Being(s) In Love 03 - A Beginner’s Guide to Wooing Your Mate (26 page)

“It’s mixed berry,” Theo corrected him, but Zeki moved away.

“Are you going to use magic to influence them?” he asked, trying to sound light as he went into the next room. “Naughty Teddy.” Zeki drew strength from the magic there the same way Theo did. As he entered Theo’s kitchen, he took a breath and extended his hands at his sides, as if he could sense the magic enough to touch it. He probably could.

Theo straightened as he followed him, wanting very much to blend their magic the way Zeki had said. But it might be too soon for that, especially if Zeki was as worried about his control as he said he was. Theo didn’t generally shift into a wolf while still in town, full moon or no full moon, so he could relate.

Zeki looked over all the ingredients on the counter, the cold dough Theo had set out, the piles of berries and the single lemon, the cornstarch, and made a helpless face, as if pies were a mystery to him. Then he took himself to the corner and leaned against the wall, well out of Theo’s way. “Is it… okay if I watch?”

Theo felt himself get hot, but he nodded. “If you really want to.”

Zeki grinned as if he knew what Theo was thinking. “I like watching you.”

Having watched Zeki work, Theo understood that. Seeing him so focused was mesmerizing. So he tied his hair back again, washed his hands, and poured the blueberries into a pot. He tried to focus on them, adding cornstarch, water, sugar, and stirring, except when he added the cinnamon, he gave in to his worry over Zeki. Something was wrong with his mate. Theo physically couldn’t ignore it.

“My parents are going to be here in an hour or so,” he began, because Zeki had taken care with his outfit today and there had to be a reason.

Zeki scraped a hand through his hair. “Don’t worry. I’ll leave before they get here. I just… I wanted to see you before they… I wanted to see you.”

The last time Zeki had said that had been before what had turned into date number two. Zeki had walked Theo home after both of them had been through with work. Theo had been supposed to change so they could go out, so he’d left on his clothes from the firehouse. But Zeki hadn’t been able to stop stealing glances at the mark he’d left on Theo’s suspender strap, until he’d finally rested his palm over it. Theo had whined, greedily and without shame, until Zeki had curled his hands around the strap and used it to tug Theo against the wall.

He’d weakened with barely a fight. “Hawthorn and holly, Theo,” Zeki exhaled shakily. “That’s my mark. I want, Theo. I need—” Theo stopped him with a kiss, bending in to take Zeki’s mouth and feeling a surge of hot pleasure at how Zeki had yanked at his suspenders. Zeki kissed him and was kissed and if Theo hadn’t already been in love with his mate, he might have fallen for the way Zeki complained he wasn’t fair, that Theo couldn’t wear that mark and kiss him like that. “This is,” Zeki gasped into his mouth. “This is….”

It was Theo wooing his mate to stay, by whatever means available, but he hesitated, and the moment of air and clarity let Zeki shudder and recover enough to pull his mouth away. But he hadn’t left. He slid his hand down, pressing his thumb to the white threaded symbol of what he felt for Theo, and then Zeki dropped to his knees to suck him off.

Afterward, Theo had led Zeki to his bedroom for the first time and gotten hard again from how Zeki had swept his hands over the walls, claiming them, whether he knew it or not. Zeki stared at Theo’s cock with a stunned, then determined expression, which was how Theo had ended up facedown and coming apart with Zeki’s fingers inside him, and Zeki whispering, “Teddy Baby,” at his neck before spilling all over his back.

Zeki apologized for that, evidently thinking it was rude since he hadn’t asked first. Theo snorted at him, then huffed and cleaned himself up. They spent the rest of the night half-dressed, eating whatever food Theo had around and talking, sometimes watching TV. He hadn’t asked Zeki to stay the night, though he wanted to, but despite all his worries, he’d fallen asleep safe in his mate’s arms.

By then the TV hadn’t been on. Theo hadn’t even noticed.

He’d woken up in the morning to Zeki dressed and uncertain, but there. He had to go to work, Zeki explained shortly, but then gave an angry, entirely human growl, and crawled back on top of Theo to kiss him good-bye before dashing out the door. He’d left that puzzling scent behind him, the one Theo was starting to think of as settled, or decided, the one that was a lot like yes.

But Zeki was giving Theo that same uncertain look now.

