Father Piotr squatted, his knees popping so that it made Jameson’s hurt in sympathy. “We have told you of our family. They have in turn told of their lost leader and his mate. Many have begun to lose faith that their true Alpha Anax will return, and many who fought for him have been killed or imprisoned. There have been rumours of sightings, and when I saw you outside on the steps, I remembered the rumours, and the drawings and sketches passed in secret of you two. There are many shifters, and yes, even some people, looking for you and Luuk. I have even heard tell of the Alpha Anaxes of other countries sending over guards to find you recently.”
Jameson’s head was spinning with the influx of news, and the part about guards from other countries and Alpha Anaxes—what was he supposed to make of that? He remembered the unfamiliar scent of the other shifters in the forest hours ago. Would shifters from far away have a different smell to them?
“Please, we truly only mean to help.” The older priest sighed and plopped onto his butt. “Too hard on my knees.” He turned watery blue eyes on him. “Jameson.”
Hearing his name in someone other than Luuk’s voice just sounded weird, and…and wonderful. Even in wolf form, his eyes burned, and Jameson had to struggle not to shift. He wanted to trust these men so badly, it scared him. Could he?
“Jameson,” Father Piotr said again. “It’s a strong name. We have not contacted anyone, not even our family shifters, to tell them you and Luuk have been found. We would not, without first gaining your permission. We also understand that trust isn’t given but earned. Unfortunately, I do not think your mate has the time for you to dither over this.” He nodded just as Jameson heard Luuk’s breath hitch, felt his presence flicker, and it terrified him as nothing else could.
Jameson shifted, scrambling to Luuk. “No, no no no,” he muttered, scooping Luuk into his arms. “You can’t, Luuk, no. You can’t…” Jameson rocked and exerted every bit of power he could through their link, clamping mental tendrils around Luuk, coaxing and binding, no longer paying attention to the priests. There was no reason to. If he lost Luuk, he lost everything. The priests could kill him or turn him in if they were so inclined.
Or they could save Luuk, he realised, fear jabbing his gut and heart as hands appeared, the stink of the mixture strong and coming from the fumes rolling off the cup one of the priests put to Luuk’s lips. Jameson didn’t take his eyes off Luuk to see which man gave it to him. He was afraid if he looked away, if he let that bond loosen at all, Luuk would leave him.
“You have to fight, Luuk. You have to. Don’t leave me here, you don’t want to leave me here. I know you’re tired, so tired, and I am, too, but don’t be a coward and take the easy way out. Stay here with me and fight!”
Jameson’s desperate thoughts and words flowed as rapidly as his tears. He held Luuk as more of the stuff was poured into his mouth, bathed his face in kisses and licked away the tears he’d spilled on Luuk’s skin. All the while, the priests remained beside him, chanting or praying, he didn’t know which.
Eventually one of them got up. Jameson heard him but wouldn’t look away from Luuk’s pale, drawn face. A few minutes later the priest returned with another cup, and so it went. Jameson lost track of everything but his mate and the fight to keep him alive.
And so, when Luuk finally took a deep, shuddering breath, Jameson’s heart stopped. Then Luuk’s lids fluttered, as if it was a great weight on them, before he opened his eyes in narrow slits.
“Oh God,” Jameson gasped, thinking he’d never seen a more beautiful sight than Luuk’s golden-brown eyes just then. It only lasted for a moment, then Luuk sighed softly, and closed his eyes. But his presence in Jameson’s mind, in his heart, was stronger, and Luuk curled onto his uninjured side and snuggled to Jameson.
The priests whooped, startling Jameson into twitching, then he smiled, and wondered if things truly were as the priests had said, and what Luuk would think of other Alpha Anaxes coming to his aid. It made Jameson’s smile broader imagining the look on Luuk’s face when he was told this information.
Uncaring of his nudity, Jameson lay down on the floor and kept Luuk against him. He didn’t think he’d ever let him go after this scare. He was so tired, and hungry, but none of that mattered. He had Luuk, and they seemed to have an odd set of friends in the two priests. One of them handed him a large pillow while the other flapped a blanket over them.
