Glenn, Stormy - Love Sexy [True Blood Mate 3] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) (6 page)

BOOK: Glenn, Stormy - Love Sexy [True Blood Mate 3] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove)
11.65Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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“He ran from me,” Logan whispered. He folded his hands together and let them hang between his knees. “Isn’t that enough?”

“Does he know what we are?”

“I thought he did, but now I’m not so sure. I mean, I found him at the moon festival, and things just kind of snowballed from there. Before I knew it, I had claimed him and we came back here.”

“Where you scared the shit out of him.”

“Yeah.”

Logan knew he was the biggest dope in the world. He had been granted his mate by the gods and fucked it up, all in one evening. He’d be lucky if Love even spoke to him again. Logan wouldn’t blame the man in the least if he ran for the hills.

He suddenly remembered Love’s green backpack and glanced around for it. It should have been right by the door where he dropped it before chasing after Love. It wasn’t. He jumped to his feet and ran to the bathroom to look around. When he didn’t find the backpack there, he walked back into the main room.

“Logan?”

“His backpack,” Logan said as he lifted the comforter on the mattress and looked under the bed. “Love had a green backpack that he put all of his stuff in. I dropped it on the floor right before he ran into the bathroom. It’s not here.”

“Love?”

Logan’s head snapped up. “Yes, that’s his name. Do you have a problem with that?”

“No, no, you don’t understand,” Reed said quickly. He shook his hands in front of Logan. “Are you talking about Love Star?”

Logan stood to his full height and growled. “Yes.”

“Well, fuck a duck!” Reed started to laugh. “Logan, Love is with Matt.”

“What?” Logan’s heart slowly began beating faster. Love was okay? He wasn’t hurt? He wasn’t lying in some ditch somewhere with his throat ripped out? He was alive and well and at Reed’s house?

Wait!

Logan frowned. His hands clenched as a wave of jealousy shot through him. “Why is Love with Matt?”

“Love and his friend, Drea, came up to spend spring break with Matt. They all know each other from college. They live in the same apartment. I guess Love called Matt right before I went to bed and asked if he could crash at our place.” Reed patted Logan’s shoulder. “Bro, your mate is in my spare bedroom.”

“And you didn’t think anything of Love asking to crash at your place instead of the guest compound?”

“Matt said Love was upset over something and didn’t want to stay by himself. I didn’t know he was running from you.”

“He wasn’t running from me!” Okay, he was, but Logan didn’t like it when Reed said it. He liked it even less when Reed merely arched an eyebrow at him. Logan rolled his eyes and tried to remember how upset his parents would be if he ripped his brother’s throat out. “Fine, he was running from me.”

“Because?”

Logan heaved a sigh. “Love was running from me because I lost my temper and scared him.”

“And?”

“And I gave into my impulses and chased after him, scaring him even more.” Logan sighed. “Right about now Love is probably wishing he never even met me.”

“Logan, I’m sure it’s not as bad as that.”

Logan’s shoulders slumped as he sat back down on the end of the bed and cradled his head in his hands again. “You didn’t see him, Reed. He locked himself in the bathroom. He ran from me. He was terrified, Reed, my mate was terrified of me.”

Logan felt the bed dip as his brother sat down next to him. He didn’t lift his head. He couldn’t. The thought of Love being afraid of him was bouncing around in his head like a cannonball. Logan squeezed his eyes closed to keep his tears at bay.

“Logan, you need to remember that our emotions run close to the surface. I know for a fact that you had no intention of scaring Love, did you?”

“No, but—”

“But, your natural dominance came out, and you needed Love to submit, didn’t you?”

Logan shrugged. Reed was right. Love had defied him, and Logan gave into his natural instinct as a male wolf to make the man submit. He just forgot to tell Love that he was a wolf.

“If Love had been a wolf, he would have understood what was happening and submitted to you. But he’s not. He’s human, and that means you have to go slowly with him. You can’t treat Love like you would someone else in the clan, Logan. He needs careful handling.”