Theo stirred blueberries as purple as Zeki’s pants but stopped himself from cutting up the strawberries, reddish pink like Zeki’s favorite canvas shoes. “What’s wrong, Zeki? Please.” He didn’t know why he was asking when Zeki was likely anxious for the same reasons that had Theo making the pie. He took the blueberries off the heat and poked at a raspberry. They were bright too, colorful, sweet and tart. He kept his gaze on them. “If you choose me, Zeki, if you claim me, not even my parents would change my mind. That’s how this works.” His parents wouldn’t change his mind now either, nor did he think they would try, but Zeki didn’t know that.

Zeki gave a little twitch. “I wouldn’t do that!” Zeki promised him earnestly. “I wouldn’t come between you and your—” He paused for a hard breath. “—pack—parents. They were there for you when I wasn’t. You shouldn’t choose me.”

Theo forgot all about the pie. “It wasn’t your fault.” He thought Zeki knew that. Zeki hadn’t been taught anything about mating, that’s why he hadn’t known. In fact, his Aunt Ramona was so outraged by that she was already on a crusade to improve the school’s curriculum when it came to mating. The community needed education and further resources. It needed outreach. Then what had happened to them would hopefully not happen to anyone else. Theo tried again. “It wasn’t you, Zeki. You couldn’t have known.”

“Yeah,” Zeki agreed, lying through his teeth. “I know that.” He waved a hand. “Make your pie. Don’t mind me.” Theo didn’t move, and after a while, Zeki ducked his head. “I
should
have known, though,” he admitted, before glancing up again, with heat in his eyes. “I wish I’d known.”

The very idea of what they could have gotten up to as teenagers—Theo would have taken Zeki to The Meadows without a second thought—made Theo flush and go back to preparing the berries. “You don’t work today?” The closer it got to the Spring Thaw and the summer season, the busier all the businesses got. But Zeki shook his head and began to idly talk about the influx of tourists, and how he almost felt like one, sometimes, with how different things had gotten while he’d been away.

Theo didn’t interrupt him when he moved on to speculate what he’d do once the summer was over. Wolf’s Paw got tourists in the winter, but not nearly so many. If anyone else had so far inquired about the services of a wizard, Theo hadn’t heard about it, although the firehouse would be semisteady work. But he knew better than to comment. He wanted Zeki to stay, but he couldn’t make him, especially not if he couldn’t find meaningful work in his field.

Everything would be so much easier if his parents went easy on him. Theo stared intently at the ingredients spread out before him. He rinsed juice from his fingers and began to roll out the dough. He wanted it smooth, like Zeki’s path to him. He patted it into place as gently as Zeki handed him cups of coffee, then frowned. His parents should see that. Zeki was trying so hard for a human who hadn’t known he had a mate a few weeks ago. Zeki took such care with everything. He didn’t mind that Theo’s emotions could swing wildly right now, or that during the full moon Theo had shown up at his door as a large wolf. He’d called Theo up and pulled Theo close to him on the floor and fallen asleep while scratching his ears, and then let Theo out again in the morning when Theo hadn’t wanted to shift back and walk home naked.

Zeki wanted to fix this, and he couldn’t yet, and it was driving him crazy, but the one thing he didn’t want to do was upset Theo more. So he was standing there, out of Theo’s way, looking worried and sexy, with his strange combination of colors drawing Theo’s eye. His tattoos stood out, black ink buried under his skin like thorns.

Theo folded raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries into the cooling mix of blueberry. He cut the lemon and squeezed in some lemon juice. There had to be a kick; this was for Zeki after all. Theo thought of Zeki poking his head out of Theo’s shower to curl his finger invitingly in Theo’s direction, and then of him in the coffee shop, beaming when Theo walked in. He thought of Zeki’s thumb over that mark and Zeki begging him to be more careful. Zeki always thought Theo should be more cautious, but Theo knew what he was doing, in this at least.

This was his kitchen, and this was his mate. Theo poured the sweet, tart mix of berries into the pie pan, and then turned to cutting and assembling his latticework. Every step had to be right. Everyone had to see how it could be, his family, and especially Zeki.

Zeki stopped in the middle of a story about one of the shop’s customers. He dragged in a long breath and spoke in a slow, drugged voice. “Theo, what are you doing?”

Startled, Theo glanced over to see Zeki leaning against the wall, his eyes heavy-lidded, his face darker with some strong emotion. He pulled at his sweater, as though he was hot, though Theo had only just turned on the oven.

“What….” Zeki swallowed and opened his hands, palms up, like someone wading through water. “What are you putting in there?” He was nearly panting, as if Theo’s magic had a taste, and he liked it too much to be quiet. “I haven’t eaten anything and I feel….” He trailed off, then licked his lips. “Theo?”

