Waiting for You Page 5

  “It would link the two communities closer than before.” Cy sat back and sighed deeply. “We need to completely overhaul how we operate. We’ve started with the mated couples on patrols, more CCTV, closing off unused avenues in and out of Salutem and here. Jacques mentioned a satellite for us to use.”

  “Eyes in the sky,” Deac murmured.

  “It feels like an unsurmountable climb.” Indy rubbed his face with his hands. “I’ll get Euan over here, and we can help to set up something similar to what we have back home. We had to push it back because Salutem had to have so much work.”

  “A WhatsApp group would be good for those on security,” Serenity murmured. “You can keep everyone updated with it. I’m sure one of the IT guys can do some encrypting so only those who need it can access it.”

  “Good idea.” Deac nodded at Serenity. “We have twenty to twenty-five shifters moving here from a small community back east. They’ve had five go missing and a failed attempt on two children, so they reached out to me. I’ll put them in temporary housing while we check them out.” He looked at Indy and Cy. “I’ll need your guys to do the background checks.”

  “We have the system in place now. Jerome’s in security every day, so he’s the lead on IT issues. Get me the list, and I’ll pass it to him.” Indy tapped the table. “We need a location for IT here, and we can connect the two. Easier to transfer information between us. Setting up this Council is a good idea, and Cy and I will be involved. With you being on ours, we can liaise more often. We need to work together to keep our people safe.

  Babs coughed to gain their attention. “You need Elliot.”

  Deac grimaced. “I’m not so sure.”

  “Elliot?” Indy and Cy asked at the same time.

  “He’s ex SEAL.”

  “A shifter made SEAL?” Cy asked, his eyes wide. “Vir has said how hard it was for him, but a SEAL?”

  “Elliot’s a bit of a loner.” Babs sighed. “Lost his mate when they were teenagers. Left as soon as he could. He’s back now and working on his garden when he isn’t prowling the woods in wolf form. He has skills and knowledge, and he is exactly what you need for security.”

  “I’ll get the guys to speak to him if you want, Deac.” Indy was still watching Babs. “Unless you want to do it.”

  “I will. He needs this, and he can help.” She gave Deac a pointed look. “I’ll call him when I leave here and have him come in tomorrow.”

  Deac nodded. He didn’t know Elliot well, and it shamed him that a member of Morefield might be struggling, and he knew nothing about it. Shit, he knew practically nothing about the shifter. How had he managed to survive all those years in the military and come out sane? If he was, that is. “How is he mentally?” He needed to know if there was a risk having Elliot on the Council.

  “Fine. A loner. He survived out there doing god only know what. He needs this, and you need him, Deacon.”

  “He’s always been nice to me.” Serenity shrugged. “Told me to do red next time.” She touched her spikes. “Says he likes my individuality.”

  “I don’t really know him.”

  “Why would you, Deacon? He comes into the village only when he needs to. He wouldn’t come near here unless he had no other choice, and trust me, he always finds another way.”

  Liam winced. “Do we really need to know what those ways are?”

  “No, and don’t ask.” Babs sent Liam a look that had him dropping his eyes. Deac smiled. Babs might not have children of her own, but she had the look down to an art.

  “Let’s plan then.” He gave Serenity a pen and pointed to the white board. Standing, she stood by it and quickly wrote on it.

  Deac nodded as Cy said what she’d written. “IT, infrastructure, security, patrols, CCTV. We have CCTV being installed, and we’re going to incorporate our patrols. We need those cabins between here and Salutem.”

  “We’ll need someone in each too. Two main buildings, yours, and one here in Morefield then these stations between us. Eyes to cover the entire area as we expand.”

  “You need to arrange training sessions once you have your team in place, Deacon. Have Viridian and his mate, Ishmael, do it. Who else is with them? It’s that human, Evan?”

  “Euan. He was in the military with Vir and Ish. They work extremely well together. You’re right though, Babs. Once you have the people you want, send them over, and we’ll train them all together.” Indy stood. “I have to leave. Cy will stay and help.”

