by Jo Penn
“That’s good. I would miss you, Macario. Why not bond now, get to know later?”
“Not my way, bro.” Mac bumped his shoulder into Eber’s. “I’d miss you, too, though I wouldn’t mind living in Tahiti for a while.”
“Not going to happen. You stay with family, that’s final.”
“You gargoyles are all about family. You know, our family can still be a family a thousand miles from each other,” Mac exclaimed.
“That is not my way.” Eber smirked. “And though you are suffering and see us suffering in turn, you do not actually wish to be away from us.”
“Are you serious?!” Mac snatched the packet of sultanas back and glared at his brother. “I could very happily go live in the Alps or become a beach bum and not see any of you for at least twenty months. Yeah, maybe twenty-one since Vinn squashed my baseball bat with his big demon hand.”
“Are you still going on about that?” Eber growled. “You knew the rules of the game. You swung, he crushed. End of.”
“I’ll end you!” Mac responded with his own growl, which, because he had lion shifter blood, wasn’t too bad.
“Hi! Did you see me?” Fale excitedly asked, his big dark eyes so trusting and happy.
“We did. Your skills are excellent,” Eber stated firmly.
Mac rolled his eyes. Gargoyles tended to be very black and white and state things rather than express feelings.
“You were fantastic, Fale. I’m really amazed how you could remember everything, watch the flying objects, list them, and be blinded by those lights. Me, I would have shot the annoying freaking lights, grabbed a beer, and ducked.”
Fale beamed. “You really did watch! My trainer said I should have tomorrow off and she will e-mail me a new schedule. I’m famished, can we grab a fruit salad from the cafeteria before I collect my stuff?”
“A fruit salad?” Mac groaned. “Fale, are you a vegetarian?”
“What? No, not entirely. I eat fish. I like fruit salads. I guess I could have something else if you want me to—”
“No, no.” Mac smiled and, sliding off the bench, steered his mate toward the open double doors leading into the guild building, which was a huge refurbished monstrosity. “Get whatever you like, but maybe a fruit salad and something more substantial. You used a lot of energy during training.”
Fale sighed happily. “Okay, you’re right, thank you for caring.”
“Of course I care, Fale. So does Eber. You can think of him as a big, overprotective, and menacing brother.”
Fale looked up at Eber wide-eyed and tripped over his feet. Eber caught the young fae and got him moving forward, Mac chuckling. While Vinn often found Blazh too much at times, though he adored the youngun, Eber was more patient. Mac could see that soon Fale would be just another brother to Eber, one to be protected.
Mac was looking forward to learning more about his mate.
Entering the large cafeteria and feeling all eyes on them, Mac smiled and steered his mate over to the trays, plates, and cutlery.
“Hungry?” Eber asked, grabbing a tray for them.
“Not particularly. I wouldn’t mind a coffee.”
“Coffee is off the menu.”
“But you had a coffee after lunch.” Fale spun around from inspecting a double fudge sundae.
“What?” Eber hissed. “I specifically told Tobias you weren’t allowed coffee.”
“It wasn’t a coffee!” Mac whispered. “Just settle down, both of you. Fale, pick something healthy. Eber, I could do with a sweet tea if they have any.”
“No, you had coffee.” Fale’s voice rose an octave. “It’s all my fault! I should have known you couldn’t have coffee.” Fale began to pace, hands waving around, eyes wide and a little crazed, Mac felt. “What should I do? I know! I’ll take you to the infirmary—”
“Calm down, youngun’.” Eber planted a hand on Fale’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault, and you are not alone having to deal with this.”
“Problem?” Visij asked quietly.
“It’s all my fault, Second Visij! Mac shouldn’t have had coffee, and I didn’t stop him! We have to get him to the infirmary and flush his system—”
“No one is flushing my system.” Mac managed to catch one of Fale’s waving hands and tugged gently until his mate was looking at him. “Fale, calm down for me. I need you to stop for a minute and look just at me.” He waited, ignoring all the creatures watching them with interest. Fale stared anxiously up at him. It was then Mac realized how much the man cared for him. For a moment it struck fear in his very soul, but he pushed that aside and concentrated on dealing with one situation at a time. “One coffee is not going to make me ill, I promise. If I don’t feel well, I’ll say. Okay?”
