by Shannon West
This close his scent was almost overwhelming, a clean male scent mixed with some kind of musky smell. Maybe his shampoo? It was intoxicating, whatever it was, and Travis raised his head and made the mistake of gazing directly into Camron’s eyes. The effect was so immediate and so dizzying, he put out a hand to steady himself, touching Camron’s chest.
Camron hissed in a sharp breath, and then Travis was in his arms and Camron was kissing him. The startling reality of it was such a shock to his system that he felt like every nerve ending in his body was buzzing and sparking with electricity. The raw heat of that kiss made his mouth fall open in surprised welcome, and he touched his tongue to Camron’s and heard himself moan softly deep in his throat.
Camron gave a surprised little grunt of his own as he pulled Travis’s body tight against his. His mouth moved against Travis’s. “You taste like beer and sex and trouble, boy. What the hell am I going to do with you?”
Before Travis could answer, Camron pulled him over to the couch and pushed him back onto it, dragging his sweats down almost in the same move. Travis quickly pushed at them too, aware that Camron was still murmuring to him, his voice soft and gentle as he ran his hands over Travis’s body. He palmed Travis’s eager cock, which had bounced out, apparently starving for Camron’s touch as it twitched and jumped in Camron’s hand.
It was the gentleness that undid Travis. He’d had men do this before, but it was always quick and rough. Never with this almost loving touch, and Travis knew with sudden awareness that having felt it he could never settle for anything less again. Unable to help himself, he closed his eyes and thrust his hips upward into Camron’s hard, work calloused hand, pushing his cock into that warm, sure touch and whimpering just a little.
Camron gave a funny little half laugh and then bent over him, his mouth enveloping his shaft like molten lava. The earth didn’t move but something sure as hell shifted deep inside him as Camron sucked him down. He worked his tongue and his lips with careful precision and what he lacked in skill, he more than made up for in tenderness. One hand massaged Travis’s balls while the other grasped his shaft, holding it still for his pleasure.
Travis was aware that he was making noises he’d never made before, but he couldn’t have stopped if he’d tried. After only seconds of Camron’s incredible heat, Travis felt himself exploding, his climax taking him by surprise, forcefully wrung from him, then squeezing him dry and flinging him down again so quickly that he thought this must be what a seizure feels like—helpless and violent and totally out of control.
He couldn’t open his eyes for a few seconds, but as he slowly became aware of his surroundings again, he peered up through his eyelashes to see Camron gazing down at him, his face intense.
He saw Travis peeping at him and held out his hand to help him to his feet. “Where’s the shower?”
Travis pointed down the hall, and Camron gestured that he should lead the way. Travis moved on shaky legs toward the bathroom, wondering in some distant part of his mind if he had fallen asleep as he lay on the sofa thumbing through his magazines, and he was snoring loudly even now. Maybe he was simply dreaming all this, and he’d awake to find it had all been his imagination, and there was no gorgeous Camron following him down the hallway.
Camron stopped just outside the door and watched him as he entered, waiting solemnly while Travis turned on the shower and adjusted the spray. He turned back to find Camron leaning against the doorway, his expression bright and watchful.
“Get in and get cleaned up,” he said quietly. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Travis nodded and then self-consciously, he stripped off his pants and climbed in. He didn’t know why he should feel awkward after what Camron had just done to him, but he did, too aware of Camron’s quiet regard. He hurried through a quick shampoo and soaped and rinsed his body all over before turning off the water and stepping out. He realized as he did that he’d forgotten his towel, but Camron tossed him one from the hook on the back of the door and he dried off as quickly as he could and reached for his pants again.
Camron got there first and held them out of his reach. “These are dirty. Go in your room and put on some clean clothes. Some jeans. Maybe a flannel shirt, because it’s turning chilly outside.”
