“Max—”
“No. Give me a little time to process this huh? I’ll talk to you later.” He didn’t give his brother a chance to respond. He hit the button on the phone and killed the call.
“What was that?” Gideon asked as Max dropped the phone onto the counter.
“My brother is involved in a three-way relationship. A woman and his best friend from childhood, Zach.”
Gideon’s eyes popped wide open.
“Holy shit.”
“Yeah.”
“Not Jackson, right? The other brother.”
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“No. Not Jackson. Mikhel.” Max smiled and a bark of laughter came out. “Damn can you even imagine Jackson in a three-way?” His staid accountant brother? Not likely. Gideon raised his eyebrows and shrugged. Wow, Gideon could imagine Jax in a three-way. Maybe Max’s imagination wasn’t good enough.
No, he’d already done his fantasizing. Him, Mandy and Gideon. Both males fucking and penetrating her. Making her scream as she came.
His cock started to fill again and Max sighed. Damn, he had to get his mind off sex for at least a little while.
He looked around the room. What had he been doing before Mik’s call?
His gaze stopped on Gideon’s crotch. Oh right. He’d been about to blow Gideon.
“Uh—”
Gideon smiled. “No stress, man. We should—”
Feeling like a total jerk, Max moved forward. He couldn’t just leave Gideon hanging like that, only the mood was kind of broken. The line of Gideon’s cock grew more defined, pressing against his jeans. Max’s tongue rubbed the inside line of his lips, his body anticipating the foreign sensation of having a dick in his mouth. The wolf growled its approval.
The need to have his lover beneath him overcame whatever hesitation he had about fucking a man. He wrapped his hand around Gideon’s hip and pulled him forward, leaning in, meeting Gideon’s mouth. He groaned as their lips met, heat and power pouring into him. Needing more, wanting more of that warmth, he pressed forward, drawing Gideon to him until their hips met, hard flesh colliding.
Gideon’s moan made the wolf snarl.
The phone jangled again but Max ignored it. Nothing was pulling him away from this delicious heat. Another ring followed.
Gideon drew back, his breath harsh, his lips swollen, making Max only want to have him more.
“You’d better get it.”
Max shook his head.
“Mandy.”
Max sighed.
The edge of Gideon’s mouth bent upward. “I’ll be here when you get back.”
Max’s dick swelled. That arrogant stare did something to him—made him want to fuck all night until Gideon was too exhausted to smile.
“I’ll get rid of them and you’d better be waiting here.”
He reached for the phone even as he heard Gideon’s chuckle. “Ooh, strong and dominant. I like that in a man.”
The words came out teasing but Max heard the truth behind them and instantly the scene appeared in his mind…Gideon, bound, hands behind his back, naked, Max’s cock 126
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between his lips. Mandy lay on the bed in the background, tied up, stretched out, the tiny butt plug filling her ass so she’d be ready for him and Gideon when they finished.
A sound tickled his hearing but didn’t penetrate, the image in his head was too distracting.
“Max, the phone.”
Gideon’s voice yanked him from the fantasy and Max hit the button, no longer caring who was on the other end of the phone. He wanted to get back to fucking, the growling in his head too loud to think around.
“What?”
“J-Jackson?”
Mandy’s voice crackled over the phone line and his wolf went on alert. The hair on the back of Max’s neck went straight. She’d called and thought he was Jackson. He sure as fuck couldn’t do that to her again.
“No, Mandy—”
“Jackson.” Her voice was sharp and punctuated with urgency. “I need those books.” Books? What books? What the hell is going on?
He was about to vocalize all those questions when she started again. “You know, those papers I gave you yesterday. I really need to…work on them.” Her voice quavered, intensifying the wolf’s protective instincts. Mandy grunted, like she’d bumped into a wall. “Can you bring them to me?”
Something wasn’t right. She hadn’t given him any papers and she knew that Jax was out of town.
