Panahasi

by Lynn Hagen

  He was a loner. The only person to get close enough to know him was Drake. The foster homes had cured Casey of making friends. Every time he thought to make a friend, they were sent to another home. Casey had learned to keep to himself. The only person who had ever been a constant in his life was Drake.

  Panahasi was different. He was their mate. Casey would gladly get to know the warrior leader.

  These men, he wasn’t so sure about.

  The four chattered away like longtime friends. Drake and Casey just sat there next to one another, Casey feeling about as uncomfortable as he could get. He wanted them gone, but had promised Panahasi that he would try to get to know them.

  He should have kept his big mouth shut. But a promise was a promise. Panahasi didn’t ask for anything since Casey met him. Casey could give him this one thing. Even if he would rather visit a dentist than sit with these men.

  Drake and Casey had everything in common. But Casey was finding that he had nothing in common with these strangers. They were vastly different, polar opposites. Whereas Drake and Casey liked working on cars, these men had cringed at the thought of getting greasy.

  He and Drake liked watching The Walking Dead—which by the way Casey was amped about season three starting—and Sons of Anarchy, while two of these men liked reality shows, and the other two confessed to not watching television at all.

  What kind of freaks didn’t watch television?

  Drake and Casey liked to socially drink. Although Dillon liked drinking blood, the others weren’t partial to alcohol.

  What on earth did they have in common? Chris was a demon who moved so fast that Casey was getting dizzy. Snooke was a demon who could negate someone’s powers. Yeah, if Casey were a demon that would so not be his top pick in powers. It wouldn’t even be at the bottom of his list.

  Dillon used to be human. Now he was a vampire. And in Casey’s opinion, a little off in the head.

  Kamiko was…well, soft. Casey had never really liked soft-spoken men. Maybe it was because he was a shifter, or because he had grown up fighting his way through life, but Casey didn’t care for helpless men.

  So he sat there bored out of his mind.

  And from the look on Drake’s face, so was his mate.

  Casey wasn’t trying to be judgmental. He was the last person to judge someone. But damn it, there had to be something he had in common with these men. If not, this was going to be torturous every time they got together.

  “So,” Dillon said as he strummed his fingers on his knees. “This is awkward.”

  The man took the words from Casey’s mouth.

  “I’m going to go get my Scrabble game. We can have a friendly game together.”

  Casey wasn’t really into board games, but anything was better than sitting here struggling for something to say to men he had nothing in common with.

  “Oh, that sounds fun,” Kamiko said as he smiled.

  Casey glanced at Drake, and then back at the men, praying he made it through this little gathering of the mates. What was Panahasi thinking?

  Dillon bounced back through the apartment door, game tucked under his arm. He was smiling as he cleared the coffee table off. “Okay, we need to make this interesting. So, we are going to play anything goes. Just don’t get stupid with the words. They have to at least make sense.”

  “How do we know who the winner is if we don’t keep score?” Snooke asked as he dropped down onto a pillow.

  “The craziest, most bizarre words win,” Dillon said, as if proud of himself for coming up with the idea. “This is an icebreaker game. We obviously have nothing in common with Panahasi’s manly mates. So laughter seems to be the answer.” Dillon turned toward Casey and Drake. “You do laugh, right?”

  Casey chuckled. He was beginning to like Dillon. “We laugh.”

  “Good.”

  “Who goes first?” Chris asked, running from the kitchen at lightning speed with refreshments. He sat a glass down in front of everyone as Dillon set the game up and then zoomed out of the room.

  Casey was going to have to put a cowbell around the guy’s neck.

  “Since Casey and Drake are the newest members of our smorgasbord family, they can go first. But you two will have to choose which one takes the first turn.”

  “You can go first,” Drake said as he laid his hand at the small of Casey’s back, giving him a small smile. Casey wanted to take Drake down right here and fuck the man’s brains out, but doubted they could count that as points on the Scrabble board. The soft touch and the caring way Drake was looking at him made Casey want him…now.