Jameson settled in, but he was unable to sleep despite being so worn out. Didn’t mean he wasn’t grateful, or content for now, but he’d come so close to losing Luuk the fear was still a living thing prodding at his nerves. He would guard his mate while he slept, and when Luuk woke up, if he was stronger, then Jameson would rest.
Chapter Nine
Searing pain brought Luuk to wakefulness, his lips parting on a gasp as he sat up. “Luuk!” Jamie was right there, his thin hands framing Luuk’s face.
Luuk cupped Jamie’s hands in his and started to close his eyes for a moment, relieved
to be alive and to see Jamie alive, unharmed, when a flicker of movement behind Jamie caught his eye. Luuk grabbed Jamie and had him behind him, agony and his shaky legs be damned. He glared at the old man before him.
“Who are you?” The old man held out a hand and sat in a rickety chair. “I am Father Piotr. We mean only to help. Jameson can tell you.”
Luuk picked up on the accent and figured they had come down the mountain into Poland. But priests? What the hell had happened?
“Luuk, sit, please,” Jamie urged, tugging on his arm.
Luuk glared at the priest while at the same time opening himself to his mate. Jamie assured him of Father Piotr’s sincerity and of the other priest’s, too. Luuk trusted his mate implicitly, but he hoped the priests weren’t going to turn out to be their end. Luuk trusted no one but Jamie and himself. Or maybe, only Jamie.
“Luuk,” Jamie murmured, and Luuk allowed himself to be pulled down onto the bed. “You need to rest still, and to eat. Maybe once you gain a little weight, you’ll recover”— Jamie stopped and finished the sentence mentally—“your ability to heal better. Unless it was the poison, but you haven’t been healing as quickly as you did at first.”
And if he didn’t? Then he was more of a failure, wasn’t he? Which wasn’t acceptable. Jamie needed him strong, and he would give his mate everything he could. Luuk sat with his back against the headboard.
“I will go and prepare a meal,” the old priest said. Luuk waited until he was out of the room before he pulled Jamie down beside him.
“Do you truly trust them?” he asked, and Jamie nodded.
“As much as I can,” Jamie amended. “Maybe it’s just that I want to believe not everyone in Europe wants us dead.”
Luuk snorted and took a moment to nuzzle Jamie’s hair. His mate was clean, smelling of lightly scented soap and shampoo. How long had it been since they’d had a safe place such as this?
“Don’t,” Jamie begged. “Please don’t start thinking like that. We’re here now, and Father Piotr said there’s other Alpha Anaxes wanting to find you and help you regain your position—”
“What?” Luuk asked, jerking his head back in confusion. Had he heard right?
Jamie sat up, excitement and hope bringing colour to his cheeks. “Yes! Apparently some have sent members of their guard to assist in finding you and helping you take back your rightful place. I was wondering, do you remember the wolves we found, the dead ones?”
Luuk nodded.
Jamie brushed at some hair that fell into Luuk’s eyes. “Okay, well, they smelt like dead wolves, nothing unusual. But there were other scents in the forest, unfamiliar, almost…almost foreign smells?”
The fact that Jamie questioned what he thought he had sensed made Luuk feel like shit, but they both had to be extra certain of everything, as they had for the past years. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember much of anything past us trying to make our way down before that.” He wasn’t going to say, ‘after you killed to protect us’. He wanted Jamie to let that go as m
uch as possible and reminding him sure wouldn’t help.
Jamie gnawed on his lip and glanced at his hands as he folded his fingers together. “Well, I think that’s how it seemed to me. Maybe it wasn’t. But, what if there’s someone looking for us, to help?”
Luuk supposed it was possible, although why other Alpha Anaxes would get involved was beyond him. Generally they all stayed out of each other’s business and left one another to run their packs according to their own beliefs and laws.
“I just don’t understand why they would bother,” Luuk muttered, hating to see the hope dim in Jamie’s eyes. “I’m not saying they aren’t, but why, and why now? Has something happened to the European packs I don’t know about?” Fear trumped up his heartbeat.
“No, not…” Jamie shook his head then forged on. “Not anything more than the usual murdering of those who have fought for you.”
Luuk cringed inside, but Jamie spoke of what they both already knew. Luuk had seen entire packs who’d been fiercely loyal to him lying dead, men, women, children—all slaughtered. He didn’t even know how many supporters he had left, or if they’d take a stand with him. Or if he’d want them to, considering the cost if they failed.
