by Lynn Hagen
Panahasi couldn’t stop smiling.
He couldn’t stop laughing.
He spun around, grabbing Drake and then Casey, pulling his
mates into his arms, and then dancing them back toward the door, only to spin them around, all ending up back in the middle of the floor.
Panahasi sang the song as he moved closer to the two, looking from Casey to Drake. They laughed, their eyes shining brightly, but Panahasi had meant it. He knew deep down in the very core of his being that these two had shattered his reserve and had stolen the heart he thought long dead.
Panahasi slid up behind Casey, dancing him back to Drake. They spent the rest of the evening dancing to disco songs, laughing, and enjoying each other. There were no pretenses, no guards, and no moodiness. They were nothing but themselves, acting as they truly wanted to.
Until the end of time, he would never forget this one evening he spent acting like himself with his mates. The two men had given him something so precious, so treasured that Panahasi was forever in their debt.
* * * * Kobe walked the streets of Serenity City, looking for Constantine and Marino. He may be the newest member of the demon warriors, not so long out of his warrior training, but even he knew finding the brothers was going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
The two were damn good at hiding. Marino had kept off of the warriors’ radar for months, Constantine for weeks. No one knew where they disappeared to, but Kobe would love to find out. The brothers were bad news all around. Growing up in a small subdivision of Remtin, a place not even the boogeyman dared to tread, he had heard about the two demon brothers. He also knew that Marino was half fey.
It just amazed him that the people who lived in that shithole city had revered the brothers. Really?
Kobe had heard that Phoenyx grew up there, but had never met the warrior until Kobe had come out of training. In his neighborhood, Marino and Constantine were legends. Talk about twisted-ass idolization. Kobe would never understand how anyone could look up to those two bastards.
It wasn’t like the brothers would return the loyalty the people of Remtin had shown. The two would sooner cut out someone’s heart than say thank you. Kobe scoffed at the image of anyone bowing to those two demons.
He hadn’t known Panahasi that long, but had given his oath to protect the citizens of Serenity City. And with his loyalty, Kobe would protect the leader’s mates. Aside from his duties, Kobe thought Panahasi a decent man. The guy cared about this place. He cared about the people who lived here. Panahasi had never come out and said it, but it was loud and clear in his actions. The leader would do whatever it took to protect every last person in this realm.
Kobe turned the corner, expecting to see Devil Mart, but instead, he was standing on an all-too-familiar street corner. He blinked a few times, unbelieving, but here he stood, on the dingy streets he had grown up on.
What the fuck was going on?
Kobe backed away, his old fears roaring to life as he glanced around at the boarded-up buildings and desolate streets. He had to find a shadow. He had to get out of here and return to Serenity City. Kobe had sworn that he would never return to Remtin when Panahasi had come here to take him for his training.
Backing into an alley, Kobe found the darkest corner and tried to use it for his escape. But once he walked into the dark shadow, he found himself looking at the brick wall of the building.
He hadn’t left.
Reaching for his cell phone, Kobe cursed when he saw that it was dead. The one time he needed it most, and he had forgotten to charge the damn thing.
His body stiffened when he heard a whistle and then a deep, malicious chuckle behind him.
“Well, look who is back,boys.”
* * * * Drake gazed at Casey as he slept. His lips twitched as he watched the man. Even in his sleep, Casey was not only gorgeous, but adorable as he strangled the pillow he was hugging. His dark hair was tousled, giving him a mischievous angelic look. His dark lashes lay nestled against his cheeks, and his lips were slightly parted.
Casey owned Drake, heart and body, but it was times like this that Drake knew the man dwelled inside of his very soul. The man made Drake’s heart soften and his pulse race. He had known Casey since they were six years old. He couldn’t imagine a day without the man in his life.
Drake remembered the first time he had laid eyes on Casey. He had been brought to the foster home after his unsuccessful venture in the last one. As soon as he had spotted Casey, Drake knew they would spend forever being best friends. He was too young at the time to know that Casey would come to mean so much more to him.
And Casey.
