Microsoft Word - Corey-Toni_Griffin.doc (5 page)

His eyes zeroed in on one customer in particular.

Ethan's cock began to take notice as his mate's scent was finally distinguishable against all the other smells inside.

Ethan watched as both Declan and another young man served from behind the counter. There were a half dozen other people patiently waiting their turn, apart from Corey and Ethan.

Ethan casually walked up behind his mate, even if his insides felt like a riot was taking place within his stomach. He watched and waited, not saying anything for the moment. Ethan smiled when he saw the exact moment Corey realised he was there. The man's entire body stiffened and Ethan heard the man inhale deeply.

He would have liked a nicer reaction than his mate stiffening, but he would take what he could get for the time being and work on it changing for the future.

Ethan reached out and placed his hand on Corey's shoulder then leaned close and whispered in his ear.

39

Corey Toni

Griffin

"Hi there, sexy. Now I know why you said no to meeting me for lunch. If it was just dessert you wanted with me, you could have said so. We can work up to the bigger meals in time." Ethan had to stop himself from leaning that little bit farther and either licking or biting Corey's ear.

He was, however, heartened when Corey shivered beneath his touch. Ethan stepped away slightly and trailed his hand down Corey's back until he rested it just above his ass. As much as Ethan would have loved to feel that fine looking globes, he wasn't about to feel up his mate in the middle of Declan's bakery. Well, any more than he already had anyway.

Ethan removed his hand then stepped up beside Corey in front of the display case after a customer had been served and left. Ethan didn't bother looking at the sweets.

Instead, all his attention remained on his mate.

The stubborn man stood there with his fists

clenched and his jaw locked. Ethan did notice, however, that his mate's eyes kept darting his way.

Ethan smiled internally then stepped close once again until his chest was pressed right up against Corey's side.

He whispered in Corey's ear. "You are my mate, and you
will
be mine. You may as well just give in now and save us both the trouble, as I plan to keep you until we're

40

Corey Toni

Griffin

old and grey and can no longer get it up." Ethan placed a soft, tender kiss on Corey's cheek then turned all his attention to the sweets in the display cases.

As he looked at what remained of the desserts, Ethan could feel Corey's gaze boring into him but didn't turn around again.

The young guy behind the counter stepped up and served Corey, his mate's deep voice washed over Ethan and he had a hard time keeping back the urge to beg the man to bend him over the display case and fuck him raw.

Just as he was about to open his mouth, Declan stepped up in front of him and smiled warmly. "Hey, Ethan."

Ethan took a breath to settle his body then smiled at the other wolf.

"Hi, I have in my pocket a fifty from your brother and his mate and basically carte blanche to take home a bucketload of sweets, so can you load me up?"

Declan laughed.

"Sure thing."

Ethan watched as Declan picked up a large, flat piece of cardboard and with a squeeze on both ends, the thing turned into a box. Declan pulled open the lid, placed a piece of lining in the base, and started piling in the sweets.

Ethan noticed out of the corner of his eye Corey

41

Corey Toni

Griffin

handed over his money then received his change. Corey turned to leave and Ethan would swear to whatever god you wanted that Corey's hand trailed across his ass before the man strode across the small space and left the shop.

Ethan turned and watched through the front window as Corey walked over and got into a dark green Camaro then tore out of the parking lot like the hounds from hell were on his tail.

When he turned back around, Declan was grinning at him. "Not giving the man too hard a time, are you?"

Ethan laughed. "You know it. He just felt up my ass in the middle of your shop." Ethan waggled his brows.

Corey was
so
going to be his.

"Hey, none of that in here. This is a respectable place of business." Ethan could hear the teasing tone in Declan's voice.

"Is Liam aware of that fact?" he asked with a straight face.

"You bite your tongue. That man can do whatever he wants to me whenever he wants." Declan placed the large box on the top of the display case and showed Ethan the contents before he closed it up. There was way more than fifty dollars' worth in there.

"Now, knowing my greedy brother and that husband of his, these are more than likely all for them. So

42

Corey Toni

Griffin

what can I get you?"

"You know them so well… doesn't mean I won't try and steal a couple, though in your brother's state and the way he's been going through food lately, I doubt they'll last very long at all." Ethan investigated the contents on display again then started pointing.

"Can I please have a couple of your chocolate mousse puffs, two of the lemon curd tarts, and I'll take the rest of the raspberry and almond crumble slices. That really does look delicious."

"Thanks. Wanted to try something new this morning and as you can see, it seems to have been a hit,"

Declan said, as he boxed up Ethan's order.

"Well if it tastes anywhere near as good as it looks, I'm going to love it.

Declan placed both boxes in a plastic bag for Ethan to carry and Ethan handed over his money, as well as Ben's.

With his change shoved in his pocket, Ethan said his farewells and promised to convey Declan's greeting to Tommy and Ben.

Once he was sitting in his car, Ethan didn't want to wait until he got home to try some of the desserts, so he reached over and popped the lid on his smaller box of goodies and pulled out one of the raspberry slices. The various flavours burst across his pallet when he took his

43

Corey Toni

Griffin

first bite. The sweetness of the icing sugar and the crumble mix, combined with the slight tartness of the berries, contrasted perfectly with the crunchiness of the almonds and the softness of the pastry. The thing was divine and if Ethan hadn't already bought what was left, he would be going right back in there to do that.

Ethan pulled away from the shop and headed the car towards the Alpha house. He had more work to do this afternoon, and he was quite sure Tommy was probably climbing the walls by now wanting to know where his desserts were. Ethan grinned the entire drive back as he remembered the slight touch of his mate's hand rubbing against his ass. Corey
would
be his. It was only a matter of time.

