by Lynn Hagen
Titles were etched on the sides of them. Keller ran his finger over the spines until he reached one that said Cythraul. He was shocked to find the book so lengthy when he opened it.
He took a seat in the chair by the shelves and started to read, the stories so familiar that he heard Beatrice’s voice as he read.
But they weren’t stories, not the kind he recalled from his youth. They were accounts of demon sightings, the damage they caused, and the lives lost encountering the wicked creatures.
Keller scrubbed a hand over his jaw as he turned the page and found a drawing of a demon in its original form. The thing was downright terrifying. It was a black-and-white picture, and the demon had leathery wings, horns, talons, and a long tail. On the next page was a drawing of the demon in a wolf form. Large, gray, with glowing red eyes. Next to that was a photograph of a man who wore a four-buttoned suit jacket, a notched lapel collar, and had a handkerchief in the left breast pocket. He had on black slacks and a dark fedora-style hat.
It was the stranger’s eyes that caught Keller’s attention. They were the darkest blue he’d ever seen, but there was a hint of red to them. From the pose, Keller could tell the guy didn’t know his picture was being taken.
He pulled the photo from the album and flipped it over. The only thing on the back was a date. 1967.
Keller put the photo back and closed the book. He went back to the bookshelf, and before he knew it, he’d read five of the journals. A hard, burning lump formed in his throat, and tears once again stung his eyes. Beatrice talked of the joy of raising her nephews, how they’d made her feel young again, and how she’d taught them to hide who they truly were for fear the townsfolk would turn on them.
He’d learned more about his aunt in the past few hours than he had living with her.
Keller looked up when the door opened. Layne and Stevie walked in and glanced around.
“Sorry,” Stevie said. “Layne made me come in here.”
Layne shoved at Stevie. “You were the one who said we should check out the room on the first floor. Stop throwing me under the bus.”
“We were just being nosy,” Stevie said, a snack bag clutched in his hand. “The house is so big, and we were bored.”
Stevie dug into the bag and popped a few bite-sized pretzels into his mouth.
“Where’s Connor?” Keller set the journal aside that he’d been reading.
“With Nash. My mate wanted a nap before he went to the pub,” Layne said. “He acts like he’s an old man ever since Connor was born. He even drives like one.”
Stevie crossed his arms, giving Keller a narrowed-eyed look. “So, did you make up with Horace? That was pretty rotten to leave him at the restaurant by himself.”
Layne bumped arms with Stevie. “He was here telling us about that demon,” he reminded him. “That wasn’t Keller’s fault.”
“Oh, yeah.” Stevie dropped his arms. “I forgot about that.” He tossed a few more pretzels into his mouth.
“This was my aunt’s bedroom.” Keller got up and crossed the room. “I would appreciate it if you guys explored another part of the house and left this room alone.”
Layne stared at Keller. “Are you crying?”
Keller cleared his throat and coaxed them toward the door. “No, I wasn’t crying. Now get out.”
Keller walked into the hallway with them and halted when he saw Horace standing there.
Horace looked at Stevie’s hand and then narrowed his eyes. “You said you were going to look for a menu you left in the library. This house doesn’t have a library, does it?”
Keller now saw what was going on. Layne and Stevie hadn’t come into Beatrice’s room just to be nosy. These two were playing matchmaker.
And wasn’t that such a pretty blush spanning across Horace’s cheeks? Keller held back the snarl that wanted to erupt. It seemed the human brought out all kinds of feelings in Keller.
Like the feeling that he wanted to yank Horace to his bedroom and fuck the guy’s brains out.
* * * *
Horace knew what his best friends were up to and was mortified that Stevie, once again, was trying to hook him up with someone. He’d done it before, a year ago, and the date had been a disaster.
Now Stevie was trying to make him and Keller get together. He hurried toward the front door, but Stevie cut him off. “Where’re you going?”
“As far away from you as possible.” He’d left the comfort of his couch with a promise of hanging out with Stevie and Layne. It was late, and Horace had to work tomorrow, but he could never say no to Stevie.
