by Amber Kell
Payce had never felt so relieved to hear a Southern drawl in his life.
“Thanks.” He accepted the handle, then set it down on the bed. Looking at the pile of clothes on the bed and the suitcase beside them overwhelmed him. Memories of the afternoon and how close he’d gotten to death rushed at him. Even a shifter can’t heal from being blown into pieces. If he’d been a little less eager to see Kevin and pressed the alarm closer to his truck, he would’ve been killed.
He didn’t even realize he’d collapsed until Kevin’s arms surrounded him and he heard his lover talking in his ear.
“I’ve got you. You’ve had a hell of a day, darlin’. I don’t think my heart can take anythin’ else. We’ll go talk to that nice cop tomorrow, then hightail it out of town. No one is gonna get my mate.”
Chapter 4
Kevin kept giving sideways glances at Payce as they drove down the road, reassuring his inner lion that the jaguar was fine. After throwing the suitcase into the cab of his truck, Kevin had taken Payce to the police station. Once his report had been given, which was short and sweet since Payce didn’t know who was after him, Kevin had bundled his mate up in the truck and drove out of town.
He didn’t care if the police wanted a follow-up. He wasn’t going to leave his mate some place he could be injured or possibly killed. If someone wanted to kill Payce, they’d have to get past Kevin. He wasn’t going to leave his lover alone. At home, he would have his pride to stand beside him. If the killer showed up in town, word of a stranger would get back to him. He had no doubt Talan would help him protect his own. The alpha was excellent about keeping his people safe. As Payce was Kevin’s mate, Talan would extend him the same courtesy.
At least he hoped he would.
Shit.
It was too late for second thoughts.
Few words were spoken between the men, but they both knew where their thoughts lay. Who was trying to kill Payce and why?
* * *
Kevin smiled as he pulled up in front of the lion’s mansion.
“Fuck, you live here?”
He turned to see his mate staring at the house with wide eyes. Five lions lay on the deck sunning, but Kevin could see Tia in the doorway. He knew it must make her twitchy to wait until they got out of the car.
Curious cat.
“No, we live here. Come on, darlin’. Let me introduce you to the family.”
He might not have grown up with this bunch of lions, but they were the family of his heart.
Grabbing Payce’s suitcase, he slid out of the cab, then waited for his mate to get out before taking any steps toward the door.
“Daddy!” Chase tore across the yard and threw himself into his father’s arms.
Kevin grabbed his son and easily lifted him up into the air before giving him a big hug.
“I missed you, little guy,” he whispered into his son’s honey-colored hair.
“I missed you too, Daddy,” Chase said. Peeking over Kevin’s shoulder, he whispered, “Is that your mate?”
“Yep.”
“He’s not a lion.”
“Nope, he’s a jaguar.”
“I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t a lion.”
“That’s not true, little man. You’ve met Adrian. He’s a wolf.”
Chase gave him a disapproving glare. “I mean another cat, Daddy. I’ve only met lion cats.”
“That’s true.”
Chase waved at Payce. “Hi, Daddy-mate.” He rushed the words together like they were one.
Payce’s laugh lightened Kevin’s heart. His mate had been so closed off during the ride, Kevin worried about him.
“Hello.”
“I’m Chase.”
“Hello, Chase.”
“I’m a lion.”
Payce walked closer to Kevin as if to see his son better. “So I’ve heard. Just like your daddy.”
Chase nodded. “Some day I’m going to have a mane like Daddy. Have you seen his mane? It’s huge.” Chase separated his hands an impossibly long distance apart.
“Not yet, but I hope to soon.”
“Maybe tomorrow.”
“Why tomorrow?” Kevin asked.
“Because Mommy said we was going to have a feast tonight.”
“Ahhh.”
“Daddy!” Quinn tore from the house. Kevin passed Chase over to Payce in time to catch his flying seven-year-old as he leapt into Kevin’s arms.
“I missed you too,” Kevin laughed.
