Demon Warriors 1: Hondo (6 page)

Chris knew it was fear making Hondo act like this, but this was the second time Hondo had humiliated him in public. Although he
might
have a reason for his anger, the demon could have handled it better.

Chris put on a burst of speed, racing home as he cried. He wasn’t going to keep dealing with the mortification Hondo kept putting him through. Chris shot through his front door and slammed it closed. He leaned against the door, wiping away the free falling tears. If that was Hondo’s idea of a relationship, then Chris didn’t want any part of it.

He wrapped his arms around his midsection, sliding his back down the door and sitting on his bottom as he cried. Finding a mate was supposed to be a wondrous thing, an event to celebrate. Hondo was making Chris regret sleeping with him. His quick-to-temper ways were going to tear Chris apart if he continued to allow it.

“Open the door, Chris,” Hondo said softly from the other side. “I know you’re in there.”

Chris grabbed the hem of his shirt and wiped the tears away. He stood, opening the front door to allow Hondo in.

“Oh, baby.” Hondo stepped through the door, reaching out for Chris. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“No.” Chris backed away. “I have feelings, just like you. What you did to me out there was humiliating, and not once, but twice you subjected me to it. I won’t have you speaking to me that way.” Hondo’s hands burst into flames as they fisted. “Then stop putting yourself in harm’s way.”

“If you set my house on fire, I’ll kick your ass,” Chris threatened as he spun around and walked away. He could hear the crackling of the flames coming from behind him and knew Hondo was still pissed as hell.

Chris walked over to the sink and turned the water on.

“Will you talk to me?” Hondo begged. “Stop walking away and talk to me, baby.”

Chris spun around, shooting a stream of water from the sprayer at Hondo’s hands. “Not until you calm the hell down.” He watched as the flames grew higher instead of banking.

“Damn it, Chris, be reasonable.” Hondo growled as the flames started licking up his arms. “There is no middle ground here. I refuse to have you putting yourself in danger.” Chris tossed the sprayer in the sink when he saw it was having no effect. “If we were just friends, would you be acting this way?”

“Hell yeah. I lost it when you came out of that closet, didn’t I?” This was true. Maybe Chris was being a bit pigheaded. He had become instantly defensive when he thought Hondo was being overbearing. It was true that he didn’t think before he acted. “I only do those things when I think you are in danger,” he admitted.

The flames slowly turned into an orange glow, and then extinguished. “If that’s true, then why did you take off the second time and put yourself in danger? I wasn’t anywhere near Leam.” Chris began to fidget around, looking down at his feet instead of Hondo. “He was trying to destroy Diablo’s as a way of getting my attention. I couldn’t let that happen. I figured that if I took care of him, you wouldn’t have to be in danger.” Hondo crossed the room, grabbing Chris into an embrace. “Do you know how crazy that sounds, baby? I’ve been doing this job for thousands of years. I can handle myself.”

“But—” Hondo placed a warm finger over Chris’s lips, silencing his protest.

“No,” he said softly. “It’s my turn to talk, so just listen.” Chris nodded his head, curling his lips in as Hondo continued. “I know you worry about me. I like that. But I won’t have you running out to fight battles that the warriors are responsible for just so I won’t get hurt. Let me do my job. I promise to always come back to you, okay?”

Chris fought the tears to no avail. “But what happens to me if you don’t?” he cried.

“You can’t allow yourself to worry about that so much that you keep making me insane. You have to promise me, Chris, that you’ll let me handle this.” Hondo brushed aside the hair from Chris’s forehead, laying a gentle kiss against his warm skin.

“I’ll try.” It was the only promise Chris was capable of giving Hondo.

“Come on, babe. We have a kitchen to clean up and some cookies to bake.” He chuckled.

“I don’t know. The last batch is still edible.” Hondo screwed his face up. “If you were giving them as treats to a pet maybe.” He set Chris down, grabbing the cookie sheet and dumping the burnt discs into the trash. “I can make dinner if you’re hungry.”

“I’m famished.” Chris grabbed some towels and wiped up the water from the floor. “Can we just grab a bowl of cereal?”

“That’s not sustenance,” Hondo said disapprovingly. “That’s a snack. I’ll cook. You go take a hot bath or something. Let me take care of feeding you.”

Chris was thrilled Hondo wanted to cook for him. Too many times Hondo had invited him over, thinking he was slick when he asked Chris to cook. He knew what Hondo was up to then. Chris was faster on the draw, outwitting his friend and making Hondo cook. It was funny to him.

