by Stormy Glenn
“It looks like a body, sir,” Sahm said as the limousine came to a complete stop.
“A what?” Nikos quickly set his tablet down on the black leather seat next to him, the financial files he had been reviewing all but forgotten as he scooted to the window and rolled it down. “Good lord, it is a body.”
Nikos had the door open and was sliding out before Sahm could stop him, and the man would try and stop him. Besides being his driver, Sahm was trained to be his bodyguard. As a former Army Ranger, Sahm knew his stuff. And Nikos trusted the man with his life. He just wished that Sahm wasn’t always so cautious.
Sahm’s wide shoulders cleared the car door as he took in the area around them. “Sir, please get back into the car. The area hasn’t been secured.”
Worry wart.
“It’s fine, Sahm. We need to see what is going on and call the authorities.” Nikos didn’t wait for Sahm to reply. He wasn’t stupid though. He approached the body in the middle of the road with an extreme amount of caution.
It could be a complete setup. More than one idiot had tried to kidnap Nikos to ransom him for his money—tried being the key word. Sahm took his responsibilities as a bodyguard very seriously. Those that tried to harm Nikos usually paid for it in very painful ways.
The closer Nikos walked to the unmoving figure lying in the middle of the road, the more he was starting to wonder if it was a setup. He could see a whole lot of skin, gray skin, naked skin—tons of it. In fact, he didn’t even see a single thread of fabric.
When Nikos reached the body, he quickly scanned the surrounding area for any signs of movement. When he didn’t see anything but black night, he dropped down into a squat next to the massive body stretched out before him. It was a man, and he was lying on his side in a loose fetal position, facing Nikos with his head buried under his arms.
“Hey, man, are you okay?”
There was a strange steam rising off of the man’s grayish-colored skin, kind of like he had just climbed out of a tub of burning hot water and stepped into a freezing cold shower. Nikos reached out to grab the man’s shoulder and roll him to his back, then hissed in pain, yanking his hand back just a fast.
“Fuck, that’s cold.” It was like sticking his hand in a subterranean freezer. He turned his head just a bit, never completely taking his eyes off the man. “Sahm, I need a blanket or something to cover this guy up. Something happened to all of his clothes.”
“I think that would explain his nakedness, sir.”
Nikos didn’t answer Sahm, knowing the man was heading back to the car by the sounds of his footsteps moving away. Instead, he pulled the cuff of his suit jacket down and used it to grab the unconscious man and roll him onto his back.
Nikos stared down at the man for what seemed like the longest moment in his life then quickly glanced up and searched the surrounding area again. This time his heart wasn’t beating a little faster.
It was damn near beating right out of his chest.
Nikos had traveled the world and experienced things most people would never dream of seeing in two lifetimes, let alone one. From hiking through the jungles of Brazil to swimming in the Mediterranean ocean to climbing the mountains of Nepal, Nikos had gained much insight and had learned even more.
And because of these experiences, Nikos knew that there was more to life than what the average person could see or comprehend. When he came across something out of the ordinary, he usually wasn’t surprised, merely curious.
This time he was shit, shocked, and amazed. Never, in all of his travels or all of the things he had seen and the people he had met, had he seen—Nikos scratched the side of his head, confusion riding him almost as hard as the shock flying through him. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was seeing.
There were two small gray nubs growing out the man’s forehead. It was totally obvious that he wasn’t looking at some sort of injury or anything of that manner. The man had horns growing out of his head.
Freaking horns!
Nikos blew out a deep breath, pulling his hand down over his mouth so he wouldn’t scream. Okay, strange things happened all of the time. The Mayan civilization pretty much disappeared overnight, and people reported flying saucers almost every day. Nikos didn’t even want to think about where in the hell bell bottoms came from.
Bizarre and unusual were not that unusual anymore.
But this… The horns were one thing, but the long, pointed tail and the ash-gray, bat-like wings took the cake. While he believed in some sort of higher power, Nikos didn’t have a big belief in Gods and Goddesses. He was suddenly wondering if he might have been wrong because what he was looking at couldn’t be human.
