His cock was getting rock hard just watching that fine ass move back and forth, hypnotizing him into fantasies. Lewis jerked his head up, nearly running into Evan’s back. He was too busy feasting his eyes on the delicious-looking rump.
“We can talk in here.” Evan waved his hand over to one of the chairs in the kitchen. Lewis pulled the chair out and sat the file down.
He noticed Evan watching him closely.
This unnerved him.
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Lewis wasn’t here for a date. No matter how much Evan interested him. This was business. Bachelor number one could sit down and answer his questions instead of slowly moving around the table as if stalking him.
Lewis refused to acknowledge the action and the come-hither looks. He now knew how a deer felt when hunted. Not that he was anything like an innocent creature. Far from it.
His pulse raced, and his palms began to sweat, but Lewis refused to let Evan see the slight shake to his hand. Why couldn’t he just take a damn seat? Boy how the tables had just turned. But in his defense, he ogled unbeknownst.
Evan pulled two juices from the refrigerator, handing one to him.
“Thanks.” Lewis took it without looking up. He cleared his throat to get his mind back on track and the purpose he had come here for.
“I know by now you may not remember, but could you tell me to the best of your ability about the night Jeremy Yards was attacked?”
“Cecil didn’t do it, and no one in this house would have helped in something like that,” Evan replied with quite a bit of hostility in his voice. This surprised Lewis, but he still studied the file rather than drown in those gorgeous eyes.
“So Cecil was here the night in question?”
“Yes.” Evan growled low as he reached out and roughly pulled Lewis’s head up by lifting his chin.
“Is there a reason you have your hands on me, Mr. Triamade?” Lewis stood, not liking in the least bit someone hovering over him or putting their uninvited hands on his body. Evan was two inches taller than him, hotter than hell, and had a body to worship, but that didn’t mean he would tolerate being manhandled by him or anybody else.
Lewis turned his head when the tallest man he had ever seen walked into the kitchen. If memory served him correctly, he was the owner of this home. What was his name again? Lewis glanced down at his file, skimming the names quickly.
Maverick Brac.
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“Nice to see you again, Detective Keating. Do you mind if I speak with Evan a moment?”
Lewis was shocked that someone of his stature even remembered his name. Looking from Evan to Maverick, Lewis slowly shook his head.
“I won’t keep him long.” Maverick led Evan out of the room.
Lewis took his seat again, wondering what was going on with Evan.
Mr. Magnificent was acting as though he owned Lewis, coming off angry for some reason. He tilted his head to the side, trying to see where Evan had gone.
* * * *
“I’m not mated to you, and yet even I can feel the anger rolling off of you. What’s going on, Evan?” Maverick crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall, crossing his ankles.
Evan had not disrespected his Alpha once since joining the pack, but Maverick had no right to pull him away from the kitchen. “Lewis is my mate. He’s in there acting as though he doesn’t even feel the pull, not even acknowledging me.” Evan hissed quietly, his irritation climbing a notch when Maverick’s upper lip lifted into a lopsided smile.
“So the mate bug has finally bitten the Almighty Evan?” Maverick chuckled, shaking his head. “How the mighty have fallen.” His face grew serious in the next breath. “I still don’t understand your anger. You know I do not and will not tolerate mate abuse. Do you expect this human to just fall into your arms, accepting the claiming with no questions asked?”
Evan shrugged. “Yeah.” Even to his ears it sounded stupid. He was used to being in control and having a level head at all times.
Lewis was taking that control from him and making him work at getting his attention. Evan wasn’t too happy about that.
“Give him time. Don’t rush this. That man in there”—Maverick
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pointed his finger toward the kitchen—“has no clue who or what you are. If I see you bullying him into accepting you, I will step in. Do I make myself clear?”
Evan gave a low growl. He knew Maverick was right, but the urge to claim what was his was riding him strong, clouding his judgment.
Not liking it one bit but having no choice, Evan nodded. He watched as Maverick walked away. Rolling his shoulders and taking a cleansing breath, Evan returned to Lewis.
