“I don’t know. Do you think we could pass for hunters?”
Keenan looked at Nysys’s attire, then down at his own, and snorted. “I don’t think so.”
“Okay, so you’re going to take my hand, and I’m going to slowly open the door. I’ll peek out, and if there’s any danger or any hunter around, I’ll shimmer us out.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Better than being stuck in a closet anyway.
Keenan grabbed Nysys’s hand again and Nysys walked closer to the door. He put his hand onto the handle and Keenan held his breath. They both listened for a few seconds, then Nysys slowly opened the door.
* * * *
Nysys had expected an empty hallway if things went well, or a hallway full of armed to the teeth hunters if they went badly. What he hadn’t expected were the two little old ladies staring at him.
Nysys blinked at them and leaned back into the closet, closing the door.
“What?” Keenan asked. “What’s wrong? Are there hunters out there? Why are we still here, then?”
Nysys shook his head. “No hunters.”
Keenan frowned and let Nysys’s hand go. “Okaaay. What is it, then? Shouldn’t we, like, go out there and try to find Bradley?”
“There are two old ladies just in front of the closet door.”
Keenan blinked. “Two old ladies?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure, yeah.”
“Are they hunters?”
Nysys tried to remember what they’d been wearing. He didn’t think they’d been wearing uniforms, but it wasn’t like he’d looked. “I don’t know. They don’t look like they could hurt anyone, though, except maybe by forcing them to eat too much.”
“What do we do, then?”
“Should we look out again?”
“I don’t know. You were the one who wanted to catch Bradley.”
“Right. I’m going to open the door again. You stick close to me, just in case, okay?”
Keenan nodded, and Nysys took his hand again. He put his other hand onto the door handle and slowly opened the door, peeking out. The two old ladies were still there, looking back at him. Now that he looked, he could see they weren’t wearing uniforms. One of them had on a pastel pink cardigan, the other one a long-sleeved T-shirt with a cat on it.
Nysys didn’t close the door this time, but he did lean closer to Keenan. “They’re still there,” he whispered.
“What are they doing?” Keenan whispered back.
“Staring at the closet door.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah.”
“Who do you think they are?”
“I don’t know.”
Nysys looked out again. This time, the ladies were whispering between themselves, so Nysys listened to them.
“Who do you think they are?” Pink Cardigan asked.
“How am I supposed to know? You were the one who wanted to come check the noises in the closet.”
“And I was right, wasn’t I? There was something weird.”
“Fine, you were right, but I bet you didn’t think about what to do in that case. What do we do? Should we call someone? One of the nurses? There’s the big one with that fine ass. I bet he could take care of that skinny guy in there easily.”
“Oooh, you mean Xavier?”
“No, no, Xavier is the short one. I mean Leland.”
“Oh. All right. Let’s call Leland, then.”
Nysys looked at Keenan. “What should we do?”
“Probably get out of here and stop the ladies before they call Leland.”
“Why? I’m curious. I wouldn’t mind seeing Leland’s ass.”
Keenan rolled his eyes and pushed by Nysys. He opened the door fully and stepped into the hallway. Nysys followed him, and they both stood in front of the ladies. Now that Nysys looked around, he realized they were probably in the wrong place. If the old ladies hadn’t been enough for him to know that, the pastel walls and beige carpet would have clued him in. Unless Bradley had suddenly decided to retire, he probably wasn’t there.
“Who are you?” Pink Cardigan asked.
Her friend grabbed her arm and tried to pull her back. “Don’t talk to them like that. They could be serial killers or something.”
“Serial killers? In the supply closet?”
“You never know. Serial killers need to hide to surprise their victims, right?”
“And we’re supposed to be the victims?” Pink Cardigan looked at Nysys and Keenan up and down and snorted. “They couldn’t hurt us even if they wanted to. I’m pretty sure we’d win in a fight.”
“Hey!” Nysys protested. “That’s not true. Me and Keenan could totally kick your ass.”
Pink Cardigan started to push her sleeves up. “Oh yeah? Want to give it a try, shorty?”
