Midnight Matings 18: Suck and Lick

Midnight Matings

Suck and Lick

A Chupacabra sits down next to a giraffe shifter at the UPAC conference and ends

up mated. It sounds like the beginning to a bad joke, but it’s a nightmare for Leo, a
giraffe shifter. His new mate is rude, socially inept, and claimed Leo against his will.

The joke ends up being on Gable, a hybrid shifter the world refers to as the

Chupacabra, when he finds himself mated to a giraffe who is head of a lion pride.

Gable screwed up. He knows it, and he’s trying to make things right, but every time

he opens his mouth he seems to make things worse.

Just as it seems the man accused of viciously sucking animals dry and the gentle

shifter with the big purple tongue start to get their act together, trouble shows up on their
front door. Will they fight it together or keep fighting each other?

Genre:

Alternative (M/M or F/F), Paranormal, Shape-shifter

Length:

35,699 words

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

IMPRINT: Erotic Romance ManLove
SUCK AND LICK
Copyright © 2012 by Joyee Flynn
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62241-075-0
First E-book Publication: August 2012
Cover design by Jinger Heaston
All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

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Suck and Lick

by Joyee Flynn

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SUCK AND LICK

Midnight Matings

JOYEE FLYNN

Chapter 1

I was sitting on one of the benches along the side of the ballroom

listening to Elder Burke when a large man rudely plopped down next to
me. He grabbed a drink from a passing waiter and tossed it down, not
waiting for the official toast… And he was blocking my view now. I sat
back against the wall with a sigh. I swear some people really were just

hoorah for me, fuck you

kind of people.

I drank the toast when it was time, not bothering to get up because I

wouldn’t be able to see around all the people that now stood in front of
me too. That wasn’t their fault since space was limited in the ballroom
and there were tons of people there. There was probably about half
the paranormal community since we had to go to at least one
conference every decade and they were only held on leap years.

I was just glad I got a seat out of the way. At least I could sit

comfortably and not see anything because of my five-one height.

“Chupacabra drains more goats,” the man grumbled next to me as

he read something from his iPad. “Yeah, right. Because I would totally
be sucking down goat blood. Gross.”

I was still mostly paying attention to the elders when his words

clicked. This huge man was the little lizard-looking thing that scared
everyone to death? Wow. This was one hell of a gathering!

“Each of you has twenty-four hours to find and claim your mate,”

Elder Lucas said. “If you fail to claim a mate in twenty-four hours, and
bring him or her before this council to be recognized, you will not have
a mate. You will go feral inside of a week.”

Wait… What? My head snapped in the direction of the dais the

elders were on, though I still couldn’t see shit.

“Those bastards,” the Chupacabra growled. “Now they’re tricking us

into mating?”

I agreed with him. This was total bullshit! The elders prattled on with

a bogus explanation, and the moment they walked into the back doors
of the ballroom, the place broke out into chaos. Now, even more so
than earlier, I

really

didn’t want to be here.

The man next to me sighed as he set down his iPad. He eyed me

over as if I was going to be his next meal in a way that had me trying to
scoot away. “You’ll do.”

“I’ll do

what

?” I squeaked as I jumped to my feet.

“You’ll do as my mate and keep me entertained,” he answered with a

leer. “You’ve got a tight little body that I bet was made for all types of
fun. And you seem submissive enough for my needs.”

“Maybe I’m not even gay,” I whimpered, holding my hands up

defensively as I backed away.

“Honey, you’re gay,” he snickered and reached for me.
I darted out of the way and headed for the exit. I screamed as

someone grabbed me between the legs and hoisted me up to their
face. It wasn’t the handsome, rude Chupacabra, but someone else
with scary ass motherfucking fangs.

“You look tasty,” he hissed and leaned in towards my neck. I fought

with all I had, scared enough to shit a house worth of bricks.

“I called him first,” the Chupacabra snarled and punched the guy in

the face just as I felt the man’s fangs touch my skin. He grunted and
released me. I had a moment of falling before I was in the original
brute’s arms.

“Please, don’t,” I whispered as I shook in fear. He was gorgeous but

that wasn’t everything to me. His bright-green eyes and dark-blond hair
were very attractive assets. But no matter what, his height and build
would scare me. I mean, seriously, he had to be at least six five and
two hundred and eighty pounds. At

least

“Better me than someone else who won’t give you a good ride now

and again,” he replied with an evil smile. His eyes were twinkling in
mirth but he still was acting like a douche bag so I didn’t really find him
charming. Before I could even think of what to say, he buried his head
in my neck and bit me.

I screamed at the abruptness of it, not even having a warning lick or

something that he was really going to do it. There really wasn’t any
pain, but then when he started drinking from me, my whole body lit up in
flames with pleasure.

“Beg me, my little submissive,” he whispered in a husky voice in my

ear. I wasn’t sure what he meant but I needed to come more than I
wanted air.

“Please?” It really was more of a question because I couldn’t think

enough to know what he wanted.

“We’ll work on your begging and listening to my instruction,” he

grumbled  as  he  shoved  his  hand  down  the  front  of  my  pants.  He
stroked my cock once and set me off. I whimpered, not having felt this
before  when  someone  touched  me  there.  Hell,  I’d  never  had
enjoyment  like  this  before.  Even  when  I’d  come  before  during  sex  it
was more like

if A, then B

. If someone stroked me long enough or hit

my prostate enough times, I would come.

That didn’t mean I ever enjoyed the sex. But that was neither here

nor there and not the time to be thinking about it.

“Oh yeah, you’re a hot little number. I bet you love big cock in your

ass.”  He  groaned  and  taunted  which  only  made  me  blush  and  look
away.  I  was  embarrassed  for  so  many  reasons  but  mostly  I’d  never
had  someone  speak  to  me  so  crassly  before  even  giving  me  their
name. “Fuck. Are you a virgin or something?”

“No, but I doubt you’d care if I was,” I threw right back as I tried to

get out of his arms.

“How did you just talk to me?” he asked dangerously, his eyes

getting dark as he held me firmly. Now I was afraid for a whole other
set of reasons. This man was huge, now my mate, and I was going to
be alone with him quite often.

I wondered if his previous unfortunate mates were buried in his

backyard with the temper on him.

“What’s your name?” I asked instead of apologizing for something

when I didn’t do anything wrong.

He eyed me over for a moment, probably contemplating whether to

push the issue or not. “Gable Zohar, shape-shifting Chupacabra, and

now your mate and master.”

“I’m not into D/s,” I whispered, starting to understand that I probably

wasn’t going to have a choice in the matter. How could the elders let
this happen? They’d given every bully in the room a chance to take
what they wanted.

“Really?” Gable looked genuinely surprised as he carried me up to

the front of the ballroom. “You scream little bitty sub who likes to be told
what to do.”

“And stereotyping like that just got you a mate who isn’t. So maybe

you shouldn’t be

that guy

who thinks he knows everything about a

person from one look. There’s a name for people like that.”

“And it would be?” he asked, acting as if he didn’t really care but I

saw that dark glint in his eyes again.

“Mistaken,” I answered, lying and changing what was I originally

going to say. I didn’t think my new mate and basically captor, Gable,
would like being called “douche bag.”

“Liar.” He jumped up onto the dais and I couldn’t hear much over the

commotion but I swear my new mate said something like, “Maybe
feisty isn’t a bad thing after all.”

“Names?” the elder asked without even looking up from the huge

book on the table.

“Gable Zohar.” He set me down on my feet and pushed me forwards

gently, his order to state my name clear.

“Help me,” I begged as grabbed onto the table. “He doesn’t even

know my name. I seek sanctuary, Elder. It’s well within my right to ask
you for it when being attacked.”

“Who’s attacking you?” the man countered as he glanced up at me.
“Gable is,” I answered, thinking that this conversation might be as

useful as banging my head against the wall. Gable stepped forward,
and I glanced up in time to see he was

pissed

. A council guard

stepped in front of him and I had maybe a minute if they fought to get
the help I needed.

“Did he hit you?”
“Well, no but—”

“Hurt you?” The elder started to look annoyed.
“No, Elder. It’s not—”
“So he bit you and mated you. That’s what we want here tonight.

What is your complaint besides that?”

“He did it against my will, told me I’m going to be his submissive,

doesn’t know my name, and scares the shit out of me. He’s mean,
rude, and I bet has bodies of victims in his basement.”

“You couldn’t have picked one that wanted you, Gable?” the elder

asked the man with a smile. I was so screwed. They knew each other.
I felt tears burning in my eyes and quickly blinked them away.

“He’s so pretty and will be fun to play with,” my mate chuckled as he

stepped around the guard and wrapped an arm around me. I shied
away from him as much as I could without pissing the man off more
since I wasn’t going to get any help. “And his feistiness might grow on
me.”

“Probably not,” the elder snickered, shaking his head before looking

at me. “What’s your name, son?”

“No,” I whispered as I tried again to pull away from Gable. I had

another plan now. “You can’t make me mate him if you don’t know my
name.”

“Please cut the drama,” Gable drawled as he lifted me up in the air

and stuck his hand into my back pocket. So much for that plan. Now he
had my wallet. It took him a moment to find what he wanted. “Leo
Casey. Huh, he’s small to be a Leo.”

“Stop talking about me like I’m not right here, you big brute!” I

screamed, pounding on his back. “Leave me alone. I don’t want to
mate you! You can’t force me to do this.” Then I cried out in pain as
the mating seal seared into my flesh like a brand. The pain on my outer
thigh, by my hip, was insane. But of course the location sucked so it
was sensitive skin.

It seemed they

could

force me into this.

“Well that tickled,” Gable grunted as he shifted me to his left

shoulder. Guess his seal was on his right one. Who said searing pain
tickled? Jerk.

“You’re Leo Casey?” the guard asked me as he stepped forward,

eyeing me over curiously.

“I am,” I whimpered, staring at him intently. “Help me?”
“I can’t but if I had known who you were I would have grabbed you

for myself,” he admitted. “I’m a big fan of your work and you’re hot.”

“Well you can’t have him,” Gable sneered at the guard as he turned

around. His hand landed on my ass and I hadn’t been ready for it,
giving out a yelp. That seemed to amuse Gable. “He’s all mine.”

The elder had already moved on to the next

happy

couple in line. He

must have handed something to Gable before he ignored us because I
saw my mate stuff it into his back pocket. Gods… I was mated to this
asshole. I swear my soul crumpled inside of me as Gable hopped
down of the dais and went to retrieve his iPad.

“What work do you do that the guard was a fan of?” Gable asked

thoughtfully as he strolled out of the ballroom after he had his things,
not caring that I was over his shoulder like a limp trophy.

“Kiss my ass,” I mumbled. That got me another smack. Fine. I’d

answer just to stop getting spanked. “I’m a hacker that companies
contract to check their firewalls and security measures. I try to break
into their systems to find weakness and report back to them.”

“So we have to live with you? I bet you have all kinds of techie toys

that you’ll need. Probably just easier to move in with you instead of
trying to pack all that up. Is your house big enough for me to have my
own room?”

“Yes,” I whispered as my eyes overflowed with tears. This was so

not the way I ever wanted to mate or talk of moving in with someone.
He just invited himself.

But at least he’d take his own room, right?
“So where do you live?”
“Ft. Myers Beach, Florida.”
“That’s cool. You on the beach?”
I opened my mouth with several smart-ass remarks and then shut it

again. Was this guy for real? He was acting like we met in a coffee
shop for a date instead of being mated after he basically was

kidnapping me… But back to my own house. So I wasn’t really sure of
the logistics of that.

Something popped into my mind then. “Yes and I have my own plane.

If you would please put me down I can go pack and meet you at the
front door. I’ll contact my pilot and step up the departure time.”

“Nice try,” he chuckled, rubbing my ass. “You’ll run away if I let you

out of my sight. I’m not stupid.”

Apparently not. But who could blame me for trying?
I directed him to the room I’d been assigned, trying to hatch an

escape plan the entire time. And came up with nothing. Short of calling
in the police or National Guard when we got back to Florida, I couldn’t
come  up  with  anything.  I  couldn’t  do  that  though  because  there  were
strict  rules  about  getting  the  human  law  involved  with  paranormal
matters.  It  was  one  thing  if  someone  was  trying  to  murder  us  or
kidnapping… Normally.

But this was all council sanctioned. They wouldn’t come to my

rescue as I’d already seen. Was this really just going to be the rest of
my life?

“So, here we are,” Gable said quietly as he set me on my feet

outside my room. “You’re mad, right?”

“My potential answers differ dependent on the possible reactions

from you I can expect.” He blinked at me a few moments as if trying to
work that out in his head. “Can I speak freely or are you going to strike
me again on my bottom? Or growl at me about not talking to you like I
did before?”

“Never mind,” he grumbled and pushed open the door after I

unlocked it. “You’re a lot of drama for a man so small.”

“Yeah, I’m the problem here,” I bitched as I stomped past him into

the room. I grabbed my suitcase and started throwing things into it
after I sent a text to the pilot that I wanted to leave as soon as I could
get a ride to the airport.

“Look, I know I’m rough around the edges, but you didn’t have to be

such a brat about things. We had to mate someone and that wasn’t my
fault. I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal about it all. This

wasn’t my idea. It’s not like I came here to steal a mate against his will.
”

I glanced at him as he was singing his defenses. Was he pouting?

Did he really think that after the way he acted I would have simply
swooned and thanked my lucky stars that this really hot, really built
man wanted me?

Idiot.
“I get we had to mate but you chose me and never even asked. You

bit me without even asking my name. You’re a bully and a brute. You
could give two shits as to what I say about all of this and—you’re not
even listening to me now!” I ended with a yell when I saw he was
reading the letter the elder had handed him instead of paying attention
to me.

“Yeah, sorry,” he mumbled as he eyed it over. “I remembered he

said that there were rules here we need to follow. They’re basics, I
guess. We have to consummate the mating once a day for four years.
After that the spell wears off and we can break the mating if we want.”
Gable didn’t look happy at that knowledge. “Four years is a long time if
we can’t make this work.”

“Consummate?” I squeaked, stuck on that first part. “As in sex?”
“Um, yeah,” he snickered, shaking his head. “Is the idea of having

sex with me so bad that you look ready to pass out?”

I turned away from him, not wanting him to see that I wouldn’t answer

the way he wanted. Yes, he was gorgeous and I was attracted to him
but in the three hundred years I’d been alive… I never had sex I
enjoyed. I mean, it wasn’t horrible always and sometimes I would even
orgasm, but most times I would have preferred a vibrating butt plug and
jacking myself off.

“Well fine, you can hate me all you want or think me horrid and ugly,

but  we  have  to  do  it  or  we  go  feral.  So  suck  it  up  and  I’ll  stay  out  of
your  way  besides  when  we  have  to  have  sex,”  he  grumbled  as  he
grabbed  my  packed  bag  and  headed  toward  the  door.  “I  tried  to  be
nice and not make you leave your house and job. I’m not all bad.”

I stood there with my mouth agape as he slammed the door behind

him after he stepped into the hall. Maybe he was just so socially inept
that he didn’t understand how big of a jerk he’d been. I wasn’t sure if
that made things worse or not. Even if I could get him to listen to me it
would be like trying to describe color to someone who was born blind.

Fuck a duck.
I realized he’d been gone a few minutes now and could be long gone

by now. Part of me wanted to dance at the idea of losing him, but that
would mean I’d go feral. That wasn’t an acceptable option either.
Stuffing the rest of my things into my carry-on, I hurried out of the
room.

He was standing there in the hallway, leaning against the stone wall.

“I didn’t trust that you wouldn’t run and make me go feral.” Gable
glanced me over a moment. “Can we at least walk along like normal
adults so I don’t have to carry all the bags and you over my shoulder at
the same time?”

I nodded with my mouth open in shock. Why was he being so civil

now? Had it all been an act earlier because we were in front of
people? Maybe he was really a good guy but bad in social aspects.

I could hope, right?

Chapter 2

An hour later we were sitting in my plane waiting for takeoff. It was

awkward to say the least. Gable had been looking at me funny since I
had to pull my jeans down at the castle to prove I had the mating seal. I
guess seeing that part of my ass or hip turned him on.

I might actually admit that seeing him take off his shirt and the seal

on his muscular shoulder was hot too… If he hadn’t caught me and
given me a smirk.

“I’m not tired and it’s a long flight,” Gable hedged as he moved his

hand from the seat arm to my thigh. “I say that once we’re in the air we
have some fun. We do have to consummate our mating.”

“Sure,” I mumbled, looking out the window. His hand kept moving until

it was undoing my jeans. He seemed oblivious to my lack of interest.
Next thing I knew the pilot was taxiing the plane as Gable moved his
hand down my pants.

“Maybe if we just get you into the mood it won’t feel like I’m taking

you against your will,” Gable purred in my ear. I guess he wasn’t as
dense as I had thought. He was just that determined.

“I’ll try,” I agreed. As much as this all sucked, it wasn’t fair to make

him feel as if he would have to force me daily so we could keep from
going feral. He gave me a bright smile for my effort and stroked my
cock faster. I relaxed and spread my legs wider. It was an interesting
way to spend takeoff, that’s for sure.

The minute we were in the air and the pilot gave the all clear that we

didn’t have to stay with our seat belts on, Gable was pulling me out of
my seat. He joined me on the floor and moved me onto all fours. Then
he pulled down my jeans to my thighs so my ass was exposed to him. I
sighed and let my shoulders fall to the ground as I used my arms for a
pillow.

Gable was surprisingly gentle as he stretched me out. I’m not sure

where he got the lube from but given this was his idea, I assumed he’d
planned this. He didn’t kiss me, we hadn’t done that yet, but he was
kissing my shoulders and back as he worked two then three fingers
into my hole.

That was a start, right?
“You ready?” he asked quietly as if not to startle me. Part of me had

to give him points for trying but the other part of me wanted to roll my
eyes. I wasn’t an abused dog who might bite him. But then again… He
didn’t know that. I just didn’t understand why he all of a sudden seemed
to care after the way he treated me at the castle.

Maybe he realized he wouldn’t get a lot of sex if he didn’t start

treating me better?

“Yeah, let’s just do it,” I mumbled, trying not to tense when he pulled

his fingers free.

“If you let me I could rock your world, Leo,” he said tensely.
“You’d be the first.” I swear I wasn’t

trying

to be a jerk but after the

way things went down, I couldn’t just flip a switch in my mind because
he was being nice. Gable sighed again and pushed the head of his
cock inside of me.

“You’re

really

tight,” he moaned as he pulled my shirt up and kissed

my back. “It’s taking everything I have not to just shove in you,
especially when my initials are on your hip where I can see it.”

I was glad he wasn’t taking me like that because Gable was a

very

big boy. I mean, I’d had men with thick dicks before but he had a third
leg he was trying to push into my ass. Then he worked more of it into
me and I shivered as he hit my prostate. Either the men I’d been with
before didn’t know what they were doing or didn’t care enough if I
enjoyed it.

Because I’d never felt

that

before.

“How do you like it?” Gable panted once he was fully inside of me

and draped over my back.

“I don’t like sex at all so whatever you want is fine,” I answered,

wincing at the pain. It had been at least a decade since I’d had sex…
Mostly because I hated the burn. “Just get it over with, okay? It hurts.”

“It will turn into pleasure,” he mumbled as he started moving. “I’ll take

more time stretching you tomorrow. I didn’t know that you were this
tight or didn’t like a little burn.”

Because you didn’t ask

! I wanted to shout, just like he didn’t ask if I

wanted to mate him, or have him move in with me. My mind was
swirling as he thrust faster. But then again, I didn’t offer the
information. But why would I think he’d care?

Oh fuck it, I quit

. It was what it was and while this was the best sex

I’d ever had so far in my life, I wasn’t into it. The slight pleasure and the
hard-on I had was a response from my body being stimulated. That
was it. That didn’t mean I was

enjoying

it like I’d want to do it again

anytime soon.

I know, I don’t make sense to myself most times.
Gable picked up speed as he held me close, making sure that he

wasn’t hurting me besides the bite of pain from his huge cock. I looked
up just in time to meet Sam’s eyes, my guard. I had several of them
back home at my house but Sam was the only one I brought with me,
though he stayed on the plane because there were enough guards at
the castle. Funny how I’d ended up needing him after all. Being a
hacker could be dangerous at times when I knew all the ins and outs of
other people’s security and back doors into their systems.

His face filled with anger and I gave my head a slight shake. Sam

getting involved would not help.

“If you’re going to stand there and watch I think you need to ask my

mate if he minds,” Gable said in a low, dangerous voice. He stopped
moving and his hands ran over my back and ass, making it clear who I
belonged to.

