Glenn, Stormy - Love Sexy [True Blood Mate 3] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) (10 page)

“Go on.”

Logan dropped his head back against the chair he leaned on and drew his knees up to his chest. It was a position that looked a little strange for a man of Logan’s size. Love rolled his eyes and reached behind him on the couch for Logan’s clothes then handed them over.

“Why don’t you get dressed?” Love suggested. “I think you’ll be more comfortable.”

Logan flushed and took the clothes. He stood up and quickly pulled them on. Love was almost sad to see all of Logan’s beautiful skin getting covered, but he knew talking with Logan was more important. There was something going on, and he wanted to know what it was.

Once Logan was dressed, he sat down in the chair and gestured for Love to get up off the floor and sit on the couch. Love did, resting his elbows on his thighs and folding his hands together.

“Okay,” Love said, “tell me what you don’t want to tell me.”

“I thought you knew what we were, Love. I thought you knew what was happening when we went off alone together.”

“Yeah,” Love snickered, “we were going off to have sex.”

Logan’s eyebrows suddenly drew together in a deep frown. “And you just go off with anyone to have sex?” he growled.

Love’s eyes widened when he saw Logan’s hands clench into fists. He tried not to panic, but the dark glower filling Logan’s face made it hard not to. He’d already run once from Logan. He hoped he didn’t need to do it again.

“No,” Love said carefully, “I’m usually pretty selective about who I have sex with. How was I supposed to know you were a shifter?”

“That’s not what I meant, Love,” Logan shouted as he jumped to his feet. “You shouldn’t go off with people you don’t know. You certainly shouldn’t go off and have sex with strangers. Don’t you know how dangerous that is?”

“Fine, I won’t go off to have sex with you anymore.”

“Love!”

“What?”

Love would have given anything to have one of his lollipops right at the moment, but that would mean taking his eyes off of Logan. He didn’t want one because he was flustered, but because he wanted to suck on it while he watched Logan be flustered.

It was obvious that Logan had no idea how to deal with him. Most people didn’t. Love had been told that he was an acquired taste, and most people didn’t want to acquire him. He was very high maintenance. He knew that.

Love liked strong, possessive men. He liked knowing he belonged to someone, and he liked that someone to always let him know he was wanted. It didn’t matter if that came in the form of gifts, being affectionate, or just always wanting him close at hand. He liked knowing he was wanted.

And while Love liked his creature comforts, he preferred having someone to put his attention on and spoil. That, in a lot of ways, was why he couldn’t seem to find a steady lover. He wanted to spend a lot of his time, if not all of his time, with his lover. He likened it to the term “glued together at the hip.” He just felt that was the way it was supposed to be.

Unfortunately, most of the men he was attracted to preferred to fuck and run. If they did stick around, it was never for long. Love had been called everything from too clingy to a stalker. One ex had even threatened to get a restraining order because he said Love called him too often.

Love wasn’t sure what type of man Logan was, but he was beginning to think that the man didn’t like clingy lovers. It made sense, though, as much as Love hated to admit it. Everything he had ever seen said wolves were territorial. Love might be moving into areas he had no business in.

“Love, you need to understand—”

Logan growled and turned to glare at the door when someone knocked. Love chuckled at the disgruntled look on the man’s face and got to his feet to answer the door. He just reached it and started to turn the handle when a strong arm wrapped around him from behind. Hot breath blew over the back of his neck.

“You never ever answer the door, Love.”

“Wha—”

“You don’t know who it could be.”

Love frowned and glanced over his shoulder, then up. Geez, Logan was tall. “And I never will if I don’t open the door.”

It made sense to him.

“Love, listen to me, please,” Logan pleaded. “You cannot answer the door. You have no idea who could be there. They might be dangerous.”

“Logan, I’ve been living on my own for a lot of years. I’m sure I can answer the door without—”

“You can’t!” Logan suddenly snapped, his face darkening.

