by Lynn Hagen
He just wasn’t sure how Keaton was taming his insides.
“I’ll stick around town until your mate is well enough to travel,” Bishop said as he moved close to Kade and patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll be over at the diner if you need me.”
That was what Kade loved about Bishop. His brother always knew when Kade needed time alone. When his brother was gone, Kade crawled back in beside Keaton, pulling his mate into his arms and sending up a prayer of thanks that the vampire hadn’t killed Keaton.
One fucking day back in town and it seemed that all hell had broken loose. Kade hugged Keaton close, inhaling his mate’s scent and relieved that Keaton had survived his attack.
“You have a lot of explaining to do,” Keaton said as his eyes fluttered open. “Mates?”
Chapter Four
“Nice room,” Keaton said as he glanced around Kade’s bedroom, noticing how sparsely it was decorated. It almost looked like a prison cell. There was just a bed, dresser, and a nightstand with a lamp on it. That was it. Heck, his office had more furniture than this bedroom.
He watched Kade pace back and forth, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck in an agitated manner. He had just explained a hell of a lot of things to Keaton and his head felt like it was stuffed full with so much information.
“Who did you kill?” Keaton hoped Kade explained to him about his past, the reason he had gone to prison. The guy didn’t look like a murderer. He had seen his fair share of crime shows on television and Kade didn’t fit the profile.
The man was edgy, private, but Keaton wasn’t getting a homicidal vibe from the man.
Kade stilled, his teal eyes glancing to where Keaton was lying, but the man wouldn’t look at him. “I just explained to you about shifters and—” Kade seemed to become flustered, his hands falling to his sides in tight fists.
Keaton hoped the guy didn’t clam up on him. He needed to know what he was getting into and he needed to know that Kade was a good man. He had already felt those vibes, but he wanted to hear how Kade had ended up spending time in prison.
Kade studied the floor for the longest time, his expression resembling a faraway look. It was almost as if the guy had been slung into his past, reliving it in his mind.
Finally, the guy spoke, his tone filled with deep emotions. “Fifteen years ago I was fresh out of high school. I was excited about getting accepted into an Ivy League college.” Kade gave a rueful chuckle and Keaton’s heart hurt for the guy. “I had big plans.”
Keaton sat up, pushing his legs over the side of the bed as he listened. Somehow he knew Kade wasn’t a bad guy. There were men who went to prison for reasons that were valiant. He wasn’t foolish enough to believe there were no bad men in the world. But not all who got locked up were evil.
Kade sat on the bed next to Keaton, cupping his hands in his lap. “Me and a buddy of mine were visiting the city to celebrate finishing high school. On our way back we saw some guy stranded on the side of the road. His car had broken down. I didn’t want to give him a ride but my friend insisted, telling me I was overreacting.” Kade twined his fingers together and rested his elbows on his thighs.
Keaton was riveted to the spot, taking in every word Kade spoke.
“The guy pulled a gun on us and forced my friend…” Kade cleared his throat and Keaton wasn’t sure he wanted Kade to go on. He could see the stress lines around the man’s eyes and mouth. “He forced my friend to do some things he normally wouldn’t have done. Long story short, I wrestled with the stranger to get the gun away. It went off. The guy was dead and my friend was freaking out. He called the cops and told them that I had killed the guy.”
Keaton sat there stunned. He had thought he knew where this story was going, but Kade had just thrown him for a loop. He had not seen the ending coming. “Why would he do something like that? He saw you two wrestling and knew it was an accident.”
Kade chewed on the side of his mouth as he gave a slow shake of his head. He could see the pain in Kade’s teal eyes and Keaton wanted to hug the man, but kept his distance, allowing Kade to finish telling him what happened so long ago. “I think he was more fucked up in the head because I saw what the stranger had made him do and didn’t stop it. I think he blamed me and wanted to make me pay. The gun was stolen, and the cops linked it to a rape and murder of a teenage boy. There was no way to prove that it wasn’t mine. My friend kept yelling that I had stolen it. He was merciless and hell-bent on having me go to prison. I think he was so embarrassed about what happened to him that he wanted anyone who knew about the rape to disappear…including me.”
