“Not long.” Mack slid his hand over Kyle’s hip, using his thumb to trace circular patterns. “Nervous about today?”

  “I’d completely forgotten about that.”

  Mack grinned. “Liar. You tossed and turned all night.”

  Kyle groaned when Mack cupped the back of his head and drew him closer for a kiss. God the man could kiss. Kyle’s body heated up under the gentle assault as his cock hardened, and he whimpered into Mack’s mouth.

  His anxiety about his parents vanished as Mack turned them over, pressing Kyle onto his back as his hands slid under Kyle’s shoulders. He loved feeling Mack’s weight press into him as he wrapped his legs around his mate’s waist and tried to pull him even closer.

  “Slow down, sexy.” Mack gave a soft laugh. “We’re in no rush.”

  Kyle twisted his lips to the side. “You have a baby. He could wake at any second, and I want to be done with his daddy before that happens.”

  “He won’t be up for a while,” Mack said. “He stayed up most of the night fussing and crying because he’s teething.”

  “I slept through that?”

  “He wasn’t that loud.” Mack kissed his way across Kyle’s jaw, nipping his skin along the way. “Now slow down, or you’ll force me to tie you to the bed.”

  Kyle frowned. “Not my kind of kink.”

  “Yeah?” One of Mack’s dark brows rose. “What are your kinks?”

  He didn’t really have any. Kyle wasn’t that experienced with sex, and the times he’d indulged, they had been as vanilla as vanilla could get. He shrugged. “I have no idea.”

  Kyle hadn’t a clue what Mack was doing when he reared back and unwound his legs. “Turn over.”

  With a nervous chuckle, Kyle did as Mack asked. No sooner had his stomach hit the bedding than Mack blanketed his back with the hard chest. He kicked Kyle’s legs apart and then shackled his wrists with his hands.

  Kyle loved the weight pressed into him. “Now what?”

  “Now I explore every inch of your sexy body.”

  Kyle whimpered and gasped as Mack kissed and licked his way over his back. He released Kyle’s wrists and mapped out every dip and curve with his fingers, driving Kyle insane. Mack lingered at Kyle’s hip, using the tip of his tongue to trace his skin.

  Kyle clenched his jaw and closed his eyes, willing his cock not to erupt with the mind-numbing sensations. His mate definitely knew what he was doing, and the torture was so insane that Kyle had a hard time not leaking pre-cum all over the sheets beneath him as his body trembled.

  When Mack’s tongue reached the crease of his ass, Kyle damn near shook apart. No former lover had ever had his mouth back there, and Kyle wasn’t sure what to expect.

  He sucked in a deep inhale of breath when Mack parted his cheeks and swiped his tongue over Kyle’s hole. But he didn’t stop there. Mack descended on Kyle’s tight ring of muscles with fervor, dipping his tongue inside as he licked and sucked.

  Kyle was overwhelmed with pleasure, writhing beneath Mack as he ground his cock into the mattress, desperate for enough friction so he could come.

  “Mack…p-please,” Kyle whined.

  But Mack didn’t answer him. Instead, he inserted his fingers into Kyle’s quivering hole, making him cry out as he tried to push back, but Mack had braced one arm over Kyle’s lower back, keeping him pinned in place.

  Suddenly the pressure was gone. Kyle sucked in a deep lungful of air as he wondered why Mack had stopped. But his confusion didn’t last long. Mack pulled Kyle onto his hands and knees, and then the blunt head of his cock was pressing at his hole.

  Mack held Kyle’s nape as he inched his cock into his body. The delicious burn made Kyle bite his lower lip. He curled his fingers into the covers as he slowly pushed backward, desperate to feel every inch of Mack’s cock inside him.

  “You feel so good,” Mack moaned as he ran his hand down Kyle’s spine. “So damn good.”

  Kyle was too lost in the all-encompassing pleasure to answer Mack. It felt as though every nerve ending had come alive as his body pulsed and goose bumps scattered over his skin. Kyle shivered as the sensations swept him away.

  He cried out when Mack started a fast-paced thrust, skimming his teeth over Kyle’s shoulder. Kyle tried his best to keep his sounds muffled so as not to wake the baby, but with the way Mack made him feel, suppressing the guttural noises was damn near impossible.

