The Lynx Who Purred for a Sidhe Prince (3 page)

Of course, the proud parents were always looming over both boys,

so there was no danger to either child. Corbin wished he could be

closer to them and hold his tiny nephew in his arms, but sadly, he felt like he would choke if another woman he’d slept with in the past tried to flirt with him. They intercepted him wherever he went, and the last thing Corbin wanted was to draw attention to himself when this was

supposed to be Preston’s special day. Well, there was a little more to it than that, mostly because of a certain person Corbin didn’t know

what to think or feel about. But now was not the time or the place to worry about such confusing emotions.

“Hey, what are you doing here all by your lonesome?” a male

voice suddenly asked.

Corbin turned to see his friend, Isaac, approach. He grinned at the

other man. Isaac was usually somewhat more reclusive, so it was no

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19

surprise that he had tried to find refuge from the crowd as well. “Just taking a break,” he said. “I want to wait until all the fuss dies down and go see Shea.”

“I went to him just earlier,” he said. “He’s a beautiful baby.”

Warm pleasure coursed through him as if the child was his, not

Preston’s. It almost didn’t matter because he already loved Shea and

was very protective and proud of the beautiful boy. “Thanks,” he told Isaac. “What about you? What are you up to?”

Isaac shrugged. “Just barely managed to escape Mother’s

clutches. Since one son is happy, she wants the other one to find a mate, too.”

Corbin snickered. “Carson’s twenty years older than you. Of

course he has a mate.”

“And children older than me,” Isaac said in a mock-mournful

tone. It was a private joke of theirs that Angel and Clark, Carson’s adoptive sons, were older than Isaac, their uncle.

“I don’t envy your family tree,” Corbin said. Sometimes, it gave

him a headache just to think about how Isaac was half brother with

both Carson and Carson’s mate, Brody. His third half brother, Soren,

also had three children, which left Isaac an uncle to five people older than him.

“Stop smirking.” Isaac hit his shoulder playfully. His expression

sobered. “Seriously, though, are you okay? Sulking in the corner is

usually my domain.”

“I’m fine,” Corbin replied automatically. “The idea of having a

mated younger brother just takes some getting used to.”

“I suppose,” Isaac mused. “Anyway, if you’re not up to

celebrating, mind if I stick around here with you?”

“Of course I don’t mind.” Corbin chuckled. “At least you and I

will get to catch up a bit.”

“I’m afraid I haven’t done anything interesting lately.” Isaac

sighed. “You know, just when I finally managed to be accepted at the

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university, everyone’s leaving and finding mates. It seems like I’m

always one step behind.”

This time, the words were spoken in a serious tone, and honestly,

Corbin felt for the man. Isaac had always gotten the short end of the stick since he was the first and only known hybrid between a lamb

and a wolf. To this day, Corbin had no idea how his friend’s shifting abilities worked. Not to mention that for a long time, Isaac’s father, elder werewolf Kevin Wade, had been very protective of his youngest

son, for reasons still unknown. That protectiveness had isolated Isaac, and even if Corbin and his family and friends always tried to include Isaac in their activities, sometimes, things didn’t work out the way

they planned.

“You’re very young still,” he told Isaac. “Don’t be in a hurry to

grow up. Live a little. At your age, I was sleeping with every female shifter that crossed my path.” And some male, but those he hadn’t

mentioned to his family due to the Layton situation.

To his surprise, Isaac snickered. “Do you have any idea how old

that makes you sound?” Isaac pretended to imitate an old man. “Oh,

these young’uns. I remember the good old days, when—”

Corbin reached for Isaac, interrupting the joking remark. “You’re

a brat, you know that?” he asked when the other man dodged him,

laughing.

“I guess I am,” Isaac replied, snickering. Still, he seemed in a

better mood, so Corbin’s job was done.

All of a sudden, the feel of an approaching presence drew

Corbin’s attention. He turned to scan the crowd, his heart already

starting to race.

