With Caution: With or Without, Book 2 (22 page)

Rhys stood. “Don’t know. Would be nice if he can.”

“Yeah it would.”

Stretching, Rhys headed toward the door. “Get the fuck out of here and go home and wait for your mate.”

“My mate doesn’t get off work for another—”

Something thudded against the door to Jake’s office. “Sir, you can’t barge in here like this.” Matt sounded more nervous than agitated.

Rhys’ face hardened and his posture stiffened as he reached for the doorknob.

Inhaling, Jake came to his feet. He didn’t recognize the other person’s scent but Matt was afraid.

Opening the door, Rhys caught Matt as he fell into the office. “Can I help you?” Rhys’ voice was a low, menacing rumble as he maneuvered Matt into Jake’s office behind him.

“I want to see Jake Romero.”

Dirk Lassiter.
Jake knew the voice. He’d heard it over and over in his head after hearing the man talk to Remi the other day out behind Remi’s apartment complex.

Matt held up his hands. “I’m sorry, I tried to tell him we were closed for the day, Jake.”

Pushing Rhys out of the way, Jake stepped into the doorway. “What can I do for you, Mr. Lassiter?”

Lassiter stood inside the main office, right outside Jake’s door, in his tan police uniform. He was about Remi’s size, but broader, more built. The smell of anger surrounded the man. If you could ignore the nasty gleam in his eye, he wasn’t a bad-looking man. However, his looks didn’t compare to either of his sons, even though there was a slight resemblance in the face. Especially around the eyes and brow line, but Remi’s face was softer and less angular, as was Sterling’s.

Odd. Anger and alcohol were the only things Jake could smell on him. Most men, gun or not, would be a little intimidated facing two men bigger than themselves, but then maybe it was the alcohol giving him courage.

Lassiter looked Jake up and down, then took in Rhys as well. His eyes narrowed on Jake. “I heard my son hired you.”

“You heard wrong, Mr. Lassiter. Your son and I are friends, we hang out sometimes.”

Lassiter snorted. “That’s not what I heard.” Glancing over Jake’s shoulder, he jabbed a finger in Rhys’ direction. “And you can tell your boy here if I hear about him poking around in my business asking any more questions he’s going to be looking down the wrong end of my police revolver.”

“Are you threatening me?” Rhys asked in a cold, flat voice.

Having heard that voice before, Jake knew it never boded well. He held a hand up without looking at Rhys, and raised a brow at Lassiter. “Mr. Lassiter, I don’t know what you’re talking—”

Stepping closer, Dirk got in Jake’s face.

Rhys’ hand landed on Jake’s shoulder, and he stepped to the side, positioning himself where he had a clean shot at Lassiter.

Shit, this could get ugly in a hurry.
“Rhys…” Jake put his newfound power behind the warning, but it didn’t seem to work.

Rhys stepped closer to Lassiter. “If you have nothing to hide, Mr. Lassiter, I’m sure there won’t be any problems.” There was no mistaking the malice behind the calm and steady voice.

“Damned right there won’t be any problems. I’ll have your licenses revoked. I suggest you drop your investigation.” Lassiter glared at them both one last time and turned to leave. When he got the door open he pointed at Jake. “And you stay the hell away from my son. I don’t need you stirring shit up.” He let go of the door, got in his squad car and left.

“I’m sorry, Jake.” Matt came out of the office behind them, more jittery than normal. The kid’s hands were shaking and his eyes were wide.

Jake squeezed his shoulder. “It’s all right, Matt. Why don’t you go ahead and go home.”

“You hurt?” Rhys grumbled.

Face blanching, Matt shook his head.

Jake waved Matt away. “I’ll see you tonight. Drive carefully.”

Nodding, Matt hurried to the door, peeked out, and looked both ways before opening it fully.

“Matt.” Jake put power behind his voice, wishing Remi were here to calm the boy. If it didn’t work, he was going to drive the kid home.

“Yes, sir?” Matt blinked at him.

“It’s okay. Calm down.” He gave the kid a smile.