“I’m kind of in the middle of something right now,” he said, speaking slowly, hoping to hear some clue in Mandy’s response. “How badly do you need these?”
Another hitch in her breath. “I really need them right now.”
Fuck. The thugs from dinner the other night. Had to be. The world clarified around him, focusing all his attention on finding his mate, protecting her.
“Where?” The question snapped out and he had to take a moment to draw a breath.
Try to sound normal, like he didn’t know someone was threatening his mate. Like he wasn’t planning to rip off the head of whoever dared touch his woman. “Where should I bring them? Your office?” He signaled to Gideon to get him paper and pen. Gideon seemed to pick up on Max’s urgency and brought what he needed, standing and listening as Mandy rattled off the address. “Sure, honey, I’ll bring them.”
“Thanks, Jackson.”
The deliberate way she said his name sent a shot to his heart. She was scared.
For that alone he would kill them.
If they’d harmed her—in any way—he was going to rip their lungs out while they were still using them.
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Chapter Fourteen
“Max, you said yourself. These are bad guys. Thugs.” Gideon chased after him, pleading his case—again. Max ignored him and kept walking. The address was a warehouse in west Anchorage. Gideon had driven him here but he’d kept trying to convince Max to call the cops, let them handle it.
“They’ve got Mandy,” he announced. It was a challenge to speak even those simple words. His teeth were long, stretching and filling his mouth. He pressed his lips together trying to hide the wolf’s presence but the animal was clawing to get out.
Worse, the other dangerous personality that hovered just off screen. The were. Max had never turned into his were form. Wasn’t sure he even had one until recently. He’d always been too easygoing, too casual to get enraged enough to turn into the slavering beast the were was reported to be.
But that was before they’d taken Mandy. Touched Mandy.
His nose twitched and his upper lip vibrated. Red pressed at the edges of his vision.
Mikhel had told him about his experience turning into the were form. The signs were there and God knew what would happen if that creature managed to take control. It was the ravening beast so popular in horror films.
Fuck, he had to contain this. He didn’t need to change. His natural strength gave him an advantage over normal humans. And the assholes they’d met at dinner seemed less bright than normal humans.
No, he wasn’t planning to change but if they’d hurt Mandy—all bets were off.
“Max, wait. At least let me call the cops.” He was dialing before Max had a chance to stop him. Max didn’t mind. The cops could have the leftovers.
“I’m not waiting for them,” he growled. Gideon didn’t flinch. He glared, rolled his eyes and spoke into the phone. Max blocked it out. He didn’t care what Gideon told the cops. His eyes locked on the door, his fingers twitched, hurting on the tips where his claws poked through.
“No, I can’t stop him from going in so you better get here fast.” Gideon snapped his phone shut. “Let’s go.”
“You don’t have to.” It was probably best if Gideon didn’t. God knew what he might see. Gideon cocked his head to the side and stared back. A kernel of tension unwound in his chest. He wasn’t going in alone. Not that he couldn’t handle two
humans but somehow he felt better knowing Gideon would be there.
A calming influence.
Unable to stop himself, needing one more taste, he wrapped his hand around Gideon’s neck and pulled him close, drawing him into a deep, hard kiss. Before he 128
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could tempt himself to take it further, he snapped his head back and looked down at the man who would become his lover. As soon as this was over.
Gideon nodded, as if agreeing to Max’s mental plan.
“Let’s go,” Gideon said. “If we’re going to go face thugs with guns, I’d rather get it over with.”
Max almost smiled. Would have smiled if his teeth hadn’t looked a little too wolflike at this point. Gideon was a good man. A good friend.
Max nodded and they approached the door. He paused for one heartbeat before turning the knob. It opened easily in his hand. Stupid criminals. They hadn’t even locked the door? He walked into the large open, almost empty warehouse. Mickelson and Baldino. Mandy was sitting beside them, perched on a high bench, her hands tied in front of her, her mouth covered by tape. From across the room, he could see the thin tracks left by her tears but she wasn’t crying now. Her fear had turned to fury. She glared at her captors like she was plotting their removal from earth. He could also see she was working the rope at her wrists, subtly wiggling and twisting her hands to get free.
