In Deep

by Bailey Bradford

  He didn’t, but that didn’t mean he was a shifter. Somehow, Titus couldn’t bring himself to call Draven a liar or ask if he needed psychiatric care.

  And he thought of the manta ray in the water, the way it had acted so…aware.

  Titus began to shiver so hard that his teeth chattered. Things were coming together in his mind—the way Draven seemed to need water, the scent of him, the—well, Titus didn’t have a long list, but his brain was doing calculations and telling his logical side to fuck off.

  “I can show you,” Draven rasped, tilting his head just enough to glance at Titus. “Outside. In the water.”

  Titus didn’t know what to say. He’d either get confirmation that Draven was delusional, or that he was something…spectacular. Or maybe I’m the one who’s hallucinating.

  “Are you going to leave me?”

  Titus jolted like he’d been shocked. “Leave you?” Will I, if any of these scenarios are true? Maybe if I’m the one who is delusional.

  Draven’s breath hitched and he turned his head away. “I have never loved anyone as I love you, but if this is too much, I’ll understand.”

  It was impossible. It had to be. And yet, Titus found himself growing calmer with each passing second. He loved Draven. Draven had been nothing but amazing with him. How could Draven have hidden that he hallucinated or…or whatever? Titus didn’t see how he could have, not in as much time as they’d spent together.

  “You were so scared of Rive, when he was—” Draven flapped his arms slowly. “Shifted.”

  For some reason, that gesture eased Titus’ fears over the matter, at least a little. “He was still an asshole,” Titus pointed out.

  Draven snapped his head up so fast that Titus was afraid he’d hurt himself. “You believe me?”

  Titus bit his bottom lip and gave a curt nod. “Either that, or I’m losing it.”

  Draven got up and held one hand out to Titus. “You aren’t. Come with me.”

  Despite thinking he should be freaking out, Titus was just…calm—partially because he was still trying to wrap his mind around Draven’s revelation.

  They walked hand in hand to the edge of the water. Draven exhaled and glanced at him. “It’s easier if I’m in the water, hidden. Under the pier is where I usually shift. That way, if anyone happens to be watching me, they don’t think I dived underwater and drowned.”

  Titus shook his head, not to negate Draven’s words, but to help them sink in and become reality. “They just think you never came out from under the pier?”

  “Or I went down the beach that way,” Draven pointed. “It curves right after the pier.”

  “Yeah.” Titus knew that. He just wasn’t thinking clearly. His nerves tingled almost painfully as the water lapped at his toes.

  Draven let go of his hand and instead caressed his cheek. “I don’t have to do this now. It’s enough that I told you, and you didn’t leave me.”

  Titus frowned at Draven. “Leave you? I told you, I love you. That means something to me.”

  “You said that before I admitted what I am,” Draven replied. “I would understand if you changed your mind now. Or after you see me shift.”

  Titus was insulted. “I’m not that flighty!”

  “It’s not being flighty to freak out when you find out your lover isn’t exactly human,” Draven said.

  “You’re human,” Titus argued, scowling. “Just, human and more.”

  Draven surprised him with a laugh. “Okay. Okay. You win. Want to come in the water with me?”

  Titus nodded. “I want to see you…shift.”

  Draven took his hand again and tugged.

  They didn’t get more than a foot deep before a manta ray came toward them.

  “Asshole,” Draven muttered. “He’s just trying to show me up.”

  Titus forced himself not to hesitate as they approached the manta ray. “Is that Riveen?”

  “Yes.”

  Titus stopped by the creature and squatted. His hand shook despite his best effort not to let that happen. “Riveen, are you being a showoff?” Titus poked the ray right on top of the head. Its skin was soft and warm. His. Riveen’s. Not it. Titus added a nudge, pushing Riveen down a little. “Stop tormenting your brother. I love him, you know.”

  Draven pulled Titus up and kissed him, driving out all thoughts and worries with the press of warm lips and the glide of his tongue.

  In that moment, there was only Draven, and sunlight, a gentle breeze, and warm water. Titus could have stayed there forever, frozen time and kept that small piece of it for them. But a seagull dive-bombed them, and Draven jerked back, cursing and flapping his hands at the bird.