  Especially when Mack sank his canines into Kyle’s shoulder. Eruptions of seed shot from the head of Kyle’s cock as Mack growled, punching his hips faster before he buried himself deep and Kyle felt his cock pulsing in his ass.

  Mack pulled his canines free and licked the wound before Kyle collapsed, struggling for breath. He yawned, ready to go back to sleep, when Mack’s phone rang.

  With a curse, Mack grabbed his cell off the nightstand and answered as Kyle curled under the blankets.

  “Yeah, give me a minute and I’ll be there.”

  Kyle turned his head and looked up at his mate. “What’s wrong?”

  Mack got up from the bed and headed for the bathroom. “Car accident involving a couple. They were hit head-on by another driver. The guy is critical, and the woman busted her head pretty badly. I have to go to the clinic.”

  “I’ll call my parents and tell them we have to cancel.”

  Mack stopped and turned. “You’ll do no such thing. I’m not leaving my men here alone. You’ll come to the clinic with me, and when I’m done, we’ll go to your place.”

  Kyle jumped out of bed, looking around for his underwear. He was glad he was going home because he needed more clothes. “I’m not sitting in a clinic with a fussy baby. You can drop me at my apartment.”

  When Mack looked as though he would argue, Kyle held up a hand. “I live right next door to the police station. You can give Sheriff Werth a call and let him know so he can keep an eye on us.”

  Mack didn’t look happy but nodded. “Let me shower, and then we can pack Joshua’s diaper bag.”

  “I’ll take care of him.” Kyle finally found his underwear under the bed, wishing he could cuddle with Mack for the rest of the morning. But the people involved in the car crash needed him, and Kyle needed to get home so he could shower and dread his parents’ visit.

  Chapter Seven

  Kyle’s apartment was always kept clean, but knowing that his mother would be here, he gave it an extra scrub. That was after he’d gotten Joshua fed, changed his diaper, and set him in his portable playpen. Once he was content watching cartoons, Kyle rolled his sleeves back and started on his kitchen.

  According to his mother, the kitchen should be the cleanest room in the house. He wasn’t even sure why he was doing all this. Would she really care if his stovetop wasn’t sparkling or that there was a smudge of spaghetti sauce on the handle of the fridge?

  Probably not, but Kyle wanted her to see that he could take care of himself.

  By the time he declared his kitchen spotless, it was thirty minutes after noon. It wasn’t like his parents to be late, and he’d strolled to the window twice already to see if he could spot their car. The streets had been somewhat cleared, but the snow was still piled high, and Kyle wasn’t sure where they would park.

  When one o’clock rolled around, he gave his mother a call, but her phone went straight to voice mail. Kyle tried his father’s, but he got the same result. His dad never let his calls go to voice mail.

  They had said noon, right? Now Kyle was starting to doubt his memory. Maybe his mom had said they were leaving their house at noon, and since the roads weren’t that great, it was taking them more time to travel.

  Kyle looked at the playpen and found Joshua fast asleep, his plush teddy bear curled in his arms. Since the infant was asleep, Kyle pulled out the meager decorations he’d purchased a few weeks back and did the best he could to make his home look festive. He still needed to get a tree, but would he need one since Mack had a huge one in his living room?

  He’d planned on getting a real tree since this would be his first Christmas on his own, but Kyle was nothing if not a procrastinator. Between his job and volunteering, he hadn’t the time, or the money.

  He nearly jumped out of his skin when a knock sounded on his door. He felt relieved that his parents were okay and that they’d made it, though his anxiety twisted his gut as he walked toward the door.

  The questions would begin, and Kyle prayed Joshua didn’t shift during their visit.

  Taking a deep breath, he swung the door open and then frowned. “Who’re you?”

  The guy in his doorway wasn’t his dad. Realization dawned on Kyle too late. The stranger shoved him aside and stormed into the apartment.

  “Get out!” Kyle grabbed the man’s arm and tried to yank him back, but the stranger was too big for him to shove around. “I’m calling the cops!”

  The man headed straight for the living room. He was there to take Joshua. Kyle felt the blood drain from his face as he raced ahead, trying to get to Joshua first.

