Microsoft Word - Corey-Toni_Griffin.doc (9 page)

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what he was going to say to his brother. Before he knew what was happening, Corey opened his mouth and just started spewing out the details of everything that had taken place over the last two weeks.

Daniel was good and never once interrupted him, just sat quietly sipping his own coffee and listening to everything Corey said. When Corey finally finished talking, he looked at his brother. The expression on Daniel's face was hard to read. He turned back to drink the last of his morning cuppa when Daniel reached over and sharply whacked him upside the head.

"Oww… What the fuck?" Corey swore and he glared at his younger brother.

"You are the world's biggest dickhead," Daniel said, without a trace of regret for hitting him.

"I bloody well am not." Corey wasn't even going to touch the fact that he sounded like a petulant five-year-old.

"You are, and you
know
you are. The man is your fucking mate, Corey. You only get one in a lifetime. I know you were hurt when you were younger, but for the love of God, get over it already, before you lose the best thing that is probably ever going to happen to you."

Daniel stood up and walked to the sink to place his now empty cup within.

"I'll meet you out front. Move your ass. I want to

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run."

Corey was lost in thought and didn't realise his brother had walked up behind him until he felt another hard whack to his head.

"Daniel, for fuck's sake." He growled, his wolf was getting pissed. "Now, what the hell was
that
for?"

"Because I could, and you deserved more than one for the shit you pulled with your mate." Daniel shrugged nonchalantly then turned and walked out of the room.

Corey heard the front door close not too long later.

He knew Daniel was probably right but wasn't quite sure if he was ready to take another chance on love. Corey decided to put it out of his mind, for now at least, and grabbed his things as he followed Daniel out of the house.

Daniel leaned casually against the side of Corey's Camaro, arms crossed over his chest as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"What took you so long?" Daniel groused at him.

"Hold your bloody horses, mate," Corey bitched at his brother, but he couldn't help but grin like a loon. He missed his brother while he was away and really looked forward to the runs they took together.

Corey drove them to the pack lands. His brother kept up a diatribe the entire way of just how big of an idiot Corey was for turning Ethan away. Corey tried his best to

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justify himself to Daniel, but his words seemed to fall on deaf ears.

He sighed in relief when he finally pulled the car to a stop and they both exited the Camaro. Corey couldn't shift fast enough. At least in wolf form he wouldn't have to listen to his younger brother berate him every few seconds.

If he tried, Corey would just bite him.
Come to think of it, I
might just bite him anyway.

Corey glanced around and noticed several other cars in the private parking lot but he couldn't see or hear any of his pack mates close by.

He stripped down and stashed his clothes on the front seat of his car. This was private property and they had been lucky so far they hadn't had any cases of stolen vehicles.

Once Corey stood naked, he concentrated and called on the animal within him. His wolf was only too happy to be let free and Corey shifted seamlessly into his second form. He shook from head to toe, settling himself in. He would have yipped at the joy he felt at once again being a wolf, but he was Beta of his pack and he didn't act like that.

Daniel padded over to him and sat on his haunches in front of Corey for a moment before he lay down and rolled over, exposing his belly. Corey leaned down and licked the side of Daniel's face. His brother made a

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beautiful wolf, his coat a slightly lighter shade of brown than Corey's own.

Corey stepped back and allowed Daniel room to stand once again. They took off into the woods side by side and Corey had a strange thought about what it would be like to run with Ethan like this.

Daniel nipped playfully at his heals as they ran.

They caught the scents of a couple of rabbits and because Corey had slept through breakfast and had passed on lunch to go running, he gave chase, Daniel beside him the entire way. They caught their prey easily and feasted until their beasts were sated and replete with full bellies. Corey licked his chops, trying to clean away any blood that may have still remained in his fur.

They rested for a short time before they both stood and ran again. Corey sometimes thought he was flying with the way he bounded through the trees, his feet barely touching the ground before they were airborne once more.

Finally exhausted from their activities, Corey slowly started to make his way back to the car park. He shifted and dressed while he waited for Daniel to do the same. Many of the cars from earlier were now gone, with a couple new ones taking their places.

When Daniel had finished dressing, they both got in the car and Corey drove them back towards town. Daniel

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was surprisingly quiet during the drive; however his annoying brother didn't once take his eyes off Corey. He sat there in the passenger seat with his arms crossed and just stared at Corey until he felt like squirming under the intense scrutiny.

"Fine. I'll call him." Corey sighed in frustration as they entered Atherton again. It took everything in him not to reach over and wipe the smug satisfied expression off his younger brother's face.

"Good. Invite him to dinner tonight."

Corey looked at his watch and noticed the time was getting on to five in the afternoon. They had been running for several hours. "Are you nuts? It's far too late notice to do that."

"No, it's not. You're just trying to come up with an excuse to get out of this. The man is your mate and would rather be with you than anyone else, no matter how late the notice," Daniel assured him.

"How in the hell would you know?" Corey asked.

"'Cause I actually pay attention when other people talk, and if I was lucky enough to find my mate, you can bet your ass that I would hold onto him with both hands and not let go."

Corey reached over and placed his hand on his brother's arm, offering comfort.

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"He's out there, Daniel. Have faith. If I can find mine when I wasn't looking or even wanting him, then you will find yours. I know it."

"You better be right, otherwise I'm going to be pissed." Daniel chuckled lightly but Corey could tell it was slightly forced.

"I'll call him when we get home." He sighed in resignation. Funny thing was, though, Corey was actually looking forward to seeing his mate again.