“They convicted you?” Keaton asked incredulously. “How could they do that?”
“Innocent men go to prison all the time. My friend had told the cops that the stranger had been my boyfriend and we were both trying to rape him. I tossed out the logical question of why would I shoot the man if we were in on it together, but the cops wouldn’t listen. Not after ballistics came back and tied the gun to another crime.
“We weren’t in Brac Village jurisdiction because I knew for a fact that Maverick would not have let that go down. But the city cops had answered the call.”
Kade nearly strangled his own fingers as he glanced over at Keaton. “The justice system is sometimes fucked up, my friend. They don’t always get it right. I was young, stupid, and hadn’t fought as hard as I should have because I thought there was no way they could convict me of a crime that I committed in self-defense. I also thought I wouldn’t be convicted of the crime the gun was linked to.”
Keaton moved closer, placing his hand over Kade’s, wishing he could go back fifteen years and beat the shit out of Kade’s friend.
He knew that good guys didn’t always win and that life wasn’t black and white. There was a lot of grey area. What Kade had gone through and how he had defended himself and his friend was a big grey area. Keaton couldn’t begin to understand what Kade’s friend had gone through, but that gave him no right to blame an innocent man just because he was ashamed.
Kade wrapped his hands around Keaton’s, his fingers skimming over the back of his hand. “The reason my errand took longer than expected was because I was meeting with Kota. He’s the mayor’s right-hand man. He told me the guy was coming to Brac Village where both his sons resided. That if I hadn’t killed him, there was no telling what would have happened.”
Keaton was shocked. “Did his sons know what kind of monster he was?”
Turning his head, Kade gazed into Keaton’s eyes. “They knew. He had molested the oldest one his entire life. Kota can only surmise that he was coming here to try and kidnap them. He never told Blair and Oliver what happened that fateful night. The two don’t know that their father is dead.”
“Oliver Weston? My employee?” Keaton asked, once again stunned by what Kade was telling him. He thought about the Goth man and his stomach twisted thinking anyone could ever hurt such a nice guy. He had met Blair as well. The guy was a bit goofy, but enjoyable to be around.
“He doesn’t want me telling them,” Kade said. “They’ve moved on with their lives and he fears what would happen to Blair and Oliver’s mental state if they knew what their father had done that night and what he had been planning to do.”
“I don’t think that’s his call,” Keaton said. “Wait, if you’ve been locked up for that long, and just out of high school…” He rubbed his hand over his hair and then smiled at Kade. “You are so much older than me.” Keaton was trying his best to alleviate the tension that was thick in the room. He didn’t want to see Kade so hurt, so morose.
“You have no idea.” Kade stood and headed toward the bedroom door. “I have to go running.”
“Is it the whole leopard thing?” Keaton asked. He was a pretty open-minded guy, down to earth, and a free spirit. But what Kade had told him was a little too far-fetched even for Keaton’s way of thinking.
Kade rested his hand on the doorknob, looking at Keaton uneasily. “You need time to adjust to what I’ve
told you. I need time to get my head back in order. You’re welcome to stay, but I need to go right now.”
The man was right. Keaton had a lot of thinking to do. Although he felt a connection to Kade, he had just met the man. He believed in love at first sight, but mating at first sight was a whole other kettle of fish.
* * * *
Kade stripped in the backyard, his skin feeling tight, itchy. He hadn’t shifted in so long that he was afraid he would forget how or that it would be truly painful. It had been so long since he had freed that a part of him, that Kade feared that once the leopard was free, it wouldn’t go back.
He shook his hands out and rolled his neck, hearing his vertebrae crack. There was nothing to this. He had been shifting since he was a cub. It should be like riding a bike.