A roar ripped from his throat at the damage that binding was doing to her soft skin.
The sound alerted the kidnappers to their arrival and they both jumped. Baldino raised a gun and pointed it at Max. Gideon stood at his right shoulder.
Mandy’s head snapped up and her eyes widened.
“Mmmm.” The muffled sound must have been her attempt at his name.
“You were supposed to come alone,” Baldino protested, the words coming out a little whiny.
“Yeah, that wasn’t in my instructions.”
Baldino swallowed, his throat convulsing with the constricted movement. “Well, he has to go.”
“But then I’d be lonely.”
His sarcasm seemed to get Mickelson moving. He grabbed Mandy’s arm and pulled her off the bench. She moaned as he dragged her forward, taking her almost the middle of the room before forcing her to her knees. Max started toward them. The bright glint of a blade slowed his steps.
“We aren’t messing around here. That’s right, asshole, stay back or I open her throat.” The knifepoint rested against Mandy’s neck and Max forced himself to stop.
Forced his wolf to hold back.
“Are you all right?” he asked Mandy, ignoring the Mickelson completely.
Moving cautiously, she nodded once.
“Did they hurt you?”
Again she responded with a slow shake of her head.
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“No, we didn’t hurt her,” Mickelson snarled. “But we might. Do you have the papers?”
“No.”
The knife went harder against Mandy’s skin. “You were supposed to bring the books.”
He didn’t care what he was supposed to bring but he really didn’t like to see this guy touch his woman.
“Why don’t you just take your hands off her and we’ll all be happier.”
“We need those papers,” Baldino said.
Mickelson’s eyes squinted down. “You better not have given them to cops.”
“Cops?” He didn’t need to fake his confusion.
“Yeah.” Baldino’s fingers adjusted on the grip of the gun. “You a cop?”
“No. I’m a photographer.”
“I thought you were an accountant?” Mickelson squeezed Mandy’s arm, the skin around his fingers turning white.
“Wrong brother.” Max took a step closer. Flames raced up his spine, flashing over his skin until he could feel the burn invading his soul. “Really, you need to let her go.”
“Get back or I’ll cut her.” He yanked on Mandy’s arm, drawing a painful whimper from her.
Red covered his mind, ripping through his brain, a bright explosion. A howl erupted from his throat—a sound he’d never made before. The noise echoed through the room. It was the last thing he heard before the world turned black.
Mandy gasped at the sound that came from Max, reverberating through the open room. She looked at her lover—and breath locked in her throat.
His jaw punched forward and white sharp teeth burst from the gum line. Muscles ripped and bones stretched and snapped, reforming, longer and stronger. The cracking noise of his bones breaking and stretching turned her stomach, snapping and echoing through the almost silent warehouse. Another fierce roar shook the walls as his body expanded, fury erupting from the form even as his clothes shredded around the larger shape and dropped to the floor. A deadly gray cast covered his skin marred only by the white of his teeth.
When the change was finished, the creature stood over seven feet tall, the face shaped like an animal’s—a wolf?—and the skin gray and covered in rough fur.
What—? She blinked and shook her head, trying to clear the image before her, but it didn’t waver. Max had turned into a…a werewolf? The creature tipped its head back and let loose another haunting howl, a scream that rippled down her spine like claws.
She gulped, trying to loosen her tight throat, find the strength to inhale.
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The thing—Max—lurched forward, glowing red eyes locked on Mandy. And Brian.
Max’s stare trained on Brian’s grip, the painful hold tightening as the man faced the creature in front of him. “Max” snarled, the roar rattling the metal walls of the warehouse.
From the edge of her vision, she saw Sean fumble with the gun, his hand violently shaking as he tried to point the thing at Max.
Gideon must have seen it as well.
