Bailey Bradford - Southwestern Shifters 07 - Revolution (17 page)

“But I don’t know if I
want
to go back with Marcus.” Maarten crossed his thick arms over his chest and pouted.
Luuk barely kept from rolling his eyes at his brother. “Don’t you think you are perhaps a bit old—and entirely too muscular—to pull off the pouty look?” Frankly, if Maarten didn’t get out of his hair and stop hovering, Luuk was afraid he’d have to take some drastic steps— more drastic than shipping Maarten off with Marcus.
Maarten opened his mouth on a hiss but Jamie, sweet man that he was, cut him off.
“Now, Maarten,” Jamie began, standing and walking over to Maarten. “We know you only want to protect Luuk. You feel guilty for what happened to him before, but you couldn’t have stopped it. We’ve told you that, but guilt does like to feed on the love we have for others, doesn’t it?”
God, Jamie sounded so reasonable…
“Yes,” Maarten said, obviously sulking although he did uncross his arms and let them drop to his sides. “I can’t protect him if I’m not here.”
Jamie nodded sagely. “Right, but see, I’m here now, and I would never let harm come to my mate while you, his loving brother, are off learning how to defend your Alpha Anax from the very best guards in the shifter world. Then you, and the others who go to the States as well, can all return and serve and protect with an effectiveness no European Alpha Anax has ever seen.”
Maarten scrunched up his nose, his thoughtful pose, Luuk knew. After a moment, Maarten spoke. “Okay, so it is kind of like going away to college to learn to be a doctor, then returning to help the people you care about.”
“Exactly!” Jamie squealed, clapping his hands together once before Luuk sent him the thought to stop overdoing it. Jamie shot look a scathing look that promised retribution for the criticism. A shiver went down Luuk’s spine at that. “You
are
a smart guy after all!” Jamie continued, patting Maarten on the arm.
Maarten snorted and poked Jamie in the chest. “You are hamming it up. I hope you never wanted a career as an actor.”
Luuk very wisely kept silent, mentally and verbally, as Jamie glared at him.
“Yes, well,” Jamie said as he turned back to Maarten. “Whatever. I am glad you finally got the concept, because if you keep hovering over Luuk and me like you’ve been doing, we are going to be forced to send you to Mem for reprogramming. Or maybe we could send you to stay with Gabe and Mika for a while—”
Maarten groaned and rubbed his ribs. “No, I would not survive that. Gabe would get angry and puncture my lungs with his razor-blade elbow. That man is a freak. I think he has had surgery to insert blades into his elbows.”
Luuk barely kept back a laugh, but Jamie didn’t bother to try, snickering as he shook his head. “Paranoid much?”
Maarten’s bottom lip poked out again. “Rightfully so! Look!” He pulled up his shirt and showed off a colourful row of bruises.
Luuk arched a brow and leant forward in his seat. “Maybe if you didn’t annoy him, he wouldn’t retaliate.”
Maarten’s grin reminded Luuk of the playful younger brother who used to slip lizards under his sheets—the shit. “Ah, but what would the fun in that be? He gets irritated so easily, it’s worth a few bruises.”
“Maybe Marcus has someone there who can teach him diplomacy?” Jamie asked, craning his neck to look at Luuk. “I mean, Mika might think Maarten is flirting instead of just being an ass, and think of the fight that would cause. One of them would be dead, and if it was Mika, then Gabe would kill Maarten.”
Maarten made a strangled sound and shook his head. “I don’t flirt with that man! He’s too… I wouldn’t—not—”
“Go pack,” Luuk suggested. “And maybe think about how your actions appear to others, hm?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Maarten went, though, all but stomping out of the room. Jamie was right on his heels, and that shiver that had washed over Luuk was nothing compared to the way he felt when Jamie locked the door then turned and gave him a searing look.
“Strip for me,” Jamie said in a voice so laden with want it made Luuk’s heart stutter.
Luuk stood slowly, one hand at his waistband. “Slowly?” Jamie nodded and Luuk’s cock firmed. He’d give his mate a show. He almost asked for music but the tension between the two of them was too intriguing for teasing. Instead he lowered his lids until he almost couldn’t see, then he eased the button at his waistband free while trailing his other hand up his stomach to his chest.