Love arched an eyebrow at the anger he could see growing on Logan’s face. Then he suddenly realized that he was more intrigued by it than scared. That was a totally odd reaction in his mind considering how afraid he was of Logan earlier. And it confused the crap out of him.

“Please, baby?”

Well, put like that...Love sighed and stepped back from the door. He waved his hand at it. “Fine, you answer the door then, but I still think you’re being paranoid as hell.”

Logan grinned from ear to ear then leaned down and placed a small kiss on the tip of Love’s nose. “I know you don’t understand, Love, and we’ll get to that, but you really have to take more precautions with your safety.”

“Somehow, I think you’re going to be doing enough of that for both of us,” Love said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

The knock came again, this time followed by the ringing of the doorbell.

Love rolled his eyes. “Answer the damn door, Logan.”

“Either stand behind me or go back and sit down on the couch.”

“Seriously?”

“Love.”

Love rolled his eyes and his head. This really was too much. He thought Logan was just odd. Turned out he was paranoid as hell, too. Love walked across the room then turned back to Logan, spreading his arms wide.

“Will this do?”

“Perfectly.” Logan grinned before he turned back to the door and pulled it open.

Love arched on his toes and leaned a little trying to see who stood on the other side of the mountain of muscles blocking his view. When he spotted a shock of dyed blue hair, Love squealed and raced across the room.

“Drea!” He pushed past a very stunned looking Logan and enveloped the only other person he considered his best friend besides Matt and gave him a big hug. “Oh my god, I missed you so much. Last time I saw you, some hot guy at the festival had all your attention.”

“Love, sweetie, I can’t breathe.”

Love laughed and loosened his arms. Drea didn’t look any worse for wear. He actually looked quite rested. Love smirked. “So, how was he?”

“He?” Drea asked innocently. “He who?”

“You know exactly who
he
is, dork.” Love smacked Drea’s shoulder. “The guy that—”

The hairs on the back of Love’s neck suddenly stood on end as a low growl filled the space behind him. Love could feel the force of Logan’s anger pushing against his back like a wall of flame. The man was livid.

“Love,” Logan said. His voice sounded like it came out through clenched teeth. “If you value your friend’s life, I suggest you step away from him very carefully.”

Love slowly stepped back from Drea and turned to look at Logan. What he saw made the rest of the hairs on his body stand on end. Logan’s teeth were clenched except for the long sharp canines that hung down over his lower lip. His eyes had gone dark golden brown, but they looked like they were tinted by flames. Logan’s hands were clenched, but Love could still see the claws trying to get out.

“Logan, what…” Love licked his lips. He glanced over his shoulder for a moment, checking on Drea. He looked as confused as Love felt. Logan’s hand suddenly clenched in Love’s hair, pulling his head around.

“Me!” Logan growled. “You look at me!”

Love didn’t understand why, but he could see Logan’s wolf lurking in the background of Logan’s eyes. The wolf was practically pacing with agitation and anger. Love somehow knew that Drea’s very life depended on how he acted.

Love stepped closer to Logan and pressed himself against the man’s body. He started rubbing his hands up and down Logan’s chest, murmuring to the man and beast, trying to soothe them both. Logan’s arms wrapped around him in a crushing hug. The man’s head started rubbing against the top of Love’s.

“I’m here, Logan,” Love whispered, “right here with you.”

Love didn’t give a sigh of relief until Logan started to purr.

“Love, what the fuck?” Drea exclaimed.

Love groaned when the purring abruptly stopped and a low growl rumbled through Logan’s chest. He reached back with his hand and waved Drea past him. “Matt is in the kitchen, Drea. Go on in there. He can explain everything to you.”

Love knew when Drea moved past him, but only because of the way Logan’s body tensed. Love quickly went back to murmuring softly and rubbing Logan’s chest. Logan and his wolf seemed to like it when he did that.

