15. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

H ow could Enzo fill a den of iniquity with Christmas cheer?

The back wall was the biggest issue. It smelled like sex. So. Much. Sex.

Enzo shook his head as he stared at it. Raylee, Jude, and Daruss stood beside him. “Raylee’s mother’s side is human. They won’t smell that. But we’re all dragon shifters on my side. They’re going to smell…”

Raylee chuckled right before he finished Enzo’s sentences. “…the sin.”

Jude wiggled his eyebrows, which made Raylee laugh even more.

“Stop.” Enzo’s reprimand made them

Enzo shouldn’t have found it funny, but he did. He met Daruss’s gaze, who grinned. “They’re a handful.”

“Raylee usually isn’t.” Enzo thought about putting a tree in the corner. Maybe the pine scent would cover up the other scents.

“I’m a bad influence,” Jude said through a giggle.

“Yeah, you are.” Raylee kissed him.

Jazlyn held the hand of a big man with a beard and a scowl. He was dressed like a lumberjack and appeared as though the smells didn’t bother him. There was intelligence in his eyes. He was smarter than most. Enzo wasn’t sure about him, but he seemed to be protective of Jazlyn, so that was enough until they could talk more.

“You lost them.” Daruss eyed the wall. “How about we spray a scent suppressant?”

“Can you get some?” The good stuff was illegal because humans huffed it and it ended up killing them. Enzo hadn’t treated anyone, but he’d heard the horror stories.

“Not a problem.”

Of course it wasn’t.

“Jazlyn and I can find a tree in the forest behind my house,” her mate offered.

“I have decorations in my truck.” Enzo hadn’t gotten them out yet because he wasn’t sure what they’d need.

His attention shifted to Landry, who was painting a mural of what was shaping up to be a woman dressed sexily in a Santa suit. Landry seemed as if he were in his element, but Enzo could feel his emotion through their bond. Landry wanted something. Enzo couldn’t tell what.

Landry must have felt the attention, because he turned to meet Enzo’s gaze. He bit his lip at the same time he blushed.

Enzo glance at a dark hall and then lifted his eyebrows, as if to ask if Landry wanted to meet Enzo back there. It seemed private enough.

Landry nodded and put his brush down before heading toward the hallway.

“Excuse me. I have to see to my mate.”

“Is it the sex smell?” Daruss grinned. The lunatic. “It’s the sex smells, isn’t it?”

Enzo flipped him off without turning around.

“Oh ew,” Raylee said, which was really rich considering he’d been making out with Jules.

Enzo stopped paying attention to them when he found Landry sitting on the edge of a black chair. Enzo figured out Landry used it to tattoo people. The space smelled like ink and Landry. It was the perfect combination.

As soon as Enzo entered the room, Landry pounced. Before Enzo knew it, Landry had pinned him to the wall and kissed him as if he meant business.

He opened when Enzo took over the kiss, not panicking as he had the night before.

Enzo could feel Landry’s hard length against him. Landry rubbed against him like a giant cat. His arms tightened. It was as if he couldn’t get close enough.

Enzo was the one who ended the kiss. “What do you need?”

“You. I need you .” Landry buried his face in Enzo’s neck. “I’ve never felt like this before.”

Enzo rubbed Landry’s back, trailing his hand down its long expanse. He went all the way to the small of his back where his ass swelled, but didn’t go any further.

“Describe it.”

“I don’t know that I can.” Whether that was from embarrassment, or he didn’t know how to articulate it, Enzo wasn’t sure. But opening up to Enzo didn’t scare Landry. He’d been very transparent right from the start.

“Try, baby.” He needed to know almost as much as Landry needed to tell him.

Landry kissed Enzo’s neck. “I sense your emotions in my head. I can almost see your dragon, but you still feel…out of reach.”

“We haven’t completed the bond.” Enzo understood. He wanted Landry with a fierceness he hadn’t ever experienced before. He wanted to take care of him. A part of that required patience and empathy. All Enzo really wanted was to protect Landry and help facilitate his happiness.

