Stealing the Cowboy's Hat: Chosen Book 18

by J. D. Light

  "How do you know they'll even be here?" he asked, his eyes moving over every inch of my exposed skin.

  I might or might not have taken a moment to cup my rock hard erection, before grabbing the briefer than briefs and slipping first one leg and then the other through the leg holes and pulling them up into place.

  "They come every Thursday morning to use the pool," I said, blinking at the raised eyebrow on my mate's face as he looked at the front of my swimsuit. "I checked the log.

  Well, that's interesting. I cringed as I looked down at the front of the tight swim trunks… and the couple inches of dick sticking out the top. Didn't really think that through, did you, Hollyster?

  Smiling brightly, I bent down and pulled another pair out, holding them up in front of Cowen's face. "I brought you some too."

  He scoffed, his expression never even changing. "I'll stick to my shorts. There is no way my body is going to behave if you're wearing those fucking things." I continued to smile, still holding the briefs in the air as he started to rummage through his bag, and not even flinching when I heard the frustrated rumble that followed. "Hollyster, where are my shorts?"

  "Right here." I bounced the garment hanging from my finger, my dick pulsing when he scowled and then snatched them out of my hand. He grumbled under his breath the entire time he got undressed and put the things on.

  I really had a problem. There was something just not normal about how much I loved his cranky disposition.

  When he stood in all his delicious glory, his body almost completely on display and looking absolutely edible, I groaned, reaching down to give myself a slow, hard stroke, the band of my swim bottoms making a popping sound when they rolled down and then back up.

  "Would you feel better if I sucked you off?" I asked, pushing him backward against the lockers, hard enough to hear the thin metal protest fairly loudly before pressing my body up against his.

  "Damn it," he growled when I leaned in, nibbling on the skin of his neck. "I'm going to redden that ass, Hollyster."

  I groaned, rolling my hips forward and pressing my dick to his thigh. His hands went immediately to my ass, dipping inside my swim bottoms and cupping my cheeks as I pulled my mouth away from his neck and tilted my head back so he could take my lips.

  I moved my entire body against him, giving us both the friction we needed.

  "Damn," I heard somewhere behind me, and I groaned, pulling my mouth away from Cowen's and turning to find Richardson and Mendenhall standing behind us, the former smirking, the latter staring directly at my ass. Or possibly the mark on my leg, eyes wide.

  "Get a room, you two." Richardson said, before chuckling and walking off toward the door that led out of the locker room.

  Mendenhall glanced after his friend and then back at me, his eyes moving to where I knew the mark was visible just under my briefs. He opened his mouth and I thought he was going to say something, but then he just licked his lips and nodded at us both before following Richardson out into the pool area.

  Chuckling, I turned my head back to a scowling Cowen and bit down on the urge to say something that might piss him off further, even if it was one of my favorite things to do.

  That hadn't been how I planned to expose my mark, but I'd never had quite so much fun working before, so I wouldn't complain.

  ***

  Following through with the swimming after that, when what I'd set out to do had already been done and I was dying to get my hands or my mouth on my mate had been absolute torture, and Cowen and I both steered clear of anyone with goggles for the first fifteen minutes of being in the water, because neither of us wanted to get some kind of indecent exposure charges inside a federal building. That just seemed stupid.

  We'd taken precautions as soon as we'd gotten home that evening. Just a few things to let us know if someone entered the house without our knowledge, because now that at least two of Heath's buddies had seen the mark on my leg, there was a very good chance someone was going to come for me soon.

  We were just getting Batteries Not Included primed up and ready to watch when there was a knock at the door.

  Rising quickly, I grabbed my necklace, slipping it into place around my neck and pulled one of my knives from the sheath at the small of my back before quietly moving to the door, and easing the curtain aside.

  Frowning, I turned to Cowen, mouthing Mendenhall, before gripping the knob and slipping my blade behind my back as I pulled the door open to a cranky looking Recker Mendenhall.

