The Lion's Den (31 page)

“
You’re not going to shower first?” Marcus asked.

Kiren shook his head. “No, I want your scent all over me.”

“
I see. Good decision by the way. My scent being on you is quite an improvement.”

“
I think so.” Kiren chuckled. “Do you have any idea where I can find these humans?”

“
Of course I do. I formed a mental link with them the moment I realized they were handling the case.” Marcus told Kiren where he could find his targets. “Have fun,” he said before his lover left.

Kiren was beyond excited. No one had ever dared to destroy the S.U.I.T. organization before. The concept was forbidden. The
Council
; which consisted of eight supernaturals, both vampire and shape-shifter, had long ago decided that the humans should have their police Force in order to keep the peace. They decided the humans should have their laws and their justice; everything reasonable to make them feel safe enough to sleep at night. In order to co-exist with mankind, the S.U.I.T. was a necessity and therefore it was agreed that no direct attack would be taken against them for the sake of maintaining that peace.

Master vampires and various leaders of shifter communities all agreed to allow the S.U.I.T. to protect the humans from those of their kind who broke the four laws. Many didn’t agree with the new system, but none dared to overstep the ruling of the
Council
. Not until now. What Marcus was planning was a direct insult to the
Council
. Kiren wasn’t surprised by Marcus’ plan. His lover had never had much respect for the
Council
. Many felt that the
Council
had given in to the humans all too easily, which allowed the humans to think they were still in control. Others, however, had felt the
Council
was wise in their decision, which allowed supernaturals more power over the humans than they ever had before.

Then there were those, like his Master, who did whded wanted to do, whenever they wanted to do it. They didn’t obey a set of rules made up by people weaker than themselves. They ruled their own world and this attack was a message to all who dared to press their ideals onto them. Kiren would make his Master proud. He pulled his car in front of a red brick home. The lawn was trimmed in pretty flowers and there was a child’s bike lying on its side next to the rose bush. He climbed out of the car, walked up to the front door and knocked.

Gabriel’s daughter, Rhiana answered, looking upward at the very tall man who stood before her. “Hello, can I help you

”

“
Rhiana … ,” her mother came up behind her, taking over the introductions. “Sweetie, go and play with your brother, okay.”

“
Okay, Mommy,” Rhiana said, running upstairs.

Her mother returned her attentions back to the stranger. “Hello, how may I help you?”

“
Is your husband home? I have some information for him about his case.”

“
Yes, my husband’s home. Please wait right here.” Melinda closed the door, locking it in place. She called to her husband who came out of the kitchen at the sound of his name.

“
Yeah, babe?” he answered.

“
There’s a man outside, he says he has information about your case.”

Gabriel’s eyes widened as he quickened his pace toward the front door, he opened it. “Who are you?”

“
Someone with a message.” Kiren pushed Gabriel hard knocking him backwards to the floor. Moving faster than the two humans could see, he punched Gabriel’s wife, rendering her unconscious before returning his attention back to Gabriel who was scrambling to his feet. Kiren smiled as he advanced on Gabriel, pushing him back onto the floor. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“
What do you want?!” Gabriel asked, his face reddening with anger and frustration.

Kiren tilted his head sideways. “Isn’t that the million dollar question? What do I want? What do we all want? Great sex, a hot meal, a bank full of cash and a lot of fun ways to spend it. Am I right?” He chuckled.

“
You’re the shifter, aren’t you? The sick son-of-a-bitch who killed those children?” Gabriel questioned.

“
I am,” Kiren said before advancing on Gabriel, straddling him and pinning him against the floor. “We’re going to have a lot of fun together.”

“
Fuck you!” Gabriel growled as he struggled in vain to toss the shifter off him. He looked over toward his wife who was now bleeding from the open gash on her forehead. “My wife! What did you do to her?!”

“
You’re ballsy for a human. I like you. Don’t worry, she’s not dead. Concussed, but not dead. There might be some brain damage, but that’s not really my concern. Now, those two adorable kids of yours, I could have some fun with them.”

Gabriel stopped ng as he locked eyes with the shifter. “Leave my children out of this.”

