Born to Please [Pleasure Vessels 1] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (16 page)

“Payne?” Trainer J asked. He sniffed the air, and his eyes widened as they went from the floor where the mangled remains of Trainer R lay. He let out a string of curses. “Get a medical team in here. Alec Kane has been shot. I’ll deal with the bear. He’s one of my line.”

I’m a bear?
God! No wonder I’m so huge
.

“I’ll never get over the fact that we thought you shifters were extinct,” one of the security guys mumbled, clearly terrified. “You heard him, gents. Let’s get medical in here.”

Payne went to all fours beside Alec and whined in his throat. He had to be all right. He didn’t know what he would do if Alec died. The thought made his heart twist painfully in his chest. He looked so pale on the wood floor, and the angry red stain spread around him like a halo.

“Payne,” Jack said, drawing his attention away from his lover. Payne drew back his lip in a snarl. “I know your instincts tell you to stand guard over him, but I need you to move so the medics can get to him. It’s all right, little bear. Come over to the corner with me.” There was something in his voice, an underlying thread of command that rankled. Jack’s eyes widened as Payne growled. Understanding seemed to dawn. “Ah, you’re an Alpha, huh? Nice, inconvenient but nice. Please, come away from Alec. We can stay in the room, but you have to let us help him or else he may die. Do you understand?”

Payne nodded and shot one last look at his unconscious lover before taking an agonizing step away from him.

* * * *

Alec woke up in his bed. He blinked as the soft light of the room momentarily blinded him. The steady beep of a machine near his head was head-splitting, and the stiffness in his limbs said he’d been lying here a while.

“Yeah. I’ve got the reports back from Europe. It seems like the new system I sent over is working well for the European set. I think measures A, B, and E are going to work well at the Pennsylvania center. How is the migration going? Desiree told me there was a holdup in New York.” A pause. “No. I made sure the permits went through perfectly. Fax them up there and get our Vessels out of the hotel rooms please. I swear, there is so much red tape I could mail a million and five red-wrapped packages to the U.S. Government. Jack says we’re good otherwise, yeah?” Another pause. “Good. Call me with the updates at five. Better yet, e-mail them to me. Mr. Kane will want a forwarded copy for the insurance. Yes. You, too. Bye.”

“Payne?” Alec asked, his voice hoarse. His lover sat at a massive desk that had been dragged into his room and piled high with stacks of paper and open laptops. “What happened?”

He pushed back from the desk and all but ran over to Alec’s side. “Thank God, you’re awake!” He jostled the mattress as he sat beside him on the bed.

Alec swallowed. “Water?”

“Of course. Hold on just a second.” He bounced up and ran over to the minifridge that was sitting by his desk. He got out a water bottle and ran back over to him. “Here.” He unscrewed the lid and held it up so he could drink.

Alec took a few deep swallows before he drew back. “What happened?” he repeated.

“Trainer R was the muscle of the group. He shot you and tried to get me to come with him. The trauma apparently activated my shifter genes, and I shifted. Jack had to talk me back to my human form.” Payne cupped his cheek. “You’ve been in a coma for two weeks. We only brought you home a couple days ago. The nurses come in and out during the day, but I took care of you for the most part.”

“So you’re working for the company?” Alec asked, his mind spinning with possibilities.
He stayed with me. He took care of me. He loves me
.

Payne beamed at him. “Yes. Between your father and me, we took care of the entire reorganization and migration effort of those Vessels who decided not to be Vessels anymore. Jack and his tribe are really helping the process. I’ve been running the education and care department since you’ve been unavailable. Your accountant has been helping me with bills. I knew nothing about them beforehand. I’m thinking about including a practical matters course for the older Vessels so that they won’t have this kind of problem. What do you think?”

“I think that there was a whole lot of information just thrown at me,” Alec murmured, rubbing his temples with one hand. “So everything is all right? We’re good?”
You stayed?
That bit went unsaid.

“We’re great. Your father is actually quite a sweetheart. He’s been really supportive.” Payne leaned up and kissed his lips before he had a chance to reply. “I missed you,” he whispered against his mouth.

“Hmm,” Alec said. “I missed you, too. Why didn’t you leave?”

“Because I love you, stupid,” Payne said. “We’re a forever kind of deal, Alec.”

Hot relief washed over him. “Good. I love you, too, Payne.” There were a thousand more questions that needed answering, and there were a thousand more things to do. But Payne had proven he would be there through thick and thin, and that meant more than all the to-do lists in the world. He laced their hands. He could face anything so long as he had a beautiful partner like Payne here beside him. “We have a lot of work to do.”

“We’ll do it together,” Payne said, smiling at him in that reassuring way he always did. “Jack is apparently my genetic brother of sorts, by the way. So that’s pretty cool. He’s staying here at the house to teach me how to control the new instincts. I can shift.”

“Holy shit,” Alec said, quiet awe filling him. “Can I see?”

Payne nodded. “Once the doctors okay it I don’t see why not. Since I’m an Alpha, Jack’s council put me in charge of the North American Vessels who can shift but don’t want to relocate to South America. I have a clan now.” He bit his bottom lip. “It’s sort of a big deal. I’m in charge of a lot of people. Are you going to be okay with that?”

“Sweetheart, of course I will be.” Whatever they had to do, they’d make it work.

Payne favored him with a smile. “I knew you’d be all right with it.” He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips. “A lot of things are already changing, Alec. It’s very exciting. Exhausting but very exciting.”

“I’ve no doubt that you’ll do your best to make everything run smoothly.” He paused. “You still want to be with me, right?”

Payne nodded vigorously. “Of course. I thought we established that with the “I love yous.’” He adjusted the IV drip that was connected to Alec’s arm. “I adjusted the pain meds to make you a little more comfortable. You’ll be there as my mate to work with me, right?”

“Whatever you need me to be I will be.” At this rate, he was taking on even more than Alec would be when he recovered. He looked his lover up and down. “Alpha, huh? That’s hot. I like the idea of being imprinted to an Alpha.”

Payne grinned. “Good to know. We can explore that more in depth once you get an okay from the doctor. I’ll let them know you’re awake. Want to watch some TV until they get here? I don’t want you to start working just yet.”

Alec laughed. He couldn’t help it. Wasn’t he the one supposed to be doting on his lover? “That’s fine. Just hand me the remote.” The bottom of the bed opened, and the viewing screen rose from the panel. Payne handed over the clicker that changed the channels and gave him another kiss.

“I’ll be working over here if you need anything. I will shut everything down at five thirty, and we can talk some more.” His mate went back over to the desk, leaving Alec alone on the bed once more.

Alec sagged into the embrace of his bed, and his muscles relaxed. He still had some healing to do, but he knew that Payne would take care of things. The man who had been born to be his Pleasure Vessel was the man Alec had been born to love. And everything was just as it should be. He watched the images on the screen flicker as he waited for the next part of his day and his new life to begin. For now there would be rest, tomorrow there would be healing, and someday soon, there would be a happily ever after. Alec smiled at the thought, confident that it was much closer than he thought.

THE END

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Jana Downs lives in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina with three cats, one dog, several dozen fish, and a very understanding partner-in-crime who hates to read but makes exceptions for her stories.

You can usually find her either watching bad reality TV, buying way too many books on Amazon, or dreaming up another man or two to occupy her time because life is good but several drop-dead gorgeous nonexistent men is just better.

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