“You mated?” Sam whispered, the pain in his tone making me wince.
“We didn’t have a choice, Sam,” I hedged as I glanced at the

ground. It wasn’t the total truth.

“Twenty years at your side has taught me when you’re hiding

something, Leo,” Sam replied gently.

“Who works for who here?” Gable drawled, sounding annoyed.
“Stop,” I growled at him. “You want to push me around, mate me

without even asking me, and invite yourself to live with me? Fine. I
accept that because we had to mate

someone

and the whole thing

sucked. But don’t you

dare

talk to my friends like that or I’ll let you go

feral.”

“I can take him, Leo,” Sam offered as he stepped forward.
“Please don’t,” I sighed. Could this get any worse? “Please just

leave us to finish what we’re doing. We have to once a day. I’d like it
over with and then I’ll come talk to you.”

“If that’s what you want,” he mumbled and headed back to the

cockpit. I had a full-time pilot, but Sam was normally the copilot, having
his license to fly.

“So I have to compete with your head of security for you?” Gable

asked angrily as he thrust hard and started fucking me again.

“It’s not like that,” I grunted. “You already have me anyways.”
“Do I?”
I wasn’t going to answer that because I might be his mate and giving

him my body, but we both knew I didn’t want him and we weren’t really a
mated pair in that way. I moved my body in time with his, trying to get
the sex over with. My body was having fun. I was hard and when he
stroked me it didn’t take me long to come.

It wasn’t life-altering sex that left me giggling because it was so

damn good.

“Mine,” Gable snarled seconds before he came, pumping his seed

deep into my body. The moment he was spent he turned us so we
were lying on our sides, his dick still in my ass. “Now do you like sex?”

“Don’t make me answer that,” I whispered, feeling more trapped

than when the elder had written our names in the book.

“Seriously?” He moved away from me, completely disgusted, and

got to his knees. “What is wrong with you? You had an orgasm, I felt
it.” Gable held up his hand to show the proof. “You came and you were
hard as soon as we started so either you’re lying or there’s something
majorly wrong with you.”

“Fuck you!” I exclaimed as tears burned in my eyes and I hopped to

my feet. “Maybe I wasn’t emotionally invested in it? And even if I am
totally  screwed  up.  What  kind  of  douche  says  something  like  that  to
another  person?  For  a  moment  there  I  thought  maybe  you  weren’t  a
complete  asshole  because  you  were  being  sort  of  nice  to  me.  My
mistake.”

“Leo,” he sighed as he scrubbed his unsoiled hand over his face.
“Fine, I’m screwed up. It’s all my fault. Aren’t we both glad you forced

me  into  this  now?”  I  buried  my  face  in  my  hands  and  bawled  out  my
humiliation  as  I  raced  towards  the  bathroom.  As  if  I  wasn’t  already
mortified,  I  promptly  crashed  into  the  wall  of  the  plane  because  my
hands were over my face. Idiot.

I lowered my hands but still couldn’t see because of the tears. I

thought I crashed into another wall as I wiped my eyes… Only to see
Sam.

“Did he hurt you?” he asked as he lifted me into his arms.
“Yes, but not in the way you’re thinking,” I mumbled as I tried to get

him to put me down. I was naked with someone else’s cum dripping out
of my ass.

“I got you, Leo,” Sam cooed.
“You can’t. I’m mated now,” I whispered. And just like that he set me

on my feet.

“Why couldn’t you have just mated me?” I spun to look at him so fast

that I landed on my ass in shock.

“What?” I gasped, my eyes going wide as the tears kept coming.
“If you had mated me then you wouldn’t be stuck with that asshole

and unhappy. The elders wouldn’t have tricked you into mating if you
had just mated

.” He knelt down in front of me and raised my hands

to his lips. “Why couldn’t you have loved me, Leo?”

“Maybe because I had no

clue

that you wanted me like that?” I

balked, completely taken aback. “How could you never tell me?”

“You can’t be this dense?” He hissed, throwing up his hands in the

air as he stood, leaving me alone on the floor. “How many times have
we cuddled together during a movie? Who do you run to when you
have a problem or need comfort? Why did you think I use any excuse I
can to touch you?”

Of course Gable had to be there for that rant. I couldn’t even look at

him but I saw him there out of the corner of my eye.

“Fuck you both,” I cried as I scooted toward the bathroom door.

“Everything can’t be my fault! I didn’t know you wanted me and it’s not

my fault that the sex didn’t rock my world.” I knew I was mixing up who I
was yelling at all in one sentence but my brain was all over the place.
“Just leave me alone! Both of you.”

Before they could say anything I scampered into the bathroom and

locked the door behind me. I sat on the floor with my back leaning
against the door and buried my face into my knees. Unfortunately my
outburst didn’t stop the drama in the hallway.

“He’s mine, Sam,” Gable declared darkly.
“You don’t deserve him and if you step one toe out of line I’ll be on

the phone with UPAC and get your mating annulled. Watching him with
someone else is torture but I could deal with it if they’re good to him.
He doesn’t even

like

you and I won’t see him unhappy.”

“Then you’re fired,” Gable countered and I could practically hear the

smirk in his voice.

“Kiss my ass,” Sam growled. “I only take orders from Leo and he

hasn’t fired me. You have no authority over me.”

“We’ll see about that.” I heard his footsteps retreating. Could

anything else in my life fucking blow up right then? I couldn’t believe
how I started out the day in a good place. I had new contracts, good
friends, and my best friend, Sam, was always there for me. Now all
this? I just wanted to go to bed and wake up in a week and find it had
all been a bad dream.

“I’m sorry, Leo,” Sam said through the door. “You’re right. This isn’t

your fault. I thought you knew my feelings all this time but you just didn’t
feel the same way so we never took it to the next level.”

I thought about that for a minute. Sam was hot, sweet, and anything

and everything a gay man could want. But I didn’t.

“I don’t feel that way about you, Sam. I’m sorry, but I just don’t. I

thought we were like bestest buds who could cuddle while watching a
movie because I get scared. I thought it was a lion thing since I’ve
seen you do it with your litter.”

“That does make more sense now.” He sighed. “It’s okay. I figured

you didn’t feel the same way. I just never understood how you
accepted my affection so readily but didn’t want more. Now I get it.”

“I don’t even get it.” The tears kept coming no matter how fast I

wiped them away. “Maybe I’m just asexual and can’t have a normal
relationship? I mean, who doesn’t like sex?”

“Someone who was abused by the only person they’ve ever wanted

to have sex with,” he answered gently as I closed my eyes in grief.
“You wanted him before the beatings started and then you had sex. It’s
understandable that he turned you off to the idea of sex being good
and intimacy, Leo.”

“But that was over a hundred years ago. When is it going to get

better for me?”

“I can’t answer that for you. You’ve been to therapy. I think it’s just a

matter of the right person showing you the way and letting all the
pieces fall into place.”

I started laughing then, a harsh, ironic laugh. Gable so wasn’t that

person. He was rude and demanding and even when he tried to
compromise he came off a douche bag. I got to my feet and started
cleaning up, ignoring Sam as he kept asking if I was okay through the
door.

If this wasn’t my life it would almost be funny. But it was and I was in

hell.

* * * *

Gable had been asleep in one of the chairs when I got back to the

cabin. I had cleaned up and spent a few minutes assuring Sam I was
okay, simply tired. I knew he didn’t believe me…

didn’t believe me. But

he let it go.

The moment I had taken a seat on the other side from Gable,

making sure we weren’t touching, I was out like a light.

I woke when the plane touched down. My mate was staring at me as

if assessing my worth given the drama that had happened earlier. It
annoyed me to no end. I hadn’t asked to be with him. It wasn’t like I’d
hidden my issues from him and now he was finding out like I was the
bastard here. He had mated me without asking, without finding out
anything about me, or even knowing my name.

If he didn’t like what he got… He could kiss my scrawny ass.

It seemed I had done a lot of thinking in my sleep. I would treat this

just like any other undesirable business arrangement. I didn’t want to
go feral and that required being intimate with Gable for four years. I
could handle that. I

had

to handle that.

I undid my belt and stood when the pilot gave us the green light and

went to get my bag. By the time the plane had stopped I had all my stuff
and was ready. Gable was standing behind me and I told myself I could
care less where he was. He didn’t matter to me besides a means to an
end.

“I can take that for you,” Sam offered after he opened the door and

someone moved stairs to the door. I’d also decided to not dwell on
what had happened with him and everything was business as usual…
Besides cuddling during movies.

“Thank you, Sam. I’d appreciate that,” I said brightly to him as I

handed my carry-on to him. “And if you could arrange Mr. Zohar’s
belongings to be shipped to home at his convenience that would be
great too. I think Tom can find a room for him.”

“You’re not sharing your room?” he asked in surprise. I gave him a

look that clearly said it wasn’t his concern and he backed off with a
nod.

I debarked the plane and walked over to the waiting SUV. I smiled

and hugged Tom when I saw it was him driving today.

“Good trip?” he asked as he eyed over Gable suspiciously.
“Nope, but I’m making the best of it.” I gestured back to Gable as I

opened the back door of the SUV. “Tom, this is Gable Zohar, my mate.
Can you find him a room in the north wing when we get home, please?
There are many guest rooms there that I’m sure will be suitable to him.
”

“I’ll just take one next to Leo’s,” Gable mumbled as I hopped into the

vehicle.

“My room and my guards all reside in the south wing,” I said, closing

the door in his face before he could respond. Needless to say, he
climbed into the SUV on the other side a minute later, annoyed and
grumbling to himself. I glanced at my phone and saw it was only seven

in the morning. “I apologize for making you guys get up so early.”

“You know we always rise with the sun,” Tom joked, smiling at me in

the rearview mirror as Sam got in the front seat after loading our bags.

“Yeah, to shift and bask in it,” I threw right back. “Any chance Ryan

is making breakfast?”

“He’s waiting for me to let him know. Ryan didn’t know if you had

already eaten or if you wanted to go straight to bed.”

“I’m going to fight the time difference,” I answered as I shot off a text

to Ryan asking if he could make his famous pancakes. “I slept on the
plane and while I might need a nap, I signed some new accounts at the
conference.”

“So the trip was good for business at least?” Tom asked, glancing

over at Gable again who was paying attention to the conversation but
still not happy.

“Yes and no. I think after UPAC pulled this stunt and made me not

only mate but let someone claim me against my will I won’t be doing
business with them anymore,” I explained, not looking at my mate.

“He claimed you without your permission?” Tom growled as his

hands shifted. “We could easily break that mating bond, Leo.”

“It’s a thought for later,” I replied quietly as I leaned forward and

patted his shoulder. “Things were chaotic and they spiked our drinks.
There’s a certain amount of rudeness and bad behavior to be
expected under those circumstances.”

“Enough of this!” Gable exclaimed as he yanked my hand off Tom’s

shoulder. I, in turn, pulled it away from him. “You’re talking about me like
I’m not here and banishing me to the other wing of your house. Look,
we had to mate someone. I thought we’d be a good fit. I didn’t want to
mate anyone either. Can we not go over all of this with your staff?”

“These are my friends,” I growled.
He narrowed his eyes at me and I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like

what he said next. “Maybe that’s why you’re so screwed up and don’t
like sex? You’re confused as to the fact that

friends

don’t work for you

and require pay. How could you know what fun fucking is if your reality
is messed up?”

I clutched my chest and turned away from him. Mostly because he

was right about me being screwed up. Just not about my friends.

“Leo doesn’t pay us, fucktard,” Tom snapped. “He saved us

decades ago and our small pride pledged our loyalty to him. We’re a
family and like a family, we all play our roles. Ryan cooks and does
most of the chores. Sam and I head Leo’s security. Everyone does
something for our family. Leo is the head of our pride and we love him.
”

“Some of you more than others,” Gable sneered as he stared at the

back of Sam’s head.

“Do you have to always be an ass and try to ruin everything?” I

whispered just as they were all about to start fighting. “You mated me.
I’m trying to do the best I can here. You informed me that you were
moving into my house. Fine, I’m giving you a room. Just because I’m
your mate doesn’t mean you know a fucking

thing

about me, Gable.

You keep assuming all this shit and coming up wrong. Maybe you
should just see how things are before jumping to conclusions and
opening your mouth.”

I could just about hear his teeth grinding as I stared out the window,

counting the blocks until we were home. Luckily my house wasn’t far
from the small airfield I kept my plane at.

“Fine,” he finally replied after a few moments of silence. “They said

you’re part of their pride now. A pride of what?”

“Lions,” Sam answered, turning around and showing my mate a

mouthful of elongated teeth. “Leo lives with a dozen male lions that
would do anything for him. Good job in picking a potential victim for you
to dominate.”

“Sam, you’re not helping,” I sighed. “Can everyone just play nice for

five fucking minutes before I explode?”

“Sure, Leo.” He turned back around, shaking his head.
“So you saved their pride. How?” Gable sounded curious so I turned

and looked at him. He was eyeing me over as if confused and not sure
he bought the story.

“I’m a hacker.” I ran my fingers through my hair and thought about

how much to tell of the story. I decided for the short version. “Even
before there was the Internet that everyone knows today, there was a
trial version of it the government used linking all their computers. I’ve
always been good with machines and whatnot since their invention.

“One day I was sneaking into a government office to wipe my

existence off their mainframe. I popped up on their radar and you can
understand why that would be a bad thing back then. I found I was in a
file of potential paranormals that the government was thinking of taking
secret action on. I came across more, hidden research facilities that
had been doing testing on any shifter they could find.

“When I found out there was one attached to the building I was in,

underground, I helped everyone escape. Most ran for their lives
without even giving me a glance or a thank-you. There was a pride of
teenagers, mostly brothers from the same three litters and one other
lion that had been brought to the facility. They didn’t have anywhere to
go, no home, no family left or parents. I let them come live with me
while trying to figure out what to do to help them.”

“We never left,” Sam said, finishing the story for us. “We made Leo

the head of our pride and became a family.”

“I tried to get rid of them,” I drawled, teasing them. “But they’re so

much bigger that it’s not like I can pick them up and toss them out of
my house.”

“I’m telling Ryan to put chocolate chips in your pancakes just for

that,” Tom threatened.

“Fine, fine,” I conceded with a giggle. “I love all their mangy hides

and offered them a place to stay. We’ve been together ever since.”

“Must be nice to have a family,” Gable said under his breath. I

glanced at him but he quickly looked away, seeming upset at his
admission. Guess he hadn’t meant to say that one.

Whoops.

Chapter 3

“Can we talk?” Gable asked me after we were home and walking

towards the house. Sam and Tom were already around back the SUV
grabbing the bags.

“Sure,” I answered with a fake smile. “After breakfast and I get to

say hi to my family. Then I have some work that I need to handle. We
can talk after dinner before we have our daily sex if that works for
you?”

“I’m not an appointment to schedule,” he growled as he grabbed me

and spun me around to face him. “I’m your mate.” I had a witty reply but
it was lost when his lips were mashed against mine in a heated kiss. I
gasped in shock and Gable used the opportunity to slide his tongue
into my mouth.

Of all the times I’d had sex or been intimate over my three hundred

years, I’d never been kissed like this. There was such passion and
excitement in his touch that I found myself moving my hands up his
body and into his hair. I hung on as he plundered my mouth, crawling
up his body until I was completely wrapped around him. Gable groaned
and moved his hands under my ass, massaging it.

I couldn’t explain what was going on. Something sparked inside of

me and I

wanted

sex like this, with this passion. I gave back as good

as I got, trying to map out his mouth with my tongue and what he liked.
Just as I thought my lungs would burn from lack of air, I pulled back and
nicked my tongue on his long teeth.

“Mmm,” he moaned and sucked the blood off my tongue as his eyes

opened and stared into mine.

“You have fangs but you’re not a vampire,” I panted as I tried to

focus on his teeth and not my throbbing erection. “But they’re not just
your canines either.”

“It doesn’t matter,” he mumbled as he lowered me to the ground,

ducking his head so I couldn’t see his mouth. “I just wanted to give you
a real kiss. I didn’t mean to cut you, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” I shivered at the mention of the kiss and rubbed my hand

over his arm. “No one’s ever kissed me like that. I’ve never felt that

kind of passion.”

“Really?” Gable let me see his face again, his fangs returning back

to normal. He smiled and lowered his huge frame down so our noses
were practically touching. “Is that a green light to give you another one
and rock your world, baby?”

“I’m not your baby,” I answered, pissed I’d let him suck me in. He

was such a douche bag! Who offers to rock someone’s world… Baby.
Gag me! “It was a wonderful kiss that I thoroughly enjoyed and maybe
we can share another time if you stop talking in cheesy pickup lines
and assumptions that you know me. You did say I was majorly screwed
up earlier, remember? A great kiss doesn’t just wipe that away.”

“Look, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” he said quietly as

he reached for my hands. I stepped back and shook my head. No, this
was going to be like any other business arrangement, cold and without
feeling.

Well, unless he kept kissing me like that. Then there were going to

be lots of feelings and passion, but that didn’t mean love or friendship.
Gable wouldn’t be getting those from me.

“No thank you. I’d like to go see my pride now. You’re more than

welcome to join us for breakfast and meet them of course. Someone
will show you to your room after that.”

He searched my eyes for a moment and I swear I saw

overwhelming sadness in his. That couldn’t be though, right? I mean
why should he be sad? Just because he didn’t think he was going to
get laid until tonight?

“Yeah, that’s cool,” Gable mumbled as he stepped aside and let me

pass.

I walked right up to the door and squealed in shock when it opened.

Rick, one of my pride, pulled me into his massive arms and then
flipped me over one shoulder and around to the other one like I was a
kid. Then he gave me a twirl like a baton.

“Gonna puke,” I shouted as my stomach flipped with the motions. It

stopped as instantly as it started but I wasn’t in Rick’s arms anymore.

“Look, you guys are his pride and family, I get that,” Gable said

calmly, evenly. I was shocked by that and that he had grabbed me from
Rick so I just stared up at him. “But I’m his mate too whether he’s
happy about that or not. I take that seriously including his well-being
though I’ve been a dick about showing it.”

“Great, but what does that have to do with grabbing him from Rick?”

Tom asked, sounding curious and without judgment.

“We just got off a twelve-hour flight. Which means different time

zone, altitude, and jet lag. While I don’t think Leo seems to get motion
sickness, neither do I and that kind of flight makes me feel sick. Maybe
spinning him around like a parade baton isn’t the best thing for him,”
Gable explained with a huff.

“Oh shit, sorry, Leo,” Rick said sheepishly. I reached out and

bumped fists with him to let him know there were no hard feelings. “I
just missed you, squirt. There’s no one to play the Xbox with.”

“I played with you last night,” Tom countered as everyone started

making their way to the kitchen. Gable didn’t move and I could feel the
tension in his muscles.

“Sorry. I know you’re an adult and they’re your family but you started

to look green and I didn’t think that was cool.”

“Don’t be sorry,” I said as I reached up and touched his cheek,

turning his head so he looked at me. “I appreciated the save. Coming
home and puking everywhere isn’t what I had in mind. I also valued
how calmly you spoke your position to them. It was very logical and
compromising as to making your point.”

“I’m not all bad. I just screw up a lot and am not used to being around

people,” he whispered as his eyes started to glisten. He blinked and
like that the emotion was hidden away behind that wall or whatever was
going on with him. I started to get the distinct feeling Gable wasn’t the
enemy here but until I got more proof of the theory, I wasn’t opening up
to him.

“Fair enough.” I leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek

as a thank-you. Then I tapped his arms and he set me down. “I could
use a gallon of coffee and enough pancakes to soak that up.”

“Sounds good,” he agreed and followed me to the kitchen. Everyone

was gathered in a loud, boisterous group. Half were stuffing their
faces before even sitting down at the table. Ryan, who wasn’t much
bigger than me, was the only one with manners it seemed.

“Hi, Gable, my name is Ryan,” he said brightly, introducing himself

and holding out his hand. “I do all the cooking and grocery shopping so
if there’s anything that you’d specifically like for me to pick up I’ll show
you how to add it to the list. If you have any food allergies I need to
know those too and maybe a list of meal preferences would be good
too.”

“Hey, Ryan,” Gable chuckled as he shook his hand. “I’m not a very

picky eater, no allergies, and if there’s something special I have a
craving for I’ll just run out myself when my car gets here. I’m sure
everything you make is fabulous if Leo sings your praises the way he
was, so as long as you serve some form of pasta every so often, I’m
happy.”

“We’ve got another pasta man in the house,” Tom cheered before

stuffing another piece of bacon in his face. “We debate a lot over
Italian or Mexican for dinner. It seems we’re split down the middle.”