  “Maybe it thought your hair was breakfast?” Titus asked.

  Draven scowled. “No, that’s not a regular seagull. That’s my cousin, Ennis.”

  “Your…” Titus watched the seagull dive toward them again.

  It was quite amazing to see a manta ray leap from the water.

  Titus stumbled back along with Draven, the seagull squawked and shat on Riveen, and Titus burst out laughing at the weird whistle-rumble Riveen loosed. The seagull dived at Riveen.

  “Run,” Draven advised, nudging Titus.

  Titus made for the pier with Draven beside him. By the time they reached it and turned around, the seagull was gone, and Riveen was somewhere in the water.

  “How can you have a cousin that’s a seagull?” Titus asked, unable to censor himself.

  Draven shrugged. “Well, one of his parents is a seagull shifter. One’s a good creature, a manta ray.”

  “Oh. So the…offspring is one or the other?”

  “Yeah.”

  Titus glanced back at the sky. “And seagulls are inferior?”

  Draven snickered. “Only when we’re insulting each other.”

  “Family rivalry?” Titus smiled as he turned back to Draven. “Better watch that. The gulls have good aim.”

  “They do, but they can’t swim like we can.” Draven took a deep breath. “Are you ready?”

  “Want me to hold your shorts?” Titus replied. He held out his hand.

  Draven slipped his trunks off and gave them to Titus. “If you really don’t freak out, I’d love to bring you back out here tonight and swim with you as a ray.”

  “That sounds amazing, actually.” Titus was still waiting to freak out, but he felt less and less like that was going to happen. Actually, he was…happy. Amazed. Life is so much more than I thought it was!

  Draven kissed him quickly, then dropped down into the water. Titus watched as he went from being a very sexy man one second then a manta ray the next. A second ray swam up, but Titus barely paid Riveen any attention, couldn’t when Draven was so glorious, his wingspan incredible, his coloring more vibrant than Riveen’s. “You are beautiful,” Titus murmured, reaching down and stroking Draven. “Amazing. The most amazing manta ray ever.”

  He got splashed for that, of course. “Asshole,” Titus muttered to Riveen, wiping saltwater from his eyes. “You’re just jealous because Draven’s handsomer than you in both forms!” He was teasing, for the most part, though Titus believed it to be true.

  Draven smacked Riveen, then glided through the water, circling Titus slowly.

  Titus laughed. And laughed. Joy spilled from him, and he couldn’t remember when he’d felt so happy, so young and carefree.

  Joel was out of prison, someone was making calls to Titus’ phone, and his boyfriend wasn’t entirely human—and there had never been a better moment in Titus’ life before then.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Draven tried to be careful, but he just had to play with Titus in the water for a little while. Riveen went off to torment someone else, and Draven had Titus all to himself.

  Titus stared at him with wonder, a slight smile curving his mouth up on one side. He petted Draven all over as Draven swam around him. When Titus found Draven’s itchy spot—the place just down on the left side of his back—Draven would have purred if he
could have managed it.

  As amazing as it felt to be with Titus like this, Draven knew he needed to shift back. He let Titus caress him one more time, then glided to the beam that supplied the most cover. He shifted and stood, but before he could reach for his shorts, Titus pulled him in for a kiss that made Draven’s toes curl.

  It wasn’t just his toes affected by the kiss, either, but it was broad daylight now and there’d be no sex under the pier. With a grumble when Titus ended the kiss, Draven took his shorts and put them on.

  “You’re incredible,” Titus said. “I’m just—wow.”

  “I’m just me,” Draven countered, aware of the blush heating his face. “You’re the incredible one.”

  Titus’ smile could have lit up a pitch-black room. “We’ll just have to agree to be each other’s biggest fan.”

  Draven winked at him and was delighted when Titus blushed, too. “Definitely already yours.”

  Titus nudged his groin against Draven’s. “Think you can come back to your place and show me? That whole ‘actions speak louder than words-thing’ comes to mind.”

