Page 10

Chapter

Ten

E yre had an awful headache, and his hand throbbed, but otherwise, he was okay. They had all gone to find Quin, who was questioning the snake guy, Teddy-bear-whosit.

They’d stopped by Rian’s house to change and eat, and God…

Rian looked so hot. He looked like a classy leather daddy, his pants and jacket almost like armor.

Uhn. Even in the weird situation, he had to admire his mate.

His classy, lawyery, leather daddy mate. God.

“Okay, so snakeboy says that the boys are all still here in town. There’s a buyer who wants shifters for a collection, apparently, and he wants them all to be omegas. Pretty fucking sick. But, that bodes well for us getting them all out in one raid.”

Eyre perked up at that. “You really think they’re all there?”

Cyrus pursed his lips. “We need to hurry and do the mission, though. If they were watching the house and took John, and asshat in there hasn’t answered calls, then they know they have to move everyone. We got to get to them before they do that.”

Quin grinned. “Then let’s get on it. Can we take the Escalade, Rian?”

“As long as you don’t use it as a shield and get it full of bullets.” Rian glared at Quin.

“I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve,” Adrian said. “Signal jammer. Stuff like that. It will keep them from communicating.”

“What can I do?” Eyre asked.

“I can use you,” Cyrus answered. “Act like snakey is having me bring you in.”

“No.” Rian snapped it immediately.

“No? But they need me.”

“You got bitten by a fucking snake!” Rian snapped. “You will not be galivanting off into the night to help. Someone else can do it. You just got out of the hospital.”

“But I want to help my friends.” Eyre crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at Rian.

Rian looked to Symon and then to Quin, his expression serious, dark.

“Rian’s right.” Symon sighed softly. “You did just get out of the hospital. What if you have a relapse?”

“What if Rian has a stroke?” Quin shot out.

“Quin, you are not helping.” Rian was still hot as hell when he growled.

Cyrus grinned. “Come on, man, don’t be a pussy.” Those eyebrows gyrated wildly, the tease intended to raise a response.

“Do you kiss your mate with those lips, Cyrus?” Rian snapped, and Adrian’s eyes went wide.

“You all know?”

“Know what?” Symon asked.

“Nothing,” Cyrus growled. “Not one thing.”

What’s going on?

It’s complicated. Rian rolled his eyes. Short version, Cyrus’s got a pallas cat for a mate.

Oh, cool. I mean, a bunny would be weird. This sounds fun.

It is. Unlike you going on this mission. I can’t let you go.

“Listen to me,” Eyre said right out loud. “I didn’t ask permission to go. I’m going. I’ll help, then I’ll come home.” He might be a little kinky, he might be a little submissive, he might be an omega, but that didn’t mean he had to ask permission to do anything, and it didn’t mean that anybody could tell him what to do.

This was important. This was people that had been kidnapped. This was the opportunity to protect them and rescue them. And he was going to take it.

Then he could deal with the consequences afterward.

Rian shot him another dark look. “I don’t like it.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t like it either. I don’t like any of this. The only good that’s come of this is you. And you are a big good, but the rest of them deserve to have a chance to have their big good too. If I can help, I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t. And you couldn’t live with me either. We would both be ashamed of ourselves if we didn’t do what we needed to do.”

“Don’t use logic on me here, mate.”

“God knows that never works,” Quin pointed out, dry as dust.

“Shut up, Quin.”

Quin grinned hugely, Cyrus laughed, and Symon sighed. “We need to get this show on the road. Let’s talk about the plan on the way in the car.”

They decided the idea of Cyrus hauling Eyre into the warehouse would be good. It would cause confusion and give them time to infiltrate and get the guys back with the least violence and injury.

Eyre’s heart raced at the very thought, and Rian held his hand, squeezing every so often.

Promise me you’ll be careful, Rian told him. Or I’ll spank your ass when we’re done.

Eyre’s cheeks heated almost painfully, and he squirmed. Promise?

Not funny. I’ll show you the difference between a punishment spanking and an erotic one.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I understand. I don’t have a death wish. I just want to help.

