by Toni Griffin
The place was massive. Archie had no idea where the hell he was but by the sheer size of it and the lavish surroundings made it look like he was in some kind of mansion. Who the hell would kidnap him and take him to a mansion? This was getting weirder and weirder every second.
Archie slowed as he closed in on the end of the passage. He hugged the wall trying not to be seen. His bat held firmly in his hands and raised in the air, ready for anything.
"You okay there, man?" A deep voice asked as a man stepped passed Archie.
Archie had been concentrating so hard on what was in front of him that he hadn't even heard anyone coming up on him from behind. He screamed at the unexpected question and swung out with the bat with all his might.
The man grunted as Archie caught him in the ribs with the bat, then he stumbled and fell into the open area Archie assumed was a living room.
"What the fuck?" the man cried out in pain. The smirk Archie had seen for a split second had all but disappeared now to be replaced with a grimace.
Archie stood still, rooted to the spot, having trouble comprehending just what had happened. Men gathered around their fallen comrade. He didn't know if he'd get a better opportunity than right now, Archie quickly looked around and then spying what he hoped was the front door he ran for it, bat still held tightly in his grip.
"Oh no you don't," someone said. Before Archie was halfway to the door, strong arms wrapped around his waist and turned him back to face the room.
Archie struggled. He tried to use the bat, but his arms were pinned to his sides. Jesus this guy was strong.
"Let me the fuck go!" he cried out.
"I don't think so. Adze would have my balls for breakfast if I let that happen."
"Who the fuck is Adze and what the hell does he want with me? And also, eww." Archie continued to struggle, the man behind him grunted several times when Archie's heels connected with his shins, but his hold on Archie just tightened every time.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," the guy on the ground swore as he pressed a hand to his side and attempted to sit up with the help of one of his friends.
"Oh, stop being such a baby, Daevas," the man said.
"How about I whack you in the ribs with a cricket bat and see how the hell you like it?" He grimaced in pain.
"What the hell is going on out here?" the man who had kidnapped Archie roared as he stalked down a passage opposite the one Archie had just come from.
He seemed to take in the entire room before his eyes landed on Archie and the man holding him.
"What the fuck?" Archie said, renewing his struggle to get away as the man's eyes turned a deep crimson.
"Pyro, if you don't want to lose a limb I suggest you let my Cor Coeunt go," the man growled low in his throat. The sound sent a shiver through Archie's body.
He stopped struggling for second and tilted his head. That was the second time this man had called Archie his heart mate.
The arms around him loosened their grip and as soon as Archie was free he tried to make a run for it again, only for the man who had been holding him to dart his arm out and halt Archie in his place faster than Archie thought was possible.
Archie lifted the bat, now having a full range of motion in his hands and arched an eyebrow at the man who had stopped him, Pyro, he thought the other man had called him.
Pyro grinned at him. A very knowing smirk, like he was daring Archie to take a swing at him.
"I bet I could stop you before you even got halfway close."
"You wanna bet? I managed to connect with the other dude."
"Who the hell expects to get attacked by a cricket bat wielding maniac in their own home?" A voice bitched from behind Archie.
He wheeled around to face the other guy. "You've got to be fucking kidding me, right?" he glared at them. "Maybe if you hadn't kidnapped me in the first place, I wouldn't have to resort to violence to try and escape."
The man with the red eyes growled and ran his fingers through his hair. "You are the most frustrating man on the planet, do you know this?" he stalked forward.
Pyro, who had been behind Archie, made his way across the room to sit with the others as they all stared at Archie and the red-eyed man.
"Well if you just let me go, then you won't have to deal with me anymore, and you can go back to your un-frustrated lives." Archie thought it was a sound and logical argument.
"That can't happen."
Archie sighed in annoyance. "Look, I have no idea who the hell you are, or why you thought it was a good idea to kidnap me…"
Archie was cut off by a deep and menacing sounding growl.
"Listen, and listen good. You listening?" the man's voice had gone even deeper if that was at all possible.
