“But I finished your rail!” Hector chimed in as he emerged from the guest room, or as it was now known, Rachel and Lola’s room. The way his muscles bulged as he carried another heavy bag inside just made me want to lick him. But it wasn’t playtime, no right now was moving-time.
I used a towel to dab the sweat from my forehead and threw it down on the table. “Bah, I hate moving.”
“So you said,” Todd muttered sarcastically, bringing in just the single lamp.
“Yeah, and you are clearly taking care of the heavy lifting,” I snapped back. He was supposed to be my mate, so why wasn’t he actually nice to me?
“I bruise easily,” he defended himself, his cheeks colouring red.
“My apologies, Princess.” I teased, bowing in his direction. Like a child, he stuck out his tongue and I just had enough. What an annoying guy. I raced across the room with my sweaty towel, hoping to hit him with it. Dust from the moving fluttered up as he cheered and grabbed his own towel. The loud whipping filled the kitchen before Rachel grabbed hold of both our collars and glared at the two of us.
“Enough. Use your energy to move the stuff from the van.”
“But—” I tried.
“She—” Todd muttered.
“I don’t want to hear any of it. I got up very early to move all our stuff, we’ll probably not get our deposit back because someone burned the mantelpiece, and I’m giving up my beautiful spacious flat to live with three sweaty men. I’d love some peace and quiet.”
“Yes, Rachel,” we sang together, crawling away from the fuming blonde. Rachel was really terrifying when she was tired. A tired Rachel was a scary Rachel. And right now, she was beyond exhausted.
“She looks so sweet,” Todd whispered under the table, glaring at my best friend.
“Don’t let her fool you, she can be vicious.”
“What’s that?” Rachel snapped, her glare burning holes in our heads.
“Nothing!” I grabbed Todd’s hand and dragged him out of the flat. “We were just on our way!”
“I thought so!” she called behind us. I quickly slammed the door shut and dragged Todd to the van. Martin had been kind when he said a couple more boxes until the last boxes. The stupid truck was still stuffed and the guest room was already full. How we were going to store everything was a mystery, but when we decorated our flat, we hadn’t exactly planned to be moving it all into one tiny room.
I stared down at my hand and noticed I was still holding Todd’s. He was the smallest of the men and his hand reflected that. Nonetheless, his grip was strong and it felt very safe. I could get used to that.
“I’m glad Rachel is your mate. She’s terrifying.”
I yanked my hand out of his and shoved his chest. That was a hard chest. No, Lola. That wasn’t something you should be noticing. “Yeah, well, she’s not the worst mate I have.”
“That goes for both of us!”
“You only have one mate!” I countered, not sure what his problem was.
“Yes, and she sucks!”
“Oooh, you take that back!” I gasped. Even if I didn’t like him, that stung. This was why I hadn’t wanted to find my mates, I was perfectly happy with just Rachel. And now I found them, I couldn’t exactly walk away, even if one of them was an asshole.
“Move your own shit,” he growled, dumping one of the boxes in the middle of the road and storming back into Dragon Soul.
“Aaaaah!” I yelled, the frustration coursing through my veins. Why was he so infuriatingly infuriating? I tried to lift the box he left and voiced another scream. Of course he had to leave one of the heavier ones. “Shitty, shitty, shit shit shit!”
“Need some help?” Martin emerged from the stairs and picked up the stuff Todd left behind. Without any problems, he heaved it up to his shoulders and gave me a curious smile.
“Thanks... Todd does not seem to like me.”
“I wouldn’t take it too personally,” Martin said, then shrugged. Which was pretty impressive if anyone asked me. He had a heavy box on his shoulder.
I grabbed a couple of awkward but light bits from the van so I could walk up with him and pump him for more information.
“It’s a bit hard not to take it personally when he’s one of my mates,” I pointed out, trying not to pout too much.
“It’s not you he has a problem with.” Martin grabbed the door and held it open for me. “He’s tried to hide it from Hec and I, but Todd’s never really wanted a mate.”
