by Lisa Oliver
Cam was a grumpy bastard by nature, and it wasn’t often he got himself involved in the affairs of others. Sure, he’d been one of those who’d stood by Ra when Seth’s integrity was questioned, and he was happy to hold the fundraiser necessary for Doc to get the precious ultrasound machine he needed, back when Simon was pregnant. He’d gone with the others as part of the rescue team when Simon had been kidnapped and been part of the rebuild and renovation when Deputy Joe’s house had been wrecked by vandals.
He was happy enough to joke and listen to his customers at the bar, but he rarely offered a firm opinion on anything. For the most part, he felt people around him got caught up in stupid dramas that could be solved with one quick punch, or a drink – whichever was appropriate – and after the life he’d led, Cam couldn’t be bothered to be much more than a spectator to other people’s petty concerns.
But hearing Fergus’s story, holding his kind, sobbing mate in his arms, brought out a need for vengeance Cam hadn’t felt since he lost his friends on the mission from hell. His mind was already running over scenarios – how to get Fergus’s momma back from the clutches of a cruel fold leader. The other offspring could be a problem, but it wasn’t insolvable.
Cradling his mate, Cam rocked his body slightly, offering comfort as most would offer a child. There was nothing childlike about Fergus though, and Cam wondered if his incessant erection would ever go down. Use your big brain, asshole. Think. Strategies. Who to call? We’re going to have to steal her from the heart of a territory ruled by a paranoid man who’s gotten steadily worse. Or… Cam thought about Cannel and Brown. Maybe their visit was more fortuitous than he’d first thought.
While he’d been thinking, Fergus had been slowly pulling himself together. “I’m so sorry.” Fergus sat up and Cam felt the sticky wetness of his shirt pressing against his chest. Even with a red nose and puffy eyes, Cam knew he’d never seen anyone more beautiful. “It just gets to me sometimes and I haven’t heard from momma since that call I had from her on the day we met. She doesn’t even know I’m mated yet.”
“She usually calls on set days and times?”
“Saturday mornings, between eight and nine.” Fergus swiped the tears off his face and sniffed. “She has to do the leader’s washing then. She hid a prepay phone in the laundry and she can usually slip away somewhere private during the wash cycle. Twenty-five minutes. But she didn’t call last week, and I don’t know if she will this week either. Maybe someone found the phone, or maybe her duties have changed. She said that my Uncle Mervin had been ordered by the leader to quit his job as he was needed for territory security which makes it sound like things are getting worse. I’m terrified of what might happen to her if the phone is found.”
Cam remembered something Sarah had said about Fergus working. “Is this why you always work so hard? Have you been putting money away because you’ve got a plan to help your momma?”
“Momma doesn’t know I want her to leave. Well, she does, but she doesn’t think it will be safe for either of us, so we agreed not to talk about it. But my momma is one of the reasons why I started the business in a shifter town.” Fergus caught Cam’s eyes. “It was my momma who taught me how to bake cakes and breads. She loved being in the kitchen. Being sent to the laundry was her punishment when I sent her money one time. She was desperate. The roof was leaking and that bond mate of hers is useless. But the leader found out, took the money and punished her for having contact with a dead person. I thought…”
“You thought…?”
“I thought if momma knew I had the bakery in a shifter town and it was doing well, I could convince her she’d be safe here. I bought the house, I work my ass off, putting aside every cent I can spare. But there’s so many guards around the fold now and the leader controls everyone’s every move. She never leaves the territory and I don’t know how to get her out.”
“How much do you know about the fold leader’s activities?”
“Not much,” Fergus sighed. “My momma tried to keep me out of his way when I was growing up and she doesn’t say a lot about him on our phone calls because she knows it’ll just upset me.”
“But has he always been this controlling – like not allowing the members into town, or to talk to other people outside of the fold?”
“Always. Momma said it’s gotten worse, or rather the things she tells me about the family indicates he’s becoming a dictator. She said something once about him stockpiling weapons and food. He’s restricted all members’ access to their own bank accounts and has taken them over for himself. I thought when she told me that he was some sort of survivalist, preparing for the apocalypse.”
