Prickly Business (38 page)

Avery gave him a wobbly smile. “I’m no—”

“You are.” Dylan let his hand drop, and his eyes slid shut.

“Dylan?” He heard Avery’s panicked voice from far away.

“I’m jus…,” he slurred around a huge yawn. “I’m gonna sleep for a minute, ’kay?”

He thought Avery might have said something, but he didn’t understand the words, nor could he force his lids open.

Unable to fight it, he let his world fade into the blessed black of nothingness.

D
YLAN
CAME
awake with a start when his front door crashed open. He jackknifed, sitting up without thinking, and groaned at the humming ache in his healing shoulder. In a couple of days, his shoulder would hold little more than a jagged scar and maybe a twinge in bad weather. He should thank his lucky stars that bullet hadn’t drifted a few inches to the left.

Uninvited, Terrance Odell, followed by Lawrence, Broderick, and Russell, charged into his living room like an angry version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Odell’s mouth twisted as if he was going to say something, but then Lawrence cut him off, stepping around Dylan’s coffee table and jabbing a finger in his face.

“What the hell were you thinking, boy? You could have exposed us all with your half-assed plan. Do you ever fucking
use
that pea brain of yours?” Lawrence seethed, his face turning purple.

Dylan wondered how long it would take for his father’s head to actually pop off his shoulders. His attention was once again diverted when Avery shot out of the chair to his feet to stand in front of Dylan. Lawrence focused his rage on him.

“And
you
,” he began, thrusting a beefy finger at Avery.

But before Dylan could stop his father from turning his hate on Avery, Avery shoved the bigger man backward.

“And me what, asshole?” he barked, and Dylan’s eyes shot wide, stunned to silence. Broderick and Russell stood quietly watching the argument volley back and forth, and Dylan didn’t miss the twitch of amusement at the corner of Broderick’s lips. “None of us would even be in this situation if any of you had listened to me in the first place. But
you
were too busy with your bigotry and self-importance to worry about a missing pack member. And now look what’s happened.”

“And you thought you’d take it upon yourself—”

“Who else was going to do it?” Avery cut him off once more. “
You
? While the entirety of the pack hierarchy is sitting around with their heads up their collective asses, there’s a girl out there who is lost and scared and more than likely alone. And who was out there looking for her? Me. That’s who. It sure as hell wasn’t you.”

“Avery, watch your tone, son,” Odell warned, his voice calm and even. Yet he practically vibrated with frustration. “It’s not your place.”

Odell didn’t lose his temper. Ever. Still, he ruled the pack with an iron fist. His word was set in stone and rarely did it change. Unlike Law and his tendency to change his mind on a whim.

Avery huffed and turned his ire on Odell. “Then whose place is it, Alpha? You certainly weren’t listening, your detectives quit searching, and the ones who
were
on the case were the fucking bad guys. Do you think the girls—
Lacey
—are just gonna magically reappear?”

Odell growled, anger thick in his rumble. “We still don’t know that Lacey—”

“Bullshit,” Avery spat. “You can’t tell me you still think she ran off and will show up whenever she feels like it. That dickhead cop
said
he remembered her. He fucking sold her like a piece of meat, and you’re still planning on sitting around twiddling your thumbs in hopes that she’ll come home like nothing ever happened?”

It was a nice thought and the easy way to go about it. If the older wolves simply
thought
she was a flighty kid who did what she wanted when she wanted, then maybe they hadn’t royally screwed everyone involved. Except Dylan and Avery knew the truth, knew Lacey was out there, and knew the leadership of the pack had failed.

“Fuck that,” Avery continued with a growl that made Dylan question his animal. “What do you plan to do when she doesn’t show up in another couple weeks? Months? Are you hoping her father will forget about her and move on? She’s been gone for months already, Alpha.
Months
. This has been happening under your noses in your city for longer than that. And you still don’t want to believe it.”

Avery closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, Dylan could see the determination there. “Look,” he said quieter. “Arguing is not going to get us anywhere. Lacey is still out there, and I am not going to rest until she’s home.”

Law’s eyes narrowed, his temper flaring bright, and then he sneered at Dylan. “You can’t honestly think letting this hedgehog run around putting the pack in jeopardy is a good idea.”