I know. Rian gave him a nod, just one. I’m proud of you. You’re very brave.

He didn’t feel brave. He felt lucky. He felt like he’d been blessed to get Rian. They’d been together just a couple of days. And now that he knew how good it felt? Everyone deserved to get out.

Remember, you saved Quin. You did that, nobody else. Otherwise, he would have had both of you. Understand?

Right. He nodded, took a deep breath. He’d taken down a boar. He could help do this.

The warehouse was dark, and it didn’t look like anybody was there yet. He blinked up at Cyrus. “Okay, what do we do?”

“I’m going to put a gag on you, not tight, really loose, and I’m going to tie your hands together in a fake bind. You’ll be holding the knot in your fingers. I want you to act drugged, stumble a lot. Into them, if you can. Create a diversion. Crying. Whatever you can do. We are just putting on a smoke-and-mirrors show to distract them enough so that we can take them down.”

Eyre nodded, his gaze meeting Rian’s for a moment. “I can do that.”

“I’ll be ready to come get you,” Quin said. “So will Rian. And Adrian will be working the electronic angle with Symon.”

“Thanks.” Eyre swallowed hard, then held out his hands to Cyrus. “Wrap me up.”

“You’re a brave kid.” Cyrus wrapped Eyre’s hands, then gagged him. “All right, buck up. We’re just going in to get your friends. Walk in the park.”

He nodded, finding Rian’s gaze again. I love you. So much already.

I’ll keep you safe. I vow it. Rian’s mental voice made him hum. He knew he had to focus, but Rian made him feel oddly safe, and his family and friends were on the ball too.

They were going to free his friends. Dammit.

Cyrus patted his back. “I’m about to get fake rough. Just hang in there. Come on.”

He nodded, hopping out of the van when the door opened. But then he started dragging his feet, stumbling around as if he was still under the effects of the venom. Or of drugs. The alley they’d come out into stank of piss and oil, and he tried to get the gag to plug up his nose by scrunching it and his lips together.

Cyrus chuckled but shook him roughly when they got to the door. “Showtime.”

He staggered when someone opened the door and Cyrus shoved him inside.

“Who the fuck are you?” a guard at the door snarled. “I don’t know you.”

“Girard hired me on,” Cyrus said.

Eyre knew from the meeting that Girard was the Teddy guy’s name. The paralegal had come up with that, as well as the owner of the warehouse.

There was a lot of grumbling, including, “Well, where is Girard?” but then a man came forward, the musk marking him as some kind of cat, and looked at Eyre. “Good. This is the last one. The fox.”

Another alpha, this one female, her black and white hair marking her as a skunk shifter, snapped her teeth together. “That makes the full complement. How nice. Come on, wee foxy. Let’s put you away with your other little friends, and then we can all get down to business.”

Oh, he didn’t think so. He was going to bite this bitch’s face off.

Distraction.

That was what he was here for—distraction. He made as if to run, heading straight for Cyrus, so that Cyrus could be the one to catch him.

“I don’t think so, little fox.” Cyrus caught him up, laughing. “Where do you think you’re going?”

How the hell should he know? Anywhere but here?

He was waiting, really, for either Cyrus to take his gag off or for a chance to take his gag off himself. He knew if he screamed, it would stun everyone for a moment. It was the one big skill that foxes had besides being brilliant, beautiful, quick. Super smart.

He faked struggling and kicking, making sure not to hit anything important, making soft little whining noises.

“Where the hell are the other ones, so I can put him in there with them?”

“We keep them locked up here in the back. Otherwise, you have to listen to them sniveling all fucking day.” The skunk rolled her eyes. “I’m glad to get them off our hands.”

“I bet. I can’t imagine. Seems like a lot of trouble.”

“The money’s good,” Mr. Kitty said. “But we won’t be doing this again. Was way more complicated than you’d think, to get a full complement of omegas.”

A full complement? What did that even mean?

They led them toward the back of the warehouse where there was a huge cage set up. Birds. A wolf. A rabbit. A dozen shifters in all.

