by Zoey Marcel
Doc slapped his ass, making the man yelp. “Watch yourself, sub. Now quit talking or I won’t let you come.”
Patrick panted and whimpered as Doc worked his penis and testes until he exploded in his hand. His elated sounds of passion moved Doc every bit as much as they turned him on.
He thought he felt his sub’s butt get bigger all of a sudden, which was a bit strange. Suddenly the tasseled end of a tail whipped him in the face and Patrick’s ears elongated and he let out a big “hee-haw.”
His body changed and the force of the transformation knocked Doc backward. His eyes got huge when he saw that a fat gray donkey stood in place of the toned and lean sub. Then it hit him. Patrick was a shape-shifter. Evidently a pudgy donkey when in his animal form. The animal was adorable, but Doc was too freaked out to dwell on the pseudo horse’s cuteness.
“What the fuck?”
The donkey made his braying noise again. In fact he never stopped making that sound. He chased Doc around the room and never shut up. Apparently the donkey side of him was just as chatty as his human side.
“Patrick, shift back! Why the hell didn’t you tell me you were a fucking donkey shifter?”
The chubby, long-eared imp turned around and had his backside to Doc.
Uh-oh.
He became more exasperated and puzzled by the second. “Sub, if you kick me I’m going to beat your ass.”
The donkey paused for a second as if weighing his decision carefully. Then his head dipped and the next thing Doc knew he felt a powerful blow to his groin. He staggered backward and hit the wall. He grabbed his crotch in agony and watched the donkey that had just officially made it onto his shit list.
The furry, fat thing shifted back into toned, slender Patrick, whose expression was surprisingly concerned. “Are you okay, boss?”
Doc gritted his teeth. “As soon as I recover your ass is grass.”
“I’m sorry about that. It was the only way.” Patrick appeared remorseful and perhaps a tad bit happy. “I tried to stop it, but I just couldn’t anymore.”
“Stop what? Do you always get the urge to kick people in the balls?”
“No, just you.”
Doc rolled his eyes. “What a touching thing to say. I’m flattered.”
“It won’t do any permanent damage to your man bits or anything. The bond keeps you from getting harmed by me doing that to you. I wasn’t trying to be a brat or anything. It’s the way donkey shifters claim their mates. You get to live a lot longer, too. Maybe forever. It depends on the individual.”
“What?” If the kick to the groin had pissed him off, he was absolutely furious now. He grabbed Patrick by the arms and slammed him up against the wall with a fierce amount of power. “You little son of a bitch! Did you just claim me?”
“Well…yeah.” Patrick swallowed nervously. “But in my defense, I was meant to.”
“Did it ever occur to you to ask first?”
“But I already knew the answer. You said this was about sex, but you won’t even take my virginity. I need more.”
“Then go get laid.” Doc shoved him toward the door, wanting desperately to beat his ass but needing to get him out of there so he could think.
Patrick looked hurt and like he might cry. “I didn’t mean it that way. I meant I want to be with you.”
“Well, you can’t, Patrick.”
“You don’t want me?” He practically whispered the words.
“It doesn’t matter what I do or don’t want,” Doc snapped. “I have cancer, you brat. The oncologist only gave me about a few months to live, tops. I’m fourteen years older than you and dying. This could never go anywhere. I didn’t defraud you. I told you that from the beginning. Unlike you I was honest.”
Patrick gaped at him and his blue eyes watered. “You have cancer?”
“Lung cancer, yes.”
“Oh, Val,” he breathed.
The way Patrick said his name was different. No one called him by his actual name, and certainly no one had spoken it the way he had.
“My mate is dying.” A tear ran down his cheek. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not your mate,” Doc growled. “And now thanks to you I’m going to live for God knows how many years as a cancerous jackass. If you wanted to do me a real favor, then you should have kicked me in the chest so at least I might have died sooner.”