Theo twisted to study every curious, aroused inch of his mate. “It’s about you,” he explained quietly, but knew words wouldn’t be enough. He took a piece of dough cut from the edges, and a small scoop of the fruit filling, and held it out. The last thing he expected was for Zeki to trip forward and take it into his mouth. Theo made a strangled noise as Zeki sucked it from his fingertips, and then licked purple sugar from his lips.

His liquid eyes went glassy. “What?” Disbelief made him loud for a moment, and then he shook his head again as if trying to banish the spell. “Theo, you… that is—”

Theo put his berry-stained fingertips to Zeki’s mouth and wiped away a trace of flour. “I like you, Zeki,” he told him heavily, flushing all over for how Zeki focused on him. “You’re my mate and I like you. I more than like you, which you know.” It was as close as he dared for now, although he’d admitted it before.

For their third date they’d gone to the movies, all the way to the multiplex in Carson. They’d gotten overpriced popcorn and everything. Zeki said his father insisted it was what you did. The movie was some human romantic comedy Zeki told him the sheriff had recommended, which couldn’t be true. But they snickered together anyway, and groaned at the terrible dialogue, and shared a soft drink that cost way too much. Then afterward they pulled over on a side road to make out in Violet’s old, beat-up car, and Zeki held him after bringing them both off and looked at him in the dark, even though he couldn’t see without light like Theo could. Theo swallowed and heard himself say, “I like you so much, Zeki,” and somehow, Theo saw stars in Zeki’s eyes.

Zeki touched his forehead to Theo’s and whispered, “I don’t want to go back yet.”

“Then don’t,” Theo told him urgently, too urgently, he thought later. Zeki might have been tempted, but in the end, hadn’t stayed over that night.

The next night he’d been on Theo’s doorstep, half-dressed, like he’d run there from his own bed. “I sleep better here,” he explained, as if Theo wouldn’t understand that in his bones. They kissed in the doorway, and the living room, and the hall by the bedroom. Theo accidentally ripped Zeki’s underwear. Zeki fucked between Theo’s thighs and ate him out in the shower after and climbed over him to sleep in his arms before Theo could worry about asking him to. Theo made him fry bread in the morning. Zeki kissed him until his lips had felt raw, and pushed up his shirt to trace patterns into his skin until Theo nearly begged to be marked.

Zeki knew how Theo felt, and he wasn’t cruel, so he didn’t deny it. But he made a mournful noise and shook his head. Something about the pie had still surprised him.

“I like you too. You’re… you’re my Theo,” he confessed in a small voice.

The title wasn’t mate, but it was closer to it than boyfriend. Theo inhaled the confused but hungry scent of him, so close to what it could be, and felt bold. More than that, he felt powerful.

Zeki seemed to know it. He swallowed. “That’s not fair, Theo, using magic on me.”

Theo immediately flinched. “Did I compel you?” He thought he’d put in his emotions, not anything forceful, but maybe….

Zeki ended Theo’s frantic thoughts by stuffing a bit of dough in his mouth. Theo ate it and felt a bit warm, but wasn’t too surprised it didn’t affect him; he didn’t need a pie to show him how Zeki was amazing. “It’s not going to work on me,” he informed Zeki anyway, with some smugness. “I know I put that in there. I wanted them to know about you, and how great I think you are, and how happy I am that you will, that you might, choose to stay with me.”

It almost hurt to look at Zeki’s surprise and embarrassment after that. He stared at Theo in outright wonder for several moments, then drew his eyebrows together and glanced away. “Nothing’s official yet.”

“It is to me,” Theo answered simply. The next part was harder to say. “It’s okay if it isn’t for you yet.”

At that “yet,” Zeki narrowed his eyes. But he didn’t smell angry. “We’re supposed to be courting. We’re supposed to be thinking. You were supposed to be careful.”

Theo surprised himself by rolling his eyes. “I was. You’re just irresistible.” That was probably too much. The pie must be affecting him after all. He amended his statement. “To me. You’re irresistible to me.” He was powerful once again at how weakened Zeki was by the words. His posture eased, his whole body sinking toward Theo. His scent was honey and almonds.

Then Zeki blinked and pulled himself together, and the cinnamon and walnuts scent of him blocked out the new, sweeter scents. Theo couldn’t tell where they had come from, but Zeki was staring at him in a way that made Theo flush.