Before Jamie could answer the study’s door flung open, banging on the wall while Keenan ran through it and launched himself at Jamie. Ward barely had the time to brace himself when he found his arms full of both Jamie and Keenan, the two brothers hugging fiercely.
“Oh my god, you’re back! How did you get here? What happened to you? Are you hurt? What did they do to you? I was coming to ask Dominic what we were going to do and I heard your voice, and…” Keenan couldn’t seem to stop himself from asking questions, his mouth never closing.
“Umm, Keenan, could you get down? I’m not sure how much longer I can resist having the two of you on top of me.”
Jamie blushed and Keenan snickered. After giving a last squeeze to his brother he got off Ward’s lap and onto Bryce’s, settling happily in the cougar’s arms but keeping one hand on Jamie’s arm. Bryce kissed the top of his head before all of them turned back to Jamie.
“I don’t know where this place is exactly, but Finn should be able to tell you now.”
“Finn?” Keenan asked.
“Yeah, he’s a water fae and he helped me escaped. They were experimenting on him too.”
“Wait, what? Experimenting?”
Jamie sighed. “Yes, Keenan, we were stuck in a laboratory where this mad scientist studied us and did a bunch of other things like this,” Jamie said, holding up his arms. Ward looked at them and rage filled him as he saw the light scars going from wrists to elbows. Grabbing Jamie’s wrists, he fingered the marks and asked, “What happened?”
“I told you, they were trying to see how fast I could heal since I’m mated to a shifter. I got lucky because they were going to operate on me today, but some rabbit shifters had a fight and they had to take care of them. I managed to get the key to the collar that prevented Finn from shimmering and I got it off him, and here we are.”
“Did you talk to any of the shifters there?” Dominic asked. Ward could already see his Alpha thinking about the next step.
“No, they all stayed in animal form, but Finn told me he’d talked to some of them before. We were all kidnapped, Dominic. I don’t know how these guys know about shifters or how they manage to find and kidnap them, but they have to be stopped. And think about what they’re doing! Look at Oliver, he was human and now he doesn’t even know what he is anymore. He’s caught in a limbo between human and shifter.”
In that moment the Nix reappeared with another man, this one tall and dark haired. The guy was in worse shape, his eyes sunken in their orbits, and he was painfully thin. Nate immediately jumped up and helped him sit on one of the couches before calling the pride’s doctor. Ward looked as Finn sat down on the floor next to the couch, his eyes never leaving Bryce, who was cuddling Keenan, reassuring him and pointedly avoiding looking at Finn. Ward could see hurt and anger in Finn’s green eyes and he didn’t understand why they were aimed at his friend, but he had a pretty good idea. There was only one explanation as to why Bryce would react to Finn after sniffing the air.
Ward couldn’t be sure, but it became even more obvious as Bryce kept his attention on Keenan, kissing him on the lips, and Ward saw a tear leave Finn’s eyes before the Nix could wipe it away.
“Finn? Are you alright?” Jamie asked his friend.
“Yes. I didn’t have any problems. The guards didn’t notice we were missing, and none of the shifters betrayed us.”
“Can you tell us where this place is?” Dominic asked.
Finn told him where the lab was located before standing up and looking at Jamie.
“Can you go back and get the shifters?”
“No, I’m sorry. Apart from the fact that I could be caught, shimmering is pretty hard on me, especially since I was captured a while back.”
“Of course,” Dominic said with a nod. “Do you want me to give you a room here?”
“No, I need to go now.”
“Wait! Don’t you want to rest first?”
Finn shook his head. “No, I want to go home. I’ll come back in a few days if you want to talk.” After giving Bryce a last hurt glance, Finn shimmered away.
“Wait! What…” Jamie looked at Ward. “What was that about? Why did he go away like that?”
Ward shrugged. It wasn’t his secret to tell, at least not in front of all these people, but he would tell his mate later, once they were alone.
There was a knock on the door and the Pride’s doctor entered, immediately going to Oliver’s side.
“Ward, take Jamie back to your suite. The doc will come to check him once he’s finished with Oliver. I know you’ll want to stay with your mate, but come back here once he is resting. We have to plan the raid on this laboratory to free the shifters.”
