“Thanks, you have no idea how much all your support means to me.” Jacyn smiled, but his eyes remained dead.
Mitchell felt that guilt burning his gut again. His little brother was hurting and he was hugely responsible for that. Steeling himself, he confessed, “It was my fault Logan left.” Once more the table grew quiet as they stared at him in horror.
“I knew it! What did you do?” Cassie narrowed her eyes dangerously.
“I ordered him to stay away from Jacyn.”
“Why?” Jacyn slowly shook his head.
The betrayal in his expression was so raw Mitchell had to look away. “Because I was afraid that if things didn’t work out between you two that you would leave. I was a coward and you paid the price for it.” Mitchell didn’t add how terrified he was right now that he was going to end up losing Jacyn after all. What if his brother could never forgive him?
“So you were the one who sent him on the mission overseas?” Jacyn asked carefully, his tone or expression revealing nothing.
“No, he asked after I told him leave you alone.”
Jacyn frowned. “So it wasn’t your fault then. Logan made the choice to leave. If he gave a damn, then he would have stayed and fought for me.”
“Did you fight for him?” Cassie asked in her typical blunt fashion.
Now she got the look from Jacyn. “I never got a choice in that. Logan took it from me when he left.”
“That’s not true and you know it.” Cassie didn’t yell, but her tone let everyone know she wasn’t going to take any bullshit either. “You could have gone to Mitchell and demanded to get into contact with Logan, or made him take you to there. Instead, you curled up into a little pity ball and gave up.”
“I didn’t give up,” he protested.
“Yes, you did, but it’s not too late,” Cassie said, her expression tender now. “Go to Logan. Let him know how you feel.”
“I don’t know. I said some bad things to him today. I think I hurt him pretty badly.”
“He’ll forgive you for it,” Cassie soothed. “I’m sure of it.”
There was a long pause where Mitchell held his breath, hoping that his brother would make the right decision.
Finally, Jacyn nodded. “Okay, I’ll talk to him.”
“Great!” Cassie sprang to her feet. “Let’s go. I’ll drive you since I know where he lives.”
“What?” Jacyn chuckled. “You mean right now?”
“Yes. I can’t stand seeing you miserable for one second longer.” She grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet.
Jacyn looked over at Mitchell, clearly looking for permission.
Mitchell was humbled and relieved that there was no anger or resentment in his brother’s gaze. “Go—make things right.”
They started to leave.
Mitchell whistled to get their attention again. “Jacyn, I’m sorry I butted in like that. I tend to be…” he trailed off, looking for the right words.
Unfortunately, Brent was happy to fill in the blank, “Bossy, overbearing, a know-it-all?”
“Yeah, all that,” Mitchell drawled. They all laughed, the tense mood broken.
“Of course, I forgive you.” Jacyn gave a crooked grin. “Isn’t that what family is all about?”
“Tell Logan, I’m sorry, too,” Mitchell said gruffly. God, he was so damn emotional today he may as well give it up and start watching chick flicks while he painted his nails.
“I will. And Mitchell,” Jacyn paused as he took in a deep breath, “thank you for finding me. I’m proud to be your brother.”
Mitchell was saved from having to make some slobbery, emotional response as Cassie and Jacyn left. Once it was just he and Brent again there was a brief silence.
“Oh man!” Brent groused, good-naturedly. “They left before they did the dishes. Now, I’m going to be stuck doing them and I cooked tonight, too.”
* * * *
“How much longer until we get there?” Jacyn asked as he peered through the windshield. Not that he could see much of anything. It was dark, plus a thunderstorm had rolled in, bringing with it a heavy rain.
“Impatient much?” Cassie laughed as she took a hard right. She drove like she fought, hard and aggressive. Usually Jacyn would have told her to slow down, but tonight, he was thankful for her love of speed. “More like worried. What if he’s pissed at me for what I said to him earlier?”
“Because I care so much, I’m going to have mercy on you and let you in on a little secret.” She smiled, somehow managing to look smug and adorable at the same time. “I talked to Logan after your fight and he is so in love with you he can’t even think straight.” She pulled in front of an apartment complex and pointed to a door. “This it is. Go get him.”