He also didn’t want Logan attacking Drea, and that seemed like what the man was on the verge of doing. Logan’s body was stiff. His chest continued to rumble, very slowly turning to a purr. Love could feel Logan’s clawed fingers stroke down his back, even though they didn’t press hard enough to hurt. It was still strange.

“You can’t…” Logan’s voice was rough but almost a whisper. “You can’t stand close to other men, Love.”

Love tilted his head back to look up into Logan’s face. “Why not?”

“It’s too dangerous.”

Love frowned. That didn’t sound exactly right to him. “Drea is one of my best friends, Logan. He would never hurt me.”

“No, but I might hurt him.”

“You?” Love’s eyebrows shot up. “Why would you hurt Drea?”

“Because you belong to me, damn it!” Logan snapped. “And no one has the right to touch you without my permission.”

Love blinked. “Excuse me?”

Logan shook his head in resignation. “I’ve been trying to figure out a way to tell you, Love.”

“So, just tell me.”

“I thought you knew who we were when I saw you at the festival. I thought you understood how things were and…” Logan’s face seemed to take on an adoring look that Love had never seen aimed in his direction before. It mystified him and scared him at the very same time.

Love leaned lightly into Logan, tilting his face toward him. “And?”

“And I claimed you as mine.”

Love’s eyebrows rose in amazement. He knew there was a stronger meaning to Logan’s statement. He felt it deep in his bones, and saw it in the agonized expression on Logan’s tense face.

“Your what?”

“My mate.”

Love nervously moistened his dry lips as he tried to remember everything he had ever read or seen about wolves and their mating habits. He just kept seeing a single alpha wolf with several other wolves in his clan. Did wolves really mate for life like the nature channel said?

“Do you have a harem?”

“A what?”

Love set his chin in a firm line and repeated his question. “You know, a harem. Do you have one?”

“What in the hell would I need a harem for?”

Love pressed his lips together in frustration and pushed out of Logan’s arms. He took several steps away the swung back around to face the man again. “Look, I don’t know what you call it, harem, wolf groupies, hell, maybe you call it orgies parties. Maybe that’s what your moon festival is, but—”

“Love, what are you going on about?”

“How many people do you fuck?” Love snapped. His hands landed on his hips as he glared at Logan. “Am I going to be one of several? Isn’t that what wolves do, one alpha to a multitude of other lesser wolves?”

“That’s called a clan, Love.”

Love’s eyes widened as his worst nightmare came to life in Logan’s words. “Then it’s true?”

“I am the beta of my clan, not the alpha, but yes, we have a clan.”

Love’s brow creased with worry. “Do I have to be with all of them?”

“Them?” Logan’s jaw suddenly clenched, his eyes narrowed lightly. “Them who?”

“Your clan.” Love thought he was being pretty straightforward with his words. What part of it wasn’t Logan getting? “Do I have to fuck them all?”

“What in the hell are you talking about, Love?”

Love couldn’t stand it anymore. He felt like he was talking in circles. He was confused and felt out of sorts. He just wanted to make it all go away for a few minutes so he could catch his breath and think with a clear head.

Love spotted the pile of lollipops on the coffee table and raced over to them. His hands shook so bad when he grabbed one that he couldn’t get the wrapper off. Love started whimpering, desperate for the simple solace the lollipop brought him.

He suddenly felt Logan’s larger body press up behind him. Logan grabbed the lollipop and carefully unwrapped it then held it out to Love. A soft cry fell from Love’s lips as he snatched at the lollipop and popped it into his mouth.

He groaned and leaned back against Logan as the sweet taste of watermelon filled his mouth. He preferred cherry but watermelon would do considering how desperate he felt. Love closed his eyes and just concentrated on sucking on the lollipop.

He didn’t exactly understand why sucking on a lollipop made him feel better, but it always did. He discovered this little wonder quite by accident about five years ago during finals at college. One lollipop and he aced his biology final. Without it, he was doomed.