by Lynn Hagen
Tristan broke the kiss and smiled seductively down at Quinn. He crooked a finger at the little redhead, Tristan immediately planting his hands on Quinn’s chest.
Oh no, he wanted more.
Quinn grabbed Tristan’s hands, pulling him all the way down until he could taste Hunter on his jellybean’s lips.
“Fuck, I wish you two had the view I’m staring at right now.” Hunter growled low.
Quinn’s hands explored the hard lines of Tristan’s back, his waist, and his hips, the skin creamy smooth under his callused, worn hands. Hunter’s hands roamed intimately between Quinn’s thighs. Quinn could feel an added pressure and knew Hunter had slipped a finger alongside his cock that was thrusting in and out.
“Fuck me, jellybean,” Quinn whispered into Tristan’s ear. He could feel the static electricity building and knew he wasn’t going to last much longer. The cracking and snapping inside his body was proof that his climax was approaching. Quinn planted his feet firmly into the mattress and raised his ass a little higher, feeling Hunter claiming him a little deeper with that beautiful cock of his.
“Jellybean,” Quinn shouted as he bathed Tristan’s channel with his seed. He pressed his hand between them and stroked Tristan’s cock with vehemence, bringing his man to the edge.
“Quinn, Quinn, Quinn,” Tristan chanted, and then Quinn’s hand became slick, filled with Tristan’s seed.
“Shit.” Hunter pistoned into Quinn, soon shouting out his own release.
Tristan lay across Quinn’s chest, as Hunter pulled free and collapsed beside them. All three fought to catch their breath. Quinn petted Tristan’s back as he stretched his neck to kiss Hunter. “That was incredible.”
“That it was,” Hunter agreed.
“Nap time.” Tristan yawned. “You guys have zapped all my energy.”
So sex stopped him from saying sir as well. Good to know.
Quinn twisted around, laying Tristan between him and Hunter. Cleanup could wait. This moment was too perfect to disturb right now.
He crept around the outside of the house, staring into the bedroom window. Well, wasn’t this interesting.
Three men in one bed.
The man ducked down, making his way back down the driveway. He climbed into his car and stared at the address, memorizing it before hightailing it out of there.
Zeus hung up the phone, sitting back and resting his chin on his thumb and index finger. “That was my cousin, Tony,” he said to his Betas, Torem and Bald Eagle. They sat across from his desk, seated in two chairs facing Zeus.
“That bad?” Eagle asked, sitting forward. He rested his elbow on the desk, looking at Zeus with concern.
“I’m not sure. He went to Chey and Sidney’s pack, finally gaining an audience with their Alpha. From what he tells me, all wolves were accounted for, even the ones who came here and tried to attack the soldiers. So, the question is, who was shooting at you and your mate?” Zeus looked at Torem.
“That’s if the Alpha was telling the truth,” Eagle pointed out.
“True.” Zeus didn’t like the unknown. If it wasn’t the jackasses that tried to kill Torem and Sidney, then who the hell was out there shooting that day?
Chapter Six
Tristan leafed through his drawings, trying to find the one he was just recently working on. His mind replayed the scene from three days ago.
Had he ever been happier then when Hunter and Quinn were making love to him or just spending time with the two? Had he ever felt that close to anyone like this before? No. Tristan knew the answer right away. Although he had managed to stay away from Xavier for three months this time, the shifter would soon find him. He always did.
Tristan scratched one leg with the other, feeling somewhat content at being in Quinn’s house alone. He didn’t like the idea at first, thinking Xavier would find him. But now that Quinn and Hunter were at work, it was peaceful, something he was enjoying while he was drawing.
He jumped when he heard tapping at the bedroom window. Tristan stared down at his drawing, terrified to look over his shoulder. His stomach twisted into knots with fear. His fingers nearly broke the pencil in half as he sat there, debating on what he should do.
Tristan closed his eyes when the tapping sounded again. Why did he open the curtain for sunlight? That was stupid as hell considering his circumstances. He slowly let the pencil go and sat it down. The only thing he could do was make a run for it. Run out of the bedroom and into the kitchen where Quinn and Hunter’s phone numbers were placed next to the phone.
