by Jools Louise
John smiled back. “Don’t be sorry,” he said. “I won’t cry if you mention Jethro.” He paused, then smirked. “Might throw my toys around later,” he added wryly. “Jay and I have just spent several hours with our delightful sister. She’s a handful and a half.”
“Peas in a pod,” Ryder said dryly, grinning. “Juliana is definitely the female version of you, only more fiery.”
“Neurotic, I’d say,” Sherman added. “John isn’t neurotic.”
“Certifiable, though,” Cullen cut in, laughing.
“Don’t tease him too much, we have to work in the same space,” Slug, one of the Spirit Ink wolverines interjected laconically. “He burns things when he’s irritated.”
“Here we go again,” Ryder drawled sardonically. “The kiddies are growing restless.”
“Back to the meeting,” Drew said, rolling his eyes. “I have a couple of things to add.”
They all waited.
“Buried Treasure is to remain in place for the foreseeable future,” Drew said. “The website is generating quite a bit of traffic, and we’re thinking it could be useful to see emerging trends and patterns. I’ve logged activity from military intelligence, not surprisingly, plus, disturbingly, from political entities who are gearing up for the next election, here in the USA.”
“We’ve also set up the foundation,” Cullen continued. “Starting with Sage, we’ve identified several worthy cases, beginning with our refugees from Russia. Jay mentioned you had a similar idea, John, even though we know you spoke it without realizing the value of it. Shifter Welfare Society. We’re making it a reality, for those who need extra support.”
“Didn’t I hear there may be some in the group of Russians who may need extra attention?” Douglas asked. “If I remember right, Ryder, you had reservations about their loyalties to our kind.”
“Yes.” Ryder rejoined the discussion. “We’ve got Dima and Ice on that. Dima has his own contacts, under the radar, and is tapping his sources for possibilities. We have two individuals that we’re keeping a closer eye on.”
They all nodded.
“To conclude business for this evening, I have news on Daniel’s little helpers,” Drew cut in. He tapped his tablet, and the screens changed to a view of the prison where Daniel was being held, then an inside look at one wing. Solitary confinement.
“I need to keep Daniel away from general population for now until we decide what to do with him, so I arranged to have him transferred to solitary,” Drew said. “He’s providing vital clues to his network, and we’re closing the net around him. Once that happens, there’s only one decision left.”
“Who neutralizes him?” John asked flatly.
Drew nodded, glancing at Sherman. “Exactly. He can’t be allowed to continue, can he?”
Sherman inclined his head slowly. “I can pay him a visit,” he said. “I’d be happy to,” he growled fiercely.
“No. It shouldn’t be you,” Drew insisted. “You’d end up back in prison. For life. That can’t happen. You have a family, a mate.” They argued back and forth for a bit.
“Guys, that’s a moot point,” Ryder told them. “The decision isn’t yours, I’m afraid.”
They glared at him. “He’s our father,” they said in unison.
“Still not up to you,” Ryder said, smirking. “You don’t get to play vigilante, no matter who he is.”
Drew felt relieved, despite himself. He wanted Daniel dealt with, but he was happier to cause him grief electronically. He frowned.
They called it a night and filtered out of the room, heading their separate ways.
Drew lingered, checking a few things on the secure system, not content to leave a loose end as dangerous as Daniel. He knew what he had to do. And sent a couple of messages. Daniel’s reign was about to be curtailed. For good.
* * * *
Callahan moaned softly, lost in pleasure as his mates made love to him for the third time that night. Drew had come home late, in the early hours, and sneaked into bed, surprising him and Vince by sucking them off.
“Making up for lost time?” Vince asked, chuckling softly when Drew started the sex games again, stroking him intimately.
“He’s insatiable,” Callahan said breathlessly.
“I’d like to try something,” Drew said suddenly, lifting his head from Cally’s dick. “I want us both to make love to Vince.”
“Double dick attack?” Callahan asked, then laughed when Vince groaned helplessly.
“Oh yeah, let’s treat the big guy to a double dose of cream.”
Vince rolled to the side as Drew and Callahan lay flat on the bed, legs locked together, dicks touching, creating an extra-wide rod for Vince to sit on.
“There you go, luscious, wrap your ass around that.” Drew laughed.