Or preparing for war. Suddenly, Brown’s warnings about the safety of shifters everywhere didn’t sound so farfetched. The paranormal world was no longer a secret. Humans and paranormals mixed in most places, although shifter towns were specifically designed as a place where shifters could enjoy their furry selves without fear of being hunted. But the peace between paranormals and humans was fragile and relied heavily on paranormals conforming to human law in human cities. If anything disturbed the balance… the apocalypse is one way of putting it.
“Babe, listen.” Cam made sure he had Fergus’s attention. “The men who came to see me today were shifter council guards…”
“Oh, my no. Did something happen to momma?”
“No, no, or at least, I don’t know. They wanted to know what you’d told me about your fold, and in particular, your fold leader.”
The furrow that suddenly developed between Fergus’s eyes was cute. “Why didn’t they come and talk to me? I would have answered anything I could. It’s not like I owe him any loyalty.”
“The reason they didn’t come and talk to you is because you’re a very sweet man. You’ve never done anything wrong in your life. They came to me, because…” Cam blew out softly. “They knew I was in the military; they knew I worked on special assignments. They hoped they could claim a connection with me because I used to follow orders and know how their investigations work.”
“They’d better not have tried to boss you around, just because you’re mated to me. No, not even for that. No one should tell you what to do.”
Cam felt the warmth from Fergus’s defense of him right through his body. “They didn’t say or do anything I couldn’t handle. They claimed they were protecting your reputation by not storming into your store.”
“Like storming into your place of business is any better,” Fergus said hotly. “But wait. How did they even know we were mated in the first place?”
“I recorded our mating with the council a week ago.” Cam smiled. “I did tell you I did it.”
“Last week, last week?” Fergus’s quirked eyebrow was a cute look. “Was I elbows deep in dough at the time, or falling asleep on your counter?”
“You were half asleep on my counter, with a smudge of flour on your face.” Cam ran his hands up the supple muscles of Fergus’s back, staring into his mate’s eyes. “I have missed you so much, missed connecting with you, talking to you, just spending time with you. I’m gutted the one time I have a reason to come home early is because of those damn council guards.”
“At least you came. I wasn’t sure you would, or if I should’ve stayed at the bar.” Fergus’s top teeth raked over his bottom lip. “Should I sell the bakery, or try and find someone else to run it? I mean, if momma isn’t going to come here, no matter what I hope or do…” The bottom lip trembled. “Maybe it’s time for me to give up my dream of working with my momma and concentrate on my mate.”
“Oh, babe, no. No. No. No. No. No. We’ll both get more staff for our businesses. Darwin told me just before I came home that one of his house mates Brutus might be keen on working in your bakery. Apparently, he’s not as good as you, but close. And I can employ someone else as well. Darwin has limited shifts because of the twins, but Nicky is always keen on more work. He might even take over as manager. We will work this out.”
Cam leaned h
is head closer, determined to make things right for his beloved mate. “Not only are we going to get more time together, but we’ll get your momma out of that fold. I’ll be with you. We’ll talk to the council guards and if they’re just full of shit, then I’ll call other friends and we’ll stage a fucking raid. I’ll challenge the damn leader if I have to, but we are not going to give up on your momma. All right?”
“I just want her to be safe. If she was happy there…”
“You know she’s not and if she’s suddenly stopped calling you then the sooner someone gets their ass up there and finds out what the hell is going on, the better. What the fold leader did is wrong. He had no right to prevent your momma from leaving. Any shifter, in any form of group, has every legal right to leave if they want to. Humans know about us. There’s no risk of exposing our secret to them anymore. The law is on your side, and if your momma wants to leave, then she can.”
“But what if they come after us, both of us? Cam, I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you because of this.”
Cam wanted to close his eyes, blinded by the devotion he saw in Fergus’s. But he didn’t. “Did I ever tell you how old I was?”
The shake of the head was minute. “I thought around forty or fifty years old, because you said you’d been in the military and you’ve been here at least ten years, but it’s never polite to ask once a paranormal is an adult. We live so long as a rule, it’s really not important.”
