by Julia Talbot
So he went for more, reaching down to stroke his cock, letting Yves see him pull and push.
Those bright green eyes flashed, awake, alive and clear. Focused on him, not some dead guy and a greedy demon.
“I can touch you, too, love.”
“Love.” The hunger on that face humbled him.
“Yeah. My mate, whether you believe in it or not. I want you here with me.” Reuben gave up on playing it cool, arching his whole body, showing Yves his prize.
“Mate.” Yves breathed the word, stepped forward, then stopped and shook his head. “I can’t let you. There’s a demon inside me.”
“Not for long. That horned guy? My money is on him.” He rolled off the couch and darted forward to catch Yves in his arms.
Yves’ gasp was heady, damn near perfect, and he wanted to hear it again.
Bending, he nipped at Yves’ neck, just hard enough to sting, and when Yves’ head tipped back, offering him more, he took it. He licked the spot to ease the ache, then bit again, worrying the flesh between his teeth.
“There’s a demon. I don’t know how he found me, but he did.”
“I have a pretty good idea.” Demons often attached to objects, so either the stones or the scroll. Possibly both.
“Okay, but I can’t be the first one to try this. I can’t.”
“Nope. Demons aren’t meant to be in this realm full time, love. They end up back in their dimension and have to try again.” The idea gave Reuben hope, actually. Human bodies weren’t built to hold demons, but shifters were stronger, sturdier. No wonder this entity was going after Yves.
“Now, why are we talking demons when you could be on your hands and knees taking me, love?” Distraction was key. No sense in giving the damn thing another way in, right?
He’d felt it inside Yves, and that was second-hand. Yves must be going nuts.
He pulled Yves back to the couch and sank down, letting Yves tumble down on top of him. Yves arched. Undulating atop him, the motion pure feline.
Uhn. Reuben hummed, his body happy to take over from his mind. He wanted to touch, to suck and lick and bite.
Biting.
He leaned up, sank his teeth into Yves’ shoulder, and his kit yowled.
More. Reuben heard the word in his head, and there was nothing of the demon in that voice. Only his lover. Just Yves. He bit harder, shaking Yves a tiny bit, his hand rising and falling to smack one lean hip.
He thought he could feel the sting, so he did it again, letting Yves wash over him. They shared the sensations, wrapped up in each other now. Yves dragged along his body, giving him both the slick slide of Yves’ form and the rough rasp of his hair on Yves.
His skin tingled, his breath beginning to come up short. He panted, his belly pulling in so he could rock his hips up. God, yeah.
“Puppy.” Yves caught his ear with those sharp teeth and tugged.
“Yours.” He’d take anything Yves gave him, throw down his own life to keep his mate safe. Right now, he wanted to fuck that amazing ass.
“Mine.”
He heard the satisfaction in Yves’ voice, felt it everywhere.
“Want you to ride me, Yves. Want inside you.”
Yves nodded for him, lips sliding down to nibble his neck.
Oh, God. He stroked the long, smooth expanse of Yves’ back, squeezing both ass cheeks at the end. That spread his kit, opened Yves up for him.
So hot, so perfect for him. He knew Jonny had to have lube in here, somewhere close at hand, so he scrabbled around on the side table. He found the lube and ripped the top off, growling in his eagerness. He coated two fingers before pushing them against Yves’ hole. Reuben couldn’t wait. Good thing it looked like Yves was more than ready and willing to ride, because Yves slammed down on him.
“Fuck, lover. Hot. Tight.” He pushed in, then pulled out his fingers, spreading lube.
Yves growled for him, fingers pushing between them to grab his cock.
His toes curled back, his eyes rolling like dice. “Yves. Yeah. Touch me.”
“Gonna do more than touch. Fill me up.”
“Any second now.” He wouldn’t hurt Yves deliberately, though. That tight passage needed to be ready.
“Uh-huh.” Yves jacked him roughly, driving him higher.
Reuben grunted, clenching his as cheeks to keep from losing it. “Need in.”
“Now.”
