Authors: Joyee Flynn
Oh, Peter was good, but not good enough.
Austin
saw the flare of anger at his accusations before Peter turned it into a pout. That was it. Peter was broke.
“Get the fuck out of my house before I decide to find out just how to kill an immortal human.”
Austin
sneered and then growled fiercely. He wasn’t fucking around. He knew why Peter had come here and that was all he needed to know. Peter was trouble, and
Austin
wouldn’t risk this man hurting his mates.
“It’s not about the money,
Austin
,” Peter purred, coming over to him and dropping to his knees. “I missed you all this time. If you don’t believe me, I’ll get a job and pay my own way. I love you, and I want to be
your
mate, not his.”
“You should have thought about that before you broke my heart,”
Austin
spat out. Peter rubbed his face against his groin.
Austin
snapped. He lifted Peter up by his hair and snarled in his face. “You sicken me. You think I could just forget everything and let you back into my life? I have two mates I adore, and you’re nothing to me anymore. I’m spoken for. It’s too late, Peter. Leave with what little dignity you have left.”
“This isn’t over my little dragon,” Peter growled as
Austin
released him. Peter spun on his heel and left before
Austin
could reply. Let the douche think what he wanted, but
Austin
was done. He followed along to make sure Peter really left, locking the door behind the man with a sigh. All he wanted was to find comfort from his mates after all of this. But that wasn’t going to happen.
Austin
had some apologies and explaining to do first.
Pushing off of the door, he made his way to the kitchen. He sighed in relief when he said the chocolate-covered fruit had already been delivered and partially eaten. But where were his mates?
“Have you seen Dante and Garreck?” he asked after he found Kelley in the laundry room.
“They went for a walk,” she answered, checking her watch. “But that was about half an hour ago after Dante was done talking to you.”
“I’ve not talked to him since I left his room this morning,”
Austin
said, his blood going cold. “When did he come to talk to me?”
“Right before the doorbell rang the second time,” she replied, confusion all over her face. “He wasn’t gone long and then came back into the kitchen, grabbed Garreck, and said they were going to check out the grounds.”
“No, no, no, no!”
Austin
shouted, his voice rising as he raced back to the kitchen, Kelley hot on his heels. “Call Tiny and Wolf. Tell them my mates ran away and we need to track them down.”
“What happened,
Austin
?” she asked, the panic he felt written all over her face.
“Someone from my past showed up,” he answered as he ran his fingers through his hair. “I think Dante walked up on him kissing me.”
“You kissed another man when you have mates!” Kelley yelled, slapping him across the face. “You’ve hurt them enough already.”
“I didn’t kiss him, he kissed
me
,” he growled, grabbing her wrist so she didn’t hit him again. “I pushed Peter away and then kicked him out after he said his piece. I just don’t know what Dante saw. Kelley, I’d never cheat on my mates.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry,” she said with a nod, her chest heaving as she tried to calm down. “I’ll call them and meet you outside to look for them.”
Austin
gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before letting her go. He ran out the back door, frantic to find his mates. It took about twenty minutes for him to realize they weren’t on the grounds.
Austin
sank to his knees on the patio, despair racing over him as he realized they were really gone. And they had at least a good hour head start on them. But where would they go?
“They don’t even have any money,” he whispered as he felt Kelley wrap her arms around him. “Where would they run to?”
“I don’t know,
Austin
.”
“We’ll find them,” Tiny said as he slapped
Austin
on the back. “Wolf and I will check the bus depot, airport, and anywhere else they can use to travel. You guys stay here in case they come back.”
“Okay,” he replied with a nod, feeling numb.
Austin
let Kelley drag him back into the house and then sat him down at the kitchen counter. His eyes started to burn as he stared at the Edible Arrangement sitting there. What had he done? And now he’d lost his mates… actually having
run
from
Austin
. His heart shattered into a million pieces, hurting way worse than Peter’s betrayal ever had. But how did he find them to explain?
* * * *
“The ride will cost a hand job from each of you,” the slimy truck driver said as he leered at them. Garreck’s mouth just about hit the ground at the demand.
“Come on, Dante,” he whispered as he pulled on the man’s arm. “We’ll find another way.”
“You get one hand job from me,” Dante said to the man instead. “You don’t touch him and I’ll give you the hand job of your life. Once we reach Mitchell, I’ll make sure you come like you never have before.”
“Fine, but you better give me what I want and no crying during it,” the man sneered.
“Deal,” Dante replied, and Garreck was frozen with shock. How could he agree to that? “Come on, baby, let’s get out of here.”
“Don’t do this, Dante,” he whispered, tears flooding his eyes. “We can find another way.”
“I don’t have all day!” the truck driver barked out, and Dante pushed him up the steps to the cab of the truck. He didn’t fight him as his world spun out of control.
“I did what I had to,” Dante said gently in his ear moments later. Garreck pulled Dante’s arms around him as he sat on Dante’s lap in the passenger’s seat. “I’ll do anything to keep you safe. It’s not like I’ve never given a hand job before that I didn’t want to.”
“I know. It’s just not fair that you are the one who has to do it.” He sighed, turning so he was sitting sideways. He kissed Dante’s neck as they held onto each other for the ride.
