Just a Taste of Me [Wolf Creek Pack 2] (6 page)

In the meantime, he had a kitchen to clean. Looking around the mess in the kitchen, Keeley could only shake his head. It was going to take him at least an hour to get it cleaned up. He might as well get started.

* * * *

“Fuck, man, why didn’t you warn me that Keeley had a temper?” Devlin said as he sat down beside Reece on the front steps, rubbing his sore head.

“You mean you didn’t pick up on that last night?” Reece asked in mock surprise.

“Sorry, dude, I was too busy admiring the view.”

“Shut up before I hit you again. You’re not supposed to be admiring anything on my mate,” Reece growled.

“Well, if he didn’t keep putting it all out on display—”

“Devlin,” Reece growled again.

“I’m only saying—”

“I know what you’re saying, but you try asking that man to wear clothes. You saw what happened when I did it,” Reece replied.

“No, I saw what happened when you yelled at him. You didn’t ask him anything,” Devlin stated firmly as he looked over at Reece. “In fact, in the two times I’ve seen him, I heard about three sentences come out of your mouth where you weren’t yelling at him. The rest of the time you’re either shouting or carrying him off somewhere.”

Reece could feel his face heat up at Devlin’s admonishment. He knew he probably deserved it, but no one liked to be told that they were wrong or had behaved badly, especially not him.

“Have you claimed him yet?” Devlin asked after a few moments.

“Yeah, a few times. That seems be the only time we’re
not
arguing,” Reece said.

“What did you think of it?”

Reece chuckled, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together, letting them hang between his legs. He looked up at the bright blue sky, inhaling deeply, then slowly letting it out. “Un-fucking-believable.”

“Yeah, I always thought so, too,” Devlin said.

Reece’s forehead wrinkled up as a sudden thought hit him. Was Devlin concerned how he would react if he brought a man home? They had never discussed Devlin’s sexual preference but it had never really mattered to Reece. He turned to look at his best friend and beta. “Why have you never brought anyone home? Were you afraid of how I’d react?”

“No. I just never met anyone I cared enough about to bring home. I’m hoping that I have a mate out there somewhere, waiting for me to find him. And I sure as hell hope it’s a him.”

“And if it’s not?” Reece asked curiously.

Devlin shrugged his wide shoulders. “I guess I’ll deal with it just as you have.”

“Good god, don’t do that,” Reece grumbled. “I haven’t handled this well at all.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m pretty sure I’ve totally fucked things up with Keeley, and I haven’t got a clue how to fix it,” Reece said sadly.

“What did you do? More yelling?”

“No, I just wish it was that easy. Last night Keeley was joking around and I took it the wrong way. When he tried to apologize I wouldn’t let him. I basically ignored him for the rest of the night. To tell you the truth, I was surprised he was still here this morning.”

“What did he say that made you so upset?”

“It was stupid,” Reece said, looking back down at his hands.

“So? It obviously upset you. What did he say?”

“While we were having sex I made him admit that he was my mate. Afterwards, when I reminded him of it, he laughed and told me he had said it under duress.”

“I can see where that might upset you,” Devlin said. “I think I would have been upset, too.”

Reece nodded. Keeley’s words had made him upset. They had hurt. He had thought that their time together then had been special, something he knew he had never experienced with another living being. He had thought that Keeley had felt it, too.

When Keeley had told him that he had admitted to being his mate under duress, Reece had felt stupid for seeing something in their mating that Keeley hadn’t. He had just wanted to get away as fast as he could to lick his wounds in private.

“Then what happened?” Devlin asked, interrupting Reece’s thoughts.

“I told him I was going to go take a shower, but he followed me. He said that he was sorry, he hadn’t meant to hurt my feelings. He had just been joking around. Then he said that we hadn’t known each other long enough to learn each others
idiosyncrasies
.”

“And you said?”

Reece shrugged. “I didn’t.”

“Didn’t what?”

“I didn’t say anything. After a few moments he went back into the bedroom and I took a shower. By the time I got back to bed, he was asleep.”

“That’s it? You didn’t say anything? You didn’t wake him up and try to talk to him? Nothing?” Devlin asked in surprise.

Reece shook his head. “No, like a dumb ass, I just went to sleep.”