“Darlin’, I’m a hundred and thirty-five years old. I fought in both world wars. I’ve been a military man for the best part of eighty years, from as soon as I was old enough to sign up. There’s not a branch of the military I haven’t worked in and that’s without including all the black ops and special forces assignments I’ve had over the years. I could have worked as a shifter council guard if I wanted to, even a paranormal guard, but I never wanted to. When I walked away from the military, I wanted a home, and I found one here. Now, I’ve found my mate. If you think that a jumped up, paranoid bull shifter is going to take away the life I’ve spent over a century building, he can kiss my hairy ass.”
Fergus was trying to suppress a chuckle; Cam could see it in his eyes. “You haven’t got a hairy ass. It’s baby-face smooth and gorgeous.”
“It might not be hairy in this form, but if anyone from your old fold comes around, they’ll be seeing my hairy ass while I’m tearing out their throat. Babe, don’t you understand? We have friends here. Can you imagine your old fold leader up against a tiger or a bear? Do you think Rocky and Mal are going to stand by and let someone hurt you, if it means you can’t cook eclairs anymore? Deputy Joe is a Texas longhorn – his mate, Doc is a damn Komodo dragon, for goodness sake. Liam and Lucien are gorgeous lions both mated to Phoenixes. We’re a mixed bunch here, but we won’t let someone hurt our own. And don’t even get me started about the Hoopers. They’ll stomp on anything in four legs if they cause trouble in this town.”
“But why would they care about me?”
“Because you belong in this town, babe.” Cam stroked back Fergus’s errant hair. “This is our home, and in this town, we don’t let anyone hurt those we care about.”
Fergus’s nod was brief, but Cam could sense through their bond the hope that flared in his mate. “We’ll talk to the council guards, see if there is anything they can do. If not, we’ll go for option B, but I promise babe, your momma will have choices before the week is out, and if she does decide to come here, she can take over some of the responsibility of the bakery and she can make her new home in my house, because I’ve gotten rather fond of yours.”
“You want to move in with me?” Now, Fergus was openly smiling and that settled something deep in Cam’s soul.
“Move in with you, love on you, and never let you go,” he promised.
Fergus’s smile widened and a slim hand traced circles around Cam’s right nipple. Cam’s butt muscles clenched as he felt the touch right down his body. “Let’s swap the order a bit,” Fergus suggested, leaning so his mouth was millimeters from Cam’s chest. “Start with the loving first.”
Chapter Sixteen
Thanks to his momma, Fergus had managed to maintain his bright and sunny persona for much of his life. He refused to give into anger urges, always conscious that his animal form was bigger than many. Every time he’d been knocked down in life, and that had been often since he’d been kicked out the fold, he’d reminded himself there was always someone around who was less fortunate, dusted himself off and plastered a smile on his face. He’d grown up, knowing absolute unconditional love, and while it gutted him to leave his momma, he’d always hoped one day they would be reunited.
Now, he had someone else who would love him too; who looked at him as though he’d hung the sun and the moon, and who’d vowed in his growly voice that he would never leave. And Fergus believed Cam; he believed that no matter what happened going forward, he would always have his mate by his side.
He felt like a wet dishrag, the crying, the outpouring of grief, exposing his vulnerabilities in a guttural way that made him feel ugly. But the desire in Cam’s eyes was unmistakable and Fergus’s body responded. Was he scared for his momma? Definitely. But Cam promised a plan and Fergus believed him about that too. Now he wanted that connection with his mate – a reaffirmation and a desire to be present.
Cam must have been feeling something similar, or maybe it was their bond. When Cam’s hands slid down his back, Fergus sucked in his gut so those hands could move past his waistband reaching for his butt cheeks. Fergus moaned, his head tilted up, seeking Cam’s lips that were right there for him to taste. Letting Cam control their kiss, Fergus ran his hands over Cam’s shirt, feeling the ridges of the muscles beneath. Reaching around, Fergus curled his fingers, scrunching up the bottom of Cam’s shirt, searching for the hot skin underneath.