Casey seemed to glow with life and laughter. He had a way of pulling Drake from his most sour moods, making him smile when he didn’t feel like it. Drake reached out and brushed the fall of hair from Casey’s face, remembering what the man looked like as a young child. They used to sneak off together to go play in the backyard, even when one of them was told not to go outside. They were inseparable. They had spent the better part of four years being glued to each other’s hip.
Until Drake was shipped off to another home. He didn’t understand why, not until he was older. It was unusual for two boys to love each other the way Drake and Casey had loved one another. But there had been nothing sexual about their relationship at the time. Drake just loved Casey with every fiber of his being. Drake had never looked at Casey in a sexual way until they were much older. He just wanted to be with his best friend.
But his foster parents had twisted that love into something ugly. telling Casey, after Drake was gone, that two boys should not spend that much time together, that it was unhealthy and wrong.
Drake had run back to Casey, coming in the middle of the night, sneaking in and stealing his best friend away from the family who wanted to keep them apart. They had lived on the streets for a while, finding any hustle they could come across in order to survive, until the cops caught them.
It had been a vicious and bitter cycle until both were old enough to be on their own. Casey had never told him no when Drake showed up in the middle of the night to steal him away. The man never once told him that it was best they go their separate ways. Casey was just as determined to stay with Drake as Drake was to stay with him.
Drake had vowed from day one to never lose Casey.
And he hadn’t.
Times may have gotten tough, but they had stuck it out together.
Drake’s throat tightened as he stared down at the one man who had suffered so much, yet always kept a smile on his face. Their life hadn’t been easy, but together, it had been worth it.
Drake glanced over his shoulder when the bed shifted. The warrior leader lay on his side, his back to Drake.
Drake’s eyes widened when he saw the large tattoo on his mate’s back. Reaching out, Drake traced the image with his fingers. He hadn’t a chance to see Panahasi’s back until now, and damn.
“It came to me in a dream so long ago,” Panahasi said, his voice deep with sleep.
Drake’s eyes trailed over the tattoo. It was a long stretch of road, and the backdrop was filled with dark clouds, lightning, and heavy rain. There were two men walking down the road, but they were too far away to make out their faces. The figures were tiny, but Drake could tell the small outlines were two men. The demon leader was standing at the beginning of the road, staring at the two figures with such longing in his eyes that the expression on the tattoo version of Panahasi could be felt just as deeply as if the real Panahasi were wearing the expression himself.
“It’s beautiful.”
Drake watched as the man’s muscles rippled as he turned over. Desire flooded him. He knew he could love Panahasi just as much as he loved Casey, even though it wouldn’t be the same kind of love.
He and the leader didn’t share a lifelong history together. They had just met not too long ago. But yet, as Drake stared into Panahasi’s dark eyes, the feeling came over him again that he had loved the man even b
efore his birth.
It was a strange-ass feeling, but it was there, in the center of his body. He slid his fingers through Panahasi’s shoulder-length hair, watching as his mate’s eyes closed and a satisfied smile tipped the corners of his lips. He really was a gorgeous, irresistible man. Panahasi made Drake burn for just one touch, one caress from his strong fingers.
Drake ran his fingers down Panahasi’s whisker-covered jaw, scratching his fingernails over the stubble. He smiled. “I like this rough look.”
“You do?”
“I do.”
He watched Panahasi’s eyes darken and felt a very large part of his mate poke Drake in his side. The man was hard, and getting harder as Drake touched various parts of his mate’s face.
So, Panahasi liked to be touched. Drake had no problem giving the man what he obviously was craving. From the look on the leader’s face, he was basking in Drake’s touch. His lips were slightly parted, and his eyes remained closed, but the look of pure heaven on his face made Drake explore a little further. He ran the tips of his fingers down Panahasi’s jaw, his neck, and over his exposed shoulder.
Panahasi shivered.
Drake grinned.
And then his mate moaned.
Drake pushed to his knees, pressing on the man’s shoulders until Panahasiwas lying on his back. “Keep your eyes closed.”
Panahasi nodded.