Tristan licked his lips, his heart racing a thousand beats a minute to the point he could hear the pounding in his ears. The urge to sing was strong, but he suppressed it. Now was not the time. He needed to hear what was going on.
Sliding slowly from the stool, Tristan stood. He kept his back to the window as he counted. One, two, three…he shot to the bedroom door and down the hallway, rounding the corner into the kitchen.
Tristan grabbed the cordless phone from its cradle and tried to dial. His hands were shaking so badly, he couldn’t manage to press the correct buttons.
He tried it again, this time managing to get the order of numbers correct. “Hunter, someone is outside the house.”
His mate growled loudly. “On my way, get into a closet, any closet.”
Tristan took the cordless with him, running into the guest bedroom Quinn had occupied until they started sleeping in the same bed a few days before. He shot to the closet and opened the door, nearly slamming it into the wall he was so shaken up. Tristan closed the door and scooted to the back of the closet.
He held his breath as he waited.
“Are you still there?” Hunter asked breathlessly.
“Yeah, I’m in the guestroom closet.” He swallowed, feeling his throat dry out even further. Why wasn’t his mate shifting? That would be quicker. Maybe because it was broad daylight and he had to come through town to get to Tristan.
“Hello,” someone sang nastily from outside the bedroom.
Oh fuck, he was in the house! Tristan held the phone tight to his ear, squeezing his eyes shut. This couldn’t be happening.
“Where are you?”
Tristan tried his best to remain still, but his body was trembling uncontrollably. He opened his eyes, seeing a shadow pass under the closet door. Please, please, please, let Hunter get here in time.
It felt like hours had passed since he ran in here. Where was Hunter? Tristan covered his mouth, suppressing a scream when the closet door handle began to jiggle. When the door flew open, Tristan did in fact scream at the top of his lungs.
“Tristan, are you okay?” Hunter knelt on the floor in front of the closet.
“Yes.”
“Then stay in here. I’m going to hunt.” Hunter closed the closet door, sealing Tristan in once more. He pulled the phone in front of him, dialing Quinn’s phone number.
“Hey, jellybean, miss me already?”
“Someone’s in the house. Hunter has gone after him.”
“Where are you now?” He heard Quinn breathing heavily, knowing his mate was running.
“In the guest room closet. Hunter told me to stay in here.” Tristan bit his nails, fearing that Hunter would get hurt, but too afraid to come out and help him. Right now he would be more of a hindrance than help anyway. He’d never been able to win a fight with Xavier. That was why he always ran.
“Stay in there, I’m on my way.”
“Believe me, I’m not going anywhere.” He pressed his body against the closet wall. “Sir?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“I’m sorry for taking you away from work.” Tristan felt the need to apologize. This is what he had feared from the beginning when Quinn pulled him into his bedroom and away from the Alpha and the others, getting him involved. Now Hunter was out there somewhere, maybe getting hurt.
“Nonsense. If he is there, then we can end this once and for all.” Tristan pressed the palm of his hand into his forehead. The thought of faci
ng Xavier terrified him. He knew his happiness with his two mates had been too good to last. Now where would he go?
Tristan heard sirens from somewhere outside. “Did you call the police, sir?”
“I had Dino call them. Do you hear them?”
“Yes.”
“Stay in the closet until they find you. Don’t come out for any reason. I’m almost there.”
Tristan leaned forward, resting his forehead on his knees as he prayed Hunter was okay. Xavier was a tricky bastard. If he knew his ex, he would lure Hunter away from the house and then fight dirty.
Tristan’s head shot up when the closet door flew open for the second time. “Hey, Tristan, it’s just the sheriff, Jesse DeKalb. Come on out. Dino called and said you were having a bit of trouble.”
Tristan dropped the phone and crawled on his hands and knees, exiting the closet. There was another uniformed officer standing in the middle of the bedroom. “This is Craig Hanes, my deputy.”
He could scent that Jesse was a shifter, but Craig was human. Not knowing if the deputy was aware of were-creatures, Tristan remained silent. He knew that if he opened his mouth right now, everything would fly out of it. Censorship wasn’t a strong point of his under intense situations.
