Forever Is Not Enough [Council Enforcers 2] (Siren Publishing Classic)

reactions they didn’t blame her for anything. He needed his mate to see that in order to get her mind focused on creating the antidote.
    “Everything will be okay. You’ll see.” Ben lifted his mate’s hand and kissed it. “Trust me, I have very understanding friends.”
    Before they could go any farther, something latched itself to Ben’s leg. Laughing, he bent down and lifted Nico by one leg and held him upside down. “Hey, little man.”
    It amazed him how far the boy’s giggles went in making him feel better. It seemed that his wolf had missed Nico just as much as he had because Ben could feel his excitement as he pounced in his head
    We should shift and go play with the boy. I think he wants to.
    Soon, pup. As soon as we make sure our mate is safe, you can play all you want.
    “Are you going to go away again, Uncle Ben?”
    Ben pulled Nico in his arms and hugged him. “No, little buddy. I don’t plan on leaving you again.” Wanting to cheer him up, Ben asked, “Do you still remember what I taught you?”
    At Nico’s nod, Ben grinned. He considered Mitch an older brother, and in his opinion, he wouldn’t be a good little brother if he didn’t do his duty to annoy the man. “Let me hear it then,” he told Nico.
    Nico threw his head back and attempted to howl as loud as he could. “That’s my boy,” he told the cub as a loud roar came from the other room.
    “Damn it, Ben, I finally got him to stop doing that.” Mitch stormed into the room and pulled Nico out of his arms and walked off again.
    Ben turned to see his mate with her hand over her mouth, trying to hold in her laughter. He winked at her and smiled. “He really hates that.”
    “I can tell. Mitch looked like he wanted to rip your head off. I take it your animal is a wolf?”
    “I’m sorry. I thought you knew that already. It’s hard to remember that, even though you grew up in the shifter world, you don’t know much about us.” He sat on the bottom step and pulled Jacqi onto his lap. “Yes, my animal is a wolf. Mitch and Ryan are both lion shifters, and Ken is a bear.”
    “Aww, a bear? How cute.”
    “Why do you women do that?” Ben asked confused.
    “Do what?”
    “Why is it that whenever a woman finds out Ken is a bear, their eyes glaze over and they get this look on their face like they want nothing more than to run over and hug the man. Would you still feel the same way if I told you his animal was a grizzly and not the cuddly teddy bear you’re imagining?”
    He is fluffy though.
    He ignored his wolf as Jacqi turned in his arms and wrapped her arms around Ben’s neck. “It sounds to me like somebody’s jealous,” she said as she kissed the corner of his mouth.
    Ben groaned and shifted his little mate so that she was straddling his lap. “You’re damn right I’m jealous.” He grabbed his mate’s hips and pressed her down against his cock that had been rock hard since their kiss in the bedroom. Jacqi moaned from the contact, and Ben smelled her arousal as moisture flooded her pussy. With each shift of her hips, Ben’s cock was begging to be buried in her warmth. “When I finally take you, I will be the only one you’ll be looking at with those dreamy, glazed-over eyes.”
    His mate’s moan was cut off when the phone rang. They both jumped apart, realizing where they were. With just one touch from his mate, everything else had ceased to exist for Ben. He had come close to taking Jacqi on the stairs with everyone else in the next room. That wasn’t the way he wanted his first time with his mate to go, so Ben was glad for the interruption.
    “Come on, let’s get this over with so I can take you back to bed and finish what we started.” He hoped by his little mate’s flushed cheeks she was feeling the same way and agreed with him.
    Before they could make it into the room, Ryan opened the door to Mitch’s office and motioned for them. “You guys might want to get in here.”
    From the look on his face, Ben knew whatever it was it wasn’t good. He grabbed Jacqi’s hand and pulled her with him into the office. He was met with growls and roars coming from his friends.
    “What the hell do you want?”
    “It’s so nice to speak to you again, Enforcer Ericson,” Percival said as if he was calling an old friend for an afternoon chat.
    “Cut the shit, you bastard, and tell us what you want.”
    “Now now, name calling is unnecessary. I’m just calling to speak to my daughter. I’m assuming she’s