“I like both.” Gable shrugged and took a plate Ryan handed to him.

He loaded up with pancakes, bacon, and eggs before finding an empty
seat.

I kept covertly glancing over at him as everyone ate. Gable was

paying  attention,  nodding  along,  and  answering  any  direct  questions
asked  of  him.  But  something  surprised  me  about  the  interaction.  He
looked  scared.  Gable  actually  looked  pale  and  like  he  might  have  a
panic attack at any moment.

What had this man been through to act like that? Granted he

inadvertently walked into the lions’ den with my family but they weren’t
being hostile to him in the slightest.

“So what do you do for a living, Gable?” Rick asked when there was

a lull in the conversation. I caught an instant panic in Gable’s eyes
before it was gone.

“Guys, it’s not an interrogation,” I chuckled nervously, a little worried

about Gable’s answer. This might be a conversation for private. “I

need to go stretch my legs and shift for a bit because it’s been days.
Can someone show Gable to his room? I would but I’ve got work piling
up.”

“I’ll do it!” Ryan excitedly offered. “Tom’s on cleanup duty anyways.”
“Okay, then we have a plan.” I smiled as I stood and brought my

plate over to the sink. Cleanup duty didn’t mean slave so we all helped
clear the table at least.

“Why kind of animal are you?” Gable asked quietly, seeming

embarrassed he didn’t know. No shit. He mated someone without even
asking what type of shifter I was. He should be embarrassed. But of
course I gave him a cheeky answer.

“Look out your window in a few minutes and you’ll find out.” I

sauntered out the back door onto the terrace, refusing to give him any
more insight than that.

I quickly stripped off my clothes and left them in a pile on one of the

chairs before walking off the edge of the terrace and onto the grass.
Wiggling  my  toes  in  a  bit,  I  pictured  my  animal  and  changed.  The
moment  I  was  in  my  giraffe  form  my  stomach  growled.  One  of  the
downsides  from  being  a  smaller  man  and  a  large  animal  is  he  was
always hungry.

So I had a second breakfast. I wandered among the trees, picking

off leaves here and there with my long purple tongue. When I’d bought
this land I had planted a score of acacia trees which was what giraffes
preferred in the wild. They weren’t found in the area since they were
mainly in Africa so having them shipped here was a small fortune.

Luckily I’d had one. Believe it or not, I had been one of the people

who  started  the  gold  rush  out  West  in  the  nineteenth  century.  I  had
moved  out  that  way  to  unsettled  land  so  no  one  would  figure  out  I
wasn’t aging way before people knew about paranormals. I had made
sure  not  to  settle  anywhere  the  indigenous  people  were  and  built  a
small  house  on  a  stream. As  my  luck  would  have  it,  the  stream  and
surrounding land was full of gold.

Go me, right?
So I kept digging it up as I could, making trips back to the closest

bank.  I  ended  up  not  being  as  stealthy  about  it  because  within  a  few
decades  people  were  everywhere  looking  for  their  own  gold.  But  my
land  had  been  safe  and  I’d  been  able  to  get  most  of  the  gold  out  by
then. There had also been a few issues… Including the man that had
broken my heart and soul.

Just thinking about that asshole had me making the jump to the one I

was mated to. I gazed over the windows of the north wing. It took me a
moment but then I found where his new room was. Gable was standing
on the balcony, staring at me with his jaw hanging open.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered. I was about a hundred yards away

but with my increased shifter hearing and being in giraffe form it was
like he was standing next to me when he said it. I wandered over to
him, grabbing more leaves as I went and being careful of the stones of
the terrace.

I was right around three thousand five hundred pounds and that kind

of weight wasn’t meant to be held on decorative stones… As I had
found out by accident many years ago when I wasn’t paying attention
one day. I had an interesting time explaining

that

to the guys who came

to replace the terrace.

“I can’t believe my gorgeous little mate shifts into an amazing

huge

animal.” He smiled as he extended his hand and ran it along my face.
“I wish I turned into a majestic animal when I shifted.” Gable bit his
lower lip as he stared into my eyes. “Wow. I can’t get over how much
easier it is to talk to you like this than when you can speak. I don’t feel
the pressure of hurrying up to say the right thing before you tell me to
fuck off.”

That might have been true and I did feel a little guilty for how

standoffish I’d been but it wasn’t my fault he was getting attitude from
me. I licked his face with my long purple tongue, trying to push him into
explaining his previous statement.

“My mother was a hybrid from a coyote shifter and a kangaroo

shifter. My father was a crocodile shifter. It makes for a hideous hybrid
that my parents couldn’t even stand. Chupacabra isn’t a real animal,
Leo. I’m a freak of nature. I have some scales but I’m still part

mammal. People see me and they scream before running for their
lives. You’re lucky you shift into something so amazing.”

He dropped his hand and lowered his head in shame as he stepped

away. I watched my mate retreat into his room as if someone just
kicked his puppy. Wow. I finally learn something real about him and it
just about broke my heart. I had never heard of such a mix of shifters
and I could understand him feeling awkward about his lack of identity.

I also knew that the people who were supposed to love him

mistreated him if he was so upset about the topic. It made me see my
mate in a new light. His family turning their backs on him would have
made anyone jaded.

And here he mated a rare shifter who had a family of powerful,

wondrous lion shifters. Yeah, I could see how that would be hard on
him. I was lost in thought as I walked back to the trees to graze some
more. There was a loud snapping sound and I winced.

“Leo!” Rick shouted from the back door. “We just replaced some of

those. Seriously? Can’t you watch where you’re walking, you big lug?”

I really wished I had fingers right then to flick him off. Instead I

intentionally stomped on another stone and stuck my tongue out at
him. It was my house and I could break whatever I wanted.

“Brat,” Rick grumbled as he walked back into the house. Yes, yes I

was sometimes.

But it was allowed. Well, in my book it was.
I ate my fill of leaves, making a mental note that they were kind of

dry and I needed to tell the guys to up the length of the sprinklers so
the trees were properly hydrated. Then I shifted back and found my
clothes. I heard a giggle as I got dressed. Glancing up, I saw Ryan
standing there pointing to the destroyed stones.

“Yeah, you showed him, Leo. Break your shit so you have to buy

more.” He shook his head in mirth as I walked over to him. “Rick is
bitching up a storm and slamming things around. It’s funny.”

“You think everything Rick does is funny because he’s not from your

litter,” I teased, knowing full well the crush Ryan had on the man.

Ryan’s face fell as he stared at his feet. “Rick said I’m not his type. I

finally confessed to the way I felt while you were gone and it didn’t go
over well. It’s time to move on.”

“I’m sorry, Ryan,” I said gently as I pulled him into my arms. He’d

been pining over Rick for almost a decade. That kind of rejection was
harsh to say the least.

“Be grateful you found a good one.” I snorted at his statement and

he looked at me with those big eyes. “Gable’s amazing. He’s hot,
smart, kind, easygoing, and fun.”

“You got all of that from one breakfast and showing him his room?” I

questioned, a little miffed that someone I considered as a brother was
so

fond

of my mate. Yeah, that was a good way to put it without

sounding jealous.

“We talked for a few minutes.” He shrugged as we walked back into

the house. “I think I’m just easier to talk to because most of the other
guys want to rip his balls off because they don’t think he’s good
enough for you. I just like that he’s not demanding about the food he
wants since I cook for a bunch of babies.”

“We heard that!” Sam shouted from the hallway. That got a smile

from me. I swear this house had ears sometimes.

“Be nice or you’ll go hungry since none of you can cook!” Ryan

shouted back as he gave me a wink. “Anyways, Gable offered to help
me with the cooking if I wanted. I guess he used to help in the kitchen
at his last job.”

“Glad you two are getting along.” I gave him a fake smile and

excused myself. I did have a lot of work to do but if I kept listening to
Ryan singing my mate’s praises I might really start to get jealous.
Which was stupid, right? I didn’t even

want

to be mated to the man.

But I was. His initials were on my hip and thigh. That should mean

something even if we got there in a backwards way. Why did
everything have to be so fucking confusing? I get another glimpse that
Gable might not be an asshole and now I was getting jealous that Ryan
liked him.

I was damned if I did, and damned if I didn’t.
Deciding maybe work would help, I headed to my office and got lost

in  my  work.  I  loved  my  office,  it  was  totally  pimp.  There  were  flat-
screen monitors on most of the back wall, fifteen of them to be exact.
They  were  all  hooked  up  to  networked  computers  giving  me  wicked
speed and hacking capabilities. I could attack  systems  from  any  and
all directions with my next-gen worms.

They weren’t the type of worms to destroy systems unless that’s

what I’d been contracted to do. I didn’t take those jobs often. But a few
months ago there was a terrorist trying to take down the country’s
National Security Agency system and they hired me to attack back on
their behalf. Needless to say that when I was done the terrorists’
network was toast and I had all their names so they could be brought
to justice.

I actually felt bad for taking money for that job since I was a citizen

of the USA. Sam had counseled me into cutting my normal fee in half.
He said that even soldiers got paid and if I didn’t show that I valued
what I did next thing I knew I’d have everyone contacting me with those
kind of jobs instead of using the people they employed. They had to try
their own capable people first.

It made sense and I had listened to his advice, stressing to the NSA

that I was a last resort. They said they understood but time would only
tell. I did get the distinct feeling that I was lucky I had my own security
detail otherwise I might have been locked away in some undisclosed
location forever “helping” the government.

They had taken one look at all the lion shifters at my house and

suddenly didn’t have much of a reason to show up on my doorstep.
Yeah, that wasn’t shady.

I gave a happy exclamation and pumped my fist in the air when I

found the hole in this new company’s system I had been looking for.
Every system had them. Half the time it was like playing Twister…
They covered one color only to leave another one open for someone
to use. That’s why my job wasn’t a one-shot contract but a year at a
time.

But I liked to shine when I picked up a new contract, finding at least

one flaw in their system within the first day of agreeing to do business.

Now that I found this one, I only had five other new companies left.

It seemed enough people had found out I was the reason UPAC’s

network was impenetrable and sought me out. I’d long since moved
past having to scout for new business. They came looking for me now.
That was kind of cool.

Except when they took one look at me and laughed that there was

no way I was the Leo Casey who protected UPAC. Right, because
height and physical strength are totally attributes needed for a good
hacker. Idiots.

I dictated some quick notes for Mark, another member of our pride

who helped me with the administrative side of my work. Then I moved
on to the next company and so on.

Next time I looked at the clock it was dinnertime and I was itchy. I

took off my headset and headed to the kitchen. Everyone was already
sitting down and joking around as if no one was missing… With Gable.
They were including him and no one even looked up when I came in.

Fine, they were getting along. I wanted that. Instead of making a fuss

and  being  drama  leader,  I  walked  over  to  the  island  counter  and
grabbed a plate. Glancing around, I saw there was no vegetarian meal
prepared  for  me.  I  walked  over  to  the  table  and  saw  the  same  thing.
Sure  there  were  sides,  but  Ryan  had  made  pulled  pork  sandwiches,
coleslaw,  and  potato  salad.  Coleslaw  and  potato  salad  was  not  a  full
meal.

When he made a meat main course, like sandwiches, he normally

sautéed me up some tofu or grilled me a huge cut of eggplant for my
sandwich so I didn’t feel like odd man out.

“Want some more?” Ryan offered Gable as he made my mate

another sandwich.

“Yeah, this is amazing, Ryan. What’s your secret?” Gable asked,

staring  at  Ryan  in  a  way  he’d  never  stared  at  me.  It  wasn’t  just
appreciative  because  Ryan  was  hot,  it  was  more  awe  and  respect.
Which  of  course  Gable  didn’t  respect  me  because  he  wouldn’t  have
just claimed me the way he had if he did.

“Root beer,” Ryan admitted with a blush. “I have a huge slow cooker

to feed all these guys and cook the pork loin on low for seven hours in
root beer. But you have to get the good stuff or it’s got an aftertaste.”

“That’s genius. You’re a magician, Ryan. And this potato salad is so

creamy without being too rich or tasting straight mayo.”

“Well, I use the olive-oil mayo and a little of the mustard mayo

combination stuff.” He gave Gable a bashful smile and just about
batted his eyelashes. Ryan was eating up the attention with a shovel
and asking for more.

I didn’t even realize I’d done it until I heard my plate shatter on the

kitchen floor across the room. It seems maybe I didn’t always have my
emotions under as good of control as I thought. I was just standing
there thinking that I was going to either vomit, scream, or throw my
plate. Guess I chose the last option before making the decision to.

“Oh, hey, Leo,” Ryan said as he glanced down at his plate and

centered himself in his seat so he wasn’t as close to Gable as he’d
been. “We didn’t want to interrupt your work.”

“Or cook the vegetarian something he could eat either, apparently,” I

replied angrily, not even trying to hide what I was feeling. “Plus, if I was
working you and my mate couldn’t be gushing all over each other how
great the other is. And why am I itchy?”

“Because our twenty-four hours is almost up,” Gable answered as

he stared at me as if I had lost my mind. “You’re a vegetarian? Why?”

“Because I’m an herbivore, you fucktard!” I screamed, throwing my

arms up in the air in exasperation. “I can’t process meat. You saw me
walking  around  in  giraffe  form  eating  leaves.”  I  sneered  at  him  and
waved  between  him  and  Ryan.  “But  I  guess  you  found  someone  as
magical  as  I  am  who  won’t  give  you  as  much  grief,  huh?  Fine,  call
UPAC  and  tell  them  you  claimed  Ryan  otherwise  you  can  fucking  go
feral!”

I stormed out of there as several voices called after me. Fuck them

all. I was jet-lagged, working my ass off to keep my business big since
I was the only one who brought in an income for our family. Granted,
most of them helped and worked for me, but they needed

to make

any of this work. And I didn’t even get a thought when a meat dinner

Chapter 4

Figuring everyone would look for me in my room or my office, I ran

out the front door and circled back until I was on the beach. I buried my
face in my hands and broke down crying. Why couldn’t I get a handle
on my emotions? Ryan and Gable might have been flirting a little or
being super sweet to get used to each other but I was acting like I
walked in on them bumping uglies on the kitchen table.

It still hurt. Ryan had forgotten my food because he was so wrapped

up in Gable. I hadn’t wanted Gable to claim me but moving into my
house to pay attention to someone who was my brother was worse
than what he’d done already. Sam loved me and I never knew it. I was
stressed out about work and deciding what to do about UPAC and the
way they hadn’t helped me.

I had a mate now. Let’s not forget that one! A mate who was a jerk,

not what I always dreamed of, wasn’t even going to be in the same
room as me, and didn’t make me finally enjoy sex. My life

sucked

Plopping down in the sand, I started to calm down. I was tired and

that clouded everything. The past two days had been the most
stressful of my life and I wanted off the roller coaster. I didn’t want any
of this and I was two seconds from telling everyone to just stay here,
that I was going to my vacation home on a private island I owned.

Actually, why didn’t I just do that?
“Oh right, if I don’t have sex with my asshole mate I’ll go feral. That’s

why I can’t leave and get some peace.” I gave a dark laugh then,
pissed that I was stuck in this position.

“I’ve done enough to deserve that asshole comment,” Gable said

loud enough for me to know he was approaching and had heard me.
“But not this time. I wasn’t flirting with Ryan unless every time I
commend a chef’s cooking it means I want to get in their pants.”

“He was eating up every word you were saying and just about

fucking swooning,” I countered, refusing to look at him or acknowledge
I overreacted just yet.

“Yeah, but it wasn’t because of some attraction,” he replied as he

stopped next to me but didn’t sit. “I can feel the tension between him

and Rick. It’s so bad everyone was making random conversation as if
trying to ignore it. Ryan was sad so I decided to be honest and tell him
I thought his cooking was amazing. If Rick should get jealous of the
attention I was giving Ryan, then all the better.”

“Oh,” I whispered, feeling about two feet tall. Shit, I sucked. “He still

forgot about feeding me.”

“No he didn’t,” Gable said gently as he sat down next to me and

handed  me  a  plate.  “He  went  to  see  if  you  could  take  a  break  from
your  work  but  said  he  could  hear  you  talking  gibberish  in  your  office
and  said  that  meant  you  were  taking  notes.  Ryan  didn’t  want  to
interrupt your flow so he put your dinner in the oven.”

I stared at the plate in my hands and the tears that had just dried up

burned again in my eyes. “I’m the asshole.”

“No, you’re tired and hungry and upset after what I did to both of us

and I’m all over the place too because I’m feeling the mating heat from
the spell. I want to claw my skin off and rub ice all over my body.”

“I don’t feel like sex,” I grumbled as I stuffed some of the parmesan

eggplant into my mouth. It was one of my favorites and Ryan had
made it just for me. I owed him a

huge

apology.

“Have you ever felt like sex?” He held up his hands in surrender

when I shot him a dirty look. “I know I was an asshole when I said
something was wrong with you. I shouldn’t have done that and I didn’t
mean it. The fact that I enjoyed it so much and you didn’t made me feel
inadequate and I lashed out. I’m sorry.”

I thought about that for a minute and decided to accept his apology. I

couldn’t stay mad at him for everything he did forever. It was time to
start working through some of our issues or we’d be the two most
miserable people on the planet for the next four years.

“I forgive you.” Gable sighed and rubbed my back with his hand while

I ate. We were quiet a few moments before I decided to answer his
original question. “No, I’ve never felt like sex. I don’t want to get into
the why of that until I get to know you better and trust you.”

“Fair enough. I know we’re running out of time tonight, but I’d like

starting tomorrow for you to give me a little leeway and explore what

might work for you.”

“I don’t know what that means,” I admitted. Why was everything so

damn complicated?

“When someone’s new to sex they like to explore to find out what

gets them going. I’d like for us to try that and find out what works for
us.”

“That’s a nice way of saying you want to try and fix me,” I mumbled,

but still nodded. “Fine, whatever you think will work so I don’t dread sex
and we push the twenty-four-hour mark every day.”

“Then you should hurry up and eat,” he purred in my ear as his hand

worked down the back of my shorts. “Because gods, am I horny for
you and your sweet little body. You are so delectable, Leo.”

I shivered because it didn’t sound like a lame line this time. It truly

seemed like he meant it. I found myself leaning forward so he had
more access as I stuffed my face with food and ate it faster than I
could chew.

“Done,” I moaned a few minutes later with a full mouth. Gable’s

fingers were rubbing my hole as he licked along my neck and shoulder.
I was so wound up and turned on that I wanted to be stuffed, and not
with my dinner.

“Good,” he growled. In a flash I was up in his arms, still holding my

empty plate as he ran back towards the house. I practically threw the
plate onto the counter as he raced through the kitchen, up the stairs,
and into my room. It seemed my mate had done some exploring of the
house and figured out where I slept. “Get naked.”

He tossed me on the bed and went digging through my nightstand. I

tugged off my clothes as quickly as possible and was nude by the time
he crawled into bed with me. I offered my ass up in the air as my
shoulders hit the bed.

“Turn over,” he ordered as he gave my ass a light smack. “I want to

see you.”

“I’ve never had sex like that.” I bit my lip and did what he wanted. I

mean, I knew the mechanics of sex like this and that it would work. I’d
just never done it. The idea seemed to make me nervous. Maybe

because it seemed really intimate?

“I like a little of everything,” Gable hedged as he squirted some slick

on his fingers before setting the bottle on the bed. Then he spread my
legs and put one of my feet on flat on his chest. “And there’s nothing
wrong with down-and-dirty doggy style. But I want to see you and not
just so I can see if you’re in pain.”

He shrugged and lowered his gaze to my hole as if embarrassed.

Something had just happened here and while I wasn’t sure, I think it
was good. I moaned as his finger breached me, lifting my hips so he
had better access.

“No burn,” I whispered when he watched my face intently. My mate

nodded and kept wiggling his finger around. When I was ready for two
he slid another one in as his other hand stroked my cock. “Good, feels
better than last time.” I was a little more into it. It was like he primed me
by kissing me earlier and then teasing me down by the beach.

“What would help move it from good to great?” he asked gently, no

judgment in his tone. “What would you like from me?”

“Kissing.” My face turned bright red as I said it so I was glad it was

dark in the room. I really hoped it didn’t make me some pansy in his
eyes that I wanted to be kissed and feel that passion.

“Glad I’m not the only one who liked our making out earlier.” He gave

me a smile as he leaned forward, pushing my knee to the side of my
body as my foot stayed on his chest. His fingers slipped deeper into
me as his lips met mine. I gasped at how good he felt. “Open for me,
baby.”