Ward nodded and stood up, keeping Jamie in his arms as he walked out the door.
“I can walk, you know.”
“I know.” Ward smiled. “But my arms have felt so empty during the past couple of weeks without you. I need to feel you, Jamie. I need to know that you came back to me. I need to claim you again.”
Ward watched as Jamie’s gaze heated while he hurried toward his suite. He couldn’t wait to get his mate naked and under him, to get his cock into Jamie’s tight little ass.
“Take me home, Ward. Take me to our bed.”
* * * *
Jamie had about a thousand questions to ask, but all of them could wait. Right now the only things he wanted were food, a shower and making love to his mate, and not necessarily in that order. Keeping his arms firmly looped around Ward’s neck, Jamie waited until they entered the suite to jump down.
“I have to take a shower. I haven’t seen a bathroom since I was kidnapped.”
“You know I don’t care about that, love.”
“I know, but I do. I feel dirty and I stink, and even you can’t deny that, especially with your shifter nose.” Jamie smiled when he saw that Ward wanted to disagree but objectively couldn’t.
“Well, yeah, you do smell a bit, but I don’t care, I swear!” Ward hugged Jamie. “I’m just so glad to have you back, baby, you can stink all you want and I’d still be here with you.”
Jamie sighed happily. “I know. I’ll be really quick, I promise.”
After giving his mate a quick kiss Jamie turned around and started to walk to the bedroom door, but something stopped him. Looking around the living room, he saw an old quilt his mother had made for him thrown on the couch and a picture of him and Keenan the day his brother had graduated on the wall. He could even see his books mixed with Ward’s on the bookcase shelves.
Ward must have understood what Jamie was looking at because he said, “I unpacked your boxes. I know that maybe I shouldn’t have, but you were already moving in and I wanted you to feel at home, too. I’m sorry—”
Jamie didn’t let him finish. Jumping on Ward, he grabbed his mate’s neck while his legs wrapped around Ward’s waist and started peppering kisses along Ward’s face and jaw. He felt Ward holding him up, his hands kneading his ass cheeks.
“Thank you…it’s perfect…god, I love you so much…” he said between kisses.
Ward’s eyes widened. “You love me?”
“More than I ever thought possible.” Jamie gave a last kiss on Ward’s lips before leaning his head on the man’s shoulder. “Being away from you…it made me realize that what I felt for you really was love.”
“I love you too, Jamie.”
Jamie couldn’t help but smile. “I’m happy to hear that.”
Ward leaned down and captured Jamie’s lips with his own, licking them until Jamie let him in. Jamie kissed his mate back for a while before leaning away with a groan, resting his forehead against Ward’s.
“Right, shower and then kisses.”
He jumped down once again and headed to the bathroom, certain Ward would follow. He was surprised to see he didn’t.
“I’ll go get you something to eat, love. I’ll be right back.”
Jamie nodded and closed the bathroom door, quickly stripping. He wanted to burn the lab’s
uniform but settled on throwing it in the trash can before turning on the water to let it heat. Once it was at the right temperature, he climbed in and tilted his head back, groaning as the hot water started to clean away the grime. After washing and rinsing his hair he stayed under the spray for a while longer, his eyes closed, simply enjoying the feeling of hot water sliding on his body.
When Jamie felt a chilly air current on his back, he knew Ward had come back and entered the shower stall. It didn’t take long before he felt his mate’s heat plastered against his back, covering every inch of it with smooth, slick, skin.
“I thought you’d wait for me in bed.”
“Couldn’t wait. Need you, mate.”
Jamie groaned when he felt Ward’s tongue skim along his neck, right over his mating bite, while his arms wrapped around Jamie’s waist and pulled him even closer. He loved when the need for him reduced Ward to chopped sentences.
Ward kissed a heated path to Jamie’s ear before lightly biting his lobe, making him shiver in delight. Ward’s hands slid up from his hips to tease Jamie’s nipples and as Ward began playing with the tight nubs, Jamie moaned, his arms rising until his hands locked on Ward’s nape. Jamie turned his head and sought his mate’s mouth in a raw meeting of lips, tongues and teeth.
