“That sucks.”
“Yeah. And then today I was nearly killed by pixies. Cute little fairies that are on cereal boxes and children’s books. Those fuckers nearly did me in.”
And in a pretty awful way.
Laddin closed his eyes. “I can’t wrap my mind around it.” He dropped his forehead onto his arms again. “And now I can’t go outside because I’ll see the field. I’ll look out there and—”
“Remember?”
Laddin’s answer was a shudder. Bruce could relate. He was very grateful to have his back turned to that circle of doom where he’d been pinned down. He wasn’t looking at it, but he sure as hell knew it was there.
Bruce pulled up everything he knew about Laddin. They’d talked a little, shared about their before-werewolf jobs and lives.
“You’re an explosives expert, right? I bet your work area was meticulous. Everything in its place, everything under control.”
Laddin rolled his head until he was looking at Bruce. “Yeah. It’s demolitions. Careless people get killed. Disorganized people lose body parts.”
“We’re taught the same thing in the fire academy. Everything in its place. Everyone doing their job. Protocol, procedure.”
He stroked Laddin’s cheek. It wasn’t something he thought deeply about. He just wanted to touch the guy more than shoulder to shoulder. So he caressed the hard angles and rough five-o’clock shadow, then let his thumb roll over the man’s lips. He felt the fullness of it and the texture. Soft. Rough. Wet.
His dick jumped in hunger.
“It all goes to shit in the field,” Bruce said. “Not the protocols, of course, though that sometimes happens too. I mean the logic, the organization. The whole fucking system sometimes. We scramble to do what needs to be done, and after it’s over, we put it back together. Hoses where they belong. Equipment cleaned and reset. Supplies refilled, bandages restocked, and everything in its place.”
Laddin exhaled. “I worked on movies. If something went to shit, it was because someone fucked up. The demolitions were under control, the actors were only pretending to get blown to hell. And we didn’t have to put shit back together because I made sure it didn’t break in the first place.”
Bruce nodded. He understood because he recognized the appeal of adrenaline even when your life was exploding around your ears. “Today wasn’t a movie. No one had anything under control. And just like the bunnies, you both loved it and hated everything about it. Because it was messy, and you felt alive.”
“I fucking loved eating those rabbits. I want to do it again.”
“And you hate that about yourself too.”
“Yeah.” He lifted up off his arms. “What do I do?”
Bruce shrugged. He had no answers. “I’ll answer that if you tell me how I can find the damned demon and save the world.”
Laddin’s lips curved. “I haven’t a clue.”
“Right back at you.”
They waited a moment, their eyes connecting as Bruce’s body heated and swelled to an uncomfortable degree.
“Bruce?”
“Yeah?”
“I hate this barn. Want to go back to our room and fuck?”
“Hell yeah.”
“Then we’ll save the world, okay?”
“Sure.” Bruce grinned, belatedly remembering something. “I brought sandwiches too. Want to eat first?”
Laddin appeared to consider that, then nodded. “Sure. Thanks.”
“My pleasure.”
Laddin grinned. “Nah. That’ll come afterwards.”
Bruce rolled his eyes. “Promises, promises. You better put your dick—”
“Where your mouth is.”
Bruce laughed—he straight-out laughed at the joke, which wasn’t a joke at all because he sure as hell intended to do just that. So he held out his hand, and Laddin took it. They hauled each other upright and headed around the van.
Laddin tensed as he stepped into the sunlight, and Bruce thought it was because he was looking out at the field. And maybe it was.
Or maybe it was something else. Laddin gestured at him, and his voice was weary and teasing at the same time. “Dude, will you put your pants back on? I mean I love the sight, but what if Lady Kinstead wanders by?”
What? Oh yeah. His sweatpants had fallen off when he’d shifted to wolf. But rather than grab the discarded garment, he pushed the joke, hoping to get Laddin to smile. “I don’t know. Is she into threesomes?” He really was joking. He wasn’t the least bit interested in sharing Laddin with anyone, much less his strange many-greats grandmother.
“Wulfric will cut off your balls for thinking that about his mother.”
Oh right. “I guess I’ll put on my pants.”
“Good idea.”
“Then you can take them off me when we’re in our room.”
And there it was. Laddin’s smile. “Or maybe I’ll rub one out while you strip for me.”
Now there was an interesting idea.
Chapter 18
PRETTY ISN’T PERFECT
THEY’D JUST made it to their bedroom door when Nero walked down the hall. For such a big guy, he moved pretty fast, but even so, Bruce could see the weariness in his walk, not to mention the livid bruise that still covered half his face.
“Bruce,” Nero said, “Wulfric wants to talk to you. That bedroom.” He pointed to the room down the hall.
Laddin stiffened. “About what?” His tone rang with hostile challenge.
“About whatever the fuck he wants. He’s the boss.” Nero didn’t like being questioned, and his tone made that absolutely clear. But Laddin didn’t back down. He was exhausted, reeling, and could barely stand on his feet, but he was ready to fight Nero for Bruce.
And didn’t that warm Bruce’s heart? And cock.
But he couldn’t let Laddin commit career suicide either, so he squeezed the guy’s arm. “I wanted to check on Wulfric’s wounds anyway.”
“He doesn’t have any wounds,” Nero said. “The cleric healed him.”
“Then why’s he still in bed?” Bruce asked. If he knew anything about men of action, it was that healed leaders didn’t hide in a bedroom away from central command. That told him that something wasn’t going well for Wulfric.
To his credit, Nero didn’t bluster. Instead his expression grew taut with worry. “Yeah. So go check him out, will you?” His eyes hardened on Laddin. “And you, get some rest. You’re so strung out, you’ve forgotten that you’re not in charge.”
Laddin flushed at the
