Page 9 of Untamed Monster

Vargas sighed. “A few minutes ago, yes. Now? Probably not. Dad won’t allow it, and if there’s one person Pops won’t cross, it’s Dad. He worships the ground Dad walks on. And Dad has learned how to use that to his advantage.”

“Which is why he’s letting me handle this,” Kasey said, appearing in the kitchen, this time without Winston at his side. “He’s furious with you, Vargas, but if you’ll vouch for Rain, he’ll welcome them into the family.” Kasey smiled softly at me. “We protect our own, sometimes a little too fiercely. But we’re loyal, Rain. We’d love to have you as part of the Dean family, if you can overlook the clusterfuck that happened tonight.”

I nodded. “I think I’d like that,” I said quietly. Wasn’t like I had any family of my own. And I knew if I wanted to keep Vargas, I had to take his family with him. It would take some getting used to and a bit of time to move past Winston threatening to unalive me, but I would. For Vargas’s sake, if nothing else.

“I shouldn’t have threatened to kill you,” Winston suddenly said. I jerked in surprise, spinning around to face him. He’d come in through the side door in the kitchen. Vargas just watched him with hard, unflinching eyes, tracking every move Winston made like the true predator he was. “But knowing you’ve been stalking my son for months and it was never brought to my attention made you a threat in my eyes.”

“I would never do anything to harm Vargas or make me lose him,” I said quietly. “Never.”

Winston nodded once. “I can respect that.” He looked at Vargas. “We good now, kid?”

Vargas shrugged one shoulder. “So long as you never threaten them again, we’ve got no problems, Pops.” He looked at me then, his mask back in place. My shoulders relaxed a fraction. “Hurry up and eat so we can go home, raindrop. You’ve had quite the night.”

As if on cue, I yawned so big, my jaw popped. Kasey smiled at me. “Take some more cookies home with you, Rain. I love baking, so there’s no reason to keep them here.”

Winston huffed. “What am I—chopped liver?”

Kasey rolled his eyes and turned on his heel, leaving the kitchen, which meant he also ignored his husband. “Goodnight everyone!” Kasey called.

Winston sighed, muttered something under his breath I didn’t catch, then followed Kasey. Vargas pushed off the counter and made his way closer to me. “You bout ready, raindrop?” he asked, resting his chin on my shoulder.

I nodded. “More than ready.” Grabbing my bottle of water, I turned to face him. “The plate⁠—”

“Don’t worry about the plate,” he said, gripping me by the backs of my thighs. I sucked in a surprised breath, quickly wrapping my arms and legs around him. He carried me out of the kitchen and back toward the front door. “Let’s get you home so we can shower and crash into bed.”

I rested my chin on his shoulder, a stupid smile tilting my lips. Vargas really wasn’t all that good at faking his emotions, even if he managed to mask well enough to fit into society. But knowing he instinctually wanted to carry me and take care of me like this…

Well, it fucking undid me in the best way possible.

Six

Vargas

Rain fell asleep on the way to my apartment in the city. Practically the moment I settled them into the passenger seat of my car, they crashed. I knew the night was a lot for them. Between hunting me down at that party, getting their brains fucked out by me—roughly, at that—and then dealing with my family and Pops’s death threats, there was no way they would’ve lasted another minute. I’d seen the energy in them deflating the moment Pops had given his half-ass apology in the kitchen.

I drove carefully, even keeping the music low so Rain could rest properly for a little while. My brothers would swear I was inconsiderate and only cared about myself. And to some extent, there was some truth to that. But Rain filled me with this need to protect, to own, to care for them. Wraith told me it was like that—like we were those fucking wolves in that movie franchise who imprinted on their significant others. I hadn’t believed him and thought he was just talking out of his ass.

Come to find out… Wraith really was telling the truth. Because the moment I saw Rain for the first time, I wanted to make them mine.

I slowed to a crawl outside my building and put the car in park before angling out. The valet stepped forward, reaching for my keys. I handed them over, but put my finger to my lips, instructing him to be quiet before I rounded the car and opened the passenger door.

“Raindrop, we’re home,” I said softly, reaching in to unfasten their seatbelt.

“Donwanmove,” they slurred, slumping toward me when I began easing them out of the car.

“Just need you to move enough so I can carry you,” I soothed. They were so out of it. Bone deep exhausted. I wanted to shower with them, maybe get a little more food in their belly and definitely some water to get them rehydrated, but that looked like it was going to have to hold. Rain was in no condition to be trying to do any of that.

I draped their arm around my neck, then slid my arms beneath them, gently lifting them from the car. Their head lolled on my shoulder, barely awake as I shut my car door with my foot. The valet watched with open curiosity as I carried Rain toward the door for my building, but I ignored him.

Couldn’t blame him for his curiosity though. I never brought anyone home with me. Never. And now, here I was, not just bringing someone home, but carrying them.

“Welcome back, Mr. Dean,” the doorman said, inclining his head to me respectfully.

I nodded once in response, not pausing in my stride for the elevator. He hurried over, pressing the button to call it for me, and once it arrived, he swiped his card to send me up to the penthouse apartment, which required either my key card or an authorized employee’s card.

“Have a good night, Mr. Dean,” he whispered before stepping back out of the elevator.

The doors slid shut, and we began our ascent. Rain didn’t even stir in my arms, which made me a bit concerned. Were they experiencing some kind of subdrop, or were they just really tired? I’d never stuck around anyone I slept with long enough to experience the aftermath of my time with them.