“You are very smart,” Tiago murmured. He wasn’t a hundred percent convinced that he could change his own way of viewing things. What he did know was that he would have to try.
Because he’d dreamt of Dallas all night. He’d heard Dallas’ dreams as well, had lain awake while Dallas’ hopes and hurts had slipped across from Dallas’ subconscious to his.
Jaguar shifters might not have mates, but wolves did, and Tiago felt that pull just as Dallas did. Whether it was because he experienced what Dallas did through their bond or because he was actually feeling it himself, Tiago wasn’t sure. It’d be nice and easy to blame it all on Dallas, yet Tiago couldn’t do it.
Not when he realized he’d been so very lonely before, and while he had assumed he always would be—as was the nature of his beast—now he might not have to be. If the bond was as strong as Dallas said, then even the jaguar would have to accept and even want Dallas to stay.
There was still the issue of him being a different breed of shifter.
“An invasive species,” Dallas all but hissed. “Right. How could I forget? It’s fine to fuck me. Right. Weaker one and—”
Tiago smashed his mouth to Dallas, since the man was trying to get away from him. Tiago couldn’t let him go and hurting him seemed very wrong. Gods, the wolves have this, and camaraderie. I have no one.
“You have me, you big, stubborn jerk!” Dallas’ thought burst into Tiago’s mind.
Tiago clung to Dallas, feeling lost and found at the same time.
The fierceness of the kiss changed to something sweeter, softer, with Dallas rolling on top of him and wiggling seductively.
Tiago ran his hands down to Dallas’ pert butt. The cheeks fit perfectly in his palms. He kneaded and squeezed that taut flesh, pulling each globe aside and exposing Dallas’ hole to the cool breeze slipping past the waterfall.
Dallas’ eyes looked wild with need as he raised his head, panting. His gray eyes were almost entirely pupil now, the irises a thin ring around the expanded blackness. “Tiago,” Dallas rasped, driving his hardened cock against Tiago’s stomach.
Tiago saw the bite mark he’d left on Dallas. “I hurt you.”
Dallas scrunched his face up in an expression of confusion. “What?”
“The bite.” Tiago left off playing with Dallas’ ass and instead touched the mark, tracing the bruised area with one fingertip. “It hurt you. I hurt you.”
Dallas beamed at him. “That’s the mating bite. It’s a turn-on. Believe me. Made me come so hard I saw stars and entire universes.” He dipped his head down and licked Tiago in basically the same spot, right beyond where neck and shoulder met. “I want to mark you.”
Tiago gulped. He wasn’t a coward. “While…while you—”
Dallas snorted. “No, I’m not asking to fuck your cherry ass, but while we’re having sex, yeah. Man, if I could suck your cock and mark you at the same time, that’d be so hot.”
“Mark me there?” Tiago’s voice hit a high octave it’d not visited since he’d been going through puberty.
“Not there. Now, sheesh.” Dallas pushed himself up until he was sitting astride Tiago’s belly. “Huh. I wonder what would happen if we did that. Would you become part wolf shifter too?”
“Do what?” Tiago was freaking out. He didn’t think he cared for the direction Dallas’ thoughts were taking. “I’m a jaguar, not a wolf. I don’t want to be a wolf!”
“But you want to belong.”
Tiago gave him an arch look. “Not if it involves biting there. Maybe not even without the biting. I don’t know what I want!”
“Me.” Dallas bobbed his head. “You want me.”
Tiago figured that went without saying, considering the state of his turgid cock.
Dallas slid down, dragging his behind over Tiago’s groin. He kept moving.
Tiago’s breath shortened as his gaze locked with Dallas’.
Dallas turned around. “This work for you?”
Having not been the most reciprocal of lovers in the past, Tiago was nervous and fiercely hiding away in his mind that this was something he’d not tried before. “Yes.”
Dallas kneeled with his dick and balls above Tiago’s head. “We’re not even height-wise, so if you can curl up a little…”
Tiago tightened his abs.
“Pillows would make this so much easier, but just for a little while, I want this.” Dallas didn’t wait any longer. He took a hold of Tiago’s dick and drew the tip right into his warm, wet mouth.
