Rescue for Hire 4
Leo’s Pet
Welcome to the world of Rescue for Hire. Meet the team members that make up a company that form a family of heroes.
The expert tracker for the team, Alex Taylor is going about his life as usual, invisible to all around him. Then he meets gorgeous Leo DeLuca. When the famous chef let’s him know he is seriously interested, Alex can’t believe it. Unfortunately their first meeting is interrupted when Alex is pulled away to a rescue mission.
Seriously hurt during the rescue mission, Alex is surprised to wake up in the hospital with Leo at his bedside. Will Leo stay when he finds out Alex’s injury may end his career and fill his life with restrictions? What happens when their deepening relationship is threated by pictures of cheating and paternity lawsuits? Can a plain man like Alex keep the one man who finally sees him?
Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Contemporary, Romantic Suspense
Length: 22,420 words
LEO’S PET
Rescue for Hire 4
Bellann Summer
EROTIC ROMANCE
MANLOVE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance ManLove
LEO’S PET
Copyright © 2014 by Bellann Summer
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62741-546-0
First E-book Publication: April 2014
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Brought by Kiti for Superiorz.Org
Letter to Readers
Dear Readers,
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DEDICATION
I dedicate this book to my favorite. You know who you are.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Epilogue
About the Author
LEO’S PET
Rescue for Hire 4
BELLANN SUMMER
Copyright © 2014
Chapter One
“Hey, you guys are so awesome! Especially all of those guns and knives. Can you tell me more about that one with the curve…” Alex Taylor turned away as the guy started asking his teammate Treb all kinds of questions.
He could see that the hotel bar and dance floor were hopping even though it was only a Tuesday night. Alex had stopped in with a couple of the guys he worked with from the Rescue for Hire team. They had been together earlier helping the local conservation club teach a hunter safety course. Their boss, Cade Miller, had been asked years ago to provide his team’s expertise on one night of the three- week course.
Tonight’s class had been packed as usual when it was the Rescue for Hire Company’s turn to show the class their stuff. Suddenly a student had both parents in attendance with him, not just a bored mother reading a book in the back. Alex always hoped that with the knowledge they gave, that maybe sometime in the future it helped or prevented a bad incident from happening. So Jack, Treb, and Alex went with equipment, weapons, and pictures and spent three hours trying to show students, ten years old and up, that hunting and guns were real. They emphasized that the sounds, smells, and touch of real weapons were not at all like video games. Tonight Damian, Treb’s partner and the pilot of the team, had come along to help set up equipment.
Alex would usually start the class. His specialty on the team was tracking and finding missing people. He would take everyone outside and show them how to follow trails, including the different paw prints animals made. He would explain animal behavior, and he always stressed the point of carrying a real compass in the woods. The last four missing-person rescues the team had gone out on were because the people had thought they could rely on a cell phone application to get them through the woods. They didn’t take into account that those navigating systems didn’t always take them where they thought they were going. That was when Alex and his teammates would be called in to find them.
Jack would be up next to show the students basic first aid, since he was the paramedic of the team. He would start out with samples of different leaves to avoid in the woods and of the rashes that could occur if a person came into contact with these plants or trees. Then he would pull out the pictures of what mishandling equipment could do to the human body. Alex supported showing the children and their parents these sometimes very explicit and grotesque pictures. Life was not always pretty and knowledge held the power to avoid or prevent bad things from happening. Although he did have to admit he couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes at some of the more dramatic responses they received.
Lastly, Treb took his turn. His specialties with the team were deadly skills in weapons and hand-to-hand combat. They always left him with the most time to teach. For those who knew Treb, it was hard to imagine that the sarcastic and sometimes nasty man was an exceptionally good teacher. But he was. He just didn’t suffer fools very well. Usually he would bring in about six to eight cases of common and exotic guns and we
apons. Many times, when he started opening the cases, he would stop the class and make the fathers step back. Then he would let the students come forward again after they had been pushed aside by the eager adults hoping for a first look.