Archie nodded, not sure his voice would work just then.
"I… Did…Not…Kidnap… You."
"Right," Archie said, the sarcasm just dripping from his voice. "That's why I'm at home right now with someone I've actually been introduced to."
Archie wanted to cross his arms over his chest but refused to give up his hold on the cricket bat.
The man raised one eyebrow, and Archie thought he looked kind of sexy like that, then wanted to berate himself for that thought. The guy grinned then stuck out his hand as if to shake.
"Hi, my name is Adze, and I'm a hellhound."
Okay, then…Mr. Kidnapper was also crazy. Maybe Archie should look up the number for a mental institution as soon as he got access to a phone.
"Okay, Mr. Crazy Man, whatever you say." Archie tightened his grip on the bat. He thought he'd read somewhere that it was better to go along with delusions than to try and fight the person. Plus, who was he to say otherwise if the man thought he was a dog? It seemed like such a waste though. He really was quite pretty. Oh well, just his luck that the gorgeous man was completely fucking nuts.
"First, I'm a kidnapper, and now I'm a crazy man?"
"If the shoe fits, man." Archie shrugged.
He silently wondered what type of name Adze was as he'd never heard of it before today. But he wasn't really one to comment on names considering the ones he had been saddled with.
The men behind them all broke out into guffaws of laughter, Archie just ignored them, trying to concentrate on the man in front of him with the red glowing eyes.
"Who the fuck are you, why did you kidnap me and why the hell did you call me your heart mate, not just once, but twice?" Archie wanted answers, and he wanted them now.
The man's expression hardened before he finally spoke. "I'm not going to tell you again that I didn't kidnap you, me saying it so often is getting a little redundant, don't you think?" Adze raised his brow in question.
"Okay, then Mr. Smarty Pants. If you didn't kidnap me what the hell did you do?" Archie asked, wanting an explanation as to why in the hell he was here and not at home.
"We rescued you," Adze said with a straight face.
"You rescued me?" Archie glanced around the room, the other five men were all nodding with very serious expressions.
"That's right," Adze agreed.
"Rescued me from what exactly?"
Everyone stilled, it was almost eerie how everyone seemed to stop moving all at once.
"There's something I need to show you," Adze said, voice deadpan.
"Oh yeah? Does it involve a basement where you tie me to a table and torture me to death?" Archie ignored the snickers from across the room.
Adze just sighed and shook his head. "You're an extremely pessimistic fellow aren't you?"
"What can I say? I've seen how this movie ends."
"This isn't a movie, and I'm not going to torture you." Adzed paused for a moment before a wicked grin broke out on his face. "However, I can't deny that tying you down to something, a table, a bed, anything really, appeals to me."
"Ahhhh…. What?" Archie asked, his cheeks heating at the thought of what Adze had just said. His mind suddenly filled with all the fantasies he'd had while masturbating involving this man.
Adze waved a h
and through the air. "We've gotten off topic. You want to know why you're here and I need to show you something."
Before Archie could even begin to process what Adze said, the man's eyes glowed brighter, the red eerie. Suddenly the hair on the man's arms got darker and thicker, his features started changing, and in the time it took Archie to blink to clear his eyes, Adze was no longer standing there. Instead, Archie was now faced with the largest most vicious looking dog he'd ever seen. The clothes Adze had been wearing were lying in shreds on the ground.
Archie screamed and accidentally dropped his bat, he couldn't help it. This so couldn't be happening to him. Turning back around he bolted for the front door only to skid to a halt when one of the men he didn't know stepped in front of him. Fuck they moved fast.
"Please let me go, he's going to eat me," Archie pleaded. Someone behind him laughed, and Archie turned to look at him, pissed as all get out. "You think it's funny, do you?"
"Hell yeah, because knowing Adze, he does want to eat you."
Archie was not too proud of the small whimper that he let escape.
"Just not the way you think," the guy finished.