Logan lifted his head and looked at his brother. “How do you know all of this stuff?”

Reed grimaced. “Barbara.”

“But Barbara was pack, Reed. She knew all about mating and submitting.”

A bark of laughter fell from Reed’s lips. “Barbara knew about mating in the clan. She knew nothing about submitting.” Reed suddenly looked very sad. His forehead wrinkles and a distant look filled his eyes. “Besides, Barbara wasn’t my mate.”

Logan’s mouth dropped open, and he could only stare at Reed for several minutes. Granted, it was twenty years ago or so, but he remembered how crazy Reed had been for Barbara. Logan hadn’t understood the attraction himself. The woman was crazy.

“Wait, if you’ve known all this time that Barbara wasn’t your mate, then why are you still single?”

“I’m waiting for my mate, what else?” Reed smirked. “Why do you think I let her go and never tried to track her down?”

“I don’t know. I’ve kind of thought you were nuts all of these years or heartbroken.”

“No.” Reed chuckled. “Barbara and I were dating. At first, I thought we were mates. By the time I figured out that it was just first time pheromones overloading, it was too late. When I told her I wanted to call things off, she suddenly showed up pregnant. I may not have wanted her, but I would never give up my child.”

“So, you married her?” Logan was shocked. “What if she hadn’t run off and your mate suddenly showed up?”

Reed shrugged. “I don’t know, but that never happened.”

“Reed.”

“Logan, Barbara was a conniving, spoiled, rotten bitch. You know it, and I know it. I wasn’t sorry to see her go, but I never would have let her leave with Matt. Luckily for me, taking care of a newborn cub took too much work, so she split and left me with my son.”

“Yeah, but—”

“I’ve never regretted it, Logan. I know that my mate is out there somewhere. There are times when I swear I can even feel him moving closer.”

“Him?”

Reed’s face flushed as he chuckled and looked away. “Yeah, I know my mate is male. Ever since I figured things out after Barbara left, I’ve always known I would be mated to a man.”

“Then how come I’ve never seen you dating one?” Logan tossed his hands up in the air, frustrated with his brother. “Hell, I’ve never even seen you kiss a man, let alone have a relationship with one.”

“Logan, if I dated someone that wasn’t my mate, I would be doing a disservice to them, me, and my mate. I won’t do that. Yes, it’s tough and it’s lonely, but I would rather wait until I find my mate.”

“I...damn!”

Logan couldn’t stand the sincerity and longing he could read in his brother’s eyes when the man looked back at him. He suddenly remembered all of the nameless men and woman he’d slept with over the years and realized his brother was a far better man than him.

“Logan, I know I will find my mate. I feel him getting closer every day. I know I won’t have to wait much longer before he will be mine. And the moment I have him in my arms, the last twenty years will feel like a heartbeat. Nothing else will matter.”

“You’re that positive?”

“Weren’t you positive when you held Love in your arms for the first time?”

Logan remembered how right Love felt in his arms, how the mere touch of the man’s lips against his had sent him up in flames. He remembered Love’s sweet smell, the laughter that filled the air around him and made everything better. He even remembered how cute Love looked with black wolf ears on top of his head.

“Fuck, I’ve made such a mess of things.” Logan groaned as he dropped his head back into his hands again. “Love is never going to forgive me.”

“Well, don’t count yourself out yet, brother. The mating bond goes both ways, you know. I’d be willing to bet money that Love is going out of his mind right about now. The only problem is that he doesn’t know why.”

Logan jumped to his feet and started for the door, visions of Love suffering and not knowing why filling his head and making his heart ache for his mate. “I’ve got to get to Love.”

“Logan,” Reed called out, “stop.”

Logan started to yank the door open when he felt his brother’s hand on his arm. He almost growled until he saw the concern in his brother’s eyes. “What?” he bit out through clenched teeth.

“You might want to slow down and make sure you’re calm before you confront Love. He ran from you once. You don’t want him running from you again. You go rushing in there like this and you’re sure to scare him.”