Vince licked his lips, then crouched over the tempting prong. Lowering himself, he threw his head back, grimacing in ecstasy and pain as he took both cocks inside him, sinking down until he bottomed out, fully impaled. After their hectic sex marathon, he didn’t need to be stretched anymore.
“Damn, that stings,” he panted. “I may need a cold compress after this.”
“Poor baby,” Cally drawled. “Quit whining, bitch, and start working our dicks.”
They all chuckled, then shared groans of pleasure as Vince moved, carefully at first, then with more vigor. “There ya go, Vin. See how well we treat you? Sex and a workout, all in one sexy package.” Drew was on form.
He grunted, flipping Drew off for his snark. “I still need to claim you properly,” he reminded his lover. “You haven’t bottomed yet.”
Drew moaned softly. “Nobody’s asked me, yet,” he said, clutching at the sheets as Vince began to up the tempo, literally bouncing on the pair of cocks. “You want this ass, though, you’ll have to work harder for it,” he taunted.
Callahan shared a look with Vince and winked. Their lover was about to get claimed. By both of them. A challenge such as that deserved a swift response. Vince eased off them, then flipped Drew to his back, grinning when Drew yelped in surprise.
“You asked for it,” Vince teased, slapping Drew’s uptilted butt. He began to prepare Drew with one finger, then two, scissoring and stretching Drew’s virgin ass. Drew moaned like a bitch in heat, writhing blissfully under Vince’s loving touch.
Callahan moved in behind Vince, plunging into his mate’s succulent ass, and began moving steadily, fucking his lover with long, slow strokes. Vince reached back, cupping Callahan’s head and turned for a kiss. They smooched hotly, then Vince replaced fingers with cock and slid into Drew’s sultry depths, groaning loudly.
“Damn, man,” Drew whimpered, his legs splayed wide, breathing hard.
“Breathe, love,” Callahan told him. “And relax. Vince isn’t a small boy.”
“You’re telling me?” Drew yelped. “I think my ass just split in two.”
“Not yet,” Vince responded tautly. “Give me a moment, though, and I’ll let Cally fuck us both into the mattress.”
“Let me?” Callahan drawled, rolling his eyes, then jabbed Vince, driving his lover deeper into Drew. “Honey, you don’t really have a say in it,” he added, and thrust harder, fucking both mates. He decided he loved being in the driving seat, in control of both his mates and promised to make the most of the opportunity.
He surged back and forth, gripping Vince’s hips as he plowed Vince relentlessly. No thoughts of his past entered his head. No sick images of what he’d had to do. Making love to his mates. Claiming them over and over, knowing they were meant to be together, for always, made his heart sing. He loved the teasing banter, the cheekiness of Drew’s humor, the more cynical tinge to Vince’s amusement. He heard Drew’s helpless moans, Vince’s growly groans, and knew he’d found his own buried treasure. And with Vince, it had taken some time to get there. But so worth the effort.
Roaring, he climaxed suddenly, undone by the silken warmth surrounding his dick, the scents and sounds of his lovers lost in ecsta
sy sending him over the edge. Lunging, he sank his fangs into Vince’s shoulder and felt his lover mimic the action with Drew. The other two came in unison, adding to the stench of spent passion.
Finally, exhausted, they all collapsed on the bed, cuddling drowsily.
“I love you, Cally, Vince,” Drew murmured softly in the aftermath. “This was what I dreamed of when I thought about being mated.”
“What? Sex on tap and having your ass split in two?” Vince drawled teasingly, earning himself a laugh. “I know this may come as a shock. Given my previous activities. But…I love you, too, Drew and Cally.” He smiled widely. “Even if I had to have someone shoot me to find that out.”
“I love you, too, Drew and Vince,” Callahan vowed, kissing his mates hungrily. “I guess we’ve all been through the fire. Now it’s time to learn all about being mated.”
“I couldn’t wish for better mates,” Drew confessed, without his usual snark. “I checked on Maizie earlier, by the way,” he said, changing subjects. “She has a shiner, a bump the size of a goose egg on her noggin, and says that whenever we need a bodyguard, to count her out.”
“Because of the danger?” Vince asked.
“Nah. Because we’re all sex fiends. She says she’s aged before her time, listening to us caterwauling all the time.” Drew sniggered.
