The King's Mate [Paranormal Protection Unit 6] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 6

  “Thank you, love,” he whispered softly to her. Pressing her in closer, he brushed his lips to her temple gently. Squeezing her to him, he released her a second later. “Go sit your naked ass down and drink your milk. I am trying to cook here, and you’re distracting me with just how fine you are.”

  “Just be very careful not to burn anything that I like,” Chrissy said and took a seat. “You know, like sausage.” Instead of looking at the pan though, she looked at his cock and licked her lips. “Would hate to have to kiss it and make it better,” she lied through her teeth.

  “Uh-huh,” he said, watching her. “You like my cock. Don’t pretend you don’t. But hey, if you don’t want it no more, I’m sure I can entertain it for a while.” That wouldn’t go for long for either of them he knew. “Just means I can lick you into orgasm more often. That will be fun.” Tryg grinned slowly.

  Chrissy laughed and shook her head. “Yes, I really do love your cock, but I love you, too. I want and need every single moment that we can have together, so that’s all that matters. I also really like it, love it, when you lick me into orgasm, too. So hurm. How about you feed me and then we will decide which play would be more fun.”

  “I think I should lay you out on the table and set the meal on you,” he told her with a grin. “Then I can feed you slowly, pleasuring you at the same time as I feast on you and the food. Course the only downside to that would be if we got carried away, we might end up with a mess.”

  “True, and we both know me. More than likely there would be a mess because I don’t think I would be able to keep my hands to myself,” she admitted. “So it’s best if we don’t put the meal on me, darling.”

  “Probably best,” he agreed with a grin. “At least not this time around since we’re both hungry. Next time we’ll play with our food with a carefully chosen meal that won’t leave little singed marks on your gorgeous body.”

  “Yes, those would be very bad. Don’t want too hot or too cold, because both would seriously suck,” she said happily. “So we will take our time and figure out a meal that would work perfectly for both of us.” Leaning in, she kissed him. “Goodness, I do so very much love you, Tryggr.”

  “I love you, too, Chrissy,” he said sincerely, honestly, and from his heart.

  Chapter Six

  Hearing the all clear in his ear piece, Tryggr opened the door to her practice and stepped in, doing a visual sweep himself as well as inhaling deeply. Smelling nothing but animals, Chrissy’s scent, and one other female’s clearly, he waved her in. There were other scents there but so faint that he knew they were human clients. “Secure the perimeter,” he said to the others. “Morris and Jonah, give us a hand in here,” he added, since he figured their Changers wouldn’t upset the animals too much. He was a little worried about his, being a big cat, but he’d try and stay clear of the dogs so as to not upset them.

  “What needs doing, darling?” he asked Chrissy as he followed behind her to the front desk. He searched everywhere, low, high, everything in between of every room they passed. He wouldn’t be able to fully relax until they were out of there. Those…whatever they’d been, had come here to get her, and while it was broad daylight, that didn’t mean that they wouldn’t come back to hurt his bond-mate. Or rather, attempt to hurt her because Tryg wasn’t letting anyone near her if he could help it.

  “First things first, I need to get the Rolodex out and make some calls. While I am doing that, will you and the boys please get the animals crated up and ready to go? This way when the vans come we will be able to load them up.” They had decided to ship the animals to other offices and have the owners get them from there.

  “All right.” He nodded, whistling for the other two, and pointed them to the back. “I’ll leave the door open between us in case you need something. We have eight outside around the building as well,” he told her quietly. He didn’t like leaving her alone though. It upset him on a level he wasn’t sure he understood. Some instinct was screaming at him. Pausing, he looked at her. “Grab the Rolodex and use my cell in the back with us,” he said suddenly. “I can’t explain it, love, but I’ve got this itch between my shoulders that is a warning of some kind.”

  She nodded and grabbed the Rolodex and took his phone. “You know that in this I will always defer to you.” In a lot of things she wouldn’t, but where safety and security came into play, she would always bow to him, because she didn’t have the first clue about staying safe. Watching him, she frowned when he put his hand on his weapon and backed her to the wall. “What’s happening?” she whispered with fear clogging her throat.