“
I’m feeling pretty charitable today, so maybe I will, then again, maybe I won’t. Tell you what, I’ll let it be your decision if I involve your kids.” Kiren’s smile widened, revealing his pearly whites. His right hand held both of Gabriel’s wrists to the floor, while his left slid down his captive’s chest, past his stomach, finding his groin. “Niiiice. Have you ever fucked a guy before?”

“
Don’t even fucking think about it, freak!” Gabriel begin to struggle again against his captor.

Kiren frowned as his grip tightened on Gabriel’s groin causing the man to grimace in pain. “That wasn’t a nice thing to say at all. It certainly wasn’t smart. You must want to watch me devour your precious kids in front of you. You know I can.”

“
NO! Please, don’t hurt them!” Gabriel ceased his struggling.

“
Are we willing to be cooperative now?” Kiren asked, his hand beginning to massage Gabriel’s groin.

Sickened by the shifter, Gabriel swallowed hard. “What do you want from me? You want me to back off this case?”

Kiren laughed outright. “No, nothing so easy as that. I don’t care if you work twenty-four hours straight on this case, makes no difference to us, you’ll never stop us even if you did. No, we have other plans for you and I have a few of my own ideas of what I want to do to you.”

Gabriel didn’t want to mention what he thought those “ideas” were. He didn’t want to think about what this shifter was going to do to him. But he knew he needed to ask, so he did. “What are you going to do to me?”

Kiren unbuttoned Gabriel’s jeans then unzipped them.

“
Fuck! Stop it, please!” Gabriel begged.

Kiren ignored Gabriel’s pleas, slipping his hand underneath the waistband of the other man’s underwear, fingers finding the soft flesh. “You know, I get a lot of pleasure making men like you bend to my will. Right now, you’re soft, but I can make sure you don’t stay that way.”

“
Men don’t turn me on, you’re wasting your time.” Gabriel hoped he could dissuade the shifter from taking him against his will.

“
I don’t think I’m wasting my time, unless of course, you want me to let your kids take your place instead.”

“
You son-of-a-bitch! I swear to
God
you touch my kids I’ll find a way to personally rip your heart out of your
fucking
chest! You
fucking
freak!”

“
My, my! You kiss your kids with that mouth?” Kiren laughed. “I guess you do. It
is
the same mouth you eat pussy with, right?”

“
I’m not fucking playing with you, leave my kids out of this!”

“
Like I said, that depends on what you do and what you don’t do.” Kiren pulled Gabriel’s penis free and began stroking it in a slow motion. “I know this feels good. You need to stop fighting me. I’m not the kind of man you want to piss off. You’ve seen my handiwork, haven’t you? Remember the ice cream truck?”

Gabriel’s eyes widened. “Those kids … you’re psychotic.” He was struggling to maintain his calm, but his groin was beginning to respond to Kiren’s masterful fingers. He hated that his flesh was growing harder with each stroke. But he knew this killer wasn’t bluffing. The last thing he wanted was to see any harm come to his children.

“
Yeah, I know. I had fun, too.”

“
So are you going to rape me?”

“
Rape you, hell no. You can’t rape someone who gives themselves over to you willingly. That is what you’re doing, right? Giving yourself to me?”

Gabriel thought about his innocent children playing upstairs, completely oblivious to what was happening downstairs. He looked at his wife, who he wanted to run to. She needed emergency medical help she wouldn’t get until he gave this shifter what he wanted. He looked back at the man on top of him. “Yes.”

“
See there, I knew we could come to an understanding.” Kiren smiled as he snatched Gabriel’s pants down, removing them. He unbuttoned his own pants, pulling himself free.

“
You promise not to hurt my family?” Gabriel asked one last time.

“
For a piece of your hot ass, I promise.” Kiren positioned himself between Gabriel’s legs.

“
I hope you burn in hell for this shit.”

“
Ooooo, I love when you talk dirty,” Kiren said before plunging himself deeply into Gabriel’s opening. The shifter moaned loudly as he began to stroke inside him.