My jaw fell open.
“I’d close that before someone challenges you to a fire off.”
“You do that?” I asked, widening my eyes with glee. It’d been a long time since I’d been allowed to make fire. Mostly because of the damage to our old place.
Martin chuckled. “Yes, we do that sometimes. But not in the bar.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
I beamed. I loved fire. Everything about it.
“Did you just tell me that to distract me?” I demanded.
“No, but did it work?”
I shook my head. “Tell me more about Todd not wanting a mate.” It wasn’t like I could judge. I hadn’t wanted my mates either.
“There’s not much to tell, really. And if there is, then he hasn’t made us aware of it. I think it’s to do with his brother, but he doesn’t really talk about it.”
I mulled it over in my mind. The only thing I could think of that could cause that reaction was a mating gone wrong. But that wasn’t very common. In fact, I didn’t think I knew any mating which had gone badly. Unless…
“Did his mate die?” I shivered slightly at the thought. Losing one of them would be devastating.
“I doubt it, Todd’s talked about his sister-in-law a few times.” Martin shrugged again, as if it was of little importance.
Maybe it was to him. But to me, it most definitely wasn’t. I needed to figure this out, for the sanity of one of my mates. And for me. I couldn’t go through life with him being so antagonistic.
“What kind of things does Todd like?” I asked, rearranging the rack I was carrying. Why was it that things like this seemed to get heavier the longer they were carried? It was like they had some kind of secret knack for it.
Martin’s cheeks turned pink, which only increased my curiosity. He didn’t seem like the easily embarrassed type.
“You can tell me, you know.” I bumped my hip against him playfully, being careful not to knock him over.
“He likes watching cage fighting,” he admitted.
“Really?” I part-squeaked. I hadn’t had him down for that kind of guy.
“I walked in on him once.” Martin leaned back against the door to Rachel’s room, holding it open for me as I slipped through and set the racks down.
“Huh.”
He let it swing shut behind him and set the box down on the stack of others.
“Lola…”
“Hmm?” I looked up at him. His eyes were very striking, like sparkling embers in the fire. They were actually kind of distracting.
“Can I kiss you?”
The earnest look on his face confused me slightly. I was his mate, wasn’t I? He had every right to kiss me. And do a lot more than that. So why was he asking?
“Of course,” I whispered.
He closed the gap between us and anticipation began to build. For all my time denying I wanted my mates, I’d also been looking forward to this moment. There was a little romantic in me no matter what I said.
Martin pressed his lips against mine and I responded instantly. I leaned into him, pressing my body against his and feeling all the planes of him against me.
Even so, he kept his kisses soft. I could feel the emotion, the tenderness, everything I wanted to feel but would never let myself.
We broke apart, our breathing somewhat shallow. I opened my eyes and met his gaze.
Martin lifted his hand and brushed his fingers against my cheek. The tenderness was something I’d never experienced befor
e. Not even from Rachel. And I wanted more of it.
I smiled at him. Spending the rest of my life with Martin wasn’t going to be a chore. Now, Todd on the other hand…
At least I had an idea of how to deal with him now.
11
The tight bra itched into my skin and I tugged on the strap. This was easily the most uncomfortable outfit I’d ever worn, but anything for my mates. And I was adventurous, this wasn’t my first role-play. Not even the weirdest.
But man, I really wished Todd had a different fantasy than the women holding up the scoreboards during cage fights. I wasn’t sure what was so sexy about it, but men were weird.
I softly knocked on his door, begging none of the others happened to pass through the hall. They’d have a field day if they saw me dressed like this.
“Come in!” he called. I took a deep breath and pushed the door open. The hinges shrieked softly as I stepped into the cedar scent. Even if he was an asshole, he was my nicely-smelling asshole. Wow, that sounded so wrong.
“Hello, Todd,” I smiled, my voice lower than usual. Damn it, I was trying to be sexy but I just ended up sounding like my uncle.
