by Amber Kell
The same black hair grew in a thick riot of curls on the top of his head. Kres longed to plunge his fingers into its rich mass and sample the flavor of the man's lush lips. Glancing up, he felt a shock as familiar gold eyes looked back at him.
Thresl.
"Morning, Kres." The low gravelly voice sent shivers up Kres's spine and caused bumps to spread across his skin.
"Morning, Thresl."
The Thresl's lush mouth quirked up on one side, the sight sending heated images into Kres's mind about nibbling on those full lips.
"You must assign me a name," the Thresl said with an inviting smile. "As I have shifted, now we are bound."
Shit.
Kres felt guilty about lusting after the gorgeous shifter when it was his fault the creature had changed at all. There had to be a specialist who could help get the Thresl back to his original form. The walls building Kres's future were starting to close in. Despite his attraction to the gorgeous creature, he knew if he touched the Thresl, there was no hope for escape. When the commander said the Thresl would become his perfect partner, Kres thought he meant fighting partner, but the shifter's appearance put that assumption into question. No one could've looked more like the type of man whom Kres was attracted to than the male on the bed.
Gold eyes watched him carefully as if searching his expression for something. Kres averted his gaze. He didn't want the man-cat to see the lust he was certain showed in his eyes.
"What name do you want?"
Kres struggled to carry on the conversation, focusing on the floor instead of the tempting man splayed out on his bed.
"You have to pick it."
Reluctantly, Kres looked into the Thresl's eyes. The understanding there almost broke him.
"I-I can't," Kres forced out through his quickly closing throat as panic sped up his heart.
"We can't go back to before. I can't unpick you," the Thresl said in a gentle tone as if afraid of further freaking Kres out.
"Why did you pick me to start with?" It was a question he'd obsessed over ever since the cat first chose him.
The Thresl tilted his head, a shadow of the feline he had once been. "I chose you because I could choose no other. You were the one." He sounded so definite that Kres didn't know what to say. How could he explain he didn't feel the same way? It was like giving the speech to a guy that it is you not him, except in this case there was no way to break up. He was stuck with this gorgeous man-cat forever. Nebulous plans of finding a good man to settle down with while he rose in the military ranks vanished. He'd left his home to carve his own path in life, only to have it chosen for him. He remembered his grandfather's favorite saying. "You don't choose your fate, your fate chooses you." As usual, his grandfather was right.
"Name me," the Thresl insisted.
Kres wrapped his arms around himself. If he named the Thresl, it made it too real. It was the point of no return. It was like naming the stray cat that followed you home. Once it was named, you couldn't just dump it at the animal shelter.
He wondered, slightly hysterically, if there was a Thresl drop-off shelter to return lost or unwanted shapeshifters.
"I-I can't." The sad look in the Thresl's eyes shook Kres, but he had to stay strong.
"You still hope to leave me?"
"I hope to free you," Kres corrected. He knew he was fighting against the tide but it wasn't his nature to go down without a battle.
The Thresl laughed. "Thresls aren't meant to be free; we're meant to be owned. There's no greater shame than to remain in our birth form until death. I am young for my kind and will have high status for my early transformation."
He looked so proud of himself Kres couldn't continue his denial. For the Thresl, this was a lifetime milestone, to be proud of and celebrated. For Kres, it was a life-changing event and not a particularly welcome one. Looking over the tall muscular man in his bed, he had to admit there could be worse ways to spend his life than in the presence of a sexy man dedicated to being his.
"Name me," the Thresl insisted.
While Kres was thinking how his life was taking a horribly wrong turn, his new life partner was fixated on his name. Kres wished there was a way to give the Thresl his freedom, but apparently that wish wasn't shared by the ex-cat. Taking a deep breath, Kres accepted his fate.
Walking back to the bed, he sat on the edge to face the shifter. Cautiously, he held out his hands. The Thresl gave him a wide smile and wrapped his larger hands around Kres's.