“Okay,” he said, a part of his mind wondering why he was letting Camron boss him around. He led the way to his bedroom, Camron still following him quietly. It would have been creepy with anyone other than Camron, but with him it felt almost helpful—even protective. Once in his room, he quickly dressed in jeans and a soft brown flannel shirt, then sat on the bed and pulled on his socks. He reached for his tennis shoes, but Camron nodded toward his hiking boots instead.
“You taking me out for a walk?” Travis asked with a cheeky grin and almost instantly regretted it. Camron didn’t answer, looking serious—deadly serious from the expression on his face, and Travis applied himself to pulling on his boots and keeping his mouth shut. There was something about Camron that didn’t exactly encourage idle conversation.
Camron had always been a serious guy, even back in high school. Travis remembered suddenly that his dad had died in an accident on the job, and Travis had taken over for him in the family business. He’d heard that Camron worked every day after school and all weekend, every weekend just to help feed the family. As he recalled, Camron had a lot of younger brothers and sisters.
“We need to talk, Travis,” he said softly. “Can we go back out to the living room?”
“Yeah, sure,” he said, jumping to his feet. He led the way back into the living area with Camron trailing along behind him. Travis felt nervous being around him, but couldn’t figure out exactly why. He wanted to sit near him and had to force himself to sit at the opposite end of the sofa. He looked up expectantly at Camron. “Okay, now what?”
“Travis,” Camron said, sitting down beside him. “I want you to go away with me for a few days.”
“Go away? Where? I don’t understand.”
“Up to my dad’s old cabin on the mountain. It’s very secluded and no one will bother us there. We need to get to know each other better and work things out.”
Travis tilted his head to the side. He couldn’t quite figure out what Camron’s deal was—not that he wasn’t happy to be with him, and what they’d just done was more than okay. It was spectacular, really, and he still couldn’t believe Camron had come on to him like that. Still it all felt kind of out of the blue. “Work what things out? Don’t get me wrong—a little trip to a secluded cabin with you sounds great, but what do you mean?”
Camron made a sound of exasperation. “Come on, Travis, you can’t be that clueless. Surely you know what’s going on here.”
Travis felt a little heat in his cheeks, and Camron’s tone pissed him off a little. “Well, we’ve messed around some, if that’s what you mean, and...you know. Don’t get me wrong—it was totally great, and…unexpected. But…”
Camron took hold of his shoulders and made Travis look him in the eye. “Think, Travis. Why would I suddenly come over here and do that? Who did you see me with just last week when I towed your car?”
“That little blonde girl from high school, Jenny Calhoun.”
“That’s right. Jenny—she and I have been dating.”
Surprised at the sudden stab of jealousy that evoked, Travis shrugged. “Oh. Okay…I figured that. It’s okay--I won’t say anything to her about all this.”
“Doesn’t it occur to you that it’s pretty strange for me to come over here to see you and--do what we did?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
Camron blew out a breath. “Damn it Travis, you have to know what I’m getting at. I know you remember—you feel it too.”
Travis shook his head. “Remember what? I mean a lot of clan guys like girls and men too. It’s cool.”
Camron tightened his grip on Travis’s shoulders. “Think, damn it. Think back to what happened last night during the shift. And both nights before that. We’re mated, Tr
avis. My cat claimed yours, and yours submitted to mine. Don’t pretend you don’t know that.”
“No, that’s crazy…I-I wouldn’t! Two clan males? No…” Doggedly Travis shook his head, but images of his cat fighting another big cougar kept flooding into his brain. He saw one of them—God, it was his cougar—on its back, fighting a larger, more aggressive cat. Then another image of his cougar on its belly, presenting its ass to the other cat. “No!” Travis roared, trying to push the image from his mind as he jumped to his feet. “No fucking way! We fought or something. That’s all!”
He started out the door, not really thinking where he was going, but just wanting to get away from the images filling his mind. Camron caught his arm by the front door and slammed him back into the wall. “Where the hell are you going? You can’t run from this!”
“The hell I can’t!” Travis shoved Camron hard with both hands on his chest and took off out the door, jumped off the porch and then ran across the yard. He only made it a few steps before Camron tackled him from behind and brought him down hard, knocking the breath out of him.