Ohh, he didn’t like this, not one bit.

He shivered, and this time, he wasn’t joking.

One of the guys he knew, Barry, cried out, “Eyre! No!”

And he had the feeling that it wasn’t just that Barry was sorry to see him kidnapped. He thought it had way more to do with the fact that this meant it was time to ship them all out.

“Struggle,” Cyrus murmured, just barely above the sound level.

He went wild, snarling behind his gag, his whole body into it, every muscle straining.

“Whoa. Shit. You little fuck!” Cyrus grappled with him, and his gag popped right off.

Fucking A.

He wished he could warn Cyrus, but he had to just let it fly, so Eyre let out his fox scream. The one that could make the whole world stop on a dime.

Cyrus dropped him, but that was okay. He pulled his hands apart to free them from the fake knots.

“Get them out of here,” Cyrus growled, and then whirled to face the cat shifter, his body starting to shift.

“Oh my God, it stinks in here.” That was John, and he was herding the others out of the room the omegas had all been held in. “Stay together, guys. No one gets left.”

“Come on, hurry, Hurry. Let’s go.” Eyre needed them all to get with the program.

None of them seemed hurt, mostly just scared and hungry and dirty. Goddess, they needed baths.

“Come on, let’s go.”

The world seemed to be exploding behind them with lights and flash bangs. The smell of smoke. Suddenly someone grabbed him, and he barked out a scream as he glanced up.

Rian.

His mate shook him, just a bit. “Come on, let’s go get to the van, everybody.”

“It’s safe?” One of the little omegas asked, and Eyre nodded.

“It is safe as houses. Let’s go. I’m going to get you somewhere with food and a bathroom, so you all can take a shower. Then you’re free to go if you want to. Fair?”

“Perfect.”

They all tumbled into the back of the van, and Rian slammed the door shut, then got him in the passenger seat.

They didn’t go to the safehouse Rian had provided. That had been compromised. They went to Rian’s house, which made all of the omegas, some he knew, some he didn’t, stare at it openmouthed.

“Dude.” Ben, a lynx shifter, stared at him. “Your boyfriend lives in a mansion.”

“You should see the showers.” He winked, and Rian chuckled. Since he’d come out unscathed from the raid, Rian had been in a far better mood than he’d been in previously.

Which was good.

But he still kind of hoped he’d earned a spanking. He needed it so bad, and Rian was in all that leather.

“Cyrus is wrapping up all the arrests and stuff, right?” The cops had arrived not long after they’d made a break for it, and Adrian and Symon had provided them with all the evidence, as well as the cat, skunk, and snake shifters. Well, Cyrus had done the taking down and turning over, along with Quin.

“Yes, love. And everyone here will get a hot shower, a meal, and a good night’s sleep before any decisions need to be made. Pizza or Chinese, my friends?”

A chorus of answers came back, split about half and half.

“Both it is.”

“Rian.” He beamed at his mate. “You’re so good.”

“Bah. I am not. But I feel as though everyone deserves it. What is your preference, my love?”

“Always pizza. And garlic knots.”

“Oh. Knots.” Rian’s eyebrows rose and fell.

Lovely, evil man.

John choked on his own spit, he thought, and coughed hard. “Ugh. I would like sweet and sour chicken, please.”

“Sure, man.” Rian grinned.

They all trundled inside, ordered food, and got everyone assigned rooms. Then the showers started.

“I hope you have lots of hot water, babe,” he told Rian.

“Tankless water heaters,” Rian intoned. “I am good to go.”

He laughed, going to wrap his arms around Rian once the food order was placed. “Thank you.”

“There may be clean up yet to do, but it looks like your friends are all safe. I had Cyrus’s Isaac go pick up the remaining ones at the safehouse. Just in case.”

“That’s amazing. I hope… I hope this all isn’t too much for you.”

“Don’t worry. Once we figure out who’s been bankrolling this entire operation, we’ll split the money between the victims. But right now, they’re safe, right?”

Rian was good, too good to him.

“You know Quin’s gonna start calling this place the Home for Wayward Omegas,” Eyre teased.

