Raymond ignored the guy’s cries and rushed to Marty’s side. His mate looked pale, even gray. Ashen skinned, they called it, right? His eyes were closed. Bandages covered his torso…and he appeared to be struggling to breathe.
“Oh, Marty,” Raymond crooned. “I’m so sorry.”
“Pull yourself together, man,” Perseus roared. “And give me a goddamned report on our patient!”
That finally seemed to cut through the human’s fear—who must have been a nurse or doctor from the hospital, judging by his clothes—and he started spouting off a string of words that Raymond had no clue how to decipher.
So, he didn’t.
Instead, Raymond acted on instinct—the one that told him to aide his mate the only way he knew how—and sliced open his wrist. Even as he moved along with the stretcher, he scooped up a large dollop of his blood and painted his man’s lips.
“Come on, Marty,” he urged. “Swallow for me.”
Raymond scooped up several more beads and, this time, slid two of his blood-coated fingers into Marty’s mouth. He rubbed his gums, then his tongue. To his relief, Marty swallowed convulsively.
“Yeah, there you go,” Raymond whispered as he felt the tendrils of their mating bond strengthen. “Don’t hate me for doing this without permission.”
“Hey! What are you doing?” the human—whose name he still didn’t know—called.
Ignoring him, Raymond lowered his mouth to Marty’s neck and sank his teeth in just enough to break skin. He knew his saliva would help. Even if he couldn’t lick his human’s actual wounds, by mixing it into his mate’s bloodstream, it’d still aide in the healing process. Plus, being his mate, it’d release plenty of endorphins.
Marty’s body jolted slightly and a soft moan escaped his lips.
Raymond sucked lightly at the wound, drinking down a couple small mouthfuls of his man’s blood while licking around the marks. Marty shuddered and grunted. The scent of spent seed flooded the room. The smell inflamed Raymond’s blood, and it was all he could do not to follow his lover over the edge.
Shoving his own need to the side, Raymond eased his teeth out of his human’s neck, then licked the mark clean, sending it well on its way to healing. A hand came down on his shoulder. Raymond turned and found Perseus giving him an understanding smile.
“Okay, you’ve done what you can, Raymond, now let me do the rest, hmm?”
Although loath to put any distance between himself and his injured mate, Raymond knew the necessity of it. He nodded and—after pressing a soft kiss to Marty’s lips—stepped back. He crossed his arms, hugging his torso, and watched Perseus open his mate’s mouth and slide a tube down his throat. The human nurse—or doctor or whatever the hell he was—aided him, although the man continued to cast distrustful looks between Perseus and Raymond. At least he continued to help. Perseus would ask him curt questions, and Nurse Leroy—he heard their doctor call him—answered, even as he obeyed the gargoyle doctor’s instructions.
Maelgwn settled a hand on Raymond’s shoulder, gaining his attention. “I’ve sent Sapian and Tobias to Marty’s home to see if they can figure out where the shooter stood and where he went. Hopefully, they’ll be able to track whoever is after your mate.”
“Gods, I hope so,” Raymond muttered. Just the idea that Marty’s association with him put him in harm’s way made him sick to his stomach.
“In the meantime, try to figure out who sent you that message,” Maelgwn ordered.
Shit, why didn’t I think of that?
Even as the question popped into his head, Raymond knew the answer. He’d been too busy freaking out over his mate. “Right, right,” he mumbled, nodding absently even as ideas to figure out the origin of the sender’s ID popped in and out of his mind.
“Raymond.”
Turning toward Perseus’s call, Raymond’s blood ran cold at the other gargoyle’s grim expression. “Marty’s gonna be okay, right?”
Perseus rubbed a hand over his pale green face once, then stated, “I’m optimistic, Raymond, and you should be, too.” He glanced back toward the bed where Greg stood speaking with Leroy, obviously trying to explain something, well, gargoyles probably. Returning his focus back to Raymond, Perseus stated, “The addition of your blood and saliva, along with the bonding you’ve already done, it will help stabilize him faster, which means a much better chance at a full recovery.”
“Full recovering? What does that mean?” Raymond couldn’t help but ask.