Badly winded, Travis rolled to get away, but Camron was on top of him, pinning him to the ground. He sat on his chest and held his hands over his head. Furiously, Travis stared up into his face.
“I can see we’re going to have to do this the hard way!” Camron yelled down at him. “It was too much to expect that you might sit down and discuss this like an adult!”
“Get the fuck off me!” Travis gritted out between his teeth, so furious at being held down he could feel the blood pounding in his ears.
“Stop being such a drama queen, for God’s sake! I’ll let you up if you can calm down.”
Travis tried again to heave Camron off him, but the months of drinking and late night debauchery had taken its toll on his body. The simple fact was that he wasn’t as strong as he used to be—wasn’t nearly as strong as Camron. It was humiliating and made him see red. Even though they were more or less evenly matched in size, and Travis was a couple of years younger, Camron was much more powerful. Travis acknowledged the fact in his head, but his pride made him turn his face away and refuse to speak. His chest rose and fell rapidly, and he still couldn’t get his breath.
“I said, are you going to calm down?” Camron stared down at him and shook his head. “Okay, so now you’re not speaking to me. Very mature, Travis.”
Camron got to his feet and pulled Travis with him by both wrists. Try as he might, Travis couldn’t shake him off and felt himself being dragged to Camron’s truck. Camron opened the door, shifted his hands to his waist and picked him up bodily, shoving him inside. As soon as he released his wrists, Travis struck him on the side of the head and kicked out with his boots, but that backfired as Camron suddenly grabbed his feet and yanked so that he fell on his back. Camron put a big hand on his chest to hold him down and jerked off both boots and socks, throwing them in the back of the truck.
With quiet determination, he managed to recapture Travis’s flailing hands and wrap duct tape around his wrists and ankles, all while Travis was trying his best to head butt him. He then wrapped another couple of pieces around his waist, and taped his arms to his body. By this time Travis was cussing him and screaming at him so loudly, he pulled off another piece and slapped it across his mouth. All Travis could do was sit there and seethe, his flashing eyes trying to promise what he’d do to Camron when he got loose.
Camron looked down at him when he finished and shook his head. “I didn’t want to have to do this, but you’re so damn stubborn. Now we’re going to that cabin I told you about. I’m not going to harm you, except if you keep this shit up I might have to whip your ass. We are going to talk, boy. I told your brother where I was taking you, so don’t worry about your folks.” He brushed Travis’s hair out of his eyes and gazed down at him solemnly. “You’re not scared of me, are you?”
Travis made a sound that he hoped conveyed how unafraid he was of Camron or anybody else and glared up at him furiously. Camron smiled and shook his head. “Lord, what have I got myself into?”
****
Camron glanced over at the boy next to him in the front seat and sighed. Whenever he let him go, there was going to be one heck of a fight. Travis never took his gaze off Camron, and those flashing eyes promised bloody retribution. Maybe it would be a good idea to let him get it out of his system—one good, knock-down drag-out fight and then maybe they could shake hands and end up friends.
He glanced back over at those glittering green eyes, the soft blond hair, shot through with those silvery highlights, and wondered who the hell he was kidding. The two of them would never be friends. What lay between them was too full of passion, too raw for anything as pale and weak as friendship. This was his mate, and with every passing moment of his company, he wondered how he’d ever managed to be mostly indifferent towards him for so many years until Travis came of age.
He was so damn beautiful. Even for a girl, his eyes would have been something, but on a man those long, thick eyelashes were almost a sin. There was nothing feminine about him though. His jaw was square and manly, and though he had an unconscious grace, there was nothing prissy or womanly in the way he moved. No, it was probably those full lips that did it. They had a pretty little bow right on his upper lip that put him over the top from being merely handsome to downright gorgeous. And didn’t he just know it?
