Silles, Mynxe L. - CatNip [CatTales] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More)

by CatNip (lit)

  “Now, that’s a sight I wouldn’t mind seeing every day of my life,” Leo said, his voice hoarse. “You’re a beautiful mess, kitten.” He gently traced a delicate symbol through it, before taking a tissue from the nightstand and wiping it away.

  Lynx moved under him then, seeking his mouth on her. Leo parted her legs, more than willing. Leo’s pleasurable assault peaked as she came with raw moans and breathless cries. As the orgasm broke over her, Leo moved up, covering her. He swallowed her last scream.

  ~ CuriousCat ~

  Just outside, Craig pulled up in his sleek, black Mustang beside the call-box at the entrance gate to the Lascaux Ranch. Interesting sigil on the gate by the Lascaux name, he noted, intrigued. He had seen some very similar ones growing up. At least while Gramps was still alive. His grandpa had stayed out on the Cherokee reservation. Fond memories drifted back as Craig punched in a series of numbers and waited impatiently.

  Chapter 6

  Leo grimaced as he reached over and picked up the obnoxiously jangling phone. “Yes, Demar, I’ll be right down. Hold on.” Leo hung up and quickly pulled on his jeans, a shirt, and some shoes. He bent to kiss Lynx, “Kitten, we’ve got company. I’ll take care of it. You can rest or come downstairs for something to eat when you feel up to it.”

  Lynx murmured a barely audible, “Mmm hmm.” Leo grinned as he straightened and left.

  Demar was the ranch’s main security guard. He stood well over 6’3 and was two hundred and fifty pounds of pure muscle. He seemed to gleam black as satin against the door. Leo could trust Demar to remain poised and ready to remove any threat to the Lascaux Ranch or its feline family.

  His expression did not give much away as he gave the order for the ranch’s large entrance gate to be opened. Demar looked skeptical, though. The black Mustang pulled up the ranch’s semi-circular drive, and Craig Marozi stepped out.

  “Relax, Demar. Marozi and I are old friends,” Leo said. He gave Demar the look and nod that said everything is fine. Demar managed a half-smile towards Craig and muttered a greeting, of sorts. Then, Demar turned and strode away, his rifle slung close to his side.

  “So, Leo, where’d you pick up the new tough guy?” Craig commented. Leo slapped Craig on the back, and then led him up the steps to the ranch house’s wide porch. Tropical plantings of hibiscus, palm, and fern surrounded the porch in elegant, manicured profusion. Craig paused as Leo considered the question.

  “Uh, we discovered Demar a couple of years ago when we went to South America on a trip. His parents were former missionaries there, believe it or not. So, how about you, Craig? I take it Daniel was tied up on a lead, or he’d have come with you. But, hey, it’s great to see you again. I haven’t seen or heard from you since our rendezvous with that slime, the one we took down in Miami. That would have been right before the trip when Roberto and Felice introduced me to Demar.”

  “Yeah, you left the COBRA unit right after we wrapped up the Miami drug sting,” Craig didn’t prevaricate. “You just up and left. So, tell me, what was so goddamned important that you’d leave your combat brothers at COBRA for?”

  “Well, we do have a lot of catching up to do, that’s for sure, Craig. But first, welcome to my humble abode.” Leo motioned Craig through the huge set of entrance doors. The doors were studded by some rather large, ferocious looking stone lions and two very ornate lion head door knockers.

  Craig hadn’t changed much. But, Leo noted, Craig’s brows were drawn together. That, tempered with a habitual hand through his hair, signaled that Craig had some serious questions.

  Leo had become attuned to the body language of his COBRA comrades even before their stint together as top agents. Many of them had previously served together as Army Rangers.

  He and Craig knew better than most the faith it took to put your life on the line every day and trust each other. They knew the benefits, too. Neither of them would be alive today if not for that trust. They had both saved each other’s neck more than once. They had been close once, closer than many brothers.

  Craig turned the corner and stepped down into the large sunken living room just off the main foyer. Leo watched Craig’s reaction as he came face to face with Lynx. Craig’s whole face lit up. Hell, his smile could’ve cranked up the damn generator it was so big.

  Lynx did look good in those tight blue jeans.