44

Corey Toni

Griffin

Corey was going out of his ever loving mind. For the last week he'd barely been able to concentrate on anything. Every time he'd finally get his mind away from Ethan Davies, the annoying man would do something else to bring Corey's attention right back to him again. Be it a message, a phone call, a personal visit to his house, or even just randomly bumping into the man while he was out and about.

He knew he'd brought this on himself. If only he'd have been able to keep his bloody hands to himself in Sinful Delights. Declan's shop, though, was so perfectly named, Corey hadn't been able to resist the temptation of just one touch. He'd been regretting it ever since, not just because Ethan seemed to be the kind of man who if you give him an inch, he'll take a bloody mile, but also because Corey couldn't get the feel of Ethan's body out of his head, and he wanted more.

Corey had been at odds with his wolf the entire time. His animal didn't understand Corey's reluctance to claim his mate and wanted him to pull his head out of his ass and get a move on. Corey's wolf had never liked William, but Corey ignored his beast and went ahead and

45

Corey Toni

Griffin

fell in love with the man. That had been the last time Corey hadn't listened to his animal. Until now.

He had to admit though, his mate was a tenacious thing. No matter how many times Corey told him 'no', Ethan just kept right on texting or calling him. Corey couldn't help himself. He read every single text that came through and listened to the messages Ethan left when Corey didn't answer the calls.

Yes, sometimes he did answer, purely because

Corey couldn't deny the fact any longer that he wanted to hear his mate's voice.

No one had ever pursued Corey like this before—

not even William. Corey hated to admit it but looking back on his relationship now, more than a decade removed from the incident, Corey could clearly see how one-sided his time with William had been.

If Corey had listened to his wolf or even opened his eyes a little, he may have been able to save himself from the heartache he'd endured. Instead, he'd jumped in feet first, listened to the pretty lines he was told, and believed every single word out of the man's mouth. Why shouldn't he have? The guy was his professor after all. Corey had been paying the price ever since.

He wanted desperately to believe what Tommy had told him at the end of their meeting—that if Corey did open

46

Corey Toni

Griffin

himself up to the possibility of something with his mate, that it wouldn't come back and bite him in the ass—that maybe they had a chance at a happily ever after. Corey just knew if he did give in and hand his heart over to Ethan and the man ended up breaking it then Corey wouldn't survive, not with the way he already felt about Ethan. He couldn't go through that twice.

A loud knock on his door broke Corey's thoughts.

He looked at his watch then at the door.

"Shit." Corey swore, he'd meant to call around this afternoon and cancel poker. He knew his friends too well and each and every one of them would be getting ready to butt in to his personal life. Unfortunately, Corey had gotten distracted and forgotten all about it.

Maybe if he just didn't open the door, they would assume he wasn't home and go away.

"Open the damn door, Corey. Do you think all this food is light? Let me tell you it's not. It weighs a bloody tonne," Declan yelled at him through the wooden door before his foot connected with the bottom of the door several times in another attempt to knock, seeing as how he apparently had his hands full.

Corey sighed and resigned himself to a night of nosy, busy-body friends and walked over to unlock the door and let Declan and Liam inside. There really was no

47

Corey Toni

Griffin

way that he wanted to pass up the opportunity to eat more of Declan's cooking. Corey didn't understand why Liam wasn't the size of a house by now from being mated to Declan. He stood back and waved an arm in the direction of the kitchen. "You know where to go."

"Thanks," Declan said shortly, as he breezed into the house and strode right through and into his kitchen, where he placed down the trays and containers of food he'd been carrying.

Liam walked in after his mate, also carrying a couple of bags. He looked at Corey then shook his head as he tutted and followed after his mate.

"What?" Corey asked, annoyed.

Liam came out, sans bags and holding two beers.

He handed one to Corey, who twisted off the top and took a large swig.

"Tell me this," Liam said then took a drink of his own beer before continuing. "If it wasn't Declan on the other side of that door with the food, would you have opened up?"

Corey hated that his friends actually knew him so well. He downed another large mouthful of beer before looking at his fellow Beta.

"Probably not."

"That's exactly what we thought as well, which is

48

Corey Toni

Griffin

why we were asked to get here first."

"And because you made me stand there holding all this, no éclairs for you," Declan called out from the kitchen.

"Like hell," Corey said, as he stalked toward his friend, planning on giving the smart-mouthed man a piece of his mind. He would get his hands on those éclairs, one way or another.

Brad and Samuel arrived together before Corey even made it into the kitchen—Kieran following them in a moment later.

"I see he let you in." Brad laughed with Liam.

"Assholes," Corey muttered. He knew they all would hear him with their enhanced abilities.

"You shouldn't be talking about anyone else's asshole but mine," Ethan announced, as he walked round the corner and stepped inside. "And, seeing as how your stubborn ass hasn't seen mine yet, you can't exactly talk about it, now can you?"

Corey leaned back against the wall and let his head thump on the hard surface as he closed his eyes. Why?

Why did everyone see fit to torture him like this?

Corey opened his eyes and scanned the room,

making eye contact with all of his friends but deliberately skipping over his mate.

"I hate you. I hate you all," he said.

49

Corey Toni

Griffin

Ben stepped through the door after Ethan and

kicked it closed behind him. He set Tommy down, after having carried him inside to help try and hide the rather large protruding belly the Alpha mate was sporting.

"Stop being such a baby and take it like a man," his mate teased him. Corey growled low and menacingly. If his mate didn't learn to shut his mouth soon then Corey would gladly shut it for him. His mind conjured all different ways he could go about completing that task and before he knew it, he was hard, aching, and all kinds of pissed off.

Ethan sidled up close to him and leaned in.

"I really would like to know what it was you were just thinking about. The play of emotions over your face and the scent of your arousal have me both intrigued and horny."