Too much had happened. They had been separated for far too long to take things slow, and they both knew it. Jamie ground his ass against Ward’s erection, desperate to feel his mate inside him.
“Love, this is going to be hard and fast,” Ward panted once their lips separated.
“Fine…fine with me. We’ll do sweet and slow next time.”
Jamie watched as Ward grabbed the waterproof lube from its place next to the soap and squirted a good amount of it on his fingers before closing it and letting it fall on the floor. Leaning to put his hands on the tiled wall, Jamie tilted his ass and felt Ward’s slick finger probe at his entrance. Moaning, Jamie opened his legs even more as the finger stroked the puckered flesh before slipping inside. God, how he had missed this, the feeling of flesh against flesh, the heat of their kisses, but above all the love that wrapped around them when they were together.
“Come on, Ward. I need you,” Jamie said as he pushed back, wanting the finger to fill him.
“Don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t.”
Ward quickly stretched Jamie, sliding a second then a third finger along with the first one while his other hand caressed and stroked Jamie’s chest before going down to circle his erection, making him whimper in need. Ward’s hand on his cock was heaven and hell together, and Jamie didn’t know whether to push back on Ward’s fingers or push into the tightness of his hand.
Ward stroked Jamie’s dick faster, all the while scissoring his fingers in Jamie’s ass. It didn’t take long for Ward to decide that Jamie was stretched enough to take him, and Jamie was more than satisfied when he finally felt his mate’s cock against his hole, pushing for entrance. Their moans and grunts filled the small shower stall, the hot water beating on Ward’s back and sliding down on Jamie as steam swirled around them.
“Yes!” Jamie hissed when Ward slid in to the hilt in one smooth, powerful thrust before retreating until only the head was inside. Pushing back in, Ward set a punishing pace from the beginning, his hands gripping Jamie’s hips hard, as if he wanted to prevent his mate from disappearing again.
Ward released one of Jamie’s hips to grab his engorged shaft, pulling at it at the same rhythm in which he was pounding in Jamie’s ass. Jamie was near, so near. He could feel his orgasm building in his loins, almost there but still missing something. Then he felt Ward’s teeth skimming the sensitive skin on his neck and he came, his climax washing over him like a tsunami. Jamie screamed, holding himself up as well as he could on the wet tiles as he shuddered.
Ward never relented, still hammering into Jamie until Jamie felt his mate stiffen behind him and his teeth biting down in Jamie’s neck in the same spot he had claimed him the first time. Ward came, filling Jamie’s ass as his shaft pulsed deep inside, and Jamie came again, cum splashing on the tiles in front of him and on Ward’s hand as he felt his mate’s teeth break his skin. The pulls on Jamie’s neck seemed connected to his cock, prolonging his second orgasm until Ward stopped drinking. This was heaven, nirvana.
Jamie soon felt Ward withdraw his teeth, licking the wound closed before leaning his forehead against Jamie’s back. They stayed like this for a while, trying to regain their breath. Jamie didn’t have any energy left in him and he could feel his hands slowly slipping down the wall. Luckily for him, Ward seemed to feel it and wrapped his arms around Jamie before he fell, turning him around as his spent cock slipped from Jamie’s hole and hugging him with one arm while he finished washing Jamie with the other one. Jamie sighed happily into Ward’s chest, feeling content, sated and finally happy. He was also beginning to feel the weariness from the things he’d lived through, and he couldn’t wait to collapse in bed.
Once he was clean, Ward draped a towel around Jamie and carried him to the bed, where Jamie saw a tray waiting.
Ward chuckled. “Eat, love.”
Jamie was finishing his sandwich when someone knocked on the suite’s door. He let Ward answer, hoping it wouldn’t take too long because he was so tired he felt like he could sleep for days. He groaned when the doctor entered the bedroom.
“I know, I know,” the man said, holding his hands up. “It won’t take long. I’ll just make sure you’re fine right now, but I’ll need you to come down to the lab once you’re rested. I want to check you thoroughly to make sure they didn’t mess you up like they did with Oliver.”
