Let the Rain Come Down [The Moonlight Breed 6] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) by Gabrielle Evans (read a book TXT) 📗

“You did good,” Braxton complimented as he plopped down in the chair beside Demitrius. “He looks happy.”

“This is so awesome!”

Demitrius watched the hedgehog dance around as he created his art and smiled fondly. “He likes it.”

“I have an idea.” Keeton flounced across the room, snatched Oscar up, and held him with his belly pointed toward the ceiling. “Calm down,” he chastised when Oscar started to squirm and squeal.

“What the hell is he doing to me?”

“Keeton,” Demitrius said warningly.

“Relax. I’m not going to hurt him. Trust me, little dude.” Then he dipped Oscar’s back into the red paint, covering his quills with the bright color. Plopping him back down on the paper, Keeton laughed and scratched under Oscar’s chin. “Now roll.”

After a moment of hesitation where he simply stared at Keeton, Oscar curled himself into a ball, causing his spines to poke out all over his body, and started to roll. When he reached the carpet on the other side, he flopped over on his belly, stretched out, and Demitrius swore he heard a happy purr.

“Holy crow! This is freakin’ awesome!”

It didn’t take long for him to get into the spirit of things after that. Demitrius eased down to the floor and crossed his ankles, chuckling quietly when his mate did a belly flop into the purple bowl and twisted around in the paint.

His heart swelled with love, and it warmed him to his soul to see Oscar so happy. The guy had been through so much. He deserved far more than Demitrius could ever give him, but by some miracle, Oscar found him to be enough.

Keeton sprawled across the stone hearth on his back and stared up at the tiny, white ladybug crawling over his hand. “Isn’t Cicero so cute? He’s my new lucky charm.” He rolled so his shoulder bumped against Demitrius’s back. “Your aura looks much better, by the way.”

Demitrius shrugged as he glanced over his shoulder. “I feel better.”

He’d spent too much of his life being angry or depressed about the hand he’d been dealt. It was fucking exhausting to hold onto that level of animosity, especially over something he couldn’t control.

There had also been too much time wasted going out of his way to avoid people. No matter what he said—and had even convinced himself for a while—people really weren’t meant to be alone. Haven made a small difference. Oscar had done all the rest.

“Because of Oscar?” Keeton asked cheekily.

Returning his gaze to his mate, Demitrius smiled affectionately and bobbed his head in agreement. “Because of Oscar.”

Chapter Ten

“You wanted to see me?” Demitrius knocked lightly on the doorframe before stepping into Stavion’s office. He hoped whatever it was didn’t take long because the snow had finally melted, meaning he could resume his walks with Oscar to watch the sunrise—which was only an hour away.

There were only two other men in the room besides the coven leader and himself—Xander and a small, geeky-looking man he’d never met before. Alarm bells instantly went off inside his head when the stranger rose from his chair and gave him a cold smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“This gentleman here,” Xander began, only to be interrupted.

“Joseph Mahoney.” The newcomer took a step forward and held his hand out to Demitrius. “And you are?”

Demitrius fisted one hand at his side and reached up with the other to remove his sunglasses, snarling as he did so to show off his jaggedly pointed teeth. Being a monster wasn’t always a bad thing. As much as he wanted to fit in, he wasn’t above using his appearance to intimidate an asshole like Mr. Mahoney.

Clearing his throat to gain everyone’s attention, Xander rested his hip against the top of Stavion’s desk and crossed his arms over his chest. “As I was saying, this gentleman is under the assumption that we have something that belongs to him.”

“Is that so?” He knew exactly what that “something” was, but he had bad news for the guy. Oscar wasn’t going anywhere. “Sorry. I don’t know who you are, and I’m sure that I have nothing that belongs to you.” With that, he turned to leave, wanting to get to his mate as soon as possible.

“I’ve seen you together,” Joseph said to his back. “I’ve been watching you for days.”

The news sent a chill of dread down his spine, and Demitrius whirled around to loom over the pint-sized asshole. Before he could say anything, however, Xander stepped between him and Joseph with his hands upheld.

“If Mr. Accola says he doesn’t have anything of yours, I believe him. I think you need to leave.”

“I’m not leaving without my property.” Reaching into the inside pocket of his jacket, he extracted a stack of folded papers and waved them in Xander’s face. “I have signed contracts for all four Desirables. They belong to me, and you will bring them here immediately.”

“Ah, I see,” Xander answered calmly, extracting the papers from Joseph’s hand. “You don’t mind if I look at these, do you?”

Joseph waved his hand uncaringly as he glared up at Demitrius. “You might think you have some kind of claim to my Desirable, but you are sadly mistaken. I paid good money for the four of them, and I expect to have each one returned to me.”

Demitrius opened his mouth to tell the guy exactly where he could shove his expectations, but a glance at Xander had him pressing his lips together. It was only a minute movement of his head, and he didn’t even look at Demitrius, but the action was received loud and clear—keep his caustic remarks to himself until they could figure out a plan.

Seemingly unhappy with Demitrius’s lack of argument, Joseph crowded closer and jabbed a finger into his midsection. “Your little whore is leaving with me. Maybe you should go say your good-byes.”

The slight to his mate accompanied by the threat of having Oscar taken from him snapped Demitrius’s self-control.