8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight

A n hour later, when Storm entered his suite, he had the strangest sensation that he had forgotten something important, but he had no idea what. Of course, if he could remember what he'd forgotten, it wouldn't be forgotten.

Or something like that.

Whatever.

He'd been riding a wave of adrenaline for hours, and it had finally started to ebb. Coming down always left him tired and a little disconcerted, so he wasn't too concerned. Besides, if he really had forgotten something important, King would remind him.

His mate was good with things like schedules and lists and organization. Hell, the guy was good at everything. Talking, walking, smiling, singing. Okay, so he hadn't heard him sing, but King probably had a fantastic voice.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was obsessed with the guy. Not in a creepy way, though, but in a perfectly acceptable, non-serial killer kind of way.

"Storm, are you even listening to me?"

"Absolutely." He hadn't heard a word. "I love listening to you talk."

"Uh, okay." Closing the door behind him, King paused in the entryway and studied him with a furrowed brow. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Just tired and hungry. Why?"

"It's nothing." The concern in his eyes didn't dissipate, though. "So, what do you want to eat? Chicken and vegetables? A salad?"

Storm scrunched one side of his nose. If King wanted him to eat those things, he would, but it didn't sound that appealing.

"Or not." King chuckled. "Okay, Tex, what do you want?"

"A burger. With cheese and bacon. Oh, and fries." He snapped his fingers and pointed at his mate. "And a milkshake."

King stared at him for a full minute before he sighed and retrieved his cellphone from his jacket pocket. "Priya is going to kill me."

Storm stiffened, and a low growl vibrated in his chest. "I would never let anyone hurt you."

That same mask of concern settled over his mate's face again. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

The tension drained out of him, and he stood upright with a bright smile. "Right as…as…"

"Rain?" King suggested.

"That's the one."

"Right." He dragged the word out as his face became more and more pinched. "I'll order room service. Why don't you go jump in the shower?"

Storm really didn't want to leave his mate, but he couldn't deny him, either. If that was what King wanted, that was what he would get.

"Okay. I'll be fast."

"It'll be at least half an hour before the food to gets here," King muttered, his attention on his phone screen. "Take your time."

And have to wait that much longer to see him again? No way. "I'll hurry."

"Hmm," King hummed distractedly.

Turning on his heels, Storm raced for the en suite, stripping out of his clothes as he went. In the bathroom, he jerked the lever for the shower, nearly breaking it off in the process, and stepped under the spray before it could even warm. He washed quickly and scrubbed his hair, then did a couple of turns to rinse away the suds before shutting off the water.

He stood dripping on the tiles for several seconds, just staring at the open door. That feeling of forgetfulness had returned, but once again, he didn't have a clue what it meant. All he knew was that he had been away from his mate for too long.

He rushed from the room and rounded the corner, skidding to a stop at the end of the sofa. King stood right where he'd left him, his eyes still glued to his phone.

"Did you forget something?" he asked without looking up.

By the goddess, he was so beautiful. His honeyed curls gleamed, and his fair skin glowed with an inner light. Storm didn't know how the hell he had gotten so lucky to have been blessed with a mate like King.

"Storm, is everything—oh, my god! What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm standing here."

"I can see that." King's eyes widened, and his nostrils flared. All that smooth, creamy skin flushed a startling shade of crimson, and he seemed to be looking anywhere except at Storm. "Why are you wet?"

"I took a shower."

"Fucking hell," King mumbled. The cords in his neck strained and bulged as he did his damnedest to twist his head in the opposite direction. "Where are your clothes?"

Oh. He stared down his nude, wet body and chuckled. So that was what he'd forgotten. "My bad. I'll be right back." He turned around but stopped to look over his shoulder. "Don't move."

"I'll be right here."

Satisfied with the answer, he trotted into the bedroom. Standing at the foot of the bed with his hands on his hips, he glanced at the closet, the dresser, then stared down at the king-sized mattress.

Why the fuck was he here when his mate was out there ? Damn, he loved that word. Mate. He wanted to shout it from the rooftops.

Excited to share the good news, he rushed back to the sitting area and grabbed King by the shoulders to get his attention. "Did you know we're mates? Like, holy fucking shit, dude! That's so cool! Isn't that cool?"

"Yes. Amazing." King sounded like he was choking, and his face was that weird shade of reddish purple again.

Unable to contain his emotions, he took a step back and pumped his fist into the air as he bounced on his toes. His cock—fully erect and standing at attention—slapped heavily against his thigh, which he found hilarious.

Only, his amusement didn't last long because King looked like he might be having a stroke. Or a seizure. It was kind of hard to tell. He had one hand slapped over his eyes, while he flapped the other around as if he'd lost control of the limb. He held himself rigidly as he turned one way, bumped into the wall, then turned around and nearly fell over the back of the sofa.

"What's wrong, darlin'?" Concerned, he immediately rushed to his mate's side, only to be met with the smack of a palm to his chest. "Are you hurt? Is the light too bright?" Reaching for the nearest lamp, he slid his hand down the top of the shade and crushed the bulb in his hand. "Is that better?"

"Oh, my fucking god!" King gasped. At least he'd finally stopped covering his eyes. "Have you lost your mind?"

"It was hurting you," he answered defensively.

"I'm fine. Besides, you could have just used the damn switch!"

Storm didn't know what he was talking about, and he didn't really care. He'd taken care of the problem and protected King. He was totally crushing this whole mating thing.

"I was just shocked because you are still very, very naked," King continued. His gaze wandered down Storm's body but stopped near his belly button before flying back to his face. "Where are your clothes?"

Right. Yes. That. "I can't find them."

"I'm sorry…what?"