Jacyn paused, the sound of rain smacking the windows the only noise. “Maybe you should wait here for a second? You know, to make sure he doesn’t slam the door in my face or something?”
“Fine.” She sighed before rolling her eyes. “I’ll wait, even though I know he’s going to let you in.”
“Thanks, sis.” Jacyn, hesitated, his fingers wrapped around the latch to the car door. “You know I love you, right?”
“Of course I do.” She beamed. “But I still like hearing you say it. I love you, too. Oh, and by the way, I got another chair for the table. That way Logan will have a place, too.”
Jacyn kissed her on the cheek before he opened the door and stepped out into the storm. The cold rain pelted him so hard it stung his skin. Even though he ran all the way, he was still soaked by the time he got to the door of the apartment. There was no shelter to duck under so he got even wetter as he knocked.
A light turned on inside and Jacyn’s heart hammered. He could hear the faint shuffling of someone moving inside and his stomach did a nervous flip. The lock clicked as it was undone and his breath caught in his throat.
Finally, the door opened and he found himself looking into Logan’s face. His hair slightly mussed, he was dressed only in a pair of ratty gray sweatpants. Never had Jacyn seen anyone more beautiful.
They just both stood there—Logan wearing a confused, yet hopeful look on his face and Jacyn shivering in the cold rain. A loud boom of thunder snapped Jacyn out of his stupor.
“I love you, too,” Jacyn said, gripping the doorjamb for support. “I’m so sorry, Logan. Mitchell told me why you left and I realized that I should have had more faith in you. I know I don’t deserve it, but can you ever give me another chance?” For a brief horrifying moment, Jacyn thought that Logan was going to turn him away.
Then he smiled, “Of course I forgive you, babe. Now come inside before you freeze to death.”
Before Jacyn could move, Logan reached out and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. Dragging him to his hard chest, Logan captured him in a passionate kiss. Jacyn returned it with an urgency as pure happiness soared through him. He was back where he should be—in Logan’s arms.
Still not believing that this was really happening Jacyn slid his tongue inside the man’s mouth and ran his shaking hands over the warm body of his lover. Jacyn shivered.
“You’re freezing,” Logan observed with a chuckle.
“Are you offering to warm me up?” Jacyn smiled.
Logan’s response was to reach around him so he could shut the door. Putting his arms around Jacyn, he whispered, “I’ll always be here to warm you up from now on.”
Chapter Sixteen
Even though Jacyn was sopping wet and cold to the touch, Logan held him tight, savoring the feeling of him. All that mattered was that he was here and he had said he loved him. Logan couldn’t remember a moment where he had felt happier—more complete. “I love you so much, Jacyn,” he declared before he slanted his mouth over his lips and gave him another heated kiss.
“No walking away from each other anymore,” Jacyn vowed.
“Are you kidding? I’m not ever going to leave your side. Now that I have you, I’m not letting go.” He turned off the light, plunging the roo
m into darkness. Due to his feline senses, he could almost see perfectly as he started tugging on Jacyn’s clothes. Since everything was wet, it was hard, but between the two of them, they managed. The storm had picked up even more, lightning illuminating the room for brief moments of time.
Jacyn was nude now, except for his briefs and Logan kissed and caressed every inch of exposed flesh. Sliding his fingers past the elastic waistband of Jacyn’s underwear, he stroked his lover’s hard cock. “Let’s go to bed,” Logan suggested in a husky whisper.
“Okay,” Jacyn moaned as he rubbed the side of his face against Logan’s chest, covering him with his scent. “Mine”
“Yes,” Logan agreed, still caressing the jaguar’s erection. “And you’re mine. I promise I’ll never leave you again.” Logan didn’t have much furniture in his sparse apartment, but thank the gods he did have a large bed. Leading Jacyn to it, he paused at the foot to give him another passionate kiss. They fell onto the mattress, taking off the remainder of each other’s clothing, all the while stroking, licking and nipping at various body parts.
With each passing second, Logan’s tenuous grip on his control slipped a bit more. Then Jacyn bit him on the base of his neck. Logan jerked, not out of pain, but out of blind passion. He snapped, the wild need to fully posses his lover—a thing he could no longer deny. “Get up on your knees and grab the headboard,” Logan ordered with a feral growl.
