I was just trying to make conversation, and there are some pretty wild stories going around about you.”
“Wild? Oh, I want to hear them.”
Zane blushed. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”
“Come on, it has to be entertaining.”
“There’s a rumor that you killed your alpha and that Kameron doesn’t know about it. There’s one that says you’re Kameron’s lover, although only the people who don’t like him or Zach believe it. And of course, there’s the rumor that you, Kameron, and Zach are in a threesome, although sometimes it changes to you, Simon, and Mal.”
Iggy couldn’t believe people really believed that. They might not know him, but did they really think any of the people they put him in threesomes with would do something like that? Not that he had anything against threesomes, but he didn’t think Kameron, Zach, Simon
or Mal enjoyed them. “Those are ridiculous. Is there one that’s at least believable?”
“Well, there’s one that says that you got a girl pregnant and ran away.”
Iggy barked out a laugh. “Yeah, no chance of me doing that.”
Zane looked at him. “No?”
“Trust me, anyone I want to have sex with doesn’t have the necessary equipment to get pregnant.”
“Is that a confusing way to tell me you’re gay?”
“I don’t think it was confusing, but yeah. I’m gay. Very gay.”
Zane chuckled. “Very gay? Is there a not-much-gay option or something?”
“I guess not, but hey, sexuality isn’t written in stone. Maybe I’ll meet a girl I can’t resist one day.” Zane arched a brow and Iggy stared for a few seconds before laughing. “Right. Fat chance of that. What about you?”
Have I been drooling over a straight guy’s ass? Iggy was curious, because even if Zach had mentioned a person named Elias, and that was a guy’s name, there really wasn’t anything in Zane that could tell him which way Zane went.
“I’m not as gay as you, I guess.”
Iggy gestured at him to continue. “What does that even mean?”
“I’m bi, I guess, although leaning more toward guys. I’ve been with both girls and guys. More girls, because I didn’t have the possibility of being with guys before Kameron became alpha, but now that I have the choice, I’m more into guys.”
Iggy might have a chance, then. Of course, he’d have to wait until Kameron could do without him, but there was no rush. He liked the little he knew about Zane, and he wanted to know more. Maybe they could exchange numbers or something.
The conversation fell quiet after that, and Iggy didn’t try to start it again. The silence between them was oddly comfortable, and they got to Zane’s house a few minutes later anyway.
They both stomped their boots on the porch, pulled them off, and left them there, and when Zane stepped into the house, he yelled, “Anyone home?”
It was so fucking domestic that it sent a pang of sadness through Iggy’s chest. He never quite had that, but he’d had his family, his mother. He’d left them behind when he decided he needed to tell the pack what was happening, and there wasn’t a day that he didn’t think about them.
No one answered, and Zane shrugged. “Looks like everyone is out. Come on, my room’s upstairs.”
Iggy still hadn’t taken his jacket off, so he hurriedly did so before following Zane. The house was big and neat, but not so much that it would look like no one lived there. Everything spoke of a happy family, and it made Iggy miss his even more.
Zane pushed open a door at the end of the hallway upstairs, and as soon as Iggy followed him inside, he knew. Zane’s scent was everywhere, wrapping around Iggy, and there was no way Iggy could fool himself into thinking he was imagining things anymore.
Zane was his mate.
* * * *
Zane knew something was up as soon as Iggy froze at the door to his room. Well, he’d known something was up since he’d met Iggy, but he’d done his best not to think about it, because he’d had more important things to think about, like praying he wouldn’t get assigned to Quinn.
He slowly turned to look at Iggy, who looked part shocked, part annoyed. “You can come in.”
Iggy shuffled into Zane’s room and looked around. Zane mentally cursed himself for not picking up yesterday’s dirty clothes yet. He’d left them in a pile next to the bathroom door, and it meant yesterdays’ boxers were right on display. At least they weren’t embarrassingly skimpy, since he’d been training.
“Just sit wherever,” he said, grabbing the pile of clothes and dumping it into the almost full hamper.
Iggy obeyed, but he never looked away from Zane. Should Zane bring up whatever was happening? He didn’t even know what it was—he just felt there was something.
Instead of opening his mouth and blurting out the first thing that passed through his mind, he opened his closet and grabbed a bag. He grabbed another one and brought both to the bed, dumping them next to Iggy.
He started to move away, but Iggy stopped him, grabbing his wrist before he could go far. Zane froze, wondering what was happening, and Iggy sighed. “We’re going to have to talk about it.”
“Talk about what?”
Iggy frowned. “You have no idea, do you? Of course you don’t. Too many clothes. I knew for sure only once I got here.”
“What are you talking about?”
Iggy didn’t let go of him as he reached for the collar of his sweater. Zane thought he was going to strip for a second, because the too-many-clothes thing was still stuck in his mind, but Iggy just pulled on the collar and tugged Zane closer.
