by Lynn Hagen
“Well, if it isn’t my dear faggot nephew. Show yourself…or is this warrior protecting you from your own family?”
Snooke shook his head at the audacity the man was showing. “He’s more like family than you are. He won’t ask me to do something that will hurt other people or put the public in danger. I don’t want to be your faggot nephew anymore. Go find someone else to do your dirty work.”
“He’s your uncle?” Kane finally looked down at Snooke, however brief, and then back over to where Snooke assumed his uncle was standing.
“Unfortunately,” Snooke mumbled. He attempted to get to his feet again, but Kane was quicker. “Will you let me up?”
“Yes, let the man up. I’d like to see the traitor.”
“I don’t think I can do that.” Kane backed up a step, his calves hitting Snooke’s side. “I have business with him first.”
“Yes, yes, yes. He betrayed your trust. I know. It is a pity.”
Snooke lay there and listened to his uncle, wondering how he had never really noticed the venom his uncle was laced with. He was so blinded by his loyalty, by his need to please the man he thought loved him that he had buried his head in the proverbial sand to his uncle’s true character.
The truth was that Marino Malone didn’t care anything about Snooke except what Snooke could do for him. He had realized all of this too late. He’d lost the first man he had truly loved.
“Not really. I knew what he was up to all the time. He told me.” Kane grinned at Marino. “Do you think I was that stupid? That I would blindly trust a demon that just so happens to waltz into the warriors’ mist and proclaim to be up to nothing?” Kane’s hip hitched to the side, and he chuckled softly as he shook his head. “He disappeared too much, couldn’t give a straight answer to save his life, and he was a little too cute for words.”
Snooke’s head shot up at the last statement. Cute? He was cute? Why didn’t Kane just say cuddly? He knew Kane was blowing smoke up Marino’s ass, that he hadn’t a clue what Snooke had been up to. Honestly, Snooke wished he had. Then this wouldn’t be such a blow to his mate.
“You’re lying. I can see it in your eyes,” Marino sneered. “Enough of this bullshit.”
The fingers Snooke had attached to Kane’s pants, his lifeline, was broken when Kane moved away from him.
Snooke rolled away this time, quickly getting to his feet. He assessed his surroundings. One of Marino’s men stood there frozen, but his uncle was charging right for Kane.
“This is not good,” Snooke shrieked.
Kane shoved Snooke out of the way as Marino and Kane collided.
Kane grabbed the front of Marino’s shirt, shifted his weight, and then dropped Marino to the ground. Snooke could see Kane was winning, but that would be a short-lived victory.
Marino jumped to his feet, wiping the blood from his lower lip from falling, and then grinned evilly at Kane. Snooke’s blood ran cold.
“Is that all you have, warrior?”
“No, I had your daddy in my bed last night. Want him back?”
Marino howled, charging Kane once again. Snooke cried out when his uncle tackled Kane, pinning his mate to the ground. Snooke looked around desperately. He grabbed a crate and smashed it over Marino’s head.
His uncle’s head snapped up, baring his teeth as he glared at Snooke. “I’m gonna kill your ass next.”
“No, you won’t,” Panahasi said as he entered the backroom. “Release my warrior.”
Marino wrapped his hands around Kane’s neck. Snooke picked up another crate and smashed it over Marino’s head once again.
“Enough!” Panahasi shouted as the ground began to tremble. Snooke stumbled back, staring wide-eyed at the leader of the Demon Warriors. “I said to release him now.”
Marino got to his feet, pulling the warrior up with him. Kane punched Marino in his windpipe, gaining an immediate release.
Panahasi shot his arm out. Snooke watched in wonder as his uncle was lifted from his feet and thrown across the room when the sneaky bastard tried to attack Kane once again.
“Get your mate out of here,” Panahasi calmly said to Kane.
Snooke jumped when Kane wrapped an arm around his waist and found a shadow to walk through. Why was Kane taking him along? He thought for sure he would be left behind as Kane walked away from him.
They emerged into Kane’s bedroom. Snooke stood there, unsure and nervous when Kane released him.
