by Cree Storm
CHAPTER 2
God, he needed a vacation, Wade thought as he sat behind his desk at the shop and rubbed the back of his neck trying to relieve some of the tension. He rarely went out on missions anymore, but when Rory got the mayday call from Bull, he knew he needed to get to his men. He wanted to at least call Justice and let him know what was going on, but there was no time. This was exactly what he had warned the council about when they asked him to join them.
His guys were his brothers. They had been to hell and back together and they came first, just like Rory. When he had heard that the guys had located the Senator, but had been ambushed, Wade saw red. Bull had sent a coded message back to Rory that the intel they had been given was false and they were now trapped in a hovel in an old abandoned town in Guyana with somewhere in the vicinity of a hundred or more armed men surrounding them.
Their contact led them to the old cantina and showed them where the Senator was being held, but once Snake, Six, and Shadow had gone in, the bastard had closed the door and locked them inside. The only saving grace was the guy had no idea about Bull. He placed himself across the street and down a few buildings where he had perfect vision of what was going on. From there, he could also see through the large front window and witnessed what the asshole had done. Once the man stepped out of the shop he made a call on his cell, and thanks to Rory’s careful planning before they even went on this mission, he had already broken into the guy’s phone. So one quick message from Bull and Rory immediately connected to the phone, got the number the guy had called, and listened to the conversation.
He called Khan Bharrat, the biggest drug lord in Guyana and the man who had taken the Senator. Khan ordered their informant, Shaheed, to take up position across the street and wait for his arrival. He and his men were coming back from a meeting in Brazil and would be there in about twelve hours. That was cutting it close for them. Shaheed was then ordered to contact him every hour to make sure everything was still going as planned.
Rory quickly got him a ride on a helicopter that would pick him up behind the Crystal High School outside of town and bring him to the airport, where Rory had booked him a private jet to Guyana. One, he couldn’t risk commercial flights, and two, he could bring all the firepower he needed.
Once they made their escape, Flyer had taken them to the appointed airfield fifty miles north of where they had been where Wade had left the private jet on standby for their return. After loading everyone on board, he and Shadow started checking wounds. The Senator was in bad shape, but he was still alive. Snake had ended up with a bullet in his left shoulder, but Bull had suffered the most.
The first shot lodged in his back and an inch below the shoulder blade, but the second shot had hit him in the lung. Wade ordered the pilot to take them to Punta Coca, which is about 217 miles west of Panama City where there is a naval base. Bull, Snake, and the Senator could get whatever medical treatment they needed there. They only had to make sure they stayed alive until they reached their destination.
Bull had surgery to remove the bullets and repair his lung, but it had taken hours, then he couldn’t be moved for almost a week. Once he was released, Rory had booked them all on separate flights out to different locations around the world, then connecting flights back to the states. Shadow had been the first home in Pueblo, Colorado, then Six and Snake arrived within two hours of each other where they lived in Alamosa. Flyer returned to his home in Trinidad, Colorado the following day. He made sure Bull was safely tucked away in his hacienda in Red Mesa, Arizona before coming home himself.
Once he arrived, he spent two days on the phone with their government contact screaming at the man for putting his men in that kind of danger. Someone had to be working on the inside and was trying to have them killed. Wade was starting to get the feeling that the whole Senator kidnapping was just a bonus and the he and his men were the real targets, but he had no proof. After that, he spent the next day on the phone with his guys. They would be coming to Crystal in a few days so they all could sit down and meet to discuss the mission and their futures.
Now that he was home and rested, he needed a little normalcy in his life and coming into the shop to work on the custom bike he was building for a client was just what the doctor ordered. Because of what happened he was a few days behind for his deadline, but thankfully he was almost done when he had to leave. At this point he was just waiting for the fuel tank to come back from the painter and he needed to assemble everything. He could have it done in two or three days.
Wade pushed back from his desk and stood, then slipped on a pair of coveralls to his waist and tied the sleeves around his hips. He pulled off the tee he wore, but kept on the black wife-beater he had underneath. Stepping out of his office, his mind began to wander back to his mate, as it seemed to do a lot. He knew he needed to face the man eventually, but right now he needed to get the bike done and meet with his men. After that, he would hunt down the gorgeous king.
* * * *
“Sunny,” Timmy said from behind him, causing Suneth to flinch and almost take a header off the building, before he caught himself.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” Timmy said and sat on the ledge beside him.
Suneth rolled his eyes and quickly shifted to his human form, then sighed heavily. “Timmy, what are you doing here?”
“I’m worried about you. You haven’t left this spot for days. You haven’t eaten or slept, and,”―Timmy leaned in and sniffed him―“and you really need a shower. I know you’re waiting for your mate, but do you really want to talk to him for the first time in weeks stinking like the ass end of a skunk? I would know that that’s not a good thing too. Yorkie got me a skunk a few days ago and all I wanted to do was give him a bath because he was really stinky. Well, he didn’t like that and he sprayed me. Took me six baths to get that smell out of my hair and then I smelled like tomato soup.”
