“What aren’t you telling me about what happened here, Wyatt?”
“What you don’t need to know right this second.”
Sean glanced to see where Emery was. “You realize I want a full explanation from you two when we’re all back at home, right?”
Wyatt nodded. “I suspected you would. Now, please, let’s get you back to the hotel.”
“Fine.”
Emery had already begun packing their things when Sean reached the room. Wyatt had seen him as far as the lobby and made him promise to go straight to their room.
Whatever had happened, Emery was freaked out about it beyond the obvious. Sean suspected it was the unknown factor that everyone seemed to know about except him. “I told Wyatt we’re talking about this at some point when we get home,” Sean told him.
“Fine, but for now, let’s pack. I want to be on the road ASAP.”
“Fine.”
* * * *
It was late that night, nearly one in the morning, when they reached Spokane. Emery hadn’t wanted to stop for the night somewhere else, just in case.
Sean didn’t press him for a reason after asking once if they would stop or not.
All Emery wanted to do was put miles between them and Yellowstone. With the lousy cell reception there, he wasn’t even sure if his texts to Wyatt would reach his friend.
He wouldn’t, however, put his mate or his child at risk. And a dolphin shifter wasn’t exactly any great help in the icy waters of Yellowstone lake, much less the mountainous regions of the park. They had plenty of other shifters who had far better skills than he did in that regard, shifted or not.
He also had a human mate and a small child to take into consideration. When Wyatt had told him to head out, he’d listened without arguing.
That the cockatrice had managed to abduct a wolf shifter’s mate right out from under everyone’s noses, a male mate, no less, scared the crap out of him.
Even scarier, someone had left a ransom note in the main lodge, someone who’d manage to slip in and out without being noticed.
They found a hotel near the airport and checked in. Isla didn’t even wake up as they carried her up to the room and put her into one of the king-sized beds.
Emery was staring at her, relieved to know they’d be changing their flight reservations and flying home in several hours, when Sean grabbed him by the back of his shirt collar and hauled him into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind them.
Before he could ask Sean what was going on, Sean pinned him against the bathroom wall, kissing him hard, fucking Emery’s mouth with his tongue.
It didn’t take long for Emery to melt. Sean seemingly sensed it when that switch flipped inside Emery. He grabbed a fistful of Emery’s hair and tipped his head back before he leaned in close.
“Who do you belong to?” Sean whispered in his ear.
Emery’s cock throbbed, struggling for freedom inside his jeans, demanding release. He swallowed, feeling Sean’s breath hot and sweet against his exposed throat.
“You,” Emery whispered back.
Sean tightened his grip, tugging down and forcing Emery to bend his knees or risk getting a hank of hair ripped out. Sean put him on his knees on the floor and pulled his head forward, until Sean’s bulge pressed against the side of his face.
“You know where that’s going?”
Emery turned his face so he could kiss Sean’s stiff cock through his jeans.
Sean chuckled. “Well, yeah, okay, it’s going there, too. But do you know where else it’s going?”
“Hopefully in my ass.”
“Damn skippy.” With his free hand, Sean unfastened his belt and opened his jeans. His briefs sharply outlined his stiff cock, with a small and rapidly growing wet spot on the inside of the fabric.
“But first,” Sean softly said, “it’s going between your lips and down that sweet throat of yours.”
Emery tried to nibble on Sean’s cock through the fabric, but Sean pulled him back. Then he shoved down his briefs with his free hand before pulling Emery’s head close again.
“Open,” he said.
Emery did.
“Look at me.”
Emery stared up into Sean’s face. Backlit, his brown eyes looked almost black. His hair fell forward along his face, and his playful smile twisted Emery’s insides into a delicious mess. “Don’t you take your eyes off mine while you suck my cock, baby.”
Sean had taken full control, both hands now fisted in Emery’s hair. He started slow and shallowly, Emery feeling like he was in free fall as Sean slowly fucked his mouth with his cock.
