Free Midnight Matings 13 Splash and Elegance by Gabrielle Evans Page A

a stupid thing to say. I didn’t mean it like that, okay?”
    Right, because there was any other way for him to take it. “Jude, it’s at least eight hours until we have to worry about it. Can you maybe come back then?” Whitley was scaring himself with his behavior. He never talked back, never made waves. That was before he had a mate, though.
    His family might not respect him. His former lovers never had.
    But damn it! He didn’t think he was asking too much to expect it from the one person who was always supposed to have his back.
    The end of the bed dipped as Jude settled himself down on the mattress. Whitley had never met a more pig-headed person in his life.
    He couldn’t make the guy leave, but that didn’t mean he had to acknowledge him.
    “Can we please talk?”
    “No.” Well, that had gone well. Whitley couldn’t even ignore a person properly.
“Look, I’m stressed out and exhausted, and I was a dick. I’m sorry, Whit. I didn’t think before I said that shit. You know I think more of you than a way to get my rocks off.” Whitley pushed up in bed and turned to face his mate. “No, I don’t know that. How the hell am I supposed to know that? I can’t read your fucking mind, Jude! So that just leaves your actions, and your actions aren’t saying very nice things right now.”
    “I knew there was some fire in there somewhere,” Jude joked.
    Whitley wasn’t amused. “You are such a dick.”
    “Where is all of this coming from? I mean, I know I was out of line about the sex comment, but I get the feeling it started before that.”
    “You’re lying about something,” Whitley blurted.
    Jude closed his eyes and his shoulders slumped, confirming Whitley’s suspicions. When he looked up again, there wasn’t as much contrition there as Whitley had expected to see. “The Council can’t know about Carter, okay? Just…Just trust me, Whit.”
    “That’s a pretty tall order considering you haven’t given me a single reason to trust you since we met. I was willing to believe you were a good guy until you proved me wrong. Seems like all you’ve been doing since we left Virginia is just that—proving me wrong.”
    “That’s not what I’m trying to do.” Jude scrubbed roughly at his face and growled. “There are just some things that I can’t tell you.”
    “Yet, you still want my help.” Hell, that was all Jude wanted.
    Once he learned that Whitley could manipulate the security on the cell, he didn’t seem to have any other use for him.
    “Yes.”
    “I’ll help,” Whitley conceded. “I’m not doing it for you, though.
    I’m doing it for Carter.”
    Jude gave him a strange look he couldn’t decipher before quickly looking away. “So am I.”

    * * * *
Jude paced restlessly across the carpeted floor, rubbing at his arms and growling under his breath. His skin crawled, his insides boiled, and sweat dampened his shirt so that it clung to him uncomfortably.
    His brain argued that sex wasn’t on the agenda, but his body wasn’t getting the message. His dick was hard enough to cut glass and not very happy being confined inside the denim of his jeans.
    Even if Whitley was willing—which, after his little outburst, Jude doubted he was—there wasn’t time. His father would be leaving in twenty minutes to make his reservations, and they needed to be ready to move.
    Stomping to the bedroom door, he banged on it loudly. “Whit, it’s time.”
    The bedroom door opened, and Whitley glared at him, his face flushed as sweat beaded across his forehead. He was completely dressed, and looked just as uncomfortable as Jude felt. “What happens if we fail to have sex every twenty-four hours?”
    “According to the elders, we lose our ability to shift and go feral.
    It’s still bearable. We’ll be fine for a little while longer.” Whitley growled and shoved past him. “Just stop talking.
    Everything out of your mouth pisses me off.” He scratched at his arms and tugged on the collar of his