Since Pink Cardigan was so tiny she barely reached Nysys’s chin, it wasn’t too impressive, and he wasn’t that offended by the shorty thing. Still, he stepped forward, just in case the lady decided to kick Keenan’s ass.
“What the fuck, Nys? Why are you about to fistfight with a lady who’s old enough to be your great grandmother?”
Pink Cardigan made a strangled noise. “Great grandmother? Oh, I’m going to kick your ass, boy.”
Cat Lady had to wrap her arms around Pink Cardigan’s waist to stop her from punching Keenan in the face—or in the stomach. Nysys wasn’t sure she’d be able to reach Keenan’s face even if she tried.
“Let it go, Brenda. They’re not worth having your TV privilege taken away again.”
“He said I was old enough to be a great grandmother!”
“He obviously has some eye problems. Don’t mind him.”
Nysys snickered. Keenan kicked his shin in retaliation, and Nysys narrowed his eyes at him. Keenan widened his eyes and nodded toward the ladies. Nysys shrugged. Keenan rolled his eyes and turned toward the ladies again.
“Uh, I’m sorry I said you were a great grandmother. You’re obviously way too young to be one.”
Brenda stopped trying to get out of Cat Lady’s hold and narrowed her eyes at Keenan. “Really?”
“Really.”
She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine. I accept your apology.”
“Can I ask you where we are?”
Brenda cocked her head. “You don’t know? Why are you here if you don’t even know where here is? Are you on drugs?” She turned toward her Cat Lady friend and grabbed the woman’s arm. “Is he on drugs? We should call Xavier. What if he tries to hurt us, or to bad-touch us?”
Cat Lady shook her head. “Not Xavier, Brenda. He’s too small to do anything.”
“Isn’t he the one with the fine ass?”
“No, that’s Leland. We can call him.”
Nysys raised his hands. “We don’t want to hurt you, ladies. Or to bad-touch you.” Just the thought made Nysys shiver. “We just want to know where we are.”
Cat Lady narrowed her eyes. “How did you two get in the closet?”
“Oh, we shimmered.”
“Nysys!” Keenan hissed. “They’re not supposed to know about that.”
“Everyone will think they’re crazy if they talk about it, don’t worry.”
“Crazy?” Pink Cardigan hissed. “Let’s call Xavier!”
Cat Lady rolled her eyes, but she didn’t call either Xavier or Leland. Nysys was kind of curious to see Leland’s ass, but it was probably better if they didn’t draw attention, or at least not more than they already had.
Cat Lady looked at Nysys. “You’re in the Whitedell Home for Retired Ladies and Gentlemen.”
Nysys frowned. He didn’t know every building in Whitedell, but he’d never heard about this one.
Keenan leaned closer. “You mean Orange Orchards?”
Cat Lady scowled at him. “Whitedell Home for Retired Ladies and Gentlemen sounds better.”
Nysys looked at Keenan because he had no idea what him and the old lady were talking
about. Keenan shrugged. “The retirement home. You probably don’t know it since you haven’t lived in Whitedell that long and it’s not like you need a retirement home.”
Nysys put his hands on his hips and looked around again. Yeah, the place looked like a retirement home all right. The walls, the carpet, even the watercolor paintings on the wall. Nysys would rather die than have to stay in a place like this. “Well, it’s obvious Bradley isn’t here, not unless he decided hiding under an old lady’s gown was a good idea.”
Brenda frowned. “Bradley? Is that the nurse with the fine ass?” she asked Cat Lady.
Cat Lady shook her head. “That’s Leland, and I think we should call him. We still don’t know how those two got in here, and you know how Xavier is. He doesn’t let anyone in who doesn’t belong. And no, before you ask, Xavier isn’t the one with the fine ass.”
Brenda nodded and grabbed Cat Lady’s hand. “Let’s go call Xavier, then.”
They walked away, obviously trying to hurry but slow going anyway. Nysys watched them until they turned around the corner, Cat Lady glaring at them one last time before they disappeared.
“Do you think we’ll be like that when we grow old?” Keenan asked, still looking down the hallway.
Nysys gasped. “Are you crazy? I’d never wear that shade of pink.”