“That’s is,” Sean urged. “You know what I love.”
Despite his own cock screaming for release, Emery’s gaze never left Sean’s. He wrapped his hands around Sean’s thighs as he held on and let his mate use him. Sean’s voice dropped, deeper, stronger. “I’m going to let you get me nice and hard and then I’m bending you over that counter and riding you like I stole you.”
Emery struggled and eventually succeeded in not laughing.
The outer creases of Sean’s almond-shaped eyes crinkled in amusement. “Oh, you think I’m kidding?”
“I laugh because I know you’re serious,” he said through their mate-bond.
He also laughed because, without having to say so, his mate instinctively knew Emery needed a little downtime. A few minutes out of the Alpha role.
A few minutes in the safety of his mate’s arms, with nothing to think about except pleasure.
Sean let go with one hand and reached into his back pocket. He pulled out a tube of lube and set it on the counter. “I prepared,” he said, playfully smiling. Then he slid his cock deep down Emery’s throat. Emery relaxed, waiting until Sean withdrew with just the tip of his cock between his lips.
“Lick the tip, baby. Taste me.”
Emery flicked his tongue along the slit, the tangy, salty taste of pre-cum rolling over his taste buds.
“That’s it.”
After a few more minutes, Sean couldn’t wait any longer. He pulled Emery to his feet and turned him around, pushing him down over the counter with a hand between his shoulder blades.
Sean wrapped his arms around Emery’s waist and unfastened his jeans. He shoved them and his briefs down Emery’s hips while meeting his gaze in the mirror. Then he grabbed the lube.
Emery tried to stand. “Don’t you want to—”
Sean pushed him back down with a hand between his shoulder blades. “Grab the counter and don’t let go.” Sean’s dominant tone drilled straight through Emery’s soul and washed away his will.
A string of pre-cum dripped from Emery’s cock and hit his briefs. Sean noticed.
He reached between Emery’s legs and scooped some onto his finger. Then he held it up to Emery’s lips. He needed no coaxing. He opened his mouth and sucked Sean’s finger the way he’d sucked his cock a few moments earlier.
“Yep. Just like that.”
Sean apparently could only stand that teasing for a little bit before he pulled his finger out of Emery’s mouth and reached for the lube. “Hard and fast, baby,” he warned.
Sean kicked off his own jeans and briefs, leaving them in a puddle of fabric on the tile floor. Then he squirted lube into his hand and slathered it onto his cock. He squirted another generous dollop of lube onto his fingers and worked that into Emery’s ass.
Emery’s gaze never wavered from Sean’s in the mirror as he felt the head of his lover’s cock pressing against his rim.
“Hard and fast,” Sean whispered before slamming home.
Emery struggled to hold back his grunt of pleasure as Sean’s cock bottomed out inside him. “Don’t come until I tell you to,” Sean said.
That made Emery’s cock throb even harder, a thin stream of pre-cum dripping and making a wet spot on his briefs, which were still around his knees.
Emery had to hold on to the counter to keep from getting knocked off-balance. Sean was true to his word, fucking him
hard and fast, the only sounds in the bathroom the electric exhaust fan, which barely covered their ragged breathing and the sound of flesh slapping together.
The musky aroma of their sex filled the small bathroom. Emery was about to beg Sean to let him come when his lover reached around him and grabbed his cock. He gave it several hard pumps, slicking his pre-cum along his shaft.
“Come,” Sean rumbled from deep in his throat.
Emery couldn’t keep his eyes open. Strings of cum splashed all over the counter as Sean milked it from his cock. He wasn’t sure his knees could support him, the orgasm driving the very breath from him,
After a moment, Sean picked up the pace and released Emery’s cock to grab his hips again. Sean’s fingers dug into his flesh as he drove his cock hard and deep into Emery’s tight channel, until, finally, Sean gave one last thrust and left his cock buried inside Emery’s ass.
Panting, they both stood there draped over the counter and trying to recover. Emery’s legs felt shaky. “Holy hell that was hot.”