Drake studied the guy, his eyes tracing the dark features of his mate’s face. Panahasi was a work of masculine art. Before he could stop himself, Drake dipped his head and licked a long path from collarbone to earlobe. The skin was salty, but the scent reminded Drake of rough leather and spice.
When Panahasi tilted his head to the side, Drake allowed his canines to descend, scraping the sharp edges over his mate’s sensitive skin. He saw the quick inhale as his mate’s chest contracted, and then expanded as Panahasi let out a long breath.
The realization that he had this strong warrior’s trust in his hands dawned on Drake. Panahasi had probably never given it to anyone in his life, yet he was handing it over to his mate. Drake looked down at the man who was coming to mean so much to him, feeling his heart pick up its pace as love and admiration blossomed inside of him.
It must have been a lonely road to travel all of these years by himself. At least Drake had Casey. Panahasi had no one before they came along. He hadn’t anyone to help him indulge in the things he liked to do. Drake knew as a warrior leader that Panahasi had to keep up his dark and deadly role, but that had to get tiring.
Panahasi was such a complex creature that Drake wasn’t sure if he would ever figure the man out. He tipped the scales on reclusive, but he prayed Drake and Casey could change that, at least for them.
Drake ran his lips over his mate’s, just a whisper of a touch, but enough to feel Panahasi’s warm breath tickle his skin. Casey needed this as well. The man had always felt as if he didn’t belong, as if more were out there for him to find. Drake knew they had found that missing link. Now all he had to do was bring them together.
Drake nudged Casey. When his mate’s eyes fluttered open, he quickly put a finger to his lips. He nodded toward Panahasi. Casey’s eyes rounded when he saw their mate lying there exposed and hard. Casey pushed up and quietly moved closer. Drake gave the signal for Casey to watch.
He turned back toward the leader and raked his nails very lightly down Panahasi’s chest. The man groaned. Casey swallowed hard.
Drake pointed toward their mate, and Casey moved closer, reaching out and raking his nails over Panahasi’s lean, muscular, and powerful thigh. Panahasi shivered.
Next Drake ran the pads of his fingers over both of Panahasi’s nipples. His mate moaned. Drake had never seen a more beautiful sight. Making love to Casey was different. It was great, and fulfilling, and everything a man could want, but watching Panahasi harden over just one touch, one scraping of nails, was such a turn-on that Drake felt his cock begin to throb.
Casey slid to the other side of their mate, and then they both began their dance of seduction, each partaking in touching every inch of their mate’s body. Panahasi shivered, moaned, writhed slightly, and gasped. Drake was fascinated by the look of pleasure on their mate’s face. Never had he seen anyone look so vulnerable, so aching that he wanted to cherish this moment forever.
Drake slid the lube over to Casey, winking at his other mate. He didn’t have to say a word. Casey knew exactly what Drake wanted him to do. Drake continued to touch Panahasi in every spot imaginable, but he was also watching Casey stretch himself.
Damn if watching Casey’s fingers slip in and out of his hole wasn’t exciting. It had always excited Drake to watch. Casey knew exactly what to do to turn Drake on. And he was damn good at teasing Drake about it as Casey’s slim fingers fucked his own ass.
Drake had to grab his cock, squeezing the base to stop himself from coming. The sight was becoming too much. Just when he thought he couldn’t take any more, Casey slid one leg over Panahasi’s waist.
Panahasi opened his eyes, and the fire in his irises was burning bright as his hands gripped Casey’s hips. Drake grabbed Panahasi’s shaft and guided it toward Casey’s well-lubed hole.
“What a sight to see when I open my eyes,” Panahasi whispered, and Drake noticed a very thick accent roll from their mate’s tongue.
“Oh, it gets a lot better,” Casey said as he winked at Panahasi. “Hang on for the ride and I’ll show you.”
Tease, Drake thought and then grinned.
“I’m hanging on, Casey.”
Damn if Drake couldn’t listen to that thick accent all day long. He couldn’t place it, but it was erotic and sexy as fuck. It made his cock even harder—which was saying something since the sight of the two together was doing a pretty damn good job of keeping his dick stiff already.
