There was a knock on the door that sounded like a whole zydeco band playing in his head. “What?”
Saunders walked into the office and handed him a manila envelope. “I’m sorry to disturb you, boss. I thought you’d like this background information on our man as soon as possible.”
“You are correct.”
His man knew better than to linger. When he was gone, Batiste opened the envelope. Inside, there was a single sheet of white paper. He took it, turned it over, and read the top line. Valentino Paxton Solares. He read further and his lips spread into a grin so wide it uncovered his teeth in spite of the pain it caused. Well, well. This was unexpected. The New Breed in question was a fellow islander. He was Puerto Rican not Bajan, but Batiste took no pleasure in killing off citizens of his native Barbados anyway. Cat luck ain' dog luck, as his merr would have said. Just because you got away with something didn’t mean it wouldn’t screw somebody else. Batiste made the sign of the cross in memory of his mother and slipped the paper back into the envelope. He popped a pill from each bottle, leaned back in his leather chair, and closed his eyes. He would have the rest of the Intel he needed in a short time. The Caribbean was the only place that rivaled the number of connections he had in Boston. He would have it in a very short time indeed.
As Pax walked down the back stairs to the compound hallway, he felt hopeful for the first time in what seemed like forever. If what Evy had seen didn’t help James begin to heal, then he had no idea what would. He knew now that what Evy had shown him was worth the risk he was about to take. He quietly slipped into his room and found James sleeping peacefully on his side with the Golden at his feet. Pax loved that male more than he’d ever loved anyone. He could take on a whole warehouse of rogues, but the thought of losing James made him physically ill. Helping him could cost him everything, but seeing him continue to suffer this way was tearing Pax up. In just a few hours, Evy would show James what she’d seen and the male would know Pax had broken his trust. As he lay down next to him, he realized something he’d never thought of before. Loving James meant putting all his faith in him, and trusting that somehow the male would find a way to forgive him. He rolled onto his side and gently tucked the male’s head against his chest.
“Please, forgive me,” he whispered.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Rose felt something fuzzy on her chest, followed by a soft tap on her nose. She opened her eyes and two feline green ones looked right back.
“Good morning, Cool,” she whispered. “I’ll bet you’re hungry.”
“Nope, I got her. She’s good.” Xavier said from beside her. “I fed her about twenty minutes ago.”
Cool hopped onto his chest forcing the male to drop his book and throw up his hands, half catching her. “Yo. Watch those can openers of yours.”
Rose couldn’t help but laugh at the picture of that small ball of fuzz on her mate’s tremendous chest as he stroked her from head to tail.
“Now, look here. You get two meals a day. Snacks are optional and don’t include fresh New Breed, you dig?” He let the kitten go and she scuttled off the bed.
Rose smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder. “She’s so sweet.”
“She has her moments.” He smiled. “So, how was your evening session last night? You must have been exhausted. I can’t remember the last time you were asleep when I came in from duty.”
“Was I? I guess I was. Maybe I’m finally getting used to it.”
He kissed her forehead. “I hope so. I hate thinking of you waiting and worrying, Rosie.”
She put her finger to his lips. “And you shouldn’t. You need to stay focused out there. Besides, Evy cheats a little and reads your night for me after dinner. Even though I know it can change, it still helps a lot. I’ll be teaching most evenings you have duty from now on. Rory’s a night owl anyway, and from what I can tell so far, it really agrees with her. Oh, speaking of Rory, I wanted to talk to you about something Christian brought up last night.”
Xavier turned onto his side and they faced each other.
“He’s decided to start at Columbia in the fall.”
“Niiice. I was hoping he would. Columbia’s a tremendous opportunity. He’s absolutely making the right decision.”
Rose smiled. “That’s what I told him. And listen to this. He’s decided he wants to major in pre-law and work for shifter’s rights.”
Her male tucked a pillow behind his head and leaned back on his arm. “Sounds like we’ve rubbed off on him.”
“So it would seem. Now that I think about it, I guess I’m not all that surprised. He looks up to you all so much. I think he was hoping he’d go through the second transition.”
Xavier reached out and rubbed her arm. “He may just do that yet, Rosie.”
“I think the main thing that’s been holding him back is Rory. He expects to be separated from her for long periods of time and he’s worried about doing what’s best for her. She really wants to stay here and it is their best option. But he’s anxious. He told me it would help ease his mind if she had a legal guardian in case something were to happen to him. He asked if we would consider it.”
Xavier raised his brows. “What now?”
“It would be a guardianship until Rory turns eighteen. If something were to happen to him before then, she would go to us.”
“Has he met us? Have you met us?” He grinned.
She grabbed a throw pillow and whacked him on the arm. What a tease. “Xavier.”
“Okay. In all seriousness now. What about Troy and Evy?”
“I think he probably would have asked them, but with everything they have going on…” She shook her head.
“Yeah, I see what you mean. I think I’d better run it past my boy first. Just in case.”
Rose smiled. “You mean you’re okay with it?”
