Winter’s Caress(Brac Village 19)(10)

“That’s my cousin, Ryker,” Winter said to his mate.

Ryker glanced at them, his gaze zeroing in on Dasani before it shot to Winter. His cousin wasn’t one for many words. He was a recluse who kept to himself. He nodded at Winter and then went back to stirring the pot.

“Ryker,” Winter said as he moved farther into the kitchen, “this is my mate, Dasani.”

The announcement made Ryker stare at Dasani again, and this time Winter could tell that Ryker was cataloguing the guy. “Hello,” he said before he went back to his chili.

Dasani moved closer to Winter. “Is he always so talkative?” his mate whispered.

“He’s a shifter,” Winter whispered back. “He can hear you.”

Dasani’s gaze shot to Ryker before his mate smiled uneasily. “Oh. I–I knew that.”

Sliding his hand into his mate’s smaller one, Winter tugged. “Come with me.”

Dasani followed but looked back at Ryker before they turned the corner. Winter spotted Recker and Frisco James cuddled on the couch, watching a movie, but he didn’t stop for introductions. He continued to tug on his mate’s hand as he led Dasani upstairs and into his bedroom. Dasani’s gaze snapped to Winter’s bed. He stopped just inside the door as he pulled his hand free.

“I just want to get some clothes on,” Winter said as he let the blanket fall to his feet and went for his dresser drawer. Dasani glanced around the room, but his gaze never landed on Winter.

“Do you think Ryker will share his chili?” Dasani asked, and Winter knew the man was trying to make conversation to ease his discomfort of being in a bedroom with a naked man.

“I know he will,” Winter said as he slid a pair of pajama pants on and then shoved a white T-shirt over his head. Dasani finally looked his way. Winter grabbed another T-shirt and tossed it at his mate. “I don’t like anyone seeing your nipples.”

Dasani frowned. “It’s common among my people to go around bare-chested.”

“Yet you still made me cover up,” Winter pointed out. His hard-on pulsed in his pants when Dasani slipped the shirt on. It was so large that the hem ended at Dasani’s thighs. But what had him nearly panting was seeing his mate in his clothes.

Dasani pinched the side of the shirt and lifted it. “I feel like I just put a tent on.”

Winter moved until he was standing directly in front of Dasani. He lowered himself to his knees and grabbed the side of the shirt, tying a knot in the side. That would have to do. His hands lingered at Dasani’s side as he gazed up at his mate. Dasani stood there with his lips slightly parted, his eyes a touch too wide. Winter could see the vein in the side of his mate’s neck pulsing so hard that it was visible.

Winter placed one of his hands on the other side of Dasani, holding him still before he slid them up the man’s sides. He felt the elf shaking slightly, but he didn’t move away. He slowly rose to his feet and then tucked a finger under Dasani’s chin, tilting his mate’s head back.

Dasani blinked and then moved back, dropping his gaze to the floor. Winter gave a low growl, ready to pull Dasani in his arms when his door swung open.





Chapter Four




Dasani jerked back and then took a few steps away from Winter when the door opened. The air had felt suffocating, and he couldn’t seem to get enough oxygen into his lungs as he thought about what he and Winter were about to do.

“Is there a reason you opened my door, Frisco?” Winter asked, his expression glacial.

“Actually, I knocked, but your door must not have been closed all the way. My bad. I’ll wait for introductions.” The stranger smiled at Dasani before he closed the door. Winter moved to the door and locked it.

Turning, Winter sighed. “Sorry about that.”

Instead of seeing apology in Winter’s light blue eyes, Dasani saw an emotion he couldn’t name. Whatever Winter felt, it made the blue in his eyes darker and his pupils a bit larger. Dasani felt like a deer in headlights. Winter moved closer. Dasani couldn’t move.

“Do you know anything about cat shifters, little bluebird?” Winter circled around him, his fingers trailing over Dasani’s shoulder. Wherever his mate touched left a trail of warmth, which, in turn, made Dasani shiver.

“N–not really,” he admitted as his knees grew weak and his pulse skyrocketed.

Winter’s fingers trailed down Dasani’s throat, lingering at the hollow. Dasani swallowed roughly. Winter smoothed his hand down the front of Dasani’s chest and traced his nipples that peaked through his oversized shirt. Dasani shook harder.

“We’re very tactile creatures.” Winter’s thumb rubbed back and forth over the hard nub. “Touch is sensual to us. Touch is essential to us.” Winter’s hand moved higher, and the tips of his fingers grazed over the bruise on Dasani’s cheek. It no longer hurt. Not when Winter was touching the skin so delicately. “Tell me, little bluebird, who marred such perfect skin?” His thumb ran up and down over the line of Dasani’s cheekbone.