His to Protect (11 page)

"Just
while you're feeding Logan," Adrian promised. "As soon as you're
finished I'm going to drag you in here, bend you over, and replace that plug
with my cock. You're going to come from the first hard, deep thrust. Not
before." Adrian grinned when Tyler nodded slowly. Damn, the man was truly
sexy when he was this turned on. "Do you understand me, sweetheart? No
coming until I'm inside you."

Tyler bit
his lip but nodded his understanding.

"Come
on, little sub," Adrian said as satisfaction swelled through him.
"Time to feed a vampire."

~*~

Tyler struggled
to hold himself together. Fuck, he'd been aroused enough to not be able to
think straight even before Adrian had shoved that massive plug up his ass.
Right now he wasn't sure he'd be able to let Logan bite him without coming like
a horny teenager.

The slap on
his butt sure as fuck didn't help.

"Not
until I say so," Adrian whispered in his ear.

Tyler
nodded, desperate not to disappoint the man he was quickly falling in love
with. Holy cow, he was totally fucked. It was really going to hurt when Adrian
finished training him as a sub and then found him a new Dom.

That thought
alone managed to bring Tyler's arousal down a notch. How could he be falling in
love with a man he'd met less than a week ago?

"I
can…um…find s–someone else," Logan said, apparently sensing Tyler's
distress. "I know this is going above and beyond best friend's
duties."

"No,"
Tyler said, reaching for his friend's hand. "Please don't think
that." It was clear that the changes Logan was going through were messing
with his confidence in their friendship. "Logan, I'm happy to do this for
you." Tyler couldn't help but grin when he thought of the side effects.
There wasn't any way he could ignore the plug stretching his ass or forget the
promise Adrian had made to fuck him senseless once he was done feeding Logan.
"I'm actually finding the side effects quite pleasant."

Derek made a
snorting sound and both Logan and Tyler looked over to see Adrian shaking his
head in amusement.

"Time
to feed, little vampire," Derek said. "You two keep talking like that
and I'm going to need help with a boner too."

Tyler could
feel his face heating with his embarrassment. He should have remembered that
nothing was private when it came to paranormals. They all apparently had
fabulous hearing.

He took
comfort in Adrian's embrace and didn't object when his lover lifted the sleeve
of his T-shirt up to give access to the same spot on his arm that Logan had
bitten last time. The actual bite hurt, but the rapture quickly followed.
Almost before he realized Logan was finished, Tyler was lifted into Adrian's
arms and carried down the hallway.

~*~

Adrian was
having trouble keeping his own thoughts straight. He wanted to sink hard and
fast into Tyler's ass, but he also wanted to claim him, to bite him, to create
a mating link like they did in the Lupinville pack.

But it
didn't make any sense.

The Alateeka
siblings weren't ordinary paranormals. They didn't fit in with the others of
the same species because they were one-off creations of Anaedra's. The only
thing Adrian had in common with other werewolves was the fact that they could
turn into a wolf-shaped animal. Everything else about the Alateeka siblings was
completely different.

Yet none of
that stopped him from following through on his promise. He bent Tyler over the
padded foot locker, dropped Tyler's jeans to his knees, and tore open the
zipper on his own. He barely had the butt plug out before he was cramming his
own cock in.

Tyler
grunted as Adrian filled him, and it was only the brief reminder that Tyler was
human that allowed Adrian to grasp his own sanity. He leaned over, wrapped his
arms around Tyler's chest, and slowed their frantic movements. It wasn't until
his fingers encountered warm slippery fluid that he realized Tyler had done
exactly what Adrian had ordered when he'd pushed the plug in—he'd come from
Adrian's very first thrust.

Holy fuck,
the realization sent a surge of power through him, his teeth again elongating
as the need to bite Tyler overwhelmed him. He wanted… He needed. He had to
claim… The primal force of it was exhilarating. He even had his fucking teeth
at the man's throat before he could stop himself.

If Tyler
hadn't moaned in pain, if his legs hadn't quivered and his knees given out,
Adrian had no idea what might have happened, but sanity returned in a rush. The
last thing he'd meant to do was hurt the man.

Adrian
carefully pulled out, and then eased Tyler onto the bed.

"I'm
sorry," Adrian said as he ran his hands over Tyler trying to find the
source of his injury. "Where did I hurt you?"

"You didn't,"
Tyler said, sounding shocked. "I've got a cramp in my butt cheek."