Taking a deep breath, Matt seemed to relax then he grinned. “See you in a few, Jake.”

Hmmm,
the voice worked on Matt fine, but not on Rhys. Jake turned around, catching his beta’s gaze. “We need to get something on that son of a bitch, fast. Do whatever you have to do to get your ex-boss to spill what he knows.”

Still glowering, Rhys dipped his chin in recognition, then he shook his head, the corner of his lips twitching. “I can’t believe you tried to use your
voice
on me.”

“My
voice
?” Jake grinned. “Yeah, it doesn’t work on you, does it? I don’t think it works on Remi either. Damn it.” Which was kind of scary. Remi and Rhys were the only two who would really challenge him on anything. They were the ones most likely to fight for Jake, even if Jake didn’t want them to.

Rhys snorted. “Of course not. Remi is your omega and I’m your beta, it’s our job to take care of you.”

“You have it backward. I’m supposed to take care of the pack, including you and Remi.” Jake went into his office and closed his computer down and got ready to leave, knowing Remi would see things exactly like Rhys. What was he going to do with the two of them?

Turning off the office lights, Rhys opened the door and waited for Jake to exit so he could lock it behind them.

Jake extracted his keys from his pocket and stepped out the door.

“If you try to use your
voice
on me again, I’m going to kick your ass.”

Great.
Jake smiled and headed toward his Tahoe. “Yeah, well let’s hope you’re not about to get yours kicked when I use it.”

Chapter Fifteen

Closing his front door, Remi made sure it was locked and jogged down the stairs. Oh, man, he’d been dying to see Jake all day. Running into him at the grocery store had only whetted his appetite, so to speak. He’d gotten to where he either saw or called Jake every day. When had that happened?

Remi opened the door to Jake’s SUV and tossed his bag in the backseat. “Hey.” Leaning across the seat, he kissed Jake. “I missed you today.”

Jake sat there staring at him with a stunned expression on his face.

Chuckling, Remi climbed into the seat and shut the door. “What?”

“I never thought you’d be like this.” Jake reached behind Remi’s head and maneuvered him closer. His lips brushed across Remi’s softly, then he stared into Remi’s eyes. “Maybe I should have seen it, you’re naturally affectionate.”

Remi started to move back, but Jake stopped him, almost as if he couldn’t help himself. He threaded his fingers through Remi’s hair and pressed their lips back together.

Opening up his mouth and resting his hands on Jake’s chest, Remi melted. He loved the way Jake’s lips tasted and felt. The way Jake took over. Moaning, he let Jake know how much he enjoyed this.

Jake traced Remi’s lips with his tongue. Catching Remi’s bottom lip between his teeth, he nipped. He kissed Remi’s cheek before dropping his head to Remi’s shoulder and nuzzling his neck.

Remi’s fangs elongated without warning. Arousal rushed through him and his cock went rock hard at the thought of Jake biting him. Oh God, he could feel Jake’s teeth, knew they’d shifted. Squirming closer, he pressed his neck into Jake’s face. “Please, sir.” That felt so natural to say, which was sort of strange. He’d never have thought… No that wasn’t true, he’d always enjoyed taking a less aggressive role with lovers. But Jake was the only one who actually saw it and acted on it.

“Shh…” Jake slid his hands out of Remi’s hair.

Whimpering at the loss, Remi closed his eyes and sat back.

Jake brushed his knuckles over Remi’s cheek and relaxed into his own seat.

It had only been about two days since they’d fucked, but it felt like forever. Remi’s nipples got hard remembering the last time, the clamps. He’d always liked sex, but with Jake it was mind blowing. Remi craved him. Last night he’d lain in his bed fantasizing about Jake. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop thinking about Jake. Finally, he’d gotten up and gone to the bathroom to jerk off so he could get some sleep. Even then, his mind hadn’t let go of his mate. He’d imagined Jake there with him, holding him, kissing him, telling him what to do.

“How was work?”

Okay, that was weird. Now Jake was reading his mind. Remi chuckled and glanced over, noticing Jake sitting straight and tall in his seat. His eyes were still closed, like he was trying to regain composure too. “Long. I kept thinking about you.”

