“Thanks, appreciate it.” Isaac cracked the top and took a long, cool drink. “On a night like this, I would prefer a cold bottle of beer.”
“You’re not the first. I can’t go near alcohol,” Etienne admitted as he set the lantern between them.
“We can’t get drunk.”
“Not unless we’re pounding a shitload of alcohol into us to override our metabolism. I did it.”
“Were things bad?”
“When I first left the clinic, I was in the bottle until some friends kicked my ass and made me refocus on healing and therapy. Sometimes I want to crawl back inside and forget what happened, yeah. It was a bad situation.”
“What about now?”
“Good and bad days. Nightmares and insomnia woke me up tonight.”
“Did you get the bad guy?”
“Yeah, between the eyes,” Etienne said with a grim smile.
“Damn.”
“Bastard deserved it. Wish I got the rest, but I caught one too many bullets.” Etienne shrugged his good side and took another long sip. He tried to push back the rising anger.
“How long are you here for?”
“I don’t know. Depends on how I’m healing. Until I’m allowed to return to my job, I guess. Why?”
“You didn’t come home to stay.”
“This house was never home, not to me. I hung out more at your place or with Gage. I hated being here.”
“The Fire Moon clan is your home. Regardless of your parents, you belong here. You can help Alex.”
“I don’t belong here. I’m staying long enough to heal up and get back to fighting form. I’ll hand over this place to someone else.”
“This is your plan? You don’t give a shit about anyone else.” Isaac slapped a hand down on the dusty cushion and sneezed. “Shit.” He rubbed his nose. “Hello.” He waved the bottle and gestured to himself. “What about me? You don’t care about what I feel or think seeing you after all these freaking years.”
“You’ve been fine without me.”
“How would you know? I don’t get a call, a letter, not even a blank postcard for some idea. Nothing.”
“I know, I cut all connections when I disappeared.”
“You dropped into nowhere. I couldn’t find anything about you. Hell, I didn’t know you were alive. Dark moon! Do you have any idea what I went through?” Isaac rose to his feet and stepped outside the circle of light and faced the path leading up the valley’s edge. “I couldn’t tell you what was happening with me, the clan, and find you so I could hold you.”
“I don’t know a damn thing. How could I? Why would you want anything to do with me?”
“I don’t know, but my cat wants you. It wanted you from the moment we scuffled on the schoolyard as cubs. You’re it for me.” Isaac faced Etienne. “You’re my mate. Fate doesn’t give a shit about who she picks.”
“Do you believe we’re mates?”
Isaac tilted his head and sniffed the air. “You smell like my mate to my cat. I’m doing all I can to not jump your ass.”
“I’m not stopping you.”
“Do you have anything inside to use? I got nothing on me.”
Etienne thought about his suitcase and knew he hadn’t grabbed a new bottle. “There could be something in the medicine cabinet.”
“Could be?”
“Hell, I rolled in late this evening and haven’t looked through anything. Not to mention the power is out,” Etienne said, waving a hand at the dark house. “I unpacked what I needed, found the cleanest bed, and face planted in exhaustion.”
“We’ll look,” Isaac said as he grabbed the lantern’s handle and took hold of Etienne’s hand. “Get up, big boy. I want you inside.”
“I should be the one who wants to get inside you.”
“Not this time,” Isaac tossed back as he half dragged the other male inside the dark house. “Where the hell are we going?”
Chapter 3
“Follow me.” Laughing, Etienne stepped forward, took the lantern, and led them through the rooms of covered furniture and toward the stairs. “I took my parents’ room,” he said as they went upstairs and down the hallway. “It’s the one room with decent furniture since I outgrew my old stuff.”
“Were your ankles hanging over the edge?”
“Yeah,” Etienne said and grimaced when Isaac laughed.
At the main suite, Etienne pointed Isaac in the direction of the bed.
“Did you not bother to unpack?” Isaac shuffled a foot in a corner and sneezed.
“I didn’t know jaguars had allergies.”
“Shut it.” Isaac sneezed. “Dude, really?” He pointed to a pile of gray fluff. He sneezed again and glared at his partner.
