by Zara Chase
She wasn’t surprised by his popularity, or that so many people had taken the trouble to pay their respects. Gramps, with his roguish good looks and blunt manner of expressing himself, made a strong impression upon everyone he met. Many of the people at the wake went out of their way to tell her so, indicating that he’d quietly helped them out when they’d most needed it, expecting nothing in return. If she’d allowed herself to feel she would have been touched by their reminiscences. But Nicole was too vulnerable to risk letting her emotions surface and survived the ordeal of bereavement only by remaining detached. Besides, hadn’t life already taught her to mistrust friendly overtures?
Now all the formalities were behind her and she was seated in a cramped solicitor’s office, waiting to hear the contents of her grandfather’s will. The solicitor had insisted that this be done in person but she failed to understand why. Nicole knew her grandfather owned the house they shared in Battersea, and little else. She also knew that what he did own would pass to her, so the need for this face-to-face meeting defeated her.
“Your grandfather left everything to you, Ms. Fox.”
Tell me something I don’t know. “Yes. I expect there’ll be death duties.”
“Not as many as you’d think. He transferred the ownership of the house to you several years ago.”
“Did he?” The solicitor’s words snatched Nicole out of her lethargy. “I wasn’t aware he’d done that.”
“It’s fairly common practice. Why should the government continue fleecing the dead? They take enough from the living.”
Nicole didn’t bother to comment.
“That just leaves his investment portfolio.”
“What investment portfolio? Gramps gave his savings to me so I could start my business. Far as I know, he had nothing else.”
The solicitor offered her a smug smile and slid a file across the desk. Nicole’s hands were shaking when she picked it up, some premonition that her life was about to change beyond recognition making her hesitate to open it. She took a deep breath, flicked to the first page, looked at the total, and gasped.
“This can’t be right. There’s over two million pounds tied up in investments here.”
“Your grandfather was a financial advisor.”
“I know that, but I didn’t know he had so much money of his own to invest.” She shook her head. “Where did it all come from?”
“I have no idea. He was a shrewd investor is all I can tell you.”
“He should have said something. Prepared me…I—”
“You’ll need help, deciding what to do with your windfall, obviously.”
Ah, so now the need for this face-to-face meeting made sense. Nicole glanced up at the solicitor, seeing him properly for the first time. He wasn’t bad looking in a rather obvious sort of way and flashed what was probably supposed to be a charmingly competent smile. Men didn’t usually notice Nicole—after what happened in the early days of her business career she’d gone to great lengths to ensure that they didn’t. She couldn’t help the way she’d looked then and didn’t see why she should be judged on her appearance rather than her abilities. She liked it even less that women resented her and men seemed to think she’d be willing to drop her knickers in order to get ahead. That’s why there was nothing appealing about her appearance anymore that made her stand out from the crowd. But it seemed that being wealthy changed everything. She’d often heard it said there was no such thing as an ugly rich man. Apparently the same could be said of a wealthy female. She’d only just discovered that she was a millionaire and already the sharks were gathering.
For the first time since the funeral her emotions broke through the protective shell she’d erected around her heart. This guy seemed to think she was a helpless little woman, incapable of handling her windfall. Anger burned her insides like acid. She might have many failings, but stupidity wasn’t one of them.
“How kind of you,” she said, with a sweetly sarcastic smile. “And I assume you’re just the man for the job.”
His smile faltered. “Well, your grandfather did put his trust in me, and—”
“Did he actually ask you for investment advice?”
“Well no, but—”
“Then I won’t either, thanks all the same. Presumably I’m required to sign papers.”
“Er yes, and I shall have to apply for probate. It will be a while before you have access to the funds.”
“That won’t be a problem.”
She signed where he asked her to, reading the documents first to make sure he wasn’t trying to pull a fast one and set himself up as some sort of guardian.
“Thank you, Mr. Grant,” she said, standing but not offering him her hand. “I assume I can take this file with me and acquaint myself with my grandfather’s investments.”