Kres looked over at the gorgeous dark-haired man and thought over various names. There were a lot of names that could suit his new companion. Tristan? Litger? Neel? A forgotten memory drifted into his mind. Perfect.
"When I was little, my mother used to read to me every night. My favorite story was about a beast that terrorized the local villagers until he met a fair maiden. He fell in love with her and shed his animal skin to stay a human at her side." Kres could feel a blush heat his cheeks as the Thresl's smile widened. "I know this isn't the same situation, but I've always liked the name of the hero. His name was Vohne."
The Thresl released Kres's hands and slid them into his hair. Using a firm grip, he pulled Kres closer until their mouths met in a slow, demanding kiss. Heat poured through Kres's body like molten lava, burning him throughout. A moan rolled from his chest, vibrating their lips and adding to the sensation. When he was finally slowly released, he blinked a bit to focus his vision.
"The situation isn't that different," the Thresl said, nipping at Kres's bottom lip. "I'd be happy to take the name of Vohne."
Kres was still trying to focus on what the other man said when a loud bang shook him out of his daze.
Someone was at the door.
A low growl rolled from Vohne's throat. He jumped off the bed into a protective crouch before stomping to the door and ripping it open, completely naked.
It took Kres an inhuman amount of effort to rip his eyes from the Thresl's tight, naked ass when he heard his name.
"Piers!" Commander Tiller's voice crackled with command.
He rushed to the door to see the commander's eyes wide with fear as he took in the enormous man at the door.
"You might want to tell your boyfriend I'm not a threat."
"Um, that's not my boyfriend; that's my Thresl."
"My name is Vohne. Kres has gifted me with a name." The Thresl sounded ridiculously proud of that fact.
Tiller shifted his gaze from the huge man to Kres. "Report to my office ASAP."
With those words, Commander Tiller turned and marched away. Kres grabbed the Thresl by the arm and pulled him back into the room, closing the door behind them. Although soldiers were generally difficult to shock, he didn't want to get complaints about a naked man hanging out in his doorway. That wasn't an event he wanted on his permanent record.
Running a hand through his rumpled hair, he thought through his options.
"I'm going to take a shower, then I'm going to have to go to the commissary and buy you some clothes."
"I will go with you."
"You can't go with me. You're naked."
Vohne crossed his arms over his chest. "Then you can't go. I can't protect you if you go by yourself."
Kres laughed. "You don't need to protect me. I'm just going to the store."
The Thresl growled. "You don't go anywhere I don't go." His tone was so definite Kres knew he wasn't going to get out of it. Maybe in time the creature would become less possessive.
"I'm going to take a shower. We will discuss this when I'm done."
Vohne made a step to follow. "Stay. If anyone jumps out to attack me under the hot water spray, I'll give a shout."
Fuming, Kres stomped to the bathroom, making sure to slam the door when he entered. He quickly felt foolish. In an unfamiliar environment, the Thresl was just sticking with what he knew. Protect his human above all other things. Strange, none of the other Thresls appeared as protective of their matches as Vohne was of him.
Still thinking over h
is odd relationship, Kres turned on the water and sighed beneath the hot stream. Slowly his muscles relaxed until the stress rinsed down the drain.
Maybe he could call someone and have clothes delivered. Pleased with the new plan, Kres finished up his shower and pulled open the curtain.
"Ahhh." Clutching his chest, he glared at the large man who invaded the bathing space. "You scared me."
Vohne looked at him with concern. "You are injured?" He reached for Kres, who stepped back from his touch. "You are afraid of me?"
"I'm afraid of anyone who appears in the bathroom while I'm washing. I wasn't expecting you."
Vohne looked Kres up and down. A wide smile crossed his face. "You should expect others if you are going to walk around wet and naked. You are very pleasing to the eyes. I am honored to call you mine."
"I-I… Never mind."