Sighing, Perseus placed his hands on his hips and stated, “Essentially, the bullet tore through his back, nicked a lung, and lodged in his rib, cracking it. His lung collapsed on the way to the hospital. Surgery removed the bullet and repaired the lung. They inserted a breathing tube until he could breathe on his own again.” He narrowed his eyes and scowled at Maelgwn. “The tube had just been removed when bossy here decided to barge in and move him.”
Even as Maelgwn growled softly, Perseus shook his head and continued, “He shouldn’t have been moved for a good twenty-four hours. If it were me, I would have kept him sedated for at least that long to give the human time to heal. Since that didn’t happen, on the trip over his weak lung collapsed again.”
“Oh, Gods,” Raymond murmured.
Perseus rested a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, offering comfort. “If he hadn’t had the blessing of bonding with you, then he wouldn’t have been moved, and he would have eventually recovered, though the scarring would have limited his mobility a bit.” He smiled reassuringly. “As it is, as soon as he can breathe on his own again, I want to give him more of your blood. It’ll help him heal faster and increase his chances of no long term damage.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Raymond quickly agreed. “Anything to help Marty.”
Patting him on the back, the doc nodded. “I knew you’d feel that way.”
“Of course.” He shrugged even as he crossed to Marty’s side. “He’s my mate.”
Relief filled him as he took in his man’s improved color. He lifted a hand and gently traced the big human’s brow. Although Raymond felt like Marty might not be getting the best deal with him—he knew he was reclusive, had trouble interacting with others, and generally liked his computers better than most people—Raymond knew he wouldn’t give his mate up for anything. It just meant he’d work to be a better man for his mate.
“He’s sleeping right now. I’m gonna keep him asleep for the next few hours,” Perseus told him. “If there’s any change, I’ll contact you.”
Raymond recognized a dismissal when he heard one. He didn’t like it, but he knew he had other duties. Leaning down, he kissed Marty one more time, then turned away and strode from the room.
Stopping outside, he took a deep, fortifying breath. His mate was in good hands. Now, he needed to figure out who the hell was after him.
Returning to his office, Raymond woke his computer from sleep mode and pulled up his emails again. He reopened the email from his stalker and glared at it. Rage unlike anything he’d ever felt swept through him, making him almost vibrate.
Without stopping to think of the consequences, Raymond hit the reply button, typed a few words—You missed, fucker—and hit send. Then, he started reviewing every saved contact in every chat room he’d ever visited.
Nothing matched, but he noticed a pattern, a theme, that he couldn’t overlook. He yanked open a drawer and pulled out a locked metal case. Spinning around, he opened another drawer, then pressed gently against a soft section of wood under the lip. The drawer’s back wall popped forward, revealing a very narrow hidden compartment…and a key.
Raymond used the key to open the metal box, revealing row upon row of flash drives. Gliding his finger over them, he checked the labels. When he found the date he wanted, he pulled it out and shoved it into his laptop.
Slowly, methodically, he scanned through every conversation he had with every User ID that was even remotely close to a Star Trek theme. Three hours later, his
jaw sagged open even as guilt flooded him.
It couldn’t be.
He’d never even met the man. Unfortunately, his occasional online fuck buddy was the only one who made the short list. He hadn’t even come close to sharing personal information with anyone else. Only with Sulu87 had Raymond shared how lonely he’d felt, how he’d spent most of his time online because he understood computers better than people. And only Sulu87 knew how much he longed for a real relationship.
Since Raymond had enjoyed the anonymity of online correspondence, he hadn’t ever looked into who the contact actually might be. Now, he realized he should have. Maelgwn always warned about what could happen if the wrong person found out about them. Except, if Sulu87 figured out about gargoyles, wouldn’t it make more sense to come after him rather than Marty?
Shaking his head, Raymond grabbed the handset and dialed for his chieftain.
Maelgwn didn’t bother with a greeting. “You got anything?”
“Maybe, I—” He paused and bit his lip. Gods, admitting this is so fucking embarrassing.
“Raymond?”
“Will you come up here, please?” he finally whispered.
“Be right there.”
Heaving a sigh, Raymond rested his elbows on his desk and his forehead in his palms. He heard the door open, but didn’t bother looking up. His sense of smell told him Sapian and Greg accompanied his chieftain.