It took me a moment to realize he didn’t mean my ass and I parted

my lips. Gable plundered my mouth as before and I moaned in
pleasure as I threw my arms around his neck. I couldn’t imagine how
awkward the position was for him. Two fingers in my ass, other hand
on my dick, leaned over to kiss me. But he pulled it off and soon two
fingers became three.

“I feel more than I ever have before,” I whispered against his lips.

“It’s not just sex that I could do without. I’m liking this.”

“That’s a good start, Leo,” he cooed as he kissed along my jaw.

“Soon  you’ll  love  it  and  find  what  does  it  for  you  and  you’ll  even
instigate  the  contact  because  it’s  so  good.  I’m  not  trying  to  be  full  of
myself. I’m really not. It’s a matter of being with someone who will let
you  explore  to  figure  out  what  you  like.  We  already  know  that  you
simply need more than one stimulus.”

“Uh-huh,” I muttered. I had heard him but I’d pay attention to what he

was saying and process it later. Right now all the blood in my body was
in my nether regions.

“One more because I don’t want you to have any burn,” he warned

before pushing in a fourth finger. “Is that okay?”

“Yes,” I hissed as he tightened his grip on my dick slightly. “Think I’m

going to come.”

“Do it, my mate. Come for me,” he demanded. I held on to him for

dear life as I let go for the first time in my life. I screamed his name as
I shot ropes of seed all over the both of us. My hips thrust up on their
own and even as I was peaking, I wanted more. It was the first time I
felt that way.

“Yes! Yes, like this. Oh, this is good. No pain, just pleasure,” I

rambled. Suddenly I felt empty as he removed his fingers. I blinked up
at Gable a few moments, trying to figure out what was going on. He
practically tore his clothes off his body and used the extra lube on his
hand to slick up his cock.

Right! That’s why he stopped. We were going to have sex. Wow, it

had been a good orgasm if I’d lost my train of thought enough to be
surprised by that.

“Just relax and ride the climax you just had and I’m going to try to

keep it going,” Gable said gently as he pushed inside of me. I nodded
and moaned. There wasn’t a pinch of pain or even slight burn. I could
do sex if it was like this.

“I’m good, you can move,” I told him as I nodded. He smiled as he

wrapped my legs around his hips and slid his arms under my
shoulders. It put his face right to mine and it was incredibly intimate.

“There’s no one else I’d rather be here with. Only you, Leo,” he

whispered against my lips. I tilted my head and kissed him with a smile.

He had already proven his point about goofing around with Ryan but it
was nice that he was making a point to squash any potential lingering
thoughts on the topic.

After a few thrusts and moments kissing I realized I was just lying

there like a hole to pound in. I picked up the timing and moved my hips
in time with Gable’s and felt a thrill go through me that I was
participating. I chose to participate. Maybe it was something that came
natural to most people but for me it was a huge step.

“Tell me what you want. What would make this better for you?”
“I don’t know but I like it better than I normally do,” I answered

honestly.

“Then we’ll take that as a win and work up to mind-numbing sex that

makes you scream the whole time.” He smiled at me so I understood
he was teasing me.

Right? I didn’t think sex could really numb a person’s mind or they

could scream throughout the whole thing. That would really hurt my
throat.

“Baby, I need you to come or I won’t be a good mate,” Gable

admitted between clenched teeth. “I can’t hang on much longer.”

“I already came.” I didn’t get what he meant. I had my turn and most

didn’t even give me that.

“A real gentleman makes sure their partner comes once before sex

and once during for the gift of allowing them to take you.”

“Oh, so because I might be tender afterwards I get two orgasms?” I

liked the theory but I wasn’t sure I’d heard him right.

“Yup and because you gave me the gift of your body,” he grunted as

he nailed my prostate. “Does that help?”

“Yes? Maybe?” I was enjoying it and having fun but he wanted me to

finish. It wasn’t easy for me to do when someone was inside of me. I
could come all day long from foreplay whenever I could get it from
someone… Which had been rare. But I could play with myself and toys
for hours when I was bored and lonely over a decade-long dry spell.

It was someone fucking my ass that I couldn’t come from. Or that

alone. If it was a dildo and I wasn’t touching my dick, I could though. So

it had to be a mental thing and for the first time I really wanted to get
over it.

I think Gable got the idea and without saying a word or making me

feel stupid, reached between us and started stroking my dick. I gasped
at the contact and pushed into his hand. His lips found mine again and
seconds later I was having another fabulous orgasm. I didn’t even
remember the peak ending before my eyes closed and I was out like a
light.

* * * *

I woke in the early morning, way before my alarm clock would have

gone off… Alone. The sheets next to me were cool, and I was under
the covers, and cleaned up. Well, at least he made sure I wasn’t
sleeping in dried cum with some up my ass before he left. I took a
deep breath as I sat up. I wasn’t going to freak out until I saw Gable
and he told me why he left.

Call me crazy, but I kind of thought it might have something to do with

the fact I’d made him have a room on the other side of the house from
me. Yeah, that didn’t scream he was invited as an overnight guest.

I pulled on some sleep shorts that barely covered my ass. We were

shifters so nudity didn’t bother us, especially in a house full of lion
shifters. They liked to lounge in the sun in man or animal form as if it
was their religion. I didn’t go that far.

I preferred to cover up my bits since I spilled coffee accidently when

I was too sleepy to be paying attention. That one hurt and it’s much
easier to quickly pull shorts off than it is to try and hop in the sink to
flush with cold water. That hadn’t felt good either. Really, it didn’t.

After I brushed my teeth and used the bathroom I headed

downstairs. As my timing would have it Ryan was the only one in the
kitchen when I got there.

“Do you hate me?” he whispered with tears in his eyes after a few

moments of us simply staring at each other.

“No, never.” I rushed over to him and hugged him tightly. “I’ve been

all over the place and didn’t know Gable was trying to help you with
Rick. It’s no excuse. Even if you guys were having some innocent

flirting fun you didn’t deserve that reaction from me.”

“I’m glad you did blow up,” he giggled as he wiped his eyes. “It

worked because Rick was on me the moment you stormed out of here
and Gable raced after you. He was scared of screwing up our family
dynamic if we hooked up. It wasn’t that he didn’t want me. We played
hide the wiener in my ass all night long.”

“Hide the wiener in my ass?” I parroted before bursting out laughing.

“That’s awesome. I’m so glad for you both. But if you are happy about
it why are you already up and down here at six in the morning?”

“He snores really loud.” He gave me a wink as we parted and

handed me a coffee mug. “I mean

really

loud. I didn’t notice when I

was exhausted from all the sex but then he woke me up this morning
and I wasn’t tired. I decided to get up and make his favorite.” Ryan
gave me a sly look and wiggled his eyebrows. “Gable snore?”

“I don’t know,” I answered as I busied myself fixing my coffee. “He

wasn’t there when I woke up. But it makes sense he wouldn’t feel
welcome to stay the night after I banished him to the other wing of the
house. I would think that’s understandable though after how he mated
me and was such a jerk when we met. Well, and a few times since as
well.”

I snapped my lips together. Now I was just rambling like a loon.
“It’s only been a little over a day.” Ryan shrugged good-naturedly as

if not noticing my overflowing mouth. “Rick and I took years of knowing
each to sleep the night together.”

“Yeah, good point.” I didn’t mean it like Ryan and Rick had the right

idea because Rick was an idiot for not having noticed how Ryan had
felt about him. I just meant that it had been less than forty-eight hours.
Nothing would be perfect or fit into place just yet. “And I did fall asleep
the minute after we both climaxed.”

“You were jet-lagged and tired.” Again he shrugged. I couldn’t help

but smile as I sat at the counter. Ryan was so easygoing, practically
nothing ever bothered him. To him, most things had a rational
explanation and he always gave people the benefit of the doubt. It was
something I envied about him. I’d seen and lived through too much to

believe that.

Then again, sometimes I made things way more complicated than

they needed to be.

“Um, hey, good morning,” Rick said awkwardly as he walked into the

kitchen. “I wanted to, um, make sure you were okay when I woke
alone.”

“I’m fine,” Ryan shyly replied. He took a hesitant step towards Rick

who moved so the island was between them. Ryan hung his head at
the rejection and went back to mixing his waffle batter. “Just fine.”

“Don’t be

that

guy,” I warned Rick with narrowed eyes. “You guys

played hide the wiener last night and now you won’t even give him a
good-morning kiss?”

“Well I woke alone. I wasn’t sure what that meant or if he was

coming to give me a good-bye kiss and tell me it was fun.” Rick
glanced from me to Ryan. “You already told Leo? So it wasn’t a one-
night thing.”

“No, you ass,” Ryan mumbled as he kept mixing. “I got up because

you snore and I wanted to make your favorite breakfast.” He kept
stirring faster and faster in a way that made my hands hurt for him. “I
told you I loved you last night. Doesn’t that mean anything to you? Or
did you just think I would lie to you to get laid? Is that the kind of person
you think I am?”

I guess even the most logical and easygoing of us could have

meltdowns when matters of the heart were involved.

“Ryan,” Rick whispered and stepped closer to him.
“Forget it, just forget whatever you’re about to say!” Ryan shouted

as he gestured with the spoon… Spraying batter all over Rick. They
both stared at the splattered mix all over Rick’s chest and I did as well.
It was too funny.

“No, I won’t forget it,” Rick purred as he closed the space between

them and took the spoon out of Ryan’s hand. Then he lifted the man
onto the counter and moved between his legs, Rick’s chest rubbing
batter on Ryan’s. “Last night was the best night of my life, baby. I got
unsure when I woke alone that you had as much fun as I did. So I

backed away and wanted to test the waters. I believed every word you
said last night.”

“Don’t back away from me,” Ryan begged as he wrapped his arms

around  Rick’s  neck.  “Please  don’t  ever  push  me  away  again,  Rick.
We’ll  figure  this  out  and  I  know  you  think  things  are  complicated
because  we  live  in  the  same  house  and  our  family  is  our  pride.  But
we’re not related and mating within the same pride is okay. I like that
we’ve  known  each  other  since  we  were  teenagers.  You’ve  always
been there for me.”

“Really?” Rick looked shocked at the news. Seriously? Men could

be so dense. Even I knew Rick loved Ryan before he did.

“Yes, really.” Ryan pursed his lips and tilted his head. It was too

much for Rick to resist. He moaned as he claimed the mouth he
wanted, Rick’s hand sliding into the back of Ryan’s jeans.

“Are you too sore from last night?” Rick panted as he stared into

Ryan’s eyes. “I woke alone, baby, and I thought maybe I dreamed it all.
I need you just as much. I want us to be real but I don’t know how and
I’m scared.”

“Hot sex and lots of flowers and I’m happy,” Ryan said with a smile

as he batted his eyelashes. “And no, I’m ready to go. I have the plug in
that you said you wanted me to wear today. I’m all yours.”

“We’ll be back!” Rick exclaimed as he threw Ryan over his shoulder.
“The batter’s ready, just pour some in the waffle maker and the timer

will beep automatically after the lid is closed and they’re done,” Ryan
quickly told me as he bounced on Rick’s shoulder.

Guess I was making breakfast. I poured in the right amount, closed

the lid, and picked back up my coffee. Then I almost spit the mouthful
out when I saw Rick already inside Ryan on the back lawn. It seemed
he couldn’t wait any longer. They were so close that I was surprised
they even bothered leaving the kitchen.

“Interesting show,” Gable mumbled behind me. “Do you guys always

start mornings this way?”

“No, everyone’s single in the house besides Rick and Ryan now,” I

answered with a giggle. “Glad they got over their shit and found their

way to each other.”

“Everyone’s single but them,” he parroted with a nod as he added

sugar to his coffee. I realized he wasn’t happy and what my mistake
had been.

“Well, I meant other than us. I wasn’t saying I thought I was still

single.” Things might be far from perfect between us but we didn’t need
misunderstandings between us making things worse. The

last

thing I

wanted Gable wondering about was my loyalty.

“Okay, yeah, thanks for clarifying that.” He smiled at me and I could

see the relief in his eyes. “So we’re good?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer that one so I bit my lip a moment to

think. “I think we started badly and there’s too much to deal with
between us to say we’re

good

. But I’d say we getting better and made

a real start at fixing things. Is that fair?”

“If I say yes, do I get a good-morning kiss?” His voice had gone

deep and husky. I was just about to answer when the waffles beeped. I
quickly turned and took the cooked ones out before adding more
batter. Just as I was closing the lid I felt large hands rub my ass under
the boy shorts. “I don’t want waffles. My mate looks good enough to
eat and I prefer him to all else. With the show on the lawn it’s hard to
not be in the mood.”

“What did you have in mind?”
“Everything. I want everything with you, Leo.” I could hear the

emotion in his voice and the sincerity. His hands moved to the front of
my shorts and he started stroking me as his lips found every blessed
spot on my body that set me on fire.

Who the fuck needed coffee when I could get treatment like this to

wake up?

Chapter 5

The next few days were filled with work. I was buried and for once

had something else I’d rather be doing instead… Getting to know my
mate. Things between us were progressing nicely and he fit in well with
my family. He was still really awkward in personal situations if it was
more than one-on-one and tended to keep to himself.

Gable loved to help Ryan in the kitchen and they were becoming fast

friends. Rick was hovering a little, worried that maybe Ryan would
change his mind about their budding relationship. I didn’t. They were
perfect for each other.

My mate had also been broadening my experiences in the bedroom.

I still hadn’t told him why I had such issues with sex, but I would have to
soon if we were going to work. Until the time was right and I felt
comfortable enough with him, I was simply enjoying the fun we were
having.

Gable was a master of foreplay, teasing, and setting my blood on

fire to where I was begging for a release. It was fan-fucking-tastic and
I wanted more, to experience everything sexual there was with him.
Well, except pain. I couldn’t deal with any pain with my pleasure. It
brought back too many bad memories.

I was distracted from my thoughts when I saw an e-mail pop into my

inbox from a contact I knew that was really a friend. We’d just never
met so we were more like online/cyber friends. I quickly opened it up,
hoping it was some background information on one of the companies I
had contracted to work with. The guy was a master on getting the dirt
on anyone or any business.

“I’m sorry, but I had to look. You protect your business, but not

yourself, Leo. I bet it never crossed your mind, which is okay,
because you have friends who look out for you. Give him a chance
to explain what I found. There might be reasons behind this beyond
what’s in the file.

-James”

Uh-oh, that didn’t sound good. I printed out the attached reports and

started reading them as fast as I could. My heart shattered into a

million pieces as tears burned in my eyes. I was such a fool. I trusted
Gable and let him into my home—my home! He was in this house with
my family!

I grabbed the rest of the reports from the printer and raced towards

the kitchen. It was just about lunchtime so he was helping Ryan in the
kitchen while some of my family had gathered, waiting to be fed like
greedy lions.

“Ryan, back away from Gable,” I said firmly, trying to hold myself

together.

“What? Why?” he asked, his eyes going wide.
“Rick.” That’s all I had to say before the man darted over there and

grabbed his man, making sure he was safe behind everyone. Then I
focused on Gable who was looking at me as if I’d lost my mind. Yeah, it
turned out I wasn’t the crazy one between the two of us. “Get out of my
house. We’ll send your shit to wherever you end up but I want you out
of my house before I contact UPAC and dissolve our mating.”

“What? Why?” Gable asked, echoing Ryan moments ago. “What

did I do?” He glanced from my face to my hands. “What is that?”

“Do you want me to air your dirty laundry in front of everyone?” I

raised the pages crushed in my hand. “I know where you used to help
out in the kitchen, Gable. Do I need to say more?”

“You did a background check on me,” he said sadly. He nodded as if

he understood but his eyes were pleading with me for something.
Hope maybe? “Do you want to hear my side or did you read enough to
condemn me?”

That gave me pause. James had warned me that there could be

another  side  to  the  story.  “You  could  be  a  threat  to  my  family,”  I
whispered,  not  sure  what  else  to  say  or  do.  I  wanted  to  give  him  a
chance.  We’d  been  growing  closer.  But  my  family  was  everything  to
me and I wouldn’t risk them.

“I don’t know what’s going on, Leo,” Sam hedged as he held out his

hand for the papers. “But Gable’s been living with us for days. If he
wanted to hurt us he could have done so a hundred times.”

“He can see the reports,” Gable said quietly as his head hung in

shame. “It might be easier just to get this all out at once.”

“Now I feel like I’m kicking you when you’re retreating to the corner.”

I handed them over to Sam and plopped down at one of the kitchen
table chairs with a sigh. “Why didn’t you just tell me, Gable? If there’s a
valid reason to what’s said in those reports then why hide it from me?”

“Like you’re not keeping things from me.” He narrowed his eyes in

accusation.

“Yeah, but that’s more a traumatic story to tell you when I feel you

won’t throw it back in my face,” I countered as I ran my fingers through
my hair. “It’s not the same, especially since you live here with my
family.”

“You’re right.” He nodded as he moved in front of the island and

leaned against the counter. “When is there a good time to tell your
mate you were locked up in a mental institution by your family though? I
mean, it’s not like I can say,

hi, my name is Gable. I spent a few

decades in a locked mental ward. Want to get to know me better?

”

“I understand that but we’re not just dating. We’re mates!” I was

getting agitated again. I wasn’t a total ass that didn’t realize this would
be  hard  for  him.  But  he  shouldn’t  have  hid  it.  “And  I  didn’t  pull  a
background  check  on  you.  I  trusted  you.  I  had  a  friend  dig  up  some
stuff  on  a  company  I  contracted  to  work  with  because  they  seem
shady. I mentioned I had mated someone and

pulled what he could

on you.”

“James?” Sam asked as he kept reading.
“Yeah, imagine my surprise when I get this in my e-mail.”
“Okay, Gable didn’t tell you himself and that sucks. But we know now

and it’s time to discuss it instead of pointing fingers and getting
defensive.” Ryan was right. At this rate we’d never resolve the issue
and spend the day bickering. “Can we agree he’s no immediate threat
and sit down to a nice lunch while he tells us non-judgmental people
everything? We know what it’s like to be locked up against our will and
we never did anything to deserve it.”

“Always the pacifier,” Rick chuckled as he set Ryan on his feet.

“Let’s eat.”

“Yeah, okay.” Gable looked as if he was going to vomit as he took

the seat across from me. Maybe it would have been better comfort-
wise to sit next to his mate but I was glad he gave me space. I wasn’t
dealing with this news very well.

Everyone brought over the plates of food to fix sandwiches with,

sides, and drinks. When we had everything and people started eating,
Gable sighed and pushed a few potato chips around on his plate.

“I’m a son of a hybrid that mated another type of shifter,” he

explained, still staring at his plate. “My mother was part kangaroo and
coyote  while  my  father  was  crocodile.  It  made  for  a  freaky  ass  part-
mammal,  part-reptile  shifter  that  scares  anyone  who  looks  at  me.
Including  my  family.  They  basically  kept  me  hidden  most  of  my  life.  I
escaped in 1975 at the age of sixteen in a small town in Puerto Rico.

“My family freaked out and started this legend that some unknown

man killed their livestock by draining their blood and I was named the

Vampire of Moca

. I was pale from rarely being out of the house and

on the run in tattered clothes. I got caught stealing food by the police
and the next thing I know I’m in jail, my parents telling the authorities
that I was the one who sucked the blood from their animals, denying I
was their son, and being sent to a mental facility.

“It wasn’t until paranormals came out of the closet until I could tell

anyone the truth and explain what I was. It backfired because then the
humans were just scared of me. I didn’t know what was going on
outside with the humans fighting the paranormals and vice versa. It
took another fifteen years for UPAC to find me and work with the local
human government running the facility to let me go.

“I lost twenty-five years of my life and what my parents did just so

they didn’t have to admit they made some monster hybrid scarred my
record. I could never get a job. UPAC set me free but that was the only
help I got. I had to blend in as an illegal immigrant in this country even
to get work. I couldn’t stay in Puerto Rico or even Mexico because
anytime I shifted to let my monster out, someone saw and suddenly
the Chupacabra was striking again.

“People are morons. An animal gets attacked, it will bleed out and

look withered and horrid if it’s not discovered right away and fries in
the sun after it’s dead. I wasn’t sucking any animal blood. The idea just
wants to make me hurl.” He took a quick sip of his soda and ate a few
chips while the deafening silence dragged on.

“So is that what you were doing when you met Leo? You were

working as an illegal immigrant?” Ryan finally asked. I couldn’t even
wrap my brain around all he told me enough to come up with a
question.

