The Deputy and His Enforcer (Kincaid Pack #3) - Kiki Clark Page 0,57
goddess.” Reaching out, Damien clasped Marcus’s wrist and gave it a squeeze. “She knows what’s in your hearts and souls, and that’s all that matters. Your union would be just as strong as any other with or without the bite.”
He nodded, too embarrassed to respond.
Giving Marcus one more smile, Damien released his hold and headed back toward the front of the shop, leaving Marcus to his tumultuous thoughts and emotions. Just before he reached the beaded doorway, a terrible thought occurred to Marcus.
“Damien, wait.” He held up the jar when the witch turned to face him, face open but eyes guarded as ever. “This stuff won’t… force him to be attracted to me, right?”
The horrified expression on Damien’s face answered his question immediately, but Damien still waved his hands in front of him and shook his head frantically. “Goddess, no. I’d never create something like that. Marcus, I swear to you, all that tea will do is give Robson a temporary infusion of magic so he can bite you back. I swear.”
Hurrying forward, Marcus grasped the side of Damien’s neck, unable to stop himself with the sound of his racing heart pounding in his ears. “I know, I believe you. I just had to check. It’s okay.”
Damien sucked in two shuddery breaths, then collapsed against Marcus’s chest, his heart rate and scent calming with the additional contact.
“You’re okay,” Marcus murmured, carefully hugging Damien’s small frame. “I believe you. I trust you, Damien.”
Chapter Fifteen
With only a few minutes to spare, Robson slipped into the conference room in the rec center and flopped into the empty seat Teresa and Patrick had saved for him in the back. He peered around the nearly full room but didn’t see Marcus or the other two Enforcers who’d actually be speaking.
“I didn’t miss anything?” he whispered to Teresa where she leaned heavily against Patrick’s shoulder, eyes half-closed.
“Uh-uh,” she muttered, wrapping her arms around her husband’s bicep and settling in like she was going to take a nap.
“Um, what are you doing?”
Patrick’s shoulders shook a little, but otherwise he didn’t even glance at them, seeming to be paying attention to a conversation happening… at the front of the room. Damn shifter hearing.
“Taking a nap. Your devil niece has been keeping me up at night, and I’m exhausted.”
He took in his sister’s pale skin and purpling under her eyes and winced. “You didn’t have to come…”
She snorted but didn’t open her eyes. “If we didn’t, you wouldn’t have.”
That was true. While he wanted to hear what kind of sex ed class shifters needed, he would have felt out of place if he’d come alone or like everyone was looking at him and wondering why the human was there.
“Still…” He felt guilty for apparently dragging his sister out of her house a week after having a baby.
One of Teresa’s hands waved at him weakly. “Don’t worry. It gave mamá an excuse to babysit, and I can nap here. Patrick is very comfortable.”
Patrick leaned down and whispered something to her that made her smile and nod. She leaned back, and within a few minutes she was sitting on his lap, cradled in his arms, and fast asleep. Robson stared, eyes wide, as he slipped over into her unoccupied seat.
Grinning at him, Patrick whispered, “Sometimes I have to remind her it’s not my job to take care of her—it’s my privilege.”
Chest tightening, Robson didn’t get a chance to respond, the door closest to the front of the room opening and the three Enforcers filing in. Just before the door closed, it popped back open and Vanessa strode in, hopping onto the table shoved against the wall under the large whiteboard.
Marcus stood near her, arms crossed over his lean chest and the sleeves of his button-down shirt rolled up to his elbows. His brow was creased as his light green eyes quickly searched the room and landed on Robson. Marcus’s arms slowly lowered to his sides, his brow smoothing when Robson threw him a grin.
Vanessa said something to him that caused his cheeks to color adorably. Marcus shook his head once and headed down the side of the room, pausing to say hello to a few people on his way. Warmth filled Robson as he watched the way Marcus carefully but genuinely cared for his packmates.
When Marcus slipped into the seat Robson had been in originally, Bennett cleared his throat at the front of the room and got started, his deep voice somehow still easily carrying to the back without him having