Dance Around - Susi Hawke Page 0,18

wrong drug, and now I’ll have to either sue or kill him. I'll decide which after I see how bad this gets."

"Or…" Edgar dragged out the word, then paused to heighten the tension. "It's entirely possible spending so much time with your true mate lately has rendered the vaccine ineffective."

"Gawd. Do we have to talk about him? As much as I would love to blame everything on him from global warming to the stress pimple on my right ass cheek, even Dan fucking Moreno isn't that special. Although I'm sure he thinks he is. Can you believe the tantrum he threw over a lousy piece of rye bread?"

"I can when I saw you purposely snatch it out of the basket once you noticed him reaching for it. I don't know why you won't leave the poor man in peace. He's not the dickhead you think he is, Gilligan. I think you need to discuss your argument from all those years ago. The more I get to know him, I truly believe he didn't mean it the way you took it. Pay attention to him, and you'll see he comes off as rude when he's just blunt."

I turned to look at my traitorous brother. "Are you taking his side? What the hell, Edgar? I repeated our conversation verbatim immediately after we had it, and you agreed I was right to walk away, true mate or not." There was no way I was admitting I did pay attention. Whenever Dan was around, I noticed everything he said and did.

"Nooo… I don’t recall agreeing to you being an idiot. I agreed what he’d said was ridiculous." Edgar slowly shook his head. "I was never a proponent of you walking away from a true mate. If you'll recall, I offered to go kick his ass and talk some sense into the man. But Gilligan, you were and still are far too young to live your entire life alone. I know your medicine blocks pheromones, but simply because you can't smell a potential bedmate doesn't mean your rabbit will allow you to accept a substitute."

"Quit yelling at me." I hated the whine in my voice. Wriggling my shoulders against the arm of the chair, I tried to scratch my back while running my hands over my chest, digging my nails over every screaming nerve. "Now I'm fucking itchy. You know what? Screw waiting for those COME fuckers to finish discussing whatever stall tactic they're going to use so they can keep omegas living in the dark ages a while longer. Call Amos and Ezekiel. Tell them to file a flight plan to get us out of here tonight."

"As much as I hate to risk your ire by ignoring a direct order, I'm gonna take a pass until you're in the right headspace to be around other people. Right now, you’re not exactly fit for public consumption."

"Whaaat?" I was so confused it took me way longer than it should’ve to realize my hand had somehow worked its way under my waistband. I was totally jerking myself off in full view of my brother. "Oh. Sorry."

"You apologize, but your hand is still committing acts of unacceptable social behavior."

Scooting down in the chair, I humped the air, rubbing my aching butthole against the side of the chair. And yes, I was totally jacking my dick. My hand was working the length so fast it was chafing. "Instead of watching me like a freak, why don't you do something useful, like grabbing some lotion from the bathroom? Be a pal, Edgar. Nobody wants a raw dick."

"Aaand there's my cue to head back to my room. Try not to hurt yourself. And for God's sake, do not go anywhere. Or talk to anybody." He must've opened the door because a rush of cool air wafted in, along with a familiar scent I'd never been able to forget. "Scratch that. You know what? Talk to Dan.” He paused before speaking to Dan directly. “Hey, Moreno. I must say, the service in this hotel is impeccable. Otherwise, you have the best timing ever. You can deal with Gilligan. I'm out of here."

I fled the chair and was shimmying out of my pajama pants before I remembered to look up and make sure Edgar was gone. My heart kicked into overdrive when I made eye contact with a completely startled Dan fucking Moreno.

He gulped. I only didn’t kick him out of my room because his eyes never left my face. "Gil… Gil… Gilligan?"

He