Patrick’s eyes spilled as he snatched his clothes and shoes up and bolted out of the room. Half of Doc wanted to run after the mischievous cuss, but the other part of him refused to comfort the little ass who just condemned him to an extended life of pain and sickness.
He breathed deeply just to see if Jade’s theory of being healed through mating had worked. Nope. It still hurt like hell to breathe. He felt a tickle in his throat and coughed a bit. When he coughed harder he spat up blood. He really wanted to beat Patrick’s ass now.
The claiming may have bound them to each other, or whatever the hell happened when people got claimed, but it hadn’t healed him. All it had done was make everything worse. Now Patrick would become even more attached to him, even if they had nothing to do with each other. And Doc was still dying.
Chapter Seven
Ivy Covington parked the car and laid her head back against the headrest. She was back in Southern California again and almost home thankfully, but she couldn’t stay when she got there. Brutus knew where she lived. She’d stop by the house long enough to get a few things and then split.
She’d spent the night in the car and driven far out of the way in hopes that the route would help her avoid him. It delayed her arrival quite a bit, but it would be worth it to evade capture again.
The police hadn’t believed her when she called them and told them what happened. Well, maybe when they saw the mangled bodies that Brutus left behind at that gas station, then they’d believe the truth about his origins.
She used to have Jade’s number programmed into her cell phone, but after they broke up, Ivy had deleted it. Too bad she hadn’t made it a point to memorize it back when she had the chance. The odds were good that Brutus would relinquish his blood hunt for Jade and simply track Ivy down for his perverted will.
Then again he seemed very jealous that she still had feelings for Jade. Hopefully he wouldn’t act on that and would devote his attention to finding her instead. Either way she needed to go home to grab her address book so she could get Jade’s phone number to warn her about Brutus. That and Ivy worried he might find her mom’s number and hold her hostage.
She noticed a duffel bag in the trunk when she peeked back there to see if he left anything behind. When she looked inside, a cold chill of terror crept up her spine. Her diaries were in the bag. Brutus must have stolen them and then read them. He’d admitted to reading them on the phone with her, but she thought he’d simply read them at her house when she wasn’t home, not stolen them and then pored over them like a nosy creep.
She opened the diaries to see if he’d written anything in there, like a map of where he was going or an evil plan on how he intended to kill Jade. Ivy’s mouth fell open when a drawing of her sleeping slipped out from the journal. He was a remarkable artist apparently, but holy cow, he’d drawn her while she slept.
She shivered and suddenly felt violated when she found one of her panties in the bag as well. A lacy red pair. She squealed in disgust and tossed them back into the bag when she saw cum in the crotch of them.
“Ew! Oh God!” She wiped her hands on her jeans. “Oh my God!”
Before she closed the diary and put it away, she noticed a note he’d written to her on the inside of the cover. She could hear the words clearly as if he’d spoken them to her in that powerful, commanding voice of his. The message read
My dearest Ivy Covington,
You are my goddess of desire, my inspiration of innocence, and you are a fool.
Your puny Wesley Morris is dead and your harlot, Jade Flowers, left you for a male.
They were not worthy of you. Death
is no excuse to part with you, and there is no other to equal your worth.
I am not a fool. I will never die, nor shall I forsake you for another. I will never let you go. No matter how much time passes or how many miles endeavor to separate us, their will shall not prevail against mine.
Nothing will come between us. Nothing, damn you. No one will take you away from me. I will kill all who try. You are mine, little one, and someday you will know it.
Strong affection and limitless worship of you,
Brutus
Ivy read the words, wiping her eyes when her vision became blurred by warm tears. The psycho was a killer and he was raving mad, but the subtle threats aside, the majority of the letter touched her, even as it made her shudder in trepidation.
Wesley Morris had left a gaping hole in her chest that never stopped aching. It had been surreal to hear about that plane crash in the news, knowing that he’d been on it when the plane went down. Words couldn’t describe the unconscionable turmoil that assailed her in that hour.