"The way I think? What other bloody way is there to eat someone? Look at him." Archie waved his hand in front of him at the beast that was slowly stalking toward him. "It'll only take him a half a dozen bites, and then there will be no one left to testify toward his kidnapping me. 'Cause I highly doubt you guys are going to go against your friend."
Archie really wanted to know where he had gone wrong. Whom he had pissed off so badly that his world had gone to shit so thoroughly in the span of a night?
When every last one of them started laughing, Archie didn't know what he wanted to do more: hit someone or run. Looking at the solid bodies of the men all around him, he figured with his luck, he would end up breaking something if he tried to punch one of them.
He looked longingly at his cricket bat, which lay on the floor a dozen steps away and he wondered if he could make it to the bat before anyone stopped him. He doubted it, not with how fast these guys seemed to move.
"You really need to get off this whole kidnap train you're on," one of them managed to get out despite his laughter.
The growling from behind him startled Archie, and he jumped and raced around the nearest man, hiding behind him. "Eat him, not me. There's so much more of him. I bet he'd satisfy you more than I would."
Once again, Archie watched—he peered around the man he currently used as a human shield—as the large black dog in front of him transformed back into an incredibly sexy, naked Adze. Archie had to force himself to swallow as his mouth filled with saliva at the sight before him.
The guy in front of him tried to move, but Archie had a death grip on him and hung on for dear life.
"Are you trying to get me killed?" the guy hissed over his shoulder at Archie.
"Umm, duh. I thought that was fairly obvious when I offered you up on the platter instead of me. Really, are any of you guys smart?" Archie inquired as he looked around.
"Oh, I like him. He's going to fit right in here. Congrats, Adze."
"Me too. Congrats, bro."
"He's certainly going to keep you on your toes, that's for sure."
Archie was confused as hell. He really would like to know what was going on. He'd even like to know who all these men were standing around offering up congratulations. The satisfied smirk on Adze's face as the man stood there with his arms crossed, never taking his eyes from Archie, made him lose it.
"Can somebody please tell me why this crazy man kidnapped me? And give me a goddamn phone so I can call a doctor, 'cause I did not just see what I just saw."
"Once more, for the record. I did not kidnap you, we rescued you," reiterated Adze. Archie could clearly see the frustration starting to show through in his kidnapper's expression. "What do you remember about last night? Think really hard now."
Archie had no idea why he was even listening to the man who had turned into a dog, but he thought about what he remembered from last night. "I was on my way home from work when I was grabbed from behind, and a cloth was put over my mouth. I think I tried to fight, but seeing as how I ended up here, I guess I wasn't awfully successful."
"What else?" Adze asked after rolling his eyes.
"Umm." Archie thought hard about the previous evening, but his brain still seemed to be a bit foggy. It took him a moment, but finally, a picture came to him. "Dogs, I remember a couple of dogs racing toward me as I was being dragged backward."
Growls erupted all around him, and Archie stilled at the menacing sounds.
"Hounds." Adze's voice sounded clipped. "We're hellhounds, not dogs." The last word was spat out.
"Dude, there were four legs, fur, a muzzle and a tail. That would make for a dog in anyone's book."
"Dogs are not creatures from the depths of Hell. Dogs cannot shift into human form, dogs do not have Cor Coeunts and dogs most certainly do not rescue smart-mouthed ungrateful little shits when they're being kidnapped by a psycho nephilim on a killing spree!" Adze said in a clipped tone, probably trying and failing, Archie thought, to disguise his annoyance at Archie.
Whoa. Talk about an information overload. Archie paused for a moment, then decided to try to tackle the easiest point out of everything he'd just been told.
"So basically what you're telling me is someone else attempted to kidnap me as well last night?"
"When are you going to get it through that thick head of yours? I didn't abduct you."
"Really? Do I know you? No. Did I leave voluntarily with you? No. Are you letting me leave now? No. Do I know where the fuck I am? No. Please, go ahead and tell me how that is not fucking kidnapping, 'cause to me, it has all the hallmarks of one." Archie crossed his arms and tapped his foot, waiting for any of the large men to try refuting what he'd just said.
