Riley’s Downfall(31)

Riley grinned and scooted closer until their bodies were pressed together. Riley could feel every breath that Sterling took and they were increasing in speed. He even felt the hitch in Sterling’s breathing when he looped his arm around Sterling’s shoulder.

And then he tugged.

The air rushed out of Sterling’s lungs in a loud whoosh, and he almost dropped Bacon as he lost his balance. Riley quickly reached down and put his hand under Bacon’s rump and pushed him back up against Sterling’s chest.

“Careful, baby,” he murmured into Sterling’s ear. “Bacon could get hurt if you drop her.”

Sterling’s light-grey eyes were huge on his face as he tilted his head back and looked up at Riley. He seemed to have lost the ability to speak, which was stranger than shit. He just nodded. Riley liked that he could make his mate speechless. It felt kind of like winning the lottery.

He wanted to experience it again.

Riley scooped Sterling and Bacon up in his arms and placed them between his legs. He wrapped an arm around both of them and then slid down the log to sit on the ground, leaning back against the log. Sterling’s body was stiff when Riley pulled the man back against his body, but after a few moments, he slowly began to relax.

When Riley looked up, Eagle, Max, and Chey were all grinning at him. Riley kind of felt like the world’s biggest goober, but he wasn’t doing anything that they weren’t doing. And Sterling was smiling.

Did anything else matter?

Riley let his right arm dangle over Sterling’s shoulder, as he bent his right leg up, sitting back casually, letting his mate get as comfortable as needed. It felt good no longer being “the guy without a mate” when everyone else had theirs right next to them.

Although Riley wasn’t sure about all the kissy-face things he had seen his brothers do with their mates when they were out in the public eye. He wasn’t sure he was up for that yet.

One step at a time.

“Zeus tells me you’re the oldest of seven boys,” Max said conversationally. “That’s a lot of siblings. I would have gone nuts with so many brothers.”

“He’s an only child.” Chey supplied the information about his mate.

Riley waved the dangling hand slightly. “It has its moments.”

Sterling snorted and waved a hand up at Riley. “His brothers drive him nuts. They are comical as hell and like to play practical jokes pretty much all of the time. Riley is the serious one. His face goes seven shades of red when the twins mess with him. I only have one brother, but from the way the Lakeland men act, I would love to have them as brothers as well.”

Riley’s heart skipped a sudden beat. Didn’t Sterling know that he was family now? They may not be his brothers, but he did have fifteen brothers-in-law to keep him happy. In the Lakeland household, that was pretty much the same thing.

Max and Eagle must have been thinking along the same lines because they stared at Sterling strangely, and then their eyes flickered over to Riley. He realized in that moment how piss-poor of a job he had been doing with his mate. The guy didn’t know the first thing about what it meant to be mated.

“Sterling,” Riley began and then cleared his throat, feeling uncomfortable as hell saying anything in front of their company. “You have fifteen brothers-in-law and two fathers-in-law.” He made sure to include Oscar and Cole.

Sterling’s head snapped up at Riley, his eyes wide, as if he hadn’t thought about that fact. Riley saw the sheer joy bounce in his mate’s light-grey eyes as he laughed. “I do, don’t I?”

Riley licked his dry lips, staring down Sterling’s smile and feeling a need rise in him to taste that bit of sunshine. Oh, gods, he was actually going to kiss his mate in public.

The skinny little chatty human had become Riley’s downfall.

And he couldn’t find it in him to care at the moment.

The hairs on the back of Riley’s neck stood on end when a loud scream suddenly tore through the darkness. Riley stiffened as anxiety filled him. He tightened his hold around Sterling and then lifted his head into the air, waiting for another one—something, anything, that would tell him which direction the scream had come from.

When the gut-wrenching sound came again, Riley jumped to his feet, dragging Sterling up with him. “Max, can you and Chey go with Sterling back to our hut? I’m going to feel a lot better if you all stay together.”

“On it,” Max said as he jumped to his feet and reached back for Chey.

“Riley—”

Riley grabbed Sterling’s face between his hands, leaning down to claim a small kiss before staring into his mate’s terror-filled eyes. “I need you to stay here, Sterling. I need you to be safe. Can you do that for me?”