Basic Smoke (bxb/gxg)

Chapter One

-Rowan's POV-

The shrill bleating of the alarm clock jolts me awake, much to Perry's displeasure. He looks up at me, annoyed by the fact that my knee twitched under his chin, his big brown eyes sleepy.

"Sorry, buddy," I say, reaching to pet the retriever's soft golden head. He lays back down on my thigh, but Luis captures his attention away from glaring at me. Perry's tired gaze watches as Luis reaches to hit the alarm clock, still completely asleep. He manages to hit the snooze, but he also knocks the thing off the side table. It dangles toward the ground, held aloft by the slim black cord attached.

Luis doesn't notice or care that he might have broken our alarm clock. He rolls back over and buries his face in the side of my shirt. His movements unseat Cheeto, who prefers to sleep at our feet. Cheeto pads over and loafs on my shins instead.

A dog, a cat and a werewolf. I've got an entire mythological zoo currently dozing on me.

"Luis," I whisper, smiling as I stroke his hair. "Wake up, baby."

"Sh," Luis whispers, reaching up to rest his index finger against my lips. I reach to hold his hand up and press a kiss to his fingertip.

"It's Serena's birthday," I remind him. "Your dad's gonna want help with the cake."

Right on cue, I hear Jose on our mindlink. Rowan? Is Luis awake? Tell him he needs to come down and help!

I laugh. You can't mindlink a sleeping person, but it sounds like Jose's been trying. "Wake up. Go help your dad."

"Dad can bake the cake himself," Luis complains softly, refusing to pull away from my shirt.

"He's mindlinking me," I say.

Luis groans and rolls onto his back. He closes his eyes and I know he's mindlinking his father back.

My breathing catches. He's literally breathtaking, lying there, eyes shut in complaint, head pushed defiantly back into the pillow, the smooth bump of his Adam's apple on full display. The muscles of his chest and shoulders make the top of his tee skintight, giving me glimpses of the warm brown artwork beneath the cotton.

I yawn and sit up, reaching to pet Perry and Cheeto.

"He's having a crisis over the icing," Luis mutters, still not opening his eyes. He mutters a curse in Spanish and looks up at me. "You'd think he'd know how to do icing by now."

I laugh. "Go. Help him. I'll shower and be down in a minute."

"He still doesn't know how to make icing," Luis mumbles to himself, reluctantly pulling himself out of the covers. "How does he not know how to make icing?"

Still clad in a tee shirt and flannel pajama pants, Luis slowly shuffles toward the door, then stops and turns back to me as I scoop up Cheeto and set him in the warm space Luis just inhabited. Perry takes the hint and pulls his head off of my legs so I can stand up.

I round the bed and hug Luis. "What's wrong with you? You're not usually so sleepy."

"Yeah, usually you're the one who won't get out of bed," Luis teases, pulling me close. I smack his ass in answer. There's a satisfying jiggle above the tough muscle. We laugh together and he kisses the side of my neck. "I think it's because someone kept me up last night."

"I keep you up every night. You should be used to it by now," I whisper, hoping my voice is half as sexy as his. I can't imagine so, though. It's hard to beat the low, sleepy murmur of a bilingual Mexican man.

He leans back and looks into my eyes. In his crystalline brown irises, I see a million promises of love and tenderness from the man who treats me like royalty.