SEVENTEEN
Jae carried the steaks on the cookie sheet outside while Ker closed and opened the door to the deck. The snow lay thickly in drifts, but his little brother had already cleared the grilling area. The younger man had his priorities right. Food was at the top of the list.
“So,” Jae asked his sibling, “how’s things going between you and Hannah?” He hoped Hannah and Ker had already done the deed and mated, but it didn’t appear things had gone that great.
Ker shrugged as he lifted the grill’s lid. “It’s fine. She’s a nice lady, pretty, has a great body,” Ker said.
“Why do I hear a but coming?” Jae said. Dread started to fill him. If Hannah was meant for him…he didn’t want to think about it.
“I don’t know,” Ker replied. He peeked at the door to make sure it was closed. “Neither my dragon nor I want to drag her off to bed like Tor and Clacher did their mates. I think she’s your mate. Dammit.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m so tired of waiting. I want my mate now. You know?”
“Oh yes, I know. Believe me, I’m with you there,” Jae said and placed the steaks on the wire rack over the fire. Meat sizzled and flames shot up around the edges.
He didn’t want Hannah. Maybe Ker just hadn’t been with Hannah long enough. Could he lock Ker and Hannah in a cave for a couple hundred years until they had no option but to fall for each other? Tor probably wouldn’t go for that. Ker did all their Internet stuff.
Jae asked Ker, “Got your mark yet?”
Ker shook his head. “You?”
“Nope.” Both guys sighed.
Ker punched Jae in the arm and laughed. “Fuck me. Are we pathetic or what? I can hear Tor now: ‘You two pussies, get your head out of your ass and man up.’”
Jae smiled. “I feel sorry for Morgan,” he said.
“No way, man. You haven’t been home in forever,” Ker said. “She has him wrapped around her finger. You’ve never seen Tor like he is when he’s with her. But I wouldn’t tell him that, though.”
“No shit, bro,” Jae said. “He’d kick our asses for even suggesting he was anything less than a godly dragon.” They laughed, then settled to quietness.
Ker took the tongs from Jae and lifted the lid. “You want Avery, don’t you?”
Jae crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the deck’s railing. “I do.”
“What if Hannah is your mate?” Ker asked. “What then?”
“Goddammit, Ker,” he said. “I don’t know. Maybe I can ignore the mark and do what I want. Pretend it’s not there.”
“Um,” Ker started, “I don’t think it’s done that way.”
“Have you heard of anyone who did that or tried?” Jae asked, hoping someone had set a precedent and he could follow in their footsteps.
“Mom never said anything about someone trying. As far as I know, those lucky enough to have a marked mate never questioned the coupling.”
Jae growled, “That’s not the answer I was looking for.”
“Sorry, man,” Ker responded. “Truth sucks sometimes.”
Jae wanted to bury his younger sibling in fifty feet of snow. He wasn’t helping the situation.
“You know, though,” Ker began, “if you really loved Avery and all—” He paused, shrugging his shoulders, “I would, I mean, I could, maybe…”
Jae’s eyes narrowed at his youngest sibling. The one he picked on since the day the kid was born because the other brothers were all older. The one Jae cut his hair when they were five and six for the first day of school—then Mom spanking them both for playing with scissors and rushing Ker to the barber’s shop before it closed. And the one he snuck broccoli onto his plate from his own plate when the younger one wasn’t looking.
Was Ker saying what Jae thought he was? Ker was willing to sacrifice finding his true mate to take Hannah if Jae wanted to mate Avery? Holy hell, Jae loved this guy. That he’d give up so much for his brother…he blinked back the damn tears threatening.
Jae slapped Ker on the arm. “Thanks for the backup there, man. But I want us both to be happy. Besides, Tor would do more than kick our asses if he found out we pulled a fast one on fate.”
“You could say that again. Last time I pissed him off, I had dirty diaper duty for a week. And you wouldn’t believe that what went in the mouth, would come out like that.” Ker shuddered.
Jae laughed and slapped the seared steaks onto the metal sheet and closed the lid. “Let’s get back inside to see what the girls have been concocting to go with this.” He followed Ker inside where the kitchen smelled heavenly.
Looking at his beautiful lady, he decided he didn’t care what fate had in store for him, mate-wise. He wanted Avery and he would take her. Damn the mark and its match. He’d ignore it or maybe have it removed if possible. If only that were a choice. Then there would be no one to tell him who he had to mate.