“You know,” Hollis interjected, leaning over the arm of the couch. “She might be onto something.”
“It’s difficult for your enemy to attack you if they can’t reach you,” Casey said, his grin growing wider as he spoke.
Rush kissed my cheek sloppily, leaving behind an imprint on my cheek. “I have the smartest, most beautiful mate, in the entire world,” he bragged, smirking at the unmated mates in the room. Beckett rolled his eyes and pivoted back, strolling closer to Hollis. Casey simply grinned and look down at the desk.
As I made myself comfortable, I bit my lip to hide a smile and leaned next to Rush’s ear. “And I have the horniest mate in the entire world.” Rush’s eyes grew wide, and then he realized what part of his anatomy was currently pressing against my legs. He smirked and kissed my cheek again. I grinned happily and tried to stand, but Rush pulled me on top of him.
“Don’t get up,” he said desperately.
“What? Do you have a minor problem?” I teased. He growled in my ear and then tugged on my earlobe with his teeth. I don’t know why I was aroused, there was no logical reason for teeth biting my ear to turn me on, and yet I felt my face growing a deeper shade of pink.
“I can’t help it,” he said boyishly, resting his chin on my shoulder. “You’re just so beautiful and sexy.”
“Oo,” I moaned sensuously, leaning into him. “Talk about death traps to me.”
He closed his eyes in embarrassment and sucked his lips into his mouth.
“Is it exclusively death traps or do-” I paused and looked at the rest of the men in the room, still whispering in Rush’s ear. “-security initiatives also get you going? How about weaponry?”
“Stop it,” he growled lowly, playfully. I giggled and folded my arms farther into my chest.
“Would you two like to be alone?” Hollis asked, smirking.
“No,” Rush said at the same time, I said, “Yes.”
The men froze and looked between us, unable to decide who they should listen to.
“Rush is just getting a little turned on by all the talk of big holes in the ground,” I joked, stopping short in my torment as Rush covered my mouth with one of his hands and tickled my side with the other.
“Well,” Beckett stood up. “I’m going to take that as our cue to leave.” Casey shut the door after they all left the room. Rush lifted me around my hips and placed me on the edge of his desk, leaning over me.
“What are you going to do, draw a map of our borders on my body,” I pushed on, giggling at his discomfort.
“You know what?” he growled, standing up and leaning over me, forcing my back flat against the desk. His hand reached for a marker, but I grabbed his wrist in my hand.
“No, no, please,” I begged. I bit my lip as he held the marker above me. He sighed and threw the pen back into the drawer on his desk. “Thank you.”
I slipped off his desk quickly and ran towards the door, yelling, “Casey, Beckett, I have ideas to talk about!” The men stopped moving close to the end of the hallway and waited for me. “Do you really think my idea will work?”
“I mean, we’ll have to try a little harder than a big hole in the ground, humans are a little smarter than we give them credit for,” Casey laughed. “But I think we can incorporate that into our defense plans.”
Beckett noticed my giddy smile and peered down at me. “Why are you so excited? Have you never gotten a compliment before?”
“Not for something like this.” My smile grew a little smaller, and I ducked my head.
“You did good,” he reassured me. They turned and continued down the hallway where they were headed. I didn’t follow them right away; I just stood by myself for a moment in elation.
“You really did do good, Sloane.” I turned to find Hollis leaning against the wall.
“Thank you,” I said, reaching out to squeeze his hand.
“I know that this is going to be a challenging time, but keeping this pack safe is the number one objective. I don’t know what’s going to happen after the Warriors and Rush go to that town hall meeting but, I have a feeling it’s not going to end there,” he sighed.
“Wait, what are you talking about? What town hall meeting?” My chest tightened, hands shaking.
“Dad,” Rush’s strained voice said from the doorway. He shook his head at Hollis, ordering him to remain silent. I took four large strides to Rush.
“You’re going to the human town? When were you planning to tell me this? What are you planning on doing?” I seethed, more with worry than anger.
“Sloane,” he soothed, his body collapsing in, attempting to pull me to him. I stepped back and placed my shaking palm on his chest, just above his heart.
“Please tell me you’re just going to talk,” I said, staring at the ground.
“We are,” he said, fighting my distance. “I swear to you, that’s all we’re going to do.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?” Rush gulped, and his eyes became sad.
“Because I know how stressed you’ve been lately, and I just wanted you to be able to be happy for a while,” he sighed, running his hand over his face. “I know that’s not really a good reason, but I was going to tell you. After. There was no reason for you to worry so much about me.”
“Of course, I’m going to worry about you.” My hand thumped once against his chest. “You’re my mate, I love you, of course, I’m going to worry about you.” Rush put his hand over mine and moved it slightly down his chest so that I could feel the pulse from his heart.
“Do you feel this?” he asked. I sighed, head wobbling side to side, trying not to cry again. “This is yours. My heart is yours; I knew
