by Lynn Hagen
“I’m starting to believe that you can never be sated.”
Jordan grew somber. “Trust me, Bailey. When it comes to sex, you satisfy me in every way.” He grinned when Bailey blushed. The human was just too adorable for words.
“You know how to say all the right words,” Bailey stated as he pulled back.
Jordan ground his teeth. He knew Bailey was thinking about Harley and that pissed him off. He was nothing like that scumbag human. “I mean every word I say to you.”
“I know,” Bailey said. “I believe that you believe what you say.”
Jordan wasn’t going to stand there and try to convince Bailey. The man needed to be shown. Grabbing his mate’s hand, they walked the rest of the distance to the truck in silence. Jordan refused to have their mood ruined.
He opened the passenger door for Bailey, giving his mate a sexy grin as Bailey climbed into the truck. Time would tell and that’s all Jordan could give the man. He felt a cramp as he walked around to the driver side. Jordan ignored it as he climbed into the truck, started it, and pulled away.
“I’m sorry,” Bailey said. “I’m jaded and I know this.”
It was a start. “All that I ask is that you give me a chance.” Jordan winced when the cramp deepened.
Bailey smoothed his hands down the front of his jeans. “You’re the first person I’ve given a chance to since it happened.”
It referring to Harley. Jordan really hated that name. He reached over and slid his hand into Bailey’s. “All I can do is show you that I’ll never hurt you.”
Bailey nodded as he glanced out of the window. Jordan’s fingers gripped the steering wheel tighter as he began to sweat profusely. What in the hell was wrong with him? He managed to make it home and put the truck in park before a wave of dizziness made him nauseous.
Bailey’s eyebrows pulled down into a frown. “Are you all right?”
Jordan’s mouth went dry, his hands shaking as he reached for the door. “I just need to get inside.”
Bailey glanced out of the windshield. “Does this have anything to do with the full moon?”
Even in pain, Jordan laughed. “Shifters are not chained to the moon. Besides, that would be a wolf, which I am clearly not.”
“Oh.” Bailey jumped out of the truck, his cheeks coloring. “My bad.”
Jordan walked to the front door, unlocking it and waving Bailey inside. He managed to make it to the couch before he doubled over in pain. “Something’s not right.”
Bailey quickly moved to Jordan’s side. “Should I call an ambulance?” He could hear the worry in his mate’s tone.
Jordan shook his head. “You can never call an ambulance for me. If I need help, you should always call the pack doctor.”
“Right,” Bailey said and then scratched at his jaw. “And who would that be?”
Jordan began to pant heavily as he gripped his side. Something definitely wasn’t right. Maybe he needed to give the doctor a call. He grabbed his cell phone and handed it to Bailey. “Dr. Sheehan.” Jordan gritted his teeth as a wave of pain blasted through him.
He could hear his mate talking on the phone as Jordan curled up into a ball. His insides felt like they were on fire. He didn’t understand what was happening to him. He had never felt anything like this before.
Bailey knelt down next to him. “He’s on his way. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“No,” Jordan answered between gritted teeth. How could his mate help him when Jordan didn’t know what the hell was wrong with him? The pain was increasing, making him sweat until his clothes were saturated.
“You’re burning up.” Bailey pressed his hand over Jordan’s forehead. “I don’t like this.”
Neither did Jordan. He just wished—Jordan rolled to his knees and emptied his stomach contents. The fire inside of him was burning hotter and Jordan feared he would combust.
He barely heard the knock on the front door. Bailey got up and answered it. “Are you Dr. Sheehan?”
“I am.” The doctor quickly moved inside the house, hurrying over to Jordan. “You look like shit.”
“Thanks,” Jordan managed to say.
The doctor turned to Bailey. “Tell me what happened leading up to this.”
Bailey shook his head as he wrapped his hands over his stomach. “Jordan picked me up for dinner and we ate at the Lucky Clover. Nothing out of the ordinary happened.”
The doctor began to examine Jordan. The only thing he could do was lie there like a helpless kitten. Jordan just wanted the pain to go away.