He didn't have it in him to tell Vohne that he didn't belong to the shifter. They both knew there was a bond between them. He just wasn't sure what it meant in the long term.
"It is a waste to wrap clothes around you. The only reason I will allow it is because I've observed that your kind doesn't walk around naked due to your fragile skins."
"You have a fragile skin now also," Kres reminded him.
He got an indecent smile in return. "Maybe we should see what happens when you rub the two of us together."
A knock at the outer door had them both turning.
Kres wrapped a towel around his hips. "There sure is a lot of traffic this early in the morning."
Before he could reach the main living area, Vohne raced past him and ripped open the door.
A messenger stood there holding out a package. "The commander said you might need this."
Kres shoved Vohne, pushing his way past. "I'll take that. Tell the commander thank you."
The messenger looked Kres up and down in appreciation. "Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you."
Vohne let out a growl and yanked him back into the room.
"Get your own human."
With a snarl, he slammed the door in the messenger's face.
"Nice." Kres folded his arms and glared at the Thresl. "If you're going to pretend to be human, you have to learn to have better manners."
Vohne narrowed his golden eyes. "Why would I want to do that?"
"So people don't give in to the urge to shoot you with their side arms."
"Not that." Vohne waved a hand as if swatting away a pesky fly. "Why would I want to pretend to be human? I am a Thresl. I am not human and never will be. Despite my form, I will always be a beast inside." The creature gave Kres a toothy smile. "Don't worry so much about what other people think."
With that sage advice, the creature walked past Kres into the bathroom. He shut the door behind him.
"I am in so much trouble," Kres groaned. Rubbing his face with his hands, he finished dressing, making sure his uniform was tidy and his boots had a nice shine. He was certain that by the end of the day he'd need as many extra points as he could get with his commander. The stress he'd lost in the shower came back with a vengeance. Grumbling about naked sexy Thresls, Kres opened the package the messenger brought, pulled out the clothes, and laid them out for the man-cat to find when he got out of the shower.
* * * *
Commander Tiller sat behind his desk as he regarded them with his cool gray eyes. His beautiful Thresl, Muir, gave them a nod as they entered. Kres nodded back. Vohne gave a low growl. Muir tilted her head in acknowledgement of his alpha status.
Kres resisted the urge to roll his eyes since Tiller was watching him, but it was close. It would take some time to get used to the pecking order of Thresls. They appeared to take it seriously if Muir's behavior was any indication.
"Please be seated." Kres settled in the chair on the left. He wasn't surprised when Vohne stood behind him instead of taking a seat. Sitting would be too laid back for the Thresl. After all, how was he going to protect Kres from all those imaginary dangers if he relaxed enough to sit down?
"Piers, I'm not going to tiptoe around the problem. Your Thresl is dangerous. I've never seen one transform that quickly before. The faster they tranform the more powerful the Thresl." His cool eyes looked Vohne over from head to toe. "I've also never seen one so big. There are a lot of people who are going to want your Thresl."
"B-but I thought now that we were bonded we had to stay together?" He didn't want to sound like a whiny child, but he was just now getting used to the idea of having this large creature follow him around.
"That's why they will try to grab you. Your Thresl will do anything if they have you under their control."
Kres took a deep breath. "Won't Vohne just kill them?"
Tiller gave him a disapproving look. "You really don't know much about the Thresl, do you?"
"What he doesn't know I can teach him," Vohne growled at his back.
The commander looked them both over. Sighing, he reached into his desk and pulled out a thick book. He slammed it onto his desk. "Take this and look it over. It should tell you everything you need to know about bonding with a Thresl, but don't think just because you're bonded no one can use him."
Kres frowned. "What would they use him for?"
Tiller looked Vohne up and down. "Yours they would use as an assassin. Thresls are excellent killers especially if they are trying to get their mate back. Even if they don't have you, the promise of reuniting the two of you will keep him under their control for a while.
