His Imperfect Mate 26 (11 page)

“You knew this before. Why leave now?” D pressed.

“Maybe because we’re nothing like him. Maybe because we know it’s wrong for him to pit his sons against each other,” Remus said as he leaned his hip into the dresser. “The first time he sent us here, we honestly didn’t want to hurt Sloane…well, Daniel and I didn’t want to.” Remus glanced over at Raven before he continued. “We had to make a show of it for Magnum. Sorry about that,” he said to Sloane.

Sloane wasn’t sure what he should say. He gave Remus a nod, words failing him.

“I didn’t want to either,” Raven snapped. “But I would rather go after you than deal with Magnum. He wasn’t too happy with us when he found out you were still breathing.”

Gee, that made Sloane feel
so
much better. Whatever. They could have stated this from the start, and it would have avoided a lot of hurt feelings. Maybe. Sloane wasn’t sure what to think at this moment. He didn’t know if the brothers were lying or telling him the truth, and honestly, he didn’t care. All Sloane wanted to do was take D home.

Sloane yanked D behind him when furious argument erupted between all four men. Damn, this family was more dysfunctional than his own. At least Sloane knew for a fact Maverick had wanted him dead. There was no grey area. The bickering among these men was giving him a damn headache.

“Enough!” Sloane shouted and then took in a deep breath, trying his best to steady his nerves. The room fell silent, all eyes on him.

“We’re leaving. If D wants to talk to you, he’ll call.”

“Sloane,” D started then curled his lips in when Sloane gave him an even glare.

“Later, mate.” Sloane pulled D from the room and down the steps, happy to get away from the verbal fighting. His head was pounding in sync with the rain falling as he climbed into his truck. D slid into the passenger’s side, not saying a single word.

His mate was mad at him, too bad. He wasn’t going to let D stand there and feel the brunt of what his father had done. It wasn’t D’s fault, and he wasn’t going to let his brothers pin it on him.

They drove back in silence. The only thing heard was the wipers swishing back and forth and the tires on the wet road. He knew coming here was a bad idea.

* * * *

D sat there sulking, so damn angry that he knew not to say anything because he just might regret any words he spoke right now.

The truck pulled into the driveway, Sloane cutting the motor. Sloane got out, slamming the truck door behind him.

Oh no, Sloane was not getting away with just walking into the house. D slipped from the truck, slamming his door with just as much anger. “You had no right!”

Sloane spun around, his eyes blazing as he locked his emerald-green orbs with D’s black ones. “I had every right. You are my mate, and I will not stand by and watch your brothers pin the blame on you.”

“So that gives you the right to boss me around?” D questioned in amazement, anger pulsing in his voice. He took a step back when Sloane crossed the yard, looming over him. His eyes were filled with anger, but his expression stayed cool.

“That gave me the right,
mate
.”

D slammed his hands into Sloane’s abdomen, pushing the wolf back a step as he swiped the wet hair from his eyes. He was getting soaked to the bone, but D didn’t care right now. The other shoe was falling, and he wanted to be completely focused on Sloane when it happened. “You would probably have that right if you claimed me, but thus far you act as though I’m a temporary fix for you. In-house dick that is nothing more than a convenience for you.”

Hurt washed into Sloane’s eyes, the silence heavy between them now as his mate’s lip slowly lifted into a snarl. D stopped himself from taking a step back. He wasn’t going to show any fear if his mate was about to sever their ties.

“Why do think that is, Dudley?”

The words were harsh, cutting D deeply as he began to shiver. It was partly because of the cold rain, but mostly because of the fear creeping inside of him. Sloane looked ominous as he frowned down at D with so many emotions flickering through his green eyes that D couldn’t get a read on them.

“I don’t know,” D answered honestly.

“Because,” Sloane said around a clenched jaw, his fingers curling in to make tight fists at his sides. “You walk around here on eggshells, fear always playing in your eyes, as if you think I’m going to do something to you or kick you out. You have yet to show me the real you. If I can’t have Dudley Constantinople, in all his imperfect glory, then I can’t see myself giving you the full trust of our mating. I set aside my hurt and anger to make this work. The least you could do is return the favor.”