Jamie straightened, feeling guilty for not thinking about his friends until now. “How is he?”
“As fine as he can be, given the situation. I’m not sure what we can do to help him, or even if we can do anything, but I’ll try.”
Jamie nodded and let the doctor do his thing while Ward hovered over him like a mother hen. Once the man was gone they both slid under the sheets and Jamie settled against Ward’s chest, needing the warmth only his mate could provide. He inhaled deeply, letting his mate’s musky scent sooth him.
“So, any idea what happened between Bryce and Finn?”
“You saw that, huh?”
“Yeah. I’m worried about Finn, Ward. He didn’t stay long enough for the doc to check on him, and I know his tribe won’t care whether he’s fine or not. What if he’s hurt? We don’t know what they did to him.”
“Do you know how to contact him?”
“No. When we decided to try and escape I told him he could stay here with us, and he was fine with it. I don’t understand why he ran away, but I saw how he looked at Bryce.”
Ward sighed. “I can’t be sure, but I think Finn is Bryce’s mate.”
Jamie inhaled sharply. He knew this would break his brother’s heart. Keenan was in love with Bryce, but his brother understood well what a mate meant, and Jamie was sure he would let Bryce go as soon as he found out about Finn.
“What can we do?”
“I’ll try to talk with Bryce, but there’s nothing we can really do. This is something between Bryce, Finn and Keenan.”
Jamie wanted to argue, but he knew Ward was right. He just wanted to keep his baby brother from being hurt, even if it was unrealistic. And on top of that he was worried about Finn and felt guilty for it, feeling as if he was betraying Keenan for caring about the man who would take Bryce away.
Pushing all those thoughts away, Jamie placed a small kiss on Ward’s chest and closed his eyes before letting sleep claim him, finally feeling safe.
* * * *
They had planned everything in detail. Jamie had told them what he remembered of the place, how many guards there were and how many shifters needed to be rescued, but it didn’t stop Ward from being nervous as hell. Sure, it wasn’t the first time he would be in a fight, but he was a contractor, not a soldier. He did patrols for the pride, but they rarely had any problems, so they
didn’t have many professional fighters, although that might change, since the world around them was clearly becoming more dangerous for them.
But this time they needed everyone. They weren’t sure how many people they were going against, and someone needed to help the hurt shifters and try to recover any documents they could find in the hope they could understand what those scientists had been doing, not only to the shifters but to Finn and Oliver, too. Ward was convinced that Oliver wasn’t the only human involved, and he hoped to find proof of that and to help anyone who needed help.
Jamie had insisted to come along, and nothing Ward said had changed that. He understood his mate’s reasons, really, but he didn’t want to risk losing Jamie again so soon after getting him back.
“I’ll be fine,” Jamie said, hugging Ward from behind.
All of the pride members who could hold their own in a fight were gathered in a decrepit apartment building outside of the warehouse that housed the labs. Those who couldn’t fight were organizing a small infirmary not far away as well as transport for the shifters they were going to rescue, and Jamie should have been with them, not here in the middle of the action.
Ward’s cat growled and Ward echoed the noise, warning his mate to go back. Jamie slapped him on the chest. “Don’t go all growly on me. I’ll wait until you big guys secure the building, but I think it’s a good idea if the shifters see me. They already know me, they know I’ve been there with them and I hope they trust me.”
Ward knew Jamie was right, but it didn’t make it easier to accept. But he also knew that Jamie could make his own decisions and that his mate wasn’t foolish. He had to trust him to do the best thing.
“Fine, but you stay here until Dominic says it’s safe.”
“Of course.”
“All right, people. Sebastian and Nate are back. We have fourteen guards and nine shifters in the facility right now, and only a few workers. Try to capture as many of them as you can, but if it comes to it, don’t be afraid to kill. I’d rather have you in one piece than them. Another problem is that we don’t know how the shifters are going to react. From what we know, a few of them have been in this place for a while and they might be scared or confused when they see us, so be careful.” Dominic looked around and nodded. “Okay, everyone in position.”
Whitedell Pride 1 - Jamie Page 11
