Their Unexpected Mate [Paranormal Protection Unit] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (21 page)

Dipping his head in shame, he peeked up at her and gave her the big eyes.
I’m sorry, kitten. I didn’t mean to get hurt,
he said softly and then frowned and shot a look over his shoulder.

“We don’t know,” Trey said, moving to sit on one arm of Katherine’s chair while Mac perched on the other after he wiped his hands clean. “No one there had the right gun for that shot so whoever it was wasn’t involved in that mess.”

“Well, you are home now,” Katherine put out there. “Right now that is all that matters,” she murmured. “But I’m curious.” She frowned. “Where in the world are you sleeping, darling?” Because her bed wasn’t big enough for a freaking Kodiak. She admitted, “Because good lord, darling, you are huge.”

“He’ll have to sleep on the floor, love,” Trey told her quietly. “Your bed wouldn’t survive a full-grown male Kodiak up on it.” He shot a look at Mac and rolled his eyes. “We’ll give him some blankets and a pillow you’re not overly fond of. Bear drool,” he told her as he got a curious look. “It’s nasty.”

For several moments Katherine believed him and then she began to giggle. “Bear drool, really?” she asked with a shake of her head. “I seriously, seriously don’t see that, my love.” She looked at Sully and continued to scratch behind her bond-mate’s ear. “I love you, honey, but yeah, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable, especially when you are injured.” She thought about it a moment and then asked, “How about we pull one of the large mattresses into our bedroom so that he can sleep on that instead of the hard floor?”

Mac nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Since I need to wash up and disarm I’ll go up and do that. We’ll have to help him up the stairs with it being in his shoulder,” he told her, standing up. Dropping a kiss to her hair, he grinned. “He likes the ear scratching, but you keep that up and you’ll get a response like you would with Trey there. Leg will start thumping the ground before he moves to itch.”

Katherine grinned and shook her head. “I don’t think that he will start thumping his leg.” She was worried about how much he was hurting, the sensations practically washing over her like ghostly whispers of pain. “You are hurting a great deal, aren’t you, darling?” Her fingers continued to thread through his fur. “So soft,” she mused aloud as she pet the silken fur of the man she loved.

As soon as Mac has the mattress down I’m going to go and lie down. My body is throbbing,
Sully admitted to her honestly and then groaned in pleasure.
Oh yeah,
he moaned happily,
that’s the spot, darling, right there.
His back leg began to twitch happily.

“When you are feeling better, I’m so going to be very, very angry with you,” Katherine told him as she scratched the place behind her big bear’s ear that he needed it. “I love you like crazy, Sullivan, but I’m so very upset that you got hurt. I know I’m not showing it but that’s only because I know it will do me no good to lose my mind on you right now.”

“He’d just chew your leg if you got pissy with him anyway,” Trey said with a nod when she looked his way. “Bears are so over-the-top temperamental.” He grinned at the low growl he got from Sully. “Much more bizarre than wolves, for example.” He chuckled at the near-snarl he was getting. “See, so grumpy and growly.”

Katherine snickered and shook her head. “Honey, stop picking on him. He’s hurt right now so you need to stop. Later you can do it all that you want, because I fully intend on giving him heck as well.” Katherine pressed herself in close to Sullivan and rubbed her face against his fur. “I love you, Sully,” she murmured.

“I’m just teasing with him so that he doesn’t think we’re going to cater to all his furry whims. And, for the record, buddy, you get to haul your fat furry ass out into the woods to do your business. I see you sitting on the can and I’m taking photos that I’m selling to one of those rag papers,” Trey said with a snort.

“My toilets so wouldn’t take his weight,” Katherine said with a laugh and then began to laugh all the more. She couldn’t help the giggles that fell from her when she said, “I guess that answers that question.” When Trey looked at her as if she was losing her mind, she said, “If a bear defecates in the woods or not.”

“They do, a lot,” he said with a chuckle. Looking up as Mac wandered back down the stairs still drying his hair, he lifted a brow. “Mattress in place?”

“Yup, come on bro, time for bed,” Mac said, flipping the towel around his neck. Watching as Sully shifted slowly, he frowned at the unsteady gait. “Katherine, love, you wouldn’t happen to have a nice raw steak lying around, would you?” he asked her. “He should eat but unless you’ve got super fresh fish we’re a little limited on what he’ll eat right now.”