Jake groaned.

They sat there for several minutes. Neither of them said a word, but Remi was even more aware of Jake’s presence. He could smell Jake’s arousal.
Oh wow
, he could tell the difference. Jake smelled…muskier, warmer, kind of spicy. He probably tasted wonderful right now.
Shit.
“Hey, Jake.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s not working.”

“What’s not working?”

“Trying to ignore each other to get our minds off of fucking. I’m sitting here wondering how you taste right now.”

Jake half laughed, half groaned. “Remi?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up and put your seat belt on.” Jake started the engine.

“Okay.” As Jake put the SUV in gear and began backing out, Remi reached for his belt. He got it buckled and Jake slammed on his brakes, making Remi bounce against the seat.

“Son of a bitch. Where the hell did he come from?”

Huh?
Adjusting the belt, Remi looked out the back.

A scraggly old man walked past the parking lot. He glanced up at them, then kept going, slow as you please.

“Beats me. Sure have been a lot of them around here lately. I hate to sound like an old fart, but I’m beginning to agree with my neighbor, Mr. Morris. The neighborhood is going to hell in a handbasket.”

Jake chuckled and got them moving again. “Well, if you promise not to run children off the lawn and complain about the newspaper not making it all the way to the porch, you can move in with me.”

“Really?”
Damn, damn, damn.
He hadn’t meant to say that out loud. He’d been surprised. He hadn’t thought about moving in with Jake, but logically he supposed he should have. Jake
was
his mate. Oh, man, that really sounded good. If he moved in with Jake he could see him every day.

“Yes, really.” Jake looked both ways at the apartment exit and drove out. “We can even turn my office into a bedroom for Sterling. I don’t use it much, I do most of my work at the office or on my laptop. Eventually we’ll have to move, but for now, there isn’t any reason for you to have to keep the apartment, unless you want to.”

Whoa.
Remi blinked. His stupid eyes were all watery. None of the women he’d dated had ever understood his relationship with Sterling. They tended to be jealous, but Jake got it. Remi wasn’t sure why he was surprised. Jake was always thinking of Remi’s needs. He truly was the perfect match for Remi. If he hadn’t recently discovered werewolves, he might have laughed at the idea of soul mates, but now he wasn’t so sure it wasn’t a very real possibility. “I’ll think about it.” Lots of people had roommates. There was nothing unusual about that. He’d be moving to a better neighborhood and into a house. Dirk couldn’t really say much about it.
Wait.
Did Jake say—? “Why will we have to move? I thought the house was yours. I mean I thought you were buying it, not renting.”

“Eventually we are going to have to move the pack, pup.” Jake reached over and squeezed his thigh. “We need to go somewhere where no one has the least inkling you’re different. I don’t want to risk one of John Carter’s pack deciding you should submit to them.”

Remi glanced over at him, watching the business lights and streetlamps cast moving shadows across his face. Jake was concentrating on the road, but Remi wasn’t fooled. Jake was focused on him. Why was Jake concerned? “Jake, I can’t leave Sterling. Even if Dirk is out of the picture, I’m not leaving Sterling here and moving off someplace. I can handle myself against other wolves. And besides, I seriously doubt my mom can handle things on her own when Dirk is gone. She’s…”
broken.
And she would be even more without Dirk.

“I know you can take care of yourself, but I’d rather not chance it. But don’t worry about it right now. We’ve got time. We’ll get your mom to move. I promise you, we won’t leave Sterling. Something tells me your mom is going to need our help too.” Jake turned onto a residential street.

Jake sounded so sure Remi decided to let it go for now. But it worried him. What if John Carter wanted them gone sooner than later?

“Here we are.” Jake pulled into the drive of a two-story stone home.

It was in a newer subdivision, with fairly large houses. Remi was sort of surprised. With Gadget having nine kids, he was expecting a little less…well, nice. Mechanics didn’t make that much, did they? Then again, what did he know, he’d been raised on the reservation. He was used to poorer houses.