Dylan had had enough. He pushed himself off the sofa, head swimming from moving too quickly. When he tilted, Avery was right there to restore balance to his world, an arm around his waist to hold him steady. Looking down at his mate, the love shining up at him (and whether they had spoken the words or not, he couldn’t deny that’s exactly what it was), Dylan knew he’d follow Avery to the ends of the earth to earn the trust and devotion placed in him.

“Yeah”—he looked up at his father—“I do. We wouldn’t have gotten this far without him.”

“You almost got killed,” Law protested.

“It was my shoulder. And yes, it was dangerous and reckless and could have been dealt with better, but….” Dylan looked down at his mate and grinned. “I promise to work on that.”

“This is pack business now,” Odell broke in, his voice reverberating around the room. He directed his words at Avery and Dylan. “We’ll take care of it. Consider this your one and only warning. Stay out. You have enough to answer for as it is.”

“Answer for?” Avery threw back, incensed. His fingers dug into Dylan’s side, and Dylan winced. “Like what? I came to you with all of this, and you turned us away. Hell, I even went to the police, and well, that didn’t turn out as expected either.”

The alpha narrowed his eyes at Avery, but Dylan could tell he was processing what was said, organizing his thoughts. Then he drew himself to his full height, shoulders back and broad chest out. “No matter. My orders are clear. Don’t go near this case.”

When Avery looked like he’d protest, Dylan slid a hand to the back of his neck and squeezed, silencing him.

With one last glare, the alpha turned and walked out. No promises of information or thanks for helping. He obviously assumed that would be enough to placate Dylan’s mate. It was clear Odell didn’t know Avery as well as he thought.

As soon as the door shut, Dylan looked at Avery, the set of Avery’s jaw stubborn as the day was long. “Are you going to tell me?”

Avery glanced away. “Tell you what?”

“The auction, Av.” Dylan tugged him back down to the sofa. “I get why you don’t want to tell Odell or even Wallace, but I need you to tell me.”

After what had happened with Melnyk and Harris, Dylan knew Avery wasn’t quick to trust any authority figures. Dylan didn’t blame him. Giving the alpha or even the police bureau information on the auctions would leave Avery with nothing to go on. Dylan wasn’t dense enough to think just because the alpha told Avery to stay away from the case that he would.

When Avery met his eyes again, they were full of trepidation and sadness. Then he nodded. “It was awful.” Once Avery opened the floodgates, he let everything out. “The kids were set up like an exhibit and the bidders—God, Dylan there were men and women, and they weren’t scummy like you’d think. They were prominent, powerful businessmen.”

“Did you recognize any of them?”

With his bottom lip between his teeth, Avery shook his head. “Only Melnyk, and when he saw me….”

Dylan’s heart was breaking with the helplessness he witnessed in Avery’s eyes. He pulled Avery to him, as much to comfort and reassure himself as it was for his mate. “Okay,” he said. “I get it.”

“I’m not letting this go,” Avery whispered.

“I know,” he sighed. And to be honest, he hadn’t expected Avery to walk away. He wouldn’t be Avery if he gave up.

When Avery pulled away, his mouth hung open.

“What?”

“You… you’re okay with it?”

Dylan scoffed. “Of course not,” He brushed his thumb along the side of Avery’s neck and smiled at the shudder that shook Avery’s body. “But you’re not going to stop until you find Lacey, and I’m not letting you out of my sight until that happens. We’re in this together, yeah?”

Avery nodded.

“Besides, I have a feeling that after you do find her, something else I don’t like will catch your attention.” Pulling Avery closer, Dylan dropped a chaste kiss on his lips. “I might as well get used to it.”

A
VERY
LEANED
against Dylan for a moment. With the departure of Alpha Odell and the others, he realized he was standing there in nothing but the T-shirt Dylan had given him earlier—now covered in blood—and Dylan was bare-chested save for the bandage Avery had applied to his shoulder.

They were both filthy, and Avery knew he probably reeked from being in that cell. It was time for a shower, and then more sleep. He’d barely started to doze in the chair next to the couch when the alpha and betas had burst in. In the morning, when their heads were clear, they’d worry about what came next.