Jamie gulped and leaned against the door, his dick bulging beneath his jeans. Luuk moaned as he saw a wet spot appear on the denim. He pinched at his nipple as he pulled the zipper tab down. The cool air in the room felt good even through the cotton of his briefs. He was hot, lust warming him in a way that had nothing to do with actual temperature.
Jamie cupped his own length, squeezing and moaning softly as he stared right at Luuk’s cock. Luuk used both hands to shove his pants down. He cursed when he stumbled— so much for being sexy. He’d forgotten to take off his boots. Before he could wind up in an undignified sprawl on the floor, Jamie was there, bracing him until Luuk was steady.
Luuk rarely blushed but he was almost mortified over his clumsiness. Jamie looked at him with enough adoration that he found himself grinning, able to laugh at himself. “I was too eager for you,” he said, and Jamie shook his head.
“No such thing,” Jamie assured him right before dropping to his knees. He pressed on Luuk’s hips and Luuk found himself propped against the wall as Jamie carefully removed his shoes and shocks. The very care Jamie took was another way he showed his love, and Luuk wanted to lay him out and worship every inch of him—but he knew Jamie had other plans, other needs, and since he didn’t take the lead very often, Luuk would never do anything to deny him it now.
Jamie skimmed his hands up Luuk’s legs, then over his hips and to his waist. He looked up at Luuk and reached further, pushing his hands under Luuk’s shirt to find the pointed tips that seemed to throb with each heartbeat. Jamie’s eyes narrowed as he rubbed over Luuk’s nipples, then without warning, he twisted each nub.
Luuk couldn’t quite hold back a yelp. He’d expected tender, but instead, Jamie had given him just what he’d needed. After a week of being treated like glass, hovered over and catered to in all ways, Luuk was at his wit’s end, and not being treated like he would break was a marvellous gift.
Jamie twisted again, this time bringing his head forward until he could nip at Luuk’s hip. Luuk closed his eyes and shivered, afraid he was going to just melt and run down the wall. Jamie was taking him apart with each touch.
Luuk reached for Jamie’s thick, dark hair, fisting his hands in it. Jamie pressed him against the wall and bit the spot again before scraping his teeth against Luuk’s skin. “Jamie,” Luuk rasped, goose bumps pebbling his skin. “Love, please…”
Jamie tugged lightly on Luuk’s pubes at the same time he pinched Luuk’s tits again, and Luuk almost lost it. Then Jamie was licking a stripe up from the base of his dick, flicking his tongue against a vein running up his length, and Luuk thumped the back of his head against the wall as he shouted, trembling. As soon as Jamie sucked in the head, Luuk came, unable to find any restraint as pleasure flooded him.
Jamie slurped noisily on his cock until Luuk had to pull away, too sensitive just then for any more touch. Jamie smiled up at him, cum smeared on his chin, and Luuk tugged, using his grip on Jamie’s hair to bring him up.
Luuk spun them the second his lips touched Jamie’s. He wasn’t trying to take control, but he needed to taste himself on Jamie’s skin. Luuk lapped at his chin, then plunged his tongue deep to seek out the spots that made Jamie whimper when they kissed.
Jamie shoved a hand between them and cupped Luuk’s balls, while with the other hand he grabbed Luuk’s ass and squeezed hard, making it clear he still wanted to fuck Luuk.
As if he’d disagree, Luuk thought, raising his head enough that he could brush his lips down Jamie’s jaw. He bit and suckled up a dark spot there below Jamie’s ear while Jamie fondled his balls, bringing him back to full erectness in minutes. It didn’t hurt that Jamie also kept teasing at his crack, barely running his fingers over Luuk’s hole.
A few times of that, and Luuk was damned desperate for more. Luuk spun them again, intent on putting his own chest to the wall, but Jamie stopped him. A hard slap on his ass that startled Luuk enough to push a grunt out of him, then Jamie was guiding him to the desk.
“Here,” Jamie instructed, pressing a hand between Luuk’s shoulder blades. Luuk barely got bent over before Jamie grabbed his right leg at the knee and pulled until Luuk hitched it up on the desk too. The position left his ass open, his hole exposed. The cooler air on his heated skin in that hidden place made him whimper as his need ratcheted up several degrees.