  Cy looked at Indy, a frown on his face, and Deac watched them ‘talk’ to each other. Cy sighed and nodded as Indy waved and left. Deac sent a questioning look his way, but Cy shrugged. “Don’t ask, because I don’t know, and he isn’t saying.”

  “Okay.” Deac drew the word out. He’d speak to Indy tomorrow, after his meeting with Elliot. So much to do, and time seemed to be slipping away from him.

  “You worry you can’t do it all in time.” Deac nodded. “We feel the same way. We need to have teams to deal with the different elements here. No one can do everything. Have Council members be head of committees. One for staff, one for infrastructure, one for security, etc.”

  “Yes, I agree.” Babs put her knitting away and leaned forward on the table. “We have our own responsibilities, and we can meet up every week to update, plus security is a concern for all of us. I’ll sort our calendars out. We all have phones.”

  “Good idea. Right, let’s plan this.” Deac looked at the board. “First thing is security around Morefield.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  COSTAS PARKED IN front of a family run restaurant where Deac had told him to meet him. He hadn’t driven to Morefield at night before, and he liked the lights strung between the buildings. It was homey, and Costas knew the girls would love them.

  Here he was, already thinking about what life would be like when they moved, yet he still hadn’t decided. Well, not one hundred percent. The messaging had continued, and he’d grown to know Deac better. This was their second date, an actual meal out.

  When Deac had suggested the tapas bar, he’d been intrigued. A tapas bar in Morefield wasn’t what Costas had expected, but he’d heard wonderful things about it and had agreed. He wanted to see Deac again and have more of those kisses. The one Deac had given him had lingered on his lips for days, and he wanted to taste the shifter on his tongue again.

  He rubbed the heel of his palm over his erection and willed it to go down. The last thing he needed was to walk into the tapas bar and know everyone could scent his arousal. Not embarrassing at all.

  He got out, locked his car, and looked in the large window at the front of the bar, spotting Deac inside waiting. Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the door and walked over, smiling when Deac saw him.

  Deac stood and kissed his lips softly then pointed to a table by the window. “I got us a table.”

  Costas licked his lips. “Hi.”

  Deac chuckled. “Hi. How are you? How are the girls?”

  “Excited about tonight. I have to tell them all about it tomorrow.”

  “I hope you’ll have good things to tell them.” Deac led them over to the table, and Costas sat opposite. He’d tried hard not to look at Deac’s ass in his trousers, but it was something else. High and tight, filling the material just right, and Costas had to resist the urge to touch it.

  Deac grinned at him, and he fidgeted on the chair. He coughed to clear his throat. “How’s work been? You’re setting up the Council?”

  “It’s going far better than I expected, except for one person.”

  Costas nodded. Deac had mentioned this particular issue. “This Elliot you mentioned.”

  “He’s refused to meet me, so I’m going to his place to talk to him.”

  “Muhammad, mountain kinda thing?”

  Deac nodded and smiled when the waitress came over. “Sage. This is Costas, my mate.”

  Sage grinned, her eyes widening. “I’d heard. It’s so nice to meet you.” Costas smiled at the young woman, her l
ight blonde hair tied back. Her blue eyes twinkled. “He needs a mate. He works too hard.”

  “Sage,” Deac warned, which made her grin widen.

  “Two beers?”

  “For now, but I drove so I’ll have to have water after.”

  She nodded and wrote the order on her pad. “I’ll bring them right over. Try the mushrooms; they are divine.”

  She bounced away, and Costas raised an eyebrow at Deac. “She’s a happy person, and she makes the mushroom dish, which is amazing.”

  “I guess I’m having mushrooms then.”

  “We can get a few different dishes and share them. That’s why I like tapas. You can select quite a few different ones and try them all.”

  “It’s been years since I’ve had tapas. I never expected to find a place here.”

  “Sage’s family come from Spain originally. Difficult to see that when you meet Sage. She’s adopted. Her parents were close friends with another family, and when Sage’s parents died, they adopted her.”

  “That was great of them.”

  “It’s how things are with shifters. Not the same as humans from what I’ve seen.”

