The Mating Project (12 page)

He
winked at her again and then leapt off the bed. Her mouth went dry as it always
did, seeing him pull up a pair of well-worn joggers that hung low on his hips.
He headed off to the bathroom with a grin over his shoulders.

"Give
me five in there, and then it's all yours. I'll put the coffee on to brew, and
I'm sure there's some bread still left over for toast. I normally have breakfast
at campus, see."

He
stalked off, and Maria, too, got up.

Now,
where had he put her clothes? They weren't here, so she picked up the jumper
he'd worn yesterday and pulled it over her head. Instantly his very essence
surrounded her, and she inhaled deeply.

"Bathroom's
yours."

She
grinned at his shout and padded up the hallway to take care of business. She
was washing her hands in the sink, when Silas's phone rang and she heard him
answer it. He moved across the hall way and must have shut the bedroom door,
because his voice grew muffled.

Maria
dried her hands, grimaced at her wide eyed,
sleep
rumpled reflection, and attempted to finger comb her hair into some semblance
of its usually sleek appearance, to no avail. She needed her straighteners and
her hair serum to achieve that. Right now, she looked exactly like what she
was. A thoroughly fucked woman,
who'd
had a good
seeing to by the man she loved.

God,
loved?
Her cougar growled her approval, and Maria grabbed the sink for support. Could
you fall in love so quickly and so deeply, or was this just the mating bond
fucking with her mind and her emotions? Damn it, she needed to talk to someone
who wouldn’t judge her, but who could she talk to?

Her
mother was out of the question. That would be cringe central at best, a
disaster at its worst, because she would tell her father and then the shit
would really hit the fan. Anastasia seemed the obvious choice, but she was busy
with her cubs, and besides, her brothers would know instantly if their mate was
keeping secrets from them. Those three had grown even closer since the arrival
of the triplets, and Maria wouldn't be the cause of unrest between them.

Which
left Emmi.
Her human work colleague had become a close friend over the last few weeks, and
if anyone could help her shed some light on her conflicting emotions then it
had to be Emmi. After all, she was in the same boat, being mated to Cole, and
whilst she wouldn't have any concrete answers, Maria would at least feel
normal, knowing that Emmi was going through the same thing right now.

A
plan formed in her mind, and she went in search of her handbag. Having found it
in the living room, she turned on her phone, grimaced at yet more messages from
her mother, and speed dialed Emmi.

The
woman answered on the fourth ring, and her sleepy voice made Maria glance at
the clock.

Shit,
it was just seven in the morning, and this was Emmi's day off work. She'd woken
up a pregnant woman. Not her best move.

"This
had better be good, Maria. Do you
know
what the time is? I hope your
house is burning down or something."

Maria
grinned at Emmi's voice. The human had spunk in spades.

"No,
nothing
like
that, but I do need to see you. Can you
meet me at our coffee shop at half eight please? I wouldn't ask, but I need
your help, and it’s urgent. Sorry, sweets, but I need to get this sorted, and
besides, they do make those great
macchiatos
you
crave. Come on, I'll pay."

Emmi
grunted down the phone and swore in a most un-lady like fashion that made Maria
grin.

"Fine,
as it's you, but you better not be late, I tell you."

Maria
clicked off the phone and followed her nose to the delicious aroma of freshly
brewed coffee to the kitchen. Trust Silas to have an old fashioned coffee
maker.

She
went in search of two mugs, filled them with the fragrant brew, and inhaled
deeply. Silas's scent mixed in with the heady aroma of the coffee, as he
stepped up behind her and wrapped his arm around her waist and nuzzled into her
neck.

"Hmm,
do you know how damn sexy you look stood here, barefoot in my kitchen, pouring
me a coffee? A man could get used to that view." He dropped a kiss just
under her ear, and Maria bit back a moan. That exact spot there always drove
her wild with need, let alone when Silas kissed it. It did seem his favorite
spot to linger on her body, apart from her cunt, of course.

Those
were dangerous thought processes, and sure enough she grew wet again, and Silas
stiffened in his pants behind her. He rubbed himself against her ass, and Maria
let her head fall back onto his chest with
a mewl
of
need.

"Can't
you just ring in sick or something?" Silas asked and dug his teeth into
her neck. The tiny bite sent her cougar wild, and Maria panted her answer.

"Professor
Deacon, are you suggesting I lie to my superiors? Is that what you teach your
students? Well, I must say that's outrageous behavior from a man in your
position."

Silas's
shoulders shook in a silent amusement, and Maria took a sip of her hot coffee,
just as the front door flew open with bang. An ice cold draft swirled around
her bare legs and brought with it the barely controlled fury of wolf. The cup
slipped out of her grasp and smashed in the sink, and her cougar whined.

"What
the fuck? Take your fucking hands off what's mine."

Chapter Nine

Malachi's
wolf growled his fury, and he had the devil of a job reining the fucker back
in. He scented her the minute he'd stepped up to the front door, but he hadn’t
wanted to believe it. After all this time, his fucking mate was here, and with
his best friend draped all over her.

Silas
stiffened and turned around slowly, but he didn’t relinquish his hold on Maria,
and Malachi's wolf growled low in his throat. Maria's scent was all over his
friend, and the just healed mark on his neck proclaimed his status as loudly as
possible.

"Calm
down now, Malachi. I haven't got the foggiest what the hell you're talking
about, but you need to calm down."

Silas's
voice held an edge of steel, and half shifted Malachi bared his teeth at the
other man. Behind him Maria shook off Silas's hand, and her cat snarled and
growled in much the same manner as his wolf did.

