Felix snorted, lines of concern digging into his harsh countenance. “At least they’re males. We have a daughter. I’m getting gray hair thinking about her dating and all the randy Middlemarch males.”
“You would know,” Tomasine, his petite mate retorted, making everyone laugh again.
When the laughter faded, Saber raised his glass. “Welcome to Rohan, Ambar and Kiran.”
“Welcome,” everyone said, raising their glasses.
Emily moved to her mate’s side, and he slid an arm around her waist, his hand resting on the bulge of her stomach. They smiled at each other, and Rohan started to feel like a voyeur. They had the kind of relationship he wanted. He felt a hand on his knee and drew a sharp breath. Rohan turned his head and met Kiran’s intent gaze. Rohan slipped his hand over Kiran’s.
Saber grinned. “We’re also excited about the arrival of our child. We’re open to babysitting offers.” Joy blazed on Saber’s face along with deep love for his mate. Rohan saw Emily smile at Saber, his return look full of the same happiness.
“To Emily and Saber,” Felix said.
“To Emily and Saber,” everyone repeated.
Isabella grinned. “Not long to wait now.”
“Gavin said late November, early December,” Emily said.
Ambar leaned over to speak to Kiran and Rohan. “This is a family celebration. Maybe we should go.”
“I heard that,” Emily said. “You’re not leaving. We wouldn’t have invited you if we didn’t want you here. Besides, I want to hear about these eligible men. Were there any who looked tempting?”
“I didn’t see any tempting ones,” Kiran said.
“You’re not meant to look,” Rohan said before he thought better of the words. He needn’t have feared censure. The shifters merely appeared amused, judging by their grins.
“There’s no harm in looking,” Emily said. “It’s when the touching starts you need to worry.”
“Emily!” Tomasine said.
Rohan didn’t listen to the rest of the laughter and good-natured insults. He was too busy concentrating on Kiran. “You looked at other men.”
“Yes. I wondered if my…injuries and gratitude were blinding me.”
Pain seared through Rohan, slicing straight through the warmth and companionship he’d felt earlier. He stood abruptly and set his drink aside.
“No wait,” Kiran said. “You didn’t give me time to finish.” He stood and grabbed Rohan’s hand. “Emily,” he murmured, stepping away from his fear for the first time since their arrival at the Mitchells. “Is it all right if we explore your garden?”
“Of course. Feel free,” she said. “Saber, it’s time to put on the steaks. Can I have some volunteers to help bring out the salads and plates? Luckily, the weather is cooperating. It’s been a very mild winter.”
Thanks to Emily everyone burst into action, taking the focus off them.
Kiran’s hand tightened on his and tugged him to the far end of the garden. They left the cobblestone area, stepping onto springy grass. Over to their right, several vegetable beds of early lettuce, beetroot and broccoli obviously provided the family with plenty of fresh food.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Kiran said. “I wanted to make sure the things I’ve been feeling around you weren’t an anomaly.”
“What things?”
“You know what things,” Kiran said.
“Tell me again so we’re both clear.” Rohan didn’t attempt to hide the snap in his voice.
“When I’m around you I feel as if I’m going to jump from my skin. I want to touch you, kiss you. Fuck you. I think about that a lot. I needed to be sure in my own mind.”
Rohan’s shoulders slumped with relief. “So you’re not going to leave me? You’re not going to look at other men? Or women?”
Kiran’s smiled. “I’ll stay as long as you want me to.” The smile faltered. “You might not want me once my memory returns.” His unease returned, his throat working in a swallow. “If my memory returns.”
The forlorn note in his voice pulled Rohan out of the lingering jealousy. “It doesn’t matter to me if you remember your past or not. We can make new memories together.”
“What did I do to deserve you?”
“It’s fate. Kismet,” Rohan said. “I’m not about to screw with that.”
* * * * *
“Can I sleep with you tonight?” Kiran asked.
Rohan grasped his hand, drawn by the diffidence in Kiran’s face and voice. “Yeah.” He turned to his sister. “Ambar, you have a problem with Kiran and I sharing a room?”