  “No, not at all. Some do adopt friends’ kids, but not always. Shifters see things differently.”

  “We do. Has anything else been said?”

  “You mean after what happened at Sam’s?” Deac nodded. “No, nothing at all. I still get the occasional death glare, but on the whole, things have improved. I think word of what happened and what you said has gone around the town. Those who don’t like me tend to avoid me now. Not sure what they’ll do if they need a doctor.”

  “Their problem not yours, but I’ll happily growl at anyone who upsets you.”

  “I’m a big boy; I can handle it.”

  “I know.” Deac’s voice dropped, and Costas had the impression he was talking about something else.

  He tried to nudge his erection, ignoring Deac’s knowing smile. “Stop.”

  “Why? I like the idea of you sitting there all hard because of me.” He leaned over the table and whispered, “I want to taste you, Costas. Will you let me?”

  Costas whimpered, and Deac grinned. “Here are your beers?” Sage placed their glasses on the table. “Have you had a chance to look at the menu?”

  “Can you give us a few more minutes?”

  Sage nodded. “Be back soon,” she said cheerfully.

  “After we’ve eaten, I’ll walk you back to your car.”

  “I’m parked outside.” Costas could see his car from where they sat.

  “I never said we would take the direct route.” Deac picked up his menu, his eyes glowing. “Let’s order. I’m hungry.”

  Costas swallowed. Somehow, he knew he was on the menu, and he had a vision of Deac on his knees as he slid his dick between his lips.

  “Later,” Deac growled and licked his lips. “We can call it my desert.”

  How Deac made it through the meal without hauling Costas over the table and eating the man, he would never know. The sight of him eating, his lips on the fork, his tongue when he licked it clean, had him squirming in his chair.

  He wanted to rip his mate’s clothes off and feast on his body. The pale blue shirt Costas wore highlighted his tan skin, but it was his eyes that captured Deac. They were a mix of green and brown depending on how the light shone on them, and Deac could spend hours watching the colors shift. He’d never seen eyes like that, and he wanted to see them clouded in lust as Deac took him and made Costas his.

  He heard the swift inhale Costas took and closed his eyes, banking the glow from them that signaled his own arousal. It didn’t help that he could scent Costas’ lust from across the table, and he wanted to wallow in the smell and cover his skin with it.

  He wanted everyone to know he belonged to Costas, that his mate held him captive. He didn’t care if anyone thought he should be the more dominant one in their mating. As long as Costas and his girls were happy, the rest of them could fuck off.

  Thinking about Evangeline and Aurora made Deac smile. When they finally mated, he would become a father, something he’d longed for and had started to give up hope on. Two daughters to torture him and he couldn’t be happier. Well, except for when the dating started. He’d have to have a word with anyone—shifter or human—who tried anything with his girls.

  Costas smiled across the table at him. “Happy thoughts?”

  “Yeah. I’m glad you’re here with me. I’m glad you gave me a chance.”

  “I needed time, and you gave it to me, even when it hurt you to do it. Thank you for that.”

  Deac shook his head and reached across the table to take Costas hand in his own. “You’re my mate. Whatever you need, if I can provide it, then I will. You only have to ask.”

  “I’m ready to leave if you are.”

  Dec inhaled the growing scent of Costas’ arousal and nodded. He paid as quickly as possible, a knowing smile on Sage’s face—which he pointedly ignored. Leading Costas out, he turned him away from his car. “Long way,” he whispered into Costas’ ear, causing him to shiver and his scent to increase.

  He ran his hand over Costas’ ass, feeling the muscle move as Costas walked. Costas moaned quietly, and Deac bit back a grin. He wanted his mate to want him just as much as Deac wanted him.

  He guided them around a corner, pushed Costas up against a wall, and took his lips in a fierce kiss. Costas moaned, and his hands gripped Deac’s arms. Deac leaned in, rubbing their dicks together and groaning when he felt the hard length of Costas’ arousal. Fuck, he felt good.

  Costas opened his mouth to Deac’s demanding tongue, and Dec tilted his head, deepening the kiss as he dominated Costas’ mouth. Their tongues tangled together, and Deac moved even closer so there was no space between their bodies, and they touched everywhere.

