“The compound’s been quiet without our resident spitfire,” Kothari remarked in a low voice. “It perked up a little last night when Elle decided to smack that vampire around but nobody outclasses our Liliana when she’s on a roll.”
“I’m not that bad,” she groaned, tilting her head back to look at her mate. She didn’t want him to think she was too high maintenance. “Don’t listen to him, Mac. He’s just as much trouble as I’ve ever been.”
That brought a laugh from the other Vârcolac. “I’ve never claimed otherwise,” he countered, a glint of humour on his face before he turned his concealed gaze to the vampire watching them. His expression smoothed out as he released Lily.
“So, you’re Mackenzie? I hope you’re good, vampire, because Andrei’s been pretty pissed these last few weeks. If you’re better than Karn you might hold your own.” There was a hint of challenge in his voice as if he were testing Mac.
Lily glared at him smacking at his arm. “Don’t, Kothi. Mac is my mate and remember I can still kick your ass. He’s off limits to your brand of humour.”
Rather than being offended by the younger male, Mac was struggling not to smile at his blatant attempt to intimidate him. Lily’s automatic defence also amused him and he reached out to curl an arm around her waist to pull her close. “How did I survive so long without you to protect me,” he teased and kissed the tip of her nose.
His black gaze met Kothari’s dark glasses and he allowed his amusement to show. “I’ve known Andrei for close on a thousand years now, Kothari. I’m sure we’ll be just fine when we have our little chat.” His tone was pitched just right to subtly smack down the younger male but not incite Kothari’s need to step up his aggression level.
If he’d been anything other than a Vârcolac and someone Lily obviously cared greatly for, Mac’s response would have been completely different to his challenge. Instead he moderated himself while still letting Kothari know that he wouldn’t be easy fodder if the younger male wanted to test his luck.
He felt Lily stiffen at his reference to her father and looked down. “What? You didn’t know I knew your father or is it the length of time we’ve been friends which surprises you?”
Lily hadn’t considered that Mac might know her father; know of him yes, but to have met him? His past was so well hidden considering he’d moved around Europe so much over his lifetime. It had taken her forever to discover that he was friends with Demetri, finding out he knew her family too rattled her a bit. She frowned as she looked back at him. “You didn’t tell me you were friends with Dad.”
He shrugged. “You never asked. I just assumed you knew seeing as you managed to find out just about everything else there was to know about me when you did your research.”
He had a valid argument and it didn’t really affect anything anyway. He was her mate and there was no disputing that. Lily relaxed and leaned into his heat wishing Kothari would disappear so she could spend a few more moments alone with Mac before they had to face the music.
“I don’t suppose you’re going to go away anytime soon?” she asked privately, quirking an eyebrow at her friend. She received another of his enigmatic smiles which could hardly be called a real smile because his mouth barely moved. Most people would even miss it if they weren’t one of the Vârcolac.
“And miss all the fun, Lily? You have to be joking. I like your mate, by the way. He seems more together than Karn though he’s no slouch either. That vampire hides a lot behind his gruff exterior.”
She smiled with pleasure, her eyes dancing. “Elle really punched him last night? Liam told me but I found it hard to believe. Karn didn’t deny it though so I figured it had to have happened.”
“She smacked him clear across the room. I don’t know who was more surprised, Elle or Karn or maybe it was the rest of us standing there with our mouths hanging open. I thought Dayton was going to burst a blood vessel when they were arguing and then Elle punched the vampire and Freya was as smug as you please saying ‘That’s my daughter.’ You missed a treat with that one, Lily. Elle’s real strength is phenomenal when you see it in action.”
Mac figured the two of them were having some form of conversation he wasn’t privy to. He found he didn’t much care for being excluded so he gave in to his more base urges and kissed his mate, hard and fast. He took some satisfaction at her instant response. No one continued a telepathic conversation while having their mouth claimed as thoroughly as he was claiming Lily’s.
“I am still here,” he muttered dryly, when he let her up to breathe. “And we still have to go get this meeting over and done with.” He kissed her again and then nodded to Kothari. “I’m sure we’ll see you around before we leave.”
Lily rolled her eyes and smiled as Mac tugged her back to the Jeep and made sure she was settled inside.
“Isn’t he wonderful, Kothi? So possessive. Wait until you find your mate. You won’t know what’s hit you.”
Kothari didn’t answer, merely frowned slightly before raising his hand and turning and vanishing into the trees. Lily watched him go with a slight narrowing of her eyes.
“What is Kothari’s problem?” Mac asked, starting the Jeep and continuing on towards the compound. “It’s like he has a split personality or does he just dislike me.”
She glanced at him in surprise. “He likes you just fine. Kothari is just Kothari. Today he’s been more approachable than normal. I guess he missed me being away and with Liam and Kal up at our compound and Elina acting out of character last night, he may be feeling a bit unsettled hence his need to connect with me.”
“So he’s usually worse than he was with me?”
She laughed at Mac’s dry tone. “Oh, he’s usually much more reserved than he was just now. Sometimes a whole week can pass without Kothi uttering a single word to anyone in public. He’ll be there but keep totally silent. I’m sure he talks to his parents and he sometimes talks to one of us telepathically. He’s… well he’s just not easy to explain. He’s Kothi and we love him.”