Allegiance of Honor (Psy-Changeling #15) - Nalini Singh Page 0,133

Adria had passed by this way recently, as had several others. Skin aching with the need to touch her, he followed the scent—and realized Indigo and Drew were following along right behind him. SnowDancer’s tracker had met his lieutenant mate at the waterfall, run the rest of the way back with them.

Riaz stopped. “Don’t you two want to go to bed?” he asked pointedly.

Throwing one arm around Indigo’s shoulders, Drew grinned. “Nope. Wide awake here.”

Indigo’s smile was less aggravating. “I wanted to ask Adria about one of the older pups under her authority and I keep forgetting. Promise it won’t take more than a couple of minutes.”

“Two minutes,” Riaz said with a scowl. “Then scat.”

“Gee whiz, Riaz, impatient m—oof.” Rubbing at his abdomen, Drew made a pitiful face toward his mate. “Your elbow’s really sharp, Lieutenant.”

“I’ll kiss it better.” Indigo’s tone was dry but she had her hand on Drew’s back, was probably petting him under his T-shirt. “Now stop provoking Riaz. He hasn’t seen Adria since this morning.”

Drew’s expression turned sympathetic, that of a man who understood what it was to adore a woman. Riley’s younger brother might be the most irreverent wolf Riaz knew, but under the playfulness was a man who knew what it was to love, what it was to be loyal. “Best behavior,” the tracker said. “I swear.”

As it turned out, Drew hadn’t needed to make that vow. Adria was up and awake and at an impromptu party thrown by the senior soldiers to celebrate the birthday of the man who held the leadership position among them. Elias was grinning and having a beer when Riaz walked in, his mate Yuki by his side. The hard-nosed lawyer had her hair down and was dressed in a white shift dress with wildflowers on it. Her eyes were only for Eli.

“Hey, how come we didn’t rate an invite?” Drew groused while Riaz made a beeline for Adria.

“Riaz.” Eyes of deepest blue-violet filled with delight. “Did—”

He cut off her question with a hot tangle of a kiss that made her claws dig into his nape as a moan formed in the back of her throat. A split-second later and his possessive lover was kissing him back with equal hunger as her scent heated up.

The others around them were predictably whistling like a feral pack of wolves when Riaz and Adria came up for air. A few had thrown back their heads to add a howl into the mix.

Ignoring the lunatics, he savored the taste of the strong woman who was his by taking another kiss, his heart thundering in his ears. “Drew’s right,” he said afterward. “Why no invite for us?”

Lips swollen and pupils dilated, Adria ran her hands down his body to the bottom of his T-shirt, so she could slip her hands underneath. He shivered.

“We threw it together after you’d all already left for Riley’s,” Adria told him with a smile that cut him off at the knees. “D’Arn found out it was Eli’s birthday and sweet-talked Aisha into baking a quick cake.”

“Sakura with friends?” Eli and Yuki’s pup was a little slip of a girl.

“She’s having a sleepover with Marlee.” Leaning up, Adria nuzzled at his throat. “How was the meeting?”

“Good to see Riley and Mercy.” He told her about the baby clothes Hawke had gifted the couple, drank in her pleasure. “Rest was business.” A nip at her lower lip. “We can talk about it once we’re in our quarters.” No one expected mates or couples in committed long-term relationships to keep secrets from each other, and Adria was senior enough to have a right to the information he’d share regardless.

“You must be tired,” Adria said with a soft, luscious brush of her lips over his. “Ready for bed?”

The golden-eyed black wolf that was Riaz’s other half wanted to growl an assent. Wolf and man, Riaz’s intent had been to steal Adria away, lick her up in the privacy of their quarters, but he could taste her own wolf’s happiness in this gathering of those she worked with most often—the maternal cabal’s lures notwithstanding.

And Adria’s happiness was Riaz’s.

“Let’s stay,” he said with a smile, his hunger sated enough to take the edge off. “I’ll pet you later.”

The gold streaks in her eyes going night-glow as her wolf rose to the surface of her skin, she grazed her claws teasingly over his neck. “Deal.”

Indigo and Drew came over shortly afterward, and while the two women spoke about a teenager Adria was supervising as part of