  I opened my mouth to say something snarky, but the man on the other side of the door pushed past me, growling. "Are you fucking stupid?"

  "Nice to see you too, Recker." I said, frowning as I turned to watch him walk in and flop himself down on my spot on the couch, ignoring a growl from Cowen.

  "You have to be smarter than that. You can't walk around with your mark all hanging out like that." He gestured in the direction of my lower half as I walked by. "You've seen the shit that is going on, right? You need to get out of here. Go somewhere safe. Like Terra Mortis or something."

  I raised my eyebrows, meeting my mate's eyes momentarily as I climbed into his lap. Was I mistaken, or had Mendenhall just warned me away? Almost like he was worried about something happening to me.

  "What's going on?" Cowen asked, his voice a curious rumble as we both eyed the other agent suspiciously.

  "What's going on, is Heath is the one behind the chosen auctions that never got off the ground," the man snapped, clearly exasperated with us and the whole situation. When all we did was meet his gaze, his eyes narrowed and he frowned slightly, tilting his head. "You don't look surprised."

  "You have something you want to tell us, Mendenhall?" Cowen asked, his hand falling to my thigh, rubbing light circles.

  I wasn't sure if it was to calm me, or himself. Cowen's crankiness had seemed to double since my mark had been exposed, and I knew he was worried about what was going to happen in the next couple days and was fighting his lion's need to protect me.

  The other agent's eyes studied my mate's face for several minutes, no doubt trying to assess what we did and didn't know. "That was planned," he said finally, seeming to relax into the couch. "Fuck. You scared the shit out of me."

  "I take it you aren't as friendly with Heath and the rest as it appears," I said, curious.

  He knew Heath was involved in the whole chosen trafficking thing. If he was around the man as much as the rest, he was probably very well aware that Heath was actually the guy in charge, yet he himself had been worried about me.

  It just seemed odd considering we were barely acquaintances, only having met up a few times when business between our departments crossed.

  There was really only one explanation for the fact that he was buddy-buddy with Heath, but apparently not that bad of a guy. Somebody else was also on to Heath and his dealings. That meant he had information we needed, and might even be willing to share it.

  Cowen must have drawn the same conclusion. "Do you know who all is involved inside the FBI?" he asked, his voice rumbling through his chest and my back, both soothing and arousing and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from getting a hard-on with Mendenhall in the room.

  There was a bit of a pause while Recker clearly rolled the decision around in his head, but he must have come to the conclusion I was hoping for because eventually, he nodded. "Heath, Richardson, Rogers and Williamson."

  Well, at least it was all the people we had expected. Except, of course, Recker Mendenhall.

  "Besides Heath's house, do they have a place where they are keeping the chosen?"

  "Yeah. He made a deal with some alpha in Tennessee. The guy was desperate for chosen, but his streak is failing. He agreed to house them in a giant fallout shelter that he built back in the fifties."

  "Where at in Tennessee?"

  "That is the one thing Heath won't tell us. Though when I researched streaks in Tennessee and looked into their financials, there are five I could find that fit." />
  "Crossville," Cowen grumbled, his voice drawing my attention like it always did.

  "What?"

  "That's where Axel's streak is from." He had on his thinkin' scowl. Not to be confused with his pissed scowl, happy scowl or his hungry scowl. The man really was just full of delights.

  I frowned, trying to remember who Axel was. There were just so much fucking Purdy people.

  "When I was up in Purdy, talking to Harley about all of this, they told me that Axel's alpha was sending some of his men up there to introduce themselves to the chosen." He made a face of distaste that I found adorable. "Apparently, the alpha is pretty obsessed with getting some chosen in his streak, because he thinks it will make the streak strong again.

  "Axel said he doesn't think it will fix anything, but the alpha won't listen to him. Edmond, his mate, is helping most of the streak with a plan for all the failing businesses, but the alpha doesn't want to listen and has been getting more and more desperate lately. Axel's worried he is going to have to do something about the man."