"Good. I'll hang around long enough to make sure you don't back out then I'll make myself scarce."

Corey didn't know whether to be affronted or

touched that his brother was doing everything in his power to make sure Corey made things work with Ethan.

"You don't have to babysit me, you know," Corey tried. "I'm more than capable of making a phone call without supervision."

His brother just huffed, not saying anything. Corey gave up, knowing Daniel would do what Daniel wanted to do.

Corey pulled into the driveway of his house five minutes later and stopped the car under the carport.

They exited and made their way inside in relative silence. Corey took a deep breath to settle his nerves before he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialled Ethan's

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number before he lost his nerve. He didn't want his baby brother to know just how nervous he really was.

"Well, this is a surprise." Ethan's sultry tones came down the line and had an instant effect on Corey's body.

"A good one, I hope?" Corey asked.

"Definitely a good surprise. After the disaster of last night, I really wasn't expecting to hear from you again."

Corey's heart ached a little at the sadness and truth he could hear in Ethan's words. Yes, last night had been a disaster in the way things around them kept happening, but truthfully, Corey'd had a great time, and he believed that was all due to the fact that he was there with Ethan.

"Last night was perfect," he said, before he could stop himself.

"You like getting sneezed in the face, do you?"

Ethan laughed.

"Well, I can't say it was the most pleasant experience of my life, but it was with you and that's what made it perfect." Corey closed his eyes and collapsed back into the couch beneath him. Who the hell had taken control of his mouth? Yes, Corey might feel those things subconsciously but he never would have thought to actually say them out loud.

The silence down the line stretched on for long enough that Corey actually had to look at his phone and

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confirm that he hadn't lost the connection.

"Ethan?" he asked worriedly.

"Yeah… I'm here." Corey heard the crack in Ethan's voice and hated that he may have upset his mate.

"I'm sorry," he apologised hastily.

"For what? For saying the most wonderful thing anyone has ever said to me before?"

"Umm… Yeah?" Corey asked unsure now.

Ethan chuckled and Corey relaxed into the soft cushions of the couch.

"So… Umm…" God, he really didn't think it would be this hard. A nudge to his knee had him looking up in surprise to find Daniel standing over him, egging him on.

Corey had completely forgotten all about his brother still being there.

"Piss off," he told Daniel.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Bye," Ethan said timidly.

"What? NO! Ethan, not you… I wasn't saying that to you… Hello?" Shit, what a mess he'd made of this phone call. Daniel laughed to his left and Corey swung out at his brother but missed when Daniel jumped back, out of the way.

"Yeah, I'm still here. Are you sure you weren't talking to me?"

Corey really hated the hesitation he heard in his

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mate's voice.

"Yes, I'm sure. I was talking to my pain-in-the-ass younger brother, who I'm about ten seconds away from killing." Daniel just grinned evilly and waggled his brows at him.

"If you're sure. I can go if I'm interrupting anything."

"I called you, remember? I wouldn't have called if I was in the middle of something."

"Why
did
you call?" Ethan asked him plainly.

Corey sighed again and plunged forward. He really did have nothing to lose at this point.

"I called to ask if you would like to come round and have dinner with me tonight."

"Really?" Ethan sounded so shocked.

"Yes, really," Corey said. He noticed his brother moving out of the corner of his eye and watched as Daniel waved goodbye and walked out the door. He really did love the idiot.

"What's for dinner?" Ethan asked teasingly.

"Shit, I have no idea." Corey hadn't even thought of anything to cook for dinner, he mentally took stock of what was in his fridge and realised he needed to go to Woolies and do his shopping, it was a bit late in the day for that now though. "Uh, how does pizza sound to you?"

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"Pizza sounds perfect, I'll be there soon," Ethan said and hung up the phone without another word.

Corey leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He really couldn't believe he was going to do this again. His wolf lay curled up inside him, happy as a clam at the moment, knowing his mate was on his way over here.

Corey was still a little hesitant about opening up his heart to another person, but knowing Ethan was his mate, the one person chosen for him by fate, helped to alleviate some of his worry. Plus Corey knew if he didn't take the chance, his brother would be disappointed in him, and Corey never wanted to disappoint his brother if he could help it.

He walked around tidying up the house, wanting to make a good impression on Ethan. Corey washed the couple of dirty dishes that sat in the sink and was just drying his hands when a knock on his door sounded.

Corey could smell his mate through the door and his body reacted accordingly to having the other man so close.

His dick started to harden and his heart rate increased slightly. Corey took a breath to help calm his body then grabbed the handle and opened the door. Ethan stood on the other side, looking nervous and excited all at the same time and Corey acted before his brain could catch up with him.

He reached out, fisted his hand in the front of Ethan's shirt and pulled the man roughly up against him.

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His other hand went up and threaded fingers into the silky strawberry blond locks. He tilted Ethan's head back and slammed his lips down on Ethan's seconds after he heard a breathy 'Oh' from his mate.

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Ethan was momentarily stunned as he was pulled roughly into Corey then kissed to within an inch of his life.

He stood still for a moment until his brain finally caught up with him then Ethan melted into Corey's hold and parted his lips at his mate's request. Ethan wrapped his arms around Corey's neck and attempted to get closer to the other man but it just wasn't working. He groaned in annoyance.

Corey's hands untangled from his hair and Ethan felt them as they slid down his sides and cupped his ass.

Ethan groaned as Corey squeezed his cheeks and lifted him up. Ethan had no choice but to go with what the stronger man wanted. He wrapped his legs around Corey's waist and held on as Corey took a couple of steps then pressed Ethan up against a wall.