“Of course, but I would advise extreme caution before moving them.”
“I can hardly do that if I don’t have access to them. Besides, my grandfather obviously knew what he was doing. I’ll hear from you when probate’s been granted?”
“Yes, it will take about six weeks. But if you need anything in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to call on me.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” she muttered as she walked through the door he opened for her and left the office at a brisk pace.
Nicole made her way home on the tube, wondering why Gramps had put his trust in such a weasel. She hadn’t liked the man. He’d patronized her from the word go and if there was one thing that made Nicole see red, it was being underestimated or treated as a helpless female.
She dismissed Grant from her mind, dwelling instead upon Gramps’s astonishing nest egg. Why had he never told her about it? Where had it come from? What would she do with it? Questions without answers rattled around her head, making her feel dizzy. One thing was for sure, her business could really flourish now and the thought of taking it in new, innovative directions had her salivating.
As soon as she got home she put the kettle on and rustled up something to eat. For a caterer she’d been neglecting her culinary needs since Gramps’s death, which would account for her light-headedness, presumably. It was time to return to the real world and she couldn’t do that on an empty stomach.
Fed and watered, Nicole sat down and studied her grandfather’s investment portfolio more carefully. It was spread across a number of blue-chip stocks, safe yet dull. Except that it wasn’t. She turned to the second page and found a hedge fund—Impulse Community Investments—in which over half of his capital was placed.
Impulse? She sat a little straighter, recalling her grandfather’s dying words. He’d been fixated on Impulse. Had wanted to tell her something important about it, but she’d thought he was referring to his pulse. She slapped her forehead with the heel of her hand, cross with herself for not paying more attention.
“Where or what is Impulse, Gramps, and why was it so important to you?”
She discovered from the Internet that the fund was based in a small town in west Florida. Nicole sat back and sucked a finger into her mouth, wondering why her grandfather—a cautious and prudent investor—would stake over a million pounds in such an obscure fund. It made no sense but obviously mattered a lot to him. Had his heart somehow ruled his head?
It would eat away at Nicole until she got some answers. Her grandfather obviously had a past she knew nothing about, to say nothing of a small fortune—make that a large fortune—he’d neglected to mention. He’d said on his death bed that he ought to have explained something before now. That something obviously had to do with this place called Impulse. He’d kept saying she needed to go there and, even if she wasn’t curious, she didn’t have it in her to deny his dying wish.
“Okay, Gramps,” she said aloud. “Impulse, here I come.”
* * * *
Kai lay flat on his back, his hands shackled above his head. Pascal sucked and nipped at his nipples, then grabbed his own cock and rubbed it against them. Kai groaned past the ball gag covering his m
outh, making Pascal grin. His buddy was desperate to be fucked, but he’d make him wait a while longer yet. Kai’s cock was pulsating and rigidly erect, reaching two-thirds of the way up his stomach. Pascal enjoyed incapacitating his lover. If he could neither speak nor use his hands, Pascal could play with him any which way he liked, without warning him what to expect. Kai might have an IQ that bordered on genius level, but when it came to their sex games he loved to be dominated. Pascal knew all the right buttons to press and would have Kai pleading with him before he gave him what he wanted.
He lifted his head from the nipple he was feeding on and grinned.
“You’d love to tell me what you want, wouldn’t you, lover, but you know that’s not how things work.”
Kai made a gurgling sound behind the gag.
“Now, what’s it to be?”
Pascal stopped using his teeth and instead ran his index finger down Kai’s torso with a gentle touch. Kai squirmed against the restraints, his expectant eyes regarding him with total absorption. Pascal knew the last thing Kai wanted was to be treated gently, which was precisely why Pascal did it. Teasing him was a real turn-on—for them both. Pascal’s cock twitched and throbbed, but he ignored the discomfort and concentrated upon torturing Kai.
“A spanking?”
Kai blinked rapidly.
“Yeah, that would do it.” Pascal grinned and shook his head. “But I’m betting you’d like me to fuck your sweet ass, too.”
