“Have you heard of hikers?”
“Hmm. You have a point there.”
“What if we break them into little pieces and scatter them around?”
“Same thing.”
“Come on, if we make it small enough, nobody will recognize the bits for what they are.”
“Fine. But how do you keep them from coming back?” Valentin couldn't keep the smugness out of his voice.
“Excuse me?”
“They can regenerate.” Valentin watched Shawn’s mouth open and close.
“They can regenerate? As in coming back to life?”
“Yes.”
“We better get a move on.
The sooner we are back on the road, the better. The one that got away is very powerful. He knows where I, we, are and it gives me the creeps.”
“Couldn’t agree with you more.” Shawn sighed, exasperated. “Fine, how do we do this?”
Valentin’s eyes never left the slope, and having found the perfect spot for his task, he was now mapping the easiest way down.
“See those two boulders over there?” Valentin lifted his hand and pointed toward a small group of rocks at the base of the ravine. At Shawn’s nod, he continued. “It looks like they form a cone with a big enough base to suit our needs. It’s not much, but it will do.”
Shawn stepped closer to the edge and checked the slant, probably wishing he were alone, his next words confirming Valentin’s suspicions.
“Are you sure we need to get down there?”
“Yes. Fire is the best way to make sure they stay dead. I want to get there because chances are no one would get down there and search the hearth too closely. I’ve heard that teeth and pieces of bones can be found in the ashes after incineration.”
****
Shawn glared at Valentin. His companion was acting all high and mighty, but he was right. All Shawn knew about Valentin’s world consisted mostly of legends and myths, so who was he to question? But damn, if it was true, they were in deep shit. Those bloodsuckers could regenerate themselves? That was the closest thing to true immortality he’d ever heard of. Sure, the were-population had a long life expectancy, some of the elders being well over two thousand years old, but none of them could revive themselves. Once shifters died, they stayed dead.
He examined Valentin. He is so thin. He doesn’t seem strong enough to carry a feather. His cock throbbed behind his fly and he’d have adjusted himself if he could have done it without drawing attention. He wiggled his hips a little, and not only did the movement not bring on the expected relief, but it made matters worse as the fabric rubbed against his hardened flesh. He had to bite back a moan.
As if sensing his predicament, Valentin’s lips pulled upwards into a smile showing a bit of fang. Show off! You don’t like being under scrutiny, either. That’s too bad, because I like looking at you, and I plan on doing it a lot. He planned on keeping Valentin, but to have the man for his own, he needed to keep him alive first, and from the looks of things, it wouldn’t be easy.
He pursed his lips and crossed his arms over his chest in a threatening manner, glowering at Valentin.
“You want to get down there? Fine. I can take you, but you’ll follow my instructions to the letter. You think you can do that?”
At his harsh tone, Valentin straightened his back and lifted his chin defiantly. He met Shawn’s eyes for a brief second and nodded royally. There had to be some blue blood running in his veins, Shawn would bet anything on that.
“The ground is soaked and the earth soft. A wrong step, even half an inch, would be enough to send you rolling down. I don’t know what kind of damage your kind can sustain, but I’m not entirely sure you can survive a fall.” He used his best teaching voice, the one he’d used with misbehaving cubs, but he couldn’t say how much of that was getting through to his lover. “No offense,” Shawn added to somehow sweeten the insult.
“None taken.”
“The gravel is even trickier. It’s slippery and might be covered in a film of moss. You will have to step exactly in my footprints. Exactly in them. Also, you’ll keep at least one step between us.”
“I will be carrying half of the tarp, so stepping exactly on your footprints isn’t an option.”
“
You won’t be carrying anything. I will be. You just focus on getting down in one piece.”
Valentin’s eyes gleamed dangerously in the dark. “I can hold my own. I don’t need any favors.”
Shawn sighed. “I’m sure you can. But you are so thin, the softest breeze would knock you on your ass. For some reason, you push all my protective buttons. So, until we part ways, I will most likely be an overbearing ass.”
