“What?”
both felines exclaimed but it was Torr that continued. “He’s not dying!”
“Your grace, he came in here to kill you. He’s a threat and a risk,” I declared, trying not to stare at him as if he’d grown another head.
“He’s an idiot and wouldn’t have gotten anywhere,” Torr argued as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Let him go.”
“No.” I stood firm against him when he narrowed his eyes at me. “No, your grace. Call Samantha, and I promise she’ll back me.” Then I had another idea. “What did you do to the guards outside the King’s suite? Are they alive?”
Ty nodded furiously and stared at Torr, realizing the man might save him. “Yeah, I slipped something in the sodas I brought them, then I waited until they passed out and came in.”
“With a loaded
gun
that has a
silencer
on it,” I finished for Ty. “It’s not like you came to say
hi
.”
“Yeah, well, he didn’t stop the plot against Uncle so I was well within my right to avenge my King,” he defended.
“He’s right,” Torr sighed, running his hands through his hair and pulling slightly. “He’s of royal blood and—”
“Call Samantha,” I snapped and yanked Ty to the door, practically ripping it off the hinges when I opened it. “Maybe she can get you to see reason. Either way, I’m not going to stand here and argue with you about eliminating a threat against you. I was sent to protect you no matter what—even if that means against yourself.”
I stormed out of there, dragging Ty after me. He might have been a sniveling bastard, stupid and inept, but he was still a
threat
!
Sure enough, the guards were out when we got to the hallway. We stepped over them and into the emergency stairwell after I realized taking him down the back way to the security room would be best. Ty tripped on the turn mid-flight of stairs and I caught him.
Except it wasn’t an accident.
He shifted his hands the moment I had mine full of him. His free arm swung out at me and claws cut deeply into my chest. “Fuck you! My cousin is weak, and it’s just a matter of time until he’s taken out. Jerry can do better.”
“Not as stupid as you act, are you?” I snarled as let my own shifted talon slice across his throat. He grabbed his neck, blood spurting everywhere. I didn’t even finish him or watch, more worried about his accomplice.
I raced up the stairs, three at a time, and burst into the hallway, my left hand holding my shredded chest together. And I did the only thing I could as I put every ounce of strength left in me to get to Torr—I listened.
“Jerry, I promise I won’t let them execute Ty, okay? Just put the gun down, and we’ll figure this all out.” I could hear the slight quiver in Torr’s voice.
Fuck
!
“You stupid ass,” the guy chuckled. “Ty was just the sacrificial lamb to get the owl out of here so I could kill you and take your place. If you really knew anything, you would have told your new security that Ty had a twin that never left his side. Gods, you don’t know shit, do you?”
“Like that my whole family wants me dead? No, just getting that memo.”
That was enough to give me both their positions as I reached the outer room of Torr’s suite. I couldn’t fuck around with the amount of blood I’d lost and was still losing.
“Torr!” I called out as a warning, hoping he knew to hit the deck just in case something ricocheted badly. I shot through the drywall to where Jerry was, saving half the clip in case it hadn’t worked. Then I slammed into the closed door, sending it flying off the hinges and kept my gun pointed at Jerry’s position.
I thanked the gods when I saw him dead on the floor, at least six shots in his chest and enough blood everywhere to tell me he wasn’t getting back up without a miracle.
“Did you call Samantha?” I asked as I kicked away Jerry’s gun just in case. Hey, I’d seen crazier things.
“She’s on her way,” Torr answered as he stood back up. Oh good. He’d done what I wanted.
“That’s good because I’m not going to be conscious much longer,” I admitted as I faced the door, gun drawn. “Any more cousins I should know about?”
“Dozens but none that would get involved in a plot with Ty and Jerry,” he muttered as he raced over to me.
“Get back behind the bed until Samantha gets here to protect you,” I barked out, not removing my hand from my chest when he tried to make me. He hesitated and I met his eyes. “Torr, please. Let me do my job and we can fight about all of this later. You’re King now. Put your people first.”
“Asshole. That was low to throw that in my face,” he snarled as his lime green eyes flashed at me.
“Give me a break. I saved your life twice tonight, and I’m bleeding out. You can school me in tact tomorrow.” The edges of my vision started to go fuzzy as I sank to my knees. There was a commotion in the hallway, and I seriously hoped it was the cavalry. “Samantha? I’m armed and trigger happy so identify yourselves!”
“Yeah, it’s me, Hadley. I have some Royal Guards with me,” she called out as they entered the suite. I dropped the gun and clutched my chest with both hands.
“I leave the King in your charge then because I’m going to pass out,” I murmured, waiting until she came into my view before doing just that.
I don’t believe I was out long but a tongue licking my wounds brought me back around. Thinking that weird, I blinked down my body at big orange eyes staring up at me as he licked the claw marks on my chest.
Huh, I’m not hallucinating. A man’s licking my chest. Interesting. And he’s between my legs.
“Having fun?” I groaned as I tried lifting my head.
“Our saliva has a coagulant and natural pain killer in it so it’s the quickest way to heal,” he explained before taking another long lick, pressing against me suggestively. “I offered since felines of the same breeds heal their claw wounds fastest. I’m a puma like Ty and Jerry were.”
“Were?”
“Yes, you killed
both
my cousins,” Torr bitched across the room. It hurt too much to try and see him so I didn’t bother. The last thing I wanted was to witness him pissed at me after saving his ass and getting injured in the process.
“He saved your
life
, Torrance,” Samantha snapped. “If Hadley hadn’t been all over the situation, you’d be dead. We wouldn’t have gotten to you in time. Jerry spliced the feeds in the hallway outside your suite. A team saw Ty and Hadley in the stairwell and headed to you but they
wouldn’t have made it
. Thank the fucking man!”