Sean smiled. “I thought you needed it.”
Emery let his gaze fall to the counter and he nodded.
Tender fingers reached under his shirt and stroked his back. “Babe, it’s all right to ask for it if you need it.”
“I’m the Alpha,” he whispered. “I shouldn’t have to ask it. Especially not of you. You’re my mate. My job is to take care of you. And Isla.”
Sean gently pulled his wilting cock from Emery’s ass and made him turn around. He wrapped his arms around him and held him. “Your job is to be my partner,” Sean insisted. “We’re in this together. Yeah, you have the title. But that doesn’t mean you automatically reject your needs in the process. If your needs aren’t met, how can you be a good Alpha?”
Emery relaxed in his embrace. “How’d I get so lucky to find you?”
He made Emery look at him. “I think I’m the lucky one, babe. So let’s call it a draw.” He kissed him, then traced the shape of Emery’s lips with the pad of his thumb. “And now I think we need a shower and bed.”
* * * *
They took their time showering, letting the water rinse the tension from them. Sean hadn’t been completely sure before he tackled Emery in the bathroom that his dolphin really was in the mood to be nailed, but he’d suspected it.
He was glad to see his instincts were still dead-on where Emery was concerned.
Emery relaxed in his arms under the spray, his head resting on Sean’s shoulder. “I’ll fire up my laptop when we’re done and make new flight reservations.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Sean said. They’d originally been scheduled to fly out in three days.
Now, all Sean wanted to do was get home.
“I’m going to ask this right now,” Sean started, “and you don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to. But whatever Wyatt had you help him with in Louisiana, and whatever happened in Yellowstone, that’s all tied in somehow and it’s bad, isn’t it?”
Emery slowly nodded.
“Okay. That’s all I need to know.” He’d listened to things during that meeting, things that hadn’t made sense.
But none of it had to do with Erik Chait, and that’s all Sean cared about.
Emery was able to get them booked on a flight leaving Spokane late that night with a stopover in Denver before landing in Tampa. They wouldn’t be getting home until nearly seven the next morning, but that was okay.
They’d be home. Together, and safe.
Chapter Sixteen
“So, what do you suggest?” Castle asked.
Erik shrugged as they watched the house from where they were parked on the street a few doors down. Yesterday, the couple had already left for the day by the time they got there. Today was Friday. Erik and Castle had arrived a little after seven in the morning and there was still one car parked in the driveway. However, from watching the house the night before, they saw the man and the woman get out of one car, the second car never returning.
Left at the mechanic’s, perhaps?
“We have video and audio of the recognition ceremony,” Erik said, trying not to lose patience. “We can go in and confront them.” Each day that passed made it harder for him to hold back. His revenge was so close he could taste it.
He didn’t want to be stalled another day.
“Do you really think they’re going to talk to me?”
Erik slowly turned to stare at him. “Don’t tell me you’re pussing out now?”
“No. It’s just how do I get them to talk to me and not just slam the door in my face?”
“Oh, be your charming self.”
Castle glared at him. “That’s not much help.”
“You’re the reporter.”
Castle stared at him. “Why do I get the feeling there’s more you haven’t told me?” he quietly asked.
“Do you want my help or not? Because if not, we’ll part ways right now and you’ll never hear from me again. Good luck getting the word out then, buddy. You’ll be seen as a crackpot.”
Castle drummed his fingers on the steering wheel for a moment. Erik watched as he reached for the door handle, but then a woman emerged from the house, an infant carrier in each hand. She walked a few houses down before returning without the babies.
Castle sat back in his seat and watched.
Erik watched Castle.
Another few minutes later, and Castle seemed to grow a pair. He grabbed his phone and notebook and reached for the door handle. Erik had helped him load some of the evidence on his phone to show Brad and Olivia.
Erik held his breath until Castle was finally up and out of the car and hurrying down the sidewalk.