He took Dylan’s hand. “Let’s go get cleaned up.”

Dylan nodded and allowed Avery to tug him through the house to the master bathroom. Avery turned on the water before shedding his stinky T-shirt and helping Dylan strip off his still-damp jeans. The space wasn’t as large as Avery was used to at his loft, but there was room for the two of them to maneuver without bumping elbows.

He eyed Dylan’s shoulder. “Should we get a bag or something to protect your bandage?”

Dylan shook his head and reached up to tear it away. Already his advanced healing had started its work. Avery knew it would take another day or two for the wound to fully mend inside, but the outside had already scabbed over.

“How bad is it?”

Dylan grunted. “Sore. But a helluva lot better than it was.”

Avery tested the water and, finding it to be warm enough, got into the tub. Dylan stepped in behind him and pulled the curtain closed.

Moving around under the shower spray was trickier. The tub was one of those old-fashioned claw-footed deals and fairly narrow, but they made it work. Avery grabbed Dylan’s soap—a plain, unscented bar—and set to washing his mate. Dylan took it from him, lathered his own hands, and began to return the favor.

Avery shuddered as Dylan’s wide palms moved down his chest, over his hips and ass, then up his back. Despite his exhaustion, his body reacted to the touch and scent of his mate. His cock stirred, nudging Dylan’s thigh, and he felt Dylan’s dick respond, stiffening against his belly.

Dylan cupped his chin and tipped his head up. Avery parted his lips on a moan, accepting the firm, slick glide of Dylan’s tongue. It went straight to his balls, drawing them up.

He lifted onto his tiptoes, and in between washing each other, they kissed. Long, slow, deep kisses, until the water chilled and Avery started shivering in a bad way. Then Dylan dried him off with gentle care, and Avery’s eyes stung as he ran another towel over Dylan’s chest and back.

They could’ve lost each other tonight.
He
could have lost Dylan. Had come so close. If that bullet had been a couple of inches to the left….

Never again would he get himself into trouble with some half-cocked plan. He wouldn’t forgive himself for getting Dylan shot. The guilt would serve as a reminder for Avery to keep a level head—to
think
instead of just reacting as he’d been prone to doing since childhood. It was one of his biggest faults, and now he knew the potential consequences. This was about more than him and what he wanted. They were two now, a team. They should walk side by side, as he’d said to Dylan.

Avery really needed to learn to take his own advice.

Dylan gripped Avery’s nape, pulling him from his thoughts. “C’mon, brat.”

The word was said with fondness and love. Avery’s lips quirked into a smile as Dylan steered him into the bedroom. They were both still hard, the scent of arousal pouring off their skin, but it was different than before. Desire, need, lust—that was all there—but tempered by a poignant sort of tenderness.

Avery realized this was it, the moment Dylan had mentioned all those weeks ago. It was time, and they both knew it. Time for Dylan to claim him and solidify their bond. After this, they would be married, mated, in the eyes of the pack, if not the rest of the world. “Till death do you part” would take on a whole new meaning.

And Avery wanted it. He’d never in his life wanted anything more.

Avery sank onto the mattress and held out his arms for Dylan to join him. Dylan paused long enough to grab the lube from the nightstand and toss it next to the pillows. Then he was on the bed, and Avery trembled when that broad, strong body covered his. He felt sheltered by Dylan’s weight, his powerful arms. For a moment, he worried about how badly this position would pain Dylan’s shoulder, but then Dylan reclaimed his mouth in a kiss, and rational thought fled. The scratch of body hair, the smell of Dylan, the taste of him—it made Avery dizzy, desperate.

He ground up against Dylan as their tongues played, twining hot and slick. Dylan broke the kiss and ran his lips down Avery’s throat to the hollow between his collarbones. Then below, to the tattooed wings that decorated Avery’s chest. Lower, to Avery’s sensitive nipples. There, he caught one between his teeth and tugged lightly.

Avery hissed and arched his back, but when Dylan would have continued on toward his cock, Avery grabbed his uninjured shoulder and shook his head. “I don’t want that. I want you up here.”

Dylan nodded his understanding. He reversed his path, trailing licks and bites until he found Avery’s mouth again.