  Then, Craig’s eyes traveled over the small yellow tank top that left her lower stomach bare. But, Leo could see Lynx’s hazel eyes had gone wide. She looked shocked and pale. As Leo watched, she swayed unsteadily.

  He moved towards her with unnatural speed.

  He probably should’ve mentioned to her about the call he’d made earlier, the one where he had talked to her brother. Hell, he probably should have mentioned Craig was on his way. But, he’d been kind of busy. Lynx was much too distracting. Around Lynx, his brain seemed to migrate south of the border, right below his belt.

  Before Lynx had the time to fall to the flagstone floor beneath her, Leo caught her up in his arms. He scooped her right up and nestled her against his broad chest. Craig was barely a second behind him. Apparently, Craig had been prepared to catch her, too.

  “Are you okay, Lynx? Leo, I thought you said she was doing better.” Craig’s words trailed off as he followed Leo to the sofa nearest them.

  Leo shook his head as he gently sat down with Lynx still on his lap. Grabbing the phone, he just said, “Not now, Marozi, not now. I need to get Felice to bring the smelling salts.”

  Lynx gave him a look of censure. “Oh, no, you don’t, Leo. I’m fine. I was surprised, that’s all, and maybe just a little dizzy. I probably need to eat soon, though.” Lynx quirked her eyebrow at him, and he had to suppress a grin. She was sure enough bossy and headstrong, not to mention a bit of a smart-ass. He loved it.

  But then Lynx scooted off his lap. She reached out to Craig and Craig pulled her into a big bear hug.

  A soft growl vibrated low in his throat as he watched Lynx and Craig embrace. Leo choked it back. Craig was like a brother to him. Lynx was his lover and mate, but they still barely knew one another.

  Just how close were Craig and Lynx, Leo wondered? Lynx had been a virgin, he knew that. That in itself was truly remarkable. Lynx had remained untouched. She had remained a virgin at an age and time period where many people took lovers indiscriminately. But, he didn’t know the extent of Lynx’s feelings for Craig.

  A vivid memory flashed back to him. It had been one of his last and happier encounters with Craig, at least. Leo, Craig, and other fellow COBRA operatives had successfully captured Magellan Cervantes, the Miami drug lord. They had come damn near close to dying during that sting operation. But Craig had pulled him back just in time before the Cervantes lab had erupted in a fireball. After their mission was wrapped up satisfactorily, Leo went back to Craig’s apartment for a celebratory beer.

  Even now, the memory had the power to shake Leo. Craig’s girlfriend at the time had been a petite blonde with grey-blue eyes, pert, medium-sized breasts, toned legs, and a killer smile. Kelly and Craig had become fairly seriously involved.

  Leo lost himself in the reverie. It all began after one of the infamous touch football games that their captains would throw, usually around holidays. That year, it was around Thanksgiving, as Leo recalled.

  Slater’s team and Donovan’s team had met for the inevitable game involving heavy helpings of macho bluster and showmanship. The field had been slippery after the recent rains. It was not an unusual weather pattern for that time of year, especially considering there had been a few tropical depressions late in the year and a smaller hurricane that had hit farther up the coast. The teams, however, had been raring to go.

  The surging testosterone levels were evident everywhere on the field, with the one notable exception of a female agent on Donovan’s team at the time. It was head-to-head in one of the closest games in recent history of their competition. That’s when Donovan’s daughter had walked out to the sidelines to stand by her fat
her. She’d just returned from being away at college days before.

  Leo could still remember how the sight of Kelly had affected him then. He had bulldozed his way through several more touchdowns. He’d eventually made it over to Captain Dane Donovan’s side, and that of his daughter Kelly.

  Craig had beaten him there. From the beginning, Kelly’s heart had belonged to Craig. Craig and Kelly had been inseparable from their first look at one another. Everyone speculated they were headed to the altar, and sooner, rather than later.

  But that one night, the three of them had talked and laughed as they sat around the table eating the gourmet meal Kelly had cooked and served. Leo remembered Kelly and Craig seemed happy together. They had both insisted on breaking out a bottle of some rather delicious vintage wine. Just to celebrate the conclusion of another successful mission, they said.