“Evening, Lola,” he muttered, waving in my direction without actually looking at me. That was disappointing. “What do you want?”
“Ready for round one?” I breathed, holding up my paper sign. I had wanted to get a proper one, but I made the mistake of trying on Rachel’s heels first and those things were just out to snap my ankles. Even taking them off was a scary prospect. So, a paper sign, it was.
“Ummmm… Lola… What are you doing?” Todd asked, furrowing his eyebrows as he leant back in his desk chair. He seemed confused, but also intrigued. Good.
“Shhhh, tonight, my name is Lolita,” I purred, swaying my hips as I approached his desk. With his eyes fixated on my naked stomach and bulging cleavage, I knew I made a good call. I threw him a little kiss and winked, hoping it looked sexy instead of my usual clumsy. But damn, these heels were a pain to walk in.
“O-Okay? But—”
“No more talking, big boy,” I moaned, sitting down on his lap. I curled my arms around his neck and threaded my fingers in his hair. Todd gulped, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Lola—”
“Lolita,” I corrected him, pressing two fingers against his lips.
“Lolita…”
“Yes?”
“Your foot is on my audiochord.”
“Oh fuck, I’m so sorry.” I jumped up, accidentally pulling his headset over his head.
“Ouch.”
“Sorry!” Quickly, I stepped away from his chair. Snap. Noooooo! “Fuck a duck!”
“You okay there?” Todd looked down at me, confusion riddled across his face.
“Am I okay? Let’s see. I think I just bruised my bum, I broke Rachel’s heel, and your fantasy is about ring girls. And, let’s be honest, I’m clearly rubbish at being one! Fuck!” I cursed, yanking the shoes from my feet and throwing them across his room.
A chuckle broke his stern glare and he helped me back to my feet. “Your bum looks perfectly fine, I’m sure Rachel won’t mind, and for fire’s sake, why do you think I have a thing for ring girls?”
“Martin said so.”
Todd shook his head. “Of course, he did. He once walked in on me trying to hack into the MMA database so I pretended I was watching the ring girls. He doesn’t really like me hacking. He’s teased me ever since with the ring girl thing.”
“Oh… So you don’t actually find this sexy?” I asked, gesturing at my barely-clad body.
“Well… You do look pretty good in it,” he admitted, blushes colouring his cheeks.
“I did my best.”
“Did you do that just for me?” Todd tilted his head, his whole demeanor a lot less hostile than he’d been the past week.
“Yes, I’m making an effort even though you seem to think I stink and you don’t even know me!” Exasperated, I picked at the stupid tiny bra. What was I thinking showing up like that?
“I don’t think you stink…”
“Then why don’t you like me?” I hadn’t meant to sound so vulnerable, but I really wanted to know. I got along great with Martin, we’d shared many more kisses and he even stopped asking permission. And Hector, he was amazing. Funny, handsome, and smart, he really was the perfect guy. Even Rachel and I were getting quickly used to being more than just friends. But Todd… Todd muttered under his breath if I entered the room and avoided me like the plague. And while it was easy to pick fights with him, every time he dismissed me, it hurt. The rejection stung and I hadn’t been able to take it anymore. But the ring girl thing wasn’t working and I was out of any other option but just to straight up ask.
“I do like you. You’re growing on me.”
“But?”
“But nothing,” he lied, batting his eyes down.
“No, tell me. Please, I’d like to understand what I’m doing wrong.”
“You’re not doing anything wrong.”
“Really? Because you treat me like I’m worse than ashes in a dead fire. That doesn’t exactly scream acceptance to me.” I crossed my arms, pushing my already crazily enhanced cleavage up another notch. If he wasn’t going to accept me after this, then we were going to have some serious problems.
“It’s not you, Lola. It’s me.”
“You didn’t just say that.” There was a dangerous edge in my voice that scared even me, and I was the one saying it.