“Something tells me you being an overbearing ass is your natural state. And I’m not helpless.” He was glaring daggers at Shawn. Shawn chuckled and couldn’t stop thinking how cute Valentin was when flustered. Valentin’s eyes flashed again dangerously, and Shawn made a mental note to further explore this particular side of his lover.
He offered Valentin a wide grin and picked up the tarp’s corners, careful not to spill anything in the process, and tied them in a double knot. In a swift move, he threw the bundle over his right shoulder, wiggling to balance it. With a last threatening glance at Valentin, as if saying behave yourself! Shawn turned around and took the first steps down.
* * * *
Valentin watched Shawn’s easy grace, every step perfectly balanced, no hesitations, no unnecessary movements. The extra weight didn’t seem to strain him whatsoever. Valentin matched the other man’s steps, keeping a step between them, just as he’d been told. Shawn had been right, the descent was difficult, wet and slippery, and Valentin was grateful he wasn’t carrying the extra burden.
The sky had cleared and the stars shone brightly. The extra light meant they needed to hurry. Shawn maintained a steady pace, not too fast, not too slow, making it easy for Valentin to follow him. At times, Valentin could hear him sniff or see his ears twitch, his senses probably on high alert. Valentin had never been more acutely aware of another’s presence as he was right then. His eyes glued themselves to Shawn the entire way down, and despite his best efforts, they tended to slide down to the man’s ass. Valentin could have sworn he saw Shawn tensing up every time his gaze wandered to that particular part of his anatomy.
Halfway down the slope, his foot slipped. One second everything was fine, the next he was sliding down the slope on his butt, feet first. He managed to hit every rock on the way, stopping at Shawn’s feet. So much for a vampire’s grace and sense of balance.
Shawn crooked an eyebrow and let out a sigh, managing to look both exasperated and amused.
“You okay?”
Valentin pushed himself up, looking sheepish. “Yeah, I am.”
Shawn nodded and continued his trip down. “Try staying on your feet this time.”
Valentin fought the impulse to stick his tongue out at Shawn’s back, fearing it would make him look like a brat. Not the impression he wanted to make on the man in whose pants he desperately wanted to get. But damn it, he was spoiled, and he liked it this way. He’d led a sheltered life, before and after, and from the beginning, he’d been Yuri’s favorite fledgling.
He looked over his shoulder to assess the damage done to his pants, but they were in such a state, he quickly gave up on the idea of brushing himself off. He was soaked to the bone, covered in blood, and God knows what else. The clothes were ruined anyway.
* * * *
“What now, fang boy?”
They were sitting next to the boulders, the tarp at Shawn’s feet. Valentin was halfway buried in the cone formed by the rocks, and he had to extricate himself to answer. Shawn waited patiently, enjoying the sight offered by Valentin on his knees with his ass in the air. At least this time he didn’t panic when he realized where his thoughts were heading.
“It has good ventilation so it would do the job. It’s big enough to shove both bodies and all the extra parts. And it’s mostly d
ry. Give me a hand.” Valentin made quick work of untying the knot and grabbed the closest corpse. It was so dry it crumpled under his touch with the nauseating sounds of gravel being stepped on.
“Man, that’s gross.”
Shawn grunted under his breath, but moved forward to offer a hand. When everything was finally stuck under the stone cone, Valentin was bouncing like a kid at Christmas.
“How old are you? Twelve?”
“What? I’m just enjoying a job well done.”
“Well done? It will be done when these babies are ashes.”
“Good point. Hand me a match.”
Shawn turned a shocked look at Valentin. “We came all the way here, climbed down over six hundred feet on wet grass, all the while carrying that…” he shoved his hands toward the bodies, “…with the intention of burning them, and you didn’t think to bring matches?” Shawn’s voice, at first just above a whisper, was now a full-blown shout.
Valentin grimaced, and gestured Shawn to be quieter. Shawn ran his fingers through his hair, frustration written clearly on his face.
“You could rub two stick together. I’ve heard it works.”
“Why me?”
“Because you seem to be the type?”
“What type?” The little shit!