“Oh, I know. It’s probably not going to be the only thing that Quin calls this place.” Rian snatched him up, bringing their mouths together, sliding his body up along that leather-clad hard body.

It was the easiest thing on earth to let the kiss go deep and hot, and to let it burn him to the ground. His body reacted, his cock filling, and his hips beginning to rock.

“Hopefully nobody’s taking over our room. I mean your room.”

“You mean our room? And no, I would hate to have to bite someone and chase them out, but I would absolutely do it.”

Rian did make his tail want to pop right out and make his whiskers shiver.

“Your eyes are glowing,” Rian singsonged.

Eyre rolled said eyes. “It’s your fault.”

“Is not.”

“Is too.”

“Don’t make me beat you, mate.”

He started to laugh, mirth just breaking through, and he clung to Rian’s leather-clad body. “Have I mentioned the hotness of you? And that maybe I want you to beat me?”

“Yes, but you can do it again. I don’t mind having my…ego stroked.”

“Oh ho!” Eyre laughed. “Okay. I want you, Rian. And I want to explore all those things I love that we haven’t done yet.”

Rian lifted him higher, carrying him upstairs. “I do too, love. I want all the things with you. I am your safe space. You know that, yes?”

“I do know. You’re my…you’re my alpha. My mate. My own.” He’d never thought he’d have a mate of his own, someone that would love him.

Want him.

Be his.

“I am.” Rian kissed his cheek, then opened his bedroom door. “I want you, mate.”

“I want you too.” He wound his arms around Rian’s neck, soaking in the heat and strength of his body, the protective way Rian held him.

“I like the leather, have I mentioned?” He thought it bore repeating, one way or the other.

“Once or twice.” Rian took one of his hands and pressed it on the thick, fat cock that was going to be his again, tonight. “Cyrus thought you looked like sex on a stick tonight. I was so jealous that I could hardly bear it. You’re mine, and every alpha in that bar wanted to knot you.”

“But I’m yours, so you don’t have to worry about it, right?” He didn’t want Rian to believe that he would cheat. It wasn’t in his nature. He wanted a mate, and he intended to keep the one he had.

“I am not worried. I have faith in you. The other alphas? I don’t trust them a bit.” Rian’s growl was deep, sweet, and it echoed in his very bones.

Those words gave him confidence, made him stand taller, and he gave Rian what he hoped was a naughty grin. “And you? Did you like my outfit? The eyeliner?”

Did you see me and want to put me over your knee, alpha?

Rian’s answer was a playful growl, and then Rian pounced him, tossing him on the bed and firmly patting his ass, just a touch firmly. What do you think, mate?

I think you wanted to spank me. Then fuck me.

I think you’re right. Rian pulled him up, though, to stare into his eyes. “ Anything you want, love. Anything. But nothing you don’t.”

“I trust you.”

“Good. But tell me your word, just in case we get mixed signals or something not about us pops into your head and worries you.”

“Snakebite.” That would always be something he could remember from now on.

“Ew.” Rian winked for him, those icy eyes glittering for him. “I love you. Now, strip.”

Eyre hopped up to tear at his clothes, stripping with way less finesse and way more desperation than he would have liked.

Rian just watched him, making his breath come hard and his cock bob in front of him. His ass was already wet, and he fought against begging for Rian’s knot with all he was worth.

Not yet.

He needed something else first. He climbed back up on the bed, getting on his hands and knees. “Please, mate. I was so worried and scared all this time. And now I have you, and I know I’m safe.”

“Oh, sweet.” Rian stood, undressing at a leisurely pace, but leaving on those leather pants. “You make me so proud.”

“Rian…” He waggled his ass, begging with his body, and Rian chuckled, sitting back on the bed.

“Over my lap, sweet. I want us connected this first time.”

“Yes. Please!” He scrambled to drape himself over Rian’s thighs, that hard cock drilling into his skin. His was trapped between them as well, but in a different way.

One big hand rested on the small of his back, the other caressing his ass. “Are you ready, Eyre mine?”