Jamie settled back at his side and with two fingers, tipped his head around to kiss him softly on the lips. Luuk’s worries didn’t exactly go away, but they gave way for the feel of his mate beside him, the taste of his lips, his sweet velvet tongue tangling with Luuk’s.
Luuk whimpered, an un-alpha-like sound, but he didn’t care. This was his Jamie, his love, and he had no shame for anything they did together. His cock began to stiffen, and he reached down, tracing the stark outline of Jamie’s spine through his shirt, down to the centre of his body. Luuk could feel the heat there, the need pulsing between his cheeks.
But Jamie jerked back and almost went off the bed. He would have had Luuk not grabbed his ass and pulled. “Where are you going?”
Jamie, with his mouth parted and a slightly dazed expression on his face, looked almost the same way he did when he was aroused. He was so beautiful Luuk ached with want just from looking at him.
“W-we’re in a church,” Jamie whispered. “And Father Piotr is coming back. Listen.” He did, and Luuk heard the shuffle of footsteps, two different sets. “The other is Father Norbert, I recognise the sounds of them both. Luuk…” Jamie kissed his lips, his nose, his cheek. “I don’t want to leave here, not until we’re stronger. I don’t want to get thrown out for having sex.”
Luuk sighed. He didn’t want to stress Jamie out, but he wasn’t going to be able to keep his hands off Jamie for long. Jamie was just too tempting, but for now… “All right. My side is not quite better yet anyway.” And he needed to look at it, needed to see what had been done to him and find out what poison was used, how the priests had saved him. In fact, Luuk had several questions for the priests, and he’d begin asking them once he’d made sure dinner was safe to eat.
Chapter Ten
“They seem honest,” Luuk said later, once the priests had retired for the night, or at least had finally left them alone. Jameson had been about ready to chase them out. Two more people in the room was two too many. It’d been so long since they’d been around anyone else.
“I couldn’t detect anything to make me think they aren’t, once we got past the whole English-speaking thing.” Jameson had explained his earlier confrontation with the priests. It was good to know that Luuk didn’t sense anything deceitful about their hosts—Jameson truly did want them to just…be for a while. And the regular meals were pretty damn awesome too.
“And the whole not having someone trying to kill us at any moment, hopefully,” Luuk added. He glanced at the door. There were numerous locks on it, courtesy of the Fathers. Another reason Jameson felt safer than he had in a while.
“Would shifters attack…?” Jameson stopped and snorted. “Stupid question, I know.” Luuk caught Jameson’s hand and pulled him towards the bed, where he lay. “Not a stupid question at all. There are religious shifters just as there are religious humans, although very few of them practise Christian religions. For the most part, they tend to worship nature, and would still respect the boundaries of another’s religion.” Luuk drilled him with an intense look that made his hazel eyes gleam. “And you, Jamie? I never thought you particularly religious.”
Jamie wasn’t stupid. He smelt the arousal coming from Luuk, felt it searing him from their shared link. “I’m not, but—”
Luuk’s grin was downright sinful. “But there’s these wonderful locks on the door, and I promise you, I’ll be quiet so as not to disturb anyone.”
“I’m already disturbed,” Jamie muttered, because his cock was hard and the whole idea of having to be quiet was a turn-on in a totally surprising way. Always before, it had been risking death if they dared mate and weren’t truly hidden, so they’d had to be as silent as they could be. To know they could shout and moan and have someone hear without fear of being attacked was, well, perversely arousing, Jamie figured. However, it would still be disrespectful to the priests, so struggling to keep it down this time wasn’t a matter of life and death, which made the challenge of it a turn-on.
“We’ve been on our own too long,” he said in a low voice. He also waved a finger back and forth at Luuk. “And, you said not many hours ago at all that your side was still hurting you. Have you healed yet?” He asked it with hope, not sarcasm, and Luuk’s averted gaze and the ruddy colour of his cheeks told him the answer.
