by Julia Talbot
He leaned back, feeling lighter and lighter with every single mile that put Dallas behind them. That was just too much ground to cover. Too many variables. Colorado was less crowded, and the bad guys would stick out more. That fact would make his job so much easier. Sebastian wasn’t cut out for this spy shit.
He glanced over, Sebastian so much more peaceful when he was out cold. Poor guy was running on empty.
The temptation to reach over and touch was… huge.
“Bad.” He murmured it out loud, drawing Tyrone’s worried gaze in the mirror. “Me, not him. I was thinking too much.”
“That’s your job, I suppose. It’s not his. He makes things. Beautiful things.”
“Yeah?” He hadn’t seen any of Sebastian’s work, just all the papers he hadn’t signed. “You two been friends long?” Because Tyrone was a friend, clearly, not just an employee.
“You know, no one thinks wolves and elk can get along, but I’ve been friends with Seb and Alan since we were little. They snuck out and got lost and spent almost a week with the herd before the pack found them.”
“Oh, wow. Going native with the elk.”
Tyrone chuckled. “You know it. He did a fabric collection on the experience a few years ago. Stark and amazing. Tribal. I loved it.”
“Yeah? That’s what the goal is, right? To let him get back to his real work?” Jaxon needed Tyrone on board.
“It so is. Ron will recover. When he names a new Alpha, I hope it’s not Seb.” Tyrone grinned back in the rearview. “He’s a good man, but he’s happiest in his studio.”
“Well, it’s part of my job to keep him safe so he can be happy, but don’t tell him that.”
“My lips are sealed. You got a preference for type of vehicle? I’m assuming we’re paying cash?”
“We are.” He had an expense account. “An SUV would be best.” Something sizable so it was heavy.
“You like a Yukon? There’s a GMC dealership up here.”
“Sounds perfect.” A Yukon would be a monster, and but still had maneuverability.
“Let’s do this. It’ll be comfortable for the boss, but no one will pay attention. Also, satellite radio.”
He liked Tyrone.
“I’m in.” Now he just had to keep Sleeping Beauty snoozing for a while….
Preferably until the fucking Colorado border.
CHRIST, HIS head hurt. He frowned, then heard the engine running, his memories and adrenaline hitting him in a rush and he surged up, ready to fight whoever had crashed into them.
“Whoa, boss. Whoa.” Jaxon grabbed his arm. He knew that voice, which was so odd, since he barely knew the guy. “It’s okay. They’re gone.”
“You’re okay? Tyrone? No one’s hurt?”
“Good to go, boss!” Tyrone called.
“Just you. Your head smacked on the door.” Jaxon gave him a tiny smile.
“Oh. Great. Explains the headache. We heading home?” Wasn’t that what had happened? They were taking Jaxon home?
“We are.” Jaxon beamed now, and suspicion set right in.
He frowned and shook his head, trying to clear it, to focus. “Why’s it dark? Why does my car smell weird?”
“New-car smell,” Tyrone said, sounding cheerful as could be.
“New car…. What the fuck is going on?” He understood growling and he used it.
Jaxon held out both hands in a placating gesture. “The cops were coming, and we made it out. I called Ron. He said to bring you back to Colorado.”
“Colorado? But… I don’t have my work with me.” And Jaxon wasn’t supposed to come with. “I’m confused.”
“They’ll ship anything you need.” Jaxon appeared to be going for soothing. Sebastian wasn’t sure it was working.
“Where’s my phone? I need to make some calls.” Except his head was pounding but good, and he wanted a hamburger.
“I have no idea. If you had it before the guys rammed us, you still have it.” Jaxon pulled a bottle of Tylenol out of a convenience store bag.
“Oh. Please.” He held out one hand.
“Here you go.” Jaxon also pulled a cold water out of a Styrofoam cooler.
“Thanks.” It took a second for everything to kick in; then his head cleared. “How the hell did you two switch cars without waking me up?”
Jaxon’s eyes went wide. “I have no idea. I assume you needed some sleep.”