Gabriel bit down hard on his bottom lip drawing blood as he struggled to keep quiet, not wanting to bring alarm to his children. He closed his eyes to shut out the horror. Nonetheless, he was aware of what was happening to him, although some part of him was still in denial. He could feel the shifter’s weight on top of him, grinding. He could feel the shifter’s hardness gliding in and out of him roughly. He hated the feeling of this shifter’s breath coming in labored gasps against his skin. He turned his head away, not wanting to look at the face of the beast on top of him. He wanted to not be there. He wanted it to all be over, the pain, the humiliation, the horror. It seemed like it would go on forever and he didn’t know how much longer he would be able to endure what was happening to him. Relief finally came in a final thrust, a loud moan and one last tremor. He felt the shifter pull out leaving him in intense pain. He knew he was bleeding and would need emergency care. What he didn’t know, what he wasn’t prepared for was the sudden plunge of sharp feline teeth sinking into his skin. Not meaning to, he screamed as the searing hot pain shot through his shoulder, all the way to the bone. He opened his eyes, to see Kiren pulling back, licking his lips, his long incisors were retracting.

“
Now, I’m done with you,” Kiren said, smiling.

Gabriel could hear his children coming down the stairs as they called for their daddy. “Stay where you are!” He shouted back to them. He couldn’t let them see him like this, he just couldn’t. He looked at Kiren. “Please… don’t leave me like this,” he managed to say through fevered gasps. Sweat began to pour profusely from his pores. He began to feel cold chills racking his body causing him to shiver uncontrollably. A vicious wave of nausea rushed through him and he rolled over onto his side in time to vomit a foul stream of half-digested food onto the floor.

Kiren watched him for a few seconds. “I like you. I don’t normally give in to requests, but for you … Just this once.” He pulled Gabriel’s pants on, buttoning and zipping them. “If you live through this, your life will never be the same. Consider it a gift,” he whispered in his ear before leaving.

Gabriel’s children, no longer able to stay away, made it downstairs to the horrible scene that awaited them. Their mother lay unconscious in a corner, bleeding from a head wound while their father was sweating, bleeding, trembling and vomiting, unable to move. They began to cry, frightened, not fully understanding what was going on. Wesley ran to the telephone, remembering what his father had once told them about home safety and emergencies. He called 9-1-1, gave them their address. Emergency personnel made it to their home, rushing both Gabriel and his wife to the hospital. Police took the children to the hospital as well, calling Gabriel’s mother along the way to take custody of the children upon her arrival.

***

Barry just finished arguing with his new neighbor who allowed his French poodle to defecate on his manicured front lawn. Harsh words were exchanged, but in the end, the neighbor apologized the very moment he saw a glimpse of the detective’s silver and gold S.U.I.T. badge attached to his belt buckle. Barry accepted the apology, but was satisfied when the man finally walked away with his dog in tow. Just when he was turning to go back inside his home, he heard someone call his name. He turned around.

“
Do I know you?” Barry asked.

“
No, but you will. I’ve just come from visiting your partner, Gabe. Now, you’re not as handsome as he is, but I’m wondering if your ass is as sweet as his,” Kiren said, smiling wickedly.

Without hesitating, Barry pulled his gun from his holster and began firing. Kiren managed to dodge every bullet with ease. To Barry, it looked as though the shifter wasn’t moving at all! As Kiren dodged the bullets, he advanced on Barry faster than the man realized. Within an instant, he was standing in front of him. Kiren grabbed both of Barry’s arms, painfully pinning them behind his back as he began to elongate his teeth, baring his incisors as he’d done with Gabriel. Barry roared in rage as he struggled vainly to break free. A second later, long, sharp teeth pierced his skin, splattering his own blood across his neck and cheek. He cried out in pain as the shifter retracted his teeth. A second later, the shifter was gone and he was lying on his side. His limbs grew heavy as his muscles grew weaker. He found himself unable to move as an ice-cold chill rushed though his body, followed by a vicious wave of nausea. His vision began to blur and grow darker as the fever took hold. Like his partner, the contets of his stomach purged, splattering over his award-winning lawn.