The question was whether it was good or evil. Good could mean a number of things—an angel tossed from heaven—if he believed in heaven—or maybe a daemon from Mount Olympus sent by the Gods as a guardian or messenger—if he believed in the Gods of Olympus.
If it was an evil entity, then he was fucked.
“Hey,” he said softly when the creature’s eyelids started to flutter. Nikos was a little startled by the bloodred eyes that suddenly stared up at him, but after everything else he had discovered about the creature, red eyes were the least of his worries. He gently stroked his hand over the creature’s shoulder, letting him know he wasn’t alone. “Can you tell me your name?”
He whispered something, but Nikos couldn’t quite catch it. He leaned closer, tilting his head to one side so his ear was hovering over the creature’s mouth. The creature continued to whisper for a moment, and Nikos thought he was a foreigner until he realized that he was speaking Greek, just a very old dialect of Greek—like hundreds of years old.
“You’re safe,” Nikos replied in stilted ancient Greek, thankful that his parents had demanded he learn the older language as well as Latin, Italian, French, Spanish, German, Japanese, and English. They had wanted a well-rounded child. “I’m going to get you to a doctor.”
“No doctor,” the creature whispered in the same ancient language.
Nikos opened his mouth to argue until he realized the thing had passed out again. Everything reasonable said that he needed to take the creature to a doctor, or a vet. At the very least he needed to inform the authorities of what he had found. The pleading in the creature’s eyes tugged at Nikos until he knew he couldn’t deny the request.
“I have a blanket, sir.”
Nikos grabbed the thin blue blanket out of Sahm’s hand and covered the figure on the ground before Sahm could see him. Nikos didn’t know why, but some gut feeling told him to keep the creature’s oddness to himself. And he always listened to his gut. It was part of what had made him the man he was today.
“Get the car, Sahm. We need to get this man back to the house.”
“Shouldn’t we just call the authorities?”
“We’ll call them after we see to his injuries.” Or maybe never. If the authorities were called, Nikos had no doubt that not only would the man be taken away but the media would get a hold of the story and then no one would get any peace. “Just get the car, Sahm.”
“Yes, sir.”
And that would be why Nikos had people like Sahm working for him. He wasn’t an egomaniac by any means, but he liked being listened to when he gave an order, especially when it was someone he trusted to keep his ass alive.
When the car pulled up next to him, Nikos waited until Sahm opened the back door then scooted around to where the creature’s head was, making sure the blanket was safely tucked around him as much as possible.
“Grab his legs and let’s get him into the car.” Nikos lifted the creature by his shoulder, while keeping the blanket between his hand and the creature’s freezing-cold flesh. Sahm grabbed the creature’s legs. Together, they carried the rather large fellow into the backseat of the car.
Nikos quickly checked the ground where the creature had been laying to make sure he hadn’t missed anything then climbed into the backseat with him. He pulled the blanket back up, shielding most of the
man’s face but leaving just enough uncovered so that he could see the creature’s eyes in case he woke up again.
“Okay, Sahm, let’s head home.”
Nikos had no idea what would happen once they got home. He just knew that he couldn’t abandon this strange creature to the night. He, more than most, knew that the shadows came to life at night.
He’d been fighting them for most of his life.
At the tender age of ten, Nikos had learned that the shadows breathed, and they were wholly evil. When he had been found on the marble floor of his family’s estate between the bodies of his murdered parents, a concussion to the head, no one had believed him when he said monsters had killed his parents. The authorities said his outlandish tale was fear, a child’s imagination, maybe too many video games.
But Nikos knew what he had seen.
He would never forget, not the crashes as unnatural creatures broke into the house, not the screams of his mother as her throat was ripped out right before his eyes or the gurgling sounds of his father’s last desperate breath as a clawed hand thrust through his chest and tore his heart from his body.
He had spent much of his life researching the creatures that had come after his family, tucking away the knowledge of the things he learned over the years, cataloging every report he could get his hands on. His private library boasted of some of the most ancient and obscure texts in the world, and some of the most valuable.