Snooke watched his mate closely. The warrior walked across the room and then turned. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Snooke stood frozen in place. He wrung his hands in front of him as he swallowed a few times. He wasn’t sure what to say.
“If you keep those lips closed, I’m gonna paddle your ass,” Kane warned.
“I–I…” The nervousness was moving through Snooke. His mate had a wicked gleam in his eyes that Snooke wasn’t quite sure how to interpret. Snooke fought to find his voice, to find control as Kane prowled closer to him. The look on his mate’s face was seductive, sensual in every sense of the word. When his mate stopped right in front of Snooke, he blinked a few times before tilting his head back and staring up into those magical brown eyes.
“I want to know why you kept the truth from me.” Kane’s voice was a deep timbre that was commanding Snooke to obey, to tell Kane the truth behind the plot. To tell the warrior anything the strong man wanted to know.
“You knew?” Snooke surmised from what Kane had just said.
“I knew. Although I didn’t know what was being planned. I knew you weren’t with Chris out of coincidence. I may act like I don’t pay attention, but I do.” Kane’s large arms circled around Snooke, pulling him tight to a chest that was rippling with muscles.
Heat built beneath Snooke’s skin. A dizzying sensation washed over him at the closeness. Kane reached up and caressed his cheek. Snooke leaned into those fingers, desperately wanting his mate, but scared to voice his needs.
Kane’s corded muscles flexed, pinning Snooke to his chest. “Tell me, shorty.”
“I didn’t know you then. I wanted my uncle to be proud of me, to acknowledge just once that he approved of the man I had become.” Snooke lowered his eyes as shame filled him. “I told you before that I’ve done things I’m not proud of.”
“We all have, mate.”
Snooke swallowed tightly at Kane’s words. He was telling Snooke that he could forgive himself. If only it were that easy. “Marino is a well-connected demon. What humans refer to as a mob boss. He hired the waiter to steal the crystal, but instead of paying him for the job, he killed him.”
“So you remember?”
Snooke shook his head. “No, I heard Marino talking about it. He wanted me to befriend Chris to get to the warriors, to find out how to use the crystal. But once I got to know them, to know you, I couldn’t do it.” Snooke looked up at Kane, begging with his eyes for his mate to believe him. “He grew tired of waiting. That’s when he sent one of his goons after me.” Snooke’s lips twisted with hate. “He put a fucking hit out on me.”
“You mean the guy that chased you from King Wings?”
“Yes. He said he would call off the hit since we were family,” Snooke said with coldness he wasn’t even aware he possessed. “But then someone took those pictures. I’ve been on the run from him since.”
“I knew something was going on, but I was waiting for you to trust me enough to tell me.” Snooke could hear the pain in Kane’s voice.
“I’m sorry, Kane. I…I can’t think of anything to say that would make you see that I didn’t want to hurt you.”
Kane tilted Snooke’s head back, his jaw firm as he stared down into Snooke’s eyes. “I understand the need to feel like you belong, but you could have trusted me. Even if you told me after we found out we were mates. That would have been better than hearing it from Marino. It will take me a while to trust you now.”
Snooke’s hands were clenching and unclenching on Kane’s shoulders. “But you are my mat
e. I won’t just walk away.” Kane stated with finality.
Snooke’s senses reeled as Kane grabbed his ass, kneading his mounds as he smashed their erections together. “You won’t leave my bed this time.”
“I promise,” he panted, clawing desperately at his mate.
“Take your clothes off,” Kane commanded breathlessly.
Snooke pulled free, tearing at his clothes as he watched Kane push his jeans to his hips, freeing his large cock. “Come here.” Kane held his hand out, and Snooke quickly took it.
The warrior lifted him off of his feet. “Wrap your legs around my waist.” Snooke did. He could feel the tip of Kane’s cock pressed against his throbbing hole. Snooke bore down, wanting to feel his mate inside of him more than his next breath.
“Patience, shorty. I don’t want to hurt you.” Kane lifted Snooke a little higher as he walked backward. Snooke rubbed his chest against Kane’s, reveling in the friction against his nipples.