“You promise?”
“I promise. Can we get something to eat now?” He gave a lopsided smile, hoping to relax the man.
Fale, though, surprised Mac and showed a different side to the fae. Face turning stern, eyes narrowed, he leaned close to Mac but spoke loud enough for the entire room to hear, mostly because no one was talking, too busy watching and catching the drama.
“I’m your mate! You need to tell me what can be harmful.”
“We’ll talk about that, Fale, later.”
“That really wasn’t nice, Macario. I won’t be fobbed off. This is very important, and I take our mateship deadly serious.”
“What’s the problem, Fale?” Visij asked. “What has Macario done to upset you? Do I need to have a lawyer for you—”
“No! He’s mine.” Fale narrowed his eyes on a woman close by. “So look at someone else, Nadia. Forget it, I’ll get my stuff, and we’ll go.”
Mac was left standing gaping after Fale as the man stormed out of the cafeteria. Eber returned the tray to the pile and pulled out his phone.
“Fale has gone to his old room. Follow him, don’t let him out of your sight.”
Mac had no idea what he’d done to cause such an extreme reaction in Fale. He walked with Eber out of the cafeteria, Visij following them.
“What was that about?” he asked, frustrated.
“You did something your mate didn’t like, and he was letting you know,” Vis said reasonably. “What’d you do, anyway? Look at Nadia?”
“I didn’t look at anyone!” Mac snapped. “Geez, I had one lousy coffee and—this is your fault!”
Eber growled. “How is your mate getting upset with you my fault? You know you shouldn’t have chemicals like the ones often in coffee.”
“You made it sound like it’d make me ill! I’m over this already. Now the entire frigging Valley knows I have cancer.”
“What? You have cancer?” Vis paled. “Oh shit, I’m sorry, Mac. No wonder Fale got upset.”
“You hurt your mate’s feelings,” Eber snapped.
“You know what? This is all going a little too fast for me. I’ll be outside.”
Mac stormed out self-righteously, but by the time he climbed into the back of the car, he wasn’t so sure he had a reason for being annoyed. In fact, he may have just been a selfish ass.
Man, this mateship caper was complicated, and he was four steps behind. What the hell was he going to do? What was he meant to do? Sighing, Mac rested his head on the headrest and stared dully at the ceiling of the car.
He knew what was bugging him, why he’d gotten so frustrated so quickly when normally he wouldn’t. Fale wanted to claim and bond. He wanted the whole mateship package of love, devotion, and connection forever. Fale was ready now, right this second, and love was beginning to shimmer in his dark eyes.
It freaked Mac out a little, true, he wouldn’t deny that. He’d always gone from one fling to the next without ever intending to be committed. River commented once that Mac was similar to their father, and Mac guessed he was, in a way. Their father was a good man, he was caring and smart, had amassed a fortune during his lifetime and placed it in his children’s hands while he ambled from one location to another.
Sometimes Mac thought he
was so like his father he wouldn’t settle down with one person, hopping beds and drifting from one hook-up to the next. Of course, his siblings had not let that happen, and he should have seen it well before now. They’d let him have his fun, but kept him grounded and taught him respect and caring for others.
Strong feelings welled up inside Mac for those he loved. He grumbled, complained, and really would enjoy a holiday in Hawaii or Tahiti, but not for longer than a week or two away from his pushy, overprotective, wonderful family. How he was meant to move from flings to a mateship, Mac hadn’t figured out yet, but he felt the connection between himself and Fale, and it explained why he’d been so edgy lately.
He was more attracted to Fale than he’d been to anyone and had even managed to get aroused and have a semi-erection, which he hadn’t had since the first radiation treatment. Still, having a mate was going to be a huge change and he needed just a bit of time to get used to everything. It was happening so quickly, and even for him, a human, there was this draw, a connection and need so strong that he couldn’t ignore or fight it. He wanted to be close to Fale, and he wanted to fuck the man.