Todd sighed. “The problem isn’t you personally. It’s you as a mate.”
“Right. So your problem is with me being your mate. Well you know what? I have three other mates anyway and that’s all I need. Three to one and one to three and all that,” I half quoted the rhyme we were taught as kids.
“Lola…”
“No, just stop.” I stared at him for a second, the anger welling up inside me more than I wanted to admit.
After a few more moments of waiting for him to protest, I grunted and spun around, storming through the door and out into the living room beyond.
I didn’t even give a thought to any of the others being about until I smacked straight into Hector’s chest.
I wobbled, despite the fact I wasn’t wearing Rachel’s ridiculous heels anymore, but Hector was fast and steadied me by my elbows.
“You okay?” he asked, his eyes not straying from my face. That would change once he realised what I was wearing, but I’d take it for now. It was kind of refreshing for him not to be staring at my rack. Most guys would.
“Fine,” I denied, even though he could almost certainly see through it.
Hector took a step back and his eyes widened as he took in my mostly naked body.
“What are you wearing?” he rasped.
“Practically nothing,” I replied. A small sniffle escaped from him.
“For Todd?”
I nodded.
“Let me get this straight, the first time you dress up sexy for one of us, it’s Todd?!”
I hiccuped as I tried to stop the giggle lodged in my throat. “Ridiculous, right?” I muttered, a note of bitterness making its way into my voice.
“Just a little.” Hector smiled at me, the warmth melting away a little of the resentment. “Here,” he said after a moment, whipping off his shirt and handing it to me.
“Thanks.” I slipped it over my head and breathed in Hector’s warm scent. I felt better already.
“Do you want anything to drink? Tea? Cocoa?” he asked as he moved me towards the comfy sofa in the middle of the room.
I sunk down into the soft material, grateful it wasn’t made of leather which would stick to my naked ass.
“That depends, are your drink making skills in general bad? Or is it just when you’re trying to be healthy?”
Hector laughed. “My tea making skills are adequate at best. You want Martin for that. And for a lot of the domestic things,” Hector whispered conspiratorially.
“I noticed. He’s a fantastic
cook.”
“He’s a bit of a Mummy’s boy, I think.” The twinkle in Hector’s eyes made it clear he was being affectionate. And that he’d say this to Martin’s face too, which took the sting out of his words.
“Just a little.” I glanced away. I didn’t need reminding of how much of a Mummy’s boy Martin was. Everything he’d done had pointed to that and reminded me of the upcoming meeting I had with his family. And Hector’s. And Todd’s. Probably not Rachel’s though. Even they shunned her.
“It’ll be okay, Lola. I promise-”
“Lola?” Todd asked reluctantly from his door.
“I’ll leave you to it,” Hector said, brushing a hand against my bare knee.
“Do you want your shirt back?” I blurted.
“I think you need it more than I do,” he replied.
“Thanks.”
Hector leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead, causing my inner dragon to purr. I would admit that I liked having my mates about and the affection that brought. Even if Todd wasn’t playing ball.
Leaving the sofa, his back muscles flexed as he stood, giving me a great view. His weird health drinks really did pay off.
“Don’t be too much of an asshole,” he told Todd as he passed and went into his own room.
Todd pulled a face, but made his way over to me. “May I?” He gestured towards the sofa and I nodded.
“So?” I prompted. I wasn’t all that sure I wanted to listen to what he said, but at the same time, I kind of owed it to him. He clearly had some issues which needed addressing and some of the responsibility for that probably fell on me.
“My brother met his mate at the first ceremony. Regina was everything he wanted her to be, and he got on well with his two new mate-brothers. At first, everything was fine. Regina had known one of her mates before the ceremony, but Lars said it was still an even relationship. Like it should be.”
“And you’re worried that Rachel will make things uneven because I knew her before?” My eyes widened at the thought. He wasn’t going to get me to choose between the two of them, was he? I didn’t think I could even try and sort out that mess in my head.
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