Kane turned, pinning Snooke against the wall. Snooke gasped when he felt Kane stretching him with his mate’s large cock. It burned and pinched slightly, even with the natural lubes Kane’s body had used. Snooke bit his lip, pushing out as Kane slowly slid in.
It felt so damn good. Strong hands gripped his hips, thrusting deep as Snooke matched the rhythm.
“Oh, shorty.” Kane nipped his lips and then kissed them. Kane had such a tight hold on him that his mate threatened his very sanity. Snooke would do anything Kane wanted to get back into his good graces.
“Fuck me,” Snooke begged. Moaning with bliss as Kane kissed him while driving deeper into his ass. Snooke ate at Kane’s mouth hungrily, desperately.
“No more secrets,” Kane said as he thrust harder.
“No more secrets,” Snooke parroted him as his head spun. “Touch me, Kane, please. I’m on fire.”
Kane reached between them and wrapped his meaty hand around Snooke’s cock, stroking it as he fucked Snooke into the wall. “I want to hear you scream my name.” Kane’s breath became ragged, his eyes glazed as he hammered into Snooke’s puckered hole.
Snooke was close. He would be fulfilling Kane’s request in a matter of seconds if his mate kept—“Kane!” Snooke’s head fell back, hitting the wall as ropes of pearly white seed shot out of his cock.
“Milk my cock with your ass, shorty.” Kane pressed Snooke to the wall harder as he jetted into him. “Feel me inside of you, taking you. You’re mine.”
“Yours,” Snooke agreed as his head fell onto Kane’s shoulder. Kane’s hands hit the wall. He was leaning into it as he shouted. Hot seed filled Snooke’s sheath as Kane came inside of him.
“Mine.” Kane kissed down his neck, lapping at Snooke’s sweat-soaked skin. His body hummed with his lingering orgasm and Kane’s touch.
Snooke was boneless when Kane pulled away from the wall and walked them into the bathroom, turning the shower on and stepping under it. Snooke was too sated to care what Kane did at the moment. He was too busy enjoying the feel of laying in his mate’s arms.
“What happened?” Kane asked as he walked into Panahasi’s apartment. “I’m sorry I didn’t stick around, but I needed to get my mate away from there.”
“No need to apologize. I was the one who told you to get him out of there.” Panahasi turned from the large living room window. “He shimmered away.”
“He what?” Kane asked in stunned disbelief. “I thought he was a demon.”
“He is. Apparently he is a mixed breed. Demon and elf being his lineage. It happens.” Panahasi set his glass of water down and grabbed the paper. “I’m tired of this reporter.” He tossed the paper toward Kane.
Kane scanned the headline news. “How in the hell does he know about the fight in the backroom of Malcor’s?” He looked up to see the tight and angry expression on the leader’s face.
“That’s what I intend to find out.” Panahasi walked over to the couch and took a seat. “He seems to be getting the inside information on a lot of things right after they happen.”
“He can’t be everywhere at once. Can he?” Kane took a seat, looking the newspaper over. It had the details of the fight in the backroom. Even down to the conversation he and Marino had had. “One of his men was in the room with us. He unfroze when Marino attacked me. He couldn’t have possibly known what was said.”
“Marino didn’t freeze?” Panahasi’s brows pulled together.
“No. Why?”
“I haven’t a clue.”
Kane sat back and thought about all the times they had been engaged in one battle or the next and how quickly the story had gotten into the paper. It seemed to just start recently. Was there a connection to Marino moving into the demon realm and this reporter showing up? Kane would have to check to see when the reporter had started working for the Daily Demon.
“Marino has the crystal,” Kane stated as he sat there quietly contemplating his mating with Snooke. He knew something was up all along, but prayed his mate would come to him. That’s what hurt the most, what angered him the most. That Snooke let him find out from someone else.
“He said as much before he shimmered away.”
Kane related to the leader everything Snooke had confessed to him.
“Where is your mate now?”
“In my apartment helping Dillon adjust to the demon world. Everything in the apartment was built for a warrior, so I had to purchase two step stools.” Kane softly chuckled.