  Casey cleared his mind of the lustful thoughts and stared at his small tiles. He smiled as he placed the letters on the board.

  “Good,” Dillon said and then laughed. “I like it.”

  “Torture?” Chris asked.

  Casey shrugged.

  “Okay.” Dillon studied the board, chewing on his bottom lip. After a moment, his eyes lit up. “Got it.” He grabbed his tiles, playing off of the letter O.

  “Fondle?” Kamiko asked and then giggled.

  “It’s a word,” Dillon argued.

  “It is,” Snooke agreed with a snicker. “A very good word at that.”

  Snooke rearranged his tiles, driving Casey nuts at how long he was taking. That was the one thing Casey hated about these games. Some people took too damn long making up their minds.

  A sly smile crossed Snooke’s face, and then he laid his tiles down. He played off of the E in fondle.

  Casey chuckled.

  “Screw,” Snooke stated proudly.

  “I said the most bizarre words, not the most sexual.” Dillon pouted.

  “Hey, it’s all in fun,” Chris argued.

  Kamiko took no time in laying his two tiles down, working off of the second R in torture.

  “Rim?” Drake asked and then laughed. “I guess this is a game of Sex Scrabble.”

  Casey had to admit, this was kind of fun. Maybe they did have something in common with these men, even if it was Sex Scrabble. A very dirty mind was hard to come by in most people, but these men seem to excel at it.

  “My turn!” Chris bounced with enthusiasm. Casey could only shake his head. It seemed Chris had one mode, fast.

  “Go for it,” Drake challenged. Casey smiled at the way Drake’s eyes lit up. The man was really getting into this game. It was good to see his mate having fun. Casey would indulge in anything that put a smile on Drake’s face. And apparently playing Sex Scrabble was something his mate was thoroughly enjoying.

  Casey had to look at the board twice. Chris had laid his tiles down so quickly that one moment the S in screw was free, and the next, the word stroke was spelled out.

  “Take that meaning how you want to,” Chris said as he fisted his hand and mocked jacking off, falling onto his back and laughing.

  “Pervert,” Kamiko said as he shook his head, a smile on his lips.

  “That’s the object here,” Drake said.

  Casey looked at Drake’s letters. He knew he wasn’t supposed to, but Drake had his rack turned so Casey could see them. He wasn’t sure what Drake could spell with his tiles. A wicked grin appeared on Drake’s face, and then he laid his tiles.

  The whole room stilled as everyone stared at the word Drake had just placed on the board.

  “Kitten?” Dillon asked, and then the room erupted in laughter.

  “What? I happened to like kittens,” Drake defended, which only succeeded in making everyone laugh harder. Casey was laughing so hard, he had tears escaping his eyes. Gods, he loved Drake. He wiped his eyes and then pushed back up into a sitting position, giving his mate a soft kiss on his lips.

  As he glanced around the room, Casey grinned.

  Ice sufficiently broken.

  * * * * Panahasi had a bad feeling when he walked into the living room and saw his mates sitting on the couch, both staring intently at him. The other mates had left a little while ago, Panahasi hanging out in his bedroom to give his mates time
to get to know the others.

  But the expression on both of their faces did not bode well for him. “What?” He drawled the one word out slowly, afraid to find out what was going on.

  Casey stood, clearing his throat as he looked back at Drake and then at Panahasi. He wasn’t going to like this.

  “Would you agree that Drake and I have been behaving rather well since first meeting you?”

  It was a trick question. It had to be. When Panahasi first met them, they were slugging it out. It seemed his threat had subdued them, but he had a feeling it was more because they wanted something than his actual words.

  “You left the penthouse, Casey. Drake was drugged, and my enemies had come after you. I wouldn’t say rather well, more like calmer.”

  Panahasi could see the wheels working behind Casey’s blue eyes. The man was changing course. His eyes were calculating, and Panahasi knew if he waited a while, he would probably see the lightbulb come on over Casey’s head.

  And there it went.

  “Okay, you have us there. But we have been behaving. I haven’t slugged Drake since meeting you.”