Etienne pushed a fist against his mouth, trying not to laugh as Isaac sneezed several times in a row.
“Hell. This sucks.” He waved a hand at the gray fluff pile. “Your dust bunnies have dust bunnies. What the hell?”
“No, it was too damn late and dark. I drove over fourteen hours. I’m used to living out of a suitcase. I mentioned this place is a disaster and needs a deep cleaning.”
Isaac bounced his ass on the edge of the bed. When there wasn’t a puff of dust, he gave a shout of “Eureka!”
“What?”
“No dust on the bed.”
“I shook out the sheets and blankets before I made the bed, nitwit. I slept here until a nightmare woke me.” With a shrug, Etienne turned toward the bathroom with the lantern.
“Shit.”
Etienne opened the medicine cabinet, moved things around, and dropped to look through the lower cabinets. He grabbed the familiar blue-lid jar and glanced at the date of expiration. “We’re good. I got something for lube. I don’t want to resort to spit for slick for a reunion.”
“What did you find?”
He stepped out of the bathroom and waved the squat jar. “This’ll work in a pinch since we don’t need condoms.”
“We’ll be cleaning our greasy asses for hours.”
“We need to clean them anyway,” Etienne said.
With a snort, Isaac emptied his pockets and placed a cell phone, radio, and a holster on the nightstand.
Etienne stared at the sleek Glock. “What are you doing carrying a gun?”
Isaac glanced at the weapon. “Our clan has dangerous rogues on our borders. After a test of proficiency on a range, Alex and Collin approved permits to carry on rounds.”
“Is it loaded with heavy-metal bullets?”
“With liquid centers, but we have a clip of regular bullets,” Isaac said.
Etienne sat hard on the edge of the bed. This situation was like nothing Paul suggested. Except for Operations, no other clans carried weapons, but he believed this should change because the various rogue groups lived by the guns. “What’s going on around here?”
“We were attacked with a dangerous poison. If we didn’t have a knowledgeable doctor and a chemist, I wouldn’t be standing here. Alex isn’t taking anything for granted. If we’re not running as jaguars, we go armed.”
“There’s a lot I need to figure out within this clan.”
“Don’t tell me you don’t have a gun?”
Etienne glanced at the large dark duffel bag he’d set near the closet. “Not a gun.”
“What?”
“No specifics. If trouble ever hits the fan, know there is a large black duffel bag in my closet. Grab it and hightail to safe ground. You’ll be protected with the contents and contact others with several burner phones. If you need to run, take it because it’s an escape bag with cash, fake IDs, and other things.”
Isaac found the duffel in the soft lantern light. “Are you shitting me? What’re you doing with an arsenal-filled bag?”
Etienne shook his head.
Scrubbing a hand over his face, Isaac moved fingers to his shirt and yanked it over his head. He strolled over and shifted one hip out. “Can you forget about the danger and concentrate on me?”
Etie
nne grabbed the front of Isaac’s jeans and yanked him. When the other man tilted off center, he finished undressing both of them, letting the clothes fall forgotten to the floor. Etienne twisted until he could press Isaac to lie across the bed.
“Is this better?”
“Sweet dark moon, yes.” Isaac stretched out like a bountiful feast for Etienne’s gaze and lips to enjoy.
“Good. Now shush.”
Etienne knelt on the bed and traced an intricate pattern in the center of Isaac’s chest with his lips. He slid his tongue out on occasion to lick and capture Isaac’s taste and scent. His fingers tangled in small patch of body hair between Isaac’s pecs and gave some a gentle tug. After Isaac moaned, he let his hands dance across Isaac’s side, tickled the smooth skin there, and edged down in the same movements. His tongue slid across Isaac’s navel and dipped inside and twirled around, before continuing its exploration.
Isaac moaned and wiggled under Etienne’s intense touch. The sound tore through and disrupted the quiet within the dark room along with their movement against the sheets. The pleas escaped his lips as Etienne inched closer to his cock, already dripping with pre-cum.
Wrapping his hand around the base of the thick cock, Etienne took Isaac’s cock in his mouth. He moved his head up and down, lifting off long enough to swirl his tongue across the tip and curl around the rim of his lover’s erection. Taking the length back in his mouth until the end hit the back of his throat, Etienne swallowed.