“No, um, not really,” Gable hedged. He sighed and wiped his hands

over his face. “When I lost my virginity I bit the guy in the height of
passion. It wasn’t a mating bite, just like vamps drink blood, my fangs
came out and I bit him. Well it turns out my freaky fangs give off some
hormone that’s like a happy neurotoxin. The guy passed out the
orgasm was so intense.

“Next thing I knew, he talked to someone and they told someone and

I had a line of people, men and women, who wanted me to bite them.
They  didn’t  want  sex  and  I  wasn’t  a  prostitute.  They  just  wanted  the
climax and the high my bite gave them. I was pissed at the world and
hated  everyone  so  I  thought,  why  not  take  the  suckers’  money?  So
that’s  what  I  started  doing.  I’d  go  to  certain  clubs  on  weekends  and
make thousands of dollars a night biting people who paid.

“I hated it and I thought I lost what little of my soul I had left. So I

disappeared and traveled from place to place on the money I made
just to be alone and left alone. Somehow UPAC found me and I got the
summons to the gathering and the rest you know.”

“Wow, that blows, man,” Tom said, shaking his head in disgust. “We

were all locked up in a government research facility being poked and
prodded for every test known on the planet. But at least we had our
littermates and then more of us came before Leo found us. So we had
support after it all went down. I can’t even imagine how you got through
it all alone. And I can see you wanting to get back at people.

“Hell, I’m a lion and not a hybrid and we had some fun scaring the

scientists after we got out. If I was you and the only Chupacabra, I’d be
all over Puerto Rico and places with

supposed

sightings and give

them one hell of a show.”

That seemed to be the general consensus in the room. Everyone

started rambling with ideas on how to get Gable some revenge. No
one batted an eyelash at his story or acted towards him with pity. They
thought he was strong and kick ass for having made it through what he
did.

I just didn’t know what I felt. Foolish? No, I was valid in my concerns

considering the way I found out. I think anyone would have jumped on
him like I did in fear for their family. Worried? Yeah, I was a little
worried. It was now obvious Gable was chock-full of issues and so
was I. Would two people with such serious issues be able to make a
healthy relationship work?

And there was also a bit of doubt. Did I really know Gable well

enough to trust his story when most of it was unverifiable? I’d like to
believe so but I had trusted the man I once loved for months and he
stabbed me in the back big-time. I wanted to give Gable the benefit of
the doubt. He wasn’t Ben. It wasn’t fair to put my shit with Ben on
Gable.

So I decided not to. I would believe Gable’s story and move on to

what else was bothering me.

“Leo? Are you okay?” Gable asked quietly. I realized no one was

speaking anymore and all eyes were on me.

“He’s processing,” Sam answered for me, giving me a wink. “He

spends so much time with computers he processes new information
like one. He’ll pick apart what you said, sorting out how he feels and
the logic behind it before he comes to a conclusion.”

“About how he feels? I don’t understand that. You can’t help how you

feel.”

“No, but I can rationalize some of it and prioritize the feelings. That

way I know what questions to ask or issues to handle so I move on,” I
explained.

“I wish I could do that.” Gable gave me a shy smile. “It killed me that I

was such an ass to you when we met and mated. I was still drunk when
we got on your plane and my emotions were spinning out of control.”

“Still drunk?” I whispered, my stomach sinking to my toes as I lost my

appetite. “Still drunk.” Gable’s eyes went wide as he realized I was
upset.

“You didn’t realize I was drunk when we met, did you?”
“No.” I stood, shaking my head. My mind had officially hit overload.

“If you’ll excuse me.”

“Leo, wait,” Gable begged as I turned and walked away from the

table. I kept moving, feeling as if the house had slanted on me.

“Let me go!” I cried out when I felt his arms encircle me from behind.

“I thought it was bad the way you claimed me and gave me no choice.
But to know you did it

drunk

is just insult to injury.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered as he buried his face in my neck and lifted

me into his arms. “No, I won’t let you go. I’m sorry I was drunk and I’m
sorry I was an ass to you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my past and
claimed you against your will. But I am

not

sorry we’re mates. I picked

you drunk and I would have picked you sober. I just did it badly
because I was upset and hurt and drank too much.”

“Just stop,” I whined, not ready to hear any of this. I needed time to

process what he’d admitted before I could deal with his explanation
and attempt to fix it.

“No. If you won’t let me tell you how sorry I am, let me show you how

much you mean to me. I have something special set up like we talked
about. I wanted to do it tonight but please just give me the chance now.
Please? We’ve made such progress and I don’t want to move
backwards because I screwed up again. Let me worship you the way I
should have when we met.”

I curled into him as silent sobs wracked my body. I didn’t know what

to do. He took my silence as an agreement and carried me up the
stairs and to my room. Next thing I knew I was trying to take deep
breaths and stay calm as he sat me down on the bench at the end of
my bed.

“There’s a method to my madness, I swear,” he explained as he

grabbed the remote for my TV and DVD player. “I just needed the time
for everything to get here.”

Now I

really

didn’t know what he meant. I sniffled a bit as I tried to

understand what was going on. Gable grabbed the bottle of lube and
some toys, placing them on the edge of the bed before he lifted me to
my feet and pulled off my shirt and shorts.

“I don’t feel like playing, Gable,” I whispered as I shook with emotion.

I felt raw and exposed, stupid for being the only one naked as well.

“Please just give me ten minutes to change your mind and let you

see all the thought I put into this. I did this for you, Leo. I enjoy the sex
we have, hell, I fucking love it. But you just like it and I care too much
for you to accept that. Haven’t I been good to you in the way I’ve
shown you new things?”

“Yes,” I agreed. Gable had been patient and understanding. Sure he

had blown up that first time and said there was something wrong with
me but he had explained why and apologized. Plus, now that I knew he
had been drunk at the time, I could understand his behavior better.
Being inebriated didn’t excuse what he did, just explained it.

“I compiled some clips to see what interests you. I thought since you

won’t tell me what happened to you, this was a good, interesting way to
find out some insight how to make sex more pleasurable for you.” He
pulled me onto his lap and spread his legs wide, my back leaning
against his chest.

“I don’t understand,” I admitted.
“You will, baby.” He kissed my neck and fondled my sac with his left

hand while reaching for the remote and turning everything on with his
right. It took a moment for the screen to load and then I got a better
idea of what kind of

clips

he had been referring to.

“Oh my!” I gasped as a man about my size was being double stuffed

in his ass while sucking another man off. There were other men
surrounding the fun, jerking off.

“Is that a good

oh my

?” I flinched as the man bottoming screamed in

pleasure when one man finished in his ass and another one took his
place, pushing his dick in along with the one already inside him. Wow.

“It’s hot,” I mumbled as he pinched my nipple and moved his hand to

my cock. “I like the way they all seem to want him so desperately. No

one’s ever taken me or looked at me like that. I mean, they look like
they might die if they don’t have him.”

“I’ve felt that way,” Gable purred as he leaned me forward and

moved his hand to the crack of my ass. “I didn’t want to scare you and
be too rough with you. Do you like the idea of being with so many men
like that?”

I thought about it a minute, shivering when I felt a cool, slick finger

circle my hole. I was going to be honest with Gable. Everyone had
fantasies and it didn’t mean that I would run out and cheat on him. And
he had set this all up for me and lying would defeat the purpose.

“I like the idea of you fucking me with a toy while I suck you off. But

double stuffed and a line around the room for me? No way. I don’t want
anyone to join us and that guy is going to be walking funny for weeks. I
think he likes pain with his sex and I don’t.”

“Okay, good, this is good,” Gable cooed. He pushed a finger inside

of me as he skipped to the next scene. “How does this one make you
feel?”

I closed my eyes and looked away. There was a man chained down

and while he looked agreeable to what was going on, I couldn’t watch it.
“Turn it off.”

“Sorry, baby. It’s on the next scene,” he said gently. I nodded and

opened  my  eyes  back  up,  staring  at  the  screen.  I  moaned  at  the
pleasure  Gable’s  finger  was  giving  me  and  at  the  fun  on  the  screen.
One  man  was  taking  another  about  my  size,  and  while  they  were
having  sex  standing  the  bigger  man  was  using  some  sort  of  toy  that
mimicked a blow job on the little guy.

“We should try that.” I whimpered and arched my back as he pushed

in another finger. “I love when your hands and lips are everywhere
while you’re taking me.”

“Good, I like to be extra active during sex too.” As if to prove his

point, Gable licked down the bones of my spine and moved his fingers
faster. Then he switched the scene. “What about this one?”

It was paranormal porn. I knew it was because the guys were

moving almost faster than could be seen on camera. It was two large

vampires going at it as if their lives depended on finding their orgasms.
Their fangs were showing and the one on top bit the other one hard as
he drove his cock into the man’s willing body.

“Oh god,” I moaned, pushing my ass back on his fingers. “Please,

touch me, Gable?” I arched my back so he could grab my cock and he
did, stroking me furiously. Then for whatever reason, I decided to talk
to the men on the TV. “Yes, bite him again. Give it to him good so he
screams.” Instead, the other man bit the first and about the same time,
I felt teeth sink into my neck. “Fuck!”

Gable grunted as he pushed another finger into me. I cried out his

name and shot my load all over his hand and legs. He drank my blood
and used his fingers to fuck me with perfect precision.

“Too much but don’t want it to stop!” I screamed as I tried to let go

and ride the waves of bliss. Just as I started to come back down,
Gable removed his fangs from my neck and pulled his fingers from my
ass.

“You’re stretched, baby. Tell me you’re not too mad at me where I

can’t have you,” he begged as I heard the zipper of his jeans go down.

“I want you, Gable,” I murmured. It was the truth. I wanted him more

than air. “Fuck me like they are.”

“Gladly,” he growled. He lifted me up for a moment and moved me so

I was on all fours, facing the TV. Then he moved behind me and
shoved his cock inside of me, still fully dressed besides undoing his
pants.

“Oh gods!” I gasped. I was so relaxed from the first orgasm that

there wasn’t any pain from him shoving into me like that. I loved it!
Then he pulled my back to his chest again and made sure I was
watching the show.

“Like this, my mate? Is this what my baby wants?” His voice was all

low and gravelly and I couldn’t help but shiver as I nodded. Gable
pounded into me with the desperation I said I wanted but had never
had. “Tell me you want no one but me and you won’t get rid of me after
what I’ve done.”

“Not fair to ask me that now,” I grunted as his flesh slapped against

mine. “But I will admit I want no one but you, Gable. I’ve never wanted
anyone like I want you.”

“That’s a start.” He licked his bite marks and I whimpered, hoping he

got the idea. He reached down and stroked me in time with his thrusts
right before he struck, biting me on the other side of my neck. I came
again, harder than the first time. I couldn’t help but marvel that
something as simple as a bite made everything so much better for me.

I felt like I was in heaven, on a beach, with all the fruity drinks I could

have, served by hot, naked cabana boys. That’s how good sex with
Gable when he bit me made me feel.

“I wanted you to have three or four orgasms but I don’t think I can

hold out that long,” Gable told me with clenched teeth after he was
done drinking from me. “I have to come.”

“Do it,” I purred, feeling quite boneless and a little high almost. “Fill

me up with the proof of how much you want me.”

“Oh fuck,” he groaned and then buried his face in my shoulders. He

moved his mouth to my flesh to muffle the screams as he unloaded in
my ass, coming harder than I remember him doing with me. When he
was done and we were both more than spent, we flopped down to the
bed in a sweaty, panting heap.

This was that kind of sex I’d always wanted… And only Gable had

been able to give it to me. That had to tell me something, right?

Chapter 6

I was smiling when I opened my eyes again until I saw what was on

the screen. I whimpered and tried to hide under Gable, bending in a
way I didn’t know I could. “Turn it off. Please, turn it off!”

“Okay, okay, baby, I’ve got it,” he quickly said as he dove for the

remote. Once it was off he pulled me back into his arms and curled
around me as if I was a scared kitten. The analogy wasn’t far off to be
honest. “What did I do wrong? Please, Leo. As much as I don’t want to
push you, you have to tell me what just happened. I thought you
enjoyed it!”

“I did,” I admitted as I turned so I could stare up at him. I wanted him

to see the honesty in my eyes. “That was the most amazing sex in the
history of sex, not just my life.”

“Then why are you so upset?” Gable looked scared and ready to pull

out his hair. He’d confessed his past to me… It was my turn.

“What that man was using on the other one in the video wasn’t

meant to be put there,” I answered cryptically, my face blushing. The
clip was from some hard-core, borderline crazy porn, in my opinion.
There are just some things that should

not

be able to fit in someone’s

butt. “I experienced something similar but I didn’t enjoy it like that man
was.”

“Oh, you were raped?” Gable went from scared to pissed off in a

blink of an eye.

“I don’t know, can you be raped by a baseball bat?” I chuckled darkly

and then took a calming breath. “I was one of the original settlers that
found gold out west. The land was uninhabited and I never messed
with the indigenous people. But then people were finding gold in lots of
places and seeking land that wasn’t

claimed

according to them. It was

bullshit and they killed people over fucking rocks.

“Well, I had been sneaking to the closest town and depositing the

gold there along with several other hiding places on land I bought. They
were places that people had already moved on from so I got them
cheap and no one thought twice to look for gold there since someone
had tried to mine it. Long story short, next thing I knew the land I had

found the gold on was crawling with new people on all sides.

“I didn’t feel safe so I hired a gunslinger that people were afraid of,

Ben, to protect me, my gold, and my land. We lived there for years as I
pulled gold out of the earth a little at a time. We became friends and I
fell in love. I was a naive virgin who never thought a man like him could
ever want me. He caught me watching him bathe one day and while we
were close I thought he was going to kill me for being the creepy guy
who leers when no one’s looking.”

“But he didn’t obviously,” Gable hedged when I paused.
“No, he stormed over to me naked and demanded why I didn’t tell

him sooner that I wanted him. Then he kissed me.” I didn’t even mean
to, but I touched my lips, remembering my first kiss and how it had
made me feel. “He carried me to his room, tore off my clothes, and we
made out. I remember thinking that this was finally it, I was going to
lose my virginity and live happily ever after with the man I loved.

“But instead he told me he’d fantasized about tying me down and

having his way with me. I didn’t know any better so I agreed. I told him I
was his forever and he could do anything he wanted to me. I was so
stupid.” I whispered the last part, my eyes filling with tears. “The
moment he had me shackled down he started calling me all kinds of
vile names. He beat me with a horse whip and then stuffed things in my
ass, dry, that no man should have to have there.

“He tortured me for days, laughing at how stupid I was to think he

would be a fag. Then he packed up the gold I had there, all the money,
and anything of value into

wagon and left me for dead. I cried and

cried for mercy but he still left. I was barely strong enough to shift, but I
broke my wrists and ankles doing it when I broke the shackles and
trashed my room. You saw how big I get. I shifted back and crawled to
the stream.

“It took me a day of just lying there drinking water to rehydrate and

heal in the cool stream enough to move. When I could, I went into town
the next day and told the Sheriff that Ben had stolen everything from
me and tried to kill me. I couldn’t give specifics because how would I
explain my escape? The man looked at me and said I got everything I

deserved for being the way I was. The law wouldn’t help me and I
wouldn’t be a victim again.

“I went and bought every gun that would fit in my hand, learned how

to shoot, and worked my ass off to get all the gold out of my land. Then
I left. I’m pretty sure I still own that land, actually.”

“That explains a lot. Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me,” he

whispered as he hugged me even closer. “Have you ever talked about
this before?”

“Sam knows.” Gable made a face and I realized we hadn’t

discussed Sam’s feelings for me. “You need to get over it because I’m
not cutting him out of my life. He’s my best friend.” I sighed when I
realized how insensitive that sounded. “Sam more than the others had
a rough time in captivity. I didn’t realize how deeply he felt but I knew
there was always a bit of knight in shining armor, rescue feelings going
on.

“The man would take a bullet for me and not just because he’s my

security. We’re a family and lions aren’t the best at being sociable
outside their pride. Mine especially after what they’ve been through.
He’ll get over me and move on. Just give him some time and let him
see that you’re not the enemy. He wants me to be happy.”

“Okay, I can do that—for you. I don’t like it but I understand and I’m

willing to try it your way.” He gave me a smile and I yelped as he lifted
me up suddenly and got to his feet. “Now to clean up the proof of our
fun and go see if they left us any lunch. I’m starving for some unknown
reason.”

“Unknown, huh?” I giggled, snuggling against him. “I’m sorry I didn’t

handle things better. I hope you understand why though.” He nodded
and I decided to push for more information. “You said you were upset
and hurt at the gathering and that’s why you got drunk. Want to tell me
what happened?”

He was quiet as he turned on the shower and finished undressing.

“My parents were at the gathering.” I chose not to say anything, being
able to practically see the wheels in his head turning. We stepped into
the shower and closed the door behind us and the instant we were

under the water, I was back in his arms.

“You can tell me anything, Gable.” He sighed and leaned against the

tile.  I  wasn’t  sure  what  to  do  but  he  definitely  needed  some  TLC.
Reaching  over,  I  grabbed  the  soap  and  started  running  it  over  his
stomach.  He  let  out  a  soft  moan  of  pleasure  and  turned  so  his
shoulders were on the wall, fully opening himself up to me.

“My parents saw me and looked so happy to see me,” Gable

whispered as his eyes stayed closed. “I thought maybe after all these
years  they  felt  bad  for  what  they  did  to  their  son.  Maybe  they  hadn’t
meant  for  it  all  to  happen  but  after  how  things  started  they  couldn’t
undo  it.  I  had  this  whole  fantasy  built  up  in  my  mind  in  the  couple  of
minutes it took for them to walk over to me from when they first waved
at me.”

“I’m guessing it didn’t play out that way if you proceeded to get drunk

after talking to them.” I tried to keep the judgment out of my voice. I
understood getting tanked after something traumatic happened, but the
result was he mated me drunk and that still stung a bit. My hands were
all soaped up now so I ran them up his muscular chest and over his
shoulders.

“You’re going to think I’m even more fucked up than I already am.”

Gable opened his eyes and stared down at me to gauge my reaction.

I smiled at him as I slowly ran my hands down his tight abs. “I think

that  boat  has  sailed  for  both  of  us.  We’re  the  most  screwed-up  pair
ever.”  He  watched  my  every  move  intently  as  I  made  a  show  of
cleaning him up. “So just get it off your chest so we can get back to the
fun of being in the shower together.” I winced at how that could have
sounded,  like  I  wanted  him  to  hurry  up  because  I  was  tired  of  his
issues.

My bad.
“You’re right, there are so many other things we should be doing in

the shower besides talking.” He reached down to lift me up by my ass,
and I danced away from him.

“No touchie until you fess up.” Then to be a tease I played with

myself while he watched. “Purge what’s on your mind and then this is

all yours.”

“Okay, but you have to stop doing it while I’m talking otherwise I won’t

be able to focus.” I nodded and went back to washing him, working on
his legs now. “They want to use me because they heard what my bite
does for people,” he finally blurted out.

“So they wanted you to go back to charging people to bite them? I

don’t understand how that would benefit them. You don’t need them to
do that since you were doing it fine on your own.”

“They wanted to extract whatever my fangs secrete and figure out

what  it  is  before  producing  it  on  a  mass  level,”  he  explained  with  a
shiver.  “The  glimmer  in  their  eyes  was  horrid.  I  swear  it  was  worse
than  the  disgust  they  used  to  look  at  me  with.  I  wasn’t  their  son,  not
really.  I  felt  like  a  cash  cow.  I  had  a  flash  of  living  in  a  lab  as  they
attached tubes throughout my entire body.”

“Needless to say you turned them down.”
“Yeah and they threatened to take what they wanted anyways. I

knew they wouldn’t try anything at the gathering and ditched them.
Then I proceeded to see how much alcohol I could consume.”

“Do you think they’ll come after you?”
“I don’t know. They have no clue where I am now and before being

here with you I was traveling all over the place. I can’t see them putting
forth enough effort to try and pick up my trail. They’ve always been
lazy and all about an easy buck to make. Work is a foreign concept to
them.”

“Well, you have a whole pride to protect you now.” I bit my lower lip

as he took the soap from me and started cleaning my body. “I think
maybe we’re a perfect example of the elders’ plan.”

“What do you mean?”
“We’re both screwed up with so many issues,” I hedged, trying to

think of the right way to phrase what I wanted to say. “I’m not sure I
would ever have mated with what happened to me in the past. Would
you have ever trusted anyone enough to want to mate?”

He thought about it for a moment and shook his head. “No, no I

wouldn’t have.”

“Exactly. There are so many of us who’ve been screwed with, not

even counting those who fought in the Great War. We’ve had issues
with humans and each other and I lost my ability to trust in just about
anyone a long time ago.”

