Being(s) In Love 03 - A Beginner’s Guide to Wooing Your Mate (16 page)

“Marks?” Zeki opened his eyes. “Oh, that’s how you think of them.” He must have remembered why weres marked each other in the next second, because he slowly put his head to the side to stare at him.

Theo imagined pulling Zeki on top of him and baring his throat for Zeki’s mouth. His blood was pounding. He inched his legs apart without thinking, then realized what he was doing and released Zeki’s arm. “The others.” He was too loud. “The others will all get one too? A mark—I mean, a symbol of protection?”

Zeki frowned in dizzy confusion, and blinked until some of his usual brightness returned to his eyes. “Yes. But not that one.”

Theo tried to look at the mark, but it was upside down and the letters meant nothing to him. “What’s this one?”

“A reminder for you to take care.” Zeki placed his palm over the symbol, then pulled his sleeve down and took his hand away. Sitting down they were almost the same height, but Zeki gave Theo a look from under his eyelashes. “Please, Theo.”

Theo went frozen and hot with nerves and arousal. His heart was thundering, and his pants were tight. Zeki’s hand had left an impression on his chest, a mark he could feel down to his skin, under the strap of his suspenders. It wouldn’t take much to get him hard, and he swallowed, aching all over. “Zeki.” He didn’t hide his distress.

Zeki immediately leaned away, giving Theo space enough to breathe. When Zeki was no longer so close, Theo pushed himself to his feet.

“You still have to do this with the others.” He curled his hands at his sides. He didn’t think the smell of flour or the sight of a clean mixing bowl would help him right now. He wanted Zeki to stay close and not go near anyone else, but he couldn’t sit by him without wanting to touch him. The others deserved the protection Zeki could offer. Theo told himself that and clenched his jaw to keep anything inappropriate from escaping. Jealousy didn’t begin to explain the different desires spiking through him. He wanted to be in their place, that was all. He wanted to be the one under Zeki’s focus, under his hands.

“I haven’t
felt
in a while,” he murmured, and looked to the side, hoping Zeki would understand. Theo hadn’t felt anything like this, ever. The last time he’d come close he’d been a teenager. “You being around me is affecting me. I hurt and I want again. More than before. I want to—” He shouldn’t talk of the things he wanted to do with Zeki, how he wanted the others here to smell Zeki in his hair and on his skin, how he wanted to touch his cock and let Zeki inside him, and have Zeki in his kitchen. He wouldn’t mind Zeki on his counter, sneaking tastes from a bowl of frosting. “I
want
.” He ended the thought there.

Zeki’s satisfied grin made Theo irrationally furious. Theo was tired of longing, tired of wanting. He went on through clenched teeth. “Do you want me to call them all in? They’re right outside the door.”

That wiped the amusement from Zeki’s face. He frowned, then shook his head. “Their clothes would be easier. I’ll probably do something in this room, and maybe in the kitchen, since you have no doubt already channeled lots of energy into that room. But for these, have everyone bring me their suspenders, or belts, if they wear those. Their spares first, not the ones they have on right now.” He looked at his reddened fingertips. “It will take a while to do all of them, even if I don’t put as much into them as I did with yours—I got carried away there. That’s a lot of sewing. And every time someone gets a new pair I’ll have to do it all over again.” Zeki didn’t seem to notice his implied intention of sticking around to continue practicing magic for the fire department. “I need to nap, I think. I put, um, a lot into that. But I can do some more tonight, get them back to everyone tomorrow.”

“You don’t need the person to be with you?” Theo considered the white symbol in his suspenders, what looked like upside down letters sewn over each other. He remembered Zeki’s hands on him and his anger vanished so swiftly he felt lost without it. “You didn’t have to touch me?”

Zeki suddenly found the ceiling and the opposite wall interesting. “I’d like to add more to yours, actually, and any other pairs you have. If you wanted, I could do some work in your house as well. I’m trying to get my name out there as a practitioner. The sheriff seemed to think it was a good idea. Anyway….” He finally looked at Theo, but then fell silent. Theo was trying to figure out what he was supposed to say when Zeki continued. “I could strengthen whatever you already have, free of charge.” He coughed. “If you wanted.”