“Scared?” Bishop asked as he stepped out onto the back patio. He took a seat in the chair that was sitting next to a glass table. Great, now Kade had an audience to witness his possible failure.
“No,” he denied. “I was just enjoying the peacefulness of the night.”
“Liar.” Bishop chuckled and then sobered. “Just relax, little bro. It will come back to you.”
Kade wished he was as confident as Bishop. His brother had been born a true leader, as solid as a brick wall. Kade couldn’t remember a time when he saw his brother rattled or not in control. He had always looked up to the man. A small part of him wondered what Bishop thought of him after what he had done. But he was too afraid to ask, too afraid to know if his older brother was disappointed in him.
A groan rumbled up his throat when Keaton walked out. The man’s eyes dropped to Kade’s groin and a twisted smile appeared on his lips. “Why didn’t anybody invite me to the party?”
Bishop gave a small laugh as he pointed toward the seat next to him. “Have a seat and enjoy the show.”
Kade knew that sooner or later Keaton was going to see him shift. He just wished the man had waited until later. He was already under a great deal of stress.
Keaton cocked his head as he bit his bottom lip. The man seemed to do that a lot.
Kade could tell the guy was thoroughly enjoying the view. The sapphire-colored eyes were dark in intensity as his eyes kept flickering at Kade’s midsection. “Do you always stand outside naked? Not that I’m complaining. I walk around my house naked all the time. If I could get away with not wearing clothes, then I would go to work naked as well. Clothes are such confining things, don’t you think?”
The thought of Keaton naked had Kade growing hard. If he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of his brother, he needed to shift and get the hell away from the house. He could already see the laughter on his brother’s face.
Before his erection came to a full salute, Kade quickly shifted. His mind and body exploded at the same time as freedom rang through his senses. Fuck, he had forgotten how good it felt to be in his leopard form. Kade could feel his cat taking over, forcing him to wallow around on the grass. He twisted back and forth, his leopard luxuriating in the feeling of being free.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! How in the hell did you just do that?” Keaton shouted as he climbed up into his chair. “I am not afraid to tell you how scared shitless I am right now.”
Kade glanced over at his brother and hoped that Bishop calmed Keaton down. He was of no use right now and Kade could feel his leopard pulling him toward the woods. Knowing Bishop would protect his mate, his leopard took off. Kade yowled loudly, feeling himself laughing inwardly with pure joy.
What a rush!
Kade wanted to whoop as his paws crashed into the earth, running wild and free for the first time in nearly two decades. He thought of all the times he nearly went insane when his leopard fought to get free. It had damn near killed Kade to deny his cat for all those years.
But he was making up for it now as he ran for hours. He chased after rabbits, lapped at a small stream that ran the border of Bishop’s property, and then he lay down on the soft ground, inhaling the fresh air and simply enjoying letting his cat have its time.
He wasn’t sure how long he had been lying there. Kade was too lost in stretching his muscles and scenting his surroundings. It felt goddamn strange to be in his cat form again. But as strange as it was, Kade found it even more surreal to be able to run. His body was humming, feeling alive for the first time in forever.
Being out in the open, having the vast land surrounding him should have made Kade anxious and edgy after being locked in a small square box. But it didn’t. As far as he was concerned, if he could make it happen, Kade would never be indoors again.
As he rolled to his back, he scented an intruder. Kade pretended ignorance as he stared up at the night sky. He took in the black swatch that was decorated in millions of stars, the moon crescent shaped. Wisps of clouds drifted by as Kade listened to the crickets chirping.
But he still hadn’t forgotten about the person watching him from behind a large oak tree. A soft purr rumbled in his chest as he turned his head to stare at Keaton. His mate was half hidden by the tree, watching Kade in silence.
“Do you feel better?” Keaton moved a little closer, but he was a good distance away. Kade could see that the man was still afraid of him. His heart squeezed like a fist in his chest at the thought of his mate fearing anything about him—told himself that this was all new to the human and it would take time to adjust.