Logan leaned his head against the edge of the door. Reed was right, and he knew it. Again, he was thankful that the man was not only the clan enforcer, but also his brother. Reed knew him well and still cared about him.

Logan could only hope that Love would feel the same after awhile. He knew he needed to explain things to Love, to go slow and not frighten the man, no matter how much he wanted to bundle him up where he could never be hurt.

“Okay,” Logan said then drew in a deep breath as he looked over at Reed. “What do you want me to do?”

Chapter 5

Love came awake slowly, but as he did, he noticed a distinct difference in the cold temperature of his front versus the hot temperature at his back. He also became aware of the fact that whatever was warming him from behind was very solid.

Love reached down and felt warm flesh on his hip. He instantly jerked his hand back and cradled it against his chest. The tingle that shot up his arms when he touched the arm resting on his hip scared the crap out of Love.

Drawing upon courage he didn’t know if he had, Love glanced over his shoulder. His eyes widened, and his heart started pounding frantically in his chest when he realized who the man was that warmed him.

Logan
Stone
was in his bed.

“Ssshhh,” Logan murmured against the back of Love’s neck. Love shuddered, fear racing through him when he felt Logan’s cheek rub against the back of his neck. His hand patted Love’s hip. “Go back to sleep, Love.”

Logan’s voice was lazy, muffled. Love didn’t even know if the man was awake. He didn’t want to know. He just wanted to get away. He had no idea how Logan had found him, but he needed to leave before the man woke up.

Love waited until Logan’s body went slack and his breathing evened out and then slowly slid out from under his hand. He grabbed his pillow and bunched it up, pushing it into place were his body had been.

Logan grumbled a bit but then he settled down. Love held his breath the entire time as he got dressed and limped toward the bedroom door. His ankle still hurt a lot. It was even slightly swollen. Luckily, it wasn’t a break, just a sprain.

Love grabbed his green backpack off the floor, thankful that Matt had gone back and gotten it for him, and then snuck out of the bedroom. He winced when the door clicked loudly as it closed behind him. When nothing happened, not even an enraged mountain of a man crashing through the door, Love turned and hurried down the hallway.

He started for the front door when sounds from the kitchen caught his attention. Love hoped it was Matt or Drea as he cautiously walked in that direction. He needed a ride.

Love paused in the doorway to the kitchen and looked into the room. No one was directly in the kitchen, but Love could see a couple of people sitting just beyond the kitchen in a small breakfast nook. One of them was Matt.

“Matt,” Love whispered loudly.

Matt’s head whipped around, his look of astonishment turning friendlier when he spotted Love in the doorway. “Love, what are you doing up? You should be resting that ankle. It needs time to heal.”

“I got to go, man.”

“Go?” Matt glanced over at the other man at the table before looking back at Love. “Go where?”

“Home.”

Duh!

“Why don’t you come sit down and have something to eat first,” Matt said as he stood up and pushed his chair back. “I imagine you’re pretty hungry right about now.”

Love was. He was starving in fact. But he was also afraid Logan would wake up before he could escape. He didn’t want to see the man again. The weird way Logan’s teeth had grown sharper and more pointed had scared the crap out of him. Love didn’t even want to think about the way Logan’s face had shimmered and seemed to change slightly.

It was just odd.

“Matt, I really need to go.”

Love had explained to Matt the previous night that he had made yet another bad hookup. He hadn’t gone into too many details. He thought at the time that Matt probably knew Logan. Well, now Love knew that Matt knew Logan. The man was upstairs sleeping in the guest bedroom. Someone had to let him in.

Love frowned and glanced over at the other man in the room. He seemed vaguely familiar. He winced when he remembered exactly where he had met the man. “How’s the shin?”

“Fine.” The man chuckled. “Thanks for asking.”

BOOK: Glenn, Stormy - Love Sexy [True Blood Mate 3] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove)
11.65Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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