"How could I refuse that offer?"
Grinning, Deke slid from his lover's lap. His knees hit the hardwood floor and he reached for Luther's fly.
Just as Deke opened the button and gripped the zipper tab, a bang sounded through the house. Deke froze and peered up at Luther, seeing he had his head tilted as he sniffed the air.
"Who-"
"Dad, you here?"
Well, that answered that question. Deke realized he was about to meet Luther's daughter.
Chapter Six
Luther felt the blood drain from his face … and his dick. "Shit," he hissed.
At the same time, Deke squeaked and pushed away, falling on his ass.
Jumping to his feet, Luther rebuttoned his fly, then grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and yanked it over his head. By the time he could see again, Luther realized Deke had buttoned up his jeans. Luther held his soiled shirt in one hand and offered his other to his mate. "Come on, sweetheart. You ready to be introduced to my daughter?"
Deke took his hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. "Is fleeing out the back door an option?"
Luther frowned. "I'd like to be truthful with Stephani. I'm not going to hide you like some dirty little secret," he said, lifting the hand he held and placing it on his chest. "You're my mate. Even if you want time to get to know her, that's not gonna change."
"I'm sorry," Deke immediately apologized, grimacing. "That was a stupid thing to say." He flattened the hand Luther held so it lay flushed to his chest and rubbed lightly over his pec muscle. "I just don't want to fuck up your relationship with your daughter the way I did with my own family."
Shaking his head, Luther tossed the t-shirt to the floor, wrapped his arm around Deke's waist, and pulled him to him. "You didn't mess that up," he countered. "They did that all on their own with their bigoted attitude."
"Dad?" Stephani called again.
Luther held Deke's gaze and lifted one brow, silently entreating his mate to choose.
Deke swept his gaze over his face for a second, then smiled. "Thanks for allowing me to choose," he whispered.
Nodding, Luther smiled. "Always."
"Guess it's time to meet her."
"We're in the back living room, Steph," Luther called, still holding Deke's gaze. Then, he leaned down and whispered into Deke's ear. "Rain check on the blowjob."
Deke's eyes widened, his lips parting slightly in surprise.
Luther wanted to taste those lips again, but refrained as, out of the corner of his eye, he watched Stephani bounce into the room. After offering Deke an encouraging smile, he pulled his gaze away from his mate and focused on Stephani.
Stopping just inside the doorway, Stephani glanced between them. "Um, are you in the middle of something?" she asked, pursing her lips.
"Never too busy for you. You know that," Luther stated. "Besides, I have someone I'd like you to meet."
Stephani glanced toward Deke and offered him a smile, then returned her focus to Luther. With her thumb, she pointed over her shoulder. "Synthia is here, too. She brought me home."
Luther just managed to keep from grimacing. The female shifter had been after him for months. Evidently, her biological clock was ticking and she'd tagged him as the perfect mate, since he'd already fathered a child. If he weren't such a strong wolf, he might have given in since she was pretty powerful in her own right. She wasn't best friends with the beta's mate, Caroline, for nothing.
"I thought Carson was bringing you home," Luther commented. "Did something happen?"
"Oh, no," Stephani assured. "She insisted, so Carson could go home to his mate."
When Luther had shifted and immediately given chase to Deke instead of staying with the group he was supposed to chaperone, Carson had chased him down and tackled him. The enforcer had easily subdued him and had gripped his neck, growling softly. Luther had shifted back to human and seconds later, Carson had done the same.
One scowl from the enforcer, and Luther had spilled that his urge to track down his mate was too strong to deny any longer. Carson had reminded him of the alpha's words, be all in or leave him alone. Luther had assured him that he'd planned to track Deke down the following month when Stephani was away. Then, remembering his daughter, he'd asked Carson to bring her home.
The enforcer had agreed, so it didn't take much of a leap to know why Synthia had stepped in. She wanted another run at him.
Luther sighed and nodded. "Is she in the front room?" There was a reason he'd led Deke to the back. He'd wanted to assure they had at least a moment to get themselves together if they'd been surprised like this.
Stephani nodded. "Yeah, she's waiting for you. I told her I'd track you down." Cocking her head, she swept her gaze over them, probably taking in the way Luther held Deke's hand to his chest, his naked chest. Confusion in her expression, she asked, "Um, what's going on?"
While Luther lowered his and Deke's hand away from his chest, even when his mate tugged, he refused to release him. "Stephani," Luther stated. "I've told you about mates. Fated mates," he amended.
Still confused, her brows creased, Stephani nodded. "Yeah."
"This is Deke Sommers." Figuring the rip-off-the-band-aide approach was best, Luther softly stated, "Deke is my mate, Stephani. Fate has finally brought us together."
Stephani's brows drew together. "But, Synthia said-" She paused and cocked her head. "Synthia isn't your mate?"
Luther's eyes widened. "No," he instantly replied, confused. "I've known Synthia for decades. We're pack-mates, but there's nothing between us."
Scowling, Stephani put her hands on her hips and looked between them. "So, what? You're bisexual all of a sudden and you didn't tell me? How come you've never dated a man before? How come you didn't tell me?"
"Uh, I haven't really dated too many women, either," Luther pointed out, struggling with his daughter's odd reaction. She didn't seem angry about it, so much as offended. "I didn't see how who I found attractive was appropriate conversation to share with my daughter."
Curling her lip, Stephani snapped, "Well, you'd better tell Synthia, then, because she has a different idea." Flouncing from the room, Luther heard her stomp through the house. After a few seconds, he heard a bang, telling him she'd slammed her bedroom door.
Bowing his head, Luther swallowed hard. That had not gone how he'd imagined at all. Of course, he hadn't planned on being pushed into blurting it out like that, either. If damn Synthia hadn't been waiting in another room, he would have worked up to it.
"I'm sorry."
Luther lifted his head and gazed at Deke. Seeing his mate's tortured expression, he quickly shook his head. "Don't apologize, sweetheart," he pleaded. "She'll come around. She wasn't angry that you're a man," he assured, confident he'd read his daughter correctly.
"Are you sure?" Deke wrapped his free hand around his waist. He attempted to pull away, again. "She seemed pretty upset."
Releasing his mate's hand, Luther rested both of his own on Deke's waist. "Yes. This has nothing to do with you. I promise." He leaned down and gently pecked a kiss to Deke's lips. Barely lifting his head, their lips still touching, he whispered, "Give me five minutes to get rid of Synthia, then we'll make supper and wait for Stephani to decide to tell me what truly has her in such a fit."
Deke beamed up at him. "Okay."
After pressing one more quick kiss to his mate's mouth, Luther eased away. Grinning, he teased, "You're very distracting, sweetheart. I could kiss you all day."
Smirking, Deke replied, "Well, that would make preparing dinner interesting."
Luther chuckled. "It would indeed." He turned away and headed out of the room. From the sound of a soft tread behind him, Luther knew Deke followed.
Striding into the front sitting room, Luther spotted Synthia standing by the mirror hanging opposite the hall closet. Stephani had insisted one be hung there a couple of years before, saying she needed one last opportunity to check how she looked before going to school every morning. Luther didn't really understand, but he'd agreed and had allowed her to pick out a mirror, then he'd helped her hang it.
It seemed Stephani had been right, for Synthia did the same. She peered into the mirror, her fingertip to her upper lip as if correcting some minor flaw in her lipstick.
"Good afternoon, Synthia," Luther greeted cordially. "Thank you for bringing Stephani home. I'm certain Carson appreciated getting out of the task."