Dex’s lip twitched but he suppressed the general snarl at
the world. He’d made a conscious, mature decision not to bitch about how much
Maddock was working. Maddock was trying to get his business off the ground and
Dex was going to support him dammit if it was the last freakin’ thing he did.
He made his way into the kitchen. Rhian and Micah sat that table, sipping coffee, reading
parts of the paper. Rhian glanced up and smiled. She looked tired and a little
puffy. Her swollen belly poking out like she was carrying twins, though the
werewolf doctor they’d consulted promised it was only one. His actual words had
been, “despite her size and how long she’s been pregnant, she isn’t giving
birth to a litter.”
Dex shuddered at the memory of the storm that had followed
that comment—lightning, thunder, hail the size of oranges. It hadn’t been
pretty. The doctor tucked his tail
between his legs and slunk out and strangely refused to come back.
“Morning,” she said, lowering the newspaper to the table.
“You look like crap.”
“Thanks.” No snappy comeback developed in his exhausted brain.
He’d slept. Hell, he’d been in bed for almost nine hours but he’d spent much of
that tossing and turning. He didn’t sleep well without Maddock there.
Maddock had called about eleven last night to tell Dex he
was just finishing up work at the site and was going to sleep in his truck
because he had a meeting with the client at seven in the morning.
Dex glanced at the clock. It was almost one. He hoped
Maddock’s meeting had gone well. He should check his phone, maybe call Maddock, but it was getting
difficult to keep the whine out of his voice when they spoke. Dex pulled
out a chair and sat down.
“What me to make you some breakfast? Lunch?” Rhian offered.
Dex shook his head. Nothing sounded good. The only thing he
wanted to sink his teeth into was Maddock firm, delectable ass. Damn. Dex gave himself a shake. He had to get
out of this funk. It wouldn’t last forever—Maddock would finish this job, Rhian would have this
bady and Dex would finally get a night off with his lover.
His unfocused gaze drifted across the table. Familiar scrawl on a random piece of
paper caught his attention.
He grabbed it.
“Maddock is here?” His fingers gripped the page. It was
Maddock’s “To Do List.” He never went anywhere without it these days. When he’d
quit his job at the real estate development firm, he’d given up his smart phone
and gone back to basics. Pen and
paper for most things. A pay-as-you-go phone that did little besides make
calls.
Dex didn’t know how Maddock survived. Dex loved gadgets.
“No.” The
sympathy in Rhian’s eyes just made Dex feel worse. “He stopped by earlier as he
was heading into town to get another load of lumber or something.” She shrugged. “He checked in on you but
you were dead to the world.”
“Great. That must have been the twenty minutes I managed to
sleep last night,” Dex groused. Dammit! He wanted Maddock.
“When was the last time you two actually saw each other?”
Rhian asked, getting up and walking to the refrigerator. She pulled out the
carton of eggs and placed them on the counter.
Despite Dex’s denial that he wanted food, he was pretty sure
he was going to get fed. And based
on Rhian’s erratic personality of late...he would eat whatever was put in front
of him.
“You mean when we were both awake?” he asked, trying to make
a joke of it. But damn it—it wasn’t a joke. He wanted to talk to his mate, see
him, kiss him, lick him...
Dex inhaled through his nose and fought to contain the groan
that threatened. He stood and went the fridge as well. If he was going to eat,
might as well make it good. He poured himself some OJ.
He glanced at Micah. The Alpha wolf’s lips pinched together and he glared
at Dex and Rhian as if he wanted to tell them to shut up and let him read his
paper in peace. The big grumpy werewolf remained silent, knowing that bitching
would get him no where. He might be the Alpha wolf but their little
"pack" didn't exactly bow to his wishes.
Rhian
tapped an egg on the side of a bowl. The shell shattered in her hand. “Oops.”
She plucked the pieces of shell out from the goopy egg mixture. “So, yes, when...?”
Dex took a sip of his juice and mentally counted back the
days.
“Oh, sweetie, if you have to take this long to count, it’s been
too long.”
