"That soul of yours seems to be alive and well this morning.” I smirk, then hit my smoke hard because fuck that demon for being right.Again.
"Pesky little things, our souls. Make us care, connects us to those we never thought we needed but would be lost without.” Then Zan grins like the fucking asshole he is. "Do you think your Lark would be interested inconnectingto Frankie and I this morning- the way we've connected with you? Perhapsconnectthe four of us in the same, most intimate of ways?"
"Jesus, man.” I snort and shake my head with a chuckle. "You are a one track minded sort of jackass aren't you?"
"What? I simply find your mate as appealing as I find you. She is quite beautiful and my darling girl agrees. The four of us will have such fun together."
"There is way too much unknown to even entertain your fantasies, demon." Gods, he is an ass, but one who managed to calm me down and make my mood better in spite of it. "And I'm gonna go ahead and give you a hard no on any foursomes in the near future. It's unlikely Lark and I will even be a twosome, which is pretty vital for your warped, though not unwarranted, plans."
"We shall see, wolf. Only time will tell."
A throat clears behind us and we both spin to see Lark standing in the doorway looking absolutely radiant in a simple gray t-shirt and black leggings, her delicate and healing feet tucked into the super expensive flip flops I bought for the sole purpose of comfort because those sexy toes were shredded.
Her hair is damp, cheeks a little flushed, and if I'm not mistaken, it looks like Lark barely dried off because her rich golden-tan skin has a few stray beads of water here and there. Beads of water I would sell my soul to Zan in order to lick off of her skin.
She smells phenomenal, looks incredible and if I hadn't given him a pep talk to shut the fuck up until we got a green light, my wolf would be going bananas over how beautiful our mate looks right now.
"Uhm... I'm not too early am I?"
I blink, my mouth opens and closes without producing a sound, then Zan elbows me in the gut so I blurt, "No!"
Lark bites her lip, looks down and smoothes out her shirt. "I wasn't sure if... if you were busy or if it was ok to get started now... it's still fifteen minutes before you told me to be ready..."
"Now is fine,” I all but yell then shoot to my feet. "I was early."
She nods, but won't meet my eyes. "Is this ok? I wasn't sure where we were going and—”
"You look fine.”Amazing. Beautiful. Sexy as fuck. Stunning. Gorgeous. She looks likemine. But I bite my tongue and refrain from word vomiting like the psychotic male I'm definitely channeling. "We're just going to my house."
Lark's eyes snap to mine and I swear I can actually see her stop breathing for a second.
And I have no idea how to read that.
No fucking clue.
I’m good at reading people, really good at it, but for some reason, I have a feeling Lark is going to be the exception to that. Which doesn’t help me out one damn bit in navigating this shitshow.
"We can go somewhere else if you want, or just stay outside.” I clear my throat, glance at Zan, and regret it immediately because he is silently laughing his ass off. "I just thought it'd be easier to go over everything there. I've been investigating Kentworth Labs for a long time and all my stuff is there so..."
She drops her eyes again and takes a shaky breath. "That's fine. I just... your house is fine to work from."
My gut twists as her disappointment rolls through our bond.
ThatI read loud and clear.
Maybe my little seeds of hope aren't dead in the water just yet. Something I'd be able to confirm or deny if I knew why she was disappointed.
"Well, enjoy your morning, you twolovebirds.” Zan cackles as he gets to his feet. "I'm going to go back to bed, fuck my mate silly, then sleep for at least ten hours.” He throws open the front door, and just before he steps inside, he looks back at us and grins. "Dinner at Cora's tonight, you can fill us in on your discoveries then. If you're unable to attend, it better be for a good reason.” His grin turns sardonic. "Just to clarify,good reasonmeans you're fucking,mating,if you will, and I'm afraid I won't be able to forgive any other excuse given aside from that one."
Then that asshole shuts the door and leaves a gobsmacked Lark looking at it while I visualize strangling my best friend.
"He's..."
"An asshat."
Lark giggles a little, the sound sending my pulse about forty thousand notches above normal, but she quickly stops and continues not looking at me. "I like him."
"So do I.” I sigh. "He's my best goddamn friend and I love him, but it doesn't change the fact that he's an asshat."