Jacyn’s eyes flared with need before he scrambled to obey, his long fingers wrapping around the slats of the wooden headboard.
The move put him in the perfect position. Logan got behind him and parted the cheeks of his ass so he could get to the tight opening. Bending down, he rimmed the hole with his tongue repeatedly, getting him primed and ready for taking.
Jacyn hissed with pleasure, his fingers clutching the wood so tight his knuckles turned white.
“After tonight there’s going to be no doubt that your mine,” he promised, between strokes as he slid a finger inside the man’s ass. “Do you want to know why?”
“Why?” Jacyn moaned as he thrust his hips back.
Logan took the hint and slid another finger in, slowly pumping them in and out. “Because I’m going to do more than just fuck you. I’m going to conquer you.”
“Oh, God,” Jacyn panted.
A flash of lighting lit up the room, showing Logan a glimpse of his lover’s passion-infused face. His cheeks were pink, his lips plump and a fine sheen of sweat dotted his brow. Logan growled in pleasure as he moved his fingers from Jacyn, replacing them with the tip of his cock. Unlike last time where he took things slow and gentle, this time it was all about possession and his animal side was ruling. Letting out a snarl, Logan pushed inside Jacyn in one hard thrust.
“Yes,” the jaguar cried, as he let out a snarl that was more animal than man. “More, I need all of it.”
Knowing that Jacyn given into his wild side, too, Logan felt no guilt when he started to slam into the man hard and fast. Reaching around, he grabbed Jacyn’s cock and stroked him in time with the thrusts. All the while, Logan delighted in the sight of his own erection sliding in and out of the tight, rosy opening of his lover’s ass. “Who do you belong to?” he demanded.
“You. I’m Logan’s,” Jacyn chanted as he thrust his hips back so Logan could go even deeper inside him.
“And I belong to you,” he vowed back as an orgasm hit him so hard he felt it in every inch of his body. As he shot off inside the man’s ass, Logan could feel hot jets of semen pumping into his hand as Jacyn came, too.
After they had both caught their breath, Logan slid out of Jacyn and sat back on his heels. Bringing his wet fingers to his mouth, he licked them clean. “You taste so damn good,” he observed in a husky voice. Jacyn twisted around, his eyes flashing with passion. Licking his lips, he pounced on Logan’s chest, pinning him to the bed.
“You’re pretty tasty yourself,” Jacyn crooned as he lowered his head.
* * * *
The next day as Jacyn was in his bedroom, putting on his Kevlar vest and suiting up for the mission, he still couldn’t stop smiling. He was sore all over from last night, but it was a pleasant sort of pain. Even though he should be tired since he’d stayed up all night playing, he had never felt more alive and awake.
“You look like the cat that ate the canary,” Logan teased as he came in.
“More like the cream,” Jacyn returned with a wicked grin.
“Ouch,” Logan laughed. “That pun was so bad it hurt.”
“Sorry. You have Brent to blame for that. He’s the king of bad jokes.” Jacyn pulled out his twin set of short swords and put them in the scabbards strapped to his back. They formed an X on his back, the hilts pointing out at his shoulders so he could grab them easily. The rest of his clothes were all black, from the fatigue pants to the short-sleeved t-shirt.
Logan was dressed the same way except on his back he had his long sword. They both had various other weapons strapped to their bodies. In addition, Jacyn had few emergency medical supplies. The bulk of his first aid supplies were in a bag that he would leave in the van.
“Are you sure you’re ready to go out on a mission?” Logan asked.
Jacyn didn’t take offense to the question, knowing he only asked it because he was concerned. Logan was in no way doubting his skill. “This isn’t my first one,” Jacyn reminded him. “Plus, Mitchell cleared me and thought I was more than prepared to play with the big boys. I wouldn’t worry. With Cassie training me, I could take on a whole slew of Ravens.” He grimaced as he recalled the brutal practice sessions that his sister had put him through. There were times when she had left him so bruised and banged up, he had been forced to shift so he could heal enough just to walk.
