They laughed together and then sobered.
“I’m glad that I found you.” Quintus wrapped his arms a little tighter around Renner’s body. “I honestly never thought I’d find anyone who sparked what you have in me. It was like waking up at age twenty-eight.”
Renner turned his head so they could kiss sideways, but it wasn’t enough. Even though he had to slide out of his mate’s tight bottom, Quintus did so they could lie face-to-face to kiss and cuddle.
“You look surprised.” Renner stroked his fingers through Quintus’s hair.
“I never imagined spending the day with a man in bed.”
“Never?”
“No. I worked all the time. When I was home I ate, slept, and bathed. But even then I was always thinking about work. I actually was terrified when the blood madness hit, and not because of the illness itself, but because I knew if it destroyed the world, it would take my job with it and that was the only thing I had.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m not worried about my job at all. Not anymore. I mean I want to do work here, on the farm, but it’s different because it’s about pitching in for all of us, not just giving myself something to do to keep myself occupied.” Quintus sighed and kissed Renner twice. “Please tell me that all made sense.”
“It did. It does.” Renner rested his forehead against Quintus’s. “I guess in a lot of ways I was like you. If I wasn’t working, I was here at home, but I still wasn’t really here because I’d be somewhere in my mind with my imaginary master.”
“Do you really want me to boss you around?”
“That depends.”
“On?”
“How you feel about it.” Renner moved back so they could look at one another. “I can see now it’s not like what I thought it would be. When I played this out in my head, I never thought about how my master would feel about things. It was like he wasn’t real, only there to do my bidding. But you are real, and I don’t want you to do things that make you unhappy.”
“I think, if we put our heads together, we can come up with all kinds of things we enjoy doing.” Quintus kissed him softly, loving the way Renner melted against him. It was such a curious contrast because Renner was his same size and just as strong, but he enjoyed being cuddled and cared for. He wondered how the other slammers dealt with that need. Perhaps they expressed it when they let McBride feed from them.
“Did you ever…” Quintus trailed off because he realized maybe he shouldn’t ask.
“What?”
“Well, just that slammers typically get thralls. And they’re tiny. How did that factor into your fantasy?”
“It didn’t. I wanted a mate, but I didn’t want men like what my brothers got. Not that there’s anything wrong with them. All their mates are great, but I wanted someone like you.” Renner frowned. “If the world hadn’t fallen apart, I guess I would have just settled for whoever McBride got for me. And I would have been happy I suppose, but I wouldn’t have been satisfied. Not like I am now.”
“You’re satisfied with me?” Quintus teased. “That’s like McBride calling me serviceable. Or adequate.”
“He called you that?”
“No, wait, he called me
suitable
.” Quintus made a face. “It made me sound like a pair of shoes or some machine.” At Renner’s annoyed expression, Quintus said, “He didn’t mean it in a cruel way. Just that he was driven to compromise on a mate because he couldn’t have the man he really wanted.”
“Is the man he wants dead?” Renner sounded utterly heartbroken for McBride.
“No.” Quintus didn’t want to tell McBride’s secret. Not when the man had been more than generous in letting Quintus off the hook when he certainly didn’t have to. Moreover, he could have tossed him out, but he wasn’t that kind of man.
“Then why can’t he be with him?”
“It’s complicated.” Quintus traced his finger over the scar on Renner’s neck, hoping to distract him.
It worked for a moment, but then Renner pulled back and tucked his chin down so Quintus couldn’t reach the scar. “Isn’t there something we can do to help him?”
“I think we should leave McBride’s love life up to him.”
“But he’s the only one left without a mate.” Renner considered. “Well, except for Caleb, but I don’t think he’d be good with a thrall.”
“No?” Quintus rolled onto his back and urged Renner to rest his head on his chest. He loved to lie this way so he could sift Renner’s hair with his fingers. It was soft and made him think of a long time ago when he’d made the same motion on his blanket as a child. He found it soothing then, and it was now, too, but it was also a way of showing tenderness to his mate.
“Can you see Caleb with someone like Ferris or Alden?” Renner shivered. “He’d destroy them. Once, our master—Jonas and not McBride—bought us a mechanical man, and Caleb fucked it to death.”
As Renner described the situation, Quintus thought about Caleb and McBride. Like he and Renner, they were the same size, but there wasn’t a clear submissive partner in their coupling. How would that work for them in the bedroom? Not that it was any of his business, but he couldn’t help a prurient kind of interest. He’d never thought much about sex until he discovered Renner. Now he couldn’t seem to think about anything else.
“Did you ever want to be in charge of your imaginary master?”
“No.” Renner lifted his head off Quintus’s chest and peered into his eyes. “Do you want me to?”
“I don’t know.” Quintus considered. “Would you be surprised?”
“No.” Renner tucked his head back down. “I’d be willing to try what you like just like you were with me.”
“I think that’s all we really need. Just an open mind.”
“And an eager penis.”
“I think we’ve got that part covered.” Quintus resumed his stroking of Renner’s hair. “I think we’re very, very lucky.”
“I think so, too.”
Quintus pulled Renner up until they were entwined. He never thought he’d ever care about anything other than his work, but now, he knew he’d never care about anything as much as Renner. It took the world falling apart to make him see how empty his life was, but now he had more than he ever thought possible. And he would do anything to protect his mate and the place they called home.
McBride stood in the kitchen near the archway that went into the formal dining room. He was staring at the table and growing increasingly impatient. Both ends of table were still empty. One seat was his, but the other was for his honored guest. McBride turned to Ollie. “Where’s Caleb?”
“I think he’s in the parlor.”
“Why isn’t he at the table?”