"It is your job to protect him as much as he protects you. I'm putting the pair of you on special training task force. You will have limited contact with other people until your bond is secure. The stronger the bond the better you will be able to sense the other if you get separated. Understand?"
"I thought we were already bonded," Kres said.
Tiller smiled. "Read the book. It'll explain everything." Kres picked up the book, more than certain the complicated question of his feelings for the man-cat wouldn't be answered inside.
Kres took the Thresl to the cafeteria. He couldn't help looking at everyone he passed with suspicion. It disturbed him to learn that someone could still try to steal his Thresl or kidnap him to control Vohne. Possessiveness sat oddly in his chest when he looked at the man-cat. He still wasn't quite sure what to do with the creature, but he certainly didn't want anyone else taking him either.
"It will be all right." Vohne rubbed a reassuring hand down Kres's back. He almost dropped the book.
"Um, thanks. I… I just thought once you were bonded you were safe from poachers. I mean, I'm sorry you didn't get to your destination, but I don't want you stolen either. What if someone takes you?"
Vohne gave him a wide smile, exposing all of his extra sharp teeth. "I'm hoping someone tries. Then they can learn the Thresl truth."
"What is that?" Kres was positive that there was more going on to this conversation than appeared on the surface, and he was almost as certain he didn't want to learn what it was.
"Kres!" Zander ran up to him like his new best friend. Vohne gave an unfriendly growl.
"Hi, Zander." He saw Zander's Thresl plodding behind him. The animal was more caramel-colored, several shades lighter than Vohne was in that form. He gave a friendly smile towards the creature, but its eyes were focused on Vohne. The creature tilted its head submissively. With a satisfied nod, Vohne turned his attention to Zander.
"Wow, I heard your Thresl converted early, but shit, he's big." The awe in Zander's voice made Kres laugh. He liked Zander and hoped they could become friends. "Hey, did you hear what happened with Brice?"
Kres leaned forward as the other man lowered his voice. "He was arrested and thrown in the brig. He tried to steal back that Thresl he'd bought even after the commander said they weren't a match."
A chill went down Kres's spine. Brice reminded him a lot of Barley. Maybe there was a law, if your name started with a B, you had to be a total asshole. Kres reviewed the people he knew whose name started with B and
decided it was just a fluke.
"How did he get caught?"
"The Thresl bit him. When he started screaming, the MPs came and discovered he was trying to steal the Thresl. It's a felony, but his rich father will probably get him off."
"Probably." Kres bitterly reflected from his own history that was usually the case.
"What's the next step in your training?" Zander asked, regarding the pair.
"We're supposed to bond." He waved his book at Zander. "The commander gave me this to review."
"Huh." Zander looked at the book curiously. "I wonder if there are diagrams."
"What are you talking about?"
Zander gave him a wide smile, his electric blue eyes lit with laughter. "There's only one way to truly bond with a Thresl."
Kres had a bad feeling he already knew what it was. The hand settling on his lower back reinforced the feeling. It stroked temptingly close to his ass as Zander spoke.
"You have to have sex." Zander's hot gaze looked the Thresl up and down. "Maybe a lot of sex."
"Crap."
Vohne let out a low rumble behind him. Apparently converting to human hadn't changed his ability to purr.
Kres gave an involuntary shudder. The thought of being intimate with the gorgeous creature behind him overwhelmed his senses. What the hell had he gotten into? He'd gone from thinking he'd never have sex again to discovering it was a requirement for the safety of the being that had already claimed him.
Vohne's hand stroked up and down his back.
"Why don't you join us for lunch? I was going to get a plate and sit over there." Zander pointed to an empty table in the corner of the room.
"Go sit. I will get you some sustenance," Vohne offered.
"Are you sure?" Kres wasn't certain he wanted to chance letting Vohne get his food, but the look he got said the Thresl wanted to do this for him.
"Go." Vohne gave him a little nudge.