Now he wished he had.
“Why don’t we go into the kitchen and get something to drink?” Stevie grabbed his hand and tugged him along, Layne right behind them. Horace didn’t know where Keller had gone and was glad the guy was out of sight.
They’d agreed to be friends, and Stevie pushing them together was embarrassing. What if the doctor thought this was all Horace’s idea? He had to let Keller know that he had nothing to do with this.
Even though the sight of Keller’s gorgeous face had Horace’s body reacting. His heart pumped faster, his thoughts scrambled, and his hands were now sweaty, although Stevie seemed to ignore that fact.
Just as soon as Stevie let go of his hand Horace would race for the door. For a small guy, he had a tight grip on Horace. He thought about digging his heals in, but it was best not to fight this. The sooner Horace got a drink of whatever, the sooner he could run home and bury himself under his blanket.
It would’ve been nice to celebrate his birthday with a stud, but that wasn’t in the cards for him. Horace had some really good friends—though at the moment that was debatable because none of them had mentioned tomorrow—but he’d never been lucky when it came to dating.
He was destined to be all alone with a million cats and a destructive dog. An ache started in Horace’s chest until he stepped into the kitchen. He squealed and jumped back, yanking his hand from Stevie’s when everyone yelled, “Surprise!”
There were balloons floating around the room, a large cake on the center of the table, and nicely wrapped gifts to the right of the rainbow-colored cake.
Stevie grinned from ear to ear. “Did you think we forgot?”
“I didn’t think you’d remember at midnight!” Horace held a hand to his chest, feeling as if he’d have a heart attack. All the brothers were there, minus Nomad, and his three best friends were there, too.
Stanton stood by the table, Buttercup tucked in his arms as the tiny dog snarled at the O’Brien men. But it was Keller Horace was staring at. The guy had a gleam of humor in his gray eyes as he smiled at Horace.
This wasn’t exactly the scenario Horace had envisioned about spending his birthday with a stud, but he would take what he could get.
Everyone in the room sang “Happy Birthday” to him, and Horace felt his cheeks catch fire. He made a wish and blew out the candles while grinning like an idiot.
His friends hadn’t forgotten.
He should’ve known better. They usually celebrated at the Buchannans’ restaurant, and he had a feeling Sheila and Gilbert would throw him a small celebration dinner tomorrow, but right now, Horace was riding on cloud nine.
It was Keller who sliced the cake, handing Horace the first piece. “Thanks,” he said then inhaled sharply when his and Keller’s fingers touched. Sparks flew through Horace’s body as Keller’s eyes became heavy-lidded.
“You’re very welcome, birthday boy.”
Could Keller make that sound any more seductive, or was that all in Horace’s imagination? It was his birthday, so he chose to think Keller was flirting with him.
“I want some cake.” Stevie stomped his foot. “The baby wants cake. Get out of our way and let us have some.”
Quinn chuckled as he curled his arms around Stevie. “Just don’t eat the whole damn thing. Others might want some, too.”
Nash stood next to them, baby Connor tucked in his arms. He winked at Horace. “Happy
birthday, buddy.”
“What did you wish for?” Layne nudged his arm.
“It won’t come true if I tell you,” Horace said.
He’d wished for one hot and steamy night with Keller. And he wasn’t talking about sitting on the porch in the late-summer heat, either.
He wanted to feel Keller’s breath on his skin, feel those sensual lips exploring his body, listen to Keller’s deep voice saying wicked things in his ear, and feel the burning stretch as Keller fucked him.
Great, now I’m standing here with a boner.
Stanton set Buttercup down and grabbed the ice cream from the freezer. When he came to the table, he kissed Horace’s cheek. “Had you fooled, didn’t we? You thought we forgot.”
“Nah, I knew you guys wouldn’t forget.” Horace grabbed a plastic fork from the table and dug into his cake. He had no doubt that Sheila had made it. Layne’s mom was a master when it came to baking cakes, and the buttercream melted in his mouth.