When Ollie shrugged and fussed with the food, McBride left the kitchen and crossed the dining room as quickly as he could. His men’s gazes followed him, their expressions curious, but he ignored them. This evening wasn’t going at all the way he’d planned. He was nervous as hell, and the last thing he needed was some blowup with Caleb before he could pour his heart out to him. Since all they’d done was try to put the other first, which included telling hurtful lies, McBride thought the time had come to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but. Now that everyone on the farm was paired off, it was time for him to claim his mate.
“Caleb?”
“Why are you putting me in the hot seat?” Caleb was at the bar with a glass in his hand. From the look of it, he’d had at least one shot out of it and was on his way to pouring another. McBride didn’t mind that he drank, or even that he was helping himself to the bar without asking. It was the tightness of his shoulders and the scowl on his face that worried him. If anything, Caleb looked ready for a fight.
“I’m not. I’m putting you in the seat of honor.” McBride joined him at the bar. Before Caleb could polish off another shot, he cupped his hand around the glass. “Please.”
Caleb’s frown deepened.
“Please come and sit at the table so I can explain.”
“In front of everyone?” Caleb darted a quick glance in the direction of the dining room and then shook his head. “No thanks. It was bad enough the first time in private.”
“Caleb, please don’t make this any more difficult for me than it already is.” McBride was nervous because he was going to confess to Caleb, in front of everyone, just how he felt about him. He hoped it wasn’t an utterly futile gesture. All afternoon he’d been practicing what he wanted to say, but each time he thought of something, he imagined Caleb giving him a raised brow or worse, laughing.
“You already made it clear about you and Quintus.”
“That’s what I need to talk about.”
Caleb considered his drink and the way McBride’s hand was holding his.
“Please.”
“Let me have this, and then we’ll go in.”
Against his better judgment, he agreed and let go of Caleb’s hand. His flesh turned cold so fast it was shocking, but if he did this right, and told him everything, tonight he wouldn’t just be holding Caleb’s hand, he’d be pulling him into his bed and holding his entire body.
As Caleb tossed the shot back, McBride watched the way his bronzed throat worked. Since he was wearing his white dress shirt again, it seemed to intensify his tan. Unlike last night, Caleb didn’t bind his hair, but left it loose over his shoulders. McBride wanted to bury his face in the strands and breathe deep of his luscious scent.
“Why do you always do that?”
“What?”
“Stare at my hair.”
“Because it’s beautiful and I want to touch it.”
Caleb startled back a bit, obviously stunned by McBride’s honesty. Just as quickly, he turned sharp. “Does your mate-to-be know that?”
“He does now.” McBride waited for Caleb to grasp that he was talking about him, but Caleb rolled his eyes and went into the dining room.
McBride followed, loving the way Caleb’s black
tallos
slacks gripped his buttocks. From the way the seam went down between his buns, McBride didn’t think he was wearing underwear. His knees got a little weak. That was his Caleb. Dressed to the hilt but running wild below.
McBride hustled to pull Caleb’s chair out for him, which earned him an utterly baffled look from Caleb as he sat down. Mercifully, he stayed silent. McBride then moved to the head of the table and settled into his seat. He felt a curious rush of power but not in a vicious sense. With his leadership came responsibility, and McBride took that very seriously.
“Thank you all for coming again on very short notice.” McBride took the time to look each man in the eye. Every one of them appeared to be happy. Things had changed so drastically, but they had found a way to have joy in their lives. And now so would he and Caleb. “I would like to do this every night.”
“Oh, my.” Ollie’s voice was quiet but in the stillness of the room, totally audible.
“Too much work?” McBride asked.
“A bit. If I had some help, I could manage.”
“I’d be happy to help.” Easton raised his hand slowly.
Ollie made a face that he quickly dropped so as not to be cruel, but not fast enough to hide it from McBride. Given what happened when Easton cooked a meal for McBride, he wasn’t surprised that Ollie was a little afraid of Easton’s help. He may have a burning desire to cook and tons of book-gained information, but he had absolutely no real-life technical skill.
“I’m sure with some teaching, he’d be a very good kitchen helper.” McBride wanted to find something that Easton was good at and enjoyed, something other than pleasuring his mate, Jared.
“Of course.” Ollie looked a little put upon until Alden and Karsten also wanted to help.
“And I don’t expect extreme fanciness every night, Ollie. I just like the idea of all of us sharing at least one meal together.”
There were a lot of nods and general agreement.
“But we don’t have to dress up every night, right?” Gannon tugged at his dress shirt, clearly uncomfortable. If not for Alden keeping his house organized, McBride doubted he would have been able to lay his hands on a clean shirt, let alone a dressy one.
“I think casual would be best.” McBride looked down the table right at Caleb. He would love to see him dressed up each night, but he knew it really didn’t matter what Caleb wore when as soon as McBride looked at him, he imagined all his clothes in a heap.
A beat of silence prompted McBride to stand.
“I wanted you all here tonight so that I could tell you about Quintus and Renner.”
Everyone looked between the two men and seemed to suddenly realize they were sitting across from one another, just like all the other mated pairs.
“They’re mates?” Jonas asked. He didn’t look happy but more concerned as his gaze darted between Quintus, Renner, and McBride.
“They are. And I’m happy for them.” McBride lifted his glass and offered them a toast. Everyone drank, but there wasn’t much showing of good cheer. “I really am happy for them.”
“But the other night you claimed Quintus was your mate-to-be.” Caleb’s wine was untouched.
“I spoke out of turn.” McBride sat down. “Let’s go ahead and start eating.”
Just as they had last night, the butler brought the dish to McBride, who served himself, then passed the dish along to the left. This time it would be Quintus who would be last.