Pyro, if Archie remembered that correctly, who was off to the side burst out laughing before getting himself under control and speaking. "I've got to tell you, Adze, when put like that, I'm going to have to agree with the little guy."
"Shut up, Pyro, and let me think."
Archie watched as Adze ran his hands through his hair in frustration. Archie turned to face Pyro.
"Who the fuck are you calling a little guy? Just because you all seemed to have been fed insta-grow when you were babies doesn't mean I'm not well within the average height range."
Pyro just continued to smirk at him as if he found the entire situation funny as fuck.
"All right, so I might reluctantly concede your point," Adze muttered.
"So you admit to kidnapping me then?" Archie asked as he crossed his arms over his chest and stepped out from behind the mammoth of a man he had been hiding behind.
"Accidentally."
"Huh? How do you accidentally kidnap someone?"
Adze took a step toward him, and Archie took a half a step back, not sure about the hungry gaze boring into him. "Easily, if you start out the night chasing after a serial killer and end up finding your Cor Coeunt in the process. I would do anything to keep you safe, so I brought you to the safest place I know. Home."
"Why do you keep calling me that?" Archie could feel his body reacting as Adze continued his slow march forward. For every step Adze took toward him, Archie took one back. It wasn't long, though, before Archie came in contact with the wall and couldn't move anymore.
Adze reached up and cupped Archie's cheek. He felt instant warmth seep into his body at the contact. He didn't know what was going on with his body; he just knew he couldn't take his eyes off the man in front of him. All his fight seemed to drain away as he stared at the sexy man before him.
"I call you that because that's what I was taught. From generation to generation, we're all told that for every Hound created there is a Cor Coeunt—a heart mate—that once bound together can never be broken apart, even in death. It is said that a hound and their mate are perfect for each other, and I have to tell you, Archie, I believe you to be pretty dam
n perfect for me. Even if you are stubborn as all get out and make me want to strangle you."
Before Archie even had a chance to process what Adze had just said or how he knew his name, the man tilted Archie's face up, bent down and crashed their mouths together in a kiss that seared him to his soul. Adze's tongue pressed for entry and right at that second Archie didn't want to deny him, so he parted his lips and invited Adze inside his body.
Adze's hands gripped his hips in a tight embrace, pulling him forward until their bodies were as close as their mouths. Archie could feel the hard length of Adze's large cock pressed against him. He silently cursed the clothes he was wearing as he ran his hands up Adze's naked back. The muscles bunched and flexed beneath his fingertips. What would it be like to have all that powerful muscle bearing down on him as Adze pounded away inside of him?
Archie groaned at the thought, and Adze swallowed it down, seemingly unwilling to let the small noise escape from between them. Adze's hands slid around his body and soon cupped his ass cheeks and lifted Archie up, bringing them more to an equal height, making kissing so much easier. Archie wrapped his legs around Adze's waist and locked his ankles in place, gently thrusting his groin against Adze's.
"Will you two please take it to your room? We don't need to see you mauling each other first thing in the morning."
Archie had no idea who had spoken, but the noise had been enough to snap him out of his fog. He jerked back, completely forgetting he was against a wall and smacked his head, hard.
"Ow, fuck!" he exclaimed as he reached up and held his head. Archie unhooked his ankles and let his legs drop, telling Adze without words that he wanted to be put down.
Thankfully, the man complied and slowly lowered him back to the ground. With the hand that wasn't still cupping his sore head, he pressed against Adze's hard chest, wanting the man to back the fuck up and give him some space. What the hell had just happened to him? He'd never acted like that before in his life. Just one touch from the man and Archie had been just about ready to drop to his knees and worship the guy's cock.
His own dick was screaming at him to jump Adze again and ride that stunning piece of meat until they were both completely sated. Archie felt his body take a step forward, his eyes locked on Adze's erection. He licked his lips. He could almost taste the bead of pre-cum that had gathered at the tip.