He couldn’t help it, he had to chuckle. Leave it up to Timmy to not only have something go wrong, but to lift his spirits as well.
“So, how long are you going to wait here?” Timmy asked.
Suneth turned his attention to Timmy, taking his eyes off Wade’s shop for the first time in five days. It killed him to see the worry in Timmy’s eyes and know that he was the one causing it, but he just couldn’t leave. “Not until I finally get to talk to the man,” Suneth replied and turned back to face the shop.
“I understand that. I almost died when I turned my wonderful Yorkie into that statue and couldn’t talk to him, but if you’re tired and hungry, aren’t you going to be grumpy when you talk to your mate? Won’t that make things not good and maybe bad? I know when Ollie gets hungry and grumpy, he takes things that people say the wrong way, and maybe you will too.”
Suneth remained silent. He couldn’t leave without talking to his mate and finding out where he stood. Where they stood.
“Plus, if your mate does come back now, you’ll have to go over there naked and I don’t know if you want to do that and still be able to talk. I know I love when I am naked with my Yorkie, but when that happens there is not much talking that happens,” Timmy said seriously and nodded his head to emphasize his words.
Suneth had turned back to face Timmy when he said naked and now was trying very hard not to laugh in the little sweetie’s face from the serious look he was giving. But Suneth had to concede. Timmy was a lot smarter than most people gave him credit for and he made some very good points. He needed some sleep, food, and a shower, but not necessarily in that order, before he talked to his mate. Whenever that would be. “You're absolutely right, Timmy, and thank you. I’ll fly home and meet you there. And after I eat something, I’ll come over and see your new pet.”
Timmy’s eyes lit up like Christmas morning. “Really? That would be great, Sunny. You can also meet the funny fainting goats Yorkie got me,” Timmy declared in excitement as he stood.
Suneth couldn’t hold it in this time and laughed as he nodded at Timmy. His littlest gargoyl
e had his big dragon mate wrapped around his little finger, and York was loving every minute of it. He spoiled Timmy every chance he got and was turning their ranch into a wayward home for animals, just to make Timmy happy. He couldn’t blame the man though, it was ingrained in them to focus on their mate’s happiness. A pang of jealousy gripped his stomach, but Suneth quickly pushed it aside. Timmy deserved every happiness he could get. He only wondered if he and his mate would ever get to that point. Suneth stood, then shifted, and flew off the ledge and headed home.
CHAPTER 3
This was it. One way or another, he was getting answers. If Wade rejected him and their mating, then so be it. At least then he would know and could get on with trying to pick up the pieces of his broken heart. It wasn't like he was in love with his mate and would have a shattered heart if rejected, but he knew that if he were rejected by his true fated mate, that he would suffer. Rejection of any kind was always a hit to the one being rejected, but when it came to a true mate, it was intensified by a thousand, maybe more.
Suneth also knew that if Wade gave him, them, a chance, that he would fall in love with the human someday. Wade was exactly his type. A warrior, leader, a man who didn’t suffer fools, and was direct. Just from the little he did know of his mate, he knew the man had served his country and his people with dignity, grace, and honor. All very admirable attributes. But Suneth also knew that his mate was loving and caring. He knew that because the man was considering joining the paranormal council, but before he did he felt like he needed to tell them his secret of his Black Ops team, in case they wanted to go with someone else. That alone had shown Suneth that Wade put the residents of Crystal first. That he believed they did need representation on the council, but wanted to make sure they got the best representative they could have.
Then there was the fact that his mate was very talented. Suneth had seen some of the work he had done on the cars and motorcycles coming out of Wade’s shop and found them some of the best, if not the best, he had ever seen.
And even though Wade was very intense, Suneth saw the way he joked with his friends, like Vik. Then there was his mate’s body. Wade was built like a god and from what little he could see of the man's skin, he had some tattoo work done. Suneth was curious to see what art his mate wore on his flesh. Hell, he was curious to see his mate’s flesh in all its naked glory. Suneth found himself getting hard every time he just thought about his mate, but standing before him, gazing at what he considered perfection, had his cock so hard it hurt. He was surprised the drool that built up in his mouth whenever he looked at the human didn’t fall from his lips and embarrass himself.
Shit, he was the king of the gargoyles and for that alone he should have more control on his emotions and lust. But with Wade everything went out the window, even his own even temper and sturdy confidence. Suneth had spent a very long life waiting for the day he would find his mate and now that it was here, he worried he would make a fool of himself.
He needed to buck up and do what must be done. He had to talk to his mate and get it over with. If he were rejected, then Suneth would find a way to move on, but if Wade accepted them, then he needed to figure out where they went from there.
Suneth straightened his spine and squared his shoulders as he faced the front of Wade’s shop. He took a deep breath then released it slowly, pulling on the strength and confidence he always did when it was time for him to be the leader he was.