“Dude, you are right. You have fucked up.”

“Gee, thanks. You’re all heart,” Reece replied sarcastically as he reached up and punched Devlin playfully in the arm.

“So what are you going to do?”

“I have no idea. If Keeley were a woman, I’d buy him flowers or something, but he’s not. I don’t know how to tell another man that I’m sorry.”

“Men like flowers too, you know,” Devlin smirked.

“Seriously?” Reece asked, looking back over at him in surprise. “You think Keeley would like flowers?”

“It would never hurt to try, and even if he doesn’t, he might see the gesture for what it was. On the other hand, you could always buy him some clothes. He seems to be dressed in your shirts a lot.”

Reece’s face turned bright red and he dropped his head.

“What?” Devlin asked when Reece mumbled.

“I like him wearing my shirts, okay?” Reece growled as he lifted his head and glared at his beta.

“Dude, you have it bad,” Devlin grinned.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re falling for him,” Devlin said. “Luckily for you, that’s not a bad thing where your mate is concerned.”

“You don’t think it’s too—girlish?” Reece asked, the uncertainty clear in his voice.

“What? Just because you’re a man means you can’t fall in love? I sure as hell hope that’s not true. I have every intention of falling in love one day, hopefully with my mate. Does that make me any less of a man?”

“No, I guess not.” Reece said a moment later. “This is all just so new to me. I always hoped I’d find my mate some day, but Keeley kind of threw me for a loop. I don’t know what to do with him.”

“Want me to draw you some pictures?” Devlin leered.

Reece rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean, Dev. He’s a man. I don’t know anything about being with a man. Hell, last night Keeley had to show me how to—well, I just don’t know what in the hell I’m doing.”

“I sure wish you’d finish that sentence. It’s going to drive me crazy not knowing what he showed you.”

“You’re not helping here,” Reece growled.

“Okay, okay. Have you tried just talking to the guy? Asking him what he wants? Maybe he likes flowers and jewelry and stuff like that. Maybe he’d like to be romanced, cuddled and kissed. Some men do, you know, and it doesn’t mean that they are any less of a man. We all need to feel wanted, Reece, even men.”

“You think?” Reece asked skeptically.

Before Devlin could answer him, the front door flew open. Reece and Devlin jumped to their feet and turned to see Keeley standing in the doorway, his hands on his hips as he glared down at them.

“You two need to go into town and get my car and my clothes. While you’re there, pick up another cookie sheet. The last one has a big dent in it the size of your heads. I need a new one,” Keeley stated firmly before slamming the door closed.

Reece stared at the door for a moment in shock. “You think he’d get mad at me if I went in and asked him for a kiss before we left?”

“I think he’s already mad at you, so you couldn’t be any worse off if you did. Besides, if he likes sex it might put him in a better mood. He does like sex, doesn’t he?” Devlin asked curiously.

Reece grinned over at him. “Oh yeah, he likes sex.”

Devlin rolled his eyes as he nudged his alpha in the shoulder. “I’ll be waiting in the truck.”

Reece waited about two seconds after Devlin walked away before walking into the house and heading for the kitchen. He found Keeley rinsing dishes in the sink. Standing in the doorway, he watched his mate for a moment, wondering how he was going to bridge the rift between them.

“Keeley?” he said softly as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

“What?” Keeley asked sharply, not even turning around to look at him.

“Never mind,” Reece said, turning around to leave. Keeley was obviously still pissed at him.

“What do you want, Reece?” Keeley inquired quietly before Reece could leave the room.

Reece stopped and looked back over his shoulder to see Keeley staring at him. “I just wanted to know if I could get a kiss before I went into town.”

He was perplexed when Keeley threw the dishtowel down onto the counter and walked towards him. Damn, he looked cute.

“You never have to ask for a kiss, Quilliam,” Keeley replied right before he leaned up and kissed him.

Reece groaned, wrapping his arms around Keeley, lifting his body up in his arms and walking the few steps it took to reach the kitchen table. Setting Keeley down on the table, he moved in to stand between his thighs.

Lifting his lips a moment later, Reece looked down into Keeley’s face. “I’m sorry, Keeley. I know I was an ass last night and I have no excuse. I
was
upset by what you said and I should have accepted your apology when you gave it. Will you accept mine now?”