But now Hondo was volunteering to do it. He smiled and kissed his mate after tossing the towels in the washer. Hondo patted his ass before he left the kitchen, humming to himself as he walked into the living room. There was a knock at the door, so Chris strolled over to answer it as he heard Hondo being noisy in the kitchen.

“Snooke, what brings you here?” Chris asked as he opened the door for his friend.

“I just wanted to check to see if everything is okay with you and your boyfriend.”

“Come on in.” Chris stepped aside.

“Thanks.” Chris closed the door as Snooke took a seat on the couch. “Is he still mad?”

“Everything is fine. Turns out he’s my mate,” Chris boasted proudly.

“Get out,” Snooke said teasingly. “How about you and I celebrate? We can go to the movies or something, my treat.”

“That sounds wonderful. How about tomorrow? I don’t have anything to do then.”

Snooke leaned back, a wide grin on his face. “It’s a date.”

“Hey, babe, do you—” Hondo stopped in his tracks, glaring at Snooke. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Hondo!” Chris chastised him. “Show our guest some manners.” 

“Like hell I will.” Hondo advanced forward, yanking Chris into his arms.

“Behave, Hondo.” Chris smacked his chest.

“It’s cool, I’ll leave.” Snooke got up from the couch, shoving his hands in his front pockets as he made for the door.

“No you won’t.” Chris kicked Hondo in the shin, being released immediately as Hondo cursed. “You’ll stay for dinner.”

“What?” Hondo growled. “I’m not slaving over a stove for a spy.”

“Do you know how crazy that sounds?” Chris shook his head.

“Stop acting this way.” He pointed his finger up at Hondo. “Or no nooky.” He whispered the last part.

Hondo’s jaw clenched, but he became quiet, still glaring at Snooke though. “I’ll be in the kitchen setting his dinner on fire.” Hondo stomped off.

“Look. I didn’t come here to start any trouble.” Chris waved Hondo off. “It’s no trouble. Make yourself comfortable while I have a talk with hothead.” Chris found Hondo in the kitchen slamming the knife down on the cutting board like a guillotine beheading its prisoner. Pieces of carrots shot across the room from the force, pinging off of any and all surfaces.

“If you keep that up, we’ll be eating from the floor.” He squeaked when a round orange disc smacked him in the chest. “You got me.” He fell to the floor, feigning injury.

“Stop it. I don’t feel like laughing,” Hondo said despite the smile tugging at his lips.

Chris got up and ran over to the counter, jumping up. Hondo dropped the knife and caught him as Chris wrapped his legs around Hondo’s waist. “Why don’t you like my friend?” Hondo turned his back to the cupboards and leaned against them.

“I don’t trust him. He was a little too curious about what we do and where we take the prisoners.”

“Well, duh. Who isn’t curious about the Demon Warriors? No one knows how to get to the detention cells. It’s a big mystery. And that’s all he was, Hondo, curious. Stop treating him like a criminal. Snooke has been nothing but nice to me, and I expect my mate to show the same courtesy.”

* * * *

Courteous my ass.

Hondo knew that fucker was up to something. He just needed proof. Until then, he would stick to Chris like glue. There was no way in hell any harm was coming to his mate. “Sure.” Chris bounced in his arms excitedly. “Really, you’ll be nice to him?”

“Sure I will.” Hondo drew out the first word. He lifted Chris’s chin and kissed his soft lips. Chris began to press his cock into Hondo’s stomach. “If Snooke wasn’t here, I’d take care of that for you.”

“I see what you’re trying to do,” Chris said into his mouth. “But it won’t work.”

Hondo growled, pissed that Chris was being so adamant about letting Snooke stay. He wasn’t going to argue about it. They’d just made up. “Help me get dinner ready.”

“We have company. I’ll go entertain him while you finish up.” Chris walked back to the living room.

Thoughts of how Snooke was going to be entertained made Hondo’s blood boil. The thought struck him from out of nowhere.

What if that bastard was after Chris for another reason? What if he was out to take Chris from Hondo?

Hondo grabbed the knife and headed for the living room. He stopped short when he heard laughter.

“Hondo may be protective of me, but I wouldn’t want anyone but him.”

Hondo took a step back. He looked down at the knife clutched in his hand.
What the hell am I doing?