  It wasn’t going to be a beer and chips evening with his teammates after all. He hadn’t minded. It had been wonderful to finally relax after all the tense months on the trail of Cervantes. He’d been a bit surprised after dinner, though. Kelly had sat down in Craig’s lap and kissed him. Not exactly the peck on the cheek, in public kiss. Craig and Lynx were doing the full-on tongue mambo.

  Leo had gotten up to leave. He figured it was a not-so-subtle hint. Kelly had reached out, grabbed his arm, and pulled him back down to the couch by her and Craig.

  She was astride Craig’s lap, but Leo couldn’t forget the utter sensuality stamped on her face as she’d turned to kiss him. The same way she had just kissed Craig. Implications aside, it had still been utterly shocking to him.

  Leo remembered searching Craig’s face for any sign of anger, disturbance, or jealousy. He’d realized then, this was not entirely unexpected. Maybe it was even planned. Leo would have never intruded on Craig’s territory. Yet, the fires he saw banked in his friend’s eyes were anything but hostile.

  And Kelly’s invitation had been much too sensual to resist. Not that Leo wanted to.

  Her kiss had been languorous, and then Kelly had slid both her hands down his chest. Leo remembered how she tugged his white tee out of his jeans, adroitly maneuvered it over his head. It was, he had to admit, a turn-on. Kelly had taken charge and initiated everything between them.

  Leo recognized the burn and flicker in Craig’s eyes. He enjoyed watching Kelly’s seductive invitation. Kelly took what she wanted.

  Craig had joined in then and slipped Kelly’s silky wisp of a blouse over her head. Craig’s fingers had followed the outline of her satiny little bra as he kissed his way down the side of Kelly’s arched neck.

  Leo had never been a voyeur before. But it was damn titillating. Then, somehow, Leo recalled, he and Craig had both wound up wrapped around Kelly. Theirs, a mutual frenzy of need, with Kelly between them on the large plush couch.

  Kelly had arced between him and Craig. She had been insatiable for both of them. After that, it was inevitable, Leo supposed. They’d all wound up in Craig and Kelly’s bed together, fulfilling some of the wildest fantasies he’d never contemplated having before. It had been one of the most intense sexual experiences he’d ever known.

  Yet, the recollection still had the power to haunt him, even now. Leo would bet the memories haunted Craig, as well. A mere week after their ménage occurred, Kelly had died in a fiery car crash.

  No matter what Kelly’s death had done to him personally, Leo knew Craig damn near crashed and burned that day, too. Hell, Craig had mourned for two long years. Craig had retreated deep into himself. No one had been able to truly lift Craig out of his depression. Craig didn’t help. He’d distanced himself from everyone. The Craig he’d known often didn’t seem there, even when he was present.

  Craig’s work ultimately saved him. It had been their next mission to route the rest of the Cervantes drug cartel. The same cartel that had rebounded under Cervantes’s equally evil son, Donatello. Craig came close to dead on that mission. But this time, Leo had Craig’s back.

  Leo had mourned Kelly’s death, only he mourned alone. Seeing his friend on the brink of the precipice like that had been frightening. His own grief had quickly turned to concern over his friend’s pain. Granted, he’d cared for Kelly, as a friend and one-time lover. But his emotions concerning Kelly had not run quite as deep as he imagined Craig’s had. He was never in love with Kelly.

  He and Craig watched each other’s backs for many years. On every mission, they were a team. It was deeply ingrained in their credo as Army men, as Rangers, even more so.

  Perhaps the after-shocks of Kelly’s death were more subtle for him. Still, Leo knew that he’d never been the same afterwards, either. Mired in his own grief and despairing for Craig’s, he had experienced his first shift. It was Leo’s first experience as an Imatu.

  The shock had been huge, but especially in the wake of everything that had just transpired. Fortunately, by that time, the COBRA operatives had wrapped up their mission. They had taken down the remainders of the Cervantes Cartel. Leo had taken the opportunity to go on an extended leave.

  Damn, had it been nearly two years ago when he’d first met Roberto and Felice? So many changes in so little time, Leo pondered. The life he’d all but left behind had turned up on his doorstep again. But it was good to see his friend. Hell, it was good to see his partner again.

  How well did Craig know Lynx? Had they meant something serious to one another beyond Craig being Lynx’s brother’s good friend? Would Craig and his former relationship with Lynx change anything or everything?

