Learning to Love [Half-Demon Mates 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour ManLove)

by Sydney Lain

  Dr. Fox clapped his hands. “Much better. Don’t get too eager. I want a few alive.”

  Gunner wasn’t eager. They weren’t capable of being eager. He almost sighed. Another test to gauge his reaction.

  “Split up and search the west side of the city. Most of the wolf sightings are there. Go in alone. Stay in contact with each other. Don’t engage one of these animals. Call for backup. The wolf shifters don’t know we’re here. If one escapes, we lose that advantage.”

  Dr. Fox wasn’t stupid. It was a solid plan. They’d be close enough to support each cell member. Gunner needed to find the wolf shifter and warn him before he ended up as a specimen in Dr. Fox’s lab.

  * * * *

  Shea was confused. More confused than the morning he woke up naked in the woods and no longer human. The wolf that had attacked him had looked like an animal. He didn’t know that shifters existed or that they could infect humans, but his life wasn’t a movie. That nightmare was real.

  It had taken a while for the truth to sink in. Excuses like “had too much to drink” or “went for a stroll on a forty degree night without clothes” just didn’t work. He tried to deny the truth and came up with two possible explanations—abducted by aliens or shifted into a wolf. At the time, he went with aliens. That sounded so much better. Let the little gray people probe away. Then he felt the beast lingering inside, awake and howling just beneath the surface.

  His life was one large complication. How the hell did he end up with two mates? He was new to this wolf thing, so maybe his nose didn’t work right. Was it possible for two men to smell like a mate? His wolf howled inside. He told the animal to shut up. Right now, he didn’t need the furry critter’s input. The animal wanted out to claim and be claimed. If he let it, the beast would hump Viktor’s leg. While Shea wouldn’t mind rubbing against that delicious body, he wasn’t going that far. Then something clicked. This had to be trick. Viktor wasn’t human. He smelled of power mixed with earthly musk and vanilla. Shea took a step back, planning to keep a lot of space between them.

  Viktor was a half-demon. He had heard of shifters, demons, elves and ghouls. He’d even seen a vampire and had a conversation with the bloodsucker while the man drank a mug full of a sticky red substance. Okay, it was probably blood, but he didn’t know that for sure. All he could think about at the time was that it could’ve been worse. That was what he told himself every time the wolf invaded his life. That beast was so much better than being undead. At least shifters were still alive.

  Half-demons were a little different. Nonhumans whispered about them. They were cold-hearted and powerful. Viktor made male underwear models look ugly, but he was dangerous. Could this be a trick? Maybe Viktor pretended to be his mate to get into his pants.

  Shea was sure of three things. First, a shifter had a mate, not mates. He’d heard of mated couples, not mated threesomes. Second, Viktor was arrogant. He probably thought Shea would drop his pants, lean against the wall and offer his backside. Sorry, Vik. The half-demon made his cock twitch in excitement and left him craving his touch, but Shea wasn’t easy. Third, and the most annoying, Viktor was rich, disgustingly and annoyingly rich. It was like, “Hey, I can afford to buy anything and instead of helping a man out by purchasing a phone, let me waste my money on a long expensive jacket that brings out my muscular physique and costs more than the poor phone salesman will make in five years.”

  There had to be a mistake. This was all wrong. Shea sniffed again, trying to ignore the sweat and grime. Damn. He was too dirty to get a good whiff. He’d have to get closer. Maybe it was better not knowing. Shea preferred the distance. It kept his fingers from wandering down Viktor’s chest. The wolf howled inside, demanding that he stake a claim. Not going to happen.

  Viktor oozed power and he fought the urge to submit. If he’d been a wolf, the animal would’ve been on his back exposing his belly and neck. Yep, the beast was utterly embarrassing.

  “You’re awfully quiet,” Viktor said.

  Quiet? Maybe he just didn’t want to talk to him. Shea took a deep breath. “Look, I don’t know the game you’re playing, but I’m not interested. So use those combat boots and walk the other way.” He sounded so reasonable. He mentally patted his own back.

  “Is that what you really want?” Viktor challenged.