Treb would start out his portion of the class with the basics, then go on to the fancy weapons and describe what they were mostly used for. In typical Treb fashion, he would be short and to the point. He would also give his opinion on the way manufacturers were making guns that looked like they came from video games. Treb being Treb didn’t care who he offended, but he also answered every legitimate question with patience that a person wouldn’t think he possessed.
Treb’s outside demonstrations were when the real fun began. Suddenly the feel and the power of a gun became real. The sound of the gun firing always startled everyone the first time and noses wrinkled at the smell of the burnt powder. Not to mention the pain the kick of a gun could cause unsuspecting shoulders. Treb would stress safety at all times. At the end he would get that scary, stern look on his face and point-blank tell the class that stupidity was not tolerated. This was not a game.
Alex admired Treb’s ability to emphasize his opinions. His vast knowledge of weapons and fighting styles sometimes boggled Alex’s mind and he truly valued their friendship. But part of him envied the exotic man, who did what he wanted, regardless of the consequences. One day Alex hoped he could be as comfortable in his own skin as Treb was in his.
Now they were all standing by the bar, enjoying a beer and listening to a local band. Alex enjoyed the band’s mix of sixties-through-present-day songs. There was even a country song or two mixed in. He could admit the drummer was real nice to look at, too. As was the usual in his life, he could look and dream all he wanted, but those dreams would never come to pass. He was one of those invisible people of society. Nothing about his looks stood out. Brown hair, brown eyes, and at just six feet tall, he was the type of person that people could have a conversation with and five minutes later they wouldn’t be able to describe him with any detail. At twenty-nine he had a good life, but he was lonely for more than a loyal dog and his fellow team members for company. He dreamed of someone who would really see him for himself and want him with every fiber of their body. If that special person existed and was also very dominating, as far as Alex was concerned, that would be the ultimate miracle.
Alex watched the drummer’s arms flex as he performed a complicated solo, enjoying the sight that would give him something to think about later when he was back in his own bed, hand wrapped around his dick. His breath hitched when the drummer glanced up and his eyes swung Alex’s way. But, just like always, they passed him right by, not stopping or seeing him.
Over the music, Alex heard raised voices coming from the back of the dining room. He was surprised to see Tony, his fellow teammate and computer expert, standing with his hands on his hips, glaring at someone sitting at a table in the corner. Alex couldn’t see who it was that had Tony upset, but he could see that there were two very large-breasted women and two really gorgeous, buff men sitting at the table, also.
Jack stepped up to Alex’s side and commented. “You’d think Tony has enough problems with his train wreck of a relationship with Brian’s brother.” Alex recalled that Brian’s, or Pip’s, as the team called him, brother was Tyler Hayward, a professional baseball player and Tony’s secret lover. “Now he has to deal with that spoiled, arrogant cousin of his. The man just arrived yesterday and he already has an ‘entourage.’” Jack made air quotes as he said the word “entourage.” Then he continued in disgust. “The worst of it is he’s supposed to be here to get his stress levels down and his health back. That doesn’t happen unless you change your behavior.”
“Well, let’s see if Tony needs any backup, then we step in. Otherwise he’ll be fine,” Alex assured Jack. He knew Tony was perfectly capable of handling his huge Italian family. His cousin Leo DeLuca was a very successful chef in Chicago. He had money, popularity, and was very handsome with his mixed Italian-Greek heritage. Unfortunately the stress of burning the candle at both ends had caught up with him, and he was told by his doctors that he could have serious health issues if he didn’t change things immediately.
His response to the dire warnings was to call his cousin Tony and ask him if he could move in with him temporarily until Leo found his own home. The move had actually been delayed by a few months, because of some issue or another. Officially, from what Tony had told Alex, Leo had retired from the Chicago scene, moving here to build a new life and write a new bestselling cookbook. Now it looked like the “man slut of Chicago”—Treb’s words—was already lining up his latest conquests.
Alex watched as Tony abruptly turned around and went to the bar. Shortly a shot of whiskey was put in front of him, which he downed in one gulp. Alex went and sat down next to him as another shot was set in front of Tony.
“You okay, my friend?” he asked.