“Is everything okay?” Lewis stood. Evan could see the apprehension in his mate’s eyes. Lewis reached down and closed the file he had been reading.
Evan knew Lewis’s movements were a signal of his departure. If he wasn’t allowed to take what was his, how was he going to keep him? “Everything’s fine.” Now what? He wasn’t just going to let his mate walk out of the front door without a backward glance. He had to think fast.
“I’ll let myself out. Thank you for your time.” Lewis extended his hand.
Evan stared at it as though it was an alien appendage. He knew he had gotten off to a bad start with Lewis. This situation needed rectifying and fast. “I’m sorry for my behavior. Maybe we could go out to dinner sometime?” Humans liked to date. Tangee, Loco’s mate, had proven that. He made the warrior date him a month before moving here from the city, and Tangee was half wolf. Surely Lewis would agree.
“Sorry, I don’t mix business with my personal life. It was nice meeting you.” Lewis dropped the proffered hand when Evan made no move to take it. Gathering his file, Lewis made for the front door Evan watched, feeling helpless. Maverick would stop him if he forced Lewis to come back. Of that, he had no doubt. The only thing keeping him rooted to the spot was the knowledge that he had the detective’s card in his room, and that was a way to locate him. Why did the warrior have a feeling that claiming his mate was going to be
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harder than he ever thought possible?
“Was he your mate?”
Evan turned to see Blair standing in the doorway of the den. He was mated to the Beta of their pack, Kota. Evan and Blair had formed a bond after the old alpha of the Eastern pack tried to solicit him at the Café. Evan stepped in, saving Blair from the insane wolf. He knew of Blair’s past—everyone in the house did, but it didn’t matter to them that he used to be a prostitute. The only thing that mattered now was his happiness and well-being.
“Yeah, only he doesn’t acknowledge the pull or me. What am I supposed to do? You’re human, help me out here.” Evan turned to the mate for guidance. It was a sad day in Evan Triamade’s life when he looked to a human for help with his mate. The old pack that he left, being an outcast for being gay, would laugh their homophobic asses off about this one.
* * * *
Lewis drove back to town.
Peeved
because the trip out to talk with Evan hadn’t taken as long as he had hoped and now he would be stuck behind his desk for the remainder of his shift.
Pissed
because he couldn’t figure out for the life of him why Evan had been so angry.
Lewis had done nothing to warrant the attitude toward him.
Confused
at the feeling to turn around and drive right back to Evan, a need so deep to be with him baffled Lewis.
Horny
because it had been what, three months, since the last time he had gotten laid?
When was the last time? Lewis gripped the steering wheel tighter.
Patrick, his lousy excuse for an ex. The bastard of a lover had been sneaking around on Lewis. He still wondered how his ex was stupid enough to even try it. Lewis was a detective, for crying out loud. It wasn’t just a job. He had a knack for putting puzzle pieces together to solve things. He had the talent since childhood, and that right there was what pissed him off the most about Evan. No amount of
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reasoning in his logical brain could figure out why Evan had been so hostile with him.
Lewis hated an unsolved puzzle. Well, it would be just that, unsolved because he wasn’t going anywhere near that man anymore.
He prided himself on his control and levelheadedness.
When he confronted Patrick about his cheating, listening to the cheating bastard try and lie his way out of it, Lewis had remained calm, in control. It just proved to him how much men couldn’t be trusted. They all lied, and they all cheated.
Evan would prove to be no different. With the way that man looked, he probably didn’t have a faithful bone in his entire body. No thanks, Lewis had enough of that to last him a lifetime.
He finished up his report, tossing the file on his desk to be dealt with tomorrow. What Lewis needed was a good, stiff drink and a good, stiff cock. Heading out, he steered his car into the city, going to a bar he knew he was sure to get lucky in.
He ordered his favorite drink. Whiskey always made a man forget his troubles. Lewis had the bartender line them up. He needed to forget Patrick’s betrayal, Evan’s gorgeous amber eyes, and most of all he needed to forget how no man could be trusted.
“Hey, handsome, looks like you’re on your way to a good buzz.” Lewis glanced to his right, not even turning his head to the soft voice. He didn’t care what the face attached to the voice looked like.