  Sometimes I didn't envy the shifters and their duties to their family groups. I'd heard of more than one alpha over the years who succumbed to the alpha madness. Too much responsibility and stress and not enough downtime could do it to the most mentally stable of people. Add in financial troubles and a failing streak…

  "If he has an arrangement with Heath, why would he still be sending people to Purdy?" What was the man trying to do, start a chosen breeding farm?

  Recker shrugged, pursing his lips. "Heath is a greedy bastard. He said he was only giving the alpha helping him one chosen." His eyes widened and he held his hands up at me. "And I'm not saying chosen are property. That's just how they look at it."

  I smirked, a mischievous part of myself wanting to make him sweat a little bit, but in the end, I decided I really wanted to get this conversation over with, so I could do something about the hard-on pressing against my ass. As it was, I was doing a masterful job of hiding my own by having my heel pulled up, so my knee was angled between Recker's eyes and my dick.

  "It's fine, Recker," I said, waving him off and looking at my mate, who was raising an eyebrow at me like he knew I was holding back. "I'm seriously not offended."

  Chapter Five

  Either my mate was tired, or he was trying to get this meeting over, so we could take care of some things that seriously needed taking care of. Especially since he kept wiggling that amazing ass on my dick.

  Reassuring people wasn't normally a Hollyster thing. He was more the type to purposely make a person feel uncomfortable, just because he liked listening to them try to talk their way out of things.

  Relaxing slightly, Recker nodded, but he didn't look completely at ease, so at least he wasn't an idiot. "It sounds like he's using every avenue he can to get some chosen for his streak. I'd be impressed with his dedication if it wasn't so damn morally abhorrent."

  "Shit," I growled, closing my eyes and letting my forehead fall to my mate's shoulder. "How am I supposed to break it to Axel that his alpha is part of all this?"

  Hollyster patted my head a bit awkwardly, and I felt a smile pull at the corner of my lips. I was glad I had my face mostly hidden. My mate wasn't really much of a comforter, but I bet he'd kill anyone and everyone who tried to hurt me.

  It was odd being on the receiving end of protection. It made my chest all warm and… happy.

  "Well, I guess we have all the information we need," Hollyster said, shrugging. "What about Grayson Web? Do you think he's in on any of it?"

  Recker shook his head. "No. He's actually who assigned me to becoming friends with all of them to get information. He shut down the shifter division at Heath's request only so the man would stick around, because he knows he's involved."

  "I thought it might be because Heath has more money than sense," Hollyster said, smirking.

  "Nah, Grayson already has quite a few differing backers lined up for all the different immortal divisions. And he plans on using multiple sources, so nobody thinks they have control over what happens and what doesn't." It was Recker's turn to smirk, and I thought it was actually a look that suited him. "Not that Heath ever actually did, but Grayson lets him think it."

  He might crack a smile every once in a while, and in all the videos we'd seen of him interacting with the guys in Williamson's office, I knew he laughed regularly, but it had always seemed so forced. I wondered what things the man had to hear and witness while pretending to be friends with that man.

  "You haven't been discussing any of this at the office," Hollyster said, drawing Recker's confused gaze. "You guys just sit around and discuss the weather and shit. How do you know anything?"

  Recker blinked for a moment before his eyes widened in realization. "You bugged Williamson's office?" When all Hollyster did was shrug, Recker shook his head. "There hasn't been anything to talk about it in a while, and Heath doesn't like to repeat things that have already been covered, because the more times you repeat something, the more chances there are of someone hearing by accident." The corner of his mouth quirked. "Or in your case, on purpose. He sent one of his men to Tennessee about three weeks ago and the guy confirmed that there were still nine chosen in the fallout shelter, and he's made at least three other contacts. There hasn't been much going on beyond that."

  He frowned, all humor draining from his face in an instant. "Until tonight. Heath now knows you're chosen, and he is already planning to have you abducted tomorrow when you're leaving the office."