D stood there stunned as he pushed the fallen hair from his eyes once more. No one had ever begged to see the real him. Hell, they had begged for him to
stop
acting that way. “But what if you don’t like the real me?”

“I already told you I don’t want a perfect mate. I just want you, D, just you.”

“I don’t think before I speak or act. I almost burned your house down, and I screwed up our mating from day one. How could you want that?”

Sloane smiled at him, his fingers caressing the side of D’s face.

“Because it’s who you are, the real you. I don’t care if the house burns to the ground. It can be replaced, but never knowing who the real Dudley is will never be satisfying to my soul.”

Dudley threw his arms around Sloane, praying his mate was speaking the god’s honest truth. “Just remember, you asked to see the real me.”

Sloane lifted D’s head, tilting it back until his pretty green eyes were staring down at him. “Stop worrying that I’m going to get rid of you. It’s not going to happen. I’ll get angry at times, that’s a guarantee, but making you leave me is something that will never happen.”

D nodded quickly as he swallowed back the tears. Sloane wanted him. There was no other shoe, and it wasn’t going to drop on his head.

Sloane wanted D in his life. The feeling of finally belonging was the most magnificent thing D had ever experienced in his life.

“Now let’s get inside. We may not be able to get sick, but my balls are trying to crawl up inside of me from the cold.”

D laughed as he ran into the house with his wolf. He laughed even harder when Sloane shook himself like a dog. Water sprayed everywhere, including all over D, and then Sloane began to strip from his wet clothing. D quickly parroted his mate, dropping the rain-soaked clothes onto the floor. He rubbed his hands up and down his arms, shaking from the cold.

“Come here and let me warm you, hon.”

D was all for that. He quickly fell into Sloane’s arms, instantly feeling the warmth creep inside of him. He also felt Sloane’s cock thickening as his mate ran his hands up and down D’s back. He loved the way Sloane was always aroused around him. It made D feel like he truly mattered to the man.

He arched his back when he felt Sloane palm his ass, ready to wantonly give himself over…until he saw the rat. “Rat!” D shouted and tried to climb up Sloane’s body in an attempt to get his feet off of the floor. “I thought you were getting rid of them!”

Sloane’s head whipped around, his eyes scanning the room. D grinned when he saw that Sloane was just as terrified of those things as he was. “I’ll get some traps first thing in the morning,” Sloane said as he picked D up and raced up the stairs. “In the meantime, let’s get warm under the covers.”

Now that sounded like a real good plan.

Chapter Nine

D rolled his shoulders as he sloshed the paintbrush into the pail.

He never knew painting was so boring. He lifted the brush, watching the thick paint glop back down into the paint can. The stove had been removed, a new wall replacing the old one. And now it was his job to paint the wall before the new stove arrived later today.

The walls had been white, and D had no idea what he was asking for when he begged Sloane to change the color of the kitchen.

Painting sucked. He was ready to dip into his savings and pay someone else to do the job, but Sloane had insisted that D would feel accomplished if he did it himself.

He wasn’t too sure about that. The only thing he was feeling was sore muscles in his shoulders and back. All in all, the kitchen wasn’t looking too bad with the new daisy-yellow paint. But then again, D had only started. He had picked out the yellow color to make the kitchen a much brighter place. Even if he wasn’t in the room during the day, it still made him feel like sunshine was bursting in here.

Sloane had even gone out and bought matching accessories for the kitchen. Daisy curtains, hand towels, and other things, to make the room homier. D may not eat in here, but he planned on learning how to cook for his mate.

He just had to remember not to fall asleep when the stove was on.

“Looks good,” Sloane said as he walked into the kitchen in nothing but a pair of jeans. D instantly forgot about painting as he ogled his mate’s well-defined body. He had the power to make D forget everything when he was half-naked, and especially when he was full-naked. The man was a god on two legs.

“You’re dripping the paint,” Sloane pointed out as he nodded toward D’s hand.

D glanced down to see a large puddle at his feet. Great, now they were going to have to replace the flooring that had just been replaced.

D tossed the brush into the can and grabbed some paper towels, hoping he could get the bright yellow paint out of the wood. “Sorry.”