“Hey, now. Don’t sound so surprised, female. Actually, I have something to run by you, too. I was waiting on Christian’s decision before I said anything. College is so expensive now, it’s practically unaffordable. And apparently there might be law school on top of that. New lawyers don’t make very much. He’ll be paying back loans for the next thirty years, maybe even after that if he does a lot of pro bono work. I was lucky. My mother worked three jobs to pay what was left after scholarships. And that was ten years ago. You know how it is, Rosie. You went through it with Harvard.”
Rose nodded. “You’re right. It’ll take years for him to get ahead.”
“Yeah, so I’ve been thinking. Maybe we could help him out.”
“Really? You want to offer him a loan?” Her heart gave a little leap in her chest. She looked into her male’s dark chocolate eyes. No. Not a loan. “You want to pay for his school?
“Well, why not? We don’t have any offspring of our own and we have the funds. We’d be helping out Rory too, in the long run. Damn, from what you’ve told me about his abilities, it sounds like we might be doing the whole race a favor.”
“Xavier.” She didn’t think it was possible, but with each passing day, Rose grew to love and respect her mate even more. “Thank you, my male.”
He cupped her cheek with his hand. “No thanks necessary, female. It’s the right thing to do.”
Rose was grateful all the same and quite sure she could come up with a few ways to thank her male before breakfast. She took his face in her hands, traced his goatee with her thumb, and brought his mouth to hers.
Pax lay in bed as he watched James feed their new addition. He supposed he could help, but he was much more interested in watching the male bend over in just some low slung sweats. Jesus, James had the hottest ass Pax had ever laid eyes on, and he’d seen one or two in his day. James bent over again and the very top of his crevice appeared. Pax’s mouth actually watered. He could have stared at that little divot for hours. With everything going on, he hadn’t noticed how intense the need had become. He supposed it was just as well. Pax was determined to take things slow with James. But, man, he so wanted his
tongue—
“So, what d’ ya think?” James turned around and was looking right at him. “About the name? Sasha. For the dog.”
“Right. Sorry.” He watched the dog as she drank from her dish. She really was a gorgeous animal. “It definitely suits her.”
James stroked her back. “I was checking out names on Google last night and one of the meanings they gave for Sasha was ‘protector of man.’ Cool, right?”
“Yeah, I like it. Sasha it is.”
James smiled and sat on the bed.
“Last night was better then?”
“You know, it was. She’s such good company. Christian and I played ball with her in the gym after he was done studying. Then I brought her back here and we passed out.”
“Good.” Thank the Goddess, wherever she is. Pax leaned up for a kiss, tasting James slowly. A chill ran down his spine. He was already so fucking hard he ached. He reached over and grabbed the lube from the drawer. “Lose the sweats and lay down on your back.”
“But it’s acroyoga morning. It’s your fave. No running.” James gave Pax a wiseass grin, then did as he was asked, moving the duvet out of the way and stretching out on top of the sheet.
“We’ll get to it. First, we’re going to have a quick lesson on why we do yoga.” He pulled off his Calvin’s, handed the lube to James, and pushed himself into plank pose just above him, supporting his weight with his arms like he was ready to do a push-up. “Put some lube in your palm and wrap your hand around both of us together.”
James’s eyes lit up with a more than enthusiastic New Breed glow as what they were about to do no doubt hit him. They were both on the bigger side. Thank fuck NB’s had large hands—James’s fingers went almost all the way around both of their erections. He watched the male rub on the lube and toss the tube aside.
James lay back on the pillow and began to stroke both of them together, each of them groaning at the delicious heat and friction as their rock hard cocks rubbed together.
James hissed and furrowed his brow. “Fuck, this feels good.”
When Pax looked down at James’s hand working the two of them together, he almost lost it, his balls tightening. He closed his eyes and tried to hold off, pumping slowly as the two of them started to fuck James’s hand. Jesus, Pax’s whole body was on fire, like he was hyper-sensitized to the male’s touch. He opened his eyes just in time to see James look down his body and moan, licking his lips as he watched their cocks together.
“Fuck. I’m not gonna go much longer.”
James tightened his grip. “Shit. I’m almost there.”
Pax’s release hit the boiling point as he managed one last hard thrust. “I’m coming. Ahh, fuck.” Pax’s body tensed, the energy from the release pulsing through his whole body as he erupted all over James’s chest.
With a shout, James went over the edge right after, making Pax come all over again, then drop down onto his elbows as his muscles went slack.
James caught his breath. “So we do acro so we can pull off insane positions for sex?”
Pax grinned. “Pretty much.”
“And here I thought it was for enlightenment.”
“Silly rabbit.” Pax planted a few feathery kisses on James’s lips before letting himself fall onto the male, spunk and all.
James laughed and wrapped his arms around him. They both felt James’s stomach growl. He slapped Pax’s ass and started to push him off. “Food.”
They took a quick shower and grabbed sweats from Pax’s closet for their work-out after breakfast. As they left the room and headed for the elevator, Pax put his arm around James’s waist. There was really no way to ease into it. “I talked to Evy last night. She thinks she has a way to help you with what you’re dealing with.”
James’s brows shot up. “She does?”
“Yep. We can meet her this afternoon if you’re interested.”