“Hey, look who’s here.” Isaac pointed toward a slender man who

was making his way through the crowd. “Our own resident Sidhe.”

Corbin’s body immediately responded just at the sight of the

beautiful magic user. Winter had been his obsession since the first day Corbin had seen the Sidhe. Corbin had tried everything, every

seduction technique tested on both male and females, but his attempts
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21

to draw Winter’s attention had always been met with cool disdain.

The failure disheartened Corbin, but he refused to give up. He wanted to bury his hands in the silken mass of red hair and touch the creamy skin that just begged to kissed. Since the day they’d met, Winter had never given him the chance to enjoy its softness. He wanted to unveil the treasures of Winter’s body and make love to the Sidhe until

neither of them could stand.

But Winter always refused him, even if Corbin could have sworn

that sometimes, the Sidhe wanted to yield. Corbin took a deep breath

to steel himself. He had another chance today. Didn’t everyone say

that weddings were the best place to get laid? Maybe the joyfulness of the day would have mellowed Winter’s temper a little.

“Excuse me,” he told Isaac. “I believe I’m needed elsewhere.”

Isaac laughed, but not in a mocking way. “Good luck, my friend. I

think you’re going to need it.”

Corbin agreed with Isaac’s assessment, but he didn’t let it change

his mind. He started to navigate through the hustle and bustle,

ignoring the occasional sounds of people calling his name.

Winter was with the group hovering around the children,

something that didn’t surprise Corbin in the slightest. The Sidhe

seemed to be one of the few people—other than family—to which

Shea showed pure affection.

He reached the group just as Layton was handing his son to

Winter so that the Sidhe could greet Shea. “Hey, brother,” Preston

said. “Where did you run off to?”

“Just taking a break,” Corbin replied with a grin. “After all, it

wouldn’t do for the party to be focused on me and not on you.”

Layton snorted but didn’t say anything, used to the exchanges

between Corbin and Preston. All the while, Corbin didn’t take his

gaze off Winter for a single moment. The Sidhe looked so beautiful

with Shea in his arms. Corbin couldn’t help but imagine Winter

holding another child, Corbin’s son or daughter. And God, where the

hell had that thought come from? Corbin lusted for Winter, sure, but

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from that to children…No way. Besides, the fact that Corbin’s brother had married a male who could give birth didn’t mean that was the

norm.

But as much as Corbin struggled to remain reasonable, it was very

hard to do so when he heard Winter whisper Sidhe endearments to

Shea. It was just too adorable, and it made Corbin’s heart ache for

something he didn’t dare identify.

And then Winter looked up at him. For a few moments, their

gazes met and locked. Corbin thought he saw a strange yearning in

Winter’s ice-blue eyes, but the fleeting impression vanished.

“Greetings, Mr. Mckenna,” the Sidhe said formally. “I believe you

wanted to see your nephew?”

Corbin gave Preston and Layton a small look, asking for

permission to take the child from Winter. When Layton nodded,

Winter handed little Shea to Corbin. “Hey there, little guy,” Corbin

greeted his nephew, wiggling his fingers at the tiny child. He should have felt like an idiot, but he didn’t.

His only reply was an adorable coo, but Shea did reach for his

finger, like Corbin knew he would. His little hand took hold of

Corbin’s digit, barely managing to encompass it. It was like a secret handshake Corbin had discovered, and it felt so special. He wondered

if his sudden desire to have a family with Winter was simply caused

by his affection toward Shea. That made sense, in a way, although

Corbin wasn’t particularly happy with the explanation.

“Well, isn’t this just precious?” A female voice suddenly sounded

behind them.

Corbin turned, only to see Annabelle Wade approach, her husband

in tow. Somewhere along the way, she’d picked up both her sons.

Isaac looked pained while Carson just seemed amused.

“You look great with your nephew in your arms. When can we

expect you to take a mate?”