He pulled his fingers away and Yves rose up, then rubbed the tip of his cock against that tight, slick hole. All he had to do was to yank Yves down, loving the heated clasp of that perfect body. Yves took him, every inch, down to the root.
They stayed there for a few moments, staring at one another. That green gaze bored into Reuben, and he couldn’t look away.
Mate.
The single thought was strong, serious. Pure.
Love. If they were human or maybe vamps even, their union might stretch belief. They were shifters. Mating was a bone deep instinct.
It was built into them like their prey drive.
Reuben moaned, then began to move, tugging Yves down each time he rocked up. It was easy to find a rhythm -- up and down, up and down, like riding a teeter-totter. Only sexy. Way more sexy.
He grinned a little, and Yves twisted his nipple.
“Ow!” Reuben’s cock jerked, though, didn’t it?
“Uh-huh.” Yves’ eyes were twinkling when he did it again.
They both loved a little rough stuff, Reuben guessed. He popped Yves right on the upper ass cheek. “Be good.”
“Make me.” Was that a laugh?
Reuben growled, rolling them off the couch. He cushioned their fall with one arm underneath Yves, who landed on the bottom, their hips slamming together.
It took nothing to hook one of Yves’ legs with his arm, line up, and push back in to the root. Yves screamed, the sound pure wild cat, pure joy.
“Fuck, yes!” He started pumping hard, his body taking over completely from his brain.
Yves slammed back against him, the hunger feeling like heaven.
Their skin slapped, their grunts constant. The heat was back, but it owed nothing to a demon. This was them. Both of them building heat.
Reuben kept his eyes open, staring at Yves, watching every move.
Yves moaned for him, writhing beneath him. That strong body closed around him, squeezing him until he howled again and threw his head back. The pressure in his lower body, in his balls, made him jerk, dancing madly.
“More. Mate, don’t stop.”
“I can’t.” There was no stopping now, not until they both came. He pushed that orgasm back as long as he could. He wanted to see Yves like this every fucking day. All the time. God, he wanted Yves safe and with him and not possessed.
The not possessed part seemed relatively important.
Yves smacked him. “Focus.”
“I am! I’m totally focused on you.” He leaned in, nipped the curve of Yves’ jaw. He licked, then bit a little lower. The scent of them together filled his nose, rich and male, and he bit again.
Yves rocked up, begging with every movement. Every one. Joined at teeth and cock, their bodies became flames, both driving faster. They breathed together, sharing space and air and their place in the universe.
At some point, this had stopped being about fucking and started to be about living.
Yves growled, the sound pure hunting cat, and those strong fingers dug into his shoulders.
“Yes, Mate.” He growled, eyes rolled back.
Those tight muscles clamped down around his cock and Yves bit him this time, hard on his throat. That was more than Reuben could bear, and he came hard, filling Yves deep. He heard Yves, crying out, coming for him. Needing him.
Reuben smiled because he’d done that. He’d made Yves want him enough to leave everything else behind.
Now he needed to keep it up. At least until Jonny gave him the all clear. Then they could negotiate the rest of their mating after that.
***
> Reuben was sleeping hard when Luc slipped into the room, those sightless eyes searching for him.
Of course, Reuben sprang up, ready to protect him. That big, naked body relaxed when Reuben saw Luc. “Hey, kitty. You want me to go get some food while you talk?”
“You don’t have to leave.” But Yves’ belly snarled loud, and he was suddenly starving.
Reuben kissed him gently before rising. “Someone needs to lock the door, huh? Just until we figure shit out. I’ll be back with food.”
“Okay. Mate.”
Luc’s eyes went wide, but Yves wouldn’t take it back.
“Be good, you two.” Reuben slipped out the door, grabbing a robe from a hook on the wall on his way out.
“Good? Us?” Yves went to his brother, hugged Luc tight. “I fucked up, brother.”
“Sounded like you were fucking.” Luc’s lips quirked, that ironic smile so achingly familiar.
“So were you from your scent.”
“Well... yeah. That’s what the club here is, you know? Sex. Like kinky sex.”
“Oh.” Huh. Luc knew some interesting people.
