Tall, Silent & Lethal (Pyte/Sentinel #4)(3)

“I knew you’d see it my way,” Kale mumbled smugly as he settled back against the extra firm pillows that he’d demanded the women in this family buy for him.

At first they’d simply rolled their eyes at him and told him to get his own goddamn pillows. So, that’s exactly what he did. Since he didn’t like to shop or spend his own money if he didn’t have to, he decided to save some time and money and just grab a pillow or two from one of the other rooms.

Once he’d helped himself to the pillows on Ephraim and Madison’s bed, he couldn’t help but notice just how big and comfortable their bed was, so of course he took that. He would have taken their comforter and sheets too, but they just didn’t do anything for him so he helped himself to the comforter on Caine and Danni’s bed and the sheets from Izzy and Chris’ bed. After his bed was all set up, he couldn’t help but notice that the rest of his room looked pretty bare.

It took him a good five hours of ransacking the rest of the mansion before he had his room the way that he liked it. Not even an hour after he’d finished, the banging on his door started right along with the demands to return their stuff. He ignored them until the women of the house got pissed, gave up and offered to shop for whatever he wanted as long as he returned their stuff. Since that deal worked in his favor, he allowed the women the privilege of shopping for his needs. It really was the least that he could do.

“I want a Coke,” Izzy mumbled pathetically from beneath the sheet, which reminded him that he needed to ask her something.

“Why exactly are you hiding under that sheet?”

The sounds of candy wrappers crinkling was accompanied by the large mound that was Izzy shifting beneath the sheet as she explained, “Because this is the last place that he’d look for me.”

Well, that was probably true, Kale had to admit. The large Sentinel male probably wouldn’t expect his adorable pregnant mate to be hiding out in another man’s bed, especially a shifter’s bed. He was supposed to be the enemy since he didn’t work for the Sentinel Council. Technically, he shouldn’t even be allowed in this house since it was under the Council’s protection. If it wasn’t for the small woman devouring a shit load of junk food in his bed he’d probably be holed up in some hotel room, planning his next job instead of checking in to make sure that everything was okay.

“Does the sheet provide you with added protection?” he asked distractedly as a fresh wave of exhaustion hit him.

He was so f**king tired. That wasn’t anything new. He was always tired, but over the past couple of months it seemed as though exhaustion was hitting him harder than ever before. He needed a break, some rest, but he’d come too far to stop now. He was so close, so damn close, to his goal.

One more year and everything that he’d worked so hard for would be his. He could go back home, buy a cottage out in the middle of nowhere, and live out the rest of his existence without worrying about anything other than resting, eating and enjoying his well-earned solitude. He was going to forget that anything else existed in the world for a while.

Except for her maybe, he thought as he watched the mound beneath the sheet shift again. He wasn’t sure how it happened, but this small Sentinel female somehow became his best friend, his only friend, and his family. Thanks to her, he had to adjust his goal to include her, her mate and their children. That wasn’t something that he was entirely happy about.

He liked the way his life used to be, the way it should be. He hated complications and there was no doubt in his mind that Izzy was a huge complication. She was his one and only weakness and he f**king hated that.

He hated the fact that he thought about her a little too much and worried about her whenever he was away from her. His focus should be on his goal and not the woman devouring a year’s supply of junk food in his bed. He shouldn’t care if she was okay never mind happy. The woman was a Sentinel and therefore his enemy, he reminded himself with a glare as he caught a whiff of peanut butter and chocolate.

“Hey!” Izzy snapped as he snaked his hand beneath the sheet and stole the bag of miniature peanut butter cups that she’d tried to hide from him.

“Mine.”

“But-”

“Mine.”

“Well, let me just have-”

“Mine!” he snapped, allowing his voice to deepen, becoming more animal than man and giving her the only warning that she was going to get if she-

“Yeah, cause that really scares me,” she said dryly as she raised the sheet off her head just long enough for her to search for the bag of peanut butter cups and steal them.

“I’m seconds from shifting and tearing this bed apart, woman!”

“Uh huh,” she said around what sounded like a mouthful of peanut butter cups, his peanut butter cups.

He crossed his arms over his chest as he narrowed his eyes dangerously on the lump beneath the sheet. Any other woman would have given up the peanut butter cups as she cowered, begged and pleaded for his mercy, but not this woman. No, this woman knew that he would never hurt her. Screw her over for dessert? In a heartbeat, but he would never cause her any harm and that knowledge pissed him off.

“I want a Coke,” Izzy mumbled again, earning a tired sigh from him as he settled more comfortably back against the pillows and closed his eyes.

“You can’t have Coke,” he reminded her.