Keenan rolled his eyes and took Nysys’s hand, pulling him back into the closet. “Come on, shimmer us home before Leland arrives.”
Nysys had half a mind to wait to check out Leland’s ass, but he nodded and obeyed.
Chapter Four
“So what do we do now?” Keenan asked as he slumped onto his bed. They were lucky Jonah wasn’t anywhere to be seen, or he’d have asked questions they would have had a hard time answering.
Nysys took the post-it from his jeans pocket and looked at it. “We still need to check the second address, and since Bradley wasn’t at the first one, he has to be at this one.”
The last thing Keenan wanted was to go find Bradley right now. Besides, he’d told Dominic he wouldn’t be away for long. He couldn’t waste more time running after old ladies. “Can we do that tomorrow?”
Nysys looked like he wanted to say no, but he sighed and nodded. “Sure. You need to get back to work?”
“Yeah. I still have a few emails to send, and a meeting to plan.”
Nysys pouted. “Boring.”
“Yeah, well, we can’t all have a rich mate who buys us whatever we want.”
“You should have chosen better.”
“Please. I couldn’t have gotten a better mate even if I’d looked for one. Jonah is perfect.”
“Whatever. I’m going to my room to plan tomorrow’s raid, then. I’ll see you at dinner.”
A raid? Keenan wanted to ask, but he was scared to. Instead, he nodded. “Yeah, go plan whatever you need to plan.”
Keenan could almost see the wheels turning in Nysys’s head, but he kept his mouth shut while Nysys left his room. He loved Nysys, but sometimes, he needed a bit of time away from him. Especially to buy his Christmas present.
Keenan took his phone out and opened the browser. It was already on the page he needed, and he scrolled down until he reached the object he’d been thinking of. He needed to make a decision quickly if he wanted it to get to Whitedell in time for Christmas.
He bit his lower lip and stared at the screen. It would be Nysys’s second present from him since he was crocheting one of those elephant underwear Nysys had wanted for everyone else. Keenan had thought it was a good idea, but he didn’t want to get only that for Nysys. He was more than just a pride member. He was Keenan’s best friend. He deserved more.
“What did your phone do to you?”
Keenan yelped and threw his phone toward the door. Jonah caught it before it could hit his chest and looked down at it. His gaze softened, and he handed the phone back to Keenan. “That’s for Nysys?”
“Yeah. How do you know?”
“It’s kind of obvious.”
“Do you think it’s stupid? Or too girly?”
Jonah sat on the bed next to Keenan and shook his head. “No. It’s you and Nysys. There’s nothing stupid or girly about your relationship. That gift is perfect, and you know he’s going to love it.”
Keenan nodded and put his phone down. He pressed sideways and leaned his head against Jonah’s shoulder. “I hope so.”
Jonah wrapped his arm around Keenan’s shoulders. “You know he will.” He kissed Keenan’s hair, and Keenan let himself relax.
They didn’t have a lot of opportunities to do that recently, not with Bradley waiting to kill them. Nysys might not be the right guy to find Bradley and take care of him, but his heart was in the right place. He wanted the pride to have a happy Christmas, and it wouldn’t happen, not if things went on like this.
“You look tired,” Jonah said.
“Yeah. We all are.”
“Everything will be fine.”
“How do you know?”
“Fate wouldn’t have given you to me if I was going to lose you so soon. We have many, many years in front of us, Keenan. We’ll be happy for a long time.”
Keenan wanted to believe it, so much. He turned to kiss Jonah, and Jonah hugged him close. Being in Jonah’s arms was the only place Keenan felt completely safe these days, and he wanted to spend more time there.
He got up and turned around, swinging his leg over Jonah’s legs and straddling him. He wrapped his arms around his mate, savoring the fact that he was there, that he was safe. Then Jonah kissed him, and the thought of safety fled Keenan’s mind, replaced by lust.
Being in Jonah’s arms never got old, and Keenan always wanted more of it. He reached between them and grabbed the bottom of Jonah’s T-shirt, pulling it up and throwing it to the side. He needed more skin, more contact.