“Tristan!” Quinn called from outside the bedroom. Tristan got to his feet and then ran through the door and into his mate’s arms. He began to cry as Quinn held him, making him feel safe once again. “Ssshhh, I have you, jellybean.” And Quinn did. He held Tristan tightly in his arms. He kissed Tristan’s head, tightening his hold further.
“I was so scared.” Tristan cried. He didn’t care who was watching. Knowing Quinn had him took a thousand-pound weight off of him. “Hunter, he went after him. We have to find him.” Tristan pulled away and wiped his eyes, noticing for the first time the men standing behind Quinn.
“Dino, I need shifters to scent Hunter and find him,” Quinn told the foreman.
“You are aware that Dino isn’t a shifter, sir, right?” Tristan asked his mate. He glanced over at the deputy. Craig must be aware of shifters for his mate to say this out loud.
“I’m aware. But there are more men outside, and they are.”
“I need you to tell us what happened, Tristan,” the sheriff said as he and the deputy came out of the bedroom. He didn’t want to tell these men about Xavier, didn’t want them to look at him with disdain for bringing trouble to their town.
“Someone broke in,” Tristan offered. He could see the questioning look on the sheriff’s face. He knew the answer was flimsy, but he wasn’t ready to go into a full-blown explanation. Not now.
“Can we discuss this once Hunter is found?” Quinn asked, pulling Tristan into the living room.
“I’m here.” Hunter walked into the living room and came directly to them. Once Tristan had both his mates next to him, he looked up at the sheriff. “I couldn’t find whoever was here. I lost his scent trail.”
At least the person left one.
Now he wouldn’t sound like he made it up. After spotting Xavier yesterday, then the man disappearing, Tristan began to wonder if he hadn’t been seeing things. “I was sitting in Quinn’s bedroom drawing when I heard tapping at the window. I ran into the kitchen, grabbed the phone, and called Hunter. He was the closest. I ran into the closet and hid. I heard the person ask where I was—”
“He was in the house?” Quinn growled.
Tristan placed his hand on his seething mate, seeing Quinn’s nostrils flare. He could smell the anger rolling off of Quinn. “Yes, sir.” Tristan laid his head on Quinn’s chest, reaching out and grabbing Hunter’s hand. Hunter pressed his chest into Tristan’s back, giving him comfort.
“I’ll need a description of the man, so I can put out an APB.” The sheriff grabbed a small pad from his back pocket.
“I don’t know. I never saw him, just heard him.”
The sheriff nodded, tucking the pad back into his pocket. “I’ll go get a scent. Maybe he’ll show himself and I can arrest him.” The sheriff left the living room, the deputy close behind.
Hunter cuddled Tristan on his lap as Quinn talked with the men who had come with him. He never wanted a scare like that again. Rushing from the store, he had worried the whole way that he wouldn’t be in time to save his mate. “Do you want to lie down for a bit, rainbow?”
Tristan nodded, clinging to Hunter as he got up from the couch and walked down the hall. “I saw Xavier yesterday.”
Hunter stopped walking and looked down at his slim mate. “Why didn’t you tell us? When?”
“We were standing outside the deli. I thought I was just seeing things. One minute he was getting into his car, the next, he was gone.”
Hunter took Tristan into the bedroom, placing the trembling shifter on the bed. “Close the curtains, please,” Tristan asked shakily.
Hunter closed them, crawling onto the bed and spooning Tristan. “The Alpha has offered refuge at his home until Xavier is caught. I think we should take him up on his offer.”
“He asked you and Quinn, too? I won’t go if you two aren’t there as well, sir.” Tristan turned in Hunter’s arms, pressing their chests close together.
“Wouldn’t have it any another way, rainbow.”
“Why do you call me that? Why does Quinn call me jellybean?”
“I don’t know about Quinn, but you are a miracle to me, like a bright rainbow in the sky. It’s not often a shifter finds his mate, and I found both of mine. How much more of a miracle could that be?”
Yeah, it sounded corny, but that was how Hunter felt from the moment he saw Tristan on that dark country road. Okay, maybe not the first moment, but soon after.