After a few years her best friend Jade had agreed to go out with her. Their relationship had been sweet, and Ivy fell hard for her. Whether her love was sincere or merely a desperate attempt to fill the void that Wesley had left in her heart was up in the air.
She lost them both. One by fate and the other by choice. Life didn’t care how badly she hurt. It went on…as Jade had moved on with Bane and fell madly in love with him.
Ivy reread the words and felt her heart ache. Why had she lost the love of her life? Why had her best friend left her? If she had to choose between Wesley and Jade, hands down it would be Wesley. He was her first love and the bond that had run the deepest.
Brutus was a coldblooded killer among other things, yet he was obsessed with her. She found it frightening rather than flattering, but after reading the letter it brought her to tears. Her heart ached with grief and loneliness, wanting desperately to be loved forever.
But Brutus? He was the epitome of masculinity and very hot, but he was a deranged madman. He committed more than one murder without shedding a single tear of remorse and he seemed hell-bent on defiling her.
There was only one thing more dangerous than his criminal nature. He had Wesley’s eyes.
* * * *
Jade didn’t know what to do with herself with Doc gone. Sawyer had been out in the pasture all day and Kellan had disappeared. That just left her alone in the big house with the one Sawyer sometimes referred to as Sergeant Crab Cakes. God help her. What was she supposed to say to Stetson when he finally came downstairs?
It was getting close to dinnertime and there was still no sign of the other cowboys anywhere. She started on dinner anyway, stopping every little bit to peek out the entryway window in case Doc showed up. Where was he anyway? Why did everyone have to make themselves scarce? Why the heck couldn’t Stetson follow suit? She didn’t want to be left all alone with the crotchety stud.
She heard footsteps and glanced toward the sound. Stetson was barefoot. It fascinated her for whatever reason. Seeing his oddly attractive feet just made him seem more human and approachable. How did exposing his feet have that effect on her? What a weirdo she must be.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” he demanded.
Uh-oh. Time to pull out the clueless doofus card.
“About what?”
Now he looked pissed. He closed the all-too-short distance between them at an alarming rate. “Don’t play the ditz with me, tramp. How long have you known Doc had cancer?”
She swallowed when he grabbed her roughly by the arm, torn between slapping him for what he called her and then running like hell or finding some way to pacify his anger. “Not long. Only a couple of days.”
“And you never said anything?” His tone elevated and became gruffer and manlier.
How in the world that was possible she was sure she didn’t know. “Doc didn’t want me to. I kept urging him to tell everybody.”
“You should have told me, Jade, instead of running around with my brothers like a little cock slut.”
She snapped. What the hell did Doc see in this bastard? Besides his undeniable good looks and manly hotness? That aside, he was an ass, and she’d love to clock him a good one if she didn’t think he’d spank her for it.
“Let go of me, you ass crack! I’m not a whore, and I’ll thank you not to call me one again unless you intend to do so in bed.” She gasped at the words that flew out of her mouth and her eyes got huge with shock. She felt the blood rushing into her cheeks.
Stetson blinked in surprise over her telling outburst, and she thought she saw his lips twitch in amusement, but the smile never formed. “I have no intention of fucking you. I don’t take whores into my bed.”
She clenched her fists at her sides to keep from punching him in the face. He was too tall for that, but his groin was within range. Hm, do I dare? I’m a fast runner, but he’s got long legs. I bet he’s faster. Of course if he’s too busy grabbing his crotch I might be able to make a quick getaway.
“Oh yeah, well I don’t get into bed with assholes,” she retorted.
He folded his arms, still looking disgusted with her. “You screwed Sawyer.”
“Sawyer’s hot and funny. He’s not an asshole like you.”
His brow tilted in vexation when he saw her poking his chest. “Don’t touch me unless you want an ass whooping.”
“I’ll touch you all I want to, and you’re not spanking me, cowboy.” Jade poked him repeatedly with what was probably an obnoxious expression on her face. “Oh no, I’m touching you. Oh look, poke, poke. What are you going to do about that, tough stuff?”