Erik got out and ducked across the street, between houses and down until he stood behind Olivia and Brad’s house. He’d grown very agile using just one crutch, able to move quickly and quietly.
He used that to his advantage now.
He hoped Castle wasn’t completely incompetent and could keep them there and distracted for at least a few minutes.
Sure enough, as he remembered it from the last time he’d been there with Emery the year before for a Labor Day party, the backyard wasn’t fenced. And there, in the fake rock near the back door, was the hidden key.
Erik used it to let himself in.
He heard Olivia and Brad talking with Castle in the foyer. It sounded like they were about to give him the boot.
Erik pulled out the hunting knife he’d kept on him ever since the trailer in the Keys and moved quickly. Fortunately, Castle couldn’t see him with Olivia and Brad blocking the view of the hallway. But Erik was able to leave the crutch propped against the wall and lunge for Olivia, grabbing her and pressing the blade against her throat.
“Everyone come in and be quiet,” he ordered.
Brad seemed too shocked to respond at first. Castle, the dumbass, said, “Dude, what are you doing?”
“Get the fuck in here, Castle.”
“Erik?” Brad asked.
He pressed the blade harder against her neck. “Shut up or her head comes off. Castle, get your fucking ass in here.”
He did, shutting the door behind him. “Why did he call you Erik?”
“Shut up applied to you, too, Castle. Unless you want to become an accessory to murder.”
Brad took a step toward him. “I’m going to—”
Erik slid the blade against her flesh, making her cry out and drawing blood but not cutting deeply enough to sever her carotid artery. “Going to what, Brad? Make me kill your wife in front of you? Seriously?”
The shifter stopped in his tracks.
“Good move,” Erik told him.
“What are you doing?” Castle asked, desperation in his voice.
“The only way to get what you want is to do what I tell you to,” Erik said. “Now,” he ordered when Castle still seemed to hesitate.
The man flinched, but moved to follow his orders.
Ten minutes later, under Erik’s orders, Castle had Brad secu
rely taped to a dining room chair with duct tape from their garage. Erik sat in a chair from their dining room. On the floor and within easy range of his remaining foot lay Olivia, her wrists securely taped behind her, and her ankles taped together.
He’d also duct-taped her mouth shut.
Erik smiled at Brad and Olivia. “My friend, here, is a journalist.” The journalist in question looked decidedly ill, but kept his mouth shut, as Erik had predicted. The man was a weakling, easy to push around and desperate for fame and recognition now that he knew Erik was the real deal in terms of shifters. “I’ve given him a little demonstration about what I am.” He waved the knife point in a circle. “What the three of us really are. We were in a boat watching the recognition ceremony. Really, Emery should be more careful now that he’s pod Alpha. A little discretion. No security at all.”
He pointed his knife at Brad. “Tell him what you are.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oooh, sorry. Wrong answer.” From his chair, Erik kicked Olivia in the chest, making her cry out. Brad struggled against his bonds, but then Erik leaned forward and pressed the point of the blade to her throat again. “Keep fighting me, asshole. I’ll show you there are far worse things than losing a foot to a fucking gator shifter.”
“What?” That was Castle, who looked even more shocked by that revelation than he had at suddenly being made an accessory to armed kidnapping and assault.
Erik ignored him. “Brad, tell the nice reporter what we are.”
Brad still didn’t want to reply. It took Erik drawing his foot back again to get him to answer. “Okay! Fuck, all right. We’re dolphin shifters. Erik is a goddamned psychopath, okay? What the hell are you doing with him? Call the fucking cops, and we can get you money—”
Erik hauled off and kicked Olivia several times, until she was sobbing and Brad was begging him to stop.
Erik smiled at Castle. “A word, if you’ll be so kind? In the kitchen, please.”
Erik grabbed his crutch and led the way into the kitchen. Castle moved close, to speak softly with him. He wasn’t anticipating Erik turning around and plunging the blade deep into his gut, twisting and sliding it for maximum effect.