“No problem.” She paused outside her bedroom door, her mouth curling up in an impish grin. “Try to keep the noise down, huh?” She slipped inside her bedroom and closed the door. They both heard her chuckle, and the sound warmed Rohan as much as Kiran’s request.
“I’m glad your bedroom is at the other end of the passage,” Kiran said.
“Yeah, we could always buy her some earplugs.” Lust swept his body as his gaze strummed over Kiran. “I don’t want to talk about Ambar.” His words emerged clipped. Abrupt.
“What do you want to talk about?”
“What I want doesn’t involve talking. Your mouth will be too busy for talking.”
Kiran nodded, the color in his cheeks deepening a fraction. “Works for me.”
Unable to resist, Rohan backed him against the wall and started kissing him. Rohan loved the softness of Kiran’s mouth, the way he sometimes took boldly while at others he let Rohan take and seemed to enjoy the passive role. Rohan ran his tongue across Kiran’s bottom lip, knowing the rough texture of his tongue would start Kiran’s nerves hopping.
Kiran groaned, his hands rising to spear his fingers through Rohan’s hair. He gripped him tight, fingers tugging to the point of pain. Rohan growled and nipped his lip. The coppery taste of blood brought him back to his senses, and he jerked away from Kiran, worry pounding him. Kiran didn’t move. His eyes seemed unfocused, his color pale. If Rohan didn’t know better, he’d call it shock.
“Damn, I’m sorry. You okay? Let me see.” Rohan moved cautiously, not wanting to frighten Kiran but needing to reassure himself that he hadn’t bitten too hard. He didn’t think he had. The bleeding wasn’t too bad.
“Will you two get a room?” Ambar shouted. “I can hear you. And you’d better be talking about hands or something respectable because I’m coming out to grab my book from the kitchen.”
Ambar’s shout pulled Kiran back to the present. A shudder went through him and he blinked.
“You okay?” Rohan asked, putting his hands on Kiran’s shoulders. He squeezed carefully, taking care to temper his strength.
“What happened?”
“I got carried away and bit your lip. When you tasted the blood, you zoned out. Worried me, man.”
Ambar’s bedroom door opened and she cautiously poked her head out. “Good. You’re decent.” She scuttled out, wearing a long pale blue robe, and returned a couple of minutes later bearing a romance with a lurid cover. “They’re about to do the deed,” she announced, waving the book. “I have to know what happens next.”
“As long as you don’t get any ideas,” Rohan muttered.
“Oh I have ideas,” Ambar purred. “Putting them into practice might take a bit longer.” The door shut behind her with a loud click.
“Your sister is going to lead some man on a real dance,” Kiran said.
Relief hit Rohan, and he tugged Kiran down the passage toward his bedroom. “It will be fun watching from the sidelines, but I almost feel as if I should warn prospective males. She’s come out of her shell since my parents died. They were very strict, particularly with Ambar.”
Once inside his bedroom, Rohan shut the door and turned on the light. He stalked past the pile of boxes and the suitcase he hadn’t had a chance to unpack and spun around to face Kiran. “You didn’t answer my question. Did I hurt you?”
“No.” Kiran averted his gaze.
R
ohan bit back the retort tickling his lips and dragged in a deep breath instead. “Have you remembered something?”
“Yeah. I don’t like blood.”
Okay. Fair enough. Damn, his cock ached something fierce. Rohan resisted the urge to yank on his jeans. “Do you still want to sleep with me?”
“Yes.”
But he’d killed the mood. Kiran wasn’t in the mood for sex now.
Cursing under his breath, Rohan removed his shirt and the rest of his clothes and footwear. After a quick trip to the adjoining bathroom to brush his teeth, he pulled back the covers and switched on the bedside lamp.
Kiran watched Rohan prowl across the room, noting the tension in his cock. His stomach turned a slow somersault while he studied Rohan. Things had been going fine, he’d enjoyed Rohan touching and kissing him. Until the blood. The taste of it had brought terror, the color of red shrouding his sight and dragging him into a silent abyss. Ambar had wrenched him back with her loud shouts through the door, and now Rohan was treating him like a leper.