“Fucker. Tyrone, the next exit, let Mr. Jaxon out of the car.” Jaxon had to have drugged him.
“Oh, boss, don’t be that way. You want me to find a hotel with a steakhouse attached?”
He closed his eyes for a moment. “Tyrone, why do you always have to fight me?”
“Because I do what’s best for you. Not what you want.” Tyrone didn’t sound the least bit sorry. “You’re more than my boss, boss.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Shit. “The steakhouse would be good. Hell, I’d settle for a Denny’s.”
“Mmm. Grits. I like Denny’s.”
He stared at Tyrone, remembering the huge elk as a little thing, all knobby knees and soft muzzle, sleeping with him when he was so lost and scared.
So he sighed, then nodded. “Okay. Did you drug me, Jaxon?”
“Drug is a strong word. You were out, and I encouraged you to stay that way until we switched cars.”
“How did you even—”
“I don’t sleep well. I had some sleeping pills. Lightweight. Quick. You needed to rest.”
“And no one at the car dealership….”
Tyrone chuckled. “We told them the truth. You were drugged after being hurt in the accident.”
“Ah.” Well, how convenient. “Conspiring against me.”
“For you.” Tyrone met his eyes. “For you, boss.”
How the hell did he growl about that? Fucker.
Jaxon nodded. “Look, I know we’re not friends. Yet. But I was acting in your best interests.”
“Neither one of you got hurt, right?”
“Nope.” Tyrone sighed. “But the car was limping.”
“Sorry, man. I know you liked the Hummer.”
“Oh, this is a Yukon with all the bells and whistles.” Tyrone sounded gleeful.
“New-car smell,” Jaxon repeated. “Always gives the driver a happy.”
“I guess, yeah.” He hated feeling out of control.
“We’ll get some food in you and you’ll feel better.” Jaxon smiled at him, looking pretty damn pleased with himself.
“This is Uncle Ron’s doing.” He just knew it.
“What?” Those dark red eyebrows went up, Jaxon wide-eyed again. It was less convincing now.
“Give it up, man. You’re a ringer. I’ll put you on a plane when I get home.”
“Why? I’m actually a really good personal assistant.” Somehow the smart, smooth expression was way more real. “You do what you do best, and I’ll handle all that scut work Ron turned over to you.”
He closed his eyes. “You kept sayin’ that.”
“I mean it.” Jaxon leaned closer, moving the air and making heat. “Look, Tyrone says you’re an amazing designer. Don’t you want to get back to what you love?”
He wanted that more than anything, but he needed to make things right, to put the pack to rights. Ron needed him to find out who’d done this.
“Hey.” Jaxon touched his hand, making him jump. “I can help. With everything.”
Electricity shot up his hand and he barked, surprised enough his eyes flew open. “What was that?”
“Huh? I-I don’t know.” Jaxon let go, staring at his hand.
“Static, I guess.” His head felt clearer, though. “Find that food, Tyrone.�
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“On it, boss.” Tyrone got the GPS going, then hooted. “Texas Roadhouse and a Hampton.”
“Perfect. Steak and sleep.”
Jaxon nodded, that smile widening into something genuine. “Yum.”
“They have good rolls,” Tyrone murmured, and Sebastian rolled his eyes. Elk.
“They have peanuts too, herbivore.”
“They do! And salad. With cheese. I do like cheese.”
Sebastian began to chuckle, the sound ringing through the car. How could he stay angry in the face of steak and cheese joy?
Jaxon stared at him, eyes glowing a bright yellow. Weird.
Sebastian leaned back, closing his eyes again, because he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t fucking like that either, not knowing. He’d felt like that for months now, since Ron’s attack.
The scent of cooked meat hit him suddenly, and that drowned out everything else. Hungry.
He growled, the sound tearing out of him. Whoa. Whoa, keep it together.
Jaxon took his hand again. “Almost there.”
That electricity slammed through him again, his wolf trying to surge to the forefront. What the fuck? He wanted to howl, every nerve in his body at attention.