Camron grinned at him, even though he knew it would make him even more furious. “You can give me dirty looks all you want, Travis, but you’re still going with me. You can’t run from this thing, you know. You’re mine. Our cougars already decided it for us a few nights ago. Our human minds have nothing to do with it. You’ve been claimed, boy, so you might as well accept it.”
Travis made a sound like an angry snort and struggled again to get loose. His whole body was wracked with a sudden tremor. Camron knew he was aware he couldn’t get out of the tape, but he was so mad about it, it had become an almost unconscious movement, a kind of shudder like a horse trying to knock flies off its back.
“When we get to where I parked the four-wheeler, I’m going to untie you. If you want to fight me, then I guess we’ll fight.” Travis shifted his angry gaze to the window beside him, his chest heaving up and down. Camron knew he’d been hung over pretty badly that morning—had even drunk a beer when he woke up, probably thinking it would make him feel better. He’d smelled it on his breath. All the struggling and fighting he’d done since then hadn’t helped him any, so if they did fight, it wouldn’t last too long.
Still, Camron had no desire to hurt him. He needed to build trust with Travis, and so far, not much he’d done was a step in that direction. He sighed. That kind of trust would come later, he hoped. It might never come at all and if it didn’t, that was all right too. Regardless, they were both trapped in this thing, so they might as well make the best of a bad situation. Maybe one day they could come to some sort of understanding, or they might wind up despising each other. But right now, he still had a shot at working this thing out and he was going to take it.
Chapter Four
Travis seethed while Camron pulled his truck well off onto the shoulder of the road. Travis had reached the point of fury where he wasn’t even thinking coherent thoughts—he just had images of mayhem and murder flashing through his brain.
To think he’d ever been attracted to this asshole! The worst thing was the humiliation of being trussed up like a hog going to slaughter. He’d never been manhandled like this in his life before, and he’d always considered himself to be strong and able to handle any situation. Yet he’d been completely unable to stop this man from forcing him into the truck. He never should have let his guard down, but he had no idea that Camron was a fucking lunatic who was going to take him right out of his house.
His damn hangover and shock at his own carelessness had slowed his reactions. That had to be it. Maybe the worst thing of all was the illicit thrill of being controlled and trapped that kept coming over him in
waves as he stared over at Camron’s hard, brown hands on the steering wheel. His damn dick was straining against his zipper. His captor stared straight ahead, thank God, and seemed not to notice it. His handsome profile made it difficult for Travis to stop watching him. He didn’t want this, no matter what his body was saying, and as soon as he could figure a way out of these bonds he’d show him exactly how much he didn’t.
Camron got out of the truck without so much as a glance at Travis and went over to the big cedar tree where he’d apparently chained his four-wheeler earlier and then hidden it from the road up under the low hanging branches. Travis watched as he took off the chain and pulled it out into the rough trail that led up the mountain before heading back to the truck. Grimly, he pulled open the passenger side door and that gave Travis the chance he’d been looking for.
He swung both feet around and kicked out at him when he opened the door, but Camron dodged easily enough, pulling him down out of the front seat onto the ground below. He landed so hard it rattled his teeth. Camron put a hand on the collar of Travis’s shirt and hauled him off the road and up the trail a ways before he laid him on his back and took out his hunting knife. Travis’s eyes widened at the sight of the wicked sharp blade, but Camron rolled his eyes at him, as if the idea that he’d use the knife on him was ludicrous. He bent over Travis and with quick, efficient moves cut him free, saving his hands for last.
As soon as Camron made the last cut through the tape, Travis staggered to his feet and caught the larger man under the chin with a quick uppercut. Camron fell back a few steps, shaking his head like a bull, and then bent over at the waist and plowed into Travis, taking him to the ground before Travis could dodge out of the way. Travis hit the ground hard, knocking the breath out of him for a moment as he rolled over and managed to get up to his feet. He was already trembling and his heart was thudding in his chest. Camron was on his feet now too, watching him carefully, circling him, like he was waiting for an opening.