  Costas’ hands slid up his arms and moved to link behind his neck. Deac rubbed against Costas, swallowing the sounds his mate made, but it wasn’t enough. Deac needed more than what he was getting.

  He suddenly dropped to his knees, and looking into Costas’ startled eyes, he quickly pulled his mate’s throbbing dick from his trousers and licked up the hard, long length. When he returned to the head, he sucked it into his mouth, his eyes closing as Costas’ taste burst on his tongue.

  He moaned deeply and swirled his tongue around the head before dipping the tip into the slit and sucking up Costas’ juices. Fuck, he tasted too good, and Deac wanted more. He held Costas’ dick at the base, angling it so he could take as much of it down his throat as he could. He loved giving head, the weight and texture, the scent and taste of his lover’s dick, and now, it was his mate’s.

  He bobbed his head, swallowing around the head and enjoying the sounds of Costas’ pleasure. He pulled off and licked down the hard length then moved lower, sucking a nut into his mouth, feeling it pull up and tighten in his mouth. He suckled it, feeling the wrinkled skin against his tongue then moved to the other and doing the same.

  When Costas’ hand fell on his head, he lifted up and moved back to Costas’ dick, sucking the head back in and swallowing his dick until his nose was buried in Costas’ trimmed bush. Costas let out a strangled groan, his body jerking as Deac swallowed.

  “Deac, Deac, Deac,” he chanted over and over again.

  Deac could feel the head pulse and swell in his mouth. Costas was close, and he wanted to taste his mate’s come on his tongue. He worked harder, humming and swallowing, his tongue licking up and down as his hand stroked. Costas bucked then grunted, his hips jerking forward. Deac moaned when the first spray of come coated his tongue, and he swallowed as more took its place.

  Costas jerked with each shot, and Deac kept working his dick, prolonging his orgasm. When Costas slumped forward, Deac stood and tugged his own dick out, stroking it hard and fast. It took seconds before he was shooting, leaning on Costas as his legs trembled.

  Costas wrapped his arms around him, holding him up until Deac lifted his head and slowly, but thoroughly, ki
ssed his mate. When they parted, both men were panting heavily, and Deac tucked his nose into Costas’ neck, taking deep breaths of his mate’s scent.

  Costas held him there with one hand as the other stroked his back. “Deac,” he murmured.

  Deac swallowed then lifted his head and kissed Costas again. “I can’t wait to have you naked in my bed.”

  “Me too, but I’m not...” He looked away, and Deac understood.

  “I won’t mate us until you’re ready, but I do want you in my bed, or your bed, or fuck it, even the back of your car.”

  Costas snorted. “I doubt we could fit in the back of my car.” Costas bit his lip, suddenly looking shy and uncertain. “The girls are having a sleepover.”

  “Tell me when and I’ll be there.” He leaned close to Costas’ ear. “I want to feel your dick in my ass.”

  “Fuck, Deac. I have to drive home.”

  “Enjoy it. I know I’ll be having more fun when I get home. My kind of fun will be jacking my dick to images of you between my legs, sucking me.”

  “I think I hate you right now,” Costas moaned.

  Laughing, Deac pulled Costas away from the wall. “Let’s get you home and make sure that sleepover is soon.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  DEAC SIGHED AND leaned back, stretching his arms in the air and moving from side to side. He had a kink in his back from where he’d been bent over the table. He hated paperwork, but he needed to go through it all if he was to make headway into the enormous list of jobs he had.

  There was a knock on the door and, before he opened his mouth to say enter, the door opened, and Elliot walked in. Elliot Young in the flesh. Around six feet of solid muscle, with short blond hair and silver eyes. Elliot shut the door behind him and stood watching him.

  Deacon lowered his arms and leaned back in his chair as Elliot took the seat opposite him, his unique eyes watching him. Deac fought back the need to squirm in his seat. Elliot’s focus on him was total, and he had a brief sensation that this was what prisoners felt like when Elliot watched them. “You wanted me.”