The car slowed as Tyrone pulled into a parking space. “I’ll go get the rooms,” Ty said. “Can you get us a table, Jaxon?”
“You bet. Come on, boss. The feast awaits.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I must be hungrier than I thought.” And he’d thought he was pretty well starving.
“I’m about to bite you, I’m so hungry.” Jaxon gave him this glinting little grin, and his cock jumped in his pants.
“That would be dangerous for you.”
“Would it?” That laugh didn’t help, low and throaty.
“Indeed. I bite back.” He unfolded himself from the car, his belly snarling.
“Mmm.” Jaxon slid out of the car, letting him lead the way into the restaurant.
Goddess, he swore he could feel Jaxon’s eyes on his ass. Could you feel a stare or was he just projecting?
The smell of warm bread distracted him, then the crunch of peanut shells under his feet.
It was the steak, though, that made him want to whine and bite the air.
“Two?” The hostess bounced up, ponytail swinging.
“Three,” Jaxon said. “Please.”
All he could do was nod and try not to show his teeth too much.
“Right this way.” She led them to a six-person booth. “Here you go. Peanuts?”
“Please. Lots.”
“You got it. Your server will be right with you.”
He didn’t even look at the menu; he didn’t have to. He wanted the biggest steak they had.
“They only had two rooms.” Tyrone slid into the booth across from him, next to Jaxon. “Jax and I can split.”
He nodded. Maybe he’d go fuzzy and curl up in the middle of the bed and chew his tail. That sounded perfect after the meal he planned to have.
Maybe two steaks, no potato.
“Steak.” Jaxon winked at him, and he laughed.
“Was I drooling?” Sebastian asked.
“Nah, but you were narrow-eyed and focused.”
“I’m hungry.”
“No gnawing on your old buddy.”
“No gnawing, Ty.”
The server finally came, and he and Jaxon ordered slabs of meat, while Tyrone got a double house salad, a blooming onion, and fried pickles with green beans and buttered corn.
When he and Jaxon stared, Tyrone shrugged. “Takes a lot of veg to keep this body moving.”
“You should have seen him when he was a teenager.” Sebastian had thought Ty was going to eat an entire forest. The summers had been the worst. He could eat pounds of salad bar at a time.
Tyrone just laughed. “You just don’t eat with me as much now.”
“Why haven’t you found a nice cow and settled down, man?” he teased.
Tyrone sighed dramatically. “You never stay in one place long enough.”
“Poor, poor baby. Missing his hunting grounds.”
“I’m lucky. My type is all over,” Jaxon said. Was the man staring at him again in that sexy fox sort of way?
No. No way. He just was addled. His head wasn’t throbbing so bad, though. Tylenol rocked.
He ate peanuts and bread, listening to the worries in his head spin round and round in wild circles. He knew the people who wanted to hurt Ron weren’t headquartered in Boulder. He knew it. That was why he’d been in Dallas, and he’d planned on Denver next. Denver was close, though. He could sneak out once Ron thought he was settled.
Although he wanted to just curl up in his Estes home and enjoy the winter, work on textiles for the spring line, rest.
He glanced at Jaxon, who was watching him, sympathy in those pretty eyes. Jaxon seemed incredibly attuned to his mood.
Maybe he was just wanted someone to be attuned to him.
His position was a lonely one.
Jaxon ate steadily: steak, potato, salad. He listened to Tyrone talk and nodded at all the right times, but he never looked away from Sebastian.
It was unnerving as hell. Weirdly hot too.
Didn’t stop him from eating his weight in steak. In fact, with every bite he felt stronger, more solid. He took a deep breath between his last bite of steak and the next two rolls.
He might live. Maybe.
Now he just needed to call Ron. Then sleep. Maybe shower and jack off.
When he looked up, Jaxon’s eyes were glowing again, that long nose twitching.
That was it. His hand, his cock, a nice long build up to explosion, and then nappage.
He was almost panting, his body tingling, sensitized.
“So. Hotel?” Tyrone gave him a knowing look.
“Uh-huh.” He slapped money on the table, then held out one hand. “Key?”