"A cramp?"
Adrian asked without comprehending.

"Yeah,"
Tyler said with a soft, pain-filled laugh. "Sorry to break the mood. I've
never had a cramp in my butt muscle before. It's really painful, and not in a
good way."

Finally the
lust in his brain cleared enough for Adrian to understand what Tyler meant. He
rolled his lover onto his stomach, eyed the tense muscle critically, and then
set to work gently massaging away the pain.

When Adrian
was satisfied the muscle was back to normal, he ran his hands up and down
Tyler's back, butt, and thighs, massaging everywhere to make sure the blood
still flowed correctly.

"It's
okay now," Tyler said, trying to roll over.

"Are
you sure?" Adrian asked as guilt assailed him again. Werewolf aside, he
was also a highly trained Dom. He should have been more aware of his sub's
body, not distracted by his own unexpected needs.

"I'll
be better when you start fucking me again," Tyler said, lifting up and rolling
over onto his back. He bent his legs, grasped his knees, and exposed that
beautiful hole to Adrian.

He knew he
should step away. He knew he needed time to understand what the hell was
happening between them, but he couldn't deny Tyler anything when the man leaned
up on one elbow, grabbed Adrian's cock, and urged him to lie over him.

Still a
little unbalanced by
his own
selfish behavior, Adrian
leaned over, grabbed more lube and pushed a huge glob into Tyler's ass. The man
grinned patiently when Adrian then liberally re-coated his own cock. Hell, it
was overkill. He knew that, but he wasn't going to risk again that he might
hurt Tyler.

The loving
that followed was sweet, and deeply emotional, full of soft sighs and gentle
words. Even the orgasms they shared were truly satisfying. It was everything
Adrian had ever wanted. The beginning of something permanent, the foundation of
a relationship he needed more than his next breath, and the creation of a love
he'd never expected.

Adrian
closed his eyes in despair when his cell phone rang and duty called.

He wanted
everything Tyler represented, but it was the absolute last thing he had time
for.

Chapter Twelve

"Okay," Lilly said as she came
into the room. Gavin and Brody were with her. "Long story short, we're
looking for one of our own employees."

"Brian Coppers," Brody added as he
handed over a large print of the guy's security ID photo. "Age
twenty-seven, computer whiz, evil genius, and apparently"—Brody shuddered
theatrically—"unafraid of running through raw sewage to escape his
pursuers."

Adrian screwed his nose up just at the
thought. He usually enjoyed a good chase—what werewolf didn't?—but that was one
pursuit he was glad he hadn't been involved in.

Gavin grunted in agreement, but left the
room a moment later. He didn't bother explaining, but judging by the grins on
Brody's and Lilly's faces they knew where he was going. Considering he'd headed
straight to Logan's room it wasn't exactly a discreet move.

Shaking his head, Adrian tried to get the
conversation back on track. "Do we have any idea why Brian did what he
did?"

"As far as we can tell he was trying to
impress a girl."

Adrian shook his head in disgust. That was
the biggest problem with humans. They let their emotions make decisions for
them. Adrian sure as hell didn't want or need the type of connection that would
interfere with his decision making or have him doing idiotic things in the name
of love.

He stubbornly ignored the pain in his chest
as he thought of the human currently sleeping in one of the guest rooms. Tyler
would likely be hurt when he woke up in a different room after the unexpectedly
emotional sex they'd shared, but it was necessary to give the man some
distance. Tyler was a sub in training. That was all. It was unhealthy for either
of them to be developing a need for the other when the arrangement was meant as
temporary. It would be better if Adrian found a new Dom for Tyler sooner rather
than later. Now that Gavin was here to protect Tyler and Logan, Adrian planned
to drop by Santutegia and talk to a couple of the Doms about alternate
arrangements for Tyler. Yes, that was exactly what he should do…as soon as he
was finished here.

Lilly gave Adrian a strange look, but
finally continued with her explanation.

"A few months ago, Brian approached one
of the vampires he knew through his work with us and asked for a favor. He said
his girlfriend had been in a car accident and begged for him to change her into
a vampire too."

Adrian nodded. It wasn't unusual for the
humans who worked with them to make such requests on behalf of family members.
It was how they'd ended up with three teenage vampires running away from home
and causing all sorts of problems in Lupinville. If there was one thing more
angsty
and hormone-driven than a newly made vampire, it was
a newly made vampire who'd still been a human teenager when they'd been
changed.