Rohan stretched out on the bed and glanced at him. “You want me to leave the light on for you?”
“It’s fine. I can see without.” Kiran walked through to their shared bathroom and cleaned his teeth. What the hell had happened to him? He didn’t understand. He’d dreamed about blood and hadn’t flipped out the way he had with Rohan. With his tongue, he explored the cut on the inside of his bottom lip. Tender. A little sore but it wasn’t bleeding.
Kiran headed back to Rohan’s bedroom and hesitated at the doorway, wondering if he should return to his own room. Rohan was pissed at him, and he couldn’t blame him. Erratic behavior. Hell, he had that down.
“Are you coming to bed, or are you going to stare at me all night?” The grumpy voice cut through the dark and made him jump.
“I’m deciding,” Kiran said in a firm voice.
“Don’t think too hard. You’ll keep me awake.”
“Why are you angry with me?” Kiran thought he knew and wanted confirmation.
“I’m not angry with you.”
“But you are angry.”
“I’m furious with myself for pushing too hard. It can’t be easy for you, not knowing who you are, and all I can think of is fucking you. What you need now is a friend not a lover.”
Kiran swallowed. “Can’t I have both?”
Rohan turned over to face him, his eyes glowing in the dark. He didn’t try to hide his feline nature, and that reassured Kiran. He stripped rapidly and climbed into the bed, sliding over until their naked bodies touched.
Rohan’s arms wrapped around him, and Kiran sighed, the rough breath sounding like a purr of contentment.
“We’ll slow down, like we decided at the start, get to know one another.”
That wasn’t what Kiran wanted, and although he suspected in the past he would have accepted the decision made by another, he didn’t want to today. Or maybe it was his dream that had affected him. In the dream he’d been a slave. He hadn’t liked the feeling.
“No,” he said, the word loud in the silent room. “I don’t want slow. I want to go with the moment, do what feels right.”
“And if I do something that scares you?”
Kiran pressed a kiss to Rohan’s chest, drawing the other man’s scent deep into his lungs. “I’ll get over it.”
“But if I scar you for life?”
“Gavin said my memory might come back, but what if it doesn’t? I can’t creep through life frightened of something in my past. Something I might never remember.”
“I hear you,” Rohan said, his warm breath puffing over Kiran’s neck.
Kiran had difficulty suppressing his reaction, and his body started to react to the touch, blood filling his cock. He rocked his hips, letting out a groan when his shaft slid across Rohan’s belly. It felt so good he did it again, this time leaving a wet trail.
“Yes.” Kiran’s eyes closed while he soaked up the pleasure. He felt Rohan kiss him on the chin, a soft open-mouthed caress designed to soothe. Instead it ramped up the urgency between them. Their bodies strained against each other, hands clenched and hips arched, aligned so their cocks brushed and slid together, the friction bringing heated groans.
“Are you sure you want this?” Rohan asked.
“Yes.” Kiran tensed, worried Rohan would back away again. It was the last thing he wanted. He kissed him, only relaxing when Rohan clutched his shoulders and started to participate without hesitation. Relief filled Kiran, and he relaxed, settling in to enjoy the experience. When Rohan reached down to grasp his cock, he paused. “Both,” he said. “Get both of us off at the same time.”
Rohan didn’t hesitate, rubbing their dicks together, using tight, hard strokes.
Pleasure soared through Kiran, making him feel as if he were flying. The pressure in his balls increased, the musky scent and harsh breathing drawing them together in a sensual bubble. Rohan’s hand stroked across the crown and the tension inside Kiran snapped. His hips canted upward, and he let out a low moan as the orgasmic buzz hurled him into ecstasy.
“Damn, you look hot when you do that,” Rohan growled.
The continual pump of Rohan’s hand across the head of Kiran’s cock was almost too much for him, but he didn’t protest. Instead, he dipped his head and kissed across Rohan’s chest, dragging his tongue over a nipple.