Quinn’s skinny arms wrapped tight around Kevin until breathing was a luxury.
“Let your daddy go, Quinn. He’s got to breathe.” Payce’s voice was soft but firm. Immediately Quinn let him go.
“Sorry, Daddy.”
“That’s okay.” He was happy his sons were so pleased to see him back. It was the first time he had been away from them since they were babies.
Quinn took Kevin’s hand, an unusual act from his usually reserved son. Kevin was surprised to see Payce was still carrying Chase. The pair appeared to be having a whispered conversation.
Quinn tugged on his hand to get his attention.
“What?”
“Is that your mate?”
“Yes.”
Quinn’s golden eyes took in Payce as he carried Chase effortlessly toward the house. “He’s strong.”
“Yes, he is.”
“That’s good.” Quinn nodded his head sagely. “A mate should be strong.”
“What about Adrian? Would you say he’s strong?” Kevin was fascinated by this new maturity his son had.
Quinn shook his head. “Talan said Adrian is something better.”
“What’s that?”
“Vicious. Talan said sometimes it’s better to be sneaky than to be strong, but you know what I think?”
“What?” He was dying to find out what his son thought.
“I think it’s best to be both. That’s what my mate will be, vicious and strong.”
“Yeah, do you think it’ll be a man or a woman?”
Some werelions knew early what their mate would be. Others searched their entire life.
Quinn’s forehead wrinkled as he concentrated. “I don’t know.”
“Well, you’re young. Time will tell.” He didn’t want to share with his son that some people had both. He could learn later about sexuality. Right now, he still had puberty in his future.
As soon as they reached the house, the kids ran off to play. Kevin heard roars as the boys shifted.
“No teeth or claws!” he shouted after them.
Payce didn’t know what to say about the lion house. It was certainly the largest house he’d ever been in, but it still felt like a home.
“Back off, woman!” a voice shouted down the hall.
“Uh-oh. Sounds like Adrian needs backup.” Kevin placed Payce’s bag neatly by the stairs and headed toward the noise.
A low snarl had Kevin picking up his pace. Curiosity made Payce follow.
“Tia, you know better than to bug Adrian when he’s cooking. I’ll tell your sisters that you made him ruin his baking.”
“You wouldn’t.” The woman’s voice sounded so appalled Payce had to hold back his laugh. He lost all urge toward amusement when he turned the corner to see Kevin confronting a drop-dead gorgeous lioness, who hovered over a pretty dark-haired man. Payce was struck by the beauty of the man’s green eyes when he turned to face him. Wow, this must be the famous Adrian. He was distracted enough by the attractive cook that it took him a moment to realize the woman standing beside his mate was Kevin’s kids’ mother.
“You must be Payce.”
Before he could say yes or no, he had an armful of female lion. She smelled faintly like Kevin, which made his hackles rise.
“Step back slowly, Tia.”
“What?” The lioness didn’t question Kevin’s order. She took one slow step after another out of Payce’s arms.
Payce couldn’t take the stress any more. Almost getting killed, finding his mate, finding out
his mate had kids. He shifted into his jaguar.
“Holy crap, he’s a panther,” Tia said with wide eyes.
“No, he’s a black jaguar. I read about those once.” Kevin’s voice was remarkably calm.
“They kill their prey by crushing their skulls,” Adrian offered.
Payce growled at Tia.
“Fuck, I bet you smell like me,” Kevin said. “I didn’t think of that. Jaguars are loners but very territorial. He considers me part of his territory.”
“What should I do?” Tia asked.
“Stay still. I’ll take care of this.”
Without another word, Kevin stripped off his clothes and shifted.
Inside, Payce shook with nerves as the enormous lion bared his fangs.
His mate was a glorious creature. Kevin’s mane flared out around his head. Payce wished he had fingers so he could pet it, but his jaguar half wanted to kill the female. She was a threat. She bore Kevin his children. She smelled like him. She must be killed so Kevin could never return to her.
Payce moved toward her only to be herded away by the lion.