"So the vampire agreed, changed her
successfully, and then threw his hands in the air and walked away when she
wouldn't listen to a damn thing he said."

"And he didn't think to report this to
us?"

Lilly shook her head. "He didn't really
consider it that big a deal. The woman was twenty-five when she was made, so he
expected things to settle down pretty quickly."

Adrian rolled his eyes. Rogue vampires were
liable to get everyone around them killed by terrified humans. How could a sire
walk away from a fledgling they'd created when the risks were so damn high for
everyone? Clearly, just like some humans, some vampires were not meant to be
parents.

"Anyway," Brody said, taking over
the conversation, "It looks like Jane Wilkins was only ever Brian's
girlfriend in his own mind. She claims she didn't even know he existed until
she woke up as a vampire, but she was happy to use him until a donor she liked
better came along. Interviews with people who knew them both suggest they had
no actual relationship."

"She claims she had no idea what Brian
was doing," Lilly added.

"And for the most part that's probably
true since she left him a couple of weeks after she was changed," Brody
added. "But we've got her on the 'suicide.'"

Lilly nodded. "Brian asked for her help
with a 'friend' of his. Jane was fascinated to learn that she could compel
humans. And, unfortunately for her, she was a little too proud of her success
at talking the guy into killing himself to remember she was admitting to a
crime."

"You got that all on tape?" Adrian
asked. Both Lilly and Brody rolled their eyes at his reminder. Thanks to
technological advancements like high definition recording, vampires now showed
up on tape. The image was blurry and kind of see through, but it was adequate
for their purpose. They didn't really need it. The only higher power they kind
of answered to was Anaedra, but it felt right to be able to explain their
decisions. Power without responsibility could quickly corrupt a person's
thinking, so Alateeka Protection Services had added video
evidence
to their investigations many years ago, so neither
Lilly nor Brody was
likely to forget it.

It was only Adrian's distraction causing him
to ask stupid fucking questions. Considering Lilly's temper, he'd do well not
to piss his little sister off—especially when he probably deserved her wrath
for inadvertently suggesting she didn't know how to do her job.

"Do we have any idea where Brian might
be headed?"

"Unfortunately no," Gavin said as
he walked back into the room. "But of more concern is the fact that the
game is still up and running, and still accepting credit card payments for the
final quest."

"I don't think I like the direction
this is heading."

"You shouldn't," Brody said with a
grimace. "Brian was the guy we'd go to when we had a computer issue.
Chances are he's using highly sophisticated passwords and firewalls. We don't
have any contacts who know computers better than he does, so our chances of
taking it down are close to zero."

"And while it's up, vampires will keep
being attacked while they sleep."

Adrian ground his teeth together. About a
year ago he'd gone looking for a computer expert who'd come to his attention,
but Adrian had found the kid's father, realized the man's distress and concern
for his son's safety, and backed off. He'd checked on Ricky Abelson to make
sure he was safe, and had found the boy with not only one, but two werewolf
protectors from his father's pack. Satisfied that the young man wasn't at risk
from other paranormal beings with less-than-honest intentions, Adrian had
decided to approach the young man in a few years when he was older.

Unfortunately this situation pushed his
schedule up more than a little.

"Ricky?" Lilly asked as if she'd
read Adrian's mind.

Brody shook his head, clearly disagreeing
with them both. "He's just a kid, barely nineteen. He's probably still
trying to adjust to his dad dating a werewolf, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't
even know he's under the Lupinville alpha's protection."

"Brody's got a point," Derek said
as he again leaned against the doorway to the medical room. He looked a little
better, but it was clear that he still shouldn't be up. Of course, Derek was
never one to be left out of a family argument.

"And what about
justice for William?"
Adrian asked as his
temper sparked to life. Brody and Gavin seemed to back off, but even as injured
as he was, Derek stepped into the argument without hesitating.

"William would never have asked us to
risk a young human's life to save his own."

"Ricky's skills put him at risk. Asking
him to help with this or not won't change that."

"You know that isn't what I meant,"
Derek said in a forceful tone. "Dragging the kid into an investigation is
a far cry from protecting him. William wouldn't have wanted that."

"No," Adrian conceded, "William
wouldn't have asked for anyone's sacrifice to save his own life, but he would
have done anything he could to save the lives of others." Adrian shook his
head tiredly. He really didn't want to involve Ricky, but while the computer
game was still running, vampires would continue dying. "All I'm going to
do is contact him, ask him to disrupt the program enough to make it stop
working, and then get the hell out of his life."