Most homes had old charms, hedge witchery or superstitions that may or may not hold power, like horseshoes over the doors that never actually warded off fairies, or hanging garlic for luck, or planting certain kinds of trees in the yard. Theo had never given them any thought. He hadn’t really decorated beyond moving in furniture. He’d never asked his parents to bring in anything either. “I don’t have anything.”

“Nothing at all?” Zeki sounded horrified. “But your kitchen must be bursting with magical residue! The whole house might even be….” He went silent again but only briefly. “I could help you with that. I mean, I don’t know…. Native American rituals are closely guarded, so I don’t know them, and I know magic and medicine aren’t the same thing. People don’t realize that, so these weekend witches used to ask me about it all the time, as if the two were interchangeable and not in a far more complex relationship…. I found it infuriating and I’m not even….” He took a deep breath and shook his head with an amazed expression, as though he didn’t know himself anymore. He calmed. “Anyway, I wouldn’t ever step on the toes of whoever has been helping you, or try to offer anything you weren’t comfortable with. But I could help you with that. I want to.”

He met Theo’s stare, and Theo couldn’t look away. “You really want to protect my house?” Theo had no idea what that meant, if it was pity or a parting gift, or somehow, unbelievably, a courting gesture. His house wasn’t much of a home. Zeki would see that, and once he left Theo would be able to find his scent in the house for a long time afterward. If it wasn’t a courting gift, it would only lead to more pain for Theo, more emptiness and baking to push it all away. Theo stood still, balancing on the balls of his feet, limbs jittery, mouth dry. Zeki smelled wonderful, chocolatey and anxious.

Instinct chose the words for him. “I’m not going home tonight. I’m here through tomorrow.” Theo’s vision seemed to go white. “But you don’t have to….”

“Tomorrow night, then?” Zeki grabbed at his leather kit, turned it over nervously, then shoved it into his bag.

Theo became vaguely aware of other firefighters scrambling to shut someone up. They seemed as startled as he was. Zeki wanted to come to his house tomorrow night. Zeki’s heart was racing. Both their hearts were racing. Zeki kept glancing at Theo, as if he was waiting for something. When he didn’t get it, he spoke again. “Twilight works best for me. After my initial assessment is done, it will probably be about time for dinner.”

Theo searched for the appropriate response. “I could make something… since you’ll be doing all the work.” His faint, breathless words didn’t sound right. They weren’t what he wanted to say or what he should say. He lifted his chin. “Yes. Yes, I would like it if you came over.” He wheezed a little then firmed his voice. “But you shouldn’t feel that you have to. You don’t have to do any of this if you have something better to do. I do understand what no means, now.”

The smile beginning to form on Zeki’s face fell away. Zeki wrinkled his forehead in a puzzled frown. He spoke slowly. “Theo, I’m an educated, highly trained wizard in a small town filled with werewolves who think magic makes their noses itch. I have literally nothing better to do.”

The answer proved Theo had been getting ahead of himself once again. He stepped quickly away, ready to apologize for his apparently faulty instincts.

Zeki came over to him, continuing to frown as if Theo confused him to his very core. “But even if I did have something else to do, I’d be coming over to your house tomorrow night. Understand?”

He didn’t look away, no matter how much Theo’s face burned and his hands flexed with the need to do
something
. Theo shook his head, trying to figure out why his mate’s scent said everything but told him nothing. Zeki arched his neck. His gaze drifted down to Theo’s mouth. Then he smiled, a small, regretful smile, and stepped away.

“Give me directions before I leave if you still want me.” He wrapped his hand tightly around the strap of his bag. “Meanwhile, I have work to do.”