  “Step aside or I’ll shoot you,” the guy snapped. “This is none of your concern.”

  “The hell it isn’t.” Kyle shoved at the guy, and the two began to wrestle as he tried to think of a way to stop the stranger from taking the infant.

  Joshua woke and began to cry as Kyle was slung against the wall. He recovered quickly and jumped on the stranger’s back when the man reached for the baby.

  “No you don’t!” Kyle wrapped his limbs around the man, refusing to let go. If he was gonna take Joshua, he’d have to take Kyle, too. There was no way in hell he was letting Mack’s son get kidnapped. His mate would never forgive him, and Kyle would never forgive himself.

  He felt a sharp, searing pain in his side as a gunshot rang in his ears. The stranger had shot him! As badly as Kyle hurt, he still didn’t let go. He would die to protect Joshua but prayed it didn’t come down to that.

  “Freeze!”

  Kyle had never been so glad to hear a cop’s voice. He was slung to the couch as the stranger took off, barreling past the deputy as he made his escape.

  Kyle scrambled from the couch and pulled Joshua into his trembling arms as he fought to get his heart back under control. Not only was he wounded and terrified, Kyle was also spitting mad, angry that the stranger had tried to take Joshua away from him. As he hugged the infant tightly, Kyle’s mom and dad walked into his apartment.

  She stared at him with a stunned looked, then chaos erupted. His mom pulled Joshua from his arms as the deputy called for an ambulance. His dad helped him lie down, muttering encouraging words to him as Kyle. The adrenaline wore off and Kyle screamed as the pain sliced through him.

  “I want Mack,” he wailed as he grabbed his injured side.

  His dad raced from the room and then returned with a towel, applying pressure to the wound as Kyle began to sweat. Holy shit! He wanted his adrenaline back so he the pain wouldn’t register. Kyle had been too worried about Joshua and the pain hadn’t struck him.

  It struck him now, like a freight train that had slammed right into him. Kyle couldn’t seem to stop screaming as he desperately looked for the baby. His gaze landed on his mom, who not only had a look of horror in her eyes, but she had Joshua clutched to her breasts.

  “Just try and lay still, son.” Unshed tears sprang into his dad’s eyes. “Do you know who did this to you?”

  “Whose baby is this?” His mother bounced Joshua in her arms. “Should I call his parents?”

  “He’s my boyfriend’s son,” Kyle whimpered. “Please, Mom, take care of him.” Kyle was terrified Joshua would shift, but he had no other choice as he heard the distant sound of the ambulance. He had to go to the clinic, but he couldn’t take an infant with him.

  He grabbed his father’s wrist. “It’s not safe here. You have to go to the police station with the baby. His dad is one of the doctors at the clinic. You have to keep Joshua safe.”

  “We promise.” Tears fell from his mother’s eyes. “We’ll guard him with our lives.”

  Those words sent a chill down Kyle’s spine. He’d thought the same thing, and now he had a bullet hole in his side. This was not how he’d planned his day would go. He should’ve checked the peephole before he’d opened the door, but he’d been so worried about his mom and dad that he hadn’t thought the shooter was on the other side.

  He just hoped he didn’t pay too high a price for his stupidity.

  * * * *

  Mack had just stabilized the elderly driver, and now Mr. Schroder was resting. He washed his hands and exited the recovery room before heading down the hall.

  Dr. Sheehan stood at the front desk, the landline phone stuck to his ear. Their receptionist, Hilton, had gone on vacation with his mate, so that left Mack and Nicholas manning the front desk.

  “We’ll have the room prepped for him.” Nicholas hung up and turned to Mack. “We have a young man coming in. He was shot in his side.”

  Mack groaned. He’d been hoping to get to Kyle’s soon to help out with his parents, but it seemed he would be taking longer. Mack pulled his phone out to call his mate and let Kyle know he had another case coming in. The phone rang until the call was dumped into voice mail. Mack didn’t bother to leave a message. Kyle would see the missed call and call him back when he had the chance. He highly doubted his mate hadn’t answered because of a problem. The sheriff had sworn he’d keep an eye on Kyle, and if something were truly wrong, Sheriff Werth would’ve called him.