He squinched his eyes shut tight, then jerked them open when Jamie spread his cheeks apart and licked his opening. Luuk couldn’t even make a sound as coils of arousal heated and shot from his ass to his tits, electrifying all points in between. And Jamie kept on, licking him, nibbling his furled skin and pushing against his ring with a slick tongue.
A sob rent the air and with a shock Luuk realised the sound had come from him. Before he could be mortified about it, his mind was shattered with pleasure as Jamie began to tongue him, spearing into him and opening his hole.
Luuk scrabbled for a handhold, knocking papers and God only knew what else off the desk. He grabbed the edges of the desk and arched as he pushed back, demanding more.
Jamie gave it to him, pushing a finger into him alongside Jamie’s tongue. Luuk bellowed and saw stars behind his closed lids. His cock was pinned in an almost painful manner, and he couldn’t thrust—which was probably a good thing—but damn, did he want to.
Then Jamie reached under him and freed Luuk’s cock. He ringed the base of it with a firm grip as he pushed another finger into Luuk’s ass, and Luuk gasped, his need doubling, threatening to take him over. If Jamie didn’t get inside him soon, he might just have to—
“No,” Jamie growled at him, and before Luuk could do more than wiggle, Jamie was rising, sliding up and over Luuk’s body. The hard press of his cock against Luuk’s hole wouldn’t be denied, and with a sharp thrust, he penetrated Luuk.
The rough taking drove a shout from Luuk. His ass ached but he would die if Jamie stopped, or slowed down, even. He needed Jamie, and Jamie didn’t let him down. Had never let him down.
Jamie roared as he surged into Luuk, taking him by the hip and the shoulder, filling him until Luuk didn’t think he could take it. Then he withdrew halfway and plunged into him again, at the same time bringing his mouth to the join of shoulder and neck.
“Yes,” Luuk hissed, unable to see anything other than a blur of colours as Jamie began fucking him with hard, short strokes. The feel of teeth, the slick of tongue, then Jamie bit and Luuk couldn’t scream, couldn’t make a sound, his lungs pushing out every bit of air as pain and pleasure twined inside him.
It was so huge a combination when it crashed into the love he felt for his mate, that Luuk almost couldn’t handle it. Only Jamie, holding him down, loving him, marking him, kept Luuk from losing consciousness.
Jamie grunted, Luuk feeling it in his body as Jamie was still biting him. Jamie shoved in harder. He slid his hand under Luuk again and palmed his dick. Luuk’s balls drew tight and he tried to thrust, tried to push back into Jamie’s thrust as well, but Jamie had him well and truly pinned—and Luuk loved it. All he could do was take what Jamie gave him, and Jamie wasn’t treating him with kid gloves by any means.
Jamie pumped Luuk’s cock with the same rough skill he fucked him, and Luuk didn’t last more than a half dozen strokes. His throat burned from the scream he loosed as he came, then Jamie bit deeper at the same time he thrust impossibly further into Luuk’s ass. Wet heat splattered his inner walls as Jamie came and came. Jamie whimpered and shook atop him for several seconds, then he slowly withdrew his teeth from Luuk’s shoulder.
He didn’t, however, free Luuk in any other way.
“You don’t want to be free in any other way, you need what I’m giving you, and I will always give you what you need, as well as what you want.”
Jamie licked over the bite mark as he shared the thought with Luuk.
Luuk couldn’t even get his mind to form an answer. Jamie had fucked him to the brink of consciousness, and he was a puddle of sated man.
“Which is just the way I plan to keep you, at least for a while.”
Well. As if Luuk would argue about that.

Wes Ward glared at his older brother Sully. “This is stupid. I screwed up one time—” “You got busted by Mom one time, that doesn’t mean it was the only time you did it, just that it was the only time you got caught,” Sully said calmly. Wes wanted to punch him or poke him, do something to break through that utter freaking calm that seemed impenetrable. Sully talked on, either unaware, or, more likely, uncaring that Wes was steaming mad. “You can pout and throw a fit, but Mom and Dad sent you down here to me and Bobby because they aren’t stupid either, Wes. They know that you’ve probably been using more than just the one time.” Sully arched a brow in an imperious look that made Wes growl.
“Calm down, kitty boy. Otherwise I might have to put you over my knee.”