“Specifically Ben,” Gable said quietly. “Is he still alive or do you know

where he is? The whole time you were telling me I couldn’t help but
think about where I could find him and kill him.”

“He was human so I’m sure he’s long gone.” He nodded and I was

glad it was the truth because I didn’t want to deal with the potential
drama it could have caused. “My point is that maybe the elders
understood what was going on with all of us. If we’re all screwed up all
we’re going to do is keep messing with each other and fighting. I bet
they thought if they mated us up that it would heal us and make us a
better community.”

“Yeah, I can see how they might have looked at things like that. The

war messed up lots of people from what I’ve seen. I wasn’t around for
it since I was locked up, but I heard stories. I know I’d long since lost
the desire to trust anyone before all of this. Now I had to when we
needed to find a mate that night.” He gently cupped my cheek with his
soapy hand. “I’m glad it was you.”

“Thanks,” I whispered as I blushed and ducked my head. I quickly

turned and let him wash my back. “I don’t think anyone but you could
have broken past my walls.”

“Good to know,” he purred in my ear as he ran his hands all over my

body.

The teasing continued for the rest of the shower, way past the point

where we still needed one. Once we figured we wasted enough water
with our fun, Gable turned off the shower and we stepped out to dry
off.

“Round two?” Gable’s smile was so wide that I shivered at the ideas

I’m sure he had.

I was about to say yes when the house alarm went off. I stared at

him a moment in fear before grabbing a towel and racing out of the
bathroom. I wrapped it around my waist just as I got to the top of the

stairs, Gable right on my heels.

“What’s going on?” I asked Sam when I saw everyone gathered in

the foyer.

“Someone tripped one of the perimeter sensors again. This time it

was close enough to set off the alarm,” he answered as he studied the
tablet linked to the cameras. “Someone set the smaller sensors on the
outskirts of the property line yesterday. This time it was one of the
inner ones that are motion activated.”

“So they’re testing our system,” Rick surmised as he rubbed his

chin. Then he wrapped his free arm around Ryan protectively. “What
do the cameras show?”

“Only shadows,” Sam grumbled. “Not enough of anything to

determine what we’re dealing with.”

“Probably not an animal that just stumbled by the sensors then if

they avoided being filmed.” Tom had a good point there.

“Your parents?” I asked Gable quietly.
“Maybe, but it just doesn’t seem like their style. They’re more the

type to show up on the doorstep and try guilting me into helping them.”

“What’s going on with his parents?” Sam glanced between the both

of us and while he was valid in asking since this might be affecting all
of us… It wasn’t my story to tell.

Gable nodded his understanding and gave everyone the short

version of what had happened. There were looks of disgust on my
friends’ faces and some of horror. I didn’t blame them. I’d had crappy
parents but Gable’s took the cake.

“And I thought your parents sucked,” Tom said with a glance at me,

shaking his head. “They should be tied up by their toes for being
assholes. Gable’s should be put down like rabid dogs for being a threat
to society.”

“What did your parents do to you?” Gable asked me, not having yet

discussed it.

“They named their son, the giraffe shifter, Leo,” I drawled, rolling my

eyes. Gable’s mouth twitched as if not getting it or knowing how to
respond. “I was small for a giraffe at birth, like a human preemie baby.

They were so flippant about it and heartless that they named me Leo,
which means lion, because if I made it I was still destined to be eaten
by our most deadly predator one day.”

“Those

assholes

,” Gable growled before his lips broke out into a big

grin. “Joke was on them though, wasn’t it?”

“What do you mean?” I wasn’t sure what the punch line was that he

was alluding to.

“Your parents thought that you were going to be eaten by a lion one

day because you were small,” Tom explained with a smirk. “But instead
you’re the Alpha of a pride of lions who would do anything to protect
you.”

“Oh yeah, I never thought about it like that.” I guess I just never

made the connection. “Knowing them, they’d just think I was fucking
you all for the protection.” I shrugged and fidgeted with my towel. “They
hated that I was gay too. I was just a complete disappointment to them.
”

“Not to us, short stuff,” Tom said fondly as he mucked up my hair

with his hand. Luckily it was wet so all he did was dry it off some.

“Okay, so what do we do now?” I asked as I swatted his hand away,

sticking my tongue out at him.

“We’re just going to have to be more vigilant and keep an eye on the

situation,” Sam said firmly. “No one goes out alone and we’re going to
add a few extra cameras for now. If we hide some better in the area
they think they already tested then maybe we can catch them.”

“Okay, if you need me for anything just let me know.” The situation

made me feel uneasy but there was no need to overreact yet. It could
be a bunch of different things, I rationalized. I mean, as much as Tom’s
theory made sense, there still was an off chance that it had just been
an animal big enough to trip the sensors.

Now if I could just make myself believe that.
I left them to discuss the situation as I went back upstairs and got

dressed. Well, if tiny boy shorts was considered getting dressed. Then
I headed back downstairs as I went over all the possibilities in my
head. They were all still talking as I went past them and toward the

kitchen. I had just walked inside when I was pushed up against the wall
and strong arms kept me there. For a split second I was about to panic
until I recognized the guy’s scent.

“Yes?” I purred as Gable pushed his hand down the back of my

shorts.

“Baby, you keep dressing like this and we’re going to spend our lives

with my cock in you.” He growled as if to prove his point of how much
he wanted me. I gasped in pleasure as his other hand pulled out my
hard cock as he fingered my hole. “But for now I’m just going to please
you because just watching you walk around in those shorts pleases
me.”

“I’m confused,” I panted as my hips moved on their own. “Am I

supposed to wear the shorts or not?”

“Wear them.” I felt his fangs run over my neck and I shivered. “Wear

them because I enjoy taking them off and playing with you when you
tease me by wearing them.”

“Okay, my mate,” I whimpered, practically going limp in his arms. I

cried out his name when he bit me, his grip on my cock tightening.
Riding the bliss, I was barely able to hang on to reality. He lifted me
and moved around the kitchen. I heard some voices too.

“Yes,” Gable hissed. Just as I came down from my orgasm he

pushed inside of me. Wow! That’s what I call an orgasm! I had missed
getting slicked up and prepared. “Too hard?”

“No, want more!” I yelled as he moved his hands under my ass

enough to grip my hips. My ankles were on his shoulders as I was
spread out on the kitchen table like a buffet.

“Are you sure? You don’t like pain?” he asked hesitantly, freezing in

place and eyeing me over.

“Yes, I’m sure,” I growled and slapped the table. “Now fuck your

mate! You started this. Fuck me stupid.”

“As you wish.” He got a feral look on his face before slamming into

me hard enough that the table groaned. Gable pounded into my ass
like a man possessed… It was amazing. I’d never been taken like this.
As I tried to grab on to something so I didn’t end up being flung across

the room, I realized we had witnesses.

I met Sam’s heated gaze and there wasn’t any jealousy. He was just

excited by what was going on. That had to be a good sign, right? If he
was in love with me like he’d said or thought then he would be upset by
this.

“Wow, they’re really going at it,” Ryan said in awe. Then he yelped

as Rick lifted him up and pulled down his pants. Moments later Ryan
was on the table by me with Rick taking him as well.

“Hey, you with me?” Gable grunted as he picked up the pace.
“Yes, just laughing at the trend we started.” Then I groaned as he

changed angles and nailed my prostate.

“If you’re thinking about anything else but me inside of you, I’m not

doing something right.”

“I’m sorry,” I cried out. He nodded and pushed one of my knees to

the side of my body so he went deeper. Then without even a hint of
what he was doing, he pulled out of me and flipped me over so only my
chest was on the table. Ryan and I winked at each other, sharing a
camaraderie over the fun we were having.

“Bad mate,” he taunted as he spanked my ass. “Gods, your ass is

perfect. You should have misbehaved sooner.”

“Like, I like,” I whimpered as I pushed my ass up higher for him.

“Yes, I was really bad.” There was a sting to his slap, and I wouldn’t
have thought I liked that, but it seemed I did.

“My little mate want more?” He fingered my hole as he taunted me

with the idea of penetrating me again. “Beg.”

“Please, Gable? Please spank me and fuck me until I can’t walk.

You’re the best I’ve ever had. No one’s ever made me like sex like this
and want more. I’m so wound up that I’m dying here!”

“Fine, but I get a chance to give you a full spanking later.” He shoved

his huge cock back into me. I cried out again as he used my willing
body in a way I’d never experienced. I reached down and grabbed the
edge of the table, hanging on for dear life.

We went on like this for about ten minutes. I wanted to laugh in

between my moans of pleasure when I saw that Rick and Gable were

competing as to who could go the longest. They were exchanging
glances as they bit their lower lips and tried to hang on.

Ryan cried out as he came, meaning poor Rick was probably going

to lose. Gable gave me a wink that he thought we would win and part of
me wanted to roll my eyes. Some men and their pride, I swear. I was
simply enjoying the passion and fun of being together.

“I can keep going and give Ryan two climaxes for my one,” Rick

announced proudly as he kept drilling into Ryan.

“How about you’re both studs and call it even?” I suggested as the

slick he used started to dry up. “We’ve been going long enough where
I’m not lubed anymore.” And it was starting to burn. I left that part out
though, hoping he would understand the implication. Plus, it wasn’t fun
if our sex life became a competition.

Gable frowned and pulled out of me. It shocked me enough to where

I rolled over and glanced at him. It wasn’t lube he’d used, but olive oil. I
guess he had needed to improvise. He slicked himself up more and
then lifted me into his arms after setting the bottle back down.

“I’m sorry, baby,” he whispered against my ear as he carried me into

the laundry room off the kitchen. “Nothing matters more than you and
me when we’re together. I shouldn’t have gotten distracted by anything
else.” He kicked the door closed and turned on the dryer. Then he set
me on it and gently pushed me to lie down.

“Oh, wow,” I gasped as he pushed back inside of me. “Vibrations

good.”

“Not as good as being inside of you,” Gable admitted with a blush.

The honesty shining in his eyes did me in and I came with the force of
a geyser. Gable followed me right over and filled me with the proof of
how much he enjoyed our coupling.

When we were done, I lay there like a limp noodle as the dryer

vibrated my whole, spent body. “Apology accepted.”

“Are you sure? I could apologize again?” Gable mumbled in my neck

and I could feel his smile against my skin. Glad we were on the same
setting… Even if it was the heavy setting on the dryer.

Chapter 7

As the weeks went by they were filled with ups and downs as they

always are. But almost three weeks after the dryer sex, there’d been a
huge up in my relationship with Gable. We were in my room now, all of
his stuff taken out of the other wing. To say he didn’t have much was
an understatement and while he seemed embarrassed about that, I
thought it understandable after the crap-tastic life he’d had to this
point.

The perimeter sensors kept being tripped every other day. I thought

Tom and Sam were going to pull their hair out or just become some
crazy swamp people who sat outside their house with the shotgun all
the time. They were

that

upset with the situation.

Ryan and Rick had mated and they were so sweet together that it

made everyone else a little sick. I was happy for them… And begged
Ryan to teach me how he got Rick wrapped around his little finger like
that! I was way more wrapped around Gable’s than he was around
mine.

“Please, buddy?” I whined pathetically. “How do you do it? I mean,

it’s not just giving him sex, right? I give Gable all the sex he wants and
he’s still so the boss of me! You bat your eyelashes at Rick and tell
him to jump, he’ll ask you how high.”

“Then start batting your eyelashes!” Ryan growled in frustration. He

paused in his anger with me to give a demonstration. “See, there.
That’s the secret, now leave me alone, Leo.”

“You really have no clue, do you?” I slumped in defeat on the kitchen

stool. Ryan sighed and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “He
showed me that I could enjoy sex. I feel like a pathetic puppy that runs
after him all the time to do anything he wants. And I bet he thinks it’s
because of his bite but I swear I don’t feel the drug-like high he talked
about. I think I’m immune because I’m his mate.”

“So it’s just a good bite during sex high?” Ryan asked and I nodded.

“Yeah, it seems I’m a biter and Rick likes to be bitten.” My eyes went
wide and he giggled. Then he got serious when he realized how much
this was really bugging me. “Look, Rick likes that I turn the tables on

him. I’m smaller and a bottom, but he loves when I give him the
claiming bite. Every so often during sex I flip us over so I’m on top, ride
him like a cowboy, and bite him when he’s not ready. Part of great sex
is the changeup pitch.”

“Changeup pitch,” I repeated with a nod as I let it sink in. Then I gave

Ryan a bright smile. “I like it. It’s a winning plan.”

“Good because if—” he started but our conversation was

interrupted by a sudden shouting match going on in the foyer.

“I didn’t even hear the bell ring,” I mumbled as we raced out of the

kitchen and down the hallway. I got there first and my jaw almost hit the
ground as my mate stood there with his head hung in shame while
some woman went off on him. “What’s going on here?”

“Stay out of this,” the man on my doorstep snapped at me.
“The fuck I will,” I snarled and stepped right up to him, not caring he

was almost twice my size. The guy had shifty eyes and I got the
distinct feeling he was some type of reptile shifter though I had never
met one. Something about his eyes just screamed shifty reptile. They
were almost as rare as giraffes and pretty big assholes from what I’d
heard. “You’re upsetting my

mate

at my

home

. Start talking before I

decide to be as rude as you and feed you to the lions. Literally.”

“I’m hungry,” Tom agreed as he cracked the knuckles in his hands

for show as he joined us. It seems the whole gang had heard the
ruckus. “Anyone else hungry for crocodile? I could use some new
boots for sure.”

“Crocodile?” Hello, light bulb! “You’re Gable’s parents.” I didn’t say it

with any love in my heart or respect. Some people should just not be
parents and his were amazingly evil. “Why are you here?”

“None of your concern,” the woman barked at me, giving me a look

of disdain. “You’re prey.”

“Lady, you’re part kangaroo. Hello, you’re prey too,” I threw right

back as I crossed my arms over my chest and pushed out my hip,
giving them as much attitude as I could pull off. “And it takes a lot more
predators to take down a thirty-five-hundred-pound giraffe than it would
you. So look down that ugly nose at someone else. You’re at

house.”

“Leo,” Gable sighed as he shook his head. “Pissing off my parents

is like stirring the hornets’ nest.”

“Look, this conversation is over,” the man sneered as he held up a

piece of paper. “We have a court order that Gable isn’t allowed to
make decisions for himself and is to be remanded to our custody for
care. He’s dangerous and rare.”

“Now all of a sudden you care when you want something from me,”

Gable said angrily as he pulled his arm out of his mother’s reach. “You
just want to lock me up but in a lab this time.”

“Nick?” I asked as I grabbed the paper and handed it back to him.
“I’m on it, Leo,” he answered as he took it from me. Nick was the

lawyer of our pride.

“You can’t take that,” Mr. Zohar growled. “That’s ours.”
“And just like a search warrant, we have every right to see the proof.

You want to remove your son from his mate’s house? Yeah, you have
to prove it’s legal,” Nick shot back as he read over the paper.

“We have a lawyer in the family.” I gave the man my brightest smile

as I took Gable’s hand in mine. “And you’re taking my mate over my
dead body.”

“Leo, baby, you don’t know who you’re dealing with.” Gable’s eyes

shined with tears as he sighed and glanced down at me. “I don’t think
we have a choice here.”

“They don’t know who

they’re

dealing with, Gable.” I raised our

joined hands to my lips. “Have a little faith. Besides, you leave, and
you’re basically signing my death sentence, remember?”

“Oh my gods,” he gasped as his eyes went wide. “I was so wrapped

up in them showing up and with a court order, I forgot.” His tone
darkened as I saw his body go tense. Then he looked back at his
parents and focused on them. “Fuck you both. We’re mated according
to UPAC and I have explicit instructions from them as to our mating. I
leave and Leo will go feral.”

“The reptile elder already agreed to annul your mating,” Mrs. Zohar

said with a dismissive wave. “This is all legal.”

Just then, Nick burst out laughing. We all turned slowly and looked at

him as if he was nuts. Nothing about this was funny, so what was up
with him?

“Legal in Puerto Rico,” he finally choked out as he clutched his

chest with one hand and shook the piece of paper. “That’s why you
didn’t want us to see this. You went to a court in another

commonwealth

with their own governing body to get this order. It

doesn’t recognize that Gable’s been mated and we all know that all
rights of the person then go to their mate. Even if you got a court order
in this country that Gable was unfit to make decisions on his own, Leo
would automatically become his guardian.”

“The mating is not relevant because it’s being dissolved,” Mr. Zohar

argued.

“Wow, you really are dumb,” Nick chuckled. “You can’t dissolve a

mating unless all parties involved agree. I highly doubt Gable

and

Leo

would agree to that so you can lock Gable up in a lab and use him like
a test subject to make a new drug.” Then he shocked us all by tearing
up the paper in his hand and growling. “This is nothing more than
something to wipe my ass with.

“Now, I suggest you leave and never come back before I have you

thrown in jail for harassment and attempted kidnapping of our brother.
You might have your local government in your back pocket to have
gotten this but we aren’t there. And we have friends, mine include the
district attorney of Ft. Myers. And I’ll be filing a formal complaint to
UPAC to let the reptile elder know not to trust you again.”

“You can’t do that,” Mrs. Zohar whispered, her face going pale.
“I can and I will,” Nick replied dangerously as he stepped up to the

doorway. “Or you can challenge me right here to a fight if you disagree
with my decision. You should know your adversary better, bitch, before
you come here and try to take one of our family away.”

“But he’s the Chupacabra, not a lion.” She glanced at her husband

who looked just as confused. “Why do you care what happens to him?
”

“I’m not going to sit here and try to explain what family loyalty is to

someone  who  so  obviously  doesn’t  get  it,”  Nick  replied,  completely
annoyed.  “Leo  and  Gable  are  mated.  Leo  is  our  Alpha  and  brother,
that  makes  Gable  our  brother.  Savvy?  If  not,  we  don’t  care  so  take
your pathetic asses off our property before we call the police because
you’re officially trespassing.”

“This isn’t over,” Mr. Zohar growled as he took his wife’s hand and

stepped off the porch.

“

Yes

, it is.” Nick stepped back and we all followed suit right before

he slammed the door closed. Sure, Tom was watching out the side
window to make sure they were really leaving but the message was
clear.

“I’m a little turned on by you right now, Nick,” Gable said with a tone

of awe. I gave a snort of protest. “What? That was hot and he came to
my defense.”

“So did I,” I grumbled good-naturedly.
“And I will thank you over and over again in any form.” He grabbed

my hand and kissed it gently. “I reverted to the little boy I had been so
long ago when they had showed up. I was scared and afraid they’d hurt
you so I was willing to do whatever they wanted. You strutted right up to
them and didn’t flinch for a second. You reminded me that I’m not that
boy anymore. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” I blushed at his praise and then gave him a wink.

“I have prior claim on you, Mr. Zohar. That trumps any crazy they want
to try and throw at us.”

“Before you guys break out into song or rip each other’s clothes off,

there’s something we need to discuss,” Nick drawled. Then he turned
and headed towards the kitchen. Yeah, talking would be better in there
instead of having fourteen full-grown men stand in the foyer. It was a
big foyer, but still.

“Okay, so why do I get the feeling this isn’t going to be a good talk?”

Sam asked with sarcasm as he snagged a muffin. Sam and I had been
doing much better in the past few weeks. He had admitted that seeing
me have wild sex with Gable didn’t make him jealous or upset… Simply
horny. He also had said that Gable and I did belong together and he

was going to try and get over his feelings for me.

My hope was that they weren’t as deep as he had originally stated.
“I guess on how negative you want to be today,” Nick teased as he

grabbed a bottle of water out of our huge stainless-steel fridge. “The
date on that court order rules Gable’s parents out as being the ones
who’ve been tripping the sensors. That’s not exactly something you’d
just call in so they had to have been there.”

“Well, balls.” I pouted as I plopped down at one of the kitchen table

chairs  and  crossed  my  arms  over  my  chest.  We  were  back  to  me
being the reason this was going on then. “So either it’s one of the new
companies  I’m  working  with,  my  guess  would  be  the  shady  ass  one
who  sends  me  replies  via  encrypted  messages.  Or  someone  I  have
worked for in the past, maybe the government. Or someone who wants
something only I have access to.”

“Or someone we’re not thinking of that might have nothing to do with

you,” Gable added, trying to help. We’d all been over these theories
for weeks. “Are the traps in place?”