A hungry noise escaped Rohan, and Kiran immediately repeated the move, scraping his teeth across the nub this time. Rohan tensed and seconds later hot spurts of semen splashed against Kiran’s stomach. Kiran pressed against Rohan’s chest, ignoring the uncomfortable stickiness. He was right where he wanted to be.
* * * * *
Mumbai, India
David Marsters exited the limousine with his briefcase in hand and a spring in his step. Away from home for a month in London on business, he was looking forward to a rest. And sex, he thought, his body tightening with anticipation. He’d tried not to think about his slave, but the man had burrowed into his heart. This slave wasn’t like the others. He didn’t show fear and he followed every order. A slow smile bloomed. The sex, the pleasure…
The time away from India had been necessary, and knowing the authorities wouldn’t approve of his proclivities, he’d had to leave his slaves at home. Of course he’d arranged prostitutes to fill his needs, but it wasn’t the same as having his favorite slave at his beck and call for his personal pleasure.
By the time he reached the side door into the house, a servant waited to take his briefcase and to see to his comfort. The scents of spices and flowers, the slower cadence of life in Mumbai eased the last of his tension.
“Have a bath drawn and send my slave to tend me.”
“Yes, sir.”
David took the stairs to the master bedroom two at a time. Inside, he stripped off his suit jacket and tossed it on the end of the bed. Discarding the rest of his clothes and footwear, he strode to the window and looked out at the garden. His laugh filled the room when he realized he was nervous. Because of a slave!
A timid knock on the door made him turn. His smile died, replaced by a scowl.
“Where is my slave?”
The woman cowered at his tone. “He…he is gone.”
A red haze speared David’s mind. With two giant steps he was on the woman, his hands around her neck. He squeezed and tossed her aside when she started to gasp and struggle.
Naked, he took a few steps before returning to his room to grab a robe. There was an explanation for this. He should have asked about the slaves when he rang. He’d wanted to but had refrained, not liking to show weakness to his younger brothers. They nipped at his heels like a pack of rabid wolves, each of them ready to seize control and step into his shoes. The last thing he wanted them to know was how much he cared for the slave, how he craved the man’s touch, hungered for it.
“Ah, David. You are home.” His youngest brother passed him in the passage, the best of all his four siblings.
“Yes. I must see to my
staff.”
His brother frowned. “There was some trouble while you were away.” He glanced over his shoulder and drew David into a guest chamber.
When David went to speak, his brother stopped him. Mystified, David followed him into the bathroom and watched him turn both the shower and the tap on before whispering to him.
“I don’t have much time. The others are going to tell you several of the slaves died when a virus passed through the slave quarters. It’s not true. Something happened. I don’t know what, but the slave—the one you favor most—disappeared one night. I didn’t like to ask questions. They slaughtered other slaves and kept the rest locked up, saying the virus was contagious.”
David kept a tight lid on his anger. This time his brothers had gone too far. For years he’d ignored their criminal dealings. Besides, it wasn’t as if he could cast stones. Following the laws of the land didn’t make for comfortable living, and he liked the niceties of life.
“Why are you telling me? And don’t you think you’re paranoid? This is our home. It’s swept regularly for listening devices.”
“Can’t be too careful.” A flicker of discomfort crossed his youngest brother’s face and he glanced away. “I don’t like living this way. It’s not right and I intend to change. I’m leaving today. I wanted to say goodbye.”
“You’re going on holiday?” David stared hard at his brother, willing direct eye contact again. “When will you be back?”
“I’m not coming back. I’m moving into an apartment.”
“That’s great.” The set of his brother’s face told David he meant it. “But what’s the big secret? Why are you intending to sneak away?”
“The others are out of control. They have no concept of right or wrong, and by staying here I’m showing approval of their actions. I’m not willing to lie any longer.” His younger brother shut off the water, signaling their conversation had ended. He left the guest room and walked away without looking back. David watched until he disappeared, uneasy with his words and behavior. Despite having the same father, he didn’t know his younger brother well because of the fifteen years between them.
The brothers between them were closer in years, close period since they spent all their time together.
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