Payce tiptoed away from the office where Dennis, Adrian, Talan, and Kevin were huddled around Adrian’s computer desk. He’d put it off long enough, but it was time to talk to Tia. He didn’t want the woman to hate him or think he hated her. He found her in the kitchen, curled around a plate of brownies.
“Hello,” he said hesitatingly.
Her wide gold eyes, so like her sons’, were wide with trepidation. “Hi.”
She grabbed a napkin to wipe the chocolate from her mouth but didn’t say anything else.
“I thought it would be good if we got to know each other a little since the father of your children is my mate.”
“Were they bothering you?”
“What? No, no. They’re adorable. I think Quinn is a little concerned about a new person in their dad’s life, but Chase likes me. They’re sweet kids.”
He finally got a smile from that. “Yeah, they are.”
“I wanted to say how sorry I am for attacking you the other day. I don’t have the best control over my beast. It’s getting better, but it’s still shaky. Now that I’ve completed my mating with Kevin, that shouldn’t be a problem anymore.”
Tia approached. “Try sniffing me.”
Payce walked closer to get her scent. He pressed his nose to her neck to get a good infusion of her fragrance.
“That better not be what it looks like, or I’m whopping both of your asses!” Kevin’s gravelly drawl filled the air.
Payce stepped away from Tia so fast he almost fell. Spinning, he turned to face his mate.
“I was checking her scent.”
“You didn’t need to get that close.” Kevin stalked up to Payce. He could see the lion close to the surface with every step his mate took.
“I wanted to make sure.”
Kevin wrapped his arms around Payce’s waist. “What did you learn?”
“That her scent isn’t driving me crazy anymore. I didn’t feel the need to attack her.”
Kevin placed a light kiss on Payce’s forehead. “That’s because you know I’m yours.” The satisfaction in Kevin’s voice made him laugh.
“Yeah, you are mine.”
“We found her.”
Dennis marched into the room, a bounce in his step.
Kevin gave a low growl. The big lion still hadn’t forgiven the coyote for betraying Payce. For his part, Payce wasn’t totally aboard the ‘forgive and forget’ train either.
A low purr rolled from Tia’s lips. Kevin and Payce turned to watch the lioness. Tia’s eyes were focused on Dennis as if he were a mouse and her cat wanted to play.
“Who are you?”
Dennis appeared more panicked than attracted, and Payce couldn’t suppress a chuckle. “This is Dennis.”
“Dennis, who almost got the father of my children and his mate killed?” Tia’s look turned more feral than friendly.
Dennis took a careful step toward the doorway.
“Don’t even think about it, coyote,” Tia said in a dangerous tone, “I’ve hunted down bigger game than you. We are going to have a little talk about your tendency for betrayal.”
Before he could argue, Dennis was scrambling after Tia. He had to because she’d grabbed his shirt as she passed and wasn’t letting go.
“I’d feel sorry for him if I wasn’t still mad,” Kevin said with a chuckle.
“Do you think she’s going to fuck him or eat him?”
Kevin shrugged. “Could go either way. We did find a few locations where we think his sister could be holed up. We sent out some groups to scout around. If they find anything, they’ll report back.”
“Good. As much as I’m still mad at him, I don’t want his sister to suffer because of his mistakes.”
Kevin nodded. “Adrian is tracing the homes of the other people from their driver’s licenses.”
“You think someone has her stashed at their home.”
“Yeah, they don’t look like they’ve got deep pockets, and they were too cocky about not gettin’ caught. I’m sure they’ve got her somewhere at one of their homes. If they didn’t already kill her. Dennis hasn’t talked to her in a few weeks.”
Payce rested his head on Kevin’s chest. “Let’s hope for the best.”
Kevin stroked through Payce’s hair. “I do have some good news for you.”
Payce didn’t lift his head to face his lover. He was too comfy. “What’s that?”
“I was just in touch with the vice president of my company. They agreed to hire you to do some mosaics.”
Payce’s head snapped up. “What are you talking about?”
“Have you ever heard of Lion’s Heart?”
“Yeah, that group of homes for homeless cubs. They do great work.”
Payce was surprised to see his confident mate blush. “I’m the one who started them. They agreed with me that some colorful mosaics outside each home would make them more welcoming. I’ve got fourteen homes that need mosaics. Would you like to do that for me?”
“So you called and pressured someone to hire your mate?” Payce didn’t know how he felt about that. He knew he should be outraged, but seeing Kevin throw that kind of power around was kinda hot.
“No. I made a reasonable suggestion, and they agreed.” Kevin’s eyes sparkled, telling Payce that his lover’s suggestion was more of a command.
“Do I have to call you sir?” Payce teased.
“Only when I have you tied to my bed.” Kevin paused. “My newly ordered, extra-reinforced bed. There’s a new shifter company that’s putting some out.”
Payce leaned forward to speak into Kevin’s ear. “You might want to order a couple. I’m feeling very bad and might need to be taught my place.”
“Screaming beneath me?” Kevin asked, raising a brow.
“Exactly.” Payce purred. “I’ll take the job, even if my mate got it for me.”
Although if he had any pride, he’d reject his boyfriend-acquired employment. However, it solved a lot of their problems, and Payce was all about settling into a long and happy mating with his beautiful Southern cat.
“Let’s grab a bed in the guest wing,” Kevin said while wrapping his fingers around Payce’s wrist.
“There’s a guest wing?”
“Yep, and we’ve got more than a few beds to try out.”
As he was dragged down the hall, Payce had a feeling that the lion bed budget was going to triple, but it would be worth every penny.
Laughing, Payce let himself be dragged off by his amorous mate, knowing that his time on this earth with Kevin was going to be a hell of an adventure.