“The woodsy kind of guy.” At Shawn’s glare Valentin just rolled his eyes. “You are a shifter. If there is someone who knows about the great outdoors and running with the wolves it’s gotta be you.”
Shawn took two steps forward, crowding Valentin’s personal space, arms crossed over his chest, brows furrowed, a muscle twitching in his jaw. A rabid dog would have had second thoughts about taking him on. Valentin chuckled. Shawn should have been used to challenges of all kinds, he’d lived within a pride his entire life, but never had he reacted so strongly to anyone.
“Let me explain to you, wiseass. I am a jaguar, not a wolf. I do not run with the wolves. I hunt alone, and if not, I run with other cats, not dogs. And just because I am a shifter that doesn’t automatically mean I know what to do in the wild. I don’t go camping, I don’t know how to make a fire or how to set up a tent for that matter. I pick up the scent of the prey and I hunt it down. End of story.”
“Okay, okay, point taken. Will you just shift already?”
“Excuse me?”
“Shift, run your nails over the rock and let the sparks fly.”
Shawn eyes widened as Valentin’s words sank in.
“So, once again, the cat saves the day.”
“Once again? Oh, get over yourself.”
“Do you want this done or not?”
“Knock yourself out.”
****
Shawn reached out and touched the inner surface of the rocks, searching for something. When his palm lingered on a certain spot, Valentin knew he’d found it.
“It’s hard enough, it should work.” The words were just a whisper, like he was thinking out loud. “At least it’s dry here.” He took his hand out, and Valentin’s eyes almost popped out. Shawn’s palm had changed, fur sprouting from under the skin, soft pads replacing the calluses on his palm, fingers thickening, deadly looking claws emerging.
Valentin’s gaze flew up, catching Shawn’s grin. The shifter’s pupils were vertical, black slits. The irises glowed silvery in the dark. Shawn flashed his paw, the only transformed part of his body, in front of Valentin and in a swift, powerful move, dragged his claws over the spot he found earlier, leaving an explosion of sparks in their wake. They on the piled corpses, and everything burst into flames so fast it looked like the sky at New Year’s Eve. Shawn was too slow jerking his paw back and the air filled with the smell of burned fur.
Valentin took a hasty step forward, resting a hand on Shawn’s shoulder. “Hey, you okay?”
“Whoa! That was fast!” Shawn held his paw up and before Valentin’s fascinated eyes, it changed again, the entire process in reverse, much slower than the first time, until the palm appeared, smooth and undamaged from the fire. Shawn shrugged.
“Yeah, I guess I am. Just smoked a few whiskers. Nothing life threatening.”
Valentin narrowed his eyes at Shawn. “You like to have everything under control, don’t you?”
Shawn scowled. It seemed he was doing a lot of that lately. But for all Valentin knew, scowling could have been the guy’s natural expression.
“Yeah, I kinda do.”
Valentin snickered. He’d expected nothing else. “Well, in this case, it wouldn’t do for me to tell you that your pants are on fire.”
“Huh?”
God! The look on Shawn’s face was priceless. Valentin bit his lips to stop another chuckle, and pointed to the hem of the other man’s jeans, where a flame was slowly licking its way up the leg. “It might be a good idea to step back while you still have your eyebrows.”
Shawn jumped from his crouched position, stumbled, and landed flat on his ass. His hands flew to his ankle, patting away the flames.
“Who’s the klutz now?”
“You could have said something sooner, you know?”
“Now, where is the fun in that?”
Shawn’s eyes flashed, dark and dangerous, and he pounced. One second Valentin was taunting the feline, the next he was flat on his back, his arms full of Shawn. Valentin’s legs spread open on their own volition, knees bent, soles planted on the ground beneath him. Shawn settled between them like he had been doing this his entire life. Shawn was flushed against him, their bodies fitting perfectly together. Valentin couldn’t contain a groan. The man smelled and felt like heaven. They had yet to fuck, but he knew they would be a perfect match. Oh, God! Dare I hope? The disappointment might kill him.
“Hi.”
“Hi yourself.”