Tyrone dug in his pocket. “Here you go. Room 204. We’re in 206.”
“Thanks. Night.”
He stalked out of the restaurant, his cock hard as nails, his wolf under his skin struggling to get out. To hell with Ron. Jaxon had talked to him and he was fine.
Jaxon. Sebastian whirled around, and they slapped together when Jaxon couldn’t stop. “Stop following me!”
Pure lightning shot through him when Jaxon put both hands on his chest, and he arched, damn near howling.
“Sorry. Sorry, you were just so close to wolfing out. I wanted to make sure you got to your room.” Jaxon panted, his cheeks almost glowing, they were so flushed.
“Motherfucker.” He growled deep in his chest, one hand wrapping around Jaxon’s surprisingly muscled upper arm.
“What?” Jaxon swayed closer, but they sprang apart when someone honked at them from the restaurant parking lot.
He spun around and sprinted for the second floor, his feet slamming on the stairs.
Jaxon stayed with him, chasing him. If the man was in fox form, he’d be nipping Sebastian’s heels. His body was lit up, fire tracing sigils under his skin.
The door didn’t want to open. He thought about kicking it down, but Jaxon skidded to a halt beside him and took the card before opening the door easily.
He pushed inside, the door slamming into the wall on the far side with a satisfying bang.
Jaxon flowed into the room right behind him, reaching for him, sliding both hands over his back.
Sebastian arched, a sharp bark escaping him. Yes.
“God.” Jaxon sounded choked, as if he couldn’t force the words out.
“If you don’t want this, get out.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Jaxon spun him around and practically climbed him like a tree.
He got himself a double handful of ass and dragged them together, growling deep in his chest, and he humped them against each other.
“Oh hell, yes.” Jaxon bit his neck, right at the base.
He howled, slamming Jaxon back against the closed door. Sebastian rocked, needing more, his body on
fire. Maybe he’d never been so desperate. Another bite and he was ready to scream, the sharp burn utterly delicious.
“Want skin.” Jaxon started tugging at clothes.
“Uhn.” He nodded, grabbing the front of Jaxon’s shirt and tugging hard. Buttons flew away, ricocheting off his chest, then the table by the door.
Oops.
Jaxon chuckled softly, the sound wicked, feral. “Pretty puppy.”
“Be careful, foxy. I can snap you up in two bites.”
“It may take you four. I’m hung.”
He laughed, a surprised bark. “Let me see.”
He backed off, letting Jaxon have room, but more importantly, giving himself some space.
Jaxon let go of him to yank belt and button open and shove those ridiculous khakis down around his thighs. Hung. That was kind of an understatement.
“Pretty.” The praise was immediate, instinctive.
“You now.” Jax kinda leaped at him again like a hunting fox.
He reached out and caught Jaxon, stumbling back a few steps. Damn.
“Mmmm. Yummy.” Jaxon was all wiggles and rubbing.
“You’re just a baby….” He leaned in and nibbled.
“No. No. I just really love sex.” That laughter was so contagious.
Huh. Interesting. He bit a little harder, testing the skin.
“Uhn.” Jaxon arched, legs fastening around his waist. “Yeah.”
He sat down on the bed, rocking them together, nice and steady. Sebastian held that tight ass with both hands, and he watched the flushed, heavy cock bounce when Jaxon moved, rubbing along his shirt. He didn’t have any luggage, anything to change into.
“Hold up.” He slid Jaxon back a bit, then pulled off his shirt, which Jaxon had half opened.
“Mmm. Soft fuzzy belly…”
“Soft?” He flexed and growled.
“The fur, silly. And your skin. The muscles are impressive.” Jax rolled his eyes. “Wolves are so quick to take offense.”
“Shut up.” He yanked Jaxon back up against his chest for a kiss.
Jax bit him, playing with him, tugging his bottom lip, teasing him. Then that talented tongue touched the same spot, soothing the sting. “I bet I can make you howl for me, pup.”
“You think so?” He could be all over that as long as it wasn’t just a game. He liked giving as good as he got.