Wes jerked his head around, surprised to find Sully’s mate, Bobby, not more than a yard behind him. He hadn’t even heard the wolf shifter approach, which was screwed up. Wes, like his brother, was a snow leopard shifter. They had enhanced senses just like the damned wolf shifters did. Wes had been too busy listening to his own blood boil to hear Bobby coming up behind him.
“I’m not teasin’ ya, Wes,” Bobby uttered in a soft, low voice that was all the more intimidating for its laid-back tone. “I won’t have you talkin’ to my mate like that.”
“He’s my brother,” Wes said petulantly. He cringed inwardly at how childish he sounded, but his pride wouldn’t let him back down. “You need to stay out of this.”
Wes hadn’t ever seen Bobby anything other than what could only be termed mellow, or all googly-eyed and pawing at Sully, which was to be expected as they were mates. But now he was seeing a darker, scarier side to the man who would someday lead the San Antonio wolf pack.
Bobby’s entire countenance hardened. There was no other way for Wes to describe it or process it. The relaxed slump disappeared from Bobby’s stance and his eyes, normally glinting with mischief, went sharp with the promise of that very spanking he’d just mentioned.
And muscles? Wes hadn’t really paid much attention to Bobby other than to admit to himself that yeah, the guy was hot. How he’d missed the bulge of defined muscles was beyond him.
Then he felt it, the wave of power rolling off Bobby. It was like an electrical current in the air, surrounding Wes. Every hair on his body stood up, even those on his nape. If he hadn’t been wearing a ball cap, he’d have bet the hair under it would have been standing on end. Inside, his snow leopard yowled unhappily. Wes wasn’t a dominant person, and neither was his leopard. They weren’t made to stand up against the power of an alpha like Bobby.
Yet Wes tried, forcing his gaze to remain locked with Bobby’s. Everything else around them faded, the comfortable furnishings, the knick-knacks that made the place a home Wes was envious over. He’d never admit it, but he wanted a home with a mate who loved him. Being jealous just made him feel petty, and Wes didn’t like himself for it. If he weren’t feeling so…challenged and ganged up on, he’d probably have admitted that his coping skills sucked. However, he’d effectively dug himself into a corner surrounded by his own belligerence. He was, in his own mind, stuck.
“Bobby, maybe you should let us work this out.”
Wes didn’t look away from Bobby when Sully spoke. He felt like prey, and glancing away would mean he’d be taken down like a rabbit under the weight of a leopard.
Bobby snarled, his top lip curling up on one side, baring a hint of teeth. “I don’t take shit in my own house, Sully. Not from anyone, and especially not from your punk-ass little brother.”
“He’s not always a punk-ass,” Sully muttered. “We used to be friends. What happened to us, Wes?”
What happened to us? What happened to us!
Wes took the out Sully had given him. He spun his head back around so quick he was dizzy as he looked at his brother. “What happened? You left! You went away and forgot about me, Sully. That’s what happened!”
Bobby growled and Wes’ kneecaps tried to turn to gelatin. His legs quivered but he refused to glance behind him. He knew what he’d said wasn’t fair, and wasn’t accurate— exactly—but it was how he felt, and Sully had asked, after all.
Sully’s confusion morphed into hurt, then something too damned close to pity for Wes’ sake. He averted his gaze to glare at a spot over Sully’s shoulder. The kitchen walls were painted a soft peach colour. Wes wondered who had picked it out.
“I never forgot about you, Wes. Jesus.”
From his peripheral vision, Wes could see Sully raking his fingers through his hair. That god-awful feeling of power faded from the air, and Wes released a little of the tension that had been knotted in his chest.
“I had to go to college,” Sully began. Wes nodded just enough to show he got that, but he still didn’t look at Sully. “Shit. Shit, Wes, I’m sorry. Okay? I…I know I didn’t stay in touch like I could have.”
Wes hitched a shoulder in a shrug. Sully sighed and before Wes could stop him, he pulled Wes into a tight hug that Wes didn’t return.