  “Bet on it.” Draven grinned, wondering if he looked as predatory as he felt.

  Titus licked his lips, then licked Draven’s.

  Then Titus spun around and made a mad dash for the shore, which never worked well as deep as they’d been. Three or four steps out, a wave or the shifting sand of the ocean floor—or both—took Titus down.

  He popped back up sputtering and laughing, and Draven froze, in awe of the joy he saw in Titus’ expression, in awe of the man himself. How did I get so lucky?

  Titus swiped the water off his face and laughed again. He didn’t speak, but he didn’t have to. There was no missing the love in his gaze as he held his hand out to Draven.

  Draven took Titus’ hand in his. “What do you want to do today?”

  Titus squeezed his hand gently. “Oh, I don’t know. I’d kind of like to get out for a while, go to some of the non-touristy spots in town. Walk around, have lunch, maybe see a movie before we come home and make love all night long. Guess dinner should be in there somewhere.”

  “We could start with making love,” Draven countered, “Then go out. There’s a local arts and craft show going on in Corpus, I think.”

  “Anticipation is a good thing,” Titus said, giving Draven a smoldering look. “I want you to spend the day out with me, thinking about how I’m going to blow your mind when we get back tonight.”

  Draven’s cock reacted predictably, plumping up as he walked beside Titus. “Oh? What do you have planned, exactly?”

  Titus shook his head. “Nope. I want you to wonder about it. Remember, anticipation. It’s a thing.”

  Draven groaned. “It’s a thing that might kill me, but for you, I’ll do anything.”

  In truth, he was more turned on by Titus’ plan than he’d have ever thought he’d be.

  They jogged up the steps to the house, and Draven held the door open for Titus.

  “Shower with me?” Titus asked.

  Draven groaned, although he was teasing for the most part. “But we can’t get each other off?”

  “We can—” Titus began, only to stop when his cell phone began to ring. “That’s Stacy’s ringtone. She doesn’t call me often—it’s usually Michelle.”

  He looked worried as he rushed to get his phone. Draven followed, concern pressing down on him. He didn’t know why, but he felt bad news was coming with the call.

  “Hey, Stacy, you’re on speaker. What’s up?” Titus asked. Draven didn’t miss the nervous pitch to his voice. “Is everyone okay?”

  “As far as I know, yeah,” Stacy said. “Michelle would have called, but she’s talking to the police. Someone broke into your place last night or early this morning. I don’t know the extent of the damage done, but Michelle said some hateful things had been painted on some of the walls inside. I think the police might want to talk to you. They’ll have to know.”

  Titus closed his eyes. “Yeah, they will, then everyone in town will know. I can kiss my job goodbye.”

  “Maybe not. Maybe we’re all too worried about something that wouldn’t happen if we came out.” Stacy sighed. “Maybe we should think about whether or not we want to live the rest of our lives hiding that we love who we love. We can have this discussion another time. You need to come back.”

  “I know.” Titus looked defeated, his happy glow gone, his shoulders rounded. “And whatever happens with my job happens. I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

  “We’ll be there.” Draven cupped Titus’ cheek.

  Titus nodded. “We’ll be there.” He ended the call and turned to Draven, wrapping his arms around Draven’s waist.

  Draven hugged him tightly. He didn’t want to scare Titus, but if Joel were the one who’d broken in—and he almost certainly was—then he could very well be hiding out somewhere around town, waiting. Watching.

  In fact, Draven would bet on that being the case. Joel had broken in, knowing Titus would be called home because of it.

  “It could be someone else,” Titus murmured.

  “Do you think it is?” Draven asked.

  Titus shuddered. “No.”

  “Trust your gut.”

  “I trust you,” Titus whispered. “I love you.”

  “He won’t touch you,” Draven vowed. “Not one hair on your head.” Draven would do whatever he had to do to keep his word.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Titus’ palms were clammy, and he was sweating—not abnormal reactions to a south Texas summer, but he was sitting in an air-conditioned lobby of the police department waiting to be called into Deputy Martinez’s office. Titus couldn’t sit still. He twiddled his fingers and jostled one leg, bouncing his foot.