“Actually, there is fresh salmon in the fridge. I had pulled it from the freezer and put it into the fridge to thaw so that I could make it for dinner for us tomorrow,” she told him, and then, “I don’t have any steaks that are unthawed. I’m sorry.”

“He can’t eat it when it’s been frozen,” he said softly to her.

“There’s a stream a mile east of here,” Trey said. “I saw a few fish in it.”

“I’ll go grab a couple once we get him settled upstairs,” Mac said, touching his brother’s head lightly. “Come on, bro, let’s get you upstairs and then I’ll go and get you dinner.” Looking at him, he nodded with a grin. “I promise, we won’t let her feed you the frozen one. I swear it.”

“The taste is off once something’s been frozen,” Trey murmured for her as she sat looking confused. Getting up, he followed after the slow-moving Sully to ensure he made it up the stairs.

“Oh. So should I not even think about cooking the fish that I thawed for dinner tomorrow?” She didn’t want to think about how Mac would be fishing but that was not something she would have to worry about. “I just can’t keep fresh meat here. It would go bad far too fast,” she murmured. “Should we put down something like a blanket so that the ick from the fish doesn’t get everywhere?” God, just thinking about raw fish made her more than a little sick to her stomach.

“Think of it as sushi,” Trey said with a grin. “But no, you can cook it up, darling. In our human forms we don’t notice it as much. We’ll put a blanket down for him but we’ll stick the fish on a plate on a towel so that he doesn’t make too much of a mess. He’s actually pretty tidy, but you may not want to watch him eating the fish. They tend to gnaw off the heads and it’s kind of nasty.”

“Fish brains are goo-ood,” Mac said in a zombielike tone and grinned.

Katherine couldn’t help herself. She gagged. “Oh God, please don’t do that,” she begged. “My stomach is all upset, honey, so please, don’t.” She shook her head and had to walk away from him. “I think that I’m going to go and pop some antacids and grab a bottle of water because I really don’t want to think about what you are talking about, please.” She all but begged, wanting to end the conversation where it was.

Wincing, Mac sighed. “I’m sorry, love,” he called after her quietly.

Helping Sully up the stairs was a hell of a task. The big bear was in pain and having a brutal time putting even the smallest amount of weight on his left leg. Grabbing a sheet, he threw it over the mattress and waited for Sully to settle down. Stroking his ears gently, he looked down at him. “I won’t be long, bro. You rest until I get back,” he murmured. Straightening, he looked to Trey. “Check on her, would you?”

Nodding, he patted Sully’s flank, “Holler if you need something, bro. I’ll just be down in the kitchen.” Giving a grunt, he shook his head and walked out of the room with Mac. “Go and get him food. I’ll keep an eye on both of them,” he assured the man as they headed down the stairs.

Turning when she heard Trey entering, she sighed. “I’m sorry. It’s just the thought of what he’s going to do, how he’s going to eat it, just.” She felt like gagging again. “Let’s not think about it,” she murmured. “Yep, not going to think about it at all.” She took a drink of the water that she had in her hands and nodded. “I really do hope that we will be able to get through this,” she murmured. “Well, I will at least.”

“ʼCourse we’ll get through it, babe,” he said, wrapping his arms around her and holding her loosely. “We’ve all been wounded at some time. In our natural forms, with food and sleep, we heal really fast. He’ll be much more himself in the morning. Not completely healed but definitely a lot closer. A couple, three days and then you can beat him for scaring you.”

“Good.” She growled. “I am so going to beat him,” she told him honestly. “Because he got hurt,” she murmured. “That totally sucks, too,” she whispered and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him as well. “I love you, too, Trey.” She looked up at him and licked her lips. “Kiss me?”

Dipping his head to give into her request, he kissed her slowly, his arms pulling her closer as she responded with need. Groaning softly, he took the kiss deeper. God, he wanted her so badly right then. If not for the fact that Sully was injured, he’d take her right where they were. But he needed to be able to pay attention for a time, until Mac was back at the very least.