  Shaking his head, he let the Cat up close to the surface and listened. Cupping his hand around her neck, he frowned as he drew her closer. It was a Changer, not human, and definitely not what was there the other night. Pressing a finger to his ear, he listened to the chatter. “Do you know someone named Melvin Wainwright who’s engaged to a woman named Mindy?”

  “Yes.” Chrissy’s face told the story with that one singular hissed word. “He’s an utter and complete bastard. He brutalizes poor Mindy, but I can’t get her to leave him. I hope and pray she will soon.”

  Holding her closer to him, he breathed her in. “He’s demanding that he see her, that he knows the…is hiding her in here,” he said, making a tiny edit. “Connell is telling him that no one is here beyond the Team to clear out the animals and get them to their homes after an attack. He seems to be buying it,” he murmured in relief, which meant the other male couldn’t smell Chrissy over all the Changer scents around.

  “She left him?” Chrissy asked very, very softly. “Thank God. I was worried she would only leave him when she was killed by that sadistic son of a bitch.” Chrissy was a pacifist and hated violence of all kinds, but in this case she would be able to seriously stand for some ass whipping of said man.

  Listening to what was being transmitted, he let out a breath. “He’s leaving,” he murmured softly to her. “He bought Connell’s story.” Mainly because it was absolute truth. The Team was there to ensure the animals got home after an attack. He’d kept from mentioning Chrissy at all, which was good. The male hadn’t been able to pick up any deceit. “He apparently is not very happy with your friend. Why is that?” he asked curiously, having only caught part of what she’d said to him since he’d been paying attention to the conversation outside.

  “From what I understand, he was always so very abusive to her. He would beat her but never where it would show. Her clothing always covered it. I only discovered it because he had broken three of her ribs, and she had been in so much pain that she could barely breathe, let alone work. I did the X-rays here and kept it all on the down low. I honestly thought he was a gangster or something, I never dreamed that things like Shifters were real before you,” Chrissy explained.

  “She’s not his mate,” he murmured. It was a guess, but something about the male’s attitude was more toward possession than bonding. He thought of her as his, a thing, not as his a part of his very heart and soul. “Does she need help, Chrissy?” Tryg looked down at her. “Do we need to help her be free of him?”

  “We have to let her choose to be free,” Chrissy admitted sadly. “I’ve been paying her for the last months she’s worked for me, but as far as he knows she simply volunteers here. It works for him because he knows where she will be at any given time while he’s working at the hardware store two doors down,” she admitted sadly. “Unfortunately we can’t rush in and save her. She has to want to be saved, and right now I think something is holding her back. I don’t know what, but there is something keeping her there.”

  Nodding, he watched her. “You want to race in and save her, don’t you?” he asked softly. He knew he’d do it in an instant if she wanted him to. Tryg hated seeing pain in Chrissy’s eyes, and if she was hurting, then he was. It was how the bonding worked. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he hugged her close. “If she comes to us, we will help her, no matter what. I swear it to you.”

  “Than
k you. I’ve promised her that no matter where I am she will always be welcome and safe. I will need to leave her a hidden message so that she knows where I’m moving to.” She looked up at Tryggr and sighed. “I’m going to miss my home, but I’m happy that I have you. Now then.” She wrapped her arms around him and held onto him simply because she truly needed to for a moment. Finally she said, “How about you put your address on a card for me so that I can hide it for her in our spot, and then I will make those phone calls.”

  Pressing a kiss to her hair, he nodded. “All right,” he murmured, releasing her when she pulled back. Taking the pen, he jotted down the house address and passed the card and pen back. “Do we need to go by your place to collect your things after this?” he asked.

  “Yes, please. I just need clothing. Everything else we can have packed up at a later date by someone else.” She didn’t want to be away from “home” too long, because every moment they were in the outside there was more of a chance for that monster to come back, and that simply wouldn’t do at all, because it scared the hell out of her.