Luc popped him. “Like you’re a prude.”
“I am not. I just -- a vampire?” He couldn’t quite wrap his head around that.
“I know. He’s perfect and mine and you took up with a dog. No judging.”
“Wolf,” he corrected. “Demons. Jesus, frère, what did I do?”
“You apparently screwed the pooch, big time.”
Luc managed not to laugh, which was more than Yves could do. He broke into near hysterical laughter, which ended with him leaning against his brother, tears on his cheeks.
“I’m so sorry.” He was. He’d lost Girard and in trying to find a solution he’d risked so much more.
“You did a dumb thing.” Luc shrugged. “At least you didn’t get yourself blown up like I did.”
Yeah, but it was the emeralds that got Luc blown up and he knew it. They both knew it. “I’m sorry.”
Luc shrugged, the move easy. “I don’t mind. My life is good. I have Jonny, I can be a cat most of the time, and I have Deke, salmon, and a leather chair to scratch.”
Seriously? This was his twin? This easy, lazy beast?
Laughing gently, Luc poked him. “What? I like not being on the run all the time. If I miss work, Deke and Kasey put me to good use.”
“Do you think...?” Should he just walk away from the emeralds, from the dark words scratched into the parchment? Could he even do that?
“Don’t. Don’t think. Don’t think about it. You’ll call it up.”
“But we have to get rid of it.” He stood, needing to pace.
Luc went still, head tilted to listen to him. Then Luc moved to the door and tapped on it. “Reuben? Reuben, hurry up!”
“I’m fine,” he snarled. “I don’t need Reuben to wipe my ass.”
“Uh-huh. Now, Reuben. Now is good.”
Chapter Six
Reuben walked out of the room, locking it behind him. He motioned to a passing attendant. “Can you get me someone to watch this door? Come get me in the kitchen if they hear anything odd. Or at all.”
The kid nodded, tugging out a walkie-talkie. “I can do it. Let me just let Jared know where I’ll be.”
“Good deal. Deke?”
“Down the hall, guarding the boss.”
“Thanks.” Reuben frowned. Did Jonny need guarding? Why?
Deke leaned against the doorframe, looking grumpy as a fuck about the door between him and the others.
“What’s going on?” Reuben didn’t like that look at all.
“They’re doing some shit in there. It smells like rot. Don’t like it.”
“They give you any instruction?”
“Stay out here; don’t get possessed.”
“Well, that sucks. I was gonna get food. You want anything?”
“Yeah. I could totally grab a burger. What is this shit, man?”
“Demons.” He wrinkled his nose because the hallway was beginning to stink.
“Yeah. Yves didn’t have all four emeralds with him, right? Two of them are somewhere else?” Deke asked.
“He never said anything about them, man. I never saw any emeralds.”
“Shit. I mean, the ones Luc had stored away are here, I know.” Deke was looking wild around the eyes.
“Yves never once showed me emeralds, man. Not once. If they’re here, they’re in there. With them.”
“Fuck, fuckity fuck.” Deke slammed his hand against the door. “Kasey! Open up, babe.”
Nothing.
He started banging, too. “Jonny! Jonny, quit fucking around in there, man. We got an emergency.”
“Deke? Deke!” The kid who Reuben had left to watch his kitty and the twin came running. “They’re calling for Reuben. Luc is.”
“Fuck a doodle do! Deke!”
“My mate’s in there, Reuben!”
And his was in with Luc. Fuck. “We have to get the kits first,” Reuben snarled. “Jonny and Kasey have the necromancer.”
Deke snarled, his muzzle trying to grow, to stretch, but they ran, racing for the green room. Reuben’s heart pounded, because he was leaving Deke’s mate behind, asking too much of his friend.
“Get us in there and fucking get us Jared,” he yelled.
“Reuben! Yves needs you!” Luc sounded panicked.
“I’m here.” He unlocked the door as soon as he reached the green room, sliding inside like a runner into third base.
Yves was tearing at his skin, half cat-half man, trying to get to the door. “They’re trapped and it’s my fault!”