She moved and drank in his kiss. When she finally pulled back, she licked her lips and shuddered. “Goodness, I want and need you so very much,” she admitted. “I believe in you, all of you,” she murmured. “Somehow we will work this all out, right?” she asked with a smile. With her men at her side they had a real shot at a great future, a wonderful one, and she knew it.

“Always,” he promised her softly. Stroking his fingers lightly over her cheek, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Why don’t you start cooking dinner, darling? I’m going to check on Sully real quick and then I’ll come back and lend a hand. Set us up, darling, and I will help you per whatever instructions you give me.” They’d made a mess their first attempt to cook for her. No way in hell was he mucking that up again.

She tried not to look horrified, but she nodded. “All right then.” What could she have him do that wouldn’t cause issues? She had to think for a moment and then finally nodded. “All right, I think that I will have you…” God, what would she have him doing? “Cleaning up after me?” she asked and winced. “I’m sorry, my love, but you are really not a very good cook.”

“I know,” he sighed softly. “I can do clean up,” he murmured. Pressing a kiss to her cheek, he left her alone in the kitchen. It sucked. He’d wanted to help her but he understood her reluctance in letting him near anything she wanted to ever eat. He and the others really hadn’t made a good impression, but they’d gotten distracted and then shit had happened. Not that she’d believe it or buy it but it was the truth.

“I think that one day we will need to all have a time together where I can help you guys learn how to cook a little bit. Does that sound all right, love?” She didn’t want his feelings to be hurt, and she was sure that she had done this by asking him to clean up only. Grabbing the fish from the fridge, she began to butcher it. Filleting it quickly, she had the fillets ready when he came back. “Can you wash the potatoes for me? Use the fork and put a bunch of holes in them and then toss them into the microwave for me.”

“Microwave potatoes?” he asked suspiciously. “That doesn’t exactly sound healthy,” he murmured but did as she wanted. Washing the potatoes, he gave them a bit of a scrub before stabbing the potatoes a half dozen times. Setting them in the microwave, he shut the door and looked to her. “I doubt they will cook by association. How long?”

She grinned at him and said, “Press the ‘potato’ button and then it will ask how many and you put in three,” she said as she looked at the potatoes there. “And the microwave is also a convection oven, darling. Yes, it is a microwave, but it is an oven as well on certain settings, one of which is the potato setting.” After she had the fish seasoned with lemon and butter, she wrapped it in foil and before closing it tossed in some thyme and rosemary. After she had the fish in the oven she walked to him and looked up at him. “I love you, Trey. However, I need to ask something very serious.” She hoped that she didn’t offend him by asking the question she wanted to. When he looked at her, asking her to continue, she took a deep breath and then whispered, “This isn’t going to stop my brother, is it? What you guys went through, it won’t stop him from coming for me, will it?”

Setting the microwave, he turned to look at her and shook his head. “No, he’ll keep coming for you, especially since Skittles has him officially banned from all your accounts. He’s also been tossed from the house and the accounts have been balanced back out. Now he’s going to be really pissed at you,” he said honestly. With the move they’d made, her brother was going to come for her hard. He was going to be feeling seriously vindictive toward her.

“He’s going to try to hurt you, isn’t he?” That was her true fear, that another of her men would be hurt protecting her. “That’s the one thing that would get me to give him anything he wanted, if he came for you guys.” She would give anything for her men. She would give up her life for them and that hadn’t hit her until that moment in time.

“He will always come for us until we stop him in his tracks, which we will,” he told her honestly. “Don’t ever give him anything, love, no matter what. He doesn’t deserve it, hasn’t earned it, and quite frankly, needs to pay every cent he did steal from you back yesterday.” Moving to her, he cupped her cheeks. “We will put an end to him and those that think they can get what he owes from you. No one is hurting you, kitten. Not now, not ever.”

“As long as he’s no longer harming those that my father had in his keeping, that’s what matters,” Katherine whispered softly to him. Leaning into his touch, she felt his forehead pressing to hers and then smiled up at him. “He is after all very much outclassed when it comes to you. You gentlemen are far more than human.”

Trey grinned and nodded. “You betcha, baby. We are a great deal more than human.” But something wasn’t resonating right within Trey. Sometimes he got the worst feelings and he really hated it when they came true. Rubbing his nose to hers, he pulled back. “All right, baby, what next?” Otherwise he was going to set her on the counter and lick her until she screamed.