Orion

Thirty-Five. Intimidation

The pair stood in the comfortable embrace for a few minutes. Mahogany's head was resting in Orion's naked chest, and his arms were wrapped around her waist.

They were silent, Mo was reveling in the solace of realizing that her mate just might not actually fantasize about killing her, and she was also reveling in the hope that overtook her because he'd told her something about them. It wasn't much, but it was something and that was better than the whopping nothing that she'd gotten so far, even with snooping, all she got was names, and when Orion told her why he was upset, she felt bad for even digging to find those three names.

She didn't want to move, more than happy to stand there, staring blankly into space with her ear pressed into his skin, listening to the thump-thump of his heart that was just a little quicker than her resting beat.

Orion pulled back from her, blue eyes meeting hers as he said, "Gianni just told me that they'll be here in about 5 minutes."

With a nod, Mo sighed and lowered her head back to his chest, but his warm fingers gripped her chin, and dipped his head down. Already knowing what was coming, her eyes slid closed, patiently waiting for Orion to kiss her.

It was a soft peck, a sweet one, and she wasn't even upset by that when he pulled away a moment later, "Are you going to be alright when you see Gianni? I can tell him to come another time if not. I don't want you to feel like you did after you almost hit Adriel with that skillet."

His eyes searched her face, studying it as she nodded even though the wolf inside her was emitting a low, agitated growl. Orion smirked at her, slightly shaking his head,"I think that she's going to try to come out again, so to stop that, you need to stay calm. I know you'll be a little upset when you see him, but you can't let that overpower you like it did earlier. Sometimes that's hard to do."

With a nod, Mo bit her lip and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as Orion took her hand and pulled her to the couch, "I know I'll be upset, but she's only mad because you got hurt. Gianni isn't our mate. I'm worried for him too, already but I think I'll be fine. She's still mad at him, but I think you soothed her before the shower... and definitely after."

His lips twitched at that, and so did Mahogany's. Her jaw was sore, and so was her throat, her voice was also raspy, but she didn't care. Her wolf was on edge, but nowhere near as much as she'd been when Mo first set eyes on her mate.

"I didn't think you'd let me be that rough with you," Orion murmured, his voice sounding far away as he cut his eyes to her where she was curled up next to him with a blanket over her. Mahogany found her eyes trailing his body as Orion spoke. Her gaze focused on the tent in the sweats that he was wearing, a slow smile taking over her lips when she looked up and saw his cheeks turning red, "I didn't either. I don't usually like that. But you asked so sweetly that it had my mouth watering."

And she wasn't lying. Mo found herself craving the large man sitting next to her in a way that she'd never wanted someone before. She wanted him wholly- physically, she wanted his blood, and she found herself wanting just him, including his personality. He'd been so nice since she came back that even with the peeks of the Orion she'd met months ago coming out, it didn't change her mind.

They pair was unconsciously leaning into each other, and when the door creaked open for a second time after the footsteps that a human wouldn't have heard sounded on the front porch, they both straightened up and found themselves pulling back like they'd been caught by their parents.

The men of the hour sauntered into the room just off the kitchen, Adriel came in first wearing a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. MO's smile dropped completely when the light auburn haired gamma came in a few steps behind Adriel. Her mouth dried and her eyes bugged as Gianni came in with a smile like he'd just won the lottery.