After Isaac dug his fingers into Etienne’s ebony layers, he pulled him up until his cock popped out of his lover’s mouth. “Get inside me before I blow. It’s been too damn long.”
“You want me to sink deep inside you.”
“Sweet dark moon, yes.” Isaac opened his legs and pulled back his knees to reveal the dark hidden opening between his cheeks.
“Dark moon, you look damn sexy,” Etienne said with a growl of pleasure. He dropped his head and suckled one of the soft balls in the dark, wrinkled sac. Letting the ball pop out of his mouth, he gave his lover a wicked grin. He reached across Isaac’s body and picked up the found container of their makeshift lube. He released the blue top and dug his fingers into the slick jelly. After rubbing them together, he circled them around his lover’s hole.
Isaac’s mouth opened as his jaw dropped with a silent scream. His hips twisted and his fingers clenched around his knees. Etienne made sure he prepared Isaac with care. He loved the feeling of stretching him, digit by digit, to get him ready and find his prostate.
“Dark moon, I’m ready. I’m ready,” Isaac said after Etienne nudged his gland.
“Are you sure you’re ready?”
“Don’t tease, E, been too damn long. Get your cock inside me,” Isaac said as he lifted his head.
Etienne was intrigued to see his lover’s eyes shift from their normal baby-blue color to the gold-blue of his jaguar. He roused his lover’s inner feline with his touch.
“My cat is gonna nip your fingers if you don’t move.”
Not wanting to respond verbally, Etienne used the extra jelly and jacked his cock, spreading the lube. He knelt between Isaac’s legs. Placing his hands on Isaac’s slender hips, he tugged him closer until his legs wrapped around Etienne’s waist. Etienne held his cock and tapped it against the stretched hole before he pushed in. He waited for Isaac to acclimate. With deliberate pauses to wait for Isaac to nod and urge him to hurry, Etienne teased him as he pushed the last few inches in and his balls hit Isaac’s ass. Their bodies were once more connected.
“Come on. Fuck me hard, E.” Isaac tightened his legs around Etienne, shifted to hump against him, frantic for movement.
Being deliberate, Etienne pulled out with a languid slide and snapped his hips to delve deep. His strokes were solid and sure, the head of his cock nudging Isaac’s prostate. He let Isaac tug on him with a hand wrapped around his neck. Their lips met in a deep, sloppy kiss. The thrusts became desperate, deepening and strengthening with each inward stroke until the old bed shook, rattling against the wall. Sweat rolled down Etienne's back to collect between them.
Moaning, his voice broke with every thrust as he said, “Dark moon, Isaac, you’re so tight and hot. You’re squeezing my cock so good.”
“I missed you. Sweet Goddess, you know how I love you,” Isaac said with a strangled moan.
It felt good, right, to be buried deep inside Isaac after more than two decades. Etienne heard their moans tangle through the darkness. Neither one could tell who said what, cried with raw hunger, and echoed with pleasure. Etienne didn’t know how anyone could ever get closer to his heart and body.
Etienne shifted, lifted Isaac’s leg higher against his rib cage, and thrust forward with the strength of his feline. He deepened his strokes as if his life depended on it and hit the spot to set Isaac’s insides afire. When the sensation became profound, Isaac came with a scream ending with Etienne’s name.
Their sweat mingled where their bodies came together. Isaac’s spent smeared between their bellies. Etienne captured Isaac’s lips to kiss him. He thrust inside once, twice, and a third time. He spilled cum deep inside his partner, calling out Isaac’s name as he shuddered.
When he could, Etienne pulled out and dropped to his side next to Isaac. Their bodies heaved with breath, covered with sweat, and their gazes met. They wrapped their arms together as the heat dissolved into chuckles.
Chapter 4
Upon wakening with Isaac curled against his side, one thigh thrown over his, Etienne held still as he breathed. He couldn’t believe he’d managed to sleep, but he did in Isaac’s arms. He’d dreamt of the mysterious duo again. This time the male had Isaac’s face. The dreams signified Isaac was his true mate—the one of his heart and feline. It meant the female was their mate as well. They were a triad. He needed to figure out who she was.