“I’ll have to do further testing, but from your symptoms and the rash spreading on your neck, I would have to say that you were poisoned.”
“He what!” Bailey shouted. “How can you tell just from examining him?”
The doctor turned to Bailey. “Wolfsbane has very distinct characteristics. As I stated, I’ll have to do further testing. But if he was poisoned with wolfsbane, I need to treat him now.”
Jordan felt himself slipping in and out of consciousness, barely grasping what the doctor was saying. His mind was hazy and his body was growing heavy. He felt his head being lifted up and something hard-pressed against his lips. Jordan opened and then gagged when the foul-tasting liquid passed over his lips.
“Drink it down, Jordan.”
It was a struggle, but Jordan drank until the hard object was removed from his lips and his head was lowered back to the floor. “It’s going to take you a while to recover. Wolfsbane is some nasty stuff. You’re not going to bounce right back on your feet even if you shift.”
Jordan closed his eyes, feeling the haze take him under.
* * * *
Bailey had no clue what to do. The doctor had said to make Jordan comfortable. It had taken both of them to lift Jordan’s heavy weight and place him on the couch. He brushed his hands over Jordan’s damp, raven hair. He hated to see the strong panther so weak and Bailey was angry beyond words that someone tried to poison Jordan—had poisoned Jordan.
Why would anyone want to do that? Jordan may be intense and didn’t speak a lot, but he was the sweetest man Bailey had ever met. He even knew why Jordan had killed those two men, and Bailey did not look at him any differently.
Jordan had done what he needed to do in order to keep both him and Bailey safe. He would be forever grateful that Jordan had stopped that vampire from attacking him. Now if he could only find out who poisoned Jordan, he just might be the one who was killing somebody.
Bailey found where Jordan kept his washcloths and soaked one of them in cold water before returning to the living room and placing it on Jordan’s heated forehead. The doctor said he would be back to check on Jordan, but until then it was up to Bailey to ensure that Jordan wasn’t in any pain.
He essentially had become Jordan’s caretaker for the moment.
The doctor also told him that he wasn’t sure what kind of lasting effect the wolfsbane would have on Jordan. That worried Bailey. Someone had tried to kill Jordan, and Bailey was going to find out who the culprit was and make sure he was brought to justice—even if he was brought to shifter justice.
They weren’t going to get away with what they had done.
“Water,” Jordan croaked out a few hours later.
Bailey quickly got Jordan some water, helping him hold his head up while he drank. Bailey hated how weak Jordan had become. Someone had taken a strong man and reduced him to rely on someone else for his basic needs.
Bailey inhaled deeply as he set the glass on the coffee table. “How do you feel?” He brushed aside Jordan’s long black strands, mustering up a smile.
“Like someone ran me over.”
Removing the washcloth from Jordan’s forehead, Bailey held it in his hand as he studied Jordan. “You scared the hell out of me.”
Jordan opened his eyes, the amber deep and intense as he gazed up at Bailey. “So you really do care?”
How could the guy joke around at a time like this? A smile was tugging at the corner of J
ordan’s lips and Bailey felt something deep inside of him stir. His feelings for Jordan were growing by leaps and bounds. The man was so gorgeous that Bailey could just sit and stare at him for hours. But beyond that, Jordan was simply a nice guy. He was intense, caring, and sweet. He might look lethal, but Bailey knew how tender Jordan could be.
Bailey dipped his head. “I’m starting to.” And that was the honest truth. Yes, it scared him. But Bailey was starting to realize that what he felt for Jordan was nothing like what he had felt for Harley.
With Harley, it had been fast-paced, out of control, and almost felt like an obsession. With Jordan, it was slow stirring, on a much deeper level, intense, and Bailey felt like he still maintained who he was. Bailey felt as though this was what love should really feel like. His emotions were still erratic, but he didn’t feel as if he was suffocating under the weight.
His feelings toward Jordan were light, sweet, and refreshing. Bailey felt as if he could build something off of this. With Harley he felt like everything was crashing down around him.
