“I don’t like this,” Silva said into the space between them, breath rushing over Wylder’s face. Silva might have been a couple inches shorter, but it didn’t affect his stature in the least.
Wylder lifted his chin. “I’m not backing down.”
Letting out a hard breath through his nose, Silva tucked his chin for a moment before meeting Wylder’s gaze again. He stepped forward, closing the last few inches between them, pressing until Wylder could feel every lean inch of him.
Swallowing, Wylder searched the silver eyes in front of him. There was no give in Silva.
“You’ll do exactly as I say and follow my lead without question. The creatures we’re going to see aren’t the kind who work in this building or stand in line at a coffee shop. Do you understand?”
Wylder nodded, nose bumping Silva’s and nearly going cross-eyed keeping him in focus.
Silva relaxed, but only an inch. Wylder swayed forward, unable to help himself.
One corner of Silva’s lips lifted in a smirk. He started to step back, but Wylder wasn’t ready to let him go. Gripping Silva’s hips, Wylder pulled him close again. It felt good to have Silva between his hands, in his space. He was dying to know if Silva felt the same.
“Wait…are we going to talk about this?”
The smirk left Silva’s face. “Eventually. For now, keeping you safe and keeping the door closed are the only things that can have my energy.”
It stung. More than Wylder wanted to admit. He nodded and dropped his hands.
Silva took a full step back. “We’ll head to your uncle’s, help him re-fortify, and then we’ll head out once the sun goes down.”
“Why wait that long?”
“The Fae we need to talk to only dwells in the dark.”
Silva
Not closing the distance between him and Wylder had taken every drop of Silva’s considerable will. Having his mate’s hands on him and Wylder’s breath warm on his lips without tasting him was perhaps the harshest test Silva had faced in all his long years. But he’d held firm. Wylder’s safety and the safety of this realm he’d pledged his existence to protecting were paramount.
If they were successful in their quest to keep the door sealed and the Hunt on the other side of it, he and Wylder would havetime to explore their bond. For his part, Silva knew his choice. The affection he already felt growing for Wylder was evidence enough. Whether Wylder would feel the same once he’d gotten to know Silva was another story.
The afternoon and evening dragged on. After they’d gone back to Sigurd’s, Wylder went to cover the gym while Sigurd dealt with rebuilding his wards. Silva spent his time reaching out to the network of contacts he’d made over the last thirty years—the ones in this realm, anyway.
Most realms guarded the portal between their own and the Fae with tenacity. Humans, however, had no means of finding the door, let alone safeguarding it. Silva and many other paranormals who called this realm home had made it their mission to do it for them.
Once the sunhad gone down and Wylder returned from the gym, Silva got them on the road. Wylder didn’t question their destination until they were standing in the aisle of a local grocery store.
“Are we meeting your contact here?”
“No.” Silva scanned the items on the shelf. He could have sworn he’d found it in this aisle before.
“Oooookay. So, what are we doing here?”
Finally, he spotted it. He grabbed a can and turned to present it to Wylder.
“Cheese Whiz.” Wylder’s eyebrows rose to his hairline.
Silva nodded, already moving in the direction of the self-checkout stations he’d seen on the way in. “Cheese Whiz.”
It wasn’t until they were back in the car that Wylder said, “Do I get to know about theCheese Whiz?”
Silva chuckled. “We’ve got someone to bribe.”
Chapter
Three