Elder Wade arched a brow. “I have several females in the pack

with broken hearts.”

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23

Corbin laughed. “I’m not the important one right now,” he said.

On cue, Shea released a noise that Corbin identified as one of

irritation. “I think someone needs his nap,” Layton said as he took

Shea from Corbin. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go take him to his room.”

Everyone said good-bye to Shea and his birth father. Layton and

Preston exchanged a brief kiss. As Layton began to walk away,

Preston gave his mate a look of longing.

“Go on,” Corbin told his brother. “Go with him. You know you

want to.”

“I can’t just leave the guests,” Preston protested.

“Nonsense,” Annabelle said. “We’re not just guests, we’re family.

And besides, many of us understand what it’s like to be recently

mated.”

Annabelle Wade was a ewe-shifter who’d once belonged to the

Ramston flock. She had met Elder Kevin Wade after her son, Carson,

had mated his, and the rest was history. Theirs had been a whirlwind

romance that had intrigued many people and scandalized even more.

But the elder hadn’t cared, and Corbin didn’t blame the man. She was

a real lady, and if she’d been a wolf, she’d have made for a great

Alpha bitch. Hell, Corbin might not know much about current

werewolf dynamics, but he thought that she had already taken up the

duties of the regular Alpha female, in spite of being a ewe.

It was therefore not surprising that she understood Preston and

had given him an out. Preston thanked her and rushed after his mate.

There was no doubt that after the two happy parents dealt to the needs of their son, they’d probably satisfy some desires of their own.

“They’re great together,” Elder Wade commented, his gaze on his

son. Isaac studiously ignored his father, which both amused and

bothered Corbin. The werewolf shouldn’t push his son so much if

Isaac wasn’t ready to take a mate. He already had four wonderful

grandsons and a granddaughter, so he should be in no rush.

Either way, Corbin couldn’t get involved. As close as the

Mckennas were with the Wades, the elder werewolf would not allow

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outside interference in his family business. Besides, Corbin had his

own problems to worry about, namely how to reach out to Winter.

As if guessing Corbin’s thoughts, Winter suddenly said, “I should

probably go, too.”

“No, stay,” Corbin blurted out. “I wanted to talk to you about

something.”

It wasn’t exactly the smoothest come-on line Corbin had come up

with, but it at least stopped Winter from leaving. He was frowning,

but he hadn’t left.

“Well, would you look at that?” Annabelle commented. “We

haven’t gone to see Elian. Come along,” she said to her family. “I’m

sure Corbin has better things to do than to sit here chatting with us.”

Elder Wade took her hand, and together with Isaac and Carson,

the couple started to walk away, leaving Corbin alone with Winter—

or as alone as he could be in the middle of such a huge party.

“You wanted to talk to me?” Winter asked, his voice nearly

inaudible.

Corbin couldn’t believe how uncomfortable and out of depth he

felt. Usually, he had no trouble in using his natural good looks to

convince others to date him. Around Winter, he turned into a

bumbling idiot.

“Yes,” he answered, “but not here. Could we maybe have a small

chat in private?”

Winter’s frown deepened. “I don’t think that would be a very

good idea.”

Corbin grabbed the Sidhe’s arm before the other man could make

his escape. “Please, Winter. Five minutes. Just five minutes of your

time.”

If anyone had told him a year back that one day, he’d find himself

in this situation, Corbin wouldn’t have believed it. He’d never had to plead for attention from a prospective romantic interest, but now, he’d do that and more if it got Winter to pay attention to him.

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25

“All right,” Winter said, his expression only showing reluctance.

“Five minutes.”

Corbin led Winter away from the party, deciding he could sneak

out briefly now that his brother and nephew were gone. He led Winter

inside and found the first vacant room, a sort of receiving lounge

where Skylar Cunningham usually entertained guests. Since the party

had spilled over into the courtyard and gardens, it was empty now.