“You got a little frosting on your lips.” Keller was still looking at Horace as if he wanted to gobble him up as he used the pad of his thumb to wipe at his mouth.
Horace’s heart stopped beating when Keller shoved his thumb into his mouth and licked the frosting away. That was so damn hot! Horace was tempted to smear frosting on other parts of his body just so he could become a Keller Popsicle.
He didn’t even pay attention when Stanton glopped some ice cream onto his plate. Right now Horace’s sole focus was on the handsome stud he wouldn’t mind playing naked doctor with. He had an ache in his groan that wouldn’t go away.
While everyone talked and ate, Keller lowered his voice and asked, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier that it was your birthday?”
“Because it wasn’t,” Horace said. “Tomorrow…well, today now…is my birthday.”
“If I had known, I would’ve gotten you something.”
There was only one thing Horace wanted from Keller. Hot, sweaty, pinned-to-the-wall sex. His cock was throbbing just thinking about the naughty things Keller could do to him.
If only Keller hadn’t made it clear they were just friends. Horace yearned to strip naked and throw himself at the guy. He wanted to know what it would feel like to have that beard scrape across his sensitive skin, leaving behind whisker burns.
As if he knew Horace’s dilemma, Keller’s gaze lowered. Horace didn’t bother to hide the hard outline in his pants or make excuses of why he stood in the kitchen with a hard-on.
Keller was smart enough to figure that out, and hopefully that helped Horace’s case.
“Why don’t we go out on the porch?” Keller set his plate aside.
“Gifts!” Layne shouted. “Open your gifts, Horace.”
Freaking cockblocker. Horace had never wanted to strangle someone as badly as he did right now.
Instead, he set his plate aside and grabbed the first one closest to him.
“That’s from me and Quinn,” Stevie announced as he beamed. He looked like he was ready to explode as Horace tore away the pretty wrapping paper.
Horace’s eyes bugged out. “You got me a laptop?”
Stevie jumped up and down, his knuckles shoved against his lips. “You don’t have one, and everyone needs one,” Stevie said. “Do you like it?”
“I love it.” Horace wiped at the tears in his eyes. He’d never owned anything this expensive. Even his phone was lame, a pre-paid piece of crap with minutes.
“I’ll help you set it up later,” Keller offered.
“Thanks.” Horace tried hard not to blush again but couldn’t stop the fire from engulfing his face.
“Ours next,” Layne said. “Open the one from me and Nash.”
Horace lifted the box and peeled away the wrapping. When he opened the box, there was another box inside. Frowning, Horace opened that, only to find another box inside of that one.
Layne was laughing as Horace went through two more boxes until he finally pulled out a small one. “You’re evil.”
“I know, right!” Layne grinned.
“It was his idea,” Nash defended. “I told him not to do it, but Layne has a mind of his own.”
Horace opened the tiny box and gasped. A brand-new iPhone! He looked toward Layne and Nash. He couldn’t afford a phone plan. Horace was balling on a budget.
“Stop looking so freaked out,” Layne said. “We added you to our account, so don’t worry about a phone bill.”
Horace launched himself into Layne’s arms. “Thank you so much.”
“Hey, you didn’t hug me,” Stevie complained.
With a laugh, Horace hugged him.
“That’s better.” Stevie patted his back. “Now let me go so I can eat the rest of your cake.”
“I got you something, too,” Stanton announced. “Though it’s not as expensive and fancy as everyone else’s.”
“You know that doesn’t matter to me,” Horace said.
Stanton opened the back door and grabbed a small black dog cage. “I got you something practical,” he said. “I know you hate leaving Buttercup to roam free while you’re at work, and this’ll save you from having to buy endless slippers.”
Horace pulled Stanton into his arms. “Thank you so much.”
Speaking of…Horace looked around but didn’t see Buttercup anywhere.
“I’ll go find him,” Layne offered. “You enjoy yourself.”
If only. Horace loved what everyone had done for him, but if he truly enjoyed himself, Keller would be naked and Horace would be lying on a flat surface.
“I’ll help you find the little bugger,” Stevie said.