Tiago’s lips parted on a gasp.
Dallas took advantage, thrusting his cock in a few inches.
It was an automatic reaction to suck. Tiago had given head before. That wasn’t new to him. Doing it while someone else sucked his dick? That was so distracting he knew he was going to mess this whole thing up.
“No you won’t. There’s no such thing as a bad blow job. Most of the time.” Dallas added a warning about teeth, then he swallowed Tiago’s shaft in deeper.
Tiago quit worrying as his arousal spiked higher. He grabbed onto Dallas’ hips and licked eagerly along the hard column of flesh in his mouth. Pleasure shot up Tiago’s body from his dick, and ricocheted all the way down to his toes. They curled as he tried to fuck Dallas’ mouth and suck that tasty cock at the same time.
Tiago teased a path down Dallas’ crack until he could push a fingertip into his hole, still slick with the oil from the choquatta plant. It was better than any store-bought lube Tiago had ever found.
The idea that his cum might still be inside Dallas as well was more erotic than anything else Tiago could think of.
He pushed the tip of a second finger in, and Dallas moaned around his cock. Tiago sucked harder and tried twisting his fingers around to give Dallas’ hole a good rub.
Dallas retaliated by taking Tiago’s length into his throat and swallowing.
“Dallas!” Tiago yelped when he turned his head aside, Dallas’ wet dick slapping against his cheek.
Dallas chuckled, dragging his mouth back up Tiago’s shaft. He tongued the slit then left off trying to kill Tiago with sheer pleasure. “Too much? Close?”
“You know I am!” Dallas could see into his head, after all.
“Can I mark you, like you did me, while I ride you?” Dallas asked.
“I am not a complete idiot.”
Dallas smirked. “Was that a yes or a no then?”
Tiago rumbled at him.
Dallas giggled—giggled, like he was a giddy teenager—then he repositioned himself so that he once again sat astride Tiago’s stomach. “First, another kiss.”
It was more teeth and need than any kiss prior. Tiago split his lip in his eagerness. Neither of them paused. Tiago pushed his tongue into Dallas’ mouth, claiming it for his own.
Dallas didn’t give in. He thrust back in return, challenging Tiago for supremacy.
“Equality. That’s all I want.”
The thought eased into him from Dallas.
Tiago didn’t get a chance to reply because Dallas reached behind to fist Tiago’s cock. At the same time, he ended the kiss.
Dallas rose up, scooted back, then sank down on Tiago’s dick.
Tiago dug his heels into the moss and rock beneath him. He grabbed onto Dallas, holding his slender thighs. “Dallas. Please.”
“Yeah.” Dallas undulated and took Tiago’s shaft down to the base. “Oh. Oh sweet hell, nothing’s better than this.”
With soft, hot inner walls clamping around his length, Tiago wasn’t going to last long. He sat up and tipped his head to the side, offering Dallas the one thing he’d asked for.
Tiago was scared and excited.
Dallas leaned forward and kissed him again then he began to ride Tiago, rising up halfway and gliding back down.
The steady pace was perfect, allowing Tiago to feel every second, every centimeter of Dallas’ warm grip.
When Dallas licked at his neck, Tiago didn’t startle.
“Do it,” he mumbled, his groin ti
ghtening as his balls drew up. He wanted to completely lose himself in this man. Tiago jutted his hips, adding more force to the fucking.
“Ah, gawd,” Dallas drawled. He slipped a hand between them to jack himself off.
The next instant, he bit.
Tiago understood immediately what Dallas meant. Tiago shouted, perhaps a curse word, perhaps Dallas’ name, he wasn’t certain. All he could do was come, and come, and come while Dallas rode him and bit him, sucked and fucked Tiago until there was no strength left in his body.
Dallas’ spunk spread between their stomachs before Dallas raised his head, ending the bite.
Tiago shook so hard his teeth clacked then he flopped back, boneless, or near to it. “Fuck.”
“Ungh.” Dallas sprawled on him.
Minutes later, Tiago felt the juices leaking down onto his balls. It tickled, and he squirmed.