“Yeah, it’s just been a tough couple of days. Leo called me to come down here and help him. He claims those men and women followed him from Chicago, and he’d just come down to the hotel to see the place where we liked to hang out. His story is that these four just showed up and sat down uninvited at his table.” Tony ran a hand through his thick blue-black hair in frustration. “I don’t know what to believe. He claims they told him they would only leave if he pays them off. Otherwise they are going to tell the paparazzi where he is.”
“Oh, this is going to be so much fun.” Treb slid onto the stool on the other side of Tony. “Just before you arrived I saw the whole thing. Those four are up to no good. No matter what old Leo said, they wouldn’t leave. It’s our civic and family duty to help him, as he is your cousin.” Rubbing his hands together in glee, Treb looked at Alex, dark eyes shining. “Let’s go show them what happens when they mess with a family member of one of our own.”
Treb didn’t wait for a response from Alex or Tony. Stealthy like a cat, he made his way over to the five people sitting in the corner. Putting both hands down on the table and leaning over it, he shoved his face up close in front of the men and women.
Alex followed Treb, whether it was to help him or stop him was yet to be determined. Treb was the observer of the team. He saw everything in a room with a glance. If he said that those four people were trouble and had sat at Leo’s table without an invite, he believed him. Just as he got close enough to hear what Treb was saying in a low, deadly voice, the four abruptly stood up and walked out. Straightening, Treb gave Leo a small salute, turned, and walked back to the bar to sit next to Tony again.
* * * *
Leo DeLuca was tired. He had spent years building his career in Chicago. Now it almost seemed like a waste. What did he have to show for it? Yes, he had lots of money and a certain amount of fame. But right now he had no home, no job, no lover, and his health was in dire straits. Even as he sat there watching the latest piranhas trying to take his money leave, he could feel his heart pounding erratically.
He had called his cousin for help when those four had shown up. Back in Chicago, they thought as others had before them, that they would just have to be close to him and instantly they would become famous and rich. When that hadn’t worked, they decided leaking stories to the press of orgies and kinky sexual games would be their ticket to fame. Unfortunately for them, that hadn’t worked either. Desperately the women brought civil suits against him saying they were pregnant and he was the father of their child. The men had also filed suits, claiming he had promised to keep them in the lap of luxury as his companions.
All of those pictures and claims that he had orgies with men and women every night were a joke. He might have enjoyed a woman or two in the past, but for the last two years he’d had a secret lover that none of the newspapers managed to get wind of. Like Tony’s professional baseball player boyfriend, Leo had had his own dirty little secret. The man had been more than patient, accepting any crumb of affection he had thrown him. But then about four months ago his lover had decid
ed he deserved better and had left him. Leo couldn’t agree more, but it had hurt to lose him and his companionship.
When they were still together, each morning Leo and his ex-lover would laugh at the pictures of all the beautiful men and women always clustered around him at every social event he had attended. They laughed because if anyone had bothered to look closely, in the corner or in the background of every picture, was his real lover. It was amusing back then, reading all the articles of the pretty peacocks thought to be gracing his bed, when in reality it was the plain little man everyone overlooked that really held his attention.
That had always been the type of man Leo was attracted to. Others overlooked these special people, but Leo was captivated by them. Unfortunately, he had been too obsessed with his career and too busy to take the time to keep his last lover. Leo had vowed that he was going to change his life completely and find the one for him. This time he would devote himself to that person instead of his own selfish interests. He had found out the hard way that things didn’t make a person happy, people and feelings did. He just hoped, as his heart continued to beat erratically, that he wasn’t too late in his discovery.
The other reason that made all of the claims and press releases ridiculous was that he would never be with any of those people sexually. He was a Dom. He controlled his lovers in and out of bed. His subs would never put themselves out there for the cameras or tell private details. Unfortunately these determined four had shown up and were circling him for the kill. It had been a relief when Tony’s teammate had intervened. Now that was one scary dude, but Leo had been delighted with the way the four leeches had run out of there.
Leo's Pet [Rescue for Hire 4] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) Page 1