  “I’ll go prep the room,” Nicholas said before he walked away. Mack went to the ambulance entrance and waited, glad the storm had blown over. Even some of the streets had been cleared, so Kyle’s parents shouldn’t have had that hard a time getting there.

  The ambulance backed into the small bay, and the back doors swung open, the EMT guiding the gurney toward Mack. As the paramedic rambled off the medications he’d given and the young man’s stats, Mack unwound the stethoscope from his neck and had started to press it to the guy’s chest when his heart slammed forward and his world tilted sideways.

  “Kyle!” Mack grabbed the gurney and hurried toward the operating room, his legs unstable beneath him. He nearly fell twice as his mind raced. “Where’s Joshua?” Mack shouted. “Where’s my son?”

  “I’m sorry,” Kyle murmured, his eyes still closed. He was pale, and the pulse in his neck appeared weak. What was he apologizing for? Had Joshua been kidnapped? Had the shooter found them? Mack felt panic set in as he tried to get answers from his mate.

  Sheriff Werth stormed through the front doors just as Mack turned the gurney toward the hallway that led to the operating room. The wolf shifter looked seven kinds of pissed as he looked their way. “Joshua is with Kyle’s parents. They’re at the station. He’s safe, Dr. Fargo.”

  Mack would’ve collapsed with relief, but his mate had a fucking bullet in his side. He didn’t bother to ask the sheriff any more questions. He had to trust that the police would keep Joshua safe until Mack could get to him. He had to put those thoughts out of his mind because, right now, he had to save his mate’s life.

  * * * *

  “I swear I’m fine.” Kyle winced when he tried to sit up. He sucked air in through his teeth, wishing he hadn’t moved.

  “Is there something you need?” Johnny’s hands hovered near Kyle. “You shouldn’t try to move. You’re human, so you might bust your stitches open and then your guts will spill out all over the place.”

  “I so didn’t need that image, Johnny.” Though Kyle knew that wouldn’t happen.

  Johnny shrugged. “It’s true.”

  The only thing Kyle needed was to get out of this stinking bed. His butt was getting numb from lying there for so long. Mack had come in to check on him when Kyle had woken up, but he hadn’t seen him since, and Kyle worried that his mate was mad at him for letting the shooter in. When Mack had come to check his vitals, he’d said very little to Kyle.

  “Thank you for the flowers,” Kyle said. It was a large arrangement of carnations, stuffed with a lot of baby’s breath. Johnny had also brought him a bunch of sparkling pink get-well balloons, though one balloon was blue, congratulating Kyle on his new baby boy.

  Kyle had no idea why Johnny had gotten that one and didn’t bother to ask. It was the thought that counted.

  Kyle looked up when the door opened. Mack poked his head in and smiled kindly at Johnny. “Hawk’s looking for you. He said you guys had some errands to run.”

  Johnny stood and patted Kyle’s hand. “When I come back, I’ll bring you a batch of cookies.”

  He thanked Johnny and watched his friend go before he turned his head away from the door, too afraid to look Mack in his gorgeous green eyes. But it wasn’t Mack who stepped into his room. His mate moved aside, and Kyle’s parents rushed in. His mother had tears in her eyes, and his dad looked beside himself.

  “Where’s Joshua?” Kyle immediately asked when he didn’t see the baby with them.

  “He’s with the other doctor,” his mom said. “I promise that he’s fine.” She brushed her hand over his hair, giving Kyle a wobbly smile. “How’re you feeling?”

  Kyle looked toward the door, but Mack was gone. His heart sank as he bunched the blanket in his hands. “I guess I’ll live.”

  Although it felt as though his heart was breaking. His mother was saying something else, but Kyle was too busy staring at the empty doorway. In just a few short days he’d fallen for Mack, and now he was sure he’d lost his mate.

  How could Mack forgive him for putting Joshua in harm’s way?

  “This is why you’re coming home with us,” his dad said.

  That sentence knocked Kyle out of his headspace. He gaped at his dad while shaking his head. “I’ve got my own life here. I’m not coming back home to live.”

  “It’s too dangerous being on your own,” his mother argued. “I won’t risk your safety because you’re too stubborn to know what’s best for you. There’s no reason you have to live so far away. You should be at home where we can watch over you.”