Dallas groused and crawled off him. “Need a bath, toothpaste and a phone.”
Tiago didn’t like that last one at all. “We can stay here for a few days. I can show you the jungle—”
“Marcus is my Alpha Anax,” Dallas said firmly, propping his head up on one hand. “I swore fealty to him when I was still a kid. He’ll be worried, and I can’t let that continue. Marcus is a good man, a great leader. He’ll be blaming himself for me being taken.”
“He wasn’t watching you,” Tiago dared to say.
Dallas sat up and glared at him. “I don’t need a babysitter. For your information, I’ve been all over the world, and had more lovers than you, I’d bet. I have a black belt in karate. Well, almost a black belt. I just have to practice a little more. That’s not the point. I don’t need a babysitter. That’s the point, and it’s a courtesy to a man I admire to let him know I’m not dead.”
“You admire him.” Tiago wasn’t jealous. He didn’t know Dallas enough to be jealous. He wasn’t the jealous type anyway. It was just that he didn’t like Marcus since he was the leader of the wolf shifters and—
“You’d do really well to stop that train of thought before I derail it the hard way,” Dallas said in a low, angry voice. He got up and took a step back. “You know, I don’t think I can do this. I’ve had enough of people looking down on me for being a runt. I don’t need a mate that will do it. There has to be some way to break this connection. After all, your kind don’t have mates.”
Tiago hadn’t felt such panic in possibly ever. “Dallas, wait, I—”
But Dallas didn’t wait. He turned and dove, slicing through the waterfall.
It was a thirty foot drop to the river below. Tiago knew because he’d been here before, and he’d also carried an unconscious Dallas up the narrow path that led to the cavern.
Tiago hesitated. He should let Dallas go. Dallas needed things he wasn’t certain he could give.
“Like respect?” Dallas thought snarkily. “Believe me. I am aware.” A splash sounded.
Tiago slid as he ran to the waterfall. He couldn’t find his equilibrium, and he tumbled out, flailing, head narrowly missing the ledge as he went down. He saw Dallas swimming for shore, then to his utter horror, two men ran over to greet him.
And Tiago hit the surface of the river, belly first, before sinking into its depths.
Chapter Nine
The mansion was in a somewhat heavily populated area. Despite the size of the home itself, the yard was minute—nicely landscaped, but small. Marcus spotted the snipers easily. There were four—one stationed on each corner of the rooftop.
“Where’s Olin?” Marcus asked Keegan.
“About three blocks away. He just made a wrong turn.” Keegan grimaced. “I hope they’re buying this.”
“Whoever this Robert Butler is, he knows about shifters, but not everything. The fact that neither Olin nor Dana have been able to find anything on him makes me wonder if he isn’t one of some sort himself.” Marcus had been considering that for a while.
“Another kind?” Keegan frowned.
“Maarten knows we’re here. He’s conscious, just barely. They’ve been pouring water down his throat with a straw, trying to flush the poison out. Someone is coming with something called nalmeti root that is supposed to counteract what he was given in the first place.” Ryder curled his hands into fists. “I’m going in for him.”
Marcus didn’t argue. He would be tearing down the fence and anyone who got in his way to get to Nathan. Ryder had showed impressive restraint.
They moved beside the next house over and stripped off their clothes. A line of shrubs ran along the front, sides, and backs of the homes, as well as a high metal fence.
“Ryder. If we wait until the person bringing the root, the snipers might be distracted. And,” Marcus added, “that root might be what Maarten needs to survive.”
About that time a shiny, bright blue little car came zooming around the street corner. It braked to a noisy halt at the gate to the mansion where Maarten was being kept.
“Good timing.” Ryder shifted.
Marcus checked that the snipers were looking at the car. They weren’t well trained, not in his opinion, because all four of them turned to aim their weapons at the vehicle.
And at that moment, Keegan gasped.
Marcus saw Olin turning onto the road.
As a distraction, it was perfect.
Marcus shifted, as did Keegan and the others. They ran for the back of the fence, which seemed the best idea, considering the snipers and armed guards were running for the front.