But would Fale accept that for now? He’d already asked Mac to let him claim and bond three times. Maybe Mac was fighting this too hard. He really wasn’t sure.
Mac may be mostly human, but he grew up with a paranormal family and shared their beliefs entirely. Mates were fated and precious. You didn’t walk away from a mate, they were yours, and you were theirs, and he understood the pain that would be caused if he turned away. He just needed to squash the slight commitment aversion and get on board completely before he hurt his mate. Which was the last thing he wanted to do. Fale was…special.
* * * *
Fale was so mad he could kick something. But after packing his belongings in the packing boxes, he’d calmed down enough to resist the urge.
All through lunch he’d been so happy with how well he and Mac got along. They’d talked, shared tales of their lives, laughed, and had a great time. And then Mac insisted on sitting outside during the training session, and Fale thought, wow, Mac was feeling their connection.
How wrong he was. If they had been, wouldn’t Mac have told him about coffee and other things he could and couldn’t have? Talked about his illness, shared his burden with Fale? But it was very apparent they weren’t that close, and Fale was angry and disappointed. Realistically, it could take longer to feel the connection and fall for someone, but Fale was already there, he was beginning to love Mac, and it hurt that the man didn’t have more than a tepid liking for Fale.
Deciding he would have to try harder with Mac and toughen up, Fale slipped the strap of his satchel over his head and opened the door to his room. As expected, two of the Aston security stood there. He handed each a small box and led the way through the guild, waving at a few of his fellow trainees and stopping to speak to Second Visij by the front doors.
“Is everything okay?” Visij asked quietly.
“I guess I was expecting too much too soon.” He managed a tight smile. “There’s a lot going on.”
“Sounds like. I’ll be by tomorrow to check on you. And remember, mates are fated. If you don’t like something, tell Mac. Just think of him, too, and what he needs.”
That might be part of the problem. Fale was so excited to be with his mate, be close, he wasn’t exactly thinking about what Mac needed. He hadn’t given Mac time, and he jumped around like an adoring puppy whenever he got attention. From now on, Fale would take a step back and control himself…well, as much as he could.
Thanking the guild Second, Fale joined Eber outside by the large Range Rover. Mac was inside on his phone. Fale climbed in the back but left space between them, Eber and one of the bodyguards got in the front. The drive back to the Aston Estate was mostly quiet except for the beeping of Mac’s phone. Fale wanted to snatch it from his mate’s hand and go through all the messages, the e-mails and contacts, and block anyone who his mate had dated.
He sighed. Okay, he wouldn’t really do that. But maybe it would help settle his worry that Mac would never love him.
“What the fuck?” Eber slammed on the brakes, the car swerving sharply to the left across the road. “Hold on.”
Fale was flung forward and would have slammed into the front passenger seat, but Mac caught him and pulled Fale back against his chest and locked his arms around him. Fale planted his feet on the floor and pushed back into Mac, grabbing the armrest as he did for something to hang onto as the car jolted and spun. A loud, sharp noise came from outside. Gunshots. Definitely gunshots.
“Dammit,” Eber snarled.
The car shook and came to a stop in the middle of the road, and the gunshots kept coming. Fale looked out the window and saw two creatures dressed in camouflage and carrying weapons running toward the car. One jerked to the side and blood sprayed everywhere. The creature dropped to the ground.
“Don’t look.” Mac tugged Fale’s face around. “Everything is going to be okay, sweetie. The vehicle is reinforced and bulletproof. We have a car behind us with three very well trained security guards inside. By now they would have called for back-up and are protecting us.” Mac smiled, and Fale went soft inside. “Safe, sweetie. Right now Eber’s cursing he can’t get in on the action and has to sit and wait while others chase away these morons who are stupid enough to pull a poorly planned stunt at dusk. You hear that?”
Fale nodded, not breaking eye contact with his mate. “It sounds like a tank.”
“Yeah, it does. That’s the gargoyles.” The car shook, and Fale trembled. “That’s one landing on the roof. They’re very unusual creatures. You could never mistake them for human, they really stand out with those eyes, and if you look carefully, you’ll see beneath the gold, Eber has the vertical line right through his pupil, just like all gargoyles. Gargoyles are tremendously strong, they have wings that slip out from their backs when they want to use them, and their skin can become like armor.”