“What’d you find?” Maelgwn asked, his tone soft and soothing.
Rubbing his face with one palm, Raymond lifted his head to peer at the gargoyles now sitting across from him. “Did Einan tell you I’d gone on a couple anonymous cyber dates?”
Maelgwn nodded, a smile curving one corner of his mouth. “He mentioned it. Said that was why you were banished from chat rooms for two weeks and why you were on kitchen duty for one.”
“Well, I’d gone on several dates,” he lifted his hands and made quotation marks. “That just happened to be the time it interfered with my work,” he admitted. “We didn’t share our real names or anything, but I told him how much I appreciated getting to chat with him, how I felt he understood me better than—” He paused and flushed, unable to meet any of the men’s gazes. He shrugged. “Well, although we never discussed meeting, now that I reread our conversations, he’d begun hinting toward it.” Finally, Raymond forced himself to meet his chieftain’s gaze. “I didn’t realize that, and I scented Marty at the coffee shop, so I cut off contact.” His cheeks heated. “He sent me a message a few days ago and I told him I was seeing someone and couldn’t continue our…relationship.”
Raymond shrugged, figuring that was close enough. Guilt swamped him. If he’d remembered to cancel the auto login before then…or if he’d found a more tactful way to break up. If only—
“That’s enough, Raymond,” Sapian stated gruffly. “You didn’t know the guy would go stalker on you. Stop dwelling and blaming yourself.”
“How certain are you that this is our guy?” Einan asked.
Raymond turned his laptop around and pointed at the picture of a dark-haired, skinny man with glasses. “Meet Simon Lowell. Until a month ago, he lived in San Diego, California. Guess where he lives now?”
Sapian shook his head. “Durango, Colorado,” he muttered.
“Well, it looks like we have one advantage,” Maelgwn commented.
Raymond lifted a brow ridge, confused by the feral smile curving his chieftain’s lips.
Maelgwn leaned back in his chair, his palms resting on his thighs. He grinned, showing off his sharp teeth. “We have Marty here. If he plans to take another pot shot at our boy, he’ll have to come to us.”
Chapter Eleven
Marty gagged and tried to wrench his chin up, anything to get away from the metallic fluid someone poured into his mouth. When he felt the hand under his nape, he wanted to turn his head and spit it out. Unfortunately, the hand holding him tightened, not allowing him to move. He choked, spitting some onto his chin.
Gentle fingers stroked his neck, massaging the muscles. “Please, Marty. Please, swallow. You need it to get well.”
Recognizing the voice of his lover, Marty tried to obey. His sweet gargoyle wouldn’t steer him wrong. Some ingrained instinct assured him of that. He fought his body’s response to reject the foul liquid. Somehow, he managed to choke it down, sputtering and gasping when he finally managed it.
“There ya go,” Ray crooned. “That’s the way. I’m gonna give you a little more.”
Marty wanted to object, but opening his mouth only earned him another small mouthful of…whatever the hell his lover was feeding him. It tasted suspiciously like blood, but why the hell would Ray have him drink blood? Even as he swallowed, the memory of various conversations about bonding floated hazily through his mind.
His brows drew together as he struggled to get a grasp on where he was and why he hurt. Then he remembered he’d woken in the hospital, been tended by a cute nurse, then the gargoyles had arrived. So, where was he now?
“Ray?” Marty called.
“I’m here,” Ray murmured. “Open again. I have something that will taste better.”
Marty felt a spoon prod his lips. He opened, accepting it, and a couple small ice chips slid across his tongue. Sighing with appreciation, he rolled the tiny blocks of frozen water around on his tongue. They melted quickly, clearing away some of the metallic taste coating his tongue.
Prying an eyelid open, Marty peered blearily around the room. He blinked and blinked again, working things into focus. It looked like a hospital…sort of. Instead of the standard sterile white, things were decorated in warm earth tones, greens and browns. Even the painting on the wall depicted a forest in the throes of fall, with colorful leaves, some still on the trees and others half covering the dark red covered bridge.
“Where am I?” Marty mumbled as he struggled to turn his head.