There were cameras, of course there were. Keegan whipped in front of Ryder and yipped, the sounds barely audible.
Ryder bared his teeth, but Keegan stood firm.
Keegan shifted again and picked up a handful of rocks. “Learned this from Aidan and Zane,” he said quietly before accurately tossing a rock and knocking one camera aside so it wasn’t going to be viewing them. “One more.” Keegan knocked the second camera away from them. He dropped the rest of the rocks and reverted to his wolf form.
The fence was high but no problem for any of them. They cleared it, with Ryder taking the lead. Marcus and Nathan ran side by side behind him. It still seemed bizarre—and yes, wrong—to be following someone else.
Marcus told himself it was a great lesson in humility. He ignored Nathan’s mental laughter.
Ryder leaped onto the small concrete porch that was probably the help’s entrance. He drew a deep breath through his nose.
Marcus did the same, catching the faint scent of humans. No one was in the immediate room on the other side of the door. There were no suspiciously strong aromas, either. No one was fucking with them. Yet.
Ryder returned to his human shape and tried the door. “Locked. Of course.”
Keegan loped over and soon stood naked instead of in fur. “I can pick it. I just need something—”
“Fuck that.” Ryder put a palm to the glass pane and pushed. It gave way, slicing his hand as it did so. Ryder ignored that and reached in to unlock the door.
“If they have an alarm, we’re fucked,” Keegan said.
“No. I’m getting Maarten and that root.” Ryder opened the door and entered.
“Marcus, let me go with him,” Keegan began. “Your safety—”
Marcus hadn’t shifted, neither had Nathan. Marcus snapped at Keegan. It was one thing to be the captain of his guards, and another entirely to be overprotective.
Keegan understood him and stepped aside.
Marcus leaped inside with Nathan. They avoided the glass and ran, following Ryder’s scent now that he was out of sight.
That didn’t last long. They caught up with him in the large dining room. Marcus and Nathan skidded under the table with him a second before armed men came running through.
One of them shouted something in Portuguese, Marcus assumed.
Marcus sent up a silent prayer that Keegan and the others would all survive. Keegan was smart and deadly, he reminded himself. Just as Keegan needed to have faith in him, he needed to have faith in Keegan to use his
training wisely. When he didn’t immediately hear gunfire, relief washed over him.
Ryder, once again in wolf form, darted out from under the table. Marcus and Nathan were on his tail. It wouldn’t take Butler’s men long to come running back that way, looking for intruders.
For a drug lord—or whatever he was—Butler didn’t have as many armed guards as Marcus would have suspected. He’d watched too many movies, he supposed.
“Or they’re all in the room with Maarten, waiting for us.”
Nathan’s contribution could prove accurate.
Marcus hoped not. “Surely Maarten would warn Ryder.”
“If he’s awake,” Nathan tossed out. “And coherent.”
“I hope Keegan is making sure someone gets that root.” Marcus leaped halfway up the stairs. “Should have told him so.”
Nathan assured him that Keegan would think of it.
Marcus wondered if that meant Nathan believed Keegan had more sense than him.
“Stop it. He’s in charge of shit like this!” Nathan snapped mentally. “It’s a different thing altogether, plus he wasn’t allowed to come with us. He’ll be useful however he can.”
Marcus decided to quit letting doubts get in his way. He was a good leader, a good person. Sometimes he considered leaving his position as the Alpha Anax of North America, but he wasn’t certain he could ever do it.
Now wasn’t the time for any of his issues. Marcus pulled his attention to the situation he, his mate and friends were in.
Ryder turned a corner and a loud, fierce growl was the warning that people were ahead.
Marcus and Nathan barreled around the corner and saw Ryder charging an armed pair of guards.
Marcus shifted into his human form, and did so noisily, yipping, then cursing. He narrowly avoided being shot, thanks to Ryder taking both guards down by slamming into their legs.
The fight was brief and bloody. Ryder dispatched the first man while Marcus broke the second’s neck. Marcus took both weapons from the dead men. He stayed upright and ran along with Ryder and Nathan in their furry forms.
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