Flawless by Evans, Gabrielle (icecream ebook reader TXT) 📗

loud enough for everyone to hear him. “That man”—he pointed at Zasha—“is not my mate. I’m pretty sure I’d know if he was.” It was so hard to speak Flawless 55

in a dignified manner when Zasha was eye-fucking him, Kieran was butt naked, and there was cum cooling on his own dick.

Demos and Varik looked like they wished a hole would open up in the floor and swallow them down. Ridley’s face was bright red—

probably because he had a hand clamped over his mouth and nose, cutting off his oxygen flow while he tried to control his laughter at the situation.

Leader Tuesday did not look as though he found the situation amusing at all.

“It is common for vampires and werewolves alike to have more than one mate. If Zasha says that you are his, I believe him.”

“While that is true of werewolves and vampires,” Lynk responded in a subdued tone, “it is not the case for witches, especially a Braddock. I have only one mate, and he’s currently licking me like I’m the Thursday Night Special.” He swatted at Kieran again where the man was trailing his tongue up the side of his throat. “Focus.” Kieran just made that rumbling sound in his chest somewhere between a growl and purr that made Lynk’s cock hard and his pulse race. With his mind tumbling out of control and his body hyperaware of his mate’s closeness, Lynk couldn’t keep his shields in place any longer. Every scrap of emotion Kieran felt flowed into him, invading his heart, body, and soul.

The wolf in Kieran had taken over, stepping up to defend his position as Lynk’s mate. Fury and a fierce possessiveness were the dominant forces, but under that lurked a gentleness, a determination to keep Lynk safe at all costs for he was the only thing that mattered.

He was the quintessential alpha, the man other men wished they could be, and in that moment Lynk realized why they were so perfectly matched for one another.

He needed Kieran’s strength, his take-charge and leave-no-prisoners attitude. The structure, the discipline, the control—the caring, understanding, and protection—he craved it, yearned for it, was starved for a little taste of the peace it would bring him. He was a 56 Gabrielle

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mess, out of control, on a downward spiral into the black abyss, and only Kieran could save him.

Only Kieran could tame him.

Only Kieran Delaney could master him.

“Maybe we should come back another time,” Varik said, interrupting Lynk’s epiphany.

“No. I believe this is a matter that needs to be settled now.” Leader Tuesday wasn’t an overly large man, but that didn’t make him any less terrifying. A ripple went through the group, a deep shudder like that caused by the frigid winds on a winter’s day.

“There is no matter to settle.” Ridley pulled himself up to his full, intimidating height and clenched his fists at his sides. “You can’t force someone to mate against their will. We’re leaving now.” So much venom poured from Ridley, Lynk was surprised the coven leader didn’t wither under the poison in his gaze alone. Why the former alpha was standing up for him, he didn’t know, but he wasn’t about to turn away willing allies. Hell, he wouldn’t even turn away unwilling allies at this point.

If there was one thing he’d learned from Torren, it was that magic had its time and place. It would be so easy to freeze Tuesday and his guards in place and make a run for it. He couldn’t hold them that way forever, though, and sooner or later—and he was betting sooner—

they’d all have to face the consequences of his rash actions.

So, he did nothing while he stood in Kieran’s embrace and waited for the vampire to make the next move. None of it made any sense to him. Why did Tuesday give a damn about who mated who? Unless, of course, it had something to do with Lynk’s last name and the man’s desire to have some claim to a Braddock. But he already had Thane.

What did he want with Lynk?

Perhaps Tuesday saw him as weak, more easily manipulated by threat and punishment. Because of Lynk’s smaller size, it was conceivable that it would prove less daunting to bend him to his will Flawless 57

than it would be Thane. And the only reason the coven would want either of them was because of the Book of the Banished.

“Easy,” Kieran whispered in his ear. His palm smoothed up and down Lynk’s sternum, stroking him like a kitten. “Breathe, baby. I’ve got you.”

Lynk let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and melted back into Kieran’s arms, soaking up his confidence. How had things gone so wrong so quickly? They hadn’t even made it past the foyer for pity’s sake.

“I’m not forcing anyone to do anything,” Tuesday replied to Ridley’s accusation after a long pause. “We have a very unusual circumstance here, and I simply wish to get to the bottom of it.

Finding one’s mate should be a time of celebration. We are drawn to our other halves. It’s unlikely that Zasha has made a mistake in thinking Mr. Braddock is his mate.”

“Well, it’s Lynk’s word against Fang Boy’s over there.” Ridley waved dismissively at Zasha. “There’s no way to prove who is telling the truth.”

“Ah, but there is.”

“How?” Ridley, Lynk, and Kieran all asked in stereo.

“If Lynk is Zasha’s true mate, he will be immune to Zasha’s compulsion.”

Technically, the vampires in the room could only compel him if he allowed it. While it wasn’t exactly on his bucket list, Lynk figured he could allow it this one time if it meant proving that he belonged with Kieran.

Even as he had the thought, another chased right on its heels.

What if it was a setup? What if the entire scene had been orchestrated so that it would lead up to this moment? Zasha attacked him, bit him, and claimed to be his mate. Now the only way to prove him false was