The other man stepped inside and nodded. “I’d say more than a little,” Atticus said with a chuckle.
Soren narrowed his eyes at them and snarled his lip. “Ha ha. You both can laugh at my expense. Where are your mates? You wouldn’t have left them behind, since you’d be suffering from the separation.”
“They’re outside,” Kian replied. “They thought they’d wait until we saw what condition you were in, whether you were in any mood to have females around.”
He rolled his eyes. “More like you two were worried the sight of anything female would have me jumping your mates or something. As if that would happen. Being mated, you both should know I only want to jump one woman, and she isn’t either of your mates.”
“We weren’t so much worried about that,” Atticus said. “More to the point of you being in such a foul mood you’d snap at them.”
Soren shook his head. “My mood might not be great, but I won’t snap at Rylee and Jorja.” Seeing his friends’ doubtful looks, he said, “Forget it. Tell your mates they can come in, so we can get started on putting things on the truck. I’m expecting the lawyer to call in an hour to let me know I can pick up the keys from his office.”
Atticus stepped through the still-open door and waved the two women in. Rylee and Jorja greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. They then stood beside their mates.
“See,” Jorja said to Kian. “Soren didn’t try to bite my head off or anything. I knew you two made Rylee and me wait outside for nothing.” She looked at Soren. “How are you holding up?”
“As well as can be expected,” he replied. “I’ll just be glad to have the mating urge stop riding my ass. Hopefully by the end of tonight.”
“You plan to tell Treasure everything then?”
“Yeah. Tonight is the night.”
“What will you do if she rejects you?” Rylee asked. “I know I had a hard time accepting Atticus for what he was right after I found out.”
Soren grimaced. “I don’t even want to think about it. I’m hoping since we’ve gotten to know each other a lot better with all our phone conversations, Treasure will take the news better than if I hadn’t waited.”
“Well, I didn’t wait with Jorja and in the end she was fine with me being a werewolf.” Kian grunted when his mate elbowed him in the ribs. “What did I do now?”
Jorja frowned. “Don’t be comparing how I was. The only reason why you didn’t give me a choice was because you were shitfaced drunk. I never stood a chance.” She gave Kian a kiss on the lips. “Not that I’m complaining now, but it was not fun having to go through separation anxiety with no clue as to what the hell was wrong with me.”
“Right,” Soren said. “Enough mate talk. It’s not exactly helping me any. It’s just making me think of Treasure. Let’s get to work. My parents went to the lake house for the weekend, so we don’t have to worry about disturbing them.”
He led them upstairs to his bedroom where there was a collection of boxes already packed and ready to go. Soren really didn’t have that many things he would take with him. Since he’d bought the bedroom furniture himself, he wasn’t leaving it behind, which meant once they were in the penthouse he’d have to get Kian and Atticus to help him move the things already in what would be his bedroom to one of the spare rooms.
He’d then deal with getting rid of it at a later date.
The physical labor helped distract Soren from the ever-present mating urge, though it was hard seeing Atticus and Kian with their mates. Each couple couldn’t seem to stop touching their other halves in some small way every few minutes.
Once the truck was loaded, Soren passed out bottled water to everyone as he waited for his lawyer to call. A bit earlier than expected, it came through. He left his friends at the mansion as he drove to the lawyer’s office and picked up the keys for the penthouse.
After he returned to his parents’ house, it was decided the three men would ride in the truck together while the women took the car the couples had arrived in. Soren’s car was already parked at the penthouse. He’d dropped it off there on the way back from the lawyer’s office and had taken a taxi back to the mansion.
Making sure he didn’t lose the women, Soren drove in front. He stuck his hand out the truck’s window when they arrived at the building and directed them toward the visitors’ parking while he continued on to the back where there was access to the moving elevator.
They waited for the women to join them before Soren opened the back of the truck and they got to work putting his things in the elevator. Once they were down to the last few boxes, he set Kian and Atticus to work dismantling the bed already in the master bedroom while he and the women went for the remaining items on the truck.
Soren had just set down the box he carried in the living room when a scent hit him like a ton of bricks. He whirled around and saw Treasure standing in the entranceway talking to Rylee, who obviously had let her into the penthouse.
Jorja snapped her fingers in front of his face and broke his gaze. “You’d better get a grip on yourself,” she said quietly. “Your eyes are glowing. You don’t want to let the cat, or should I say wolf, out of the bag just yet.”
He reined himself back. It was a struggle, but he just managed. Drawn to Treasure like a magnet to metal, Soren walked past Jorja and went to greet his soon-to-be mate.
She looked at him and smiled, and his cock went rock hard. Soren tugged at the bottom of his t-shirt to hide his erection, thankful it was a little on the long side. With Treasure near, he knew he’d be in a constant state of arousal.
“Hi,” she said as her gaze met his.
“Hi back. I see you met Rylee.”
“Yes. She told me she’s married to one of your best friends.”
“And I’m Jorja, the wife of his other,” Jorja said as she joined them.
His would-be mate smiled, and said, “Hi, Jorja. I’m Treasure.”
Rylee cleared her throat. “I think Jorja and I should go see how the guys are managing with that bedroom furniture.” She gave Jorja a pointed look.
Kian’s mate nodded. “Good idea.”
Once the two women were gone, Treasure chuckled. “I guess that was Rylee’s subtle way of giving us a chance to be alone together.”
“It would appear so. We might as well not waste it.”
Soren had to keep tight control over himself as he pulled Treasure into his arms and kissed her. The feel and taste of her had him wanting to take her to the floor and claim her as his mate. The mating urge demanded he do it, not caring there were other people just in the other room. He deepened the kiss as Treasure clung to him, her throaty moan filling his ears while she rubbed up against him.
“Hey, enough of that,” Kian said loudly. “We still have to get the bed set up before we leave.”
He silently thanked his friend as he broke contact with Treasure’s lips and turned to see Kian and Atticus carrying out a headboard. If not for the interruption, Soren knew he would have let things get out of hand.
“You also didn’t tell us which room you want us to put the furniture you don’t want in,” Atticus said.
Taking Treasure by the hand, Soren led her through the living room and to the hallway where Atticus and Kian stood. “This is Treasure. Treasure, this is Atticus and Kian.” Each man nodded in her direction when he said their name. “You can put this in the bedroom closest to the master.”
Now that Treasure was here, he wanted the others to leave. Between Kian, Atticus and himself, it didn’t take very long to finish moving the rest of the furniture out and have his bed set up. A few minutes after that, Soren ushered his friends and their mates out the door with Atticus agreeing to return the rental truck for him.
Alone with Treasure, Soren knew he rode too close to the edge, his mating urge pushing him to make her his. He had to put them in a situation where he couldn’t act on his impulses. Turning away from the door to face her, he asked, “How about we go get something to eat?”