Jordan winced as he tried to sit up. Bailey gently held the man down to the couch. “What do you need? I can get it for you.”
The panther gave him a soul-stirring smile. “A simple kiss, that’s all. I just need to touch you to remind myself how lucky I am.”
Bailey damn near swooned at Jordan’s words. He reached out until his fingers ran along Jordan’s jaw before he leaned in and gave the guy the simple kiss he had asked for. It wasn’t heated or intense, but the simple touching of lips still had Bailey panting for breath.
He was starting to see forever in Jordan and the thought didn’t terrify Bailey as it once had. “You need to rest.”
Jordan’s eyes fluttered closed and then snapped back open. “Promise you won’t leave my side.”
Bailey tugged on a few strands of Jordan’s hair. “I’m not going anywhere, Jordan.” Surprisingly, Bailey meant it. He wasn’t just talking about the situation. He could feel it in his bones, Jordan was the one.
The man gave a slight nod before letting his eyes close again. “Good. That’s real good.” Jordan’s head gently thrashed from side to side for a moment before he spoke again. “I love you, Bailey.”
Jordan finally settled into a restful sleep as Bailey knelt there, stunned. Jordan’s words touched him deeply. No one had ever declared their love for him, not even that cheating harlot.
As Jordan slept, Bailey felt the need to stay close. He ran his fingers through Jordan’s sweat-soaked hair and ran his knuckles along the man’s strong jaw. What would it be like to have someone as strong and powerful as Jordan to love him and only him?
Could he trust Jordan? Could he trust the man’s words and take them at face value? Bailey finally stood and took the washcloth to the bathroom, soaking it in cold water again. He placed it on Jordan’s forehead and made sure the man was comfortable before heading into the kitchen for something to drink.
He knew he had a long night ahead of him. Bailey wasn’t going anywhere. He was going to make sure that Jordan was comfortable and well taken care of. There was no way he could leave the man vulnerable, not after Jordan had saved his life.
Not from the vampire, but from himself. Bailey had been in a downward spiral, life no longer holding any happiness for him. Jordan had changed all that. Bailey was beginning to see that he could have a man’s love with no strings attached, no trickery involved.
He smiled to himself, feeling as if he finally knew what falling in love truly meant. Bailey wanted to shout to the world that Jordan was his and his alone. He almost felt…giddy.
Bailey scowled at himself. He was starting to fear that he fell in love too easily, gave his heart too freely, but knew that Jordan was different. Something inside of him told Bailey that he wasn’t going to make a fool of himself this time. But there was still a minute part of him that was skeptical, hesitant, and mistrusting.
How could anyone be this happy without paying a price? It was a scary feeling to let go and give his heart once more. He wasn’t sure he was ready for that, but he knew walking away from Jordan was no longer an option.
Bailey answered the front door when someone knocked. He rolled his eyes when he saw that it was Travis. He loved his friend, but sometimes Travis was a pain in the ass. “What?” he asked as he let Travis in.
“I just came by to check on Jordan.” Travis slid through the door and glanced over at the couch. “I heard what happened.”
“Does anything stay a secret around here?”
Travis cut his eyes at Bailey and shook his head. “Not really. The paranormal community is pretty tight knit. We look out for one another. I may not know Jordan, but it pissed me off that someone tried to poison him.”
Bailey closed the front door and led Travis to the kitchen so they wouldn’t disturb Jordan. “The doctor said it was something called wolfsbane.”
Grim lines formed around Travis’s mouth. “That stuff is very rare and very nasty. I’ve never met anyone who was poisoned by it. How is he doing?”
Bailey grabbed two bottles of water from the refrigerator and handed one to Travis. Instead of drinking his, he held it close to his chest. Now that he was talking about it, Bailey realized just how scared he had been for Jordan.
“He’s resting. The doctor said he wasn’t sure if there were going to be any long-term effects.”
Travis gazed intently at him. “You know if there’s anything you need, all you have to do is ask. Bear gave you a few days off to take care of Jordan. Mark, Jordan’s boss, said that Jordan’s job is waiting for him when he recovers.”