  The more I was around Recker Mendenhall, the more I was convinced he was a good guy. Not just in the sense that he was on the right side of the law, but in the sense that he seemed to be genuinely worried about my mate's safety.

  "We have enough information now," I said, not even recognizing my voice with its hopeful tone. Since when did I start begging with my voice instead of demanding? "We can turn it all over to Grayson and get out of town for a while."

  I knew the answer before Hollyster even took a full breath to deliver it. "No."

  I growled, pushing him back so I could glare at him while he sat on my lap, looking perfect. Right where he belonged. "Yes."

  "I need them to take me, Cowen," he said simply, reaching up to run his fingers lightly over the near permanent wrinkles in between my eyebrows.

  I was immortal, damnit. I wasn't supposed to have wrinkles.

  "No."

  "Yes, Cowen. We need to know for sure where it is."

  "I don't mean to interrupt a lovers’ quarrel," Recker said, and it was clear he wasn't sure which of us to be more afraid of. He sent me an apologetic look. "He's right. We don't know for sure it's Crossville. We really need to be sure."

  "You know I'm great at making devices," Hollyster said, dragging my glare away from Recker by grabbing my chin and turning my face to look into his. "I'll make sure you know where I am at all times."

  "If I don't agree to this, you'll just tie me up when I'm sleeping and do it anyway," I said sighing. "It's not like I really have a choice in this anyways."

  "That's the spirit. You know me so well already." He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the end of my nose, his smile far too big for someone who was about to be kidnapped by dangerous men.

  Then again, this was Hollyster. He was probably excited about it.

  "I'm still going to get ahold of Axel and see if he knows if there is a shelter on his streak's land," I grumbled, resigning myself to the next few days and the upheaval it was going to cause my cougar.

  "As you should," he said, clearly placating me, and I growled, making him snicker.

  "You drive me fucking crazy."

  "As I should." He grabbed both sides of my face, leaning forward and planted a long, hard kiss on my mouth.

  I don't know when Recker left, but I vaguely remembered hearing the door slam just after Hollyster forced his tongue into my mouth and ground his ass down against my dick.

  It was a good thing too, because I'd completely forgotten the man was
there, and probably would have kept forgetting when I picked Hollyster up and splayed him across the coffee table before pulling his dick out and sucking him until he shot down my throat and I shot in my pants.

  ***

  The movie was pretty much over. Not that I remembered much of it beyond tiny little spaceships with legs. I was too busy reveling in the feel of Hollyster's body pressed against mine on the couch as we lay on our sides, facing the television.

  I didn't want to lose my mate, I couldn't. And even though I knew he and Recker were completely right in everything they said, and Hollyster was more than capable of taking care of himself, I was terrified something was going to go wrong and I'd lose everything.

  "You know," he said when the credits started rolling, and he was drawing his fingers up and down the skin of my forearm. "I'm going to be wearing a shirt and my necklace tomorrow, all day."

  "It would seem strange if you were coming out of the building half naked after work." I rubbed my chin against his head.

  He rolled over, climbing on top of me and smiling down into my face when I rolled to my back, accommodating him. "I meeean, I won't be showing my shoulders."

  "Because you're a lady?"

  He narrowed his eyes, but I saw the way his lips twitched like he was trying not to laugh. I liked that look on his face.

  "Jokes don't become you, sir," he said, giving me a haughty look.

  I reached up, running my finger down the skin of his neck until it disappeared beneath the collar of his T-shirt. "Are you trying to tell me, nobody will see my mark on your skin?"

  "I need you to claim me, Cowen," he whispered, and I felt the world stand still at both his words and the seriousness of his gaze.

  I'd never seen him look the way he was looking right then. It wasn't just the straight face, the slight, but nearly always present upturn of his lips at the corner completely gone. It wasn't just his whispered voice that sounded almost like it had been shoved past a lump in his throat.

  It was the way it felt like his soul was actually speaking to mine. Calling it out so that it could finally be with its perfect mate. Its other half.