All he needed to know was if the guy wanted to fuck. No attachments and no conversation were required. Just a good hard dick.
He felt a vibration on his hip. Now what? Lewis pulled his phone out, holding up his finger to the stranger next to him.
“Keating.”
“Lewis. It’s Evan.”
Like he could forget that deep voice that was darker and smoother than the whiskey he was drinking. Wasn’t a fat chance in hell of that happening. “And how may I help you?” There was silence on the other end for a moment. “Are you
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drunk?” Evan asked in a tight voice.
Lewis rolled his eyes. What right did Evan have to sound pissed?
It seemed that was Mr. Magnificence’s natural state of being. “Why would that be any of your business?”
“Where are you?” Evan demanded.
“The Lucky Seven. Why, you gonna rescue me?” Lewis gave a drunken chuckle. Why should he care if Evan was angry? Wasn’t his problem. Evan didn’t own him. No one did.
“Yeah, something like that.”
Lewis pulled the phone back and stared at it. The shit actually hung up on him. Sliding the phone back into his pocket, Lewis downed another shot, pulling himself off of his stool with wobbly legs. He chuckled again. “Seems I haven’t gotten my sea legs yet.”
“You don’t need them. I’ll help.”
Lewis stared at the blurry man next to him, feeling an arm slide around his waist. He yanked himself back, a consuming feeling of cheating on Evan making him take a step back from the stranger.
What the fuck? A growl ripped from Lewis. He didn’t belong to Evan. He didn’t even like the prick. Why was he even considering his feelings?
Shaking his head, Lewis leaned back toward the stranger who had pulled him closer. He finally looked up, focusing his eyes on the man who held him. He wasn’t bad-looking. A little short for his taste, but what did he care? It wasn’t as though he was looking for anything permanent. Just a quick fuck and he could finally relax. Drain the tension that had been a constant for the last few months. Hand jobs were never relaxing to Lewis. He needed a hard body to give him the sort of release he craved.
Stumbling forward, Lewis let One-Night Stand guide him outside.
A voice in the back of his mind told him that this was insane. The stranger could be a psycho, and he wasn’t in his right state of mind to defend himself it something was to happen. “Shut the hell up.”
“Who?”
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“My brain.” Lewis stumbled against his car, laughing at the ludicrousness of the situation. He was arguing with himself. Maybe he was finally cracking. A wave of nausea hit him. Bending over, Lewis placed his hands on his knees, trying to suck down air to alleviate the bile rising in his throat. He felt a hand on his forearm, trying to pull him away.
“Come on, you can get sick later. I want to fuck you.” The hands tugged harder, making Lewis stumble forward.
“Give me a damn minute, will ya.” Lewis’s head was spinning.
Fear of passing out gripped him. Maybe he shouldn’t have drank so much. It wasn’t the wisest thing to do when alone and away from home. At home he tied one on and passed out on the closest soft surface. Out here there was only a paved parking lot or this jackass’s car.
Taking a deep breath, Lewis stood. Big mistake. He stumbled back against his car, his back slamming against the door.
“Just let me walk you. My car is just right over there.” Lewis tried to focus on the guy’s hand, seeing where he was pointing. It looked a thousand miles away in his inebriated state.
Taking an unsteady step forward, Lewis made his way over to the other man’s vehicle, feeling as though ten hours had passed in his journey of ten feet.
“That’s right, just slide in and relax. I’ll take real good care of you.”
Lewis’s brain was screaming for him to get away from the car, get into his, and put a large distance between him and this man. His instincts were never wrong. Lewis dug his heels in. “I changed my mind. I’m going home…alone.”
“That’s what you think.” Rough hands pulled on Lewis’s arm harder, making him trip over his own feet and slam right into the passenger door of the strangers car. The door was standing open, and he could feel hands on his back pushing him down, trying to get him into the car. This wasn’t right. Something was screaming for Lewis to
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pay closer attention to this guy. He was a little too strong for his height and weight.
Lewis fought back, throwing an unsteady punch and missing. He shook his head again, trying to clear it of its alcoholic fog.