Kevin growled.
Payce sat and tilted his head. What was the problem? His cat mind couldn’t understand. Once the woman was killed, the obstacle to their mating would be removed. He didn’t understand why the lion wasn’t on his side. When he dodged to one side, he was blocked by the lion and knocked on his rump.
Payce settled his head on his paws, placing himself subserviently lower than the big lion. He understood how the bigger cat was in charge, but why didn’t the lion kill her? The interloper must die.
He tried to leap at her only to be smacked down.
Letting out a confused yowl, Payce swiped at the lion, keeping his claws in. He was upset, not stupid.
A voice pierced through his brain.
Stop it.
No! You smell like Kevin. You must die.
She carried the genes of my children.
They are born. She is no longer important, Payce argued. Why couldn’t his mate see his logic?
You can’t kill the mother of my children. They still need nurturing.
Payce’s cat caught on that word. Nurturing—his human half liked being nurtured. Images of the small lion children skittered across his head.
Nice children.
Yes, nice children need their mother, Kevin whispered in his head.
Payce thought about it for a moment. His cat half was all for killing the woman, but his human half was slowly winning.
You can’t kill my boys’ mother. Kevin’s voice was firm and commanding. Payce noticed Kevin’s psychic voice didn’t have any hint of the South. The jaguar spun on its heel and ran in the opposite direction. He needed a run.
Payce ran and ran until the cat couldn’t catch its breath any more. He leapt onto a low-hanging branch and used it as a starting point to reach a higher branch.
“Get your furry ass down here,” Kevin bellowed from below. Payce sprawled across the sturdy branch with a smug expression on his face. In his lion form, Kevin was too heavy to climb up the trees, so his mate had transformed back into a man. Flicking his tail back and forth, the jaguar watched the human rant down below.
“I mean it, Payce. Get down here now!”
The jaguar debated for a moment.
“Now!”
Payce leaped lightly to the ground and walked up to the handsome golden man.
“You are never to attack Tia.” The pretty lion man was frowning at him.
He didn’t want frowns. Payce jumped up, placed his large paws on Kevin’s shoulders, and licked the man from neck to forehead.
“Ewww, and ouch. Sandpaper tongue.” The golden man stepped back. “Change.”
Payce shifted back to his human shape and shivered at the sudden lack of fur. “I’m really sorry.” Wrapping his arms around himself, Payce glanced up at Kevin through his lashes. “I didn’t mean to, but I hugged her and she smelled like you, and I lost it. I-I don’t have the best control over my cat,” he confessed.
“We’ll have to work on that then. Won’t we, darlin’?”
Payce nodded. He’d agree to anything if it would set Kevin’s eyes sparkling again. He looked down, ashamed at losing control in front of his mate. Jaguars should be strong, not dependent on another to keep him safe. He was a failure as a shifter. Damaged. Not worthy of his powerful, kind mate.
The shock of Kevin’s warm skin wrapped around him sent jolts of delight throughout Payce’s body. He let out the breath he’d been holding and leaned against his mate, enjoying his wonderful scent.
“I need you,” he admitted. If Kevin rejected him because he lacked control, pieces of his heart would break off to never be found again.
“I need you too, darlin’,” Kevin whispered in his ear. “We’ll work on your control. I’m surprised my children didn’t trigger you.”
Payce shrugged. “I guess my cat doesn’t see them as a rival for your affections.”
“You shouldn’t see Tia that way either, hon. We’ve never been more than close friends starting a family while we try to find our mates. Tia didn’t want to wait for kids any longer, and I knew I wouldn’t get another chance since I was certain my mate was a man. We love our kids, but we don’t love each other, not like I love you.”
Kevin tilted Payce’s face up until he was forced to meet the lion’s gaze.
They sparkled, easing the knot twisting in Payce’s stomach.
“We’ll get through this and be stronger in the end. Now, I think you’ve got an apology to make.”
Payce nodded. “I do want to get along with Tia. I don’t want your boys’ mother to hate me.”