Semi-rough fingers cupped his cheek, helping him turn his head. Even before Marty saw Ray’s concerned black face, he knew the touch belonged to his lover.
“Hey,” he managed to get out, unable to stop the smile that curved his lips.
Ray smiled back and gently rubbed his thumb over Marty’s bottom lip. “Hi there. You sure know how to worry a guy.”
“Not on purpose,” Marty rasped. “Throat’s sore.”
“You had a breathing tube in there until a half an hour ago,” Ray explained. Then, he grimaced. “And it wasn’t the first time today, either.”
Marty nodded slightly. “I ’member.” He forced another smile even as he felt his lids droop as a wave of fatigue rolled over him. His gaze swept over the room as he settled his head back on the pillow. “Someone fuckin’ shot me,” he slurred. Swallowing, he asked, “Who the fuck—?”
Evidently, Ray didn’t need him to finish the thought. His lover leaned forward, so he was once more in Marty’s line of sight, and answered, “I’m afraid that’s partly my fault.”
Marty’s brows shot up. He wanted to ask how the hell Ray figured that, but between his fatigue and his dry throat, he couldn’t seem to work up the energy to speak.
Ray—God bless him—kept speaking. “It seems I was unaware that I had a jealous ex-boyfriend.” Shaking his head, Ray traced a couple fingers over Marty’s brow. “He took exception to me ceasing our online communication. I didn’t even know he felt that way. All we’d done was—” Ray flushed. “Well, it was a bit more than talking, but we’d never even exchanged names.”
A rush of jealousy stabbed through Marty. Frowning, he found his voice, “You’re mine.” He even managed to move his hand enough to grab his lover’s wrist where it rested on the bed beside his hip.
The hand on his face gently massaged his brow. “Yes, I am. All yours,” Ray assured.
Marty’s grip loosened and his eyelids slid to half-mast. “Yeah,” he whispered. God, I’m tired. “What’s wrong with me? How long do I have to lie in this bed?”
“I’m glad you’re
coherent enough to ask,” a deep voice said, the sound getting closer with each word spoken.
Marty just bit back a gasp as the speaker came into view. If the pointed ears, protruding canines, and thick brow ridges didn’t give away that the male was a gargoyle, the pale green mottled skin would have done it. So would the black claws tipping his green fingers.
“Just relax,” the gargoyle crooned. “My name is Perseus. I’m the clutch doctor. Leroy filled me in on your injuries.”
Leroy? Oh, right. “The nurse. Is he okay? I hope he didn’t get into trouble for letting me leave the hospital,” he mumbled absently. His mind began to drift.
Perseus chuckled lightly. “We’ll make certain Leroy is well taken care of,” he assured. “As for you, the gunshot wound was a bad one. You ended up in surgery to repair your lung and a shattered rib. It’ll be a while, but with the aid of Raymond’s blood, you’ll make a full recovery, in time.”
“B-Blood?” Okay, that pulled Marty out of his stupor. His brows shot up and he fixed his gaze on his lover. “Y-You fed me blood?”
Ray’s smile appeared strained…and maybe a bit sad and worried. It certainly didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m sorry. I know we didn’t talk about bonding, but it was necessary to help you heal. I know I did it without permission. I hope, in time, you’ll be able to forgive me for that.” He started to reach toward Marty’s face again, then seemed to think better of it, allowing his fingers to clench into a fist that he rested on the side of the bed. “I’ll make it worth your while,” he said, almost pleaded. “Do anything to make you happy.”
Marty blinked, trying to wrap his mind around what he’d just learned. He knew Ray had bitten him, taken his blood, and now, it seemed that he’d drank his lover’s blood, too. Essentially, Ray had bonded them without Marty’s consent. From the nervous way Ray’s eyes darted from him, then around the room, to Perseus, and back to him, Marty knew his lover worried he’d be pissed.
Except, Marty wasn’t pissed. He wasn’t upset at all. He was flattered, excited, and the idea of fucking his sweet gargoyle for centuries turned him on. There were so many things he wanted to try, to do, to share with his cute gargoyle lover. If he hadn’t been in so much pain, he just knew his cock would be tenting the sheet embarrassingly.
Removing the Gargoyle’s Mask Page 9