“Yeah, definitely. Thanks so much for talking to her.”
James kissed his cheek and Pax’s stomach turned while he followed him into the elevator. They’d already come through so much, so early in their relationship, and he had no idea how James was going to react to what he’d done. He felt sure Evy’s vision was going to help the male; that was the one and only reason he was willing to take the risk. Following James had been the right thing to do, but that was going to be little consolation if he ended the relationship. Oh, God. It was the first time Pax had allowed himself to think those words. Mistake.
“Hey. You okay?”
Pax suddenly realized James was holding the elevator door open. “Yeah. I’m fine. Just brain fog. Let’s eat.”
Troy knocked on Richard’s door and waited. It had taken him two days to talk himself into talkin’ to the male. Not that he didn’t trust him. Some stuff was just, well, private. He was hopin’ to catch him alone, although he wasn’t sure why that really mattered either. He knew Adriana would understand, but for some reason the idea made him uncomfortable. Fuck. He was losin’ it. He felt like a kid who was about to be given ‘the talk.’ Not that anyone had ever cared enough before to bother. It was actually kinda ironic, considerin’ he would have offspring of his own soon. But he planned on being there all the way for his kid.
“It’s open, Troy.”
Troy exhaled and opened the door. “Hey.”
Richard was sitting at his desk on the far wall next to the window. He turned around and crossed his leg. “What’s up?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Ah, well, I wondered if you had a sec to answer a couple o‘ questions about the protective instinct.”
“Sure. Have a seat. Can I get you a soda? Beer?”
Troy sat down on the couch. “Nah, I’m good. Thanks.”
Richard moved to the recliner. “So, what’s up?”
“Well, I just wondered how much the protective instinct changes when the female is pregnant.”
“Hmm. It varies, but from my own experience, it was stronger as a New Breed than as a shifter.”
Right. Troy had totally forgotten Richard had gone through his second transition while Adriana was pregnant. The male had experienced both. “Yeah. I kinda figured that.”
“Is everything okay?”
“It’s just…I was showing signs of it before Evy even told me about the offspring.”
A funny look crossed the male’s face. “How far along was she?”
“Just a few days.” Troy suddenly felt uncomfortable. He tried to swallow, but his throat was too dry. “That’s not normal, is it?”
“Well, I hate to guess at what’s normal and what isn’t. Evy’s not a shifter. It’s hard to say what would be considered normal in your situation. How are you feeling?”
“Anxious. Possessive. Like I gotta know where she is all the time. I’m constantly checkin’ on where she is and who she’s with, even though in my mind I know that no one in the house is a threat.”
“Okay. Those are very normal feelings. You’ve probably also noticed heightened senses and a stronger sex drive.”
Troy nodded.
“Well, the only difference I can see is that you’re having all those changes earlier on in the pregnancy than I did. I’m almost positive it’s Evy’s energy. Now, most males just suffer through it until they can’t be separated from their mate. That’s when I stopped duty. But I think as time goes on, you and I might want to come up with some strategies to help you feel more comfortable, both physically and emotionally. We can always talk to Helen about trying out something for the anxiety. So far she seems to have a natural gift for treating New Breeds. Does that sound like it might be helpful?”
Troy exhaled in relief. “Yeah, it does. Definitely.”
They stood up and Richard put a hand on his shoulder.
“We’ll get you through this. And Troy, I can tell you from experience that your biggest ally in this is your female. Talk to her. Tell her how you feel. You two need to be strong for one another. If it’s handled right, I think you’ll find you two are closer th
an ever.”
Troy was surprised to find himself smiling “Thanks, my brother.”
“Anytime. Stay in touch.”
Troy headed for the door feeling a hell of a lot lighter than he did when he came in. Thank fuck. “Will do.”
Adriana shifted her offspring to her other hip, rounded the corner to her suite, and almost plowed right into Troy. “Oh, hey.”
“Hey, ladies. How’s the research goin’?”
“It’s going, that’s for sure.”
He reached out and gently rubbed Maya’s arm with his thumb. “Any idea when we’ll try the circle again? Ev’s been real anxious about it.”
“I don’t blame her. I think we all feel that way to some extent. I should think it’ll be sometime in the next couple of days. Just long enough to get new supplies and regroup.”
“Well, add me to your list of helpers if you need to. I could use the distraction.”
Adriana smiled. “Great, thanks.”
She walked into the suite and found her mate leaning on his desk. He looked totally lost in thought.
“Hey, Daddy. What’s up?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Adri. I was a bit lost in my thoughts.”
“Is everything okay?”
“I think so. Well, honestly, I’m not sure.” Her mate took Maya into his arms and their offspring smiled. “Troy’s protective instinct is very strong for so early in Evy’s pregnancy.”
Adriana nodded. “Evy’s k’ul?
“It has to be. But, I guess there’s not much we can do other than keep an eye on it. Just like everything else around here.”
“Someone sounds grumpy, Maya. I think it’s time for some lunch.”
He kissed each of them on the temple. “I think my females are right. Let’s order in.”
Desperate Call (New Breed Novels Book 5) Page 10