“She doesn’t hate you none,” Kevin declared, “but she is a little miffed. I don’t suppose you’ve got a recipe for a kickass chocolate cookie.”
Payce laughed. “I don’t bake.”
“Shame. That worked for Adrian.”
“You’re right.”
“About what?”
“He is a pretty man.”
Kevin laughed. “Don’t let Talan hear you say that.”
“Where is your alpha?”
“He had a business trip to a shifter conference. Adrian refused to go after the last meeting where leaders of the Alaskan and Oregon prides tried to hit on him. He said it was best for international interests that he not attend. Personally, I think he was just bored to death, but he didn’t want to tell Talan. Adrian isn’t what you call sociable. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not a hermit, but he doesn’t like crowds bigger than his pack or his pride.”
“How does he have a pack and a pride?” Payce had never heard of such a thing. He’d never even had a real family and here was a guy who had two.
Kevin laughed. “Because neither of us was willing to give him up. On full moons, he heads down the mountain and spends the night with his brother’s pack. It’s hard being the only wolf with a bunch of cats, but he loves Talan something fierce.”
Payce nodded and tried not to feel jealous.
It must be nice to be wanted.
His nerves jumped around in his stomach like a cadre of grasshoppers as he entered the house again. Kevin grabbed his suitcase.
“Let’s get to my room and dress before we talk to Tia. No offense, but I don’t want her peeking at your tender bits. Those are all mine.”
Payce laughed. “I don’t want her looking at my tender bits either.”
Kevin’s room was large and masculine with a luxurious bathroom attached to a bedroom bigger than Payce’s apartment.
“Wow.”
Kevin gave him a wide smile. “I hope you like your new home.”
“What do you mean?” Payce had a disturbing idea that he knew what the other man meant.
“Aren’t you moving here to live with me?”
“What would I do? I’m a tiler. I don’t see a bunch of buildings going up around here.”
“You don’t have to work. I’ll take care of ya. It’s part of the having-a-mate thi
ng.”
Anger surged through the jaguar shifter. How dare his mate be disappointed in him. “I’m not your pet. You don’t get to take me home and keep me.”
Sitting on the bed, Kevin buried his face in his hands.
Damn.
Payce sat beside his mate and wrapped an arm around the forlorn body. “I didn’t mean it like that.” Why did he keep battering away at this man who wanted nothing more than to keep him safe and happy? “I do want to be your mate. I just don’t want you to think I’m going to live off of you.”
Kevin looked up. Tears filled those golden eyes, wrenching Payce’s gut into a whole nest of knots. “I don’t care if you live off of me. If you want to work, I’ll find something for you. If you don’t, that’s fine too. All I want is for you to stay with me and be my mate. That’s all I’ve ever wanted, a mate.”
He’d never been someone’s dream before, but Payce could tell from the Kevin’s expression that he was everything to this wonderful man.
“If I claim you, will you always be mine?”
“Even if you don’t claim me, I will always be yours.” He could see the truth in the lion’s eyes.
“Then let me claim you.”
Kevin’s smile was blinding.
Chapter 5
Kevin couldn’t believe his luck. Just as he was certain Payce was going to tell him where to shove his mating, the temperamental jaguar decided to give in. How did he get so lucky?
Some might not think it is lucky to have a mate on the run from some unknown psycho, but Kevin had waited his entire life for a mate of his own, little details weren’t going to stop him from letting his mate claim him.
“How do you want me?”
Payce gave him a sexy smirk. “I thought you liked to tell me what to do.”
Kevin nodded, his cock rising at the idea. “I do, but this is your mating too. How do you want me?”
“Remember what you told me at my apartment?”
Kevin ran his words through his mind. He remembered everything he ever told his mate. Fuck, he was hard.
“Get on the bed,” he ordered. Not bothering to check if Payce obeyed, Kevin walked over to the chest by the wall. He reached inside and pulled out a set of handcuffs along with a skein of rope.