  “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you, love,” he murmured gently. Pressing a kiss to her lips, he smiled. “I’m badass, darling. No one’s getting near my woman.” Taking her hand, he led her into the back and absolute chaos. Staring at what the two men had done in literally seconds, Tryggr turned and headed for the door. He so didn’t want to be there when Chrissy killed them.

  Chrissy took in the absolute mess and felt her blood pressure rising. “Good God.” She breathed and looked from one man to the other. “And you have the animals in an uproar. One would think you would be brighter than that since you are animals yourselves.” She swatted at both their hands and continued to mutter as she lifted the kitten they had worked into a spitting rage. Soothing the animal with soft words, she looked to the men. “I will finish getting them crated if you will please carry them to patient room one.” It was her largest room for the cats. “The dogs go to two and miscellaneous to three.”

  Snagging up a kitten that looked like it was trying to make a break for it, Tryggr stood to the side as Morris and Jonah started to corral the animals. Noticing a puppy looking bewildered, Tryg scooped him up, too, and shook his head. “Will you look at these two,” he murmured to the animals, who sniffed one another and then turned to watch the action. “It’s sad really,” he told them. “Hopefully they never have children, for I live in fear for our future generation at this rate.”

  She rubbed at her temples and shook her head. “I don’t know if they just were in that big of a hurry or what,” she muttered. Turning, Chrissy looked at Tryggr and smiled. “Do you like pets? I happen to love them. I’ve never actually gotten any because I always worry I wouldn’t be able to give them enough time, but you look good holding pets. I think together we would do well with them, don’t you?”

  “I always had a bunch growing up.” He smiled at her, gently rubbing the kitten under his chin. “As long as they are young enough and they grow up around us Changers, they never know the difference from us to humans. If you want pets, love, you should get a few. Just remember though, I’m the only animal in our bed, period.” That was a rule he’d had ever since he’d been a kid, and he wasn’t breaking it even if she gave him the big-ass doe eyes.

  “I’m perfectly fine with that. Pets should never sleep with their owners at all,” Chrissy told him softly. “It’s not good for the people and not good for the animals either. It’s really best if the animals have their own places to sleep and call their own.” She smiled and added, “Those two will be up for adoption when they are weaned from their mothers. What do you think of them?”

  Glancing down, he grinned. “They’re adorable as you well know, woman. And they like each other well enough, haven’t given me any grief, so I’m all for it,” he told her. “If you would like them, darling, I’m good with adopting these two fuzzy balls of delight.”

  Chrissy grinned. “Good.” She had been giving the duo that she had affectionately dubbed Bonnie and Clyde additional attention because they had caught her eye. They were both fearless and constantly looking for a way out even when their siblings were content just lazing beside their mothers.

  “You named them, didn’t you?” he asked, watching her. Shaking his head, Tryg sighed when she blinked at him. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Looking past her, he tipped his chin up. “I think Jonah needs help with that one there.”

  Chrissy looked to the rather large man and couldn’t help but grin. One of the solid white kittens, the smallest she had in her clinic in fact, had decided that climbing into the large man’s shirt and making a home was a good idea. Only the long white tail wrapped around the tanned neck of the large man. “No, I think that he’s going to be just fine with her. I think that he needs a pet, too,” she decided suddenly, happily.

  Rolling his eyes at the way she was adopting out all the little ones, he set the two he held down and went to help corral a cat that looked anything but pleased. Waving Morris back, Tryggr looked at the cat and waited for it to focus on him. Once he did, he purred softly and waited as the cat relaxed a little bit before moving to very carefully and gently pick him up. He’d obviously been there for some sort of surgery. They’d likely woken him from his rest after, thus upsetting the poor beast.