Nikos had made contacts all over the world in his search for the truth, developed a network of like-minded people. He wasn’t a zealot, not like some he had come into contact with. He didn’t want all creatures exterminated.
He just believed that there needed to be some sort of governing body, some sort of laws that protected unsuspecting humans from things that went bump in the night. Those that violated the laws, like the creatures that had coldheartedly murdered his parents right in front of him, needed to be locked up or put to death for their crimes.
Nikos lowered his hand to finger a strand of ink-black hair where it lay against the edge of the seat. As much as he had learned over the years, he had never come across a creature that looked like the one lying on the seat next to him.
He had no idea what he was dealing with.
Even before he opened his eyes, Yannis knew something was wrong. The coarse brown horsehair blankets on his bed were never this soft. This was like lying in a cloud, a fresh-smelling puff of softness.
And the scents were different. He didn’t smell horse manure or burning wood. There was no stench from the outhouse, no smell of rotting food. Instead, he smelled a light floral aroma that seemed to float along the gentle breeze, coinciding with the soft fall of footsteps as someone walked around somewhere off in the distance.
He could also smell fresh bread somewhere, and chicken. It made his stomach rumble, reminding him that he had forgotten to eat the night before. After arguing with his brothers for most of the day, he had chosen to skip evening meal.
Now, he wished he hadn’t.
Yannis’s nose twitched when he heard a door open and another scent floated through the air. It came at him with an unforgiving aggression as if it knew exactly where Yannis’s vulnerabilities lay and planned to attack them.
Before he could even realize that it was there, the alluring scent had wrapped around him and sank right into the depths of his soul. His body tightened, hardening to the point of pain as long forgotten feelings ignited inside of him, burning him from the inside out.
Someone inhaled sharply, someone close enough for Yannis to touch. His eyes snapped open, and he took in the male standing beside the bed he lay on with one blink of his eyelashes. The man was astounding, mesmerizing. He was the reason for the delicious scent wrapping around Yannis’s balls and making his dick harder than the hilt of his gem-encrusted sword.
“My name is Nikos Papadakos,” the man said in very bad, stilted Greek. A friendly smile played at the corners of his mouth. “You are in a safe place.”
Nikos was a good name, a strong name. Yannis felt it wrap around his brain, wedging in as if to brand itself on him. “Yannis,” he replied when the man’s piercing cerulean-blue eyes just stared at him. He tapped his chest, just in case the man didn’t understand. The stranger’s Greek was pretty bad, so he wasn’t sure how well the man understood the language. “I am Yannis.”
An easy smile played at the corner of Nikos’s pale mouth as he held his slim hand out. “Hello, Yannis. It is good to meet you.”
Yannis quirked his eyebrow questioningly then clasped Nikos’s hand with his own. The moment their skin touched, time stood still. The world around them no longer mattered, ceasing to exist; only this man, this sweet, delicious, sexy man was important.
Yannis tightened his grip on Nikos’s hand, feeling the fire burning hotter inside of him, threatening to combust as his skin hummed to life. Yannis snarled as he yanked the male down on top of his chest, and then with lightning speed, he flipped, trapping Nikos under his body. Fabric as soft as a fawn’s fur stood between him and what he wanted, what he needed.
It had to go.
Yannis’s claws slid from his fingernails, sharp and lethal. Careful not to mar the man’s pale skin, he shredded the fabric, pulling it from Nikos’s body with savage intensity. What was revealed to him was pure perfection.
Yannis smoothed fingers over the man’s bare shoulder, watched as Nikos shuddered at his touch. His caress traveled lazily downward, over a firm abdomen and taut muscles. Yannis stroked the arch of Nikos’s bare hip, his fingers tenderly brushing the man’s flesh as if he were worshipping the male.
And he was because every inch was nothing short of miraculous.
His eyes slid up to Nikos’s face, and Yannis could see the heat and desire flaming brightly in the man’s blue eyes. He pressed his face into the crook of Nikos’s neck. “Simple perfection.” Yannis’s voice rumbled beside Nikos’s ear before he inhaled the man deep into his starving lungs.