  He really wanted to spend the night getting very close. Not going to happen. Butterflies fluttered in his belly as his body anticipated more. He growled. Butterflies were such a feminine reaction. Maybe he should go home and drown his sorrows with an ice cream sundae topped with whipped cream and a cherry. Then maybe he’d paint his toenails red. Actually, he wouldn’t mind red toenails, but right now that wasn’t important.

  “You don’t want me to go.” Viktor stepped closer and backed him against the wall, again.

  This time he took in a good whiff. He still smelled like mate. Shea’s body tingled, nipples hardening just from being close. He almost gave in right then, but those arrogant ice blue eyes kept the wolf locked in its cage. Once it was free, Shea would demand sex and probably want to be fucked for days. But he could resist those urges as long as he stayed a man. His knees felt weak as if challenging him.

  “You’re so full of yourself,” Shea said in a husky, soft tone that belonged in bed, not on the streets.

  Viktor gave him a knowing smile. “Soon you’ll be full of me, too.”

  Oh, he didn’t just say that. Every sign might scream that Viktor was his mate, but Shea wasn’t a slave to some unexplained pull. His heart thumped faster. Adrenaline. Right? He licked his lips as if waiting for a kiss. No. That wasn’t it. The night was cold and his lips were dry. When he opened his mouth, nothing came out. He couldn’t deny the truth. This man was his mate. It wasn’t a trick.

  “That’s not wide enough to suck my cock,” Viktor said.

  Anger raked through him, but his cock twitched as an image formed of Viktor sitting on a dark leather couch with Shea between his legs sucking on his massive shaft. He shook his head. Shea wasn’t an easy lay. His last boyfriend told him that he was harder to get into than a bank vault after closing. Needless to say, he became an ex-boyfriend less than a minute later.

  “Come near me with your cock and I’ll rip off your balls.”

  Viktor cupped Shea’s groin. “Playing hard to get. This part wants my touch, mate. Stop playing.”

  The word “mate” snapped him back to reality. He pushed Viktor back and to Shea’s surprise the man allowed it. Shea turned and headed down the street, needing the space. Footsteps echoed behind him. He turned. Viktor was following him.

  “Stop following me. Go back to your penthouse apartment,” Shea said.

  “My mate won’t roam the streets alone carrying stolen phones. Besides, I don’t live in a penthouse. Sorry to disappoint you, but I can buy one if being fucked high above the city means that much to you.”

  Shea couldn’t stop shaking. Why was everything about sex? Okay, he felt it too, but he was trying to ignore the growing need. Now, he had all these images of Viktor slamming into him. Like he needed to add one of him holding on to a balcony railing while being screwed.

  “I’ll take care of you. Come home with me.”

  That did it. No one cared about him. It was an illusion. Mate? What the hell did that really mean? A few nights of sex, before he was tossed back out into the cold like used garbage.

  A loud bang forced Shea to look away from Victor. A shadow loamed by the dumpster. He squinted and then froze. The night had turned into a nightmare worse than the ones in the movie where a guy killed the sleeper before he woke up. That’s it. He was trapped inside of a nightmare. Where was the guy with the long nails to cut into him? Maybe he should lie down and wait. He looked down at the grimy street and decided against that. He was dirty enough.

  “Get away from him,” Gunner ordered.

  Shea wanted to scream, but all he could do was stare at the dark-haired hunter. Why was his other mate standing at the end of the street lookin
g pissed off and ready to murder Viktor? Did the universe hate him? Shea turned to Viktor, but the half-demon never noticed. He was too busy glaring at Gunner. Shea was reminded of an old west showdown and these two men were about to shoot it out. All they need was the noon sky or the sun setting in the background. Okay, he watched too many movies. Was he cast in a melodrama and didn’t realize it? Probably not. So that meant his two mates were really going to kill each.

  Chapter Three

  Viktor pushed Shea behind him. The wolf shifter tried to walk around him, but one hand against the brick wall stopped his reckless approach. He would protect Shea from all threats and right now the man looming down the street forced his body into action. Dressed in black with dark hair, he was close to Viktor’s size. The newcomer blended into the darkness in a way he never could.