  “He had his claws removed and was fixed,” Chrissy admitted to Tryggr. “I know, you wince, but sometimes it’s best to do it when they are as young as they are,” she advised him softly. “And yes, I’m trying to get all the little ones adopted out because I truly don’t want to have to try to get them in homes and have them go to shelters instead.”

  “Where they’ll never come out,” he murmured, stroking the cat in his arms. Purring softly, he scratched the furry chin until the cat relaxed and began to doze. “I know I’m going to regret saying this one day in the likely too near future. But if you want to bring some of them home, you can, within limits, and none that are declawed. You can fix them, but pull any more claws and we will have words.”

  “I would like that, but I think for now we should leave it at just the two. If I could, I would bring home every single stray that there was. I’m weird like that, I know.” Chrissy loved animals. She had always loved animals. “And it wasn’t my decision to pull their claws. That was the pet owners’ decision. I don’t believe in leaving them defenseless.”

  “Bad decision,” he murmured softly and turned the cat over so his belly was up. Rubbing gently, he smiled as the cat went limp. “Where do you want him?” Tryg asked as the cat let out a happy sigh. Poor thing. It wasn’t bad enough some female took his nuts, but they took his best mode of defense, too. Too many people didn’t think about the what-ifs. What if their cat got loose into the neighborhood? What then, oh brilliant morons?

  “He goes in the bright neon-pink cage.” She winced. “Yeah, don’t tell me. I know. His owner loves pink. Lots of pink. Poor guy,” she murmured. “But the woman loves him like crazy. To her he is her child, and he will be one pampered prince, too.”

  Shuddering at the color, Tryggr slid him into the carrier. Shutting the door, he locked it and then jammed the door. Cats were sneaky, devious creatures and, with determination, could get themselves out of most things with enough motivation. Turning, he looked to see what else needed to be corralled.

  Chrissy looked around and nodded. “All right, I think that is all that we can do. I have another vet coming to take the animals to his clinic just outside of town to watch over. He’s going to make sure that they get to the right homes. I will make sure that he knows that the kittens are spoken for as well,” she murmured. “And the little pup. That way when they are weaned from their mothers, we can bring them home with us.”

  “Yes, dear,” he said right on cue with a mischievous grin. Walking to her, Tryg caught her by the hips and pulled her into him. “I love you, Chrissy,” he murmured, lowering his head to brush his lips to hers. “You are the most amazing woman in the world.” He couldn’t believe
how much he loved her and yet how much it seemed to continue to grow.

  Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she pulled him close and grinned up at him. “I love you, too, Tryggr. I’m happy that you are mine. I’m very happy to have you.” Leaning into him, she brushed her lips to his cheek and then his lips. “Love you so very much, honey.”

  Purring he smiled and kissed her. “We probably shouldn’t start anything here, love. There are a few too many witnesses around.” He sighed. Nipping at her mouth, he sucked on her lip gently. “I love you, but if you get me worked up so I end up with an erection, I’m not going to be pleased with you.”

  “This is true.” Leaning in close, she whispered, “But I do have an office with a lock on the door. We could always finish what we start there.” She had to admit, him being all suited up in his combat gear had her seriously needy, hot for him.

  Lifting a brow at her words, he couldn’t decide whether to be offended or just go with it. Oh, the toughest of choices always came in the heat of the moment. “You did say you had some files you needed to collect for everyone your vet friend was picking up, right?” he said just a little louder as if reminding her for the nth time about it.

  “This is very true. I should likely get those files, and I will after all need some help with them and everything.” Chrissy’s eyes danced in delight, and she looked up, licking her lips. “Come and help me find them?” Oh yeah, she was going to hell for using something so silly to lure him into her office, but she honestly didn’t care. She wanted him. Period.

  “Of course, love,” he said with a smile. Looking to the two men, Tryggr tipped his head. “Do a perimeter check and ensure that Melvin actually left. We don’t need him following us out of here and spotting Chrissy.” Turning to walk with her, he paused. “Do me a favor and check the vehicles, too. I don’t trust this guy not to be that sneaky and evil.”