“Really?” Fale was fascinated.
“Well, their skin is tougher than most other creatures, so I always think of it as semi-armor. The wolves will be here soon, I can hear more vehicles coming.”
“Stay here. Remain with them,” Eber ordered the guard and got out of the car, slamming the door after him.
“Will he be safe?” Even though Eber was a bit intimidating, okay, a lot intimidating, Fale was getting used to the large gargoyle and didn’t want him to be harmed.
“We have guards out there and his gargoyle cousins. They have his back.”
“Okay.” Fale smiled and, moving around, swung a leg over and sat on Mac’s lap, facing his mate. “Thank you. I wasn’t scared when you held me.”
“Neither was I.”
“You weren’t scared at all,” Fale teased.
“I was concerned, but I knew the car kept us protected and we have security.”
“Is this what it’s like for you all the time?”
“No. The Renegades have been making themselves at home in Milson Valley the last few months, and unfortunately, it places everyone in danger. On top of that, we have the human Hunters who think that paranormals should be eliminated, or made into slaves. It’s fucked up, but it is our reality, and we deal with it the best we can. It doesn’t mean we stop living. We just take extra precautions.”
“You’re really great, Mac.” Fale sighed, eyes downcast. “I wish I could be as calm and reasonable as you.”
“This isn’t new to me. It’s not common, but it’s not the first time.” Mac pulled Fale against him and sniffed his neck. “You’re a few steps ahead of me in this mateship. Do you think you can give me some time to catch up? And could we possibly enjoy ourselves without the expectation of claiming and bonding?”
Being held felt so right. Fale never wanted to leave Mac’s arms. He wiggled closer.
“That’s fair. I just need to know what I should and shouldn’t do to keep you safe and healthy.”
“How about just being my mate?” Ma
c tugged Fale’s shoulder length dark hair.
“That includes making sure you’re taken care of.”
“Fair enough,” Mac said grudgingly.
Fale smiled and taking a chance, his heart pounding in excitement and a little fear his mate would reject him, he pressed a light kiss to his soon to be lover’s lips.
As soon as their lips touched, Fale was lost. He wrapped his arms around Mac’s neck and let his mate lead. Quickly, the tentative kiss turned to fiery, hot passion, Mac’s tongue delving into Fale’s mouth, stroking and tangling with his own. Fale never knew how good another person could taste and, wow, Mac knew how to use his mouth to get his rocks off!
Their kisses became needier and passionate, more aggressive. Fale groaned into his mate’s mouth as Mac’s hand moved over his back, tracing his spine slowly, then down to his ass and with the slightest tug, pulled Fale across his groin, rubbing.
The friction, the feel, was incredible, Fale leaking precum and sure he was going to explode. He wanted to strip off his pants, undo Mac’s jeans and take the man’s cock inside him and ride them both until they came.
Unfortunately, as Fale reached for the top button of Mac’s pants, there was a sharp knock on the door beside them. It opened before he had time to do more than frown slightly, and then Fale found himself up close and personal with the back seat as he was flung to the side and face down by Mac.
“You always were good with a gun, Macario. Come on, the tires are shot out on this car, we’ll need to move you two. Pass me your mate.”
Fale had just managed to scramble up when he was being grabbed, and Mac quickly passed him off to a huge creature Fale recognized as a gargoyle. Mac was stronger than Fale had thought, and he had a very deadly gun in one hand.
Fale struggled, earning a grunt from the creature. “Mac!”
“Hey, it’s okay, that’s Bruno, Eber’s cousin. He’ll get you to the van. I’ll be right there.”
Fale found himself surrounded by creatures as he was put over the gargoyles shoulder. He lifted his head and watched another creature help Mac out of the car and others moved around them. Fale had never been in a dangerous situation before, and he was fairly sure he never wanted to be again. Tahiti was extremely safe. It was such a beautiful, friendly, relaxing place that if any Renegades ever showed up there, they’d instantly lose their animosity and take a vacation from their plotting and murdering, Fale was positive.