A low, rumbling purr climbed up his throat, echoing through the air as Yannis closed his eyes briefly, taking mere seconds just to appreciate what lay in his arms. The heat would rise even hotter, and Yannis knew he wouldn’t be able to control himself, so he took this one second for the simple pleasure of the moment.
Beloved.
And then the heat inside his body, his loins, his very nerves began to race through his veins, making Yannis growl as his hand fisted in Nikos’s shoulder-length, mocha-brown hair. Large, vivid, cerulean-blue eyes gazed up at him when he tightened his grip and yanked Nikos’s head back.
His gaze devoured Nikos, hungered for him. The arch of the man’s back, the sweet ecstasy on his face, the fall of his silky hair, the soft curve of his pale neck, all of it was the most spectacular sight he’d ever seen in his life.
“Yannis…” Nikos’s lips parted, a low groan vibrating in his throat as his head turned. The sweet spice of the man’s need wrapped around Yannis, making his cock harden demandingly.
He was holding on by a thin thread. His animal instincts were so close to the surface, pushing at his rational mind. He’d never forgive himself if he inadvertently injured his Beloved because the aching need burning through his loins made him forget the man’s fragility.
Nikos smelled so damn good, earthy, male, delicious. Yannis’s mouth watered. Nothing smelled as good as Nikos. Shivers shot up and down Yannis’s spine like an electrical storm. The man’s scent was pure, so clean and so masculine that it left Yannis feeling weak.
As if sensing his erratic thoughts, Nikos started to struggle against Yannis’s firm grip. Yannis growled his displeasure at Nikos’s resistance. The quiet air filled with thrums of aggression as Yannis bared his canines, showing the man trapped beneath him that he was the predator, not the prey.
Once Nikos stilled, Yannis leaned over him, blanketing him from thigh to nape, trapping Nikos between him and the mattress. He nipped at Nikos’s collarbone, his teeth gripping the sensitive area between shoulder and neck as Nikos
cried out in pleasure.
With the quickness of a snake attacking, Yannis struck, sinking his canines into giving flesh. Nikos was hot and sweet and unlike anything Yannis had ever tasted. When Nikos cried out, Yannis snarled against the tender skin of Nikos’s throat in stark warning, sucking gently at the sweet and tangy coppery blood.
With one long stroke of his tongue, Yannis sealed the wound. He licked at the blood trickling from Nikos’s neck as he pried the man’s legs apart with his powerful thighs then reached between them with his fingers.
Yannis massaged the tight muscle before he pressed a single digit slowly into Nikos’s gripping heat. Nikos was tossing beneath Yannis, his hips bucking, driving Yannis’s finger harder into the tight flesh of Nikos’s ass, grinding against him as words began spilling almost incoherently out of the man’s mouth.
“Oh, sweet hell—Yannis, I…” Nikos gripped the sheets with rigid fingers. “Oh, Ya–Yannis, your touch…I need you deeper…don’t stop—don’t…”
When Yannis pressed against the bump inside of Nikos, the man went wild, his hips thrusting, a keening cry leaving his lips as his entrance clamped down on Yannis’s finger and Nikos thrust erratically against him.
Nikos moved against Yannis, sharing his pleasure with each brush of his silken skin. Yannis’s hands were everywhere, touching, exploring. He pushed against Nikos’s ass, his slick cock sliding between his cheeks so easily that Yannis knew Nikos’s body had been made for him.
Yannis held Nikos to him, pushing his cock against Nikos as the man bore down and rubbed against him. Oh sweet hell. He wanted to be buried inside Nikos’s tight heat. He wanted Nikos to lose himself to the sensations, and to come apart under his hands.
Nikos’s back bowed. His eyelids fluttered closed.
“Beloved,” Yannis called out, his voice low and husky.
Dazed cerulean-blue eyes opened, slowly blinking up at him.
Yannis’s arms slid under the man, lifting Nikos up onto his thighs. He gripped the firm globes of Nikos’s ass, spreading his own knees wide for stability. Yannis’s hard cock rode the cleft of Nikos’s ass.