Shawn seemed surprised, his eyes a darker shade of gray, his pupils dilated. Valentin knew the exact moment when Shawn realized just how close they were by the hitch in his breath. The pupils dilated even more, and his cock grew hard. Valentin’s dick thickened in response.
“You feel good.”
“So do you. I take it you don’t mind me being a man?”
Shawn regarded him with the most intense gaze.
“I’m not entirely sure of what I feel about the whole man-on-man thing yet, but you feel right in my arms.” His gaze trailed over Valentin’s face, slowly, like a caress, and settled on his lips. “I’ve never been with a man before.”
So many emotions whirled in Shawn’s eyes, everything Valentin had expected to find there, and something more. Valentin took the chance and opened himself up to everything Shawn felt. The link was strong, stronger than he’d anticipated, and it threw him for a loop. Shawn’s eyes grew darker, wider in shock, searching his, and Valentin wondered if he felt the connection.
“As long as you are willing to try, we can work out the details between us.”
Shawn rested his arms on each side of Valentin’s head and leaned in until they were separated only by a hairbreadth. His words were a harsh whisper. “You are a man, and yet I want you so bad I ache with it. My lips burn with the need to kiss you. I’m so hard my dick is ready to burst through my zipper. I want to lose myself in you.”
A low moan escaped Valentin’s lips at Shawn’s words, and his cock got painfully hard. He felt the other man’s hot breath on his lips, and wondered how it would feel on other parts of his body. “Why don’t you?”
Shawn growled deep, possessive, the sound sending a fresh, new wave of arousal through Valentin’s body, and caught Valentin’s lips into a scorching kiss. There was no gentleness, no shyness, just a hot need. Their tongues collided, Shawn asking for submission, and Valentin was more than happy to oblige. Valentin’s body melted into his lover’s, need taking control over his body. Soft whimpers reached his ears, and it took him a while to realize that they were coming from him.
Valentin got lost in the kiss, every sweep of Shawn’s tongue in his mouth taking him higher. His gums ached with the need to mark the man as his own. His hands came up and w
rapped around Shawn’s body, clutching, as he poured his soul into the kiss.
* * * *
For Shawn it was like an awakening. The moment Valentin opened himself up, everything fell into place. It no longer mattered who or what Valentin was. He felt good, just as a mate should. He reveled in the smell and taste of his man. He wanted to rub himself on Valentin, to mark him with his scent.
The kiss was brutal, bruising, and all Shawn could do was fight the ache in his gums, the need to bite and claim his mate. When their emotions mixed, Shawn almost lost the fight. Valentin felt hard and yet soft, pliant, and Shawn wanted his submission more than anything. He growled again and deepened the kiss. Valentin moaned under him, needy and desperate, and the sound went straight to his groin.
Shawn’s tongue explored, imprinting taste and shapes in every cell of his brain. His lover held nothing back, feelings, sensations, need, all pouring into Shawn. Valentin arched his back, pushing his hard cock against Shawn’s, and his fangs dropped. Shawn ran his tongue over the length of those fangs, and Valentin lost control.
“Skin. Now.” He broke the kiss and pushed himself onto all fours above Valentin, and in a swift move had the shirt covering his lover’s body in shreds.
Shawn paused for a moment to take in the sight; thin, but with an iron-strong core, fine, elegant bones and pearly skin glowing in the moonlight. The nipples were pink and taut and called to him. I wonder how sensitive they are. He reached out and rubbed the tips of his fingers over the left one. Valentin shivered under the touch. Shawn froze, and his eyes flew to meet Valentin’s.
“Am I… Am I hurting you?” His voice was coarse, and he hoped to God he wouldn’t have to stop touching.
Valentin managed a strangled laugh. “God, no! Don’t stop.” His tone was pleading, and in that moment Shawn knew without a doubt that he would do anything Valentin would ask of him.
Shawn ran his fingers again over the puckered flesh, rubbing it between his thumb and forefinger, eliciting another moan from Valentin. Shawn bent over for another kiss, his lover meeting him halfway. He tugged gently on the nipple and swallowed Valentin’s small cries of pleasure.
Perfect Timing Page 6