Sloane brought the trash bin over, helping D with the cleanup.

“It’s no big deal. I’m guessing that the kitchen is going to look great once it’s finished.”

It still amazed D how calm Sloane always was about his fuckups.

The only time the wolf seemed to get mad was when D tried too hard to be overly cautious and perfect. He had yet to claim D, but he had a feeling that Sloane was giving him time to relax in his own skin.

As long as that was the only reason, D could wait.

“Luckily we have extra flooring,” Sloane said as he stood, tossing the paper towels into the bin, the floor still holding a yellow smudge.

“I’ll be more careful.” D tossed the towels into the bin and then stood, grabbing the brush from the can.

“You’ll paint, you’ll make a mess, and our kitchen will look great.” Sloane grabbed an extra brush and dipped it into the can. “And I’ll help.”

D couldn’t stop the smile from forming on his face, and he didn’t want to. They worked together over the next couple of hours, painting the walls, and some of the floor. D could see that Sloane was just as imperfect as he was. His mate was the one who got more paint on the wood than he did on the walls. He wasn’t sure if his mate was doing it on purpose, but D loved him for it regardless.

“There,” Sloane said with a smile as he took a step back, admiring their work. “That’ll do for the first coat.”

“First coat?” D asked and then groaned. They had to do this all over again? “I’m still thinking that hiring someone is a much better idea.”

Sloane dropped the brush into the can, swaggering his way over to D, making him feel jittery inside. The man had that effect on him.

“Why would you want that, hon? Think of the hours we just spent together.”

D shuddered as Sloane wrapped his paint-laden arms around him.

The wolf hadn’t gone to put a shirt on, and he had bright yellow splashes all across his golden chest and neck. D traced his fingers over the smudges, biting his bottom lip as he studied his mate’s upper torso. “True.”

“We need to clean this mess up and take a shower.”

“Together?” D asked with hope. They’d never showered together before, and the thought had his cock getting hard at seeing his mate with water streaming over his sexy and muscular body.

“Together.” Sloane winked at him as he picked the used paintbrushes up. D quickly gathered their supplies and dumped them into the trash bin. He didn’t want to waste any time. His cock was getting harder by the second as he thought of Sloane under the spray of the shower.

“In a hurry?” Sloane chuckled as he replaced the lid on the paint can.

D gave him a
duh
look as he picked up the used paint tape and plastic. He tossed that into the trash as well before rubbing his hands together and looking around the freshly painted kitchen. “Looks clean enough to me.”

“Then I guess it’s shower time.” Sloane walked out of the kitchen, leaving D behind. He quickly caught up to Sloane as they entered the bathroom. D shucked his clothes and stood there, waiting for Sloane to regulate the water.

Damn if the man didn’t have one fine ass. The muscles were tight, giving his mate the right amount of flare to both mounds. D had an urge to bite them. He felt his face heat when Sloane turned around and caught him staring.

“Like what you see?”

“That’s an understatement.”

Sloane grinned as he climbed into the shower. D had been correct.

The man looked like a god as he stood under the spray. The water trickled down his body in small rivulets, making D lick his lips.

“Are you joining me?”

D stepped into the shower and closed the door, unsure what to do.

He felt odd just standing there as Sloane showered.

“Why are you standing back there?” Sloane asked as he grabbed D’s wrist and pulled him in front of the wolf. “Now this is a proper shower.”

D closed his eyes as Sloane grabbed a towel, squirted some soap onto it, and then started cleaning him. Sloane’s hands felt wonderful on his skin. His mate ran the towel over his shoulders, his touch gentle as he washed away the paint from D’s body. “Now doesn’t that feel good?”

God, yes. D never wanted Sloane to take his hands away from his skin, ever. It felt too damn good. Sloane laid his hands on D’s waist, turning him until he faced the wall. “Relax, Dudley.”

He shivered as he nodded.

“Put your hands on the wall.”

D followed Sloane’s instructions, wondering what his mate was doing behind him. He gasped when Sloane lowered to his knees, the soapy towel caressing over his globes. His skin buzzed as Sloane ran the towel down his crease, cleaning him thoroughly and then turning his back toward the spray.