Kai’s eyes widened and he nodded frantically.
“I thought so. How about some felching afterward?”
Kai’s entire body elevated from the bed. Perspiration glistened on his broad chest, his erection quivered, and a drop of pre-cum spat from its head.
“Tut tut!” Pascal shook his head and slapped Kai’s thigh hard with the flat of his hand. “Bad boy. You really shouldn’t have let that happen. How many times do I need to talk to you about self-control?”
Without warning Pascal grabbed Kai’s scrotum and squeezed. Hard. Kai choked on his gag, but Pascal knew he wasn’t distressed. He loved it when Pascal really got Dominant and took ruthless advantage of his lover’s helplessness. He agitated Kai’s frenulum nerve until his cock pulsated, a dark vein pronounced along its impressive length, its head dewy with yet more pre-cum. Pascal ran his tongue along it, sucking and lapping until Kai’s entire body quavered with suppressed need. Laughing, Pascal switched positions and straddled Kai, his back to his lover’s face.
“I have a better idea,” he said, his voice thick with urgency.
Pascal grabbed both their erections in one hand and rubbed them together. He used the other to play with Pascal’s heavy balls. Kai moved his hips, increasing the friction as Pascal leaned forward and ran his tongue over Kai’s glans. He had total control in that he was able to lift his butt and wag it in Kai’s face but his slave was unable to either touch or taste him. Pascal enjoyed the rush building inside him, embracing the surging tide as the chafing of Kai’s cock against his own heated both his blood and his brain.
“You like that, lover boy?”
Kai couldn’t answer, but then he didn’t need to. The answer was beneath Pascal’s hand—thick, hot, and pulsating like a piston. Kai hoisted his hips and thrust himself farther into Pascal’s hand, needy little moans escaping around the gag.
“I’ll take that as a yes then, shall I?”
Laughing and groaning, Pascal increased the pressure and pace of his rubbing. Kai moved his hips faster, clearly struggling to hold himself back. Pascal knew because he was in a similar state of abandon. But they’d done this too often to hurry. They both knew the intensity would be ten times better if they delayed the moment. The musky scent of Kai’s arousal filled Pascal’s senses. His buddy was close to the edge. But how close?
“Fuck it!” Kai pheromoned. “I can’t hold back much longer.”
Pascal immediately stopped the torture. Communicating by pheromone in such circumstances was strictly forbidden.
“Turn over,” he ordered abruptly.
The restraints swiveled as Kai got on all fours, supporting his weight on his elbows. Pascal used a riding crop to flay his ass because it would sting like the devil.
“You have to play by the rules, Kai,” he said, bringing the crop down hard. It made a sharp cracking noise against Kai’s bare ass. “Now you have to be punished and it’s gonna hurt like hell, buddy.”
Kai growled but held his position while Pascal flogged him, marking his ass with angry, red stripes. When he thought Kai had taken as much as he could stand, he ordered him to lie on his back again and resumed rubbing their cocks together. The flogging had aroused them both to even greater heights. Kai panted as Pascal allowed their orgasms to build just out of reach, flickering heat turning into a raging inferno.
“Let it go, lover,” Pascal said huskily.
Kai erupted before all the words could get past Pascal’s lips. Groaning, Pascal joined him, shooting an endless stream of sperm to join that already deposited by Kai on Pascal’s pubic hair. Pascal released Kai’s hand, removed the gag, and lay down.
“Lick it off,” he said, pointing to their mingled sperm.
“Yes, master.”
Kai bent his head to lick up their combined seed, his tongue diligently working its way around Pascal’s cock and balls. Geez, that tongue of his ought to be declared a weapon of mass destruction! He sure as hell knew precisely how to use it and it destroyed everything in its path. He sucked one of Pascal’s balls into his mouth, pulling at the hairs on it with his teeth. Pascal suppressed a groan and pushed Kai aside. He was way too close to losing control and that wasn’t the way it was supposed to be.