Time blurred, clothing was discarded, scattered over the floor. Fergus was naked, his body stretched over Cam’s bulk, as his mate was stretched out on the couch, his nerves tingling at the slide of skin on skin. Kisses turned frantic, tongues and teeth clashing, dueling as each man sought to get closer to the other. Fergus could feel the slick on his stomach, both men’s cocks primed and leaking. Running his hands up Cam’s broad neck, his palms tickled by his mate’s buzz cut, Fergus ground down with his hips searching for more friction, his legs restless. Cam’s hands moved from his butt, kneading, clutching him, blunt fingers stroking deep inside Fergus’s crease, teasing the sensitive nerves around his hole, but never penetrating. Even in the throes of passion, Cam would never hurt him.
They needed lube. As horny as he was, Fergus was determined his balls weren’t offloading until his mate’s cock was buried inside of him. Pulling off Cam’s mouth, he pushed himself up, panting hard. “Lube?”
“Ugh,” Cam groaned, his head falling back on the couch cushions. “My pants pocket.” His chest was heaving, and Fergus was momentarily distracted by how Cam’s flat penny sized nipples puckered up when he was aroused. “I thought you were finding lube,” Cam grumbled when Fergus’s hands moved to tweak the nubs pointing in his direction.
Flicking his hair back off his face, Fergus looked around his living room. “You must have thrown your pants somewhere.” He couldn’t see them. He smacked Cam’s broad pecs. “Come on. I’ll race you.” Sliding down Cam’s body, Fergus took the time to give one broad swipe of his tongue over their joined precome glistening on Cam’s abs. So tempting, Fergus thought. On any other day with an ‘a’ in it, Fergus would be slurping on one of his favorite treats, but the lure of lube and a wide bed was calling him.
Pushing himself off Cam’s body, Fergus sprinted through the house, his bare feet pounding on the stairs. He heard Cam grumble, the couch was soft and easy to get caught up in, and he was on the bed, spreading lube on his fingers and reaching behind himself before he heard his mate. Cam came pounding through the door, stopping abruptly, the heat in his eyes so hot, Fergus could feel it burning his skin.
“Please. Tu
rn. I want to see.” Cam’s whole body trembled with tension, but he didn’t move from his spot by the door.
Wriggling around so he was facing the headboard, Fergus stayed on his knees, but slid them wider apart, his face flushed at being so blatantly displayed. His cock and balls hung heavy between his legs, but he ignored them, reaching around his body, his fingers quickly finding his hole.
Pushing in with his middle finger, Fergus gritted his teeth. No matter how aroused he got, his mating was still new, and he’d rarely bottomed before meeting Cam. Breathing out, he waited until his body accepted the invasive finger and then pushed in a second. Cam was growling, coming closer and Fergus let out another long breath, pulled the two fingers out and pushed in with three. It wasn’t easy, Fergus had a long lean torso, and he couldn’t push in very far. He spread his fingers, squished inside of him, trying to loosen his inner muscles.
The mattress dipped behind him, strong hands running up the inside of Fergus’s thighs. The lube tube, which Fergus was still clutching in his free hand, was plucked from his fingers and seconds later another, thicker finger pressed in alongside Fergus’s own. A rumbling noise filled the air – more of a rough purr than a growl, but Fergus could feel Cam’s possessive pride through their bond.
Pulling his fingers out of his hole, because Fergus’s wrist was aching, he rubbed them on a towel, left on the bed from Cam’s shower most likely. Resting his elbows on the covers, Fergus let his head and shoulders fall tilting his ass up. The purr/growl got louder.
“Just perfect.” Large hands spanned Fergus’s hips, holding him in place, not that Fergus was even thinking of moving. A low slap rang along Fergus’s crack – Cam’s cock. Closing his eyes, Fergus felt a drip right at the base of his tail bone. His whole body relaxed. Cam had him, he was safe, and his mate was so turned on, the air vibrated with it.
/~/~/~/~/
Cam didn’t consider himself an ass man. He appreciated the swell of a body in a well-fitted pair of jeans as much as any gay man, front and back, but when he saw someone new his eyes went to the man’s shoulders, their neck, and how clothing stretched across a man’s chest. Fergus didn’t have a big build, but his shoulder/waist ratio ticked all of Cam’s boxes, and his slim neck, arched down and currently bare of curls, called to something primal in Cam’s make up.
