Deus, it was good to see him, even under such thoroughly fucked circumstances. The leopard-shifter's tanned skin was flushed and he was sweating despite the chill wind that blew off Lake Michigan. Kienan quickly explained the situation to him while he caught his breath.
The leopard's expression turned grim. “What's our next move?”
“How good are you at breaking and entering?” Kienan countered. That the other man was here said a lot, made Kienan's chest go tight with emotion that he had to ruthlessly suppress. Focus on the job, on getting Gea to safety, then deal with emotion. Now wasn't the time.
A wicked grin formed on Quill's face. “I've never been caught yet, does that answer the question?”
Kienan snorted. “Fine. The three of them have weapons, though only two of them have drawn them. They're pointed at her, so let's not give anyone time to get twitchy.”
“Agreed.”
“There's a door in the back with a lock that looks pretty flimsy. I'll take that, come up behind their leader.” He gestured to the window closest to them. “That opens into a small office that will put you between them and the front door.”
“Pincher them in. Got it. Let's do it.” Quill reached out and squeezed Kienan's shoulder. “When this is over, we need to talk.”
He just nodded, not sure if wanting to talk was a good thing or a bad thing. He pushed it out of his mind. Something else to deal with later. Spinning away, he slipped around the building and checked again for vidmonitors. Just one, which he'd already disabled. No wires or traps around the door, but on closer inspection, the hinges looked rusted shut. Shit. No one had used this door in years.
Rising voices sounded from inside, and he didn't have time to wait. Panic gripped his gut, and he swung toward the window beside the door. It fed into the kitchen but was so small it would be one hell of a tight squeeze. Good enough.
Using his lock-picking kit, he finessed the old latch on the window, easing it up with only a single squeak. Grabbing the sides of the frame, he hoisted himself in feetfirst, wriggling like a hooked fish to get through. If one of the two guards came looking, he was fucked.
They didn't. He landed on the cracked tile floor silently, then crept forward to the doorway off a short hall. He could hear them speaking, Gea talking fast. She sounded controlled, not panicked or terrified. Good.
A loud creak came from the front of the house. Quill must have stepped on a loose floorboard. All conversation stopped. A cold voice said, “Check it out.”
Kienan winced, a bead of sweat sliding down his temple. Deus, when was the last time a job had made him break out in a cold sweat? Then again, when had his mates been involved? He peeked out the doorway, saw a guard walking into the room he knew Quill was in. That separated one from the group. Not bad.
“Who do you have with you, Ms. Crevan?” that same chilly voice asked.
“No one, unless Meier decided to become a hero.” Her tone said how likely she thought that was. “Have you made any enemies lately who might be stopping in for a visit?”
No one bothered to answer that question.
A short scuffle sounded from the room Quill was in, a shout, a gunshot, then the kind of sudden silence that raised the hairs on the back of Kienan's neck. He clenched his jaw and stepped out into the open, coming up behind the second guard. A quick jab of his fingers and the man's arm was useless, his gun clattering to the floor.
The man was shorter than Kienan, making it easier to reach around and wrap a hand around his throat. He squeezed just enough so the man froze, knowing that death could come for him at any moment. Kienan's heart thundered in his ears, drowning out any sound that might be coming from Quill. He strained to hear, needed to know what was happening with his other mate. Deus help him if that shot had claimed Quill's life.
Icy fear spread through him, and he tightened his grip, making the guard he held gurgle. If his partner had killed Quill, Kienan would rip this henchman's throat out without a second thought or a single regret. Gea's brown eyes were wide and a little wild as they bounced from him to the doorway of Quill's room.
Stefan smoothly drew his weapon, grabbing for Gea, but she scrambled back out of his reach. He leveled the weapon at her head. “Now, gentlemen, really. Are these heroics necessary?”
“We thought so, yes.” Quill stepped out of the room, his weapon leading the way. The leopard-shifter had blood on his face, but it wasn't his. His gun was steady as he aimed it at Stefan.
Impasse.
Thick tension filled the main space, humming like static along Kienan's nerves. His gaze shot around the room. Two windows, sealed but breakable. The front door was the easiest escape route, and they needed out of here. Now. He began to crabwalk the guard in that direction.
“Keep moving and she dies,” Stefan bit out.
“Hurt her and you die.” Quill held out his free hand for Gea, who took it. “We outnumber you, and I'm betting your life is more important to you than hers.”
Rage mottled Stefan's face, his jaw twitching. Kienan saw his finger tighten on the trigger, and he positioned himself to dive for the other man, his muscles coiling to spring. He might die in the process, but he
would not
fail to protect his mates.
Gea pitched her voice low. “Remember that you have a message you want me to deliver. Hurt any of us and I guarantee it won't get to my client.”
That trigger finger eased just slightly, but Kienan stayed ready.