“Yeah, but depending on how smart they are or if they’re shifters,

they might not do any good,” Sam answered. They’d decided to booby-
trap areas of the property in hopes of trying to catch whoever was
behind this. We weren’t talking steel bear traps or anything deadly.
Most were counterweighted that would catch someone in a net.

“Okay, we need some fucking fun around here,” Ryan mumbled. I

thought it was a great idea. We’d all been working too hard and too
much lately. I could tell my mate was fried from the encounter as well.

“You are so right. Beach and picnic?” I asked Ryan, noticing all the

smiling faces. “It’s been a long time since we’ve played some animal
sports.”

“I–I’m not, um, f–feeling well,” Gable stuttered as his feet suddenly

became fascinating.

“We’re going to have to see you shift sometime, my mate,” I said

gently, knowing this was going to be an issue. His parents had been
here to pick up the monster. I knew it was a risk, but I was confident if
we saw him shift and didn’t freak out, it would be a big help to him.

“We’re a real family, not those assholes you got stuck with at birth. We
don’t judge or do anything but be there for each other. Give us a
chance.”

Gable looked up at me slowly and nodded.
“Good. I’ll even wear my see-through swim trunks,” I purred before

glancing at Nick and Tom. “You guys have cooler duty. Grab ice and fill
them up with some good stuff.”

“On it!” they agreed and got to work. We did have our own private

beach so we kept an excess of bags of ice in the deep freezer just in
case.

“Rick and Ryan, order a spread for delivery. Gable and I will go grab

a bunch of stuff to defrost later from the freezer. Everyone else, fill in
the blanks and meet outside in twenty.”

The mood in the room had changed from frustrated, depressed, and

confused to excited and easygoing in moments. I took Gable’s hand
and pulled him into the garage where we had several deep freezers.

“How did I not know these were here?” he muttered as I pulled the

tarp off one of them.

“Because we have enough food inside the house normally. There’s

a local farmer that we buy a few cows from every October when they
go to slaughter. It’s just cheaper that way. I have a dozen, and now
you, meat-atarians in the house. And lions especially like their meat.”

He laughed as he helped me pull out twenty large steaks and carry

them back in to set on the counter to defrost. Then I reached in the
freezer there and pulled out an eggplant steak that had been freezing
as well. Ryan was a sweetie and constantly coming up with ways that I
didn’t stick out as being the only non-meat eater in the house. This
was one of them.

The guy was so crazy, that he chopped up a bunch of eggplants,

mashed them together with some eggs, and formed them into steaks
before freezing them. Nuts, right? How could I not love him for it
though? Ryan was one of a kind, that’s for sure.

Then I raced upstairs, Gable hot on my heels, grabbed an armful of

beach towels before heading to our room. When I was there I quickly

yanked off my clothes and tugged on my little see-through swim shorts.
Well, technically they weren’t see-through, but they were white and
when they got wet, anyone could see everything.

“I want to try something as long as you’re all about cheering me up,”

Gable said hesitantly as he pulled his long trunks up his body and tied
them.

“Okay.” I was practically drooling. When I wore trunks like that I

looked like a kid trying on someone else’s clothes. He didn’t just wear
them… He owned those trunks. I bet it was the sexiest thing I’d ever
seen him in and I’d agree to just about anything right then.

Gable’s smile made me glad I’d agreed. No longer there in his eyes

was that earlier sadness. He pulled something out of a plastic
shopping bag off our dresser. Now I was curious. I sauntered over to
him, making sure I put a good amount of sway in my hips as I went.

“Baby, you’re playing with fire,” he growled. In a flash he grabbed me

around the waist and threw me on the bed. I let him have his fun,
yelping in surprise and giving him a nice view of my ass when I landed.
I even teased him by pulling down the shorts some. He leaned over
and kissed each cheek of my ass. “So damn pretty.”

“And all yours,” I purred. “What have you got there, my mate?”
“A waterproof, remote-controlled, anal massager that vibrates. You

still game?”

“Will it drive you mad that it’s inside of me?”
“Oh yeah,” he moaned.
“Then put it in me,” I giggled, shaking my ass at him. He quickly

slicked me up and stretched me out before pushing in the toy. It was
weird, not like a normal plug because it was ribbed part of the way and
had little nubs the rest of the way. Gable pulled back up my shorts and
gave my ass a hard slap that resounded through the room.

I couldn’t help but moan. I got the massaging part. When I moved it

rubbed me a different way inside to where I was rock hard as I got off
the bed.

“Are you trying to kill me or just make me hump your leg like a dog in

heat?” I asked as his eyes shined with mirth and a healthy dose of lust.

“Hump, baby. It’s always about humping.”
“Good.” I walked over and grabbed the beach towels before heading

to the door. I paused and glanced at him over my shoulder. “Bring the
waterproof lube. I have a feeling we’re going to be fucking in the ocean
most of the day.”

I heard a growl as I raced from the room. I got about ten feet from

my bedroom door before I was about to shoot my load. I slowed down
and stepped more carefully as I walked down the stairs. Still, when I
got to the kitchen I was panting and dying to touch my cock.

“Dude, you get any bigger of a boner and you’re going to tear those

shorts,” Tom teased as he shook his head and walked out the back
door. I followed him, glad I’d slipped on flip-flops before I left my room.
For a day in March it was hot in Florida and the terrace stones would
have burnt my feet.

We’d just about set up umbrellas for those of us who burned…

Namely, me, when Gable joined us. The coolers were already out and
everyone helped lay out chairs and towels before getting settled.
Gable was helping Rick and Tom set up the volleyball net when my ass
started to vibrate and the toy turned inside of me.

“Oh fuck!” I cried out as I started humping the air. I was already lying

down on a towel and applying sunscreen when it started.

“Did you get one too?” Ryan asked with his eyes wide. “Rick said he

and Gable went together to pick out some fun for us. I think they
planned this because everything was waterproof.”

“Uh-huh,” I moaned, barely paying attention. I met Gable’s eyes and

to be a shit I pulled down my trunks enough so he could see the top of
my cock. Instead of winning one up on him, he turned up the toy. “Fuck,
fuck,

fuck

! Gonna come.”

“Not yet,” he called out from fifty feet away. “Ride it, baby. If you wait

until I get there I’ll swallow you down and let you come.”

“Okay,” I whined. I did everything I could to be good, trying to ignore

the toy. I put lotion on but all that did was set me off more because my
skin felt ultrasensitive. It might not have helped that I kept pinching my
nipples. Then I looked out at the water, but the toy seemed to turn in

time with the waves and I felt like I was going to float away in orgasmic
bliss soon.

“You lasted a whole fifteen minutes,” Gable cooed as he knelt down

beside me. Good to his word, he exposed my dick and swallowed me
down. The instant he started sucking, I came with a scream and shot
my cum down his throat harder than I ever had before.

When I was spent I lay there limp, twitching from the aftershocks.

Gable released my cock and tucked me back into my shorts as he let
the toy keep moving inside of me. Then he stared down at me with
such lust and love that I started shivering, and not from the toy.

“You are so damn amazing,” he whispered as he moved his larger

body over me, in between my legs. I gasped when his hard-on hit the
end of the toy, pushing it further into me. “I heard part of your
conversation with Ryan before my parents showed up. I was just going
to walk into the kitchen and tell you that you were wrong when I smelled
them outside.”

“I’m wrong about what?” I asked, completely confused and having

trouble focusing.

“That I’m not completely, totally, and utterly wrapped around your little

finger,” he whispered huskily against my ear. His hands trailed down
my body as he massaged every hot spot before cupping my ass. “I
love you, Leo. I would do anything and everything you ever wanted if it
would make you happy.”

“I love you too.” Mine was more a moan than a heart-filled

whispering of sweet nothings, but I meant what I said. “And it’s not
because you taught me to love sex or your bite. I never feel high after
your bite, I think I’m immune because I’m your mate. It’s just when you
growl and claim me it sets my body off to the moon. I love you for so
many reasons, Gable.”

“But you do love the sex we have too, right? It’s not scary or

uncomfortable anymore? I mean, you start it as often as I do.” He
looked hesitant but hopeful so I knew it was his insecurity and not
something I’d done wrong where he was doubting us.

“Why don’t you fuck me and find out?” I taunted playfully. “This toy is

great and something fun and different. But it’s nothing compared to
when your cock is inside of me and we are linked together as one.”

“You just want to get off again.” He raised an eyebrow and I couldn’t

help but nod. Quicker than I could follow with my eyes, he bit me,
sinking his teeth deep into my flesh. I screamed and came again, this
time in my shorts.

After I was done this time he turned off the toy and lifted my limp

body into his arms. I didn’t care that everyone was chuckling because
of what they’d seen. Hell, I didn’t care that my cum was dripping down
my leg. All I cared about was that Gable loved me and I felt the same
for him.

“Let’s get my poor tuckered-out mate cleaned up,” he cooed as he

walked out into deep enough water.

“You just want to fuck me under the cover of the water,” I teased as

his hand moved into the back of my shorts.

“Any objections?” He raised an eyebrow and pulled out the toy as I

seemed to magically lose my shorts.

“To being with you? Never,” I answered honestly. I was rewarded

with a bright smile, a heated kiss, and great sex that made me scream
again.

What a way to start off a day of fun and sun.

Chapter 8

Everyone had a blast. We played in the sand and water, goofed

around, ate way too much, and those of us that were mated had more
sex than the single guys could deal with. But the voyeurs still watched.
Well, not Ryan or Rick’s brothers of course… They watched us.

The whole time I couldn’t shake off this feeling that something was

wrong or we were being watched.

When it came time for animal volleyball, those who wanted to play

pulled off their trunks and shifted. I wasn’t a fan of the game, my large
animal form not really meant for something as quick reflexed as
volleyball.

“You’re not playing?” Gable asked, glancing over me with a

predatory grin. “Did I wear you out?”

“Not yet but no, I’m not playing. I’m not very good and the lions rock

so it’s always kind of which team gets stuck with me.”

We watched the game, cheering for our friends as we snuggled

close on the blanket. To be honest, it wasn’t much like volleyball other
than using the net and ball. Any body part could be used to hit it, there
wasn’t any limit as to how many people could hit it, et cetera.

Everyone took a break in between games, laughing and joking about

how it was going and possible player trades. Sam’s head snapped
towards the east as a scent caught my nose. In a flash everyone was
on alert and those who weren’t naked from shifting got on their feet
and undressed.

“Lions and lots of them,” I said to Gable. He was the only one who

couldn’t seem to scent what was going on. I wondered if maybe his
being a hybrid messed with his smell because I was pretty sure
crocodiles had a good sense of smell… And so not what I should be
thinking about right then.

“When did you piss off lions, Leo?” Nick asked me as we edged

towards the tree line at the east of the property, staying low to the
ground.

“Not

everything

is my fault, asshole,” I grumbled. “If it’s lions they’re

probably pissed at you guys for something. I’m prey, remember?”

Just then we heard almost a yelp and several snarls. Um, that was

interesting.

“Found one of our traps, did you?” Sam called out as he stood.
“What are you doing?” Gable hissed as he tried to pull the man back

down.

“Dude, they know we’re here obviously and we were hiding that we

knew

they

were here. But after that little show, old, partially deaf lions

would know they were here,” Sam explained as everyone else stood
as well. “You guys need to work on your stealth mode!”

“Seriously? Could you not taunt them?” I bitched as I shoved him.

“We’re outnumbered here.”

“Dude, I’m pissed!” Sam tossed back as he threw his hands in the

air. “They’ve been pussyfooting around for weeks, tripping a sensor
here, one there while avoiding the cameras. If something’s up, they
should have just fucking knocked on the damn door instead of all this
shit. It’s been driving me nuts to recalibrate each time!”

“Okay, then,” I drawled, complete with eye roll. “Well, let me know

when the sane Sam is back.” I would have said more I’m sure but our
guests had officially arrived. Obviously I used the term

guests

in the

most sarcastic capacity.

“Why have you moved within our territory?” a large, older man

asked as he stepped out of the trees with over a dozen already-shifted
lions flanking him.

“We haven’t,” I called back, shooting a glance at Nick. “I have

owned this land for almost a century and my pride has resided here for
decades.” One man shifted back and grabbed the other man’s arm.

“Father, you said they just moved in?” the younger man questioned,

not seeming happy with the news

“They have,” he snapped, reeking of Alpha hormones. “They are

lying.”

“No, we’re not,” I said firmly as I took a step towards them. In a flash

I was back where I started, Gable and Sam both protectively yanking
me right back. “UPAC granted us sanctuary pride status about thirty
years ago. You should check with the elder before trying to encroach

on others’ turf.”

“There is no elder of the lions currently,” the Alpha sneered. “If you

were truly a sanctuary pride that is no longer valid. Join us or die.”

“Father,” the son snarled.
“Our deal wasn’t with the elder and whatever shit that asshole got

himself into, that doesn’t affect our status with UPAC.” Was this guy on
drugs? Who used cheesy lines like that, for one? I glanced at Nick,
who was my legal advisor, after all. “I did say that, right? I said we had
the sanctuary pride status from UPAC. That wasn’t me, it was him not
listening?”

“Are you mocking me?” The Alpha roared and shook off his son to

step closer. Now we were all about fifty yards apart. Oh goodie, this
was going to be interesting.

“Not really,” I answered with a shrug. “I’m just trying to figure out if

you don’t know the rules, don’t care about them, or just do a lot of
drugs.”

“Leo,” Gable and several others groaned.
“What? I’m being honest,” I balked. “Some shifters can smell if

someone’s telling the truth so why waste either of our time by being
anything less than forthcoming.” I focused on the Alpha then. “I know
the Alpha code and it’s an insult to lie.”

“You’re nothing, prey,” he sneered.
“Really?” I sighed, rubbing my hands over my face. “Does it really

always have to come back to predator or prey with shifters? We’re
part human too. Doesn’t that account for something?” I propped a
hand on my hip and gestured to everyone around me. “Look, we don’t
really have an Alpha. I mean, I am technically, but I didn’t even want to
be in charge. They kind of made me after I rescued them and let them
live with me.

“So are we good now? Does that fix up any misconceptions and you

can leave now? You are trespassing and making demands. I thought
Alphas had to have better manners than that.”

“Join us or die. Either way the giraffe dies for impersonating an

Alpha and a lion.”

“Apparently not,” I drawled, rolling my eyes. “I never said I was a lion.

Dude, I’m like six or seven times your weight in animal form. That really
should count for something. Just because I don’t eat meat doesn’t
mean I’m not badass.” Everyone was staring at me as if I’d just grown
another head. “Yeah, so it seems in life-or-death situations I can’t shut
up. Deal with it or someone get the duct tape because I don’t think I’m
done.”

“This is ridiculous,” the Alpha growled. “Kill the giraffe and his mate,

take the rest back with us or they can choose death now.”

“Motherfucker!” I shouted and flipped him off as everyone else

shifted. I went to shift but Gable wrapped his arms around me and
lifted me off the ground.

“Sam made me promise,” he whispered sadly in my ear. I couldn’t

shift now because I’d crush him. Idiot. “He made me swear the day
after we mated that if anything ever happened I would keep you out of
it.”

“If they die because you’re protecting me, I’ll never forgive you,

Gable.” I kept my voice even and calm. I understood wanting to protect
his mate, but I could help. “I can bowl lions over when I get speed. And
I gots a nasty kick, neck, and as a last resort I can sit on any of them
and crush them.”

He thought about that a moment. “Fine, bowl through and go right for

the Alpha. You knock him down and this is over. Then you come right
back to me, unharmed, Leo.”

“Deal.” He set me on my feet and kissed my cheek before I stepped

away. In front of us was an epic fight between more lions than even the
Discovery Channel had ever seen. And they were fighting balls-out.
And we were already losing because of our lack of numbers.

I charged right through the middle, needing a moment to gain

momentum. I think my play shocked the shit out of everyone because
they froze in mid-battle. Those who didn’t move from the intruders, I
trampled.

“I will kill you,” the Alpha swore as if that would change my mind.

Hadn’t he already threatened that? He turned to his son. “Do

something!”

“No, you started this, Father.” The son backed away and by the time

the Alpha looked at me again, I was on him. I ran the bastard right
over, wincing when I heard the sickening snap of his spine.

I shifted back right before I reached the trees and turned to see the

destruction I’d caused. I ran over and knelt next to the fallen Alpha. “I
didn’t want this to happen. For him to back down I had to win but I don’t
have claws. I didn’t mean to kill him.”

“This was an issue of his own making,” the son said sadly. “I was

away when all this was starting, only arriving home to Miami today
when everyone was packing up to come here. I didn’t even have time
to get a full update on what was going on. From what I gather he lied to
the pride that another one had moved in and was going to take us
over.”

“We didn’t even know you guys were there,” I whispered as I closed

the Alpha’s eyes, tears burning in mine. “We don’t want land or more
people. We just want to be left alone. I only want to give my family a
safe place to live.”

“I understand the feeling.” The son plopped down on the ground next

to me, sniffling as he touched his father’s hair. “He used to be such a
good leader but when my mother, his mate, died a few years ago, I
think he lost it. He hid it at first, but lately he’s been paranoid and
finding enemies where there were none. At least he’s with my mother
now.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” I told him, meaning it with all my heart. “My

parents are assholes but it would still hurt to learn that they were dead.
”

“Thank you, Leo Casey. You are a fierce warrior when it comes to

protecting your family, but you have the loyalty and heart of a lion no
matter what species you are.”

“Thanks, I think.” I blushed at the praise. I knew he didn’t mean

giraffes weren’t loyal or kind, but it kind of came off that way.

“I did mean it as a compliment,” he said with a sad smile and stood.

“I am Reggie and our pride will bother you no more.”

“It’s a long way back to Miami,” Sam hedged. I hadn’t realized that

everyone had shifted and joined us. “Why don’t you guys stay the night
and we can tend to your wounds while you regroup?”

“That is very kind of you,” Reggie replied, eyeing Sam over as if

he’d just found the greatest treasure on the planet. “If it is alright with
your Alpha, we accept.”

“Stay with those who just killed our Alpha? Is that wise, Reggie?” a

man asked quietly as he glanced at us. “We just fought with them.”

“They did not wish this fight nor do anything to warrant it. They have

extended the olive branch to us and as this pride’s new Alpha, I accept
it. Do you not think it wise to fix what we have broken here?”

The man bit his lip a moment and nodded. “You’re right. I apologize,

Alpha.”

“We’ll show you guys to the guest rooms and let you get cleaned up.

Are your vehicles close?” I asked.

“Yes.” Reggie nodded as he stared at his father. He was taller than

me but not huge like normal Alpha lion size. I bet he could still hold his
own though. He glanced at a few of his men. “Go retrieve the SUVs
and bring our things around while I figure out what to do with my father.
”

“You don’t need to deal with this, Alpha,” Sam said quietly as he

wrapped his arm around the man’s shoulders. “We’ll take care of it.
Let’s get you to a spare room so you can lie down and maybe some
Scotch for your nerves.”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” he whispered. He leaned into Sam and let

himself be led away. When they were out of earshot someone else
from the pride asked what should be done.

I winced and glanced at Gable. He shrugged and gave me a nod to

go ahead with whatever idea I had. “I’m pretty sure we have a
ceremonial wrapping and a large freezer in the garage. I know that’s
crude and not what you want for your Alpha, but I figure it’s the next
best thing to a morgue without getting human authorities involved.”

“That’s more than the bastard deserves,” one man agreed. “Reggie

was right that he used to be a good man. But he’s always ruled with an

iron fist and most of us didn’t agree with him before he lost his mate.
Then his brain took a trip somewhere else from his body. Reggie
doesn’t need to know we all felt that way, but I can assure that there will
be no love lost that he’s gone.”

“Then let’s get it done so we can all relax and help Reggie. He does

seem like a good guy.” I really hoped the pride would accept him as a
leader easily or things could get ugly for the man fast.

“Yeah, we all like him. We’ve tried to get him to take over the pride

lots of times but he knew his old man would fight to the death and no
one should have to kill their father, even if it needed to be done.” He
gave me a look that let me know that the pride owed me a debt of
gratitude.

And here I thought I was just going to get nightmares from what I’d

done.

“I’ll catch up with you guys in the house,” I said quietly, looking away

from the man’s gaze. They all nodded and I walked away. Oh sure, I
busied myself with cleaning up our fun-and-sun day since it was very
much over. But that wasn’t why I needed some space, and everyone
knew it.

I pulled on my swim shorts and wrapped a towel around my waist

before starting to pick everything else up. We had guests now and I
didn’t feel comfortable enough to strut around in tiny shorts meant for
drawing attention… Except I kept tripping over the beach towel.