“He’s probably looking for a place to piddle,” Stanton said. “Let’s find him before he ruins the carpets or finds a shoe to munch on.”
Horace watched as his best friends left the room. Did it really take all three of them to find one little dog? Now he was left with the O’Brien men, and Horace felt a bit awkward. He’d known them, or known of them, since high school but never talked to any of them.
Except Keller. He’d graduated a while before by the time Horace had made it to his freshman year. So had Nomad.
Where was the scary brother? He never seemed to be around when Horace was there.
The room fell silent. Horace clutched the cell phone box as he wished one of his friends would return. He tried to think of something witty to say to break the silence, but nothing came to mind.
When he finally looked up, he noticed all three of them staring at him. “What?” he asked.
Nash and Quinn gave him a funny look, but it was Keller who caught Horace’s attention. Horace gave a short, high cry when he noticed Keller’s canines.
“Shit.” Nash’s eyes were huge as he hugged the baby to his chest.
“Keller, no!”
Quinn reached for his brother, but Keller was already at Horace’s side. He grabbed Horace and sank those sharp teeth into his shoulder, slicing right through Horace’s shirt.
Chapter Five
A haze surrounded Keller’s mind. He was himself, yet…not. His panther was snarling and Keller had to fight to beat it back down. Everything happened so fast. One minute he’d stood there smiling, and the next, he’d scented something so irresistible that he’d been unable to stop himself.
He heard shouting and someone pulled at his arm, but all Keller could think about was that smell. It had hit him like a punch to his gut, had engulfed him in a blinding fog. He retracted his canines and took a step back, realizing too late what he’d done.
His body was humming and his panther was purring as Keller took a step back. An apology was on his lips, but he couldn’t get it past his throat. No amount of apologies would erase what’d he’d just done, and he knew why he’d done it.
Horace had just turned twenty-five and had started emitting the pheromones that attracted panthers to him. But Horace didn’t have the panthera mark, did he?
“Where’s your mark?” Keller demanded. “Show me.”
Horace stood there l
ooking stunned. He gripped the cell phone box to his chest as he stared wide-eyed at Keller. Then he touched a hand to his shoulder and pulled it away. There were spots of blood on his fingers and the human looked seconds away from passing out. “You bit me.”
“Show me your damn mark,” Keller insisted. He needed to see it, to justify what he’d just done. His stomach shrank as he saw the terrified look in Horace’s green eyes. Keller had never meant for this to happen, but it had, and he needed to see that fucking mark.
“Leave him alone,” Quinn snarled.
“Get away from him,” Stevie demanded.
Keller hadn’t noticed Horace’s friends coming back into the room. They moved in, creating a wall between Keller and Horace and damn if that didn’t make his panther want to go wild to get to the guy. But he stayed rooted to the spot, waiting for Horace to show him his panthera birthmark.
“Do you have the mark?” Nash asked in the sweetest of voices, like he was speaking to a nervous toddler.
Layne stood there slack-jawed as he stared at Horace.. “You never told me you had it.”
Horace blinked a few times, glancing at everyone in the room. He looked back down at his fingers, the dots of blood, and swallowed several times. “What m-mark?”
Layne held out his wrist. “Like this.”
He had a panther-shaped mark on his wrist. Keller had glanced at Horace enough times that he should’ve seen it, unless it was in a place covered by his clothes. His skin felt too tight, his head too light, and his nerves were a bundled mess. Keller started sweating as he stepped closer, but Layne, Stevie, and Stanton simply glared at him, as if daring him to go past them.
“I-I have a blob under my arm.” Horace set the box on the table, lifted his left arm, and pulled back his shirt.
Through the armpit hair Keller saw the shape. His heart thundered as he took a step back, realizing what he’d just done. Now Horace would go through the change, his body readying itself to carry a baby. Any panther who smelled the human would want to fuck him.
And Kendall had its fair share of panther shifters. The thought of another man touching Horace made Keller feel insane with jealousy. He rolled his shoulders, trying his damnedest to calm the fuck down.