“Just promise you’ll stick close to me,” Logan pleaded as he fussed over the straps on Jacyn’s Kevlar vest. “I couldn’t stand for anything to happen to you.”
“The feeling is mutual so you be careful, too.
“You guys ready?” Brent asked from the doorway. “I want to get this done and over with. Project Runway is on tonight.”
“Please tell me you’re kidding and you really don’t watch that,” Logan drawled.
“I can’t help it, I love that show and now that you live here, you’re going to have to learn to appreciate it,” Brent said with a wicked grin.
“I’m living here?” Logan looked at Jacyn questioningly.
Jacyn just gave him a sheepish shrug. It’s what he really wanted, since he could still be with Logan and get close to his family at the same time, but he hadn’t wanted to push things too hard.
“Of course he’s living here,” Cassie yelled from the hallway. “I already have a chair for him at the table.”
Jacyn cringed, wondering if having a family was a good thing after all.
“Ah, I see,” Brent said slowly as he nodded. “That settles it then. Once you have a chair, there’s no getting out.”
“How do you know Mitchell would even let me stay?” Logan smiled.
Jacyn breathed a sigh of relief, knowing they weren’t upsetting him.
“Who do you think bought the chair?” Cassie asked in a duh voice.
“I guess I don’t have a choice then. It would be a crime to go against the chair rule.” Logan gazed down at Jacyn, with utmost tender of expressions.
“Ah, man if you two keep making those goofy faces at each other, I’m going to request a mission to the Middle East,” Brent groused, but the grin on his face showed he was kidding.
“Don’t tempt me,” Mitchell said as he joined the ever-growing crowd in the hall. “It’s time, so I hope you’re all ready.”
“Sure, Logan was just helping Jacyn put his vest on,” Brent chimed in a sarcastic tone. It earned him a slap on the back of the head via Mitchell’s hand. Brent scowled as he rubbed it.
“Be quiet before I mount you on a stake, put you in the middle of a field and use you as bait to draw in the Ravens,” Mitchell drawled.
“I th
ought that sort of thing scared them away.” Brent scratched his head.
“That’s crows, you idiot,” Logan said.
That piqued Jacyn’s curiosity. “Are there such a thing as crow shifters?”
“Yes, but if we run into any of them, we just throw some ears of corn at them. It makes them lose focus and they forget to fight,” Brent informed with that smartass grin of his.
Jacyn flipped him off and added a few more rude hand gestures he learned as a kid growing up in the foster care system. “Don’t send him to the Middle East, pick somewhere much worse, like Siberia or the North Pole,” Jacyn begged Mitchell. He was just teasing though. While they may ride him and sometimes drive him crazy, he wouldn’t trade them away for anything.
Laughing, Jacyn followed Mitchell and Brent out of their living quarters and to the war room. Logan was by his side, Cassie on the other. Never had Jacyn felt more complete. Yet, on the way out, he couldn’t help but look at those three empty spots at the table. Cassie caught him and she gave a slight shake of her head.
“You still can’t be thinking about going through with that plan Doc Featherstone and Mitchell cooked up are you?” she demanded, her eyes flashing with worry and anger.
“I have to, Cassie,” Jacyn replied, once more looking at the table. The empty spaces nagging him.
“Do what?” Logan asked, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.
Since Jacyn didn’t respond, Cassie was very happy to fill Logan in on all the details. She was just wrapping it up as they got to the war room. Logan pressed his lips together in a tight line, a tick working his jaw. If Jacyn were a betting man, he’d place odds on his lover not being on board for the plan.
“I don’t suppose there is any way I can talk you out of this?” Logan’s voice sounded as tight as a bow sting.
“No. If I didn’t do all I can to help out all those lost shifters, I’d never forgive myself,” Jacyn replied with firm conviction. “It’s just not our family who’s suffering. There are dozens of others. I’m the first real firm lead Mitchell’s had in a while.” Jacyn steeled himself, waiting for Logan to protest. He was going to stand his ground no matter what. The days of him being the weak link that hid out in the car were over so he was shocked to the toes of his combat boots when Logan nodded.
Primal Passions Page 13