Jameson sighed and pushed down the worry trying to eat at him. Luuk didn’t need to feel it, and Jameson wasn’t up to hiding anything from his mate. He, too, was tired, and not used to being able to be so unguarded, even if he was still listening for any sounds that shouldn’t occur. He couldn’t explain it, but he felt strangely safe, although he did acknowledge it might well just be relief at Luuk’s not dying.
“I might die if you keep refusing me,” Luuk tried and Jameson rolled his eyes.
“I might die if you keep making lame come-ons like that,” he retorted, but he was smiling and thinking. He could see Luuk’s erection tenting the sheet in his peripheral and that was a temptation he didn’t think he could keep resisting. To feel the weight of Luuk’s cock on his tongue, in his throat…
“Tell you what, if you promise to just lay there and let me do the moving, I’ll suck this”—Jameson’s voice was husky when he traced the fold at the top of the sheet. He ran his hand down and felt the heat of Luuk’s cock through the material—“until you give me everything you have. Until my jaws ache and my throat is raw, until you and I can’t possibly stand another minute of the pleasure.” Jameson’s inhibitions couldn’t hold out against that thick, leaking shaft. “Until you break your promise of silence because you can’t do anything other—”
“Jesus,” Luuk rasped, reaching for him. Jameson left off touching his dick and instead pressed Luuk back down on the bed.
He gave his mate a stern look. “No. If you sit up, or try to again, I’ll stop. You will not hurt yourself.”
“I’m hurting now,” Luuk said in what was very close to a whine. Jameson knew he must truly be in pain to let such a tone slip.
“I’ll take care of you,” Jameson promised. “Lay back, trust me with you.”
Luuk exhaled steadily, softly. “I do.” The truth of it showed in his eyes, in the loosening of his taut muscles. “I’m yours.”
Jameson bent and found Luuk’s lips, warm and welcoming, so eager. He let his eyes drift almost completely shut as he sank into Luuk, tasting the myriad flavours of the man he loved so much. Jameson’s cock grew harder and harder still as he plundered Luuk’s mouth.
Every bare sound, the slight, breathy hitches and moans that were a feeling rather than an actual noise, inflamed Jameson more. The last of his guilt fled in a rush as Luuk’s desperation seeped into him. The priests knew what they were, who they were—as individuals and to each other. Their texts might not have covered creatures such as them, but Fat
her Piotr and Father Norbert knew Luuk and Jameson had also been created by whatever hand or fate made them.
And perhaps, they knew the mate bond between him and Luuk was as sacred as any vows ever taken.
“Yessss.” Luuk’s eyes rolled up as Jameson licked his cheek, his breath warming Luuk’s ear. His hands were curled around Jameson’s biceps, clenching, releasing, holding tight once again.
Jameson’s need was an ever-increasing buzz in his veins, making him itch and ache for Luuk. He wanted—well, even as gone as he was, he knew he couldn’t have what he wanted, not just then, but he still wanted what he could have, very much.
Jameson gave in to the insistent hands now pushing at him. He moved down, taking the sheet with him. Luuk’s pyjamas weren’t an issue, the elastic waistband gaping on him and exposing his flushed cockhead.
Luuk’s scent was a spur to Jameson’s flank. Despite his words, his claim of drawing this out for a long time were all for naught. There was no way he could tease for much longer. Jameson made sure to lick and nibble the too-thin belly carefully, not wanting to put any pressure on the painful-looking wound marring Luuk’s side.
His hands trembled as he touched the soft skin and dusting of hair on Luuk’s chest, the hard peaks of his nipples. Jameson traced the denser line of fuzz leading him to the very thing that was making his mouth water with anticipation.
All of Luuk tasted so good to him, but his cock was exquisite. And the one time Jameson had got—he pulled himself back. If he thought of that, he’d spunk his pants, and where was the fun in that, when he had this handsome man needing him so?
Luuk’s prominent hipbones caused a pang of regret in Jameson that he buried well and quickly. It wasn’t that he thought Luuk unattractive, but the knowledge that he was so thin because too often there’d been little or no food—that made Jameson hurt deep inside.
Jameson sucked one sharp blade, marking the pale skin there. Luuk choked on a moan, almost sobbing and fisting the sheets as he moved his legs with an urgency Jameson couldn’t miss.
Bailey Bradford - Southwestern Shifters 07 - Revolution Page 4