"You!"
The chill in
her voice served like a cold shower, and Malachi looked into her cat's eyes
when she spoke. "How fucking dare you. After all this time, you turn up
here, and claim I'm yours. If I'm yours then why the fuck did you stay away for
ten years, tell me that, mutt boy."

Silas
whistled through his teeth, and Malachi knew the minute the human connected the
dots in his mind. He took a step away from Maria and ran a hand through his
hair.

"Fuck,
she's your girl?" he asked. "I had no idea."

Maria's
growl of annoyance shook the windows, and despite his fury Malachi had to
admire the fire in her eyes. The slender young girl he'd known had grown into a
beautiful, confident woman, and her anger just got his wolf more excited. He
hardened instantly, and by the way both the man and woman in front of him
reacted he knew they were all too aware of his predicament.

Silas's
eyes drifted to his groin, and he groaned slightly, causing Maria to throw him
an astonished look. She glanced from Silas to
Malachi,
and back again, and even though she mumbled the words, Malachi heard them loud
and clear.

"I
don't fucking believe it."

Her
animal whined as her anger deflated, to be replaced by hurt disbelief, and she
pulled at the hemline of Silas's favorite jumper in a futile attempt to cover
up more. The human's item of clothing fell back down one shoulder, exposing
acres of creamy flesh, and one well rounded shoulder, that bore Silas's faint
finger marks. The visible reminder of the fact that Silas had gotten to her
first, taken what should have been rightfully his, should have made his wolf
clamber to be released, and to rip the other man's throat out, but the regret
and silent determination in Silas's eyes stopped him.

"I
never would have … I mean … fuck!" Silas stalked over to the fridge, and
it was testament to his state of mind that he grabbed two beer bottles and
threw one at Malachi. He caught it easily and slugged half of it down, noticing
that Silas did the same. Silas never drank this early in the morning, but then
again this was an unusual situation to say the least.

"Yeah.
Some fucking
homecoming this has turned out to be."

Belatedly
Malachi turned and slammed the front door shut, on the curious face of one of
the neighbors. Great, that was all they needed.
Miss Busybody
announcing his return to all and sundry.
Malachi liked to stay under the
radar—of the council, in particular—and here was Councilor Anderson's daughter,
his
daughter,
in his damn flat and having been fucked six ways from
Sunday by Silas. The daughter of the man who ordered Malachi's execution,
should he ever be found.

Not
only that they'd mated. The connection between them was palpable. You didn't
need to be a shifter to see that, but now his wolf had calmed down a bit, he
could smell their emotions. Maria's hurt cut through him like a knife, and
Silas's worry was equally hard to take.

An
uneasy silence fell among them all, only broken by the sound of Silas slamming
his now empty beer bottle on the kitchen work top. Maria jumped, and then Silas
surprised them all by kissing her. One hand cupped behind her head, the other
settled on her ass, as he devoured her mouth like a man starved of sustenance.
The little hell cat Malachi remembered from before simply melted against Silas
in an act of silent surrender, which made his wolf whine his distress.

Malachi
barely resisted the urge to free his throbbing dick and seek the relief he so
desperately wanted. Hungry, dirty, and pissed off as he was at the fact that
his nemesis had escaped him again, all he'd wanted to do was come back to the
one man he could call home. Maybe even climb in his bed and let Silas help him
forget the burden he carried for those few precious minutes, when they sought
pleasure in each other's bodies.

Instead
he came home to
this.

He
shook his head and glared, just as Silas broke the kiss and Maria had to grab
the counter for support. Silas steadied her and then walked across to where
Malachi stood, still frozen in time, and mirroring his earlier actions with
Maria, yanked Malachi's head down to kiss him.

Malachi's
grunt of surprise gave Silas access, and pleasure surged through Malachi's
tired body as the man he loved most in this godforsaken world fucked his mouth
with his tongue, as though the woman he was mated to wasn’t standing mere feet
away, watching their every move. Malachi could taste her mixed in with the
familiar musk of his lover, and instinct took over. The beer bottle clanged to
the floor and burying his hands in Silas's hair he kissed him back with all the
rage and hurt inside of him. They slammed into the wall, hips grinding against
each other, in a grapple for dominance that had their hard cocks sliding against
each other. Still, it wasn't enough. Malachi wanted nothing more than to rip
the other man's clothes off and lick every trace of Maria's scent off his
lover's body.

That
thought made him come up for air, and they broke the kiss. Foreheads resting
together they held on to each other, until their breathing regulated and Silas
smiled grimly.

"I
take it you didn't get the bastard then?"

Malachi
grunted his agreement, and Silas stroked his tense shoulders before he drew
back.

"I
missed you," he said, and Malachi snorted and looked across to Maria. She
hadn't moved. Just stood there watching them with wide eyes. It wasn't disgust
that he scented from her, though. It was arousal, so intense that his wolf
panted and Malachi's jaws ached to sink his teeth into her throat and mark her
as his.
Which would be as good as a death sentence for him.
Anderson hadn't looked for him, but Malachi knew that the councilor wouldn't
stop until Malachi was dead and buried this time, if Malachi actually mated
with his precious pure blood princess of a daughter.

He
forced himself to step away from Silas, and he couldn't keep the bitterness out
of his voice.

"Looks
like it." He jabbed his head toward Maria, and Silas's eyes clouded over.

"It's
complicated," Silas said.

Maria
growled low in her throat, and despite the situation Malachi grinned. That was
more like it.

"You
do know that's Anderson's princess daughter, don't you?"

Silas
nodded just once, and Malachi swore.

"I
do, but I had no idea she was your particular princess. You never told me her
name." Silas didn’t look at him but at a spot far above his shoulder, and
tension emanated off the human in palpable ways.