Page 34 of Blood and Bone
Eoghan gulped and spoke between laughter. “Of course, I know she has a beak. That’s how they break the shells of the sea creatures they eat. Kaycee is a ringed octopus shifter. So is Laycee and their brother Bob.”
“I take it Bob is the thing that chased us out of the lot?”
Eoghan nodded. “Yeah, that’d be him. “They’re ringed octopi but all octopi have beaks. The moment you called one a bitch, that was it. I’m not surprised she tried to eat you.”
“Jesus, what are they doing running a truck stop in the middle of Central California? They’re like almost two hundred miles from the nearest ocean.”
“I don’t know the whole story. I just know what they are and where they live and that one is a lot lizard.”
“Yeah, what’s up with that? I was almost sure I saw something under Laycee’s skirt. What do you think that was?”
“Hell if I know. Probably one of her tentacles,” Eoghan said.
“Yeah,” Ari said, thinking. “Hey, I’d bet she’s a popular hooker. All those suckers, you know?”
Eoghan started laughing all over again. And Ari didn’t even know what to do except stare at him open-mouthed and laugh himself.
“Sure, laugh it up, hot stuff,” he grumbled, smiling even as he pointed at him. “You know, this is all your fault. You didn’t warn me at all.”
Eoghan wiped the tears away from his eyes and glanced over at him. “I had to pee, dude. I didn’t do it at the rest stop like you did. I couldn’t have imagined that you’d manage to say something to insult their whole classification in a matter of minutes…so insulting that I can never go back to that truck stop again.” He pounded on the steering wheel. “Goddammit!”
“What? I said I’m sorry, Eoghan. I really am,” Ari said, slightly shocked at the outburst.
“It’s not that.”
“What then?” Ari asked, feeling terrible as he stared at Eoghan’s profile.
Eoghan sighed as he glanced over at him. The hint of a smile he wore on his face was almost adorable. “I didn’t get my damned energy drink.” He chuckled and all Ari could do was roll his eyes and smile back, thanking his lucky stars he had a forgiving and very patient partner.
Chapter Nine
By the time they pulled into a Best Western hotel for the night, Ari was exhausted and cranky. They’d made it about half way back to Tahoe, but Ari had forced Eoghan to pull off the highway because he’d counted no less than ten yawns in one minute and he was pretty sure he was about to crash the car. Besides, it had been a long fucking day and they both needed showers. Eoghan parked in front of the door to their room after checking in and when they got out, carrying their duffels, weapons, and the bag of fast-food salads they’d picked up along the way, both of their backs cracked loudly.
“Oh, that feels good,” Eoghan said, rubbing his lower back and butt. “My ass was literally numb. I’m pretty sure it fell asleep back there at Kaycee’s place.”
Ari leaned back as far as he could, hearing every vertebra in his spine crack like he’d just opened a zipper. “Holy shit,” he exclaimed as he dropped the duffel in front of their door and took the keycard Eoghan held out to him.
After letting themselves in, they took turns using the bathroom and washing up. By the time Eoghan stepped out into the room, Ari already had their salads out of the bag and laid out on the small table. He was drenching his own with Thousand Island, making sure he covered the chicken as well as the lettuce. He smiled at Eoghan who walked over and bent to kiss him before taking his seat across from him.
“Jeez, I’m starving,” Eoghan said, picking up a packet of Ranch and opening it.
Ari watched him pour the dressing all over his salad as he chewed his first delicious bite of his fried chicken salad. Heswallowed and stabbed more chicken and lettuce. “You know, all these bad food choices and being on the road with no exercise is not good.”
“So we talked about back in Tahoe,” Eoghan said around a bite of food. “I guess that means we’re jogging again tomorrow before we hit the road.”
Ari threw him a dirty look even though he knew he was right. His thirty-fifth birthday was rapidly approaching and if he was going to keep his trim figure, he knew they had to start making better choices. It was just that days like today when they were literally on the road day and night, meant that they did a hell of a lot more sitting than being active. He ate more of his salad, watching Eoghan across the table before sitting back with a full belly.
“We’re most definitely going to jog first thing in the morning. Right now, though, I’m going to jump into the shower and wash the day off so that I can be all fresh when I crawl between the sheets.” He waggled his eyebrows at Eoghan when his eyes flashed fire.
“That sounds like a great idea,” Eoghan said. “In fact, if you wait for me to finish this, I’ll join you in that shower.” He smiled and Ari almost melted on the spot.
Ari sat forward and finished off the rest of his salad with renewed vigor before standing up and throwing away his carton. He glanced back at Eoghan who was still sitting there chewing. He crooked a finger. “Well? Are you coming?”
“Yep,” Eoghan said, tossing his box unceremoniously into the trash beside Ari’s before following him into the bathroom.
The shower wasn’t really built for the use of two big men at the same time but neither of them really cared. Ari’s initial idea was to fuck Eoghan inside the stall, but decided against it since it might entail grave bodily injury. Instead, he planted a hot, wet, tongue kiss on Eoghan’s mouth and opted for quicklycleaning himself off, washing his hair, and exiting the stall with the whispered promise of a lot more when he decided to join him in bed.
Predictably, almost as soon as Ari had climbed into bed, Eoghan emerged from the bathroom with a towel around his waist, using another to dry his black hair. He smiled to himself as he watched Eoghan toss the towels onto the other bed and jump in beside him, making the bed bounce. Ari laughed, holding his arms out wide as Eoghan crawled over him, immediately stretching along the length of his body. His sweet mouth covered Ari’s and he’d pushed his tongue inside in response, greedily plying him with deep kisses. He loved making out with Eoghan. It invariably led to fantastic sex.