“I’m glad we managed to get an apartment in the same building as Bryce,” Callahan said. “I felt bad for moving out and leaving him on his own.”
“Not for long, judging by Rankin’s antics.” Vince laughed. “That man’s completely smitten.”
“So is Bryce,” Callahan agreed, chuckling. “He’s never been wooed before. Rankin must have bought out the sweet store the other day. So much candy.”
“Yeah. Bryce is a little bemused. But he’s loving the attention,” Drew added, yawning widely. “Now, if you don’t mind, I need my beauty sleep. Being claimed knocks the stuffing out of a guy.”
“Bryce is diabetic,” Callahan said dryly. “I can’t wait to see his face when he sees all that sugar.”
They laughed loudly at that.
“I’m bushed,” Callahan added, yawning, as well, his eyes drooping.
“It’s all about stamina,” Vince told him, nipping his lower lip. Then he cracked a yawn, too. “Although, after the sex epic we just had tonight, I’d have to agree with you. I’m worn out”
“’Night,” Callahan said sleepily. Then they all drifted off, sated, loved up, and eager for the new dawn, and their new relationship as a fully mated threesome.
Epilogue
Daniel Steadman heard the clang of the locks disengaging, and the thick steel door slid open. He frowned, observing his visitor. He didn’t recognize the guard.
“Come with me,” the sentry ordered after chaining Daniel up in leg and arm shackles, then shoved him impatiently along the corridor. Daniel glared at the man, who remained mute through the walk to the visitor’s area. He was led into a small room, and a probation officer stood there nervously. The man sported a nice bruise on his cheek, and claw marks down one side of his neck.
“They found me out,” Jensen Burton stated. “I’ve been sent with a message,” he added. In his hand was a letter. His hand trembled as he held it out.
Daniel took it impatiently, tearing the seal and opening the missive. A cloud of dust exploded into his nostrils, and he inhaled without thinking. He read the note.
“Bon voyage. Hell’s calling for you. DS.”
He scowled. “Who’s DS?” he asked.
Jensen eyed him with some disgust. “Drew Steadman. Your son.”
Daniel snarled, then coughed. And coughed again. And again. He couldn’t stop, the hacking ripping at his chest and vocal cords, preventing oxygen reaching his lungs. What the fuck? He fell to the floor, clutching his throat.
“Enjoy hell,” Burton said, turning away. “I should have done this years ago, but I was too afraid.”
Daniel glared at the man and lunged for him, only to find his limbs didn’t work. He felt a paralysis creep up his body, taking over every part of him, rendering him catatonic. His last sight before the paralysis entered his brain and optic nerves was the letter from his son. Bon voyage. Fucking…he stopped breathing and collapsed dead on the floor.
* * * *
Drew stood staring down at the prison complex, sitting in his sporty red Camaro, and watched as Jensen Burton exited the imposing structure. A black van screeched to a halt beside him, causing him to yelp in fear, then he was bundled into the back of it by four beefy, suited individuals, resembling characters from the movie Men In Black.
His cell phone rang. “It’s done,” the guard announced briefly, then hung up.
Drew closed his eyes, looking to the heavens. He was a murderer now. Or an executioner, however you wanted to look at it. He’d sent someone to deliver a very deadly message. And he didn’t regret doing it. He had to protect his family. They were vulnerable as long as Daniel lived. The poison he’d just used was the same one found at the Fortress site in Scotland, something that worked effectively against shifters. Sheikh Farid had been most helpful. He’d had his own issues with letting Daniel remain alive.
Drew stared around, studying the scenery, so beautiful against the ugliness of his thoughts.
The first shoots of spring were emerging, green and vibrant, heralding the new season. After such a long winter, it was a blessing. And he felt as though a weight was now gone. There were so many obstacles in the future, enemies who wanted to cow the shifter community, but for the moment they were staying one step ahead of the charge.
Firing up the six-liter engine, Drew drove back home to his mates, the loves of his life, and his family. Probably Ryder would know what had been done. To hell with him. Drew was a Warrior now, and warriors protected their own. If Ryder Black had a problem with it, Drew would find new and exciting ways to fuck up his cyberspace.
He grinned. He’d probably do that anyway.
THE END
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