Covet

| Rattled Animals

Paul hadn't pressed me for an answer, and I hadn't given him one. Life decisions should not happen as a knee-jerk reaction to the bigger picture. I sighed through my nose with a smile, barefoot in the kitchen with a ring on my finger mere months after meeting. Mother. Wife. Was this my identity now?

Munching my way through the bowl of cereal, because it was all my stomach felt like tolerating, I spotted an intense gaze from Luke across the counter, making it harder to chew and swallow. Paul sat right next to me.

It only lasted a fraction of a section, but they darted to my lips with a pained hunger. The beat of my heart increased of its own accord, and Paul paused, giving me a side-eye. Was there nothing that happened internally that this guy didn't pick up on?

Time slowed the longer I sensed the unwelcome, wistful stare. My heart all but stopped beating, and before I realized it, I was looking back, tracing the line of Luke's lips, fantasizing about the feel of them biting me.

Paul did a double-take between us. "Oh, Hell no. Do you even mind, brother? I'm sitting right here, and you're not even asleep! Neither of you." His expression became marred by annoyance with a side of torture. One I suspected we were causing.

"Sorry, it's not in my control. It's getting worse." Luke rubbed his eyes and blinked, as that would erase the thoughts that had snuck in without invitation. "Even with the two of us avoiding each other. When I do see her, it's... full on."

Nothing Luke had said was a lie. Despite the distance, the intensity of our dreams clouded my mind whenever he was in reaching distance. And I still didn't know why.

"Awesome." Paul stood, his chair kicking back. "Fucking awesome. I'm going for a walk, a run, or perhaps a murder spree. I'm not quite sure which. You guys cool off. Alone. Please."

"Rain is forecast," Luke objected.

The burden Paul carried was as obvious as the rattle now in his hands. He kissed my temple before standing. "Then I'll take a jacket."

"You need to stop it," I warned Luke not just with my mind but with my eyes.

"Can't," was all he said. "It's not me that needs convincing it's the Alpha in me. There is something about you that it wants, that it sees that I have never come across before."

"Try harder. I can't sit here locked in lusty gazes with you while my boyfriend overhears every elicit detail I've conjured up to do to you with my mouth!"

Luke groaned, his eyes becoming amber pools as his canines descended.

"What is it now," Paul asked, looking back at him.

"I need to get out of the kitchen," Luke replied with urgency.

"Your wolf needs to calm-the-fuck-down." Paul's eyes developed their own amber tint. "And get your—what do you call them Dana—fangs, away from my girlfriend and our unborn child."

Luke nodded in quick succession, and if he'd had a tail right about now, it would surely be between his legs as he took the stairs two at a time. Three minutes later, we all heard the shower running.

I ran a hand down Paul's back but he smiled tightly. "With Antoine around, Luke's arranged security detail, Carter and Carlyle. They will be positioned outside of your room. Sit tight, we need to start getting back to the shop, but you'll both be safe here." His eyes dropped down to my belly. "And I'll come and relive them when I get back. Please, do as I say, and just stay safe." The warmth of his palm rested on my abdomen, his fingers splaying protectively.

Carlyle appeared in the doorway, observing the two of us. He proceeded inside and sat on the edge of the bed.

My response came as a silent nod. But as the door clicked shut behind him, sealing me in the soft glow of the lamplight. the walls of my own room would have to transform from a sanctuary into a cell I had to slip past, despite the watchful eyes of Carter lurking just beyond if I was going to track down Lucille. I shuddered. If Paul returned and I wasn't here, I worried about what the demons in his head would make of that.