Keeley stared up at Reece, surprised that he was apologizing. He hadn’t been expecting that from him. It might change a lot of things between them. “I’ll accept your apology on one condition,” he said.

“Anything, just name it,” Reece said quickly.

“Get me more than one cookie sheet, because the next time you ignore me, I’m going to hit you over the head again.”

* * * *

Reece climbed into the truck twenty minutes later and started it up, driving down the driveway. As he pulled out onto the main road, he could feel Devlin looking over at him in amusement.

He turned and glared at him when Devlin leaned over and sniffed him, then snickered. “Not a word!” he growled.

Devlin held his hands up in surrender. “I didn’t say anything.”

“Good!” Reece said as he turned to look back out the front window.

“However, if I did say something, it would be that you reek of sex. I assume that Keeley accepted your apology?” Devlin asked, raising his eyebrow in avid curiosity when Reece’s face turned red and a slow grin crossed his lips.

“Yeah,” Reece replied, remembering how quickly one small goodbye kiss had turned into an all out romp on the kitchen table. Just the thought of how sexy Keeley had looked spread out on the table while he had pounded into his tight little ass was making him hard again. He wasn’t sure he was ever going to get enough of him.

“Please tell me you didn’t fuck him on the kitchen counter,” Devlin asked.

“Nope,” Reece chuckled, “kitchen table.”

“Dude! That’s—that’s just—”

“Envious?” Reece asked tauntingly as he smiled over at Devlin.

“Yes, damn it!” Devlin snarled. “I want someone to put that look on
my
face.”

“What look?” Reece asked, wrinkling his forehead.

“Oh please,” Devlin replied, rolling his eyes. “You look like the cat that ate the canary. If you were any more pleased with yourself right now, you’d be revolting.”

Reece just grinned. Yeah, he was pretty pleased with himself right now. Not only had Keeley given him a kiss goodbye, and then some, but he had accepted his apology when he had every right not to.

He was slowly coming to realize that Keeley did not fit into the general stereotype of what he thought humans were. He was more giving and unselfish than anyone he had ever met, werewolf or human. It was enough to rock the foundation of Reece’s beliefs about humans.

“You still going to get him flowers?”

Reece smiled over at Devlin before looking back to the road ahead of them. “Yeah. He deserves them.”

Reece was quiet for a moment, thinking about his conceptions of how humans were, before turning to look back over at Devlin. “Dev? What do you think of humans?”

“What do you mean?”

Reece shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve always thought humans were—less than us, I guess. They seem so greedy and unscrupulous, you know?”

“I think that’s just because of the ones you’ve had dealings with. Not all humans are like that, Reece. Most of them, in fact, are pretty nice. Sure, they tend to look out for themselves, but that’s just because they don’t have packs.”

“I guess. Keeley just seems so much different than that.”

“How so?”

“After the way I treated him—hell, from the moment I met him, he’s been nothing but accepting of me. It didn’t even faze him when I told him that I was a shape shifter. He already knew.”

“He already knew? How?” Devlin asked in surprise, sitting up straighter in his seat.

“His best friend is mated to a shape shifter. I guess he’s been living with their pack for the last few weeks.”

“No shit? What pack?”

Reece burst out laughing. “You know? I was so busy trying to get him to kiss me I never got around to asking.”

“Bet you never thought you’d be in that position,” Devlin smirked.

“No, I never did, but, strangely enough, I can’t imagine being mated to anyone else now. How weird is that?”

“It’s not weird at all, Reece. He’s your mate. You’re supposed to feel that way,” Devlin responded.

“Is that all it is? Am I feeling this way just because he’s my mate?” Reece asked. Keeley had voiced that very issue. Reece wondered if Keeley might be right. Was he feeling a strong connection to him because they were mates or was it something else?

“I don’t know, Reece. I’ve never had a mate. That’s only something you can answer. But you’ve dated before. Haven’t you ever felt close to someone? Is it anything like what you’re feeling for Keeley?”

“No. That’s just it. I’ve never felt this way about someone before. It’s like I can’t stop thinking about him, wanting him. Just the thought of you, my best friend, seeing him dressed in just my shirt makes me want to rip your throat out, and I love seeing him in my shirt.”