Stetson tensed with aggravation and possibly discomfort, as if pride was the only thing keeping him from squirming away from her. “Jade, I’m warning you.”
She let out a hyperventilating gasp. “Oh no, Stetson’s angry. I guess I’d better stop touching him. Oh wait, I’m not afraid of you. That’s right.”
She kept poking him with a “bite me” face.
“That’s it.” He grabbed her arm, and she panicked and punched him…in the crotch. He grabbed the place and his face distorted briefly. “You bitch! You’re dead when I catch you!”
She took off through the house, screaming when he came after her. Oh my God, I punched Stetson Brooks in the groin! What the hell was I thinking? He’s going to kill me!
“I’m sorry! I get that way sometimes! Let’s have a truce!” she shouted her plea as she tried to run past him. Unfortunately he kept blocking her line of retreat whenever she tried to bolt from the couch that separated them.
“Come here and we’ll shake hands,” he said deviously.
“I don’t think so. You’re just going to do something horrible to me.”
His dark eyes laughed at her. “You don’t trust me?”
“No. You’re the devil. Oh no!” She made a run for it, but he was quicker. He caught her by the arm and hurled her forward so she was bent over the back of the couch. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Teaching you to respect me, you little brat.” He had her pants open before his actions could fully register and he tugged her jeans down.
She squealed and grabbed her white boy shorts with the pink lettering to make sure they stayed up as he pulled her pants down her legs. “You pervert! Let me up!”
“Bitch, please. Don’t flatter yourself,” he sassed. “This isn’t what you think.”
“Ow! You bastard!” He spanked her bottom through her underwear. She tried to get up, but he used his other hand to press down hard on her back to keep her from getting up.
“Hello Kitty panties. How grown-up of you,” he taunted as he spanked her some more.
She blushed and struggled. “You asshole, I like cats! If I was one, I’d claw your face off and bite your balls and chew on your cock!”
He snickered. “I think you’re the pervert, Jade.”
“How dare you! Stop spanking me!” He didn’t stop. “You have no right! I’m e
ngaged!”
“Oh, now you’re engaged?” he challenged, spanking her harder. “You don’t mind fucking other men behind Bane’s back, but God forbid someone should give your slutty ass the spanking you deserve.”
“Ouch! He gave me permission!”
“You sure jumped all over that one, didn’t you, slut?”
She screeched her frustration, trying in vain to get up again. As much as the spanking hurt, her pussy was getting wet and it annoyed her.
Stetson tugged her undies to one side, exposing her right butt cheek. “You even got Ivy’s initials tattooed on you. How sweet. Before you left that poor girl for Bane.”
Jade yelped and her eyes welled when he gave her ass a good hard slap on that cheek.
“And now that you have Bane you’re hopping in and out of bed with Sawyer and Kellan. Who’s next, slut?”
She squirmed when he tugged her underwear halfway down her butt and spanked her left loaf. “Not you. And it’s none of your business who I sleep with.”
“I don’t want you corrupting my baby brother.” He spanked her harder still, making her buns hot and sore.
“Kellan is a grown man, you idiot. And FYI, he was a player long before I ever got a hold of him. Sorry to burst your bubble. Ow!”
“You’re still a whore.”
Her eyes burned when she thought of poor brokenhearted Ivy and of Bane’s jealousy over her impulses to claim her other mates. She wanted to behave, but fate kept leading her to other people. It was greedy to want more than one partner, but she couldn’t help her feelings for Doc and Kellan. She certainly didn’t love Bane any less, but she needed the other two men as well.
“I’m not a whore,” Jade protested, trying to hold back the tears. She pulled her boy shorts back up all the way.
“Let go of your panties,” Stetson ordered in a no-nonsense kind of tone.
“No.”
She gasped and her heart rate went erratic when he grabbed the waistband. Heat swept into her cheeks. She was fine with the other Brookses and Doc seeing her bare ass, but for some reason it embarrassed her to let Stetson see it, despite her strong attraction to him.