  The man growled. Shea tried to break free. He squeezed the shifter’s arm. Now wasn’t the time for a tantrum. The wolf shifter needed to stand behind him and let Viktor take care of it. Shea disagreed. Why wasn’t he surprised? Victor tightened his hold with a firm, bruising grip that the shifter couldn’t break. This man was an unknown. Viktor wasn’t good at reading the unknown. If he tried to harm Shea, he’d be dead before realizing the half-demon had moved.

  “Stay,” Viktor ordered with a tone that forced dangerous men to submit and the little wolf wouldn’t be an exception. Shea quivered under his touch. He hated that fear. It didn’t belong between them, but now wasn’t the time to focus on it. After he disposed of the danger, he’d show Shea his kinder, gentler side. He didn’t know if that part existed, but they would discover it together.

  “Get your hands off of him,” the man snarled. He took large steps toward them. The distance closed within seconds.

  “This doesn’t concern you. Walk away while you can.” Viktor resisted the urge to kill. This man’s dead body at his mate’s feet wasn’t the best thing to do before asking Shea out. Maybe in cavemen times, killing a threat before crawling on top and sating his lust would’ve worked, but customs had changed. Even in the last three hundred years, brutality had softened. People still died and murdered others, but they killed with guns. With a sword, a man cut through flesh. It took longer to slice or stab into a body, but a gun was almost instant and impersonal.

  His little wolf leaned closer. Viktor smirked as Shea sought his touch. The attraction was there, but Viktor wasn’t going to test that theory by putting a dead body at their feet. Shea wouldn’t shrug it off and then accept his advances. Killing someone was not a romantic gesture his wolf would appreciate. Thirty minutes ago he wouldn’t have thought twice about it. How quickly times change.

  The man approached. Viktor released Shea. A whish of air caressed his face as he moved lightning fast toward the threat. He pinned the dark-haired man against the wall.

  The newcomer grunted when his chest slammed into the brick surface.

  The sound was music to Viktor’s ears. The only thing better would’ve been the snapping of bones. His captive tried to push back with bearlike strength, but it was useless against a half-demon. It would’ve worked against a human and probably a shifter, but not him. He squeezed his prisoner’s wrist. Pain shot through him faster than a bullet hurling toward a target. He leaned closer and felt a spark of recognition. His soul knew this man. It cried out to join their bodies.

  Realization forced Viktor to jump back as if the man had burst into flames and burned his skin.

  The man turned and leaned against the wall. An angry glare met Viktor’s eyes before turning to examine Shea. After confirming the shifter was unharmed, he turned back to face Viktor. The half-demon’s fierce need to protect the little wolf waned within the presence of his second mate. Both of them wanted the same thing.

  “I’m not hurting him,” Viktor said. He held up both hands in a rare gesture of surrender.

  “You pinned him against his will. You then started to follow him,” the man said. He balled his fists, ready to defend Shea, but some of the anger had dissipated since charging down the alleyway as a one-man wrecking ball.

  “We were talking about him getting down on his knees to suck my cock and bending over to take my cock while holding onto a balcony ledge.”

  The man hissed as the anger returned. “I won’t let you force him to do that.”

  “Force him? He’s hard, wet, and hoping for a hand to stroke his cock. He’d welcome both of us between his legs. How about we get him to a bed and nestle in between his thighs?”

  Dark eyes clouded with lust.

  Shea hissed but they ignored him.

  “Maybe you’d prefer to bend him over and fuck him like a bitch in heat.” Okay, that might have pushed things too far. His shin throbbed in pain. He turned. Shea’s face burned with anger. He moved to kick him again.

  “You’ll never get me in bed. I’m no bitch and if you even think about sticking your cock anywhere near my mouth, I’ll turn you into a girl.”

  If that was meant to frighten Viktor, Shea had failed. The man was beautiful as he snarled at him with nostrils flared, a clenched jaw and balled fists. Red colored his skin. More than ever, Viktor wanted to sink into the warm heat and possess the little wolf. Angry sex with Shea would be hard, fast, and fabulous.

  He grabbed Shea’s jaw. The dark-haired man growled, but Viktor could only focus on one angry mate at a time. “Stop playing hard to get. Shifters love sex. When they mate, they fuck like animals. They spend weeks with their legs open begging to be ravaged.” He pressed their noses together. “If you keep acting like this, I’ll make you beg for it.”