“Wow, that’s so…cheesy.” Tristan laughed. “But I like it, thank you.” Tristan tucked his head under Hunter’s chin and sighed. “Why don’t you have a pet name for Quinn?”
“Do you really think Quinn would let me call him something like that?” Hunter chuckled. “‘Honey buns’ doesn’t seem to fit him.”
“How is he?” Quinn asked as he stepped into the bedroom.
“Getting better.” Hunter held his hand out, Quinn crossing the room to take it. “Come lay with us.”
Quinn walked to the other side of the bed and got in behind Tristan, draping his arm over the both of them. His thumb began to rub back and forth over Hunter’s hip, the contact pleasing to him.
“So when were either of you going to tell me I’m your mate?” Quinn asked. He didn’t sound angry, nor did he smell like that spicy scent anger gave off. But he did sound hurt. Hunter mentally cursed.
“That’s my fault, sir,” Tristan confessed.
“How is that, jellybean?”
“We were trying to figure out the best way to tell you. Although you know about shifters, being a mate is more significant. I suggested we wait to tell you. So don’t blame Hunter, sir. I take the blame for that.”
“How did you find out?” Hunter asked.
“Torem. He was out there with Dino and Sidney in the front yard, helping to track Xavier.” Quinn rolled to his back, staring up at the ceiling.
Hunter watched him closely. His gut tightening the longer Quinn took to speak. This had been major news, and he kept it from his mate. No matter what Tristan said, he should have been the one to stand up and tell Quinn. He was the older shifter, the stronger one. It was his job, and he’d failed at it. Now all he could do was pray Quinn didn’t turn his back on them.
“Alpha Zeus wanted us to move in until Xavier is caught.” Tristan ran his fingers over Hunter’s collarbone. He could feel the tremble in his fingers. “Will you go with us?”
“Sure, when do we go?”
Hunter didn’t like Quinn’s mood swing. He seemed too cheerful now. Something was going on in Quinn’s head, and the construction worker wasn’t sharing. He’d rather Quinn shout, be angry, anything but the avoidance he was showing. How had he fucked this up? Never having been in a relationship before, Hunter was at a loss on how to handle this.
&nbs
p; “Whenever you want, sir.” Tristan glanced up at Hunter, his eyes telling him that Tristan felt it, too. He leaned down and kissed Tristan’s fiery red hair, pulling them both closer to him. No matter how long it took, he would fix this.
“Is that everything?” Hunter asked as he walked out of the bedroom with Tristan’s bags.
“I think so.” Tristan glanced around, running back over to his drawing table once more and looking around.
It didn’t escape Hunter’s attention that Tristan was using the word sir less and less. He seemed to be getting more comfortable around him and Quinn. It had been a week before they could get things together to move up to the Alpha’s house. But Tristan had spent his days there while he and Quinn worked.
There were some days Tristan spent with him at the hardware store. His rainbow used the time to draw, but he felt bad that Tristan just sat there all day, so he introduced his mate to Sully, asking his friend to take Tristan to Zeus’s and introduce him to everyone.
“Looks like everything.” Tristan grabbed his art bag from the bed and followed Hunter to his truck. There were a few soldiers outside, Zeus’s orders, waiting on them to pack. Quinn had packed the night before, having left this morning to go to work. His construction worker pretended everything was fine, but Hunter could see past that. Quinn was upset. If only he would talk to them about the situation.
Every time he or Tristan brought it up, Quinn quickly changed the subject. It was frustrating as hell, but he had caused this, so what did he expect?
“Quinn said he’ll meet you two there after work,” Sully said as he grabbed the bags from Hunter and tossed them in the truck. “He probably told you before he left for work, but asked me to tell you. I told you, we’re good now.” Sully chuckled.
Quinn hadn’t said anything, but Sully didn’t need to know that. “You guys following us?”
“Right behind you,” Sully said over his shoulder as he walked to his vehicle, Torem and Avanti waiting by the soldier’s truck.
The hairs on the back of Hunter’s neck stood up. He dropped the bag into the bed of the truck, looking around. There was nothing out of the ordinary, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Someone was watching them. “Let’s get moving, rainbow. Someone’s watching us.”