He nodded frantically, his skin too tight, his breath coming fast. “I am.”

“Count for me.”

“Yes, sir.” Oh, he’d read about this. Roleplayed it online. But this was his first time really?—

He gasped, jumping when Rian’s first slap landed on his ass. “One!”

“Yes. Good. So good, sweet. Now another.” Rian slapped him again.

“Two!”

By the time Eyre counted to five, he was on fire, his body sawing back and forth, his cock rubbing madly against Rian’s skin, his ass so wet he could feel his juices dripping.

And he was going to blister from that fucking hot hand laying on his ass.

He moaned. “More?”

“No, love. I need to put cream on your skin. We’ll work up to more.”

He almost sobbed. “But it feels so?—”

“Hot? Squirmy good? Like it’s permission to let it all go?”

“I need you. More than anything.” Eyre wanted to cry, he ached so much. It was so perfect.

“No crying. No reason to cry.” Rian eased him over onto his hands and knees on the bed again, the touch of cool air on his burning backside delicious. Rian stood, cock pushing at the leather pants, threatening to burst the zipper that contained it. “Let me take care of your ass, mate. That will help.”

He shook his head, more than willing to beg for what he hungered for. “No, no please. Not now. I need it now.”

“What is it you need?” Rian growled, the sound sliding down his spine.

“I need your knot.” He turned to meet those eyes. “I need your fat dripping cock.”

Rian’s wolf tried to surge to the surface, those eyes beginning to glow, and he ripped his pants open exposing just his prick. “You make me crazy.”

“That’s not a bad thing.” It wasn’t a bad thing. Eyre was already one hundred percent past crazy and heading directly to out of his mind.

When the head of Rian’s prick touched his hole, Rian covering him all along his spine, Eyre thought he would simply explode, his ass on fire. “Tell me it’s all right.”

“Mate, I need you. Fuck. Me. Now.” Hopefully, that was clear enough.

Rian slammed in, giving him no quarter, filling him completely and spreading his hole. He was so wet, so hot. He wanted this so badly. His burning ass was just an accompaniment to the pleasure that flooded him.

He could feel the rise of Rian’s knot already, and he knew his mate was right there with him, the spanking giving them both something they required, deep down. In their souls.

He pressed back, arching, his ass taking in more of Rian with every movement. Those leather pants slapped his skin, and it was enough to take his breath. Eyre rocked forward, letting Rian drive into him.

“Fuck, baby.” Rian’s voice was a guttural growl, and he bit down on Eyre’s shoulder, covering his back. “Can you feel it? Can you feel my knot?”

And all the while, the rhythm never slowed.

Rian took him, each thrust stronger, the knot on his lover’s cock swelling, and he rolled his eyes and shoved himself back, demanding more.

Rian growled. “That’s it, baby. Take what you need. Take my knot.”

Panting, he nodded, sweat beading on his face. He slammed back against his mate, moaning Rian’s name.

“I have you, Eyre. I have you. Can you touch yourself?”

“Yes!” Oh, fuck yes.

Then do it, mate. Rian bit the back of his neck, marking him as he grabbed his cock and pulled, his need to come immense.

“Come for me, love. Then my knot will engage for real.”

He cried out, his body sawing back and forth, and he came all over the place. They were going to have to wash that comforter.

Rian laughed as if hearing his thoughts, then shoved deep inside him, knot swelling to massive proportions as Rian came inside him, filling him so deep they might never separate.

Eyre melted, his entire world spinning, his butt blistered, his hole spread and filled.

It was bliss.

They both slumped down onto the bed. “Oh, damn,” Rian murmured. “That was just what we needed.”

“Fuck yes.” Eyre chuckled, flat on his face on the bed, stuffed full of knot.

“Stay with me, mate. Promise me you will,” Rian ordered.

“I will. I promise. No matter what else happens.”

Rian nuzzled his neck. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Rian.” He snuffled, sleep trying to take him over.

“I’m right here. Sleep, love. You’re safe.”

“Mmmkay.” Ass on fire, he dozed off. Happier than he could ever remember.