  “Which is a record for him,” Drake said under his breath.

  Panahasi gave a reluctant nod. He couldn’t see where this was going, yet. He wasn’t even sure if he should be agreeing with Casey. Somehow he felt like he was backing himself into a corner.

  “Good,” Casey said as he grinned. It was more like a predator’s grin right before he ate his prey. “Then I think we deserve a reward for behaving.”

  “A reward?” Panahasi asked.

  “Yes, a reward. Maybe…Malcor’s.”

  “What!” Panahasi hadn’t meant to get loud. He really hadn’t. As long as he had waited for a mate, he was willing to give them the world. But they wanted to leave the penthouse. Didn’t the two know how dangerous that was? “The last time you two were at Malcor’s—I can’t—I won’t.” He found himself shaking his head and talking so fast that he took in a deep breath.

  “Why, because Drake drank some drugged wine?”

  “That’s exactly why we can’t go.”

  “But you’ll be there,” Casey pointed out. “You can’t keep us cooped up here forever.”

  “I can.” Panahasi began to walk away when he noticed Casey heading for the door. “Where are you going?”

  “To get some fresh air.”

  “No, you are not.”

  Casey spun around, his eyes narrowing as he pointed a finger at Panahasi. He could feel his blood pressure rising at the insubordinate look in Casey’s eyes. “I’m trying to do things safely here. I asked you to take us. What do you expect, for us to live in this magical tower forever? I’m tired of looking at the city through a glass window. I want to get out and explore. You said you would show me around, or was that just some small talk to get into my pants?”

  Panahasi crossed the room like some great stalking beast, rolling back his sleeves. He had to do something with his fingers. If he didn’t, he just might throttle the man. “If I remember correctly, it was you who dropped to yourknees.”

  Casey gave him a mean glare. “If you are trying to humiliate me, it won’t work.”

  “It never does,” Drake grumbled from behind them.

  Panahasi ignored Drake. He wasn’t helping. “So, because you gave me a blow job I’m supposed to bow down to you? I bow down to no one. I am not weak because I showed you a side of me that none other has seen. I am not in your debt because you two showed up. You will not leave this place. That’s an order!”

  “Oh, really?” Casey asked, his blue eyes blazing with anger. “We’ll just see about that.”

  “Is that a challenge?” Panahasi asked, his tone turning feral. “Yep,” Drake said from behind him.

  “Yep,” Casey repeated.

  Panahasi waved his hand, the two disappearing from sight. He took in a deep breath, and then shouted to the top of his lungs. Never in his life had anyone infuriated him so quickly, so badly. He wanted to duct-tape Casey’s mouth shut and tie him down.

  “If you ever do that again I’ll beat you in your damn sleep,” Casey said as he walked down the hallway. “What was your master plan by sending us to your bedroom?”

  Okay, so he didn’t have it in him to send them anywhere outside the penthouse. Just the thought of something happening to either one of them scared the shit out of him.

  “It would give me five seconds of silence.”

  “Could have told you that wouldn’t work,” Drake mumbled as he dropped back down on the couch.

  Casey sighed, crossing the room and hugging Panahasi around the waist. This tactic threw him off.

  He wasn’t expecting Casey to give in so easily.

  Longing swelled inside of Panahasi. He didn’t want to fight with Casey, and he wanted his mate in his arms. Did Casey think he was giving in just because he wrapped his arms around the shifter? Panahasi knew being mated wasn’t going to be easy. He had been by himself for so long that he feared he wouldn’t know how to act with two others in his home, but he wasn’t a pushover.

  His gut wrenched at the thought of pushing his mate away though. There was no way he could do that, but he didn’t want Casey, or Drake for that matter, to think him weak. Just because he had let his guard down with them, it didn’t mean he had handed over his masculinity as well.

  He would show them just how exacting he could be if they tried to push him past his tolerance again.

  “I just want to spend time with you outside of this penthouse, Panahasi.” The words were so softly spoken that Panahasi automatically began to rub his knuckles down the side of Casey’s face. He wanted the same thing, but at what cost? He had enemies. Jaden was after Casey and Drake. Marino and Constantine were still out there somewhere, plotting who knows what.

