And the Walls Come Tumbling Down…
By the end of the night, Dario’s ribs hurt from laughing. His belly was full of amazing food, which they’d walked off on their trip back to the farmhouse under a star-lit sky. He’d had so much fun, he barely noticed how cold he was. Plus his power tended to keep him a bit warmer. Gator had noticed and stayed close the whole trip. “You really didn’t need to walk me home. Now you’ve got to go back to your cabin at the inn.”
“I’m gonna grab one of the Jeeps to head home. And the walk was good for us—we hopefully walked off a few of the pounds we gained tonight. Even though Deacon doesn’t do PT tests, I feel like I still need to stay in shape around here.”
The fact they’d talked about just about every topic during dinner and that walk was amazing, too.
“We? You—I can’t believe you finished off all that.” Gator had eaten a huge helping off both plates. Not that Dario minded. He was stuffed full himself.
“Good Creole food isn’t something you find in the Pacific Northwest. I was eating my fill. Might even go back tomorrow night. Chef said he was putting gumbo on the menu soon.”
“Then you better start working out a little more,” Dario said. “I might have to, too. That food was amazing.”
Gator grinned. “You can come back with me.”
“Tomorrow night?”
Gator smiled. “Nah. We can give our stomachs a day or two of rest between.” He leaned up against the farmhouse’s porch rail. “Say Friday night. An actual date-date?”
“This wasn’t a date, huh?” Dario felt a bit disappointed. He considered it the best first date ever.
Gator shook his head. “Nope. This was a get-together that just spontaneously happened. A date is me wearing something other than fatigues, where I’m clean and smelling good—”
“You look clean to me,” Dario said before inhaling slightly. “Smell good, too.”
Gator frowned. “I was on duty all day, cleaning and hauling crap. Taking care of little kids. Daycare provider can now go on my resume.”
“Well, you look and smell just fine to me.”
The thought of the kids brought his mind back to Sam and Cal. He looked over his shoulder and wondered if they’d had that talk tonight while he was gone.
“Wait until you smell me Friday night.” Gator grinned. “That is, if you say yes.”
He smiled widely. “I say yes.”
Gator’s smile widened, too. “I’ll pick you up right here, say seven?”
Dario nodded, fighting the smile trying to spread across his lips. “Seven it is.”
“Okay. It’s a date,” Gator said.
Quiet fell between them. Gator stared. He stared back.
“I really don’t know what I should do now,” Gator murmured under his breath.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I took some liberties with that surprise kiss at dinner—but that was to prove a point. I don’t want you to think I’ll just go off willy-nilly stealing kisses left and right.” Gator’s smile faded some. He stared at Dario, and his tone turned a little more serious. “I want to kiss you goodnight, but I also want you to know I’m willing to go at your speed. If that one kiss was all you can handle tonight, I’ll leave remembering it on my lips.”
Dario felt his heart do a flip-flop in his chest. It wasn’t the first time it had happened that night. He anticipated that it might not be the last time it happened, either. “I’d like a goodnight kiss, too.”
Gator moved in a little closer. He lowered his head, slipping a hand up behind Dario’s head. The man kissed him with all the emotion they’d shared that night, and it was the most incredible kiss of his life.
“Wow,” Gator whispered as he backed away.
Dario grinned.
“That was the coldest kiss of my life,” Gator whispered. “Get inside, you human icicle.”
Dario laughed.
“I thought you were some firestarter? I figured you’d be warm and warm me up a little. Sheesh,” the man added jokingly as he backed up. “I feel gyped.”
“You might not be able to handle my fire.”
“I’d sure like a chance to try.”
Dario met Gator’s stare under the porch light. He dragged Gator closer and placed a kiss on the man’s lips. The kiss deepened, a little man-made fire erupting between them. “Maybe you’ll get that chance.”
Gator was silent a moment. He pursed his lips and blew out a breath. “Damn. Now that’s what I was talkin’ ‘bout.”
Dario smiled, loving how Gator’s accent seemed to deepen when he was excited. That last sentence had sounded more like nah thaz wut I wuz tawkin’ ‘bout.
“See you Friday,” Dario grinned.
“That’s right,” Gator said as he backed up and down the first step. “Friday night. Seven. Be here or be… hmmm… what rhymes with here? Ear? Tear? Nah, none of those work.”