“We're going to leave with our woman, nice and slow.” Quill shoved Gea behind him, the two of them backing toward the front door. “Your other man's got a nasty hole in him, but he'll live if you get him to a medic soon. You have enough to deal with, so you're not going to bother coming after us.”
Stefan growled at him but didn't bother denying it. “Leave now.”
Kienan waited until his mates were safely out, then dragged the henchman over to the door, using him as a human shield. Stefan took a step forward and Kienan met his gaze, shaking his head slowly. “You don't want to play that game with us, Stefan. I will kill you if you come after any of us, if I ever even see your face again, I promise you that.”
Perhaps it was the bald honesty in his voice; perhaps it was that Stefan knew a killer when he saw one, but he nodded slowly. Kienan shoved the guard forward so he stumbled into his boss. Kienan used the resulting confusion to disappear out the door and join his mates down the street, motioning for them to keep running.
Turning back as they reached the corner, Gea pushed her wind-whipped hair out of her face so she could see. “They'll be gone before the police or brigade could get here.”
“Yeah.” Kienan caught her arm, drew her farther from the place. Shadows moved in the windows, and he didn't want to catch their attention. Let them deal with their own issues. He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that they were all safe. Luck had been on their side. This time. Adrenaline still pumped through his veins, made his muscles tremble. “The best you can do is tell your client who has Tam and let him decide what to do from there.”
She sighed and nodded, allowing herself to be led away. “It'll have to wait until I get home. Stefan took my bag, with my palmtop inside it. And my knife, damn him.”
Quill stared at them both with an inscrutable expression. He swallowed, glanced away, then suggested, “You can call him from my place.”
Tensing, Kienan waited for Gea's response. So much hung on what she'd do next. Would they take a step forward or another step back?
“Okay.” Her hand made a graceful arc in the air. “Lead on, North. It's freezing out here.”
Kienan stripped off his kleather jacket and wrapped it around her. Surprise flickered across her face, but her gaze warmed with an expression that made his heart jam into his ribs. She slipped her arm through his, her slim body pressing to his side. He let a breath ease out of his lungs. Hopeâpure, sweet, and terrifyingâfilled him. Deus, please. He could handle anything else, but he didn't think he could stand to have them turn away from him again. Not again.
He loved them too much to lose them now, and he didn't know if he could resist sliding back into that familiar soul-stealing world of shadows and lies to escape the shattering agony of it. Putting one foot in front of the other, he gritted his teeth to ride out the uncertainty that threatened to drive him mad, questions and hope and fear chasing themselves through his mind.
Would this night give him everything he'd never known he wanted . . . or would he lose it all? His heart, his soul, the only connections that kept him tethered to his humanity. Or would he become that killing machine, that government tool he'd been for so long, without a chance to know a life of anything more than serving a cause?
9
A
nd there they were again. All three of them in his flat. Quill hadn't realized how empty it had been without them. Filled with expensive furnishing, but cold and empty without the human warmth of his mates. He ignored the warning in his head that that was a weak thought. He was too fucking glad they were all here and alive to care right now about what made him weak or strong, in control or out of it.
The moment they stepped out of the lift and into his flat, Kienan reached out and wrapped an arm around his neck, hauling him forward. The wolf used his other hand to drag Gea in until they were all tangled in a hug. Quill didn't remember the last time he'd had anyone offer him a simple hug, a gesture of support and comfort, and salty moisture burned his eyes. He cleared his throat, embarrassed, and tried to step back, but his mates wouldn't let him. They each had an arm around him and held on tight. For some reason, that made his eyes sting more. He swallowed, his fist balling in Kienan's shirt while he slid his other hand up to thread through Gea's silky hair.
The scent of them, their nearness, made some tightness relax deep inside him. They were here, they were alive. It was enough. A breath shuddered out of him. “Let's not do that again.”
Ragged chuckles broke from Gea and Kienan, and she squeezed them both tighter. “Thanks for coming. I'd pretty much talked Stefan into letting me walk out of there, but... I'm glad you guys showed up.”
Her voice was clogged with tears, and that made emotion cinch in Quill's chest. “Anytime.”
And he meant it. Deus, what would he have done if anything had happened to her? To either of them? What if he could have done something about it and hadn't? The guilt would have eaten him alive. He was a man who didn't bother with guilt about any of his actions, but this? This would have been more than he could handle. He hated admitting it, even to himself, but there it was.
She stirred against his side, pulling back a little to look up at him. Her beautiful eyes were glassy with unshed moisture. “I am so sorry I lied to you, Quill. I know it's inexcusable. I've been pretty messed up about mates my whole life because my parents' mating was such a joke. A terrible, twisted joke.”
“I know.” He ran his thumb across her cheek, wiping away the single tear that escaped. “I hired someone to look into youâboth of youâthis past week. After I found out about the mate thing, I had to know what I was dealing with.”