  Panahasi gritted his teeth, fighting back the words. He wasn’t going to say okay. It wasn’t safe.

  “Please?” Casey asked, glancing up at Panahasi with the biggest blue eyes he’d ever seen. They were gorgeous.

  “One hour. That’s it.”

  Drake jumped up from the couch. “Let’s go eat. But keep the wine away from me.”

  Panahasi summoned Wayland and Donnchadh. He wanted backup. There was no way he was going to take his mates out without other warriors. If he was engaged in battle, he wanted someone there who could get his mates back to his penthouse without incident.

  As Panahasi walked out of his apartment, the thought dawned on him that Casey had just used his sad little look to get what he wanted.

  Maybe he really was a sucker for these two.

  Did that make him weak?

  Did that make them think he was a pushover?

  He wasn’t sure, but he knew he hated to see either of them unhappy. He saw Drake stealing furtive glances his way, a slick smile on his lips.

  Yeah, Drake knew Casey had suckered Panahasi as well.

  He tossed out his plans of exacting his will on these two men. Somehow he knew it would be useless. They had him. There was no doubt about it. But it didn’t mean he had to let them know this.

  When the other two men met them in the hallway, Panahasi raised his arm. Casey grabbed it.

  “No, we are not going to just pop into Malcor’s. I want to walk there like normal people.”

  Panahasi glanced over at Drake who was snickering. From the way Casey was acting, he had Drake under his thumb as well. Panahasi wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not, but he nodded, lowering his arm.

  When the two warriors looked wide-eyed at him, Panahasi glared at them both. “Just walk.”

  They both hurried down the steps, not saying a word, but he could feel their curiosity. It was thick in the hallway as Panahasi walked his mates down the stairs and out the door, heading to Malcor’s, the fanciest restaurant in town.

  And the most dangerous.

  * * * * Deandre kicked his chair back, balancing it on the back legs as he rested his arms on his thighs. He was watching Roxy strut and dance onstage, ma
king every damn man in Diablo’s whimper.

  Well, all except for Deandre. Roxy was too high maintenance for him. Roxy knew he looked good, and acted the diva part. He not only danced at Diablo’s, but owned a hair salon. The guy thought he was the gods’ gift to men.

  Deandre could do without. Besides, there were plenty of men cruising the club for him to choose from. That was one of the perks of being a demon warrior. Men practically tossed themselves at a demon warrior as soon as they walked through the door.

  Hell, they even threw themselves at a warrior out on the streets. If Deandre wasn ’t a demon warrior already, he would be so jealous.

  But he was a demon warrior, and there was one man in particular trying to catch his eye. The guy was good looking, which was always a plus. He was stockier than most men in the club, but Deandre liked stocky men. The twinks that ran around here trying to get fucked by every man who walked through the doorweren’t his flavor.

  No, this man who kept giving him the eye was right up his alley.

  Deandre let his seat fall forward as he rested his arms on the table. He gave a subtle nod, and the man nodded back, grinning widely at him. Damn, that was one gorgeous-ass smile. He had a set of straight, pearly-white teeth, and they only shined even brighter with the tanned skin of the man’s face surrounding them.

  His cock was getting impossibly hard.

  He crooked his finger, watching as the guy studied him for a moment, and then turned on his stool, heading Deandre’s way.

  Yeah, buddy.

  The guy took a seat across from Deandre, setting his drink down on the worn and scratchedtable. “You wanted something?”

  Deandre openly raked his eyes over the man’s physique. It was even better up close. The guy’s arms were chiseled, a shadow of a beard on his jaw, and thick, scarred fingers to give him that edge.

  “You.” Deandre didn’t mince words. There was no telling when he would be called away, so he made every second count when it came to sex. With the way things were going lately in Serenity City, sex was getting harder to come by. Deandre never had time anymore. So when he found the time and opportunity, he went for it full-steam ahead.