Kade did something he had never done in his life. He rolled to his belly, tucked his tail, and made himself as nonthreatening as he could. He let out a soft purr as he crawled by small inches toward Keaton, keeping his moves even and slow.
“Either you are about to pounce, or you’re trying to tell me that I have nothing to fear. I have to tell you, the inching closer is pretty damn creepy.”
Kade froze. He had thought Keaton would be more relaxed if he was in a submissive pose. Now he wasn’t sure what to do. How could he convey to his mate that he was no threat to the man? He wasn’t ready to shift back to his human form yet. As a matter of fact, his muscles were burning for him to run once more.
“Bishop thought it would be a good idea for me to come out here and find you. I’m starting to question the man’s sanity. I’m pretty sure he wanted me to get used to seeing you like this, or he was offering me up as your dinner.” Keaton squatted down, raising his hand, palm out. “If you don’t plan on eating me, then I’d like to pet you.”
The thought of his mate petting him had Kade moving again. When he reached his mate, Kade gently butted his head into Keaton’s hand.
“This is so freaky.” Keaton’s laugh was soft. Fingers caressed the underside of Kade’s jaw and then his mate ran his hand over his neck and head. Kade was eating all the attention up, rolling onto his back and hoping.
A blond eyebrow rose high on Keaton’s forehead. “You seriously want a belly rub, don’t you?”
Kade purred loudly.
Keaton dropped to his ass, sitting right next to Kade as he began to run his hand up and down Kade’s belly. “Does the kitty like that?”
He inwardly laughed. Keaton was talking to Kade as if he were a mere house cat. His tone had even dropped to playful. Raising one of his front paws, Kade rested it on Keaton’s lap. The moment was so serene, so peaceful that Kade hated the thought of it ending.
And then his mate did something totally unexpected. Keaton turned until he was resting his head on Kade’s upper body. The man was lying flat on his back, staring up at the stars. “This reminds me of all the times my parents took me camping—minus a big leopard. I loved lying out under the stars. There’s just something about the peacefulness of night.”
Kade agreed. He had always loved running at night when he was younger. It was as if he had the world all to himself. The darkness that was only interrupted by the bathing moon always felt more intimate to him.
“I guess you can kind of call me a nature guy. I would rather be out in the wilderness than in a congested city. I don’t have a lot of hang-ups that other people have and my views
are nonconformist.” Keaton turned his head and smiled at Kade. “It freaked me out at first to see a man change into an animal. That was some mind-blowing stuff. But now that I’m lying here with you, doing what I love to do best—which is stargazing—I think you being a snow leopard is pretty damn cool.”
Kade lay there and listened to his mate, letting the lull of the man’s voice soothe him. Keaton could have been talking about the stock market and Kade wouldn’t have cared. He just loved to hear the man talk. Keaton’s tone was like a balm over Kade’s weary soul. But he did like the fact that Keaton thought his cat was cool.
He was still afraid that Keaton held the mutated drug in his system. As cool as Keaton thought his cat was, that did not mean that his mate wanted one of his own. Kade still wasn’t sure how that would even work. He had never heard of anyone gaining an animal.
“Dude, this reminds me of my backyard. I have a house on ten acres and on a clear night the view is just as majestic.”
He wasn’t sure if Keaton was aware that his hand was running down Kade’s furry leg, his mate’s fingers massaging Kade’s paw. He didn’t want Keaton to stop. Kade could see that he was quickly getting used to his mate’s petting.
“You know,” Keaton said as he turned over and propped his head on his hand. “I don’t think being a leopard would be all that bad. I mean, I’ll be able to run naked. That’s a big selling point in my book. I wasn’t lying when I said that clothes were very confining.”
His thoughts began to tumble as he tried to figure out exactly what Keaton was saying. Did his mate just say that Kade could claim him? Somehow knowing that Keaton was all for it terrified the shit out of Kade. He wasn’t sure why since he had been hoping the man wouldn’t turn him down.