Pascal sat up and fastened Kai’s hands behind his back, lay back on the bed, and beckoned to Kai. His buddy shuffled on his knees until his still half-erect cock was within range of Pascal’s mouth and Pascal went to work on him. In no time at all Pascal was rock hard again—getting off by torturing Kai with his tongue—rock hard but still the one in control. Kai knew better than to do anything unless Pascal gave him permission first.
Pascal abruptly released Kai. His cock slipped from his mouth with a loud popping noise.
“Get down on me,” he ordered, resting his hands behind his head, grinning as Kai, hands bound behind his back, eagerly leaned over and went to work.
Kai’s lithe tongue wound itself round Pascal’s cock like a snake crushing its prey. Pascal was a willing victim, loving the way Kai appeared so helpless with his hands bound behind him, when in fact it was no impediment whatsoever to his skill. When it came to giving head, Kai was in a class of his own. Pascal growled as his slave devoured his cock, swallowing it down his throat, holding it there, and letting it throb painfully before releasing it again, tickling its underside with his dexterous tongue.
Pascal reached behind Kai and rimmed his ass with his index finger sliding it deep inside to parody Kai’s treatment of his cock. Pascal’s hips started to move in time with Kai’s sucking motions, slowly at first but quickly building up a momentum. He felt his orgasm building and didn’t attempt to stop it. Without warning Kai, he erupted at the back of his throat, flooding it with his warm sperm. Kai gulped and swallowed, struggling to keep up with the flow. Pascal slapped his buddy’s ass hard as he came, and then came some more.
He released Kai’s hands and they collapsed on the bed together, Kai held in Pascal’s tight embrace. He kissed the top of his lover’s head and sighed.
“It just keeps getting better and better.”
Kai grinned. “No question.”
“Give me a moment and I’ll see what I can do about that.” Pascal flicked Kai’s erection with his thumb and forefinger.
“Whenever you feel like it, master.”
“I always feel like it when you’re around, that’s my problem.”
“I can’t help wondering how it will be when our mate finally arrives,” Kai said in a speculative tone. “I still wanna be your slave, but I’ll need to dominate her.”
>
Pascal shrugged. “No reason why you shouldn’t do both.”
“I guess not.” Kai sighed. “But will the day ever come?”
“Sure it will. She has to be out there somewhere.”
“But how will she find us, tucked away here in sleepy Impulse where humans can’t even breathe the fucking air?”
“Most of the other alphas have managed it.” Pascal rotated his head to straighten out a few kinks acquired during their athletic bout of lovemaking. “The women came to them without knowing why, remember.”
“Yeah, but—” The front door bell rang. “We expecting anyone?”
“Nope.” Pascal stood up and pulled on a pair of shorts. “Still, no one calls on us without a reason.”
“Can’t be a colony member. They’d have sent a pheromone.”
Pascal grinned. “Perhaps it’s our mate.”
Kai rolled his eyes. “Miracles take a little longer.”
“Won’t know until I open the door.”
But somehow Pascal did. He tripped lightly down the stairs, feeling as though his life was about to enter a new phase. He pulled open the door and was confronted by a tall young woman, brunette hair scraped back in a tight, unflattering bun, eyes hidden behind large horn-rimmed glasses. The severe hairstyle and glasses would, at first glance, put a man off. But Pascal could see beyond them, to the exquisite features she was obviously doing her best to disguise. Why would she do that?
Her shapeless clothes hung from narrow shoulders, hiding her body from view, but it didn’t matter. Pascal knew, deep in his puma soul and in his human one, too, that this woman was destined to become their mate.
Chapter Three
“Hey, what kept you?”
The man’s voice jolted Nicole out of her catatonic state. She hadn’t been too sure what to expect from Impulse itself, or Impulse Community Investments as a business venture, but her suspicions were on high alert. The research she’d done into the place before making a hasty decision to get on a plane and check it out for herself hadn’t thrown up much. All she’d learned was that Impulse was a small peninsular town in southwest Florida blessed with thin air, a tight-knit community, and a reputation for taking care of its own problems.