trouble. “I thought you had decided to sleep on the couch.”
“Yeah, well…” Koba trailed off and shrugged. He’d never been good at lying, and it was even harder with Brock. “One of us should probably be there with them.”
Brock’s eyes narrowed, and he eyed Koba suspiciously. “If that’s what you want,” he finally answered, though there was a hint of uncertainty in his tone. “Is everything okay? I can come with you if you don’t want to stay here.”
Why did the guy have to make it so hard to do the noble thing? “I want you to talk to Moira, and I figured you wouldn’t want an audience for it,” he relented.
“I don’t have anything to hide from you.” Brock huffed and pinched the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger. “She’ll probably chew me up and spit me out. Are you really going to leave me alone without protection?”
The tension drained away, and Koba grinned from ear to ear. “I’ll be back later in the day to clean up whatever’s left of you.”
Closing the distance between them once more, Brock wrapped his fingers around the back of Koba’s neck and pulled him into a searing kiss of lips, teeth, and tongues until they were both panting for breath. Then he rested their foreheads together, still keeping a firm hold on the back of Koba’s neck.
“I need you here. You saw what happened earlier with the betas. There are plenty of rooms in this house for a private conversation, but I want you close. Okay?”
Brock’s concerns weren’t without merit. Being an unclaimed omega in foreign territory was dangerous. Until the alpha claimed him, the rest of the pack would be clawing for the right to make him their own. “Fine, I’ll stay, but I plan to sleep really, really late.”
“I’ll talk to her. I promise. You’re just as much a part of this, though.”
“I’m not going to go cry myself to sleep and play the wronged and discarded lover, Brock.” The first reassurance was nice. Now, it just felt as though Brock was treating him like an overemotional toddler. Since Koba felt he was being the most rational person in the entire situation, the coaxing tone Brock used grated on his nerves.
“That’s not what I meant. I was just trying to say that I can’t do this alone.”
They were both tired, and the stress of the night was wearing on them. Rather than risk saying something he might regret later, Koba pecked Brock on the cheek and caressed his arm. “Get some sleep, Brock. We’re both too wiped out for this conversation.”
Things would be better once they were rested. He repeated the words to himself all the way down the hall to the guestroom. He even kept up the internal pep talk as he crawled into bed, but his heart was having a hard time believing it.
It wasn’t completely unexpected when the bedroom door creaked open and the mattress dipped beside him. Brock’s warm body molded to his back, his hard, naked cock nestling firmly along the crease of Koba’s ass. “I’m sorry,” Brock whispered against his shoulder. “I’m not sure what I did to piss you off, but I’m sorry.”
If the man thought he could persuade him with sweet words and amazing sex…well, Koba wasn’t going to stop him from trying. “Keep going.”
Moist lips skimmed down his nape and across his shoulders. “I was wrong to say what I said and do what I did. Whatever the hell it was.”
Though his skin tingled and his cock swelled at the attention, Koba couldn’t help but snort as he rolled to face his lover. “You’re an idiot.”
“But I’m a sexy idiot.”
“Mm, this is true.” Fisting his hand in Brock’s hair, he pulled him closer so he could press their lips together. “Even more so when your mouth is otherwise occupied.”
“Is that a demand, Mr. Blackheart?”
“Nope.” Koba’s fingers bit into the flesh at his mate’s hip, urging Brock to rock against him so that their heavy erections slid together. “Merely offering a gentle nudge in the