The dossier his investigator had pulled together showed him that they were exactly who he thought they were. He had more details, more specifics, but there was nothing that surprised him. At the time, he hadn't known if that was a blessing or a curse.
And it showed him that he
knew
them. What he'd gathered this week were merely details. But he already knew the fundamental, important parts of them. Gea's fierce independence, her lively curiosity, her stubbornness, her passion. The painful past that had put shadows in her eyes. Kienan's determination, his protectiveness, his willingness to walk away from everything he'd ever known because he knew it was the right thing to do. That took courage. It wasn't easy to cut ties with what was comfortable and step into the unknown. A lot of men wouldn't have had the fortitude. But Kienan did.
What he'd discovered shouldn't have shocked him, but it did. Two people who fit him perfectly, who could understand why he'd done the things he'd done, and not judge him harshly for it or worship the wealth he'd acquired in the process.
“I love you. Both of you.” Another tear slipped from the corner of Gea's eye. Her arms tightened around them convulsively. “I promised myself I'd tell you that if I got out of Stefan's alive. So . . . I love you. I'm sorry I pushed you both away and hurt you.”
A shudder passed through Kienan. “I love you both, too. I don't care how we make this work out, but I want us to be together. I'm tired of never having people or a place to call mine. I want you both in my life.”
“I want that, too.” A sob tangled with a laugh as it escaped from Gea's throat.
Pressure built in Quill's chest, a feeling that seared his very soul. He'd never experienced anything like it. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. For perhaps the first time in his life, he didn't know what to say, what to do. They
loved
him. Deus, it was as horrifying as it was wonderful. “I never expected . . . I . . .”
No, he'd never expected any of this, didn't have a plan in place for how to deal with it. He hadn't anticipated a mate, let alone two. He hadn't imagined they might have the ability to twist him into knots.
Gea rose on tiptoes, brushing her lips over his throat, his jaw, his mouth. “I love you, Quill. I love you, Kienan. I don't know what happens nextâI'm scared of what might come next. But I'm here, I'm not going anywhere if you want me, too, and I love you. Believe that, if nothing else.”
“I believe it,” Kienan said. He curved a hand under Gea's chin and pulled her up for a kiss. Quill could feel the heat of it, and the sight made his cock harden. It had been days since he'd had them. Far too long. Kienan's hand slipped down from Quill's shoulder to curl over his ass. His cock went stiffer than mercurite and he clenched his teeth. He wanted them more than he'd ever wanted anything in his life, more than he'd even wanted to escape the grinding poverty of his youth. Gea's fingers curled around his dick through his pants and he hissed, his fangs erupting from his gum. Damn, how they got to him.
Their kiss broke, and they turned to Quill. Kienan pushed Quill's protective vest off, then yanked his shirt off. Gea fumbled for his fly, unsealing it to reach in and stroke his cock. His hips jerked, lust setting its hooks deep inside him. The tension that had been building up for the last week eased. This he understood, this carnal craving. He pulled at their garments, and it was a race to be naked.
Clothing was discarded, and they left a path of boots, pants, and shirts on their way to the bedroom. Right where he wanted them. A place that had been so barren he couldn't face it for the last week, choosing to get what little sleep he could on the couch instead. Stopping beside the bed, Kienan slammed his mouth over Quill's, and the kiss was wild, exactly what Quill needed. It was lips, fangs, and tongues. He tasted blood, his and Kienan's, and the mingling was far more erotic than it should be. His heart pounded, his cock throbbing with pleasured-pain as their nude bodies rubbed against each other. Gea's breasts pressed to his back, her teeth nipping his shoulder blade. More. He wanted more. Everything. It was terrifying and he couldn't stop it. He didn't even want to. Deus save him.
Kienan broke their kiss, and Gea slid around to his front. She brushed her lips over his before she slipped down to kneel before him, rubbing her tight little nipples against his torso on the way. He groaned, loving the way she stared at his cock, licked her lips, and then offered him a grin that was as wicked as it was tender. It was the tenderness that made his heart stop. He'd never seen such an expression from her, never even imagined it.
“I love you, Quill.
We
love you.”
She closed her mouth over his cock and sucked. He groaned, then gritted his teeth when Kienan parted his buttocks, eased lubricant into his anus, and spread his fingers to widen Quill for penetration. Deus, when was the last time he'd allowed himself to be fucked by another man? Years. It had felt too out of control. But now the excitement made his heart hammer in his chest. That it was Kienan made the difference. That Gea was here, watching them, sucking him, made the difference.
“We want you right here between us. For the rest of our lives, if I have my way.” The wolf growled, pulling his hand away to replace it with his cock. He eased the head in and Quill groaned, pushing his hips back to take more. Kienan worked his cock deep, his hot breath rushing against Quill's skin as he panted. He realized they were both panting. He'd never been so turned on in his life.
