Chapter Seven

Storm

Once he was back in his dressing room, Storm inhaled deeply. Ryder’s scent was a heady perfume on his skin, mingling with his own—lightning and sea salt meeting a heavy downpour and cypress resin, swirling together to form a clear picture in his mind. A stormy coastal night, lightning flickering over the water at the edge of a forest. He let its perfection fill his lungs, then sighed it out. How much better would Ryder smell if they’d done this for real?

His wolf had wanted that—to claim Ryder, to knot him. It didn’t care if those lines had just been the script talking. Ryder had sounded like he’d meant it. He’d smelled like it, too. But things were never quite that easy.

Storm hopped into the shower and rinsed himself clean, loath to scrub off Ryder’s scent—a definite first when it came to filming with a mage, and it wasn’t difficult to guess why.

Bonded couples weren’t entirely unheard of at MateHub anymore, and while he wasn’t as big a star as Richard Knotz, he did share an agent with him. If Daniel could negotiate a post-bonding contract that allowed Richard to film exclusively with his mate, he might be able to do the same for Storm.

But he was getting ahead of himself. He couldn’t decide that on his own.

He toweled himself dry, got dressed, and exited his dressing room.

On his way to the elevator, Ryder fell into step with him. Storm hit the call button, and they waited, stealing glances at each other out of the corner of their eyes.

“Have you ever even been to a soccer match?” Ryder asked as they stepped into the elevator.

“Have you been to a football game?”

Ryder passed over his phone. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours. Playoffs start next week. I already have tickets. Just need someone to go with me.”

Storm entered his name and number into Ryder’s contacts. “Fine, but I’m not going to enjoy it.”

“We’ll see about that.” Ryder leaned in to whisper in his ear. “And if it’s too terrible for you, I do have a mattress that could use some testing afterward.”

“Funny you should mention that. So do I.” Storm curled a hand around Ryder’s hip and tugged him closer.

Ryder grinned, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. “I think we’ve got some more work to do.”

Yes, they did. They might need to test their beds repeatedly to ensure they were up to standards. It’d be another hard job, but somehow, they’d suffer through.

The elevator arrived at the first floor, and they headed out of the MateHub building together.

Maybe filming with certain mages wasn’t so bad after all.