“It’s not fair,” I bitched to no one because I was alone, as I got back

on my feet. “He came here to kill me. I should be glad I’m still alive and
my family is safe.” I sighed, knowing that part of me did feel that way
and that was part of my guilt. I knew talking to myself might be a sign
that I was cracking mentally to some but really I just needed to talk it
out and I wanted to be alone right then.

I needed to say the words to get them out and decide how I felt

about it all. It was the way I processed. Don’t judge.

“None of this was necessary though! We weren’t a threat. He didn’t

need to die and all this drama.” I put all the drinks left into one cooler
with ice, dumped the ice out of the other one, and loaded up all the

empty bottles and cans.

“I killed someone,” I whispered as I plopped down on the pile of

towels I had gathered. “I really killed someone.” I buried my face in my
hands and whimpered, not knowing how to process something like this.
I heard someone approach and was comforted by the scent of my
mate.

“I know you made it clear you wanted to be alone but I was worried

about you,” Gable said gently as he sat down next to me and wrapped
his arms around me. “Can I tell you something without seeming like I’m
making this all about me?”

“Sure, hit me,” I mumbled in my hands.
“The way you’re reacting to this just makes me love you more, baby.

”

I wasn’t sure I understood that one. I turned my head and looked at

him, pulling my knees to my chest and setting it on them. “Want to try
that one again?”

“Instead of being that person who runs around gloating that they

bested a lion Alpha and could take over the Miami pride because of it,
you’re grieving. I bet it never crossed your mind that you could lead the
Miami lions, did it?”

“Oh fuck,” I groaned, having a whole other reason to be depressed

now. “I don’t have to, right? They were calling Reggie their Alpha.”

“No,” he hedged, giving me a soft smile. “You don’t have to, but you

could if you wanted to. They might not recognize you as a possible
Alpha because you’re a giraffe but according to UPAC you’re the
Alpha of this pride. Another pride’s leader challenged you and you won.
That makes their pride yours. If they haven’t realized it yet, they will so
be prepared for that.”

“Yeah, well, I can just tell them right up front I don’t want it.” Now I

was sad, depressed, and full-out pouting. “I never want to be the boss
of anyone. I wanted to do my work, take over the cyber world one day,
and be left alone on my little slice of paradise I built here.”

“That’s not still what you want, is it?” Gable looked horrified at my

statement and I realized how it had come off.

“No, not since I found the lions being held in a lab.” I reached over

and took his other hand as I snuggled into the comforting embrace he
was  giving  me.  “Everything  changed  then  and  I  realized  that  some
people could be trusted and there was more to the world than thieves
and  horrible  people.  I  just  wasn’t  ready  for  a  committed  relationship
until  you.”  Well,  that  wasn’t  the  full  truth.  “After  we  worked  out  our
issues and dealt with the whole forced mating thing.”

“I knew what you meant but thanks for clarifying that,” Gable

chuckled. He kissed the top of my head and rubbed my arm. “We’ll get
through this, Leo. You did the only thing you could to protect your family
and the ones you love.”

“Including you,” I admitted quietly. “The idea of losing you made me

realize I would do anything, and I mean

anything

to keep you safe.”

“I feel the same way.” He kissed my hair again. “I was so worried

you’d get mad at me for letting you go. Or for even trying to hold you
back. I felt like either way I was directly responsible for what happened
here. I’m sorry. I would have killed him for you.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that. “Look, it’s not that I’m saying you

couldn’t have. But I haven’t seen you shift. It never crossed my mind to
even include you in the fight because I don’t know if you’re a little lizard
or a big coyote?”

“Should we just get this over with?” he asked with a sigh. I moved out

of his embrace and nodded.

“Please? No one’s looking and we’ve been mated a month now.

You’ve seen me shift dozens of times and it’s killing me that you don’t
feel comfortable enough to just be yourself in our home.”

“When you put it like that I could never deny you.” He smiled and

kissed my nose before standing and undressing. I momentarily forgot
what we were doing when I started getting to see more and more of his
gorgeously tanned flesh. “If you keep staring at me like that, Leo, I
won’t shift and we’ll be having sex.”

“Right, shift first, sex after,” I grumbled good-naturedly as I crossed

my arms over my chest and winked at him. Who knew a month with the
man would turn me from anti-sex to a hound dog?

He glanced at his feet and let out a long breath. Then he shifted. I

smiled and then full-out giggled as I rolled to my knees and crawled
toward him.

“You are

cute!” I cooed as I reached out and touched his cheek.

He was about three and a half feet tall with scales and spines of a
reptile on his back, and the longer tail. His front was more kangaroo
with his muscular legs, big feet, and short arms. But his face was his
coyote side, almost looking wolflike. He had the ears, eyes, and
muzzle of one.

Honestly, I know some might have balked at such a combination but

to me it was as if fate gave him the cutest parts of each animal and
glued him together.

“Oh, I just want a stuffed animal of you and to squeeze you until you

squeak!” I hugged him tightly, smiling when he chirped. I wasn’t sure if
any of his animals made that noise but it made him even more
adorable. “Yeah, you’re so not the big, bad Chupacabra.”

I moved back to kneel in front of him and lifted his upper lip without

warning. I felt bad, almost as if I was picking him apart or giving him
random inspection. He did have fangs in this form, but the reason his
bite was different was that his two front, lower teeth almost fused
together into one bigger fang. So his bite left three marks as opposed
to most that had two.

“I’m so keeping you,” I giggled as I rubbed his furry tummy. “We

need to set the world straight on their perception of the Chupacabra.
There’s nothing scary about you.”

He shifted back and I pulled my hand away because he ended up

kneeling when he was in human form and I had been cupping his groin.
Not the best for saying he was so cute and serious talk.

“You really think so?” he asked quietly as he searched my eyes.
“I’m not sure what part you’re talking about but yes, I meant every

word, Gable.”

“I know you would never lie to me,” he replied shyly. I was shocked at

his reaction. I mean, I’d never seen him vulnerable and introverted like
this. “I meant do you really think we need to set the world straight?

They won’t just believe us, Leo.”

“Honey,” I whispered as I understood what he was afraid of now. I

pushed him back onto his ass and straddled his lap, losing my towel in
the  process.  Then  I  took  his  face  in  my  hands  so  he  had  to  look
straight into my eyes. “You’ve been living here a month and there’s not
been  one  animal  dying  from  loss  of  blood.  Humans  accept
paranormals  now  and  they  appreciate  the  truth.  So  we  will  give  it  to
them. It’s not like they’ll need to know where you live.

“Nick can work out the logistics of the whole thing and maybe just a

press release. After seeing you and how cute you are, I’m furious with
the way your parents treated you even more so than before. You’re
not a monster, Gable. You’re not scary or creepy or a threat to society.
We need to set the record straight so these lies and rumors go away.
No one can do this but you and I’m with you no matter what you
decide.”

“I only got about half of that because your ass is rubbing against my

cock,”  he  mumbled  before  claiming  my  mouth  with  his.  Next  thing  I
knew  I  was  on  my  back  in  the  sand…  Minus  my  shorts.  Damn!  The
man  really  could  move  fast  when  properly  motivated.  “Shouldn’t  I  be
ashamed that at my size my mate thinks I shift into a cute little hybrid?”

“Nope. You’re way too secure in your hot masculine-ness to worry

about such trivial things. I saw you shift and wanted sex the moment
you changed back to a man. That should be enough to tell you that I’m
not lying about how I felt about your animal and that I love you.”

“Good point,” he agreed with a bright smile. Then it faded as he

looked around at our belongings. “We took back in the toys and
waterproof lube. I can’t take you.”

“You’ll come up with another way to have some fun,” I purred and

wiggled my eyebrows at him. “You always do.”

Shit! Did he ever! The Chupacabra had nakie moves that should

almost be illegal they were so good.

No, not really, but I wasn’t ever sharing his talents.

Chapter 9

“You’re leaving?” I whispered in shock as I stared at Reggie and

Sam. The next morning after the fight I had walked into a conversation
that would change my life forever.

“Yes,” Sam admitted quietly as he glanced at Reggie. “We, um, well,

we mated last night. I don’t think either of us meant to but in the heat of
the moment everything clicked.” His eyes went wide as he stared at
the man. “I don’t regret it. I didn’t mean that, baby. I just was explaining
why we moved so fast.”

“I know,” Reggie chuckled as he kissed Sam’s hand. “I feel the same

way. It’s fast but it feels right so I’m just grateful we’re on the same
page and you’re willing to move.”

“It’s not like Miami is on another continent,” Tom said quietly with a

shrug as he shuffled into the kitchen. “So you’re not really bailing on
us, bro.”

“Thanks for the support,” Sam snickered. They were from the same

litter and I’d never seen two siblings closer than them. I smiled as they
hugged, both trying to hide how emotional this was for them. “You’ll
visit, right?”

“Of course and it’s not like you can’t ever come back. Maybe when

you and your Alpha mate need some space from your duties you can
come hide here and hang out with us.”

“That would be wonderful, thank you,” Reggie agreed with a smile.

He glanced at me then and bit his lip. “Sam and I did talk about the fact
that you should be the pride’s new Alpha, Leo. I apologize for being a
cad last night and not realizing it. I told Sam this and I swear to you it
has nothing to do with your being a giraffe. Our pride has had
someone from my lineages in charge since its inception. It’s always
been passed down to the oldest son when the term is up.”

“Last night was very stressful for both of us,” I hedged, amazed we

could talk so calmly and friendly about the fact I’d killed his father. “I
didn’t realize that I could take over either until Gable brought it up. I so
don’t want to lead the Miami pride, I hope you know that. This wasn’t
some power play for me or anything. I’m not really even the leader of

these lug heads.” I gestured over my shoulder, knowing everyone was
pretty much in the kitchen now.

“But you are our leader and as such I need your permission to leave

our pride and join theirs,” Sam said quietly.

I nodded, letting him know I understood the seriousness of the

situation. Then I walked over to him and took his other hand, smiling to
Reggie. He returned the gesture and let go of his mate. I led Sam out
the back doors and just walked with him for a bit, way past the terrace
and onto the beach so the waves muted the conversation so anyone
who might be listening couldn’t hear us.

“Is this what you want?” I finally asked as I wiggled my toes in the

wet sand. “I mean, really want. I know you’ve been talking about
moving on and I agree with that because you deserve someone
amazing, Sam. But is this too fast? Mating an Alpha of a real pride and
not just our little family?”

He sighed and dropped my hand as he squatted down and fidgeted

with a shell that was sticking out of the sand. “When I saw Reggie shift
into a man I actually couldn’t breathe, Leo. He stole the air out of my
lungs he was so beautiful. I just wanted to hold him and never let go,
protecting him from the world. I’m not sure I believe in love at first sight
but I do believe that someone can have such a profound effect on you
the moment you meet that they become a part of you forever.”

“Well, that settles one of my concerns,” I said gently as I moved

down so I could see his eyes. “Here’s my other and this is no judgment
against  Reggie  because  I  do  like  him.”  I  paused,  trying  to  figure  out
how to voice what I wanted to say and then decided just to go with my
gut.  “Sam,  your  best  friend  killed  his  father.  How  do  we  know  you’re
not  going  back  there  to  be  some  sacrificial  lamb  to  the  slaughter  as
retribution?”

“Because lions are forever with their mates, Leo.” He spoke softly,

letting me know he wasn’t upset or offended by my question. “You
know that’s how the paranormal world works. If they kill me, Reggie
could die or go insane like his father did when he lost his mate. Even if
they annulled our mating, some lions still go nuts from the loss of the

connection. He wouldn’t risk himself like that if this was just a trap.”

“Good point. I’m sorry, I had to ask.”
“I know you did and it was something I thought about as well. But

Reggie’s a good man, Leo. I look at him and my heart just skips a beat
because he feels like my forever.”

“You really do talk pretty for a big lug,” I giggled as we stood again.

Then I threw myself into his arms and hugged him fiercely. “I approve
your changing prides, my friend. He better be good to you or I don’t
care if I’m a vegetarian, I’ll eat him with some eggplant. I love you and
wish you all the best.”

“I’m not dying, Leo,” he replied, but he was sniffling as well. “I love

you too, squirt. You were my first real crush and you were always good
to me. You’re my best friend forever and I’ll be back here all the time to
make sure the idiots are protecting you.”

“Good deal.” We headed back toward the house hand in hand, but

wiping away stray tears. They were happy and sad tears. I was thrilled
Sam found someone to love who seemed to feel the same way about
him. That was all I wanted for all my friends, for them to be happy.

I just never wanted any of them to leave even if it was a few hours

away in Miami.

Reggie looked worried as we stepped into the kitchen until I gave

him a nod. Then he was in Sam’s arms the next instant. Wow! They
must have

really

connected last night because the passion they

shared in one kiss rivaled what I’d experienced with Gable or seen
between Ryan and Rick.

Good for Sam.
His littermates went to go help him pack while everyone got to know

each other better and made arrangements. Reggie and I had a chat
where he assured me that he bore me no ill will for what I had to do
and hoped our prides could be friends.

I would have been stupid not to accept the olive branch… And I’m

not stupid. We shook on it and then when Sam was ready they left.
There were only a few of us with dry eyes as we watched them drive
away.

“What now?” Tom asked quietly. “I feel like something is missing.”
“He’ll come visit,” Ryan said as he wiped his eyes. “Besides, we’re

too busy to pout. We have

Operation Chupacabra

to attend to.”

“Do I want to know?” Gable groaned as Ryan danced around and

took my mate’s hand. “What are you plotting?”

“A PR campaign to let everyone know you’re as adorable as Leo

told us.”

There were a few mocking

awws

but they were all in good nature. I

laughed as my friends and brothers dragged my mate to the kitchen.
Then I got a little worried when I saw the digital and video cameras.

“Okay, strip and shift,” Rick ordered as he picked up the video

camera. “I promise that no one will see anything vital.”

“Leo?” Gable asked shyly as his hands fumbled with the buttons to

his shirt.

“It’s up to you, my mate. I say go for it and let the world see what the

Chupacabra really looks like.”

He nodded and took off his shirt. “I’m shorter in my shifted form than

I am like this. My shorts will just fall off.”

“Then let’s start easy. Can you state your name and what

paranormal you are for the record?” Rick asked gently. We all moved
around him as we gave supportive smiles to my nervous mate.

“My name is Gable Zohar and I was born in Puerto Rico where the

legends of the Vampire of Moca and the Chupacabra started,” he
explained calmly. I was impressed because I could see that his hands
were shaking slightly at his sides. “My mother is part coyote shifter
and kangaroo shifter. My father is a crocodile shifter so I’m a hybrid of
all three really.” Rick nodded, letting him know it was okay to shift. “And
I don’t drink animal blood.”

It was hard not to laugh as he nervously added that before letting the

shift flow over him.

“He’s so cute!” Ryan squealed and ran over to my mate. Then he

looked at the camera, his face full of guilt. “I just totally screwed this
up, didn’t I?”

“No, it’s fine,” Rick snickered. “Gable, why don’t you turn around so

we can see all sides of you?” My mate nodded and did as asked,
slowly turning. Then he chirped and knocked Ryan over with his tail.
“Hey, be nice to my mate.”

“He was just showing how playful he still is in animal form.” Ryan

rubbed his hand over Gable’s head. “He’s so soft on this side and
scaly on the other side. Are you warm- or cold-blooded when you’re
shifted like this?”

Gable shrugged his small shoulders, his eyes darting back to the

camera before glancing back at the floor. He didn’t like all the attention
and Rick was quick to catch on.

“Okay, shift back behind the table so no one sees more than they

should.” I gave Rick a grateful look as Gable half walked, half hopped
over to where he was instructed to do. It was almost a skip. So cute!

Then he shifted back and quickly pulled on his shorts while he was

hidden  that  Ryan  handed  him.  “So,  yeah,  I’m  the  Chupacabra.  Yes,
people  have  seen  me  in  that  form  but  I  never  killed  any  animals  for
blood.  I  eat  normal  food.  Most  of  the  reports  are  when  animals  are
attacked and bleed out, namely goats. Left in the sun in that condition,
the  blood  will  dry  in  the  grass  so  there’s  no  evidence  of  it,  and  the
animal will wither.”

“Well, we can attest to the fact you’ve been living with us for a month

and there’s been no random animal deaths in the area,” Rick agreed
with a wink. “So why did you move to Florida, Gable?”

“I mated a giraffe shifter,” he answered, staring at me with a wide

grin. “Best thing that ever happened to me. I love him.”

“Love you too.”
“That’s enough of that before you guys give people a show,” Rick

drawled as he turned off the camera. “I can pull some stills from this
for the press release but I think we should put this on YouTube.”

“No one can find me here, right? I mean we don’t want reporters on

the front lawn.” Gable glanced around the room nervously as he put his
shirt back on. We understood his meaning. He didn’t want to bring any
more drama or crap into our lives.

“We have a huge gate and lions roaming the property,” I giggled as I

went over and hugged him. “You were great. You are so friggin cute.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he chuckled before kissing my hair. “Cute enough to

get some morning sex? You got out of bed before I woke up.”

“I was hungry.”
“Have you eaten yet?”
“No, I could go for some cock,” I answered smoothly. He growled

and I dashed out of his arms. “Nick, write the press release!”

“Yes, Alpha,” the man teased as I flew by him. I flipped him off, trying

to outrun Gable. The man was wicked fast and since he didn’t get me
by the time I reached the stairs I guessed he was giving me a head
start. I took full advantage of it.

What I hadn’t told my mate was that when I’d woke up I did stretch

myself out in the shower and put a plug in my ass. So when I got to our
room I yanked off my clothes and grabbed the handcuffs I had ordered
along with another toy. They were the kind I could get out of if I wanted
but I thought Gable would understand the significance of them.

I pulled out the plug and inserted the dildo Gable had gotten me that

we had yet to try. The damn thing got hot then cold as it twisted and
turned inside me. And vibrated, must not forget it vibrated. Then I
secured my hands to the headboard.

Gable darted into the room and skidded to a halt when he saw me. “I

have the best mate ever.” He kicked the door closed and tore off the
clothes he’d just put back on. “Baby, are you sure?”

“Yes, I trust you,” I whispered, letting all the love I had for him shine

in my eyes.

“Then I gratefully accept your offer.” He stared at me with a feral

grin as he got on the bed and crawled to me. Gable was between my
legs and within arm’s length distance of the toy. Then he moved my
feet to his shoulders and grabbed the slicked-up dildo. “Push up so I
can see your ass jiggle as I fuck you with this.”

“Okay,” I squeaked, not sure I was coordinated enough for that. But I

did what he wanted and with most of my weight braced on my
shoulders and back, I found I could. Gable took me to new heights with
the toy and his dirty talk.

“Oh, my baby likes when I tell him what his ass looks like being

fucked with the toy.”

“Yes, yes, I do,” I cried out as he thrust it in me hard. “Oh gods that’s

good.”

“You are like a perfect, hot, wet-dream offering spread out for me

like this, Leo.” He reached down and stroked my cock in time with the
toy. “I think I’m going to have to worship your pert ass like this once a
day at least. Would you like that, my mate?”

“Uh-huh,” I groaned as he turned up the toy. I swear the damn thing

was rolling and bending in half inside of me. It wasn’t like anything I’d
ever felt before. “Gable, need.”

“I know what you need,” he growled. Then he shocked me by

bending over and swallowing down my cock. The toy went so much
farther into me now that my knees were on either side of my body.

I screamed out his name and came so hard that I thought I might

pass out. Gable kept right on worshiping my body as I went wild. I
swear we needed to call the Guinness Book of World Records and tell
them we broke the previous record for longest orgasm.

“You still with me?” Gable asked when I was spent and he was done

sucking me off.

“Uh-huh,” I answered, gasping for air. “I think I’m filled with the wrong

thing for round two though.”

“There’s going to be a round two?” he teased as he pulled the toy

from my body.

“There’s always going to be a round two with you, Gable.” I sighed

when I saw the smile he gave me, knowing he understood my meaning.
There would always be a round two for us because we’d never tire of
each other, and not just sexually. He was my forever.

THE END

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joyee dreams of one day living on enough land to have a few

horses, and find a couple of cowboys or pool boys of her own. A lover
of  men,  Joyee  is  all  about  them  in  any  form  in  her  books;  vampire,
werewolf, shape-shifter, military...It’s all good! She loves to get lost in
fantasy  that  only  books  can  bring.  Her  wide  interest  in  reading  is
reflected in her writings, whether short stories, romance, or mystical.
Currently  Joyee  lives  with  her  dog,  Marius,  named  after  a  vampire
from Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire series.

For all titles by Joyee Flynn , please visit