Liam, Toni Griffin [freda ebook reader .TXT] 📗

name. "It's a great pleasure to finally meet you. Come with me and I'll show you to the bathroom. I'll get you some sweats and a shirt for you to put on when you're finished."

"Thank you," Declan replied softly, tight lines on exhaustion marring his beautiful face.

Liam's cock throbbed painfully within the tight confines of his jeans but he made his way out of the kitchen and into the hallway making sure Declan followed. He paused and grabbed a clean towel out of the linen press and opened the door to the bathroom.

"Help yourself to anything you need. I'll be back in a sec with some warm clothes." Liam put the towel on the rack and exited the bathroom before he did something inappropriate like shove his sexy mate up against the wall and plunder his mouth like his life depended on it.

Liam walked to the end of the hallway and into his room. He collapsed onto his bed, his right arm coming up to cover his eyes, his left hand going down to thump his raging erection. He needed to control his rampant libido.

Declan had obviously been running from something otherwise they would have met like every other couple.

Fully clothed.

When Liam finally regained control of his body and his cock had softened sufficiently, he rose from the bed and searched through his closet for something that would fit the smaller man. Not finding anything, he settled for a pair of his sweats with a drawstring and one of his long sleeve shirts.

Heading back down the hall, he heard the shower running. Taking a deep breath to gather his nerves, Liam knocked once then opened the door. All the air rushed from his lungs when he saw the silhouette of his naked mate standing under the running water. The glass shower door did absolutely nothing to hide his appearance.

"Here are some clothes." Liam couldn't help the fact his voice deepened. He placed the clothes on the counter next to the sink and bolted from the room before he could strip and join his mate.

He heard a muffled 'thank you' as he quickly closed the door behind him. In his living room, Liam pulled himself together and quickly started a fire in the potbelly stove before he headed back into the kitchen to get dinner started. He'd bet his mate had to be hungry, and Liam's stomach rumbled, reminding him he hadn't eaten either.

Stabbing some extra potatoes, he put them in the oven to cook. From the fridge, he pulled out some carrots and cabbage, and grabbed a red onion from the pantry.

Halfway through grating the carrot Liam felt the air shift around him and the smell of his mate mingled with soap drifted to him.

He turned around to find Declan standing in the doorway looking shy and unsure.

Liam stopped and wiped his hands on a dish towel before walking over to face his mate. He gently caressed Declan's cheek with his fingertips.

"Do you know who I am?" he whispered.

Declan's eyes closed and he nodded.

Liam didn't miss the slightly haunted look in his mate's gaze.

Liam leant forward and placed a gentle, chaste kiss on his mate's lips before stepping back. "I'm not sure what's happened or what you're running from but I will never hurt you."

Declan gave him a jerky nod and Liam changed the subject. "Now, is there anything you need before dinner?

You can go and sit in the living room and warm up in front of the fire for a while if you'd like."

Declan seemed to hesitate for a minute before finally talking. "Um, could I—um, possibly use your, um, phone. I have to call my brother."

His man looked so sweet, standing there acting so unsure of himself.

"Of course. You can have anything you want."

Liam reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone. "The pin number is one three zero eight."

Declan's eyes went wide for a moment before he reached out and took the phone. Liam had no idea where the number came from but when he needed to enter a pin on his first bank account, those four digits stuck in his head. He used the sequence for everything now. It probably wasn't smart of him but he couldn't seem to bring himself to stop using them.

"Why don't you go into the living room where it's nice and warm and give your brother a call? Dinner should be ready in about fifteen minutes. It's nothing special, just some steak, a baked potato and some coleslaw," Liam said as he pointed the way to the living room.

Declan nodded and turned to leave the kitchen. He paused in the doorway and looked back. "Thank you."

Liam sighed. He could already tell it would be a fight to keep his hands off Declan. He licked his lips trying to gather any remaining taste of his mate that might still be lingering after the brief but wonderful kiss Liam had taken earlier.

He chuckled and got back to dinner. No matter how big or strong the wolf, they always seemed to turn to jelly as soon as a mate came into the picture. Jake Richmond from the Leyburn pack proved that last year when he visited with Rick. Now Liam figured his turn had come to follow in every other wolf's steps. He looked forward to it.

Smiling, Liam got to work; he heated the inside grill pan and put the steaks on to cook before he finished making the coleslaw.

CHAPTER 4

Declan collapsed on the couch, overwhelmed by everything that had happened to him in the last twenty-four hours. The large, deep mahogany leather sofa nearly swallowed him whole. The fire in the corner filled the room with its warmth. Declan snuggled down into the luxurious couch, pulling the blanket from the back and covering himself.

Sighing deeply, he lifted the phone in his hand, a little rattled Liam had used his birthdate as his password.

At least he wouldn't likely forget it. Unlocking the phone, he dialled his brother's number.

The line on the other end