With Caution

wasn’t too bad. There wasn’t any swelling. Likely whatever injury he’d sustained was already healing but Jake ran his fingers over it lightly.
    “That tickles.”
    Pulling his hand back, Jake straightened. “Sorry.” He wet the washcloth with warm, soapy water and cleaned Remi’s face and neck.
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    He had the urge to bite into Remi’s neck and taste. The smell of Remi’s blood was going to Jake’s head and had been since he opened the SUV door. Now his cock was getting hard too.
    He bathed Remi’s shoulders and chest, ignoring his arousal. There was nothing on Remi’s stomach, but Jake washed it, too, enjoying the feel of Remi’s ab muscles rippling under his ministrations.
    Yawning, Remi closed his eyes, and Jake gave up all pretense of cleaning wounds.
    He tossed the washcloth aside and turned off the water. Threading his fingers through Remi’s soft black hair, Jake situated himself between Remi’s thighs.
    Sitting forward, Remi put his hands on Jake’s shoulders and offered his mouth.
    “Sir?”
    Jake groaned. How could he ignore the plea in Remi’s tone? It still amazed him Remi had switched to calling him sir so effortlessly. He captured Remi’s mouth in a slow, gentle kiss and traced Remi’s lips with his tongue, feeling where it had been split. It wouldn’t take long to heal, but until it did… He drew back, studying Remi.
    They stared at each other for the longest time with everything Remi felt on his face for Jake to read. The last of Jake’s anger melted away. He couldn’t remember ever sharing silent communication with another. Sure Rhys and he used grunts and nods on occasion, but with Remi it was different, special. The more they were together the closer they grew. It was an amazing feeling. One he didn’t know he could feel until Remi came along.
    Yawning again, Remi leaned forward and rested his head on Jake’s shoulder.
    Grabbing Remi’s legs, Jake wrapped them around his waist and picked his mate up.
    “Where are we going?” Remi nuzzled Jake’s neck.
    “To put you to bed.”
    “Thank you.”
    Jake smiled and continued to the bedroom. He lay on the bed, situating Remi on top of him, and rubbed circles on Remi’s back. He felt the scars and closed his eyes. The www.samhainpublishing.com 181
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    welts reminded him once again of his hatred for Lassiter and his desire to go after the man. But he wouldn’t, at least not now. He had a mate to take care of.
    For the longest time, Remi laid there. His breath was slow and even, and Jake thought he’d fallen asleep, until he kissed Jake’s collarbone. “I hate how good it felt to hit him. I don’t want to be like that and I don’t want you to be like that. Killing him would be too easy and it would feel really good for a while, but in the long run it would make us no better than he is.”
    Remi was right. They needed to try to do it legally first, like they’d planned. But if it didn’t work… “Okay, pup, we’ll keep going at it the way we have been.” Sighing, Jake continued to rub Remi’s back.
    Remi’s cell phone rang.
    Damn. “It’s probably Sterling calling to see if you’re all right.” Jake loosened his grip on Remi so he could get up. He’d forgotten to call the imp back.
    Oh no . What if Dirk had gone home and beat on the kid? Jake had been so preoccupied with caring for his mate, he hadn’t thought of it before. “Do you think Sterling is okay?”
    Remi crawled off of Jake and down to the foot of the bed to retrieve the phone.
    “Yeah, Sterling’s okay. Dirk was mad at me, not him.”
    Pushing himself to a sitting position, Jake watched his mate. Fuck me . That was a pretty sight. He grinned and went to get his own cell phone as Remi answered. He got to the couch where his phone had been tossed and realized Remi hadn’t said any more than,
    “Hello.”
    Something was wrong. Fear and the need to protect besieged Jake. He hurried back down the hall.
    Remi still sat at the foot of the bed, the cell phone held in his hand. His face was blank, confused. Remi’s eyebrows pulled together. “I’m not allowed to see Sterling anymore.”

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    Rhys hurried across the field, with his ears back and his tail down, until he could clearly see the small white house. Hopefully, anyone who saw him would think he was a dog, but he’d stayed out of public view, keeping away from high traffic areas