“I’m sorry. I know you called and texted, but it seemed like it was always when I was in class or doing something where I couldn’t reply or answer, and by the time I could—” Sully held him tighter, and Wes stiffened, his anger growing with Sully admission. “It wasn’t that I forgot about you, Wes. I’m just an ass. I got so involved in my own life…”
“Let go of me,” Wes gritted out, barely having the breath to do so. Sully went rigid but released him, except for a hand to his wrist. “This is stupid anyway. I’m not a kid. I don’t need you or anyone else to give a damn about me.” But his heart ached like a mother when he said so.
Sully frowned and held his wrist so tight it started to go numb. “You don’t mean that. You’re angry, and I get that. I wish you’d have talked to me sooner—”
Wes almost blew up with the force of his anger. He jerked his arm free. “How the fuck was I supposed to do that? Huh? How many times did I e-mail or call or text, like you said? You know you answered on average one in five times. One in five, Sul. Think about that.”
Wes had, and he’d become angrier and angrier, even as his loneliness had increased. He’d never been exactly outgoing, and had preferred to stay in his room playing games when he didn’t have to work at the gas station. But he’d missed Sully, missed his teasing and practical jokes and his companionship when Sully would make him come out and be sociable.
“Fuck this.” Wes was done. This was all too much to handle. He turned to head for the door. His family couldn’t force him to stay here. If they thought shipping him to Sully— sending him to San Antonio from Colorado—against his will meant he was going to just be a good boy and keep his head down like he was ashamed, they were wrong.
Even though he was ashamed. And Sully was right. The night he was busted with drugs wasn’t the first night he’d bought them. The ironic thing was, if his parents or even his little sister Sheila had been paying any attention to him at all, they’d have noticed the change in his scent. Wes had. He’d had an acrid, almost too bitter aroma to him by the time he’d been caught by their mom. A month later and he almost smelt like himself again.
Eau de Slacker. Wes snorted at his silly joke. He veered around the couch table and was three feet from the door when he felt it again. That ominous wave of power prickled over his skin, stronger than before. Wes’ leopard mewled in fear and he shook all the way to his toes as his knees buckled. Goddamn Bobby.
“You ain’t runnin’ away from here, or from what you’ve done.”
“What’ve I done?” Wes rasped, fear ramping up his pulse so that his heart raced to the point he was seeing spots dancing in front of him.
“You don’t cut your brother like that and haul ass like a coward. You don’t dump all the blame on him like a toddler throwin’ a tantrum. You don’t act like a child when you’re claiming you’re a man.”
With each word Bobby spoke, Wes slumped down further until by the time Bobby stopped, Wes was curled up in a foetal position on the floor.
“Bobby—”
“Sully, chill. I ain’t gonna break him.”
Wes wished he could see Sully’s face, see if he was angry at being told that or if he was okay with it. If he was on Wes’ side or on Bobby’s.
“I know you won’t, but this is between me and Wes,” Sully said, still calm as freakin’ Yoda. There was Wes’ answer, too. He’d been an idiot to think Sully would stand up for him.
Wes tuned out the conversation as he curled into a tighter ball. His gut ached and he craved the ease a handful of phennies or sleeping pills would give him. He hadn’t got around to trying meth or heroin, nothing like that. He was afraid he would have, though. Drugs had smothered so many of his emotions, the lonely feelings and the anger, but they’d also left him dirty and empty inside. That had never been what Wes wanted in the first place, when he’d put the first few pills in his mouth.
No, Wes had discovered prescription barbiturates purely by accident, when a dealer had come into the gas station late one night. Wes had complained about having problems sleeping when he went from working nights to days, and the guy had offered him a solution. It was embarrassing how easily he’d let himself be convinced, and he was damned lucky he’d never been arrested for buying the drugs.
Shifters were immune to a lot of things, but Wes had discovered that if he took enough of some drugs, just like if he drank enough alcohol, he could get stoned, or high, whatever. What he hadn’t expected was to become addicted, not after four or five uses. He hadn’t had the horrific withdrawals his parents had worried about, but sometimes the need for the drug slammed into him so hard he ached from it.
He didn’t realise he was shaking almost to the point of it being a convulsion until Sully’s strident voice penetrated his misery. Wes had wanted to shatter that calm, and he had. Sully sounded terrified. Wes didn’t know what the problem was. He hadn’t used since he’d been busted. Despite his gnawing craving, he wouldn’t use again.