“Are you seriously talking to me like this, Advisor?”
“Yes,” she hissed, sounding very much like her cheetah. “Because right now I’m your friend and not your advisor. This is exactly why I’ve said you should have security outside felines. He wouldn’t listen to you as our King. The Royal Guard is too worried about pissing you off and the repercussions as opposed to putting your safety first and doing what needs to be done! He did the right thing when you would have shown your cousins leniency.”
They kept going as the sexy little feline finished my chest, still licking for good measure. “They’re hurting my head.”
“I can get you out of here and take care of your other issue if you’d like,” he purred as his hands moved to my abs.
“Yeah, stick me in the King’s guest room.” He smiled shyly at me as his cheeks heated up all the way to his ears. Gods, he was young.
He got me to my feet and moved my arm around his shoulder, smiling brightly as if I’d picked him out of a lineup to be my date.
“Yes, make sure to tend to all of our guest’s needs, Konrad,” Torr seethed as his hands fisted on his hips. “Apparently he has lots of them currently and is only thinking with one head.”
I shot him an evil look. Yeah, that was not something I’d let go, but my whole idea was to make sure this was privately handled and Torr just put the kid center stage.
“As you wish, your grace.” The kid vibrated as if getting a gold star for pleasing his King on top of everything. Yeah, young
and
naïve.
“How old are you, Konrad?” I asked once we were out of Torr’s bedroom. “Why were you even here?”
“Oh, I’m twenty, and I’m training to be one of the Royal Guards so for now I handle cleanup of issues and any grunt work.”
“Like healing me?” I drawled, kicking the door closed behind us once we were in the guest room.
“No, I wanted to do that,” he panted, staring at me with those big eyes. “It gave me a chance to be near the hot owl staying at court. I thought maybe you would notice me then, consider me even.” He went to drop to his knees but I stopped him and lifted him to his feet easily. “But I thought you wanted a blow job?”
“No sane gay man
wouldn’t
want one from you, Konrad,” I murmured gently as I moved him against the door. “But you deserve better than being treated like some whore I’m paying to come take care of my hard-on. You’re young, innocent—”
“I’m not a virgin.
Lots
of guys have fucked me. Most of the gay guys at court ask me over when they’re horny,” he argued even as I saw the hurt in his eyes at being used like that.
“And that’s half the problem.” I wasn’t sure I could explain what I wanted to him when I saw the look of confusion he was giving me. Instead I went with a visual. Grabbing his head, I slanted my lips over his and planted the best kiss I could on the young puma. He moaned and opened for me, trying to climb my larger body to get more, but instead, I pulled back. “Did you ever feel that when you’re with them?”
“No, nothing like that,” he gasped, his eyes wide.
“You deserve that and so much more, Konrad,” I whispered as I stroked his cheek. “Don’t let someone treat you any less or demean you. You’re special and are a bountiful main course that deserves the whole package. Not a side dish. Do you get what I’m saying?”
“Stop throwing myself at people for any scrap of attention?” His eyes filled with tears and that was the last thing I wanted.
“When we’re young and have had shitty pasts, it’s very easy to get true feelings and sexual interludes confused. I’m not picking on you. I recognized what was going on because I’ve
been there
. And, Konrad, believe me when I say I’ve had way better kisses. You’re cute and I want you, but the real spark isn’t there. When you have that
real
spark with someone, you find the right person to be kissing, believe me, you’ll never settle for anything less ever again.”
“Maybe we should try it again? I could do something different and be the spark you need?” He blushed again and it was so sexy on the little puma. “That sounded really desperate, didn’t it? I’m sorry. It’s just you’re hot and sweet and obviously a good guy. Why can’t someone like you love me?”
“Keep looking and I promise that guy will. I’m really old and I’ve only found the spark but not the whole package. Right now my heart is debating on someone else who might be it for me. That’s not fair to you.”
He nodded and ducked under my arm. I got the idea and stepped away from the door. “Is it wrong that I want you to screw me all night long just to get a taste of better than what I’ve had? Am I hopeless?”
“I don’t believe in people being hopeless as long as they still care. And no, you’re confused and want comfort, not rejection as you’re seeing this. But it’s not, Konrad.” I rubbed his shoulder gently, trying to convey he wasn’t the only one who’d worried about such things.
“That and you’re just the sexiest man I’ve ever fucking seen.” He bolted out of the room before I could reply, and I pushed the door closed behind him.
I glanced down at my cock, leaking and wanting. “Shut up. He was too young. Enough people have taken what he’s offered, and it hurts him in the end. I don’t care how big of an ass Torr’s being, you’re not fucking some sexy puma.”
Yeah, I blame my pep talk with my cock on the blood loss.
I crashed after that, barely remembering hitting the bed before I was out. It was sometime later a distant voice broke into my dreams.
“Did you really not fuck Konrad?”
“Not who I want to be with,” I muttered, not even bothering to open my eyes. “Sexy and my body reacted, but he’s been too hurt. I see a younger me when I look at him and did what I wish someone had when I was that age.”
“What’s that, Hadley?”
“Showed me that I was worth more than scraps of affection or the only way to ever matter was to give myself to everyone. He’s worth more than being a dirty secret or last resort for sex or a toy. Maybe someday I’ll practice what I preach.”
“What does that mean?”
“Doesn’t matter. Don’t want to talk about,” I grumbled. Jesus, I was screwed in the head.
“And if I persuaded you to tell me?” Torr purred as he slid into bed with me. Oh,
that’s
who was talking! “Does this have to do with the two men I smelled on you and still do?”
“Wow, I’ve showered, and flown all the way here, showering again after fucking you several times, and
still
you can smell them? That’s amazing.”
“Amazing is what I can do for you. You don’t need those other men or Konrad.”