Having Lindsey with him had created an awkward meeting. He’d just been thankful everyone had respected the likely fact she still knew nothing about their kind. He could read their understanding in each of their eyes, even Kara’s.
“She’s a great woman,” Trevor continued, lowering his voice an octave. After all, the women were just in the other room.
“That’s a fact.” Alejandro smiled. “Yes, I knew as soon as I came around the corner and ran into her cart with mine in the grocery store yesterday. She thought it had been an accident, but I had picked up her scent from the next aisle. It was the only way I could think to engage her and still keep it as normal as possible.” He took a deep breath. “You’ve obviously been through this before. When did you tell Kara? How? Thank God I have you guys to help me out.” He gave a one-sided grin and looked into both their eyes, praying he was right in assuming they wouldn’t leave him high and dry.
“Absolutely.” Justin slapped his shoulder. “We are right there with you, man. Anything you need, it’s yours. Space. Time. Help… A room.” He laughed.
“God, how I need a room. I don’t think she’d appreciate that, however. Not this quickly at least. Maybe tomorrow?” He looked at them for confirmation. “How long before I can reasonably expect her to, um, accept all this and let me make love to her?”
“That’s about right. I think we had Kara between the two of us within forty-eight hours. It’s nearly impossible to avoid much longer than that. Unless you like blue balls,” Trevor joked. “Besides, she needs you as bad as you need her. She just doesn’t realize why. It helps her cave faster.”
“Dios, I need a cold shower.” Alejandro reached to run his hands through his thick hair, pulling it back from his face in frustration.
“I feel your pain.” Justin looked at him with sympathy. “We had ourselves a few of those that first night, and the second.”
“And it doesn’t get better after you claim her either. Not sure if you’ve been around many people during a mating, but the frenzy is out of this world.” Trevor punched his arm lightly.
“Seriously?” He stared back into the faces of his newfound best friends, feeling the fear etched into his brow. “Tell me you’re kidding.”
“Wish I could, but no,” Justin added. “After we took Kara, we didn’t come up for air very often for the better part of a week. And that’s not just you, dude. Lindsey won’t be able to stand much separation either. She’ll go into a heat of sorts and need you inside her to the point of exhaustion. Best damn tired I’ve ever felt.”
Alejandro groaned aloud and then suddenly straightened to his full height, his senses on high alert. “What’s that? Or shall I say, who?” He tipped his head back and sucked in a long breath. Something was off. Lindsey. Without a second thought, he turned and made his way toward the kitchen, Trevor and Justin on his heels.
“That’s just Ryan, my brother. He pops in unannounced all the time. Don’t worry.” The words made their way through the atmosphere and into Alejandro’s ears, but they did nothing to sooth his unease.
He paused at the entrance to the kitchen and turned to the others, aiming a narrow gaze at Justin. “That is not … just … your brother.”
“Huh?”
With no explanation, Alejandro barreled into the room, chest heaving. He stopped dead in his tracks, just inside the entrance, breathing like he’d run a hundred miles to get to that point.
Trevor and Justin pushed past him, squaring off around the room as they did.
The four men stood equally spaced around the huge kitchen, the newcomer behind the island, Lindsey trapped in the center of their standoff. Alejandro saw her head snapping around at each man, confusion worrying her brow, but he had to ignore her for now and locked his gaze on Ryan.
Fuck. This can’t be happening. Of all the godforsaken bad luck. You have to be shitting me.
“That’s what I was just thinking, asshole.”
Alejandro flinched as though he’d been punched in the gut and took a step back, nearly falling through the door when Ryan spoke into his mind.
He knew mates communicated with each other easily after a claiming, but he’d known nothing whatsoever about this arrangement. Was completely unprepared.
All four men stood frozen in their spots, none of them sure what to expect next. Breaths were drawn and exhaled around the room, reverberating so loudly he wanted to plug his ears with his hands. Or maybe it was Ryan’s thoughts that clouded his mind and made his skin crawl.