Jonah was still working on the buttons of Keenan’s shirt when Keenan reached between them again and opened Jonah’s jeans, pushing the lapels to the side and fishing Jonah’s cock from his underwear. It was warm and hard, and all for Keenan.
Jonah groaned and let go of Keenan’s shirt, grabbing his pants instead and pulling on the button. Keenan decided it would probably be best if he opened them himself, because he couldn’t go buy new pants every month or so because Jonah was too impatient to open them and ripped them open instead.
He pushed Jonah’s hands away, and Jonah kissed his neck and then his collarbones. Keenan shivered and clawed at his pants, desperately trying to open them.
Once he had, he was faced with a problem. He needed to get up if he wanted to take them off, and it was the last thing he wanted to do. Jonah’s lips felt too good on his skin, damn it.
Keenan pushed away from Jonah’s lap and scrambled up. He pushed his pants down, along with his underwear. He toed his shoes off awkwardly and stepped out of his pants, ripping his shirt over his head at the same time.
Once he was naked apart from his socks, he stepped back toward Jonah, who was fisting his cock with one hand and holding a bottle of lube with the other.
Keenan didn’t waste time. He was still stretched from their after lunch fuck, so he took the lube from Jonah’s hands, dumped a load of it onto Jonah’s cock, and straddled him again. He threw the lube onto the bed and sank onto Jonah’s cock, biting his lower lip in the attempt to stay silent.
Jonah put his hands onto Keenan’s hips and helped him move. It was hard and fast, and Keenan loved it. He loved everything with Jonah, and when he felt his orgasm climbing, he tilted his head to the side.
Jonah snapped forward, sinking his fangs into Keenan’s neck, and Keenan cried out. He came, bathing his stomach and Jonah’s, closing his eyes at the pleasure coursing through him. Jonah punched his hips up, fucking Keenan until Keenan felt him tense under him.
Keenan slumped against Jonah’s chest, out of breath and sweaty. His ass was more than a bit sore, but he didn’t care. For one moment, he’d been able to forget about the dangers that awaited him and all the other pride members
outside the mansion. It was worth being a little sore.
Chapter Five
Nysys flopped onto his back and tried to breathe.
Morin stretched out by his side, a satisfied smirk on his face. “I knew this was the best way to shut you up.”
Nysys shook his head, but he didn’t say anything. He couldn’t, not yet. Instead, he reached over his head and grabbed Morin’s T-shirt, wiping the cum from his stomach with it.
“Hey!” Morin protested, and Nysys threw the now dirty T-shirt at his head. Morin caught it before it could hit him and cleaned his own stomach. “You’re an asshole.”
Nysys grinned. “You seemed to like my asshole very much a few seconds ago.”
Morin rolled his eyes. “Rude.”
“Nah. I just say things as they are.”
“That you do. So, what are we doing tonight?”
Nysys bit his lower lip. They’d spent the whole day together, and he’d loved it, but he and Keenan still needed to go to the second address on the sticky note. They’d already lost the day, and Christmas was getting closer and closer every day. They needed to get rid of Bradley, and they needed to do it now.
He rolled to his side to face Morin. “We can do whatever you want, but I promised Keenan one hour of my time to help him wrap his gifts.”
“You’re going to try to sneak a peek at yours?”
“Of course I am. I wouldn’t have said yes if it didn’t give me a chance to do just that.”
Morin laughed and kissed Nysys’s hair. “God, I love you. Never change, all right?”
Nysys pressed his lips to Morin’s shoulder, hiding his smile. “I thought you wanted me to change, become tamer or something. I’m always in trouble.”
“I could do without being scared for your safety half the time, but you wouldn’t be the same man I fell in love with if you didn’t go off on half-baked plans with Keenan. It’s part of your charm.”
Nysys kissed Morin again and rolled to get up. He hurried to the bathroom and showered, and he wasn’t surprised to see Morin already dressed and reading a book when he got out of the bathroom. Morin put his book down when Nysys came back into the bedroom. “Is everything okay? You disappeared into the bathroom without saying anything.”
A Whitedell Christmas Page 3