  Shea pushed him away. He stepped back and crossed his arms. At that moment, he looked like the poster child for defiance.

  “Oh, you’re so full of it. Beg you to satisfy me. Let me tell you what’s going to happen. You’re going to get out of my life and leave me alone. When you go home to your overpriced mansion, you’ll be getting to know your hand. You’ll stroke your cock while thinking of my ass. That’s the closest you’ll ever get to it. I won’t even charge you for it.”

  His other mate nodded at Shea’s rejection, but Viktor focused on his wolf shifter.

  “Oh, little wolf. Don’t play hard to get. Your cock is swelled with need. In five minutes, I’ll have you begging for a hard pounding.” Viktor licked his lips. He leaned in, but a hand landed on his shoulder and shoved him against the wall.

  “Leave him alone. He wants nothing to do with you,” the dark-haired man said. Viktor sighed. Shea called this man a hunter, but he wasn’t like any hunter Viktor had faced.

  “Let’s discuss this in bed. We can get to know each other before seducing our little wolf.” Viktor touched the hand resting on his shoulder. The hunter’s eyes widened and he shot back.

  “What the hell? Did you shock me?” He rubbed his fingers together. “It didn’t hurt, but…” He stopped as if he was about to confess a forbidden secret, like he wanted Viktor’s touch.

  “We’re mates, hunter.” Viktor tilted his head toward Shea. “Shea’s our other mate.”

  Shea stomped his foot. He stepped closer as if he planned to charge into the fight. But he didn’t stand a chance against either of them and fighting them together was like a pup attacking two lions. Viktor’s eyes glowed and Shea froze. Wolf shifters submitted to dominant men. Alphas never submitted, but Shea wasn’t that type of wolf.

  “Mate?” the hunter questioned.

  “Don’t listen to him, Gunner. He hit his head one too many times. Brain damage has made him delusional.” Shea’s expression changed to a man mourning the loss of a spouse, not someone setting out to trick the hunter. Something about his little wolf wasn’t right. He was resisting the bond with a ferocity that was both futile and desperate. Behind the stubborn bravado, Shea was in pain.

  Gunner stepped back after realizing that Viktor wasn’t going to hurt Shea. Lust clouded his dark eyes. Gunner clearly liked what he saw. Which was the same for him. He’d love to rock this man’s world.

  Before Vikt
or could jump into action, though, Gunner turned and walked away.

  Shea snorted. “Gunner, you can’t run from me.”

  The hunter never turned.

  The wolf shifter glared at Viktor. “You sure have a way with people. Bravo. After weeks of stalking him, Gunner finally showed some interest and you scared him away.” He patted Viktor’s back in a celebratory gesture. “Congratulations. Your reward is a big cold bed.” Then Shea walked away in the opposite direction of Gunner’s departing form.

  Viktor debated. He was going to follow one of them. Which one? He wanted to protect them both. Shea knew they were mates, but Gunner didn’t get it. Before he changed his mind, Viktor turned and followed the hunter.

  * * * *

  Gunner walked in a straight line, staring ahead and never looking back. He wasn’t running. At least that was what he told himself, but power walking down the street didn’t support that claim.

  When he’d left the warehouse, Gunner had known where to find the blond wolf shifter. A string linked them and all he had to do was follow it. Then, he’d seen him fighting against a stronger man that could do serious damage to the wolf shifter. Rage took over. The anger had surprised him. Hunters didn’t show anger, but someone had pinned Shea against the wall. He’d charged at the man, but as he closed in, another spark of interest stirred. At first, he’d thought it had to do with being close to Shea. When his chest had pressed against the wall and the other man leaned into his back, the same thread wrapped around the man that threw him around like a small child. The cocky smile almost made him laugh because the wolf shifter had the same one. Gunner had pulled away and it felt like his chest was ripped open as he straddled the edge of a cliff and at any moment, a strong gust of wind would push him over the edge.

  Footsteps echoed behind him. He didn’t need to turn. His skin tingled as the strong presence closed in. It was different from the blond shifter. Not the cool fresh breeze, but a charging tornado. Gunner walked faster, pretending a stalker didn’t trail behind him. Damn. He was running away. Gunner slowed down, not willing to take the coward’s route. The man stepped closer.