“More.” Yes. Please. Closing his eyes, he arched his hips back and forth between them in mindless abandon. His thoughts were scattered incoherency as they sucked and fucked him.
Gea let his cock slide from her mouth, her tongue flicking out to tease the head. “You can't control us, you know.”
Choking on a broken groan, he slid his fingers into her hair, flexed them, wanting to force her to take him back into her hot mouth, but knowing she wouldn't let him get away with that. “I know.”
“Do you really want to?” Her fingers circled his shaft, squeezed and stroked him. “Is that what love means to you?”
“No.” He tightened his hand in her hair, trying to make a few of his brain cells work while Kienan continued to fuck his ass. “It means being totally out of control. Being at someone else's mercy.”
The wolf growled in his ear, then bit the back of his neck. Hard. “Why is that a bad thing, if they love you back, if they're just as much at your mercy?”
He'd . . . never thought of it that way. Love had always been something that weakened him, never something that made him stronger. The idea made his head spin.
But then there was no more thinking, only feeling. Gea took him so deep he felt the back of her throat contract around the head of his cock. Sweat slipped down his temples as he watched his dick slide in and out of her mouth. “Touch yourself, Gea. I want you to come with us.”
She peeked up at him, her pupils dilated with passion, but he saw her knees spread and one of her hands moved between her thighs. He had to clench his jaw when her moans vibrated along his shaft. Deus, he could smell how hot she was, how wet.
Kienan sank deeper into Quill's ass, grinding his pelvis upward until a ragged shout burst from Quill's throat. The way the wolf-shifter's broad cock stretched his anus was agony and ecstasy at the same time. The dichotomy had him on the edge of orgasm, so close he could taste it. In and out, the drag of flesh had him groaning, ready to beg for the surcease only they could grant him. The other man reached around and caught Quill's nipples, squeezing them, twisting them. It was too much. Deus, it was far too much for him to take. And he loved it. Gea's mouth on him, her tongue working down the underside of his cock while she rolled his balls between her slim fingers. Kienan fucking his ass with the swift, urgent rhythm that would send him over the edge. Soon.
The sound of Gea's moans increased, and he could hear how slick she was every time she thrust her fingers into her pussy. Her body undulated before him, her suckling growing harder, faster.
“Come for me, Gea.” He groaned. The way she responded, the heat of her passion, making him burn even hotter. As it had always done. Because she was his mate.
Her back bowed and she screamed around his cock as she shattered, just as he'd wanted. Her teeth scraped his dick, and prickles broke down his skin. He shuddered, choked when Kienan shoved into his ass again, thick and hard and so fucking erotic, Quill thought he might die. And go out a happy man.
“Say it, Quilliam. You know you want to. You know you feel it, too. How good this is, how right.” Kienan's voice was so guttural it was barely human, and he ground Quill's nipples between his fingers. “Tell me you really want to lose this.”
He didn't want to. Deus, no. Quill wanted to hold on to this forever. He was a man who had everything but had never had any
one.
Now he did. Now he had them, if he had the guts to let go of control and hold on to them.
“I love you.” He rocked his hips back and felt how his words shredded Kienan. The wolf growled, jutting his cock into Quill's ass as he came. The hot spurt of his fluids was Quill's undoing. The leopard within him clawed for freedom, and he let the animal win, giving in. His fangs slid forward and he hovered right on the edge of shifting, danced on a razor's edge that sharpened the experience. He'd never felt so good in his entire life. “I love you.” He gripped Gea's hair, shoved his cock into her mouth and came hard, groaning as she sucked him dry. The orgasm lasted longer than any he'd ever had before, and his body moved between them, his muscles shuddering, his knees threatening to buckle. “Gea, Kienan. Deus, I fucking love you.”
A leopard's scream ripped from him, and he threw his head back against Kienan's shoulder. A last pulse of come jetted from Quill, the scent of sex and his mates the most arousing aroma he'd ever smelled. Perfection. Everything was exactly as it should be. Peace unlike any he'd ever known unfurled inside him. A deep sigh slid out of him.
Groaning, Kienan slipped out of him and staggered over to collapse on the bed. Quill offered Gea a hand up and stroked her hair back from her flushed face. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Are you all right?”
She nodded, her gaze searching his. “Are you?”
“I love you.” It felt good to say, to let it out. “We'll figure the rest out later.”
“Good.” A lopsided smile formed on her lips. “You forgive me for not telling you we were mates?”
Stooping forward, he swept her into his arms and carried her over to lay her on the mattress beside Kienan. Offering her a wicked grin, Quill bent down to bite the lower curve of her belly. “I can think of ways for you to make it up to me.”