"What about his protectors?"

"I'm hoping they'll understand that we're
not a threat to him."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that,"
Derek said tiredly. "Last time I was down that way, I got the impression
one of them was Ricky's mate."

That wasn't what Adrian needed, but it was
good to know that Ricky had a paranormal mate. It meant he had a protector
willing to die for him, if that's what it took. Of course, that didn't do
anything to make Adrian's job any easier.

"Derek, if you know another way to do
this, by all means
speak
up."

Derek shook his head. "I wish I did."

"Okay, that's settled then,"
Anaedra said as she suddenly appeared in the room.

The immediate change of location wasn't
really surprising. When Anaedra wanted something, she was more than capable of
making it happen, so Adrian found himself standing on the doorstep of an old
brownstone house surrounded by two very upset wolves.

He held his hands up and away from his body
trying to show that he wasn't a threat. He was more worried about drawing the
attention of the humans in the area than he was about actually fighting off
both of them—even if one was an alpha—but he hadn't come here to fight. And
besides, Ricky was more likely to be willing to help them if Adrian didn't
injure the friends protecting him.

 
"I'm
not a threat," he said, even as the door opened behind him. The smaller
wolf bolted past Adrian to put its furry body between Adrian and the young man
who'd opened the door. "I'm not here to hurt anyone, but I need Ricky's
help."

"Jordan?" Ricky asked in
bewilderment as his gaze bounced between the wolf at his feet, the wolf on his
porch, and the wolf in human form trying to keep everyone calm.

The young man narrowed his eyes when his
gaze finally settled on Adrian.

"You're Adrian Alateeka," Ricky
said curiously. "Why on Earth would you want my help?"

Okay, so that was a little unexpected. They'd
never met, and even if Ricky's father had described Adrian to him, it seemed a
rather big leap to be able to identify him so easily. Perhaps Ricky had been
keeping as close an eye on them as they were on him, especially if he'd noticed
the digital trail when more than a year ago Alateeka Protection Services had
been searching for the creator of an unusually powerful algorithm.

"Our resident computer genius has gone
rogue on us," Adrian said, trying not to react to the wolf at Ricky's
feet. Jordan was barring his teeth aggressively and the wolf side of Adrian
wanted to react in kind. Grinding his human-shaped teeth together, Adrian tried
to concentrate past the primal instinct. "We need you to shutdown the guy's
online role playing game." Adrian glanced over his shoulder to check on
the whereabouts of the alpha wolf, but she'd apparently decided Adrian wasn't a
threat. Ricky looked really surprised when the she-wolf pushed past Jordan and
went into the house. "Please Ricky, people are dying. We need to shut this
site down."

Ricky dropped his hand to the head of the
wolf at his feet, nodded, and then moved back to let Adrian in. "I'll do
what I can."

Twenty minutes later Adrian's head was still
spinning from the way Ricky handled a computer. The website was shutdown, the
accounts closed and deleted, and Adrian even had several more physical
addresses that might lead them to the man they were looking for. Ricky's skills
made Brian—the best computer expert they'd been able to hire—look like a
beginner.

It was all done so quickly, Adrian wasn't
even sure what to say.

"Thanks," he finally said as he
handed over his business card. "If you ever need anything, please call."

Ricky glanced down at the card, then over to
the young woman wearing what appeared to be Ricky's borrowed clothes, sitting
on his couch, and the wolf still pressed against his legs. "I seem to be
well protected," he said in a tone that sounded a touch annoyed, "but
you know where to find me if you have more computer problems."

"I'm sorry that we needed to involve
you. Ricky," Adrian said sincerely.

"I'm not," Ricky said, glaring at
the wolf when it made a sound of disapproval. "The world is a dangerous
place, Jordan, you know that better than most, and if can do something to make
it a little safer, then that's exactly what I intend to do."

Adrian was pretty sure Jordan wouldn't be
happy about that, but Adrian also had no intention of getting involved in an
argument between mates.

"We'll try not to call on your skill
again before you've finished college," Adrian said, hoping he'd be able to
follow through on that assurance, "but if you're still interested in a
couple of years, we have a place for you on our team."

Jordan growled, and for one tense moment
Adrian thought he might have to fend off a physical attack, but Ricky simply
dropped his hand back onto the wolf's head and spoke in a firm tone.