  Draven touched his hand but kept the contact brief. “It’ll be okay. I know it doesn’t seem like it now, and…and things may change, but in the end, it will be okay.”

  Titus wished he could believe that. “Maybe we should have gone by the house first. I know Martinez said to meet him here, but—”

  “Mr. Eisenhower?”

  Titus and Draven stood and looked at the man—the deputy—saying his name. “Deputy Martinez?” He saw the deputy’s name tag and blushed. I’m an idiot. “Sorry.”

  Draven grunted. “You have nothing to apologize about.”

  Deputy Martinez gave them a half-smile and nodded. “That’s correct, Mr. Eisenhower. You’ve got to be shaken up. If you and…”

  “My boyfriend,” Titus blurted out, then realized Martinez had probably been expecting a name, not a relationship update.

  “Draven Costille,” Draven added.

  Martinez nodded. “If y’all would step into my office so we can speak in private?”

  “Of course, and please, call me Titus.” Titus wished he could hold Draven’s hand for support, could lean on him like any straight couple would have been free to do, but he had spent years being cautious. It was ingrained in him, and he resented that.

  “Sure.” Martinez held the door open for them then shut it once they’d entered. He walked around and sat behind his desk.

  Titus and Draven took the seats across from him.

  “Titus,” Martinez began, leaning forward and bracing his forearms on the desk. “I want to make it clear that I don’t care about your sexuality, that you have a boyfriend, any of that. I’m here to do a job. I took an oath to serve and protect, and there are no exceptions to that. I work for you and for everyone with the same integrity and determination.”

  Titus exhaled a little shakily. “Thank you. That’s—just, thank you.”

  Martinez gave him that hint of a smile. “You don’t have to thank me for doing my job. I’m sorry that was ever a concern, but I do get it. Now.” He sat back again, then picked up a file. “I have pictures of the crime scene. There are three specific threats painted on the walls, and another four slurs.” He opened the file and glanced at Draven.

  Something seemed to pass betwee
n them. Draven took Titus’ hand and held it between both of his.

  “I believed this was a personal attack because of the three threats.” Martinez slid out several photos. “I know this is frightening, but I, and the rest of the department, will do everything we can to keep you safe.” He passed the pictures over.

  Titus bit his bottom lip as he moved the images around so he could see them. The first one made him feel like he was going to puke. It was a threat to commit a specific sexual act on Titus, along with smaller script stating, ‘I know just how you like to bleed’.

  “Son of a bitch,” Draven growled. He moved one hand up then put his arm around Titus’ shoulders. “No way this fucker’s getting near you.”

  The other photos were just as bad. Titus heard a buzzing in his ears and his vision dimmed.

  “Breathe, baby,” he heard Draven say, though he sounded far off.

  Then Titus was being moved, his legs parted and his head being tucked down between them.

  “He’s not gonna win,” Draven said. “We won’t let him.”

  “I need to know who he is,” Martinez said. “Or if it’s who I believe it to be. Joel—”

  “No, no, no,” Titus rasped, pressing his hands over his ears. “I can’t. I can’t. I thought I could but I can’t.”

  Whatever Draven said, Titus didn’t hear. He closed his eyes and focused on trying to breath, then on pushing the panic back until his heart didn’t feel like it was going to burst out of his chest.

  Slowly, he became aware of Draven’s voice, low and calm, of his big hand rubbing soothing circles on Titus’ back. He didn’t rush Titus or make any demands. After several minutes, Titus stopped shaking and the buzzing in his head began to fade. His chest ached like he’d been holding his breath too long, but he knew that was from breathing erratically. He went hot with embarrassment and wanted to just disappear, but Draven’s quiet reassurances finally helped Titus to sit up and, while he couldn’t meet Martinez’s eyes, he at least got his gaze level with the surface of the desk.

  Every few seconds, Titus would jerk as he tried to settle. The photos were gone, and he was grateful for that at least, but he didn’t think he could take much more humiliation, especially not by his body and brain freaking out on him.