Storm shrugged. "Where do we keep them?"

"Did you look in the dresser?"

Yes, of course, he had looked there. He wasn't an idiot. "What's that?"

"What's a dresser?"

Was King asking him? Was this a test?

"You know what, never mind." He marched past Storm, catching his hand as he did, and dragged him toward the bedroom.

Staring down at their linked fingers, Storm giggled. Just being able to hold the guy's hand felt like winning the lottery.

"Are you drunk?"

"I am intoxicated by you."

King looked back at him with a wrinkled nose and creased brow. "Okay, I'm going to find you some clothes, then I'm calling Priya."

"Cool. Who's Priya?"

"Oh, for the love of…" He trailed away with an exasperated huff. "You. Sit." Taking Storm's wrist, he guided him to the foot of the bed and pushed at his shoulders until he sank onto the burgundy comforter. "Just stay there."

"Okay." He liked this game. It was fun, and he was good at it.

King took two steps, stopped, then reached over the bed for one of the pillows. "Here." Unceremoniously, he stuffed it into Storm's lap. "You're going to put someone's eye out with that thing."

It seemed his mate had a real problem with nudity. It was freaking adorable. Although, it could make certain activities more challenging.

"How long have we been mated?"

King paused with a drawer halfway open. "Almost two days."

Wow. Two whole days. "Have we kissed?"

"Yes."

Damn, he wished he could remember that. It had probably been awesome. "Have we had sex?"

King made a choking sound in the back of his throat. "No."

Thank the goddess. He'd hate himself if he'd forgotten that. "Have you ever had sex?"

The choking turned into hacking coughs, and King gripped the white tee in his hands until his knuckles cracked. Eventually, with a few gasping breaths, he managed to get himself under control.

"I don't think we need to talk about that right now."

Storm took that as a no. Which explained a lot, like the guy's aversion to nudity. For a minute, he'd been worried that King just didn't want to see him naked.

"Please put these on." His mate handed him the T-shirt and a pair of navy pants. Then he immediately put his back to him. "Do you need anything else?"

Storm stared down at his bare feet and wiggled his toes. "Do I have any…feet gloves?"

"Feet…you mean, socks?"

"Sure."

King dug through another drawer and tossed him a pair of white…socks. "I'm going to call Priya now. Do you think you can handle this?"

He pulled the T-shirt on, only getting his head stuck in the sleeve once before finding the neck hole. "I can dress myself."

King held his hands up as he backed out of the room. "Just checking."

Left alone to his own devices, it took Storm a bit more effort to get his pants on, but he managed it after only three tries. Despite the socks being fairly intuitive, they didn't feel that great on his feet. He was still trying to figure out where he'd gone wrong when King returned, sans his phone.

"Priya suggested getting some rest and seeing how you feel in the morning." He didn't sound overly convinced by this, but he also didn't offer an alternative. "What are you doing?"

"My socks feel weird."

King knelt at the foot of the bed and inspected the garments. Then, without comment, he twisted them around so that the seams rested on the top of Storm's toes instead of the bottom.

"How's that?"

Storm grinned. "Perfect. Just like you."

"You really have to stop saying stuff like that."

"Why? It's true."

Sighing, King rose to his feet and held his hand out to pull Storm up from the mattress. "Look, I don't want to freak you out, but I think something's wrong."

"With you?"

"No. With you ."

That didn't make any sense. He had never felt better. "Mmm, I don't think that's right."

"Do you remember what happened with Cyrus in the ballroom?"

He understood the words, but not necessarily the context. "Who's Cyrus?"

"The security guard."

"And we were in a ballroom?"

King chewed the corner of his bottom lip for a moment before speaking again. "What are you sisters' names?"

"I don't have any sisters."

"What about your parents?"

"I don't have those, either."

Okay, technically, that wasn't correct. He hadn't just sprouted out of the ground fully formed, meaning he must have had parents at some point. Only, he didn't have any recollection of them.

"It doesn't bother you that you can't remember your parents?"

"A lot of people don't remember their parents," he argued.

"Fair enough." After a long, awkward pause, King took both of his hands and gripped them tight as he adopted an indulgent smile. "You said I'm perfect, right?"

Finally, something they could agree on. "Absolutely."

"And you trust me?"

"Of course."

King squeezed his hands. "Then I need you to trust me now that something is going on around here. People are acting strange."

"Including me?"

"Yes. Including you."

While he didn't think anything was "wrong" with him, he had been feeling slightly off since entering the suite. More than once, he'd been overcome with the sense that he had forgotten something important. It hadn't been enough to worry him, but King clearly saw things differently.

"I have parents?" he checked.

King nodded. "They own a farm in west Texas, and you have twin sisters."

He had sisters? "How old are they?"

"Seventeen."

If he was understanding correctly, he had a whole-ass family living in Texas. That seemed like information he should have readily available. As he tried to access those memories, however, he realized he had no recollection of his childhood at all. In fact, he couldn't remember anything before entering his suite with King.

Speaking of King, he knew the guy was his mate, and he had a lot of feelings about that, all positive. At the same time, it was another topic he had limited information on. Hell, he didn't even know how they'd met.

"I believe you."

Yet, he wasn't all that torn up about it. Having his entire life erased should have caused at least a modicum of concern, if not outright panic. Taking inventory of his thoughts and emotions, however, all he found was King. As long as he had his mate, nothing else really mattered to him.

King's tense muscles melted in relief. "Good. That's good."

"So, what do we do about it?"

Before King could answer, a knock at the door announced the arrival of their dinner. "Let's eat and get some sleep."

"Good idea." With any luck, maybe things would sort themselves out during the night.

Yeah, he just needed some sleep. Everything would be better in the morning.