Drake’s eyes locked onto the place where cock and hole melded together, Casey sliding down the shaft as Panahasi guided him. Something stirred inside of Drake. That feeling of Panahasi being inside of him again, of a piece of his demon living in him now was back.
“You gave us a piece of your demon, didn’t you?” Drake asked.
“I did,” Panahasiadmitted as his eyes fluttered closed. “A part of me lives in both of you now.”
His mate’s voice was not only thick with accent, but lust. The leader’s skin began to heat up, making Drake sweat as he leaned forward, engulfing Casey’s cock to the root. Drake pushed to all fours, sucking hard as Panahasi thrust deeply inside their mate. Drake’s hands ran over every inch of flesh he could find, feeling the heat of Panahasi’s skin beneath his fingers and reveling in the goose bumps that ran along Panahasi’s skin.
The man was definitely a skin person.
He began to make wet, slurping sounds, knowing how much that sound turned Casey on. Casey loved hearing sex sounds, no matter what it was. A moan, begging, skin slapping together, it didn’t matter to him.
Drake released Casey’s cock and then slid around to the apex of Panahasi’s legs, dipping his head down and licking a long line from Panahasi’s balls to the base of his cock. Never before had Drake had a threesome, and he found he loved it—as long as the third was Panahasi. His strong, muscled legs parted, giving Drake more room as he plunged deeper into Casey’s ass.
Drake licked, sucked, and nibbled at Panahasi’s sac until he couldn’t take it any longer.
“Let Casey fuck me,” he whimpered, holding the base of his cock tightly.
Panahasi pulled Casey free, turning so he could come up behind Casey. Drake scooted under Casey, jutting his ass in the air. He didn’t care who was in charge, just as long as he got off. He felt wet fingers at his hole, and then Casey was stretching him. Drake gasped when he felt Panahasi’s thick fingers join Casey’s.
They thrust their fingers in unison until Drake was whimpering and pleading for Casey to take him. When he felt Casey’s cock enter him, Drake groaned in satisfaction. The three found a rhythm as Drake dug his fingers into the sheets.
&n
bsp; The electrifying feeling of having two men behind him shot him so close to the edge that his cock was throbbing painfully for release.
Drake rolled his head on the mattress, his eyes closing as the feeling of pleasure washed over him. It was like nothing he had ever experienced before, and something he wanted over and over again.
He cried out when he felt Casey’s canines bite into his shoulder. He could hear Panahasi talking, but he couldn’t understand the words. But hearing the language, feeling the sting of Casey’s teeth and the hard cock in his ass was too much.
His body exploded, his ass pulsing as his seed shot to the sheets below. Drake was swamped with emotions, scorched with a hot fire that took over his body and made him try to claw his way from under Casey.
“Ride it, Drake. Do not fight it,” Panahasi spoke behind him.
Drake tried to let go, but feared drowning in his own passion. It was overwhelming as the flames of desire licked every nerve ending in his body. He heard Casey cry out next as he pulled his canines free and felt Panahasi thrusting harder and with force.
Drake reached behind and wrapped his hands around Casey’s neck, pulling his mate down and biting him. The feeling to claim the other shifter again was so strong that Drake feared hurting Casey.
His canines sank deep as Panahasi plunged into Casey with his muscular thighs, pushing both Drake and Casey up the bed.
And then Panahasi roared, his movements slowing. His warrior’s breathing could be heard loudly as Drake collapsed on the bed, taking Casey down with him. He licked the wound closed and shut his eyes, feeling sleep take over.
One of these days he was going to stay awake after sex.
But today was not that day.
Chapter Eight
Casey glanced around at the men in Panahasi ’s apartment. They had introduced themselves as Chris, Snooke, Dillon, and Kamiko. They were warriors’ mates. What did Panahasi think, they were going to hang out and exchange recipes? He understood that he needed to get to know his mate’s family, but hanging out with these men wasn’t something Casey cared to do.