Because Wes knew something he hadn’t shared. He’d come too close to losing his soul to drugs. His leopard spirit wouldn’t have remained in him for much longer had he not been caught and forced to see the wisdom to quitting. It was that knowledge that would overwhelm him, sneak up from nowhere and shred him inside, much like it was doing now.
And Wes could bitch and throw accusations wherever he wanted to, but he knew the truth. There was only one person responsible for his stupidity, and that was him.
“Jesus, Bobby, what’s happening?” Sully yelled, groping all over Wes. “He’s pale and covered in sweat and shaking—”
“Did he get a hold of something?” Bobby asked.
Wes tried to snarl, but his teeth kept chattering. Sully did it for him. “No, you ass, he didn’t. You were right there, watching him. He just dropped when you sprung your mighty alpha powers on him.”
Some part of Wes’ brain registered that Sully sounded furious, but he figured that might be a hallucination. Those happened on occasion, although usually they occurred at night when he couldn’t sleep.
“I don’t have super powers,” Bobby drawled. “I didn’t zap him with a laser beam or whatever.”
“Bobby, if you’re not going to help, go…chase your tail,” Sully snapped. “And thanks for not letting him run off,” he added with a bit less ire.
“How ‘bout I go get Remus? ‘Cause I don’t think this is a reaction to my mighty alpha powers.” Bobby didn’t sound worried at all. He sounded just as he always did, except for those moments when he’d been ready to rip Wes’ head off.
Wes shivered again and bit his tongue.
Sully’s face was suddenly right in his, almost nose to nose with Wes. “Wes, Bobby’s going to call and have Remus get ready to be brought over. I don’t know if you’ve ever met him, but Remus is the shaman of the pack here. He’s brilliant but very simple about it.” Sully stroked Wes’ hair, and it was only then that Wes realised Sully had to be lying on the floor too. For some reason, that made Wes’ eyes water with tears.
“I am sorry, so sorry,” Sully murmured, his voice cracking.
Wes had carried around his pain and anger, justified or not, for almost two years. He knew he shouldn’t have let it control him, but had been unable to stop it. “You were the only friend I had, Sul, and you left me.” Oh God, he really was pathetic. Wes sobbed then, ashamed of so many things, and sure they’d never be righted again.
How much time passed as he lay on the floor trying to keep himself from falling into a million pieces, Wes didn’t know. Sully had stopped talking, though, and was sniffling irregularly when suddenly someone else touched Wes’ shoulder.
The firm hand seemed to radiate out warmth and peace, two things Wes was in dire need of. His hearing clouded with a loud buzzing as the feelings of comfort increased.
Wes blinked saw that Sully had got up at some point, and still that touch remained on his shoulder, soothing him inside. Eventually he rolled his head and found himself looking into a withered brown face, deeply lined with wrinkles, and the kindest almost-black eyes he’d ever seen.
“You will be okay, boy.”
Wes couldn’t even be offended by the boy part, not when the man looking at him had to be close to a hundred, if not in actual years, then in his soul at least. A kind smile spread on the man’s lips and Wes soon found himself returning it.
“I am Remus, shaman of the San Antonio wolf shifter pack. Would you like to come stay with me for a few days? I can help you find peace.”
Normally, Wes didn’t think of himself as the trusting or naïve kind—although some people would argue that last one with him. Or maybe they’d just call him stupid, and he’d have to agree.
But he knew he could trust Remus. He felt inside, and his leopard was purring happily under the man’s touch.
“There are no easy instant fixes, but peace is possible. You have to look first in here.” Remus moved his hand, trailing warmth and tingles all the way down to where he then pressed on Wes’ chest, over his heart. “Be honest with yourself, and find out what has poisoned you, and why you allowed it. Then begin healing.”
“I—” Wes’ throat was too dry, as if he’d cried all the moisture out of his body. He swallowed and Remus eased his hand up to cup Wes’ neck. Wes didn’t know whether to be creeped out or grateful when the parched sensation ceased, but he went with the latter. “It’s not just me here,” Wes touched his chest. “I used drugs and sometimes I want them again, so bad.”
Remus didn’t appear to be surprised or disgusted. He canted his head and hummed as he stroked Wes from throat to chest. There was nothing sexual in the touch, only reassurance and that tingling warmth.