Suneth stepped up onto the curb, his gaze focused on the open garage door leading into the shop. Two cars sat within, one up on a lift, the other on the floor with its hood open. Legs stuck out from under the car, and a loud noise filled the air.
Jim Farmer, the mechanic, was here, but so was his mate. It was hard to catch his scent with all the other smells coming from within; gasoline, oil, solvents, and a number of others.
When he had returned home, the first thing he did was quickly grab a bite to eat as he went up to his room. Suneth had finished his sandwich and disrobed. Stepping into his shower, he allowed the hot water to rain over his aching muscles and stayed in the spray until he felt his body relax. Once clean, he went to his bed and laid down. Sleep came quickly, but soon after, Ozcog and Nuzan had come in to inform him that they had seen his mate go into his shop.
Suneth rose and dressed, then mounted his bike and rode like the wind back into town. He had been surprised when he saw what time it was and realized he had gotten four hours of sleep. Suneth had felt like he had only just closed his eyes when his men came in.
He stepped into the shop and looked around for his mate, raising his head and sniffing, trying to locate which direction. Moving further in, he still couldn’t discern where Wade was because of all the chemical smells. He got about halfway in when suddenly the most delicious voice came to him from behind, sending a shiver of need up his spine. “Looking for something, little man?”
Suneth’s eyes closed from the pleasure that just his mate’s voice gave him as he took a deep, cleansing breath. He spun around to face Wade and his brows dropped into a deep V from finding no one there.
A sound from his left caught his attention and he turned his head just in time to see the legs from beneath the car move. The body rolled smoothly from under the vehicle and Suneth’s gaze took in every glorious inch as it came closer.
Once Wade was free of the car, he gracefully climbed to his feet and stood only two feet in front of him. Suneth’s cock twitched in his tight black leather pants and he suddenly realized he had made a big mistake when dressing. Yes, the leather was great to protect him as he rode his bike, but the material was unforgiving when his cock was expanding.
Large biceps flexed before him and Suneth’s gaze locked onto their movement. His mate’s arms were fully covered in luscious tattoos that crossed over both shoulders and across his clavicle bones and up part of his throat. Suneth’s hungry gaze took in every delicious inch of the god that stood before him. Thick arms, hard, wide chest under a black wife-beater top that was so tight it appeared painted on, and Suneth could make out two hard nubs poking against the shirt. Shit, were his mate’s nipples pierced? He groaned internally from that thought and thinking about what sounds would come from Wade’s lips if he tugged on them.
His gaze traveled lower to rippled abs, tapered waist, nice hips, and thick thighs that stretched the material of his coveralls. When his gaze drifted to Wade’s crotch, a thrill raced through him when he noticed the bulge there. Wade looked good enough to eat and sexy as all hell. Suneth had this overwhelming desire to strip, get on all fours, and present his ass to his mate for the taking.
Even though he was a king and leader, and bedded many men in his long life, he mostly topped. It was very rare that he bottomed, but when he did, he never told a soul and swore those who did to secrecy. He was a king after all and it was expected for him to be the dominating partner. But those times that he did bottom, he fucking loved it, and wished he could experience it more. It was during those times that he actually relaxed and let the world go away and his troubles with it. It had been a long time since he bottomed for anyone and just as long since he found that peace.
His gaze roamed back up his mate’s stunning body and when his gaze reached Wade’s amazing arctic blue eyes, Suneth had to hold back the groan that wanted to escape. He suddenly noticed his mate was staring right at him with a raised brow and a smirk on his lips.
Shit. His mate had asked him something, but for the life of him he couldn’t remember what it was. What the hell was wrong with him? He was a warrior. A king. A leader. He led men into battle and fought with his heart and soul. He was strong, proud, and vicious, but standing in this man's presence made him feel none of that. He didn’t exactly feel weak, but if Wade was a shifter, he would most certainly be an alpha. Suneth always saw himself as an alpha and so did everyone else, but with Wade, he felt like a beta at best. Would he be able to trust Wade to give him that peace he so rarely found and so desperately craved?
Silently Wade
took a step closer, his long, powerful legs eating up the distance in one stride, and brought them within inches from one another. “So, what can I do for you, little man?”
As much as he was now outwardly bristling at the term, inside Suneth found that he liked it when Wade called him that, it gave him a thrill. “Little man? Those are two words I have never heard in association with me.”
“I call it as I see it,” Wade said softly, in that sexy deep voice that made Suneth’s knees weak.
“You do realize I am a king, right?”
“So you’ve said before. And as I have said, I don’t particularly care. I am an American, and in this country, we have no kings and bow to no kings. You can be a king all you want with your men and any of these other paranormals, but to me, you’re just some sexy fuck looking for someone to bend you over and fuck your brains out,” Wade replied, his voice dropping deeper, his hot breath caressing Suneth’s face.
He trembled from the feel and the words, and fought to keep his eyes locked with Wade’s instead of closing as they wanted to. Suneth bit the inside of his cheek to hold back the whimper that threatened to come out.
