King Tomb (Forever Evermore, #3)(73)

I shrugged. “Antonio wasn’t mated to my mom, so it’s not so hard to take the news.” Plus, I’m having to take care of you. “Your situation is a wee bit different.”

He nodded instantly. “That’s gotta be it.” Arched eyebrows furrowed. “I have nothing against same-sex relationships, but I never expected…” He cleared his throat, running a hand over his face, then his eyes narrowed on me. “You aren’t going to tell them I freaked out, are you?”

It was damn hard not to laugh. “Nope.” Seriously, men will be men. “Scout’s honor.”

He grunted. “Now, that’s f*cking funny.”

“I live to amuse.” I slapped his knee as I stood. “We need to come up with our game plan for King Collins and Queen Cooper.”

He peered at the bedroom tent flap. “They’re probably going to be…”

“Busy,” I muttered, grabbing his hand and hauling him to his feet. “Yay, for them.”

Ezra suddenly appeared like himself as he appraised me. “Maybe they’ve got the right idea.” He towered over me, and if I wasn’t mistaken, peered down my shirt. “Getting busy sounds enjoyable.”

I pointed a finger at the tip of his nose, whispering, “Discretion.” I jabbed said finger against the tip of his nose a few times to make my point. “We need to think about the other King and Queen. We’ll have plenty of time to get busy, just not today.”

He tilted his head up…and bit my finger gently, licking over the tip with his tongue before releasing it. “I’ve got it.” Slowly, he bent, nuzzling his face against my neck, his warm lips caressing my skin softly, barely breathing, “We’ll be the very souls of discretion.”

“Exactly,” I sighed, leaning into the strokes. “Complete control over the situation.”

He hummed quietly. “Exactly.” He pressed his lips once more against my throat before straightening — I wobbled a tad — and smacked my ass none too gently, pushing me toward the tent flap to the outside. “Duty, then pleasure.” A pause. “This is definitely one of those times I hate my position, because I would much rather be deciding what position to do.”

I paused, grinning, before lifting the flap. “It’ll give us something to look forward to.”

“Yes,” he purred. “Yes, it will.”





Chapter Fourteen


We began our travel to King Mile in the dead of night.

I was driving my Hummer, and my nostrils kept twitching.

My wolf growled softly as I glanced in the rear-view mirror. I glared directly at Antonio on my back seat. “You two f*cking reek!” They smelled so badly of the sated it was suffocating.

Ezra even had his window rolled down for the fresh air.

Antonio had the courtesy to blush. “Sorry, Lil.”

Cahal merely grunted, grabbing my attention. “I’m not sorry. That was long overdue.”

Antonio instantly amended, “Precious, I didn’t mean that I’m sorry it happened.”

Precious…f*cking hell.

Cahal’s smile was private as he gazed at Antonio. “I know, honey.”

Honey…Jesus Christ.

They stared intimately into one another’s eyes. They weren’t sitting directly next to each other as Elder Merrick and Elder Jacobs drove directly behind us, their headlights shining through the back windshield. But they were holding hands, their joined fingers resting on top of Isa’s legs where she slept between them in her back-facing car seat. And…they stank so badly.

“Good God, quit looking at each other like that!” I grumbled, waggling a finger back between the seats. My wolf growled again. “There will be no funny business happening while we’re in this car.”

This time, it was Ezra who grunted — in complete agreement.

“I mean,” I continued, completely exasperated, “did you two have to spend the entire damn day doing that?”

Antonio gave a satisfied grin as he altered his attention to me, staring into the rear-view mirror. “Yes, we did. Precious was right. It was a long time coming.” He paused a moment when I scowled. “No pun intended.”

My brows eventually puckered. “How long?”

Antonio’s expression was patient on mine. “Cahal and I were together long ago. Until I became mated.” His lips thinned and his gaze altered, lingering on Cahal. “We were in love. It’s not a period of our lives we wish to rehash. It wasn’t…pleasant…when it ended.”

I rolled my shoulders, glancing backward and quickly appraising Cahal while Ezra stayed mute and appeared to be sniffing the air. Cahal was now staring out his dark window, his expression so damn blank that is was telling enough. I swiftly turned my attention to the road, and I nodded once in the silence. “Fair enough. I won’t ask any more questions.”

“Thank you,” Antonio murmured quietly.

Ezra broke his stillness, abruptly turning to stare back at his dad. “I am going to ask.”

Cahal slowly turned his gaze to his son. “I loved your mother.”

Ezra grunted. “And him?”

A simple word. “Yes.”

Ezra’s Vampire gently growled. “The entire damn time?”