“Baby.” Reuben grabbed Yves and shook him. “Focus. I need you human and thinking. Tell me, Mate. Tell me what’s happening.”
“He’s got them, Mate, and he’s going to destroy them all.”
“No one is going to destroy anyone.” Luc was vibrating on the very edge of shifting, too, his voice a low growl.
“No. No one is gonna die here today.” Reuben all but lifted Yves off his feet. “It was inside you. What does it want?”
“Out.”
Luc was already moving, nothing more than a black streak toward Jonny’s rooms.
Reuben ignored Luc, letting Deke chase after him. He needed details. “How?”
“The stones. The ritual. A sacrifice.” Yves said the words like a chant, as if he were repeating a set of instructions given to a child. “The stones. He has the stones. He needs me to finish the ritual. They tried to bind him. He’s unhappy.”
“Okay, so how do we stop him, baby?” There had to be a way, and if Yves had an in with the demon’s spirit or essence, he ought to know.
“I don’t know. I don’t know what they’ve done, but we’re going to find out. Soon.”
“Help me, Yves!” They heard Luc shouting, and Yves ran, dragging him along. “Brother! I need you!”
Yves nodded and Deke howled and they were all screaming.
Jesus. Reuben hit the door between them and Jonny and the others like a freight train, pretty sure he was in dire wolf mode.
The door popped open and they all stopped short, Jonny and Kasey standing perfectly still as stone while the necromancer was sort of... being worn by something bigger than him.
Well, shit. That was gonna leave a mark. Now, what the hell did they do?
***
Yves stared into Girard’s eyes, his baby brother standing there, shattered, bones cracked and poking through his skin. “Brother. Please. Help me.”
He looked around, or tried to, but it wasn’t working somehow. “You died in the jungle, Girard.”
“You killed me. You tore my throat out and left me for the animals!”
He hadn’t had a choice. Girard had been in agony. Desperate. Dying anyway.
“You were scared, broken!”
“You pushed me!”
No. “I did not. I reached for you and you pulled away!”
Girard was young, angry, impetuous. He had never
believed he’d needed Yves’ help, or Luc’s for that matter.
“You can bring me back, frère. I need you.”
“You’re gone.”
“You killed him? Is it true?” Luc’s voice was shocked.
“He fell, Luc. He fell.” Yves turned away from the not-Girard and reached for Luc who couldn’t see him, so Yves needed Luc to feel his sincerity. “He couldn’t heal from that. He was dying.”
“You killed me!”
“Stop it!” He screamed. “I did not kill you! I didn’t mean for you to fall!”
Luc clung to him, panting. “You killed Girard. How could you?”
“He was screaming!” He’d sworn to bring him back, but Girard was broken, shattered. “He was in agony!”
“Yves.” Tears streamed down Luc’s face. “I can’t lose anyone else.”
“Goddamn it!” Someone blazed past him and the demon roared, the sound joyous, as the glamour of Girard fell away.
Reuben.
The bastard had Reuben.
***
Reuben snapped. Whatever the hell this thing was, it had his boss, and Deke, Luc, and his mate were all losing their shit.
Of course, the moment he charged across the room he knew he’d broken a magical circle.
Fuck a duck sideways.
The demon turned to Reuben with all the weight of that sick-assed evil magic trained on him, and he swore he was going to melt like a bad movie special effect.
“Thank you, Reuben,” the thing said, the voice like a drum inside his skull. “Now he will set me free.”
“He won’t, you fucker.” God help him.
“He isn’t here. The big bosses don’t involve themselves in petty squabbles.”
Reuben gritted his teeth, feeling as if he was swimming through honey, his body slowing, freezing like Jonny and Kasey. What was the other guy’s name? “Malachi! Fight this thing.”
“He’s gone.”
Yeah. Yeah, he figured Malachi was pretty well toasted, but dude, the demon still had him in there, right?
“Fuck you.”
“I’ll take pleasure in fucking you little wolf. I will burn you from the inside out.” The demon thing turned away from him, no longer pretending to be Yves’ brother. “Kill him, Yves, and I will give you your wolf back.”
Wait. Kill who? Luc?