“Work?” Theo’s mind forgot human language for a few moments, too busy obsessing over Zeki’s careful smiles and sly glances and hopeful fidgeting. “Work,” he repeated, and then remembered how to communicate through speech. “Oh! Oh right.” Theo kicked himself forward in order to lead Zeki to the outer room. Once they were through the door, the other firefighters began to appear, trying to pretend they hadn’t been listening.

Zeki stared at all of them with his head up, his chin at a determined angle. He was bolder than Theo, who didn’t think he could look any of them in the eye right now without growling in absolute confusion. They were so pleased with themselves.

Theo’s cheeks were already stinging with the heat of a blush when Maria came up from behind where Zeki couldn’t see her and patted him on the back. He didn’t know how to meet her eye either. Her cautious happiness on his behalf had him trembling, even as he followed Zeki through the garage. Zeki poked at their helmets, patted the trucks, ran his hands along the walls. He seemed startled when someone cracked a dirty joke about the pole, but then shared a laugh with them. He was too far away for Theo to get a sense of his scent, but his expression was as stunned as Theo felt.

Second chances weren’t supposed to happen. Theo stopped to watch Zeki squint at the pole as if he wanted to slide down it but also didn’t want to risk his dignity. He glanced at Theo as if asking his opinion. Whatever he saw made him grin. He looked about fourteen as he put his bag down and followed Deion upstairs.

Second chances weren’t supposed to happen. But then, teenagers weren’t supposed to find their mates either.

Zeki came down the pole with his eyes wide open and a small, exhilarated scream. He stumbled as he hit the ground, but he kept on his feet and turned dizzily until he found Theo.

Theo’s heart did something, something fast and frightening and strong. It stopped beating, or felt like it did, as he recognized the difference between finding his mate and falling in love with him. He could love Zeki Janowitz. He could love him very easily. Maybe a part of him already did, and that’s why he was cold and then hot, aroused and afraid. He was already falling in love with his mate.

And now he had a date with him.

Theo escaped to the kitchen without a second thought.

Chapter 7

T
HEO
HAD
acted like a wary animal from the second he’d let Zeki inside his house. Zeki had expected some nerves, but not that, and it wasn’t doing anything for his confidence. He’d shown up, wondering if he ought to pretend to be more knowledgeable about dating than he actually was. Now he felt lucky that Theo had let him in the house at all.

He’d never realized before that he didn’t own any adult clothes. All he had were worn, thrift shop T-shirts, cardigans, and jeans. He should have professional clothes, nicer shirts, sweaters without holes in them that he’d patched with mismatched thread. He’d tried to smooth his hair down, but of course it never stayed, and the walk across town had given him plenty of time to anxiously scrape his fingers through it. He didn’t think he was the image of a great date, much less a successful adult with something to offer.

Theo, meanwhile, looked amazing, except for the nervousness that meant he wouldn’t hold eye contact for longer than a few seconds. He’d put on a pair of faded jeans and a thin white T-shirt under a long-sleeved button-down that he hadn’t buttoned. Zeki must have arrived earlier than Theo had expected him to, because Theo hadn’t put on socks or shoes. Zeki kept getting distracted by the curl of Theo’s toes into the carpeting.

“What did you want to see first?” Theo’s soft question tore Zeki’s attention from Theo’s bare feet for the third time. Zeki moved forward, pushing up the baggy sleeves of his striped sweater. The front door led immediately to Theo’s living room, which was empty except for a couch and a bookshelf against one wall. The walls were white and the windows had simple blinds over them instead of curtains. Zeki felt conspicuous in his purple jeans.

A short hallway off to the side probably meant a bathroom, closet, and Theo’s bedroom. A wide, open doorway on the left showed part of Theo’s kitchen. Either option would probably give Theo a proverbial heart attack, so Zeki stayed in the living room, making a beeline for the bookshelf.

The titles in front of him were largely genre fiction, high fantasy, some sci-fi, a mystery or two, a couple of Ramona Greenleaf’s romances, most likely signed by the author herself, although Zeki couldn’t tell if Theo had read them or not. He doubted it. Reading your aunt’s notoriously erotic romance novels might be weird, even if you weren’t related by blood.