“Is dinner ready?” Chris asked as he walked up to Hondo, snaking his arms around Hondo’s waist.

“Five more minutes.” Hondo backed away and turned around, heading back into the kitchen. He grabbed the wooden spoon, mixing the stir-fry up as he tried to calm down. Jealousy was never his thing, and he could see why. He didn’t like who he was right about now.

“Chris,” Hondo called out. His mate zipped into the kitchen, an expectant look on his face.

“Yes, Hondo?”

“Dinner is ready if you want to set the table.” He smiled down at his demon lover.

“Okay.” Chris beamed as he shot over to the cupboard, grabbed some dinnerware out, and then turned to Hondo. “It smells really good.” Chris dashed out, leaving Hondo to feel stupid for the way he was acting.

He searched Chris’s cabinets until he found a large bowl, and then transferred the food from the wok to the bowl. Hondo carried it in, setting the bowl on the middle of the table. “Dinner is served.”

“Smells good,” Snooke complimented.

Hondo gave the invader of privacy a tight smile, nodding his head in thanks.

“Chris tells me that the warriors are after Leam,” Snooke commented as he scooped some vegetable stir-fry onto his plate.

“He shouldn’t have told you that.” Hondo scooped some food onto Chris’s plate before serving himself. “What we do is no one’s business.”

“But he’s my friend, Hondo. Snooke won’t betray my trust.” How had he never noticed how naive Chris was before now?

Hondo wanted to throttle Snooke just on GP. “I understand that, Chris, but you can’t tell anyone what goes on. How effective can we be if everyone knows?” Hondo pointed out.

Chris stabbed at his food, a mixture of pouting and scowling marring his handsome face. “You wouldn’t be.”

“I wouldn’t tell,” Snooke interjected.

Yeah, and Satan won humanitarian of the year. “It’s always been that way. Don’t take it personally.”

“Snooke invited me out to the movies tomorrow,” Chris said offhandedly.

“Really?” Hondo looked over at Snooke, rage filling him completely. “Excuse me.” Hondo stood, walking into the kitchen as his entire body went up in flames. Now he
knew
Snooke was after his mate. Hondo was going to kill the little bastard and toss him into the fucking Black River. The flames rose higher the longer he thought about the two snuggled together watching some horror flick.

“Dude, what the hell is wrong with you?” Kane asked as he walked into the kitchen, using his foot to hook the kitchen chair and taking a seat.

“Where the hell did you come from?” Hondo grumbled as he concentrated on banking the flames.

“My mamma.” He chuckled as he leaned back, taking the chair back to two legs.

“Very funny.” Hondo shook his hands out, trying to ease the tension in his body.

“I knocked several times, but no one answered.” Kane stood up and walked over to the stove, wiping his finger over the wok.

“Vegetable stir-fry and you didn’t invite me.”

“I seem to have uninvited guests crawling all over the place.”

“Is that right?” Kane licked at his fingers as he walked toward the dining room, Hondo right behind him. “Who is that?” Hondo felt his skin heating up again. “Snooke, and I think he’s out to woo Chris.”

Kane wiped his hand on his jeans as he turned to Hondo, his eyes showing confusion. “But Panahasi said Chris was your mate. I came by to congratulate the two of you.” 

Hondo crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at the invading man. “He is. But Chris made me promise to behave.” How fucking ridiculous did that sound when verbalized? Hondo felt like a pussy now.

Kane ran his tongue over his bottom lip, a grin fighting to break free. “But he didn’t make me promise.” Hondo scratched his jaw, looking from Kane to the dining room.

“I like the way you think.” He bumped his elbow into Kane’s arm.

“Shall we dine?” Kane didn’t wait for an answer. He strolled right in and took a seat. Hondo sat next to Chris again, waiting to see what his fellow warrior was up to.

Kane picked up a fork, tapping it on the edge of the table before locking eyes on Snooke. “So, you’re Snooke?” Snooke looked at Kane in utter reverence. “Yep.” He squirmed around a little, lowering his eyes.

Interesting.

Kane sat the fork down and leaned forward, narrowing his eyes on his prey. “Who are you, and what do you want?” Chris spat the stir-fry out, grabbing a napkin to wipe his mouth.

“Kane!”

Kane held his hands up and sat back, looking over at Hondo and then back at Snooke. He grinned and then rocked his chair back.

“Okay, who are you, and what are your motives?”

“Kane!” Chris pounded his fist against the table.