Panahasi nodded as Kane spoke. The leader looked deep in thought until he raised his head and asked. “How is Dillon doing?”
“Not bad for a human who just found out demons existed. Wait until he learns about the other paranormal creatures.”
A smile tugged at Panahasi’s lips. “That should be interesting.”
A thought struck Kane, and he began to laugh. “Or until he walks Tulip and sees the two-headed poodle the vampire likes to walk every evening.”
Panahasi chuckled. “Interesting times we indeed have.”
“That we do. I’m gonna head back downstairs.” Kane pushed from the couch and headed out of Panahasi’s penthouse suite.
The hall was empty as he descended to the fourth floor. Kane let himself in and went in search of his mate. He found him in the kitchen with Dillon.
The human was standing on the step stool, digging through the cupboards. “I don’t see any.”
Snooke stood beside him looking up at Dillon. Kane watched the two for a moment. His mate really was a handsome demon. It was unusual for a demon to be born with white hair. Kane wondered if Snooke was a pure demon or if he had something tossed in. It wouldn’t matter to him either way.
Snooke’s slim body stretched up as he steadied Dillon on the step stool. Kane’s eyes zeroed in on that small rounded ass of his mate’s. Memories of how good it felt to sink deep between those two perfect cheeks had him growing hard.
“Somebody’s horny.” Dillon laughed.
Kane chuckled at the human’s way of speaking his mind. “Where’s Rainerio?”
“Touché.” Dillon climbed down and handed a box to Snooke.
“What are you two up to?”
“Nothing, I swear,” Snooke quickly replied. Kane’s chest tightened at the frightened look on Snooke’s face. Although he was still pissed as hell at the guy, he didn’t want him jumpy.
“I was asking about the box in your hand.”
“Oh.” Snooke looked down and then back at Kane as he sat the box on the counter. “Dillon has a sweet tooth. We were looking for junk food. He found a box of cereal.”
Kane quirked a brow. “I have cereal?”
“I guess I won’t be eating that.” Dillon chucked the box in the trash. “Is there a supermarket here, or do you demons eat brains?”
“Gross.” Snooke wrinkled his nose. “We have a Devil Mart.”
“We also have a grocery store.” Kane knew a lot of inhabitants of the demon realm liked to shop at the superstore, but a grocery store would do for now.
“
I keep forgetting about that.” Snooke folded the step stool and stored it in the closet. “Is it safe to go?” he asked quietly.
“I’m not going to stay a prisoner in my own home. I’ll get Rainerio to go with us.” Kane could see Dillon’s eyes light up.
“Yeah, you get that sexy hunk over here.” Dillon blushed as he said the words.
Kane shook his head as he felt the familiar tugging in his chest. “It’ll have to wait.” No sooner did the words come out than there was someone knocking at his door.
Kane crossed the room and opened the door, allowing Hondo and Chris to enter. “I was wondering if Chris could hang out and tell Dillon some of his great stories.” Hondo gave Kane a slight shake of his head.
“Sure.” Kane crossed back over to his mate and gave him a kiss before heading out with Hondo. “What was that all about?”
Hondo sighed. “If Chris knew we were about to go after a soul sucker, he’d be the first to shoot out of the door.”
They walked down King Kennedy, feeling the tugging getting stronger, indicating that they were getting close.
“Hey.” Deandre, another of the Demon Warriors, caught up with them. “I felt a tugging.”
“Where is everyone else?” Hondo asked as they got closer to Diablo’s.
“Here and there, doing other things for Panahasi.”
The three rounded the corner into the alley between Diablo’s and Malcor’s. They came to a halt at the sight before them.
There was a body on the ground, and the perpetrator was still there.
“Torky?”
Chapter Seven
“It wasn’t me, I swear.” The demon backed away. “I found him like this.”
Kane approached the pair, watching the neighborhood know-it-all as he knelt down beside the downed man. Kane looked down, seeing the victim staring blankly at him. It was fucked up to have one’s soul taken. They still lived, but had to be institutionalized because the victim would now be in a zombie state. No personality, no thoughts of their own. Just wandering aimlessly around.