“Near?”
“Good enough,” Gator said before climbing the stair and crossing the porch for one more quick kiss. “Go inside. I’m freezing.”
“You can go anytime you want. I’m not forcing you to stay.”
“Yes, you are,” Gator whispered before pressing his lips to Dario’s again. Dario kissed him back, gripping the man’s lapels.
“I’m leaving,” Gator announced as he pulled back from the kiss. He walked down the stairs, casting one last smile over his shoulder.
Dario watched him one last minute before going in through the back. He leaned against the shut door, his heart still thudding hard in his chest.
“I’d say things went well?”
Dario lifted his stare to see Cal leaning against the counter. He checked the clock on the microwave. Midnight. “What’re you doing up? You’ll be up in a few hours.”
“I hadn’t heard you come in, so I was about to start making calls.”
“Samuel make you get up?”
Cal shook his head. “Sam’s asleep. He wasn’t feeling well tonight, so he was in bed early.”
Not well? He’d been fine earlier. Dario smiled. “You were worried about me.”
Cal sighed. “Don’t make me regret it.” He flipped off the kitchen light, leaving them in only the glow from the over the range nightlight. “Plus Sam would’ve had my ass if I hadn’t checked on you for him. So don’t read too deep into it.”
Dario smiled up at the huge man. “Okay, Dad.”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he cringed, remembering what Samuel had said. And then he realized cringing might’ve given him away.
“He told you,” Cal simply said.
“He’s worried about you,” Dario answered. “And I dragged it out of him, so don’t be mad.”
Cal shook his head. “We don’t even know if one of them is mine.”
“Samuel said that.”
“At least he’s talking to someone. He’s tied up in knots—so much so he got himself sick. I tried getting it out of him, but he wouldn’t talk about it.”
“I told him the two of you need to hash it out. But he’s worried you’ve got too much on your shoulders already.”
“As if he doesn’t?” Cal asked. He shook his head. “I’ll get him to talk in the morning. Night.”
“Night.”
Cal paused at the bottom of the stairs and turned to Dario. “It was nice seeing that smile on your face tonight. You look happy. If he makes you smile like that, he just might be a keeper.”
Dario cooed.
“I give up,” Cal said before climbing the stairs.
Dario’s smile refused to fade. He dropped onto the living room couch, too amped from his date that wasn’t a date with Gator. Having a special Cal moment on top of that was just icing on the cake.
Maybe he does like me after all.
It hit him then that this truly was his family now. Samuel and Cal—and Sky—that the men here on the farm, the base, and in town had shown him more compassion and consideration than anyone ever had in his life.
And now he had someone in his life. He felt closer to Gator than he could remember ever feeling with anyone else.
A memory of the dragon and the way he’d felt came into his mind. Worry niggled at him. What if he comes between Gator and me?
All night, he’d ignored that question. Now all alone, it was suddenly all he could think about.
He let out a breath, deflating his good mood a little.
Gator was special to him. He refused to give up on the man just because he might have a mate. He had rights. He didn’t have to accept a mate just because he had one. He wouldn’t be forced to accept a man he didn’t want.
He didn’t want Jaeger.
He didn’t.
Liar.
The sensations he’d felt when in Jaeger’s presence had been strong, stronger than anything he’d ever felt. Lust was the highest on the list, and if he was honest, it was higher than what he felt when he was around Gator. But there had been more to it than just lust. He’d felt an invisible bond, one that had made him want to get closer to the dragon. Dario felt as if he had no control…
He didn’t like feeling powerless.
He wanted a choice.
And Gator would be that choice.
* * * *
Jaeger stood in the cool evening air, watching his two mates kiss. A low growl rumbled deep in his throat as he leaned against the farmhouse’s barn. The growl wasn’t predatory, not even close.
It was excitement.
He clenched his hands into tight balls, willing himself to remain in the shadows.
Slow.
Gator didn’t look like he was going slow…
Nor did Dario appear to be pulling away, with fear in his eyes.
Like he did with you.
A little jealousy swirled in his gut.
Slow.
Jaeger bit back the need coursing through him, ignoring the roars of his dragon within. Both men would be his.
It was just a matter of time.
He sank deeper into the shadows before turning to return to the shifter base, each step harder than the last.