Digesting this information, he managed to wiggle away from his lover’s arms. They took each other three more times before cleaning the mess and falling asleep. He took care of his morning bathroom needs and glanced at the scruffy goatee, but ignored the waiting razor. Returning to the bedroom, he grabbed the jeans, yanked them up, shifted his cock, and zipped. Sifting his fingers through the soft silky layers of Isaac’s hair, he smiled when Isaac buried his face between the pillows. His silly lover was never the best morning person. He kissed between Isaac’s shoulders.
Leaving him to sleep, Etienne went to find the electrical panel in the laundry room, hoping there was power. He crossed his fingers and hit the main breaker. Hearing something, he threw all the other breakers, went to hit the light switch.
There was light!
“Holy sweet moon, I thank you, my Goddess. Coffee. I can have caffeine,“ Etienne grabbed the bag of coffee, filters, jug of water, and the grinder. He let the water run from the faucet to flush the pipes before he rinsed the grinder cup. He ground the beans to a fine powder. After a sniff of the coffeemaker, he cleaned the entire machine.
While the coffee began its aromatic drip, he turned on the fridge and freezer to begin cooling them, and checked the stove with a few flips to see if the burners lit. When everything worked, he searched to see what pans remained in the cupboards. Finding what he needed, he pulled together breakfast.
In the middle of chopping vegetables and scrambling eggs, Etienne poured a cup of coffee when it finished and guzzled half of the dark brew. Before he could start cooking the omelet, the doorbell rang. He heard someone pound a few knocks. “Hold on, I’m coming.” Wiping his hands on a towel, Etienne went to the front door. The brush of powerful Alpha power washed over him.
Opening the door, he gave a graceful bow of respect. “High Alpha Thurston, greetings of the Goddess to you. Of all things this morning, I wasn’t expecting you to appear at my door. I planned to speak with you later.”
Alexander Thurston tapped his fingers against Etienne’s neck. “Please, rise.” He placed his hand on Etienne’s shoulder. “I know who you work for, Etienne. A member of your team, Paul, contac
ted me while you were traveling. He gave me the requested permission for your return to the clan and asked if there was a position among the guardians.”
“Ahh, please come in, and I didn’t know he called.” Etienne beckoned the Alpha into his home. “Don’t know if we met when we were younger. I’m Etienne de la Fontaine.”
“Alexander Thurston, and I believe you left before I did,” Alex said as he entered and looked around the home.
“Please excuse the dust and disrepair. It’s been a while since anyone lived here. I didn’t have time to clean.”
“I understand. I’m dealing with the same issues of my family home.”
“You have the rest of the valley along with your home.”
“True. I’m happy to have you back. We can use jaguars with your experience and knowledge. The current rogue problem we’re having is becoming worse. I may need you to join Collin and Luca in leading the guardians and to be there when they’re busy with their mate.”
“I hope I can step into the role you need, Alpha. If Collin and Luca don’t mind, I would be proud to join the guardians.”
“I’m sure they’ll welcome the additional leadership. Things have gotten busier.”
“Would you like a cup of coffee? It’s fresh brewed. The power came on this morning.”
“Please. Black with two sugars,” Alex said. “Call me Alex.”
“Come into the kitchen. I’m making omelets for breakfast. Would you like one?”
Alex checked out the fixings as he settled at the bar. “It looks like you’re already making two large ones. You weren’t expecting me.”
“The other would be for me, Alpha. Good morning,” another male said and caused Alex to turn and see a rumpled Isaac making an appearance.
“Good morning, Isaac, Gage mentioned you stopped your rounds around here last night. I didn’t realize you stayed,” Alex said with a warm smile.
“Yes, well…” Isaac blushed under his Alpha’s gaze.
“There was unfinished business between us when I disappeared. Last night, we decided to recommit to our feelings for one another.” Etienne moved to his lover and brushed his lips against Isaac’s soft ones in a morning kiss.
Dark Moon Dance [Fire Jaguars 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 3