The truck switched gears, picking up speed to get on the highway, and jerked them about. It really wasn’t safe for them to sit in the same seat like that, but he wasn’t about to sit any closer to the driver. That, and he figured Dante needed comfort after everything, especially with the deal he’d made.
Garreck must have slept through most of the drive because when he woke up, the truck wasn’t moving, and he was alone in the seat. He cringed when he heard the creepy guy moaning and the skin-slapping sounds of a hand job. Glancing over, he saw Dante doing as he promised, with the man’s hand down Dante’s pants.
He didn’t have to watch long, guessing the guy didn’t see much action, so he came real quickly. When it was over, Dante sat up and held him. But the then the truck started moving again as the driver laughed.
“That wasn’t the deal,” Dante growled as the doors locked. “We’re already here!”
“Too bad,” the man sneered at them as he shifted gears, and the truck sped up. “I want to try your friend later, and you were right. That was the best hand job ever. I think I’ll keep you both. You are obviously running from something, so no one will notice that you’re gone.”
“Hold on to me tight,” Dante whispered in his ear. Garreck nodded, wrapping around the man he loved like an octopus. He wasn’t sure what the plan was, but figured it out fast when Dante flipped the lock on the door and opened it.
“You’ll be killed at this speed,” the driver yelled.
“Better than being with you,” Dante shouted and jumped. Garreck tucked his head into Dante’s neck, praying that they made it. There was a sickening crack as Dante landed back first onto the asphalt before they rolled. When they were done, he lifted his head to see Dante’s horribly pained expression. “I love you, baby.”
“I love you, too,” he whispered as Dante’s eyes rolled up into his head and he passed out. Garreck got off of him, wishing they weren’t in the middle of the street. He cried out when he say the unnatural way Dante’s right arm was bent. Just then he heard the screeching of tires and spun around. Shit! As if this couldn’t get any worse, it was the cops.
“Son, are you all right?” the man asked, racing over to him.
“The man was trying to kidnap up,” Garreck said, starting to blab. “He said he’d give us a ride to Mitchell so we could find Gabriel Panlong. We know Todd, too. I want to talk to one of them. They said we could find them if we needed help, and we didn’t really need help before, just a place to stay, but now we need help. I think his arm is broken, and he saved us. The man was a bad man, and he wanted to keep us forever.”
“Slow down, kid,” the man replied gently. Then he pushed a button on the radio and started talking into it. “Dispatch, I’ve got an attempted kidnapping of two men, one needing medical attention. Call Gabriel Panlong, they’re friends of his.”
“You got names, Mike?” a woman’s voice came back.
“I’m Garreck Hawes, this is Dante Hammerstone,” he answered, grabbing Dante’s uninjured hand. “Please, can I talk to Gabriel? We didn’t know where else to go.”
“Dispatch, you get that?”
“Loud and clear. Dave’s calling Gabriel now, and we’ve got EMT’s on the way to your location.”
“Thanks,” the officer said before letting go of the radio. “We’re going to take your friend to the hospital, and Gabriel can meet you there.”
“No!” he screeched, gripping Dante’s hand tighter. “We need to see Gabriel. Someone might try to take us again. We don’t do anything without his okay. He said he’d protect us.”
“Okay, kid,” the guy said gently, his eyes going wide. “We’ll get everyone here and then to the hospital. His arm doesn’t look life-threatening, but I want to make sure that he doesn’t have any back injuries.”
“Fair enough,” Garreck replied, his mind racing a mile a minute. Was he doing the right thing? If they went to the hospital, would
Austin
be able to find them? But
Austin
had to find out at some point and time where they were if they were going to stay with Gabriel. Had the jump hurt the babies they might be carrying?
“Kid, just take some slow, deep breaths,” the officer ordered as he shoved Garreck’s head between his knees. He hadn’t even realized he was hyperventilating. It took a while for him to calm down. How long? He didn’t have a friggin’ clue.
“Garreck, where’s
Austin
?” a man asked gently as he kneeled next to him. He looked up and realized it was Gabriel. Without a thought in his head, he launched himself into the man’s arms.
“Dante saw him kissing his lover, and we ran,” he whispered so no one else could hear. “He traded a hand job for our ride, but then the guy tried to kidnap us so he could use us, and we jumped from the truck. Dante fell on his back, and he’s hurt bad, Gabriel.”
“Okay, Garreck,” Gabriel said gently, rubbing his hands over his back. “Let’s get him to the hospital, and we’ll figure it out from there.”
“I didn’t want to go anywhere with anymore strangers,” he replied as they stood up.
“It’s okay, kid. I’m a cop,” the officer said.
“So were some of the men who paid for a night with us,” Garreck snapped and then took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. You’ve been really nice to us. We’re just not inclined to trust anyone.”
“It’s okay, Garreck. Mike’s a good guy. He didn’t know you were one of the survivors from the slave ring Todd broke up.” Gabriel gave the EMTs a nod, and they loaded up Dante into the ambulance. Garreck glanced around, realizing he’d not even noticed their arrival while he was having his panic attack.