  Leo struggled to contain his thoughts while he watched the touching reunion between his close friend and his new mate. Irony of all ironies, the two people closest to him obviously knew and cared for each other.

  “So, how did you manage to rescue Lynx, and why did you bring her to your ranch?” The question brought Leo out of reverie. Leo cleared his throat, buying a limited reprieve before replying. He considered how best to frame his answer. Clearly, Craig wanted explanations now.

  “We had to act fast, Craig,” Leo began. “We knew we had to get her out of there before whoever tried to take Lynx the first time returned to try again.” Leo hesitated. “We’d been searching for Lynx for some time. Roberto, Felice, and I learned that some old friends of my family, Enid Persia and Sing Young, had at least one infant daughter. When they died tragically, no baby was recovered. I had to know what happened. It only seemed right.

  “It wasn’t easy to inveigle information on an infant that just went missing. We finally began searching adoption records privately as a last resort. Our persistence paid off when we discovered a girl who was adopted within the right time period by a couple known as Sean and Heather Shaunessy.”

  Craig still looked puzzled. Leo could tell his answer had only brought up more questions.

  “Why were you so desperately looking for this Enid Persia and Sing Young’s child to begin with?” Craig demanded.

  “Yes, that’s a question I’d like to know the answer to, as well,” Lynx said. Her tone was curious. But, Leo could also hear a thread of peevishness. He inwardly groaned. Obviously, a healthy Lynx didn’t mean a docile one.

  Leo knew explaining things in depth could be tricky for him. Lynx’s eyes were widened, almost innocently as she waited for his answer. He needed to carefully measure his words. Lynx’s Imatu senses would help her sense an untruth. He knew better than to lie.

  “As I mentioned, Enid Persia and Singh Young were close friends of my parents at one time. It was just important that I find their children, find what happened to them. When I did finally find you, Lynx, it was obvious someone else was looking for you, too. They, without doubt, intended to hurt you or worse. So to keep you safe, I brought you here.”

  Leo took a breath and went on, “I brought you here to guard you. Home was the one place I knew that I could protect you easier. I didn’t realize immediately you were Daniel’s baby sister. I never imagined I’d been that close to what I’d searched for all along.”

  Leo watched
closely, gauging Craig and Lynx’s reaction to his words. As he had expected, Lynx’s nose slightly flared. It would be obvious only to a sensitive observer, someone looking for it like him. Lynx was, consciously or not, ascertaining the truth of his assertions. Leo was actually thrilled to see Lynx’s instinctive responses.

  He controlled his grin. It wouldn’t do to have Craig or Lynx want to know what he thought was so damn funny and cute.

  “Okay,” Craig said. “I can accept that. It makes sense you couldn’t have known that. So, did you realize you had rescued a new agent?” Craig winked at the now reclining Lynx.

  “Wow, and yes, I’m impressed,” muttered Leo, inwardly groaning again. That could put a slight kink in things. No, that little nugget of information didn’t make matters any easier.

  The dots slowly began to connect for Leo. His excitement at finding Lynx must have short-circuited the logic patterns in his brain. Goddess.

  Daniel, Lynx’s brother, would also have to be a shifter by blood.

  Leo felt a growing excitement at the thought. If Special Agent Daniel Shaunessy was a natural member of the pride, it would only strengthen their numbers. The larger their numbers, the greater any Imatu’s chances for survival were. Every member brought new strengths, gifts, and hope for the future of their kind. Sadly, those numbers had dwindled considerably over just the last few years.

  “Daniel,” Craig spoke suddenly. “Hey, that reminds me, I should’ve contacted Captain Slater by now like Daniel asked me to. Slater will be pissed if he’s the last to know Lynx is fine. Not to mention, I should’ve already called Daniel back, too. He’ll be relieved to know I’m here with Lynx and you.”

  Craig ran a hand through his hair and admitted, “Daniel was getting pretty desperate. Our lead on the packing company in Sarasota turned into a deserted dead end. When I dropped him back off at McDill, I thought briefly I was going to see a grown man cry. I thought Daniel might, too,” Craig added with a wink at Lynx.

  Craig never took his eyes off her. “Lynx, I’ve never seen Daniel so worried. But then Daniel was as happy as I’ve ever heard him after Leo called to say you were at his ranch, safe and sound.