Zane stumbled and landed on top of Iggy. Iggy flopped on his back, blinking up as Zane tried to scramble off him. It wasn’t easy, since Iggy was still holding his wrist, and Zane put his other hand on Iggy’s chest and pushed. Iggy snapped back to attention and pulled again, reaching up with his other hand and wrapping it on the back of Zane’s neck.
He pulled again, and Zane was too stunned to resist. He let Iggy press his face against his neck, and—oh, now he got it. He pressed closer, burying his nose against the soft skin and taking a deep breath.
“I can’t believe I didn’t realize it earlier,” he mumbled.
“I didn’t either,” Iggy said, his chest moving under Zane.
“You knew.”
“Only when I entered your room. Your scent is all over the place.”
Zane pushed up and looked down at his mate. “What do we do?”
Iggy grinned. “I have a few ideas.”
Zane couldn’t help but smile back. “Yeah, and that’s okay for now, although we only have...” He checked his watch. “One hour and forty-five minutes left before we need to be back at Kameron’s house.”
“There’s plenty we can do in that time.” Iggy slid his arms around Zane and palmed his ass. “I’ve been wanting to do that ever since you walked into the office.”
Zane groaned and wiggled around. Iggy pressed harder, smashing their groins together and grinning. “Are those your keys, or are you just happy to see me?”
Zane laughed. “That was bad.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Why, because I’m your mate? Doesn’t mean I’m a sure thing.”
Iggy smirked. “That, no, but what about this?” He pushed forward and pressed their lips together. Zane opened up because there was no way he wasn’t kissing Iggy back. Iggy licked into Zane’s mouth and Zane moaned, because damn, Iggy was one hell of a kisser.
Zane moved away. “You’re good, but I’m still not a sure thing.”
The grin Iggy gave him was diabolical. He raised one of his hands and cupped the back of Zane’s head, then kissed him again. He rolled them and pressed Zane against the mattress, and Zane’s legs opened as if they had a mind of their own. He didn’t protest, because Iggy slotted between them as if he belonged there, and thinking about it, he did.
Iggy kissed him thoroughly, punctuating his tongue’s thrust into Zane’s mouth with thrusts of his hips. It made Zane crazy, and he scrambled to hold onto Iggy’s shoulders and his back. He knew his face was red when Iggy leaned away, and he was momentarily speechless.
That passed quickly when Iggy smugly asked, “And now? Are you a sure thing?”
Zane pushed up and rolled them again. Iggy yelped in surprise, but Zane was kissing him before he could say anything. He straddled Iggy’s groin and pushed down, rubbing his ass against Iggy’s cock while reaching down to raise Iggy’s sweater and get to his skin.
It was warm, and the hair on Iggy’s stomach tickled Zane’s palm. He had to resist the urge to undo the button of Iggy’s jeans and stroked his hand upward instead, pinching a nipple and smiling against Iggy’s mouth when he groaned and bucked upward.
“Hey, bro, why didn’t you answer... oh.”
Scott’s vo
ice penetrated the lusty fog in Zane’s head and he sprang away from Iggy. He was panting, and Iggy wasn’t doing much better on the bed. If Iggy’s appearance was any indication, Zane wouldn’t be able to find a good excuse for what his brother had walked in on. Not that he thought he could actually find one—what they’d been doing was pretty obvious, even without their flushed cheeks, swollen lips, and tented jeans.
Zane resisted the urge to adjust his cock. “Hey, Scott. Did you need something?” He noticed Iggy sit up and trying to look casual, but it didn’t work, and Scott laughed.
“You guys, you can stop trying to look casual. You were about to fuck. Even I know that, even though I’ve never been with a guy.”
Iggy snorted. “I think even a nun would know what we’ve been doing.”
Scott nodded, and why wasn’t he the least bit embarrassed about finding his big brother almost fucking a guy he didn’t know into the mattress? He shook Iggy’s hand as if it were the most natural thing to do in the world, then slumped on the bed next to him and looked at Zane. “So, what are you guys up to? Apart from the obvious.”
“I was supposed to be packing.”
Scott looked at the bags. “I noticed. Where are you going?”
“Simon’s house. Kameron asked me to be Malik’s bodyguard for a while.”
Scott whistled. “Oh, wow, you’re going up in the ranks, man.”
“Shut up. It’s temporary, and then I’ll be back to being just another recruit.”
Kameron hadn’t mentioned what would happen once this was over, but Zane hoped he’d be able to become an enforcer rather than going back to being a recruit. He wasn’t about to say it aloud, though, not until it was a sure thing.
“Bullshit. If anything, you’ll become a pack enforcer. You’re more than ready for it.” He sneaked a peek at Iggy. “And you’ll be able to get your own house. I don’t think I can ever unsee what I just saw. I’ll probably get nightmares.”
Zane snorted. “Maybe you’ll learn to knock.”
Iggy [Gillham Pack: 15] Page 2