“Uh, gun on your left,” Gideon called, pitching his voice to penetrate through whatever might be obscuring Max’s reason. Max—it was easier to think of the creature by his name—whirled his head around, looking at Gideon with a mixture of rage and confusion. “Your other left,” he corrected. Max tipped his head to the side then seemed to understand. He spun toward Sean, the gun vibrating in his hand.
“Shoot it!” Brian shouted.
Max snarled and jumped. The weapon went off—Mandy wasn’t sure Sean had enough muscle control to intentionally pull the trigger. A bullet slashed through the air and Max screamed. He landed in front of Sean, blood dripping down his arm. He roared and swung his fist—uh, paw—and backhanded Sean, sending him flying. The thunk of his head hitting the concrete drew a satisfied grunt from the creature.
He turned, his attention once again on Mandy and Brian. Mandy glanced at Gideon.
Though he seemed as surprised as she was, he appeared calm, like watching a werewolf beat up bad guys wasn’t that unusual.
Low, fierce growls rumbled from Max’s chest and Mandy dragged her attention back to the creature stalking toward her. The red eyes locked on the place where Brian had his hand on Mandy’s neck. She could feel the fury pouring from Max and tried to shake Brian free. He really needed to let go of her.
His hand tightened, his stare a contradiction of panic and resolve. Surely he wasn’t thinking to negotiate with that thing?
“Hey, Bad Guy Number Two,” Gideon yelled. He waited until the other man glanced his direction. “I don’t think he likes you touching her.”
With a nod and a deep swallow, he pulled his hand back, dropping the knife and raising his arms as he stepped away, backing slowly for two steps before he whipped around and ran. The werewolf stalked forward, one jerking lunge before he leaped, surging through the air and landing on Brian’s back. His cry rang out as Max trapped him on the ground.
Gideon ran to Mandy’s side, pulling the tape off her mouth and working on the ropes that bound her arms.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded, her breath coming in rapid pants. Now was not the time to sc
ream,
“No, my lover just turned into a werewolf”. Another roar shook the walls and she spun around to watch.
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“Guess Max has a secret side,” Gideon offered with a weak smile.
Mandy nodded, not pulling her gaze away. That was one hell of a secret.
The wolf-thing tipped his head back, its teeth open, the white tips glowing under the fluorescent lights.
“He’s going to kill him,” she whispered.
“That would be bad,” Gideon said.
Mandy nodded. This would be hard enough to explain without an actual dead body.
Max crouched over his prey, snarling and growling. The teeth on that thing were deadly. He opened his jaw. The guy on the bottom screamed and began to sob.
“Max, stop, you don’t want to kill him.” The werewolf snapped his head around and growled at Gideon as if enraged that someone had interrupted his fun. “Okay, maybe you want to kill him but you can’t.”
For a moment it looked like Max was going to ignore him, but then the glowing red eyes landed on her. She tensed, feeling the full force of the creature’s energy.
The body beneath him dismissed, the werewolf spun around and began its lurching strides back toward Mandy.
“It’s okay,” Gideon said, the words whispered through barely moving lips. “It’s Max. Remember it’s Max.”
She nodded and tried to take a deep breath. The tight band around her chest didn’t allow for much air. The gray-skinned creature walking toward her looked nothing like Max. But she’d seen the red glow in his eyes—when he’d made love to her.
The werewolf bent down, sniffing her skin, his growl growing louder as he drew near her shoulder where Mickelson had touched her. Its lips pulled back, away from the long teeth. She froze, holding herself still, afraid a sudden move would set him off. This is Max. Max. The—her mind stuttered at the thought—man you’re in love with. He won’t hurt you. The mantra seemed to help and the beating of her heart slowed to a frantic pace instead of the bust-out-of-her-chest rate it had been building toward.
She shifted her body, turning into him. The hard line of his naked cock—thick and round, almost twice the size of Max—pressed against her stomach. She swallowed. She couldn’t imagine taking something like that into her body.
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