He had thought Landry needed space. He had let Landry come to him. Not pushing. Never that. And so far, Landry had surprised him with his tactile nature and asking for what he wanted. He was ready for sexual exploration faster than Enzo had thought he would be. But Enzo had prepared himself mentally for a snail’s pace.

“You’re amazing. Do you know that?”

Landry shook his head.

“My amazing and resilient mate.”

“Thank you, but can we focus on sex, please?” Landry smiled. Enzo could feel his lips against his neck. He snuggled into Enzo’s embrace.

Enzo chuckled. “I’m so focused, I’m pretty sure you can feel it through our clothes.”

Landry snorted. “Yeah. Can we go home and…take care of the problem?”

“Yeah, baby. Let’s go home.”

Enzo held him close as he left Landry’s studio. “I like your space, by the way.”

Landry’s cheeks turned a pretty pink. “Thank you.”

“Next time, I’d like to get a closer look at the art on the walls.” Enzo made a mental note to find a room in their house for a studio. Maybe somewhere with a lot of light. That would be the three-season room or maybe the living room. The living room was out because Landry would feel as though he were on display all the time. He’d want a place all his own, where he could work in comfort without feeling as though people were watching or distracting him.

When they got into the main room, he said, “We’re going home for a nap. Landry’s tired. We’ll be back later to help decorate.”

Raylee opened his mouth to say something, but Daruss put a hand over it as he pulled him into his side. He must have said something through their bond, because Raylee nodded.

When Daruss took his hand away, Raylee closed the distance. He hugged Enzo first. “We’ll make it classy. I promise.”

Landry smirked. “Classy like the sexy Santa you asked me to paint?”

“I might change it to a starry and snowy night.” Raylee sucked in a breath. “Can you paint the ceiling with stars?”

Daruss cursed under this breath but didn’t stop Raylee.

“Yeah. No problem. When I get back later?”

Raylee hesitated to touch Landry. They all seemed to know he didn’t like being touched. That everyone respected the boundary put Enzo at ease a bit. He still thought they were a bunch of criminals, though. But they weren’t that different. And besides, Enzo’s sister needed to relax, anyway. Maybe some dragonshine and hanging out with biker criminals was what she needed to not be so uptight.

Landry pulled Raylee into a hug.

“I’m not sure I’ve welcomed you into the family yet, but welcome. You’re going to love Gran, but Aunt Tianna is difficult to get along with. If you can work yourself into her good graces then you’re better than the rest of us.”

“Don’t set him up for failure, Raylee.” Jazlyn hugged Landry next. To Landry, she said, “You already fit in fine. Dad loves you, so we do too.”

Landry glanced at Enzo as if gauging his reaction to the fact Jazlyn let the L-word slip.

They hadn’t put a word to their feelings. Enzo had just said he was halfway there. Hell, they might not be in the same place at the same time, but Enzo didn’t mind being ahead of Landry, if he even was. They could talk about it later if Landry wanted to. But Landry probably didn’t have talking in mind when they got home.

Enzo winked.

Landry smiled. When he spoke, it was to Jazlyn. “Thank you for being so welcoming. I promise not to be an evil stepparent.”

Jazlyn and Raylee chuckled. But it was Jazlyn who said, “Good. You have a sense of humor. You’re going to need it. And also my mother will probably want to mother you too.”

Jude smirked. “Like Enzo mothers me.”

“Exactly.”

Enzo rolled his eyes and waved Jude over. “I don’t mother you. But you need a parent sometimes. I’m here for that.”

Jude hugged him, chuckling. “Thanks.”

Enzo kissed the top of Jude’s head before letting him go.

“Okay. We’ll be back later.”

“Tomorrow is fine.” Daruss met Landry’s gaze. “We’ll talk about the next step with Ellis, then.”

Landry nodded and leaned against Enzo, as if just hearing Ellis’s name made Landry uneasy.

Enzo pulled him close and whispered in his ear. “Do you still want to go home?”

Enzo would’ve liked nothing more than to help Landry replace all those bad memories with good ones, but Landry had to want that too.

“More than anything.”

Enzo nodded, and they headed out together. They were home in less than ten minutes.