Bailey was stunned at the support he and Jordan were receiving. “It really is a tight-knit community, isn’t it?”
“We look out for ours. The alpha has shut the Lucky Clover down and is having all the food and drinks tested. Maverick is determined to get to the bottom of this. Wolfsbane is deadly. Jordan is one lucky man.”
Bailey felt a fine tremor just under his skin at the thought of how this could have turned out so differently. The doctor had said the same thing, how lucky Jordan was. Bailey was beginning to feel like he was the lucky one. If Jordan had died…Bailey couldn’t even contemplate that thought.
“Need company?” Travis took a long swig of his water. “I cleared my night so I could sit with you if need be.”
“There’s nothing I can do while he rests. I guess we can watch some television. But if he wakes up, I’m kicking you out.”
Travis chuckled. “I would be worried if you didn’t.”
Bailey leaned against the counter, his thoughts going right back to Jordan. “Can you think of any reason why someone would want Jordan dead?”
His friend shrugged. “I really don’t know Jordan that well. He’s new here. It could be something going on from his past, or those psycho-ass Vampire Hunters. No one really knows right now.”
“What about the shooter?” Bailey asked. “Did they ever find out who it was?”
“Not yet,” Travis answered, anger inflecting in his tone. “But I would love to know who it was.”
Bailey would too. He didn’t appreciate getting shot at. As far as he knew, he had done nothing wrong to anyone. “Or it could be someone seeking revenge against you.” Bailey remembered Travis’s confession about sleeping with married men.
Travis waved off Bailey’s concern. “I was just pulling your chain. I would never violate the sanctity of marriage.”
Bailey was relieved. He really liked Travis and would always remain his friend, but he had hoped the man had more scruples than that. “You lied?” Bailey tried and failed to keep the humor out of his voice.
“It was a stressful situation. I was just trying to add a little levity so we both wouldn’t die of a fucking heart attack.”
“Next time try not to add shock value to your statements.” Bailey punched at Travis’s shoulder. “Because I would cut your dick off if you came anywhere near Jordan.”
Travis rubbed his chin, tilting his head i
n contemplation. “I don’t know, man. Jordan is one fine-looking shifter. Who wouldn’t want all that muscle wrapped—”
Bailey growled as he pulled Travis into a headlock. “Don’t even think about it!”
Travis laughed. “Uncle!”
Bailey released him, shoving at Travis as he smiled.
Travis swiped the bottle of water off the table as he pointed a finger at Bailey. “It really is good to have the old you back.”
“Why is being mated so different from just dating someone?”
Travis’s looks became guarded. “Talk to Jordan about that. He’s the one that can best answer your questions.”
“Why can’t you?” Bailey asked.
Travis took a long drink of his water, his eyes studying Bailey. “It’s not my place,” he finally answered. “Ask Jordan.”
Once again Travis’s eyes dropped to Bailey’s shoulder. He was starting to suspect that Jordan had mated him. The sex they had was wild and passionate, and Bailey wondered if maybe the man hadn’t lost control.
He would ask Jordan, but when he was better. Jordan was dealing with enough right now. Plus, Bailey needed time to come to terms with the fact that he was ninety-nine percent positive he was now mated.
So why wasn’t he freaking out? Why wasn’t Bailey demanding answers? Why was he standing in Jordan’s kitchen, calm? He felt a deep connection to Jordan, something he had never felt for anyone else.
Bailey wasn’t sure what to think right now. He needed time to absorb it all. But at the moment all Bailey cared about was getting Jordan better. Once the man was fully healed, then Bailey would throttle him. Not for mating Bailey, but for not telling him about it.
“Come on, let’s go watch some television.”
Chapter Seven
Jordan cracked his eyes open. It had been six days—roughly, since Jordan was out of it and time seemed to mean nothing to him—since he was poisoned, and every single time he woke, Bailey was at his side. He honestly thought the man would have bailed by now. Bailey had made it clear on more than one occasion that they were just friends.