Bailey Bradford - Southwestern Shifters 08 - Revenge (11 page)

“It doesn’t fit if Maarten was deliberately targeted,” Marcus said as he strode across the living room floor again. Nathan sat on the couch, chewing on one of his thumbnails. “If it was someone out to hurt me, why Maarten? True, it could start trouble with Luuk, but I doubt it would. Luuk would be angry, he’d be hurt, but he wouldn’t try to kill me. He understands the insanity that can drive an enemy. But how would some newly-ish made shifter who has never known true pack life or our politics even know who Maarten was?”

Marcus stopped and considered it for a moment before shaking his head. “No, the challenge was issued to me, not to Ryder. Little Joe wasn’t killed to hurt Ryder, who didn’t even know him. That was aimed at me as surely as that bullet was aimed at Maarten.”

“Right, okay.” Nathan went back to biting at his thumbnail, a habit he had only recently developed. Marcus had chided him about it once, exactly, and had considered himself lucky to have retained his balls. “Okay, so if it’s someone after you, explain to me the logic behind shooting Maarten. Obviously the shooter planned to hit someone. That bullet Shania pulled out had some residue inside of it that she couldn’t figure out. Some kind of poison that seems resistant to the strongest medicine we have.”

“I don’t know,” Marcus admitted reluctantly, and not without a lot of disgust. “I can’t figure it out. It doesn’t make sense. If it’s the escaped shifter from Drake’s pack, then he shouldn’t know about our rules, at least not according to the former members of Drake’s pack. But maybe he’s aiming for Ryder too. If he knows of Ryder, and suspects he had anything to do with bringing Drake to justice… But it doesn’t feel right.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Nathan looked at his thumb and scowled. “Why do you let me continue with this nasty habit?”
“Because you threatened to remove my nuts if I nagged you about it, remember?” Marcus asked, almost smiling. He loved his feisty mate.
“Whatever.” Nathan stood and walked over to the window. “Maybe we’re wrong. Maybe this has nothing to do with Drake after all. There could be some Dobsons still left that we didn’t know of, or more fucking nuts like them.”
Marcus hoped not in both cases. Before Nathan and he had met, Joshua Dobson had abducted Marcus and tortured him for six months before Nathan had stumbled upon him. They’d only just ended that sick bastard’s life in the last couple of years. “I need to check in with Keegan and see if he’s had the shifters Drake made questioned yet.”
“And he should have a report from Bon, though obviously nothing was found, otherwise we’d have been alerted.” Nathan turned around and came to him. “We’ll get through this.”
“We will. It’s just that every time before, we’ve known who our enemies were.” Marcus traced the fine lines of Nathan’s eyebrows. “It’s the not knowing who it is that makes it worse.”
“That, and the unknown poison.” Nathan leaned against him and held onto him. “The datura was bad enough. It can kill us painfully. We really need to find out more about what things can harm us.”
“We do.” Marcus let himself relax in Nathan’s arms for a little while, then he reluctantly stepped back when his phone began to play Keegan’s ringtone. “Perhaps there’ll be something helpful.” He tapped the screen as soon as he got the phone out of his pocket. “Keegan. What do you have for me?”
“A sketch.”
“Get in here,” Marcus snapped. He hung up the phone. “You heard, then.”
“Duh.” Nathan unlocked the door then opened it and all but jerked Keegan inside. After he engaged the locks, he turned to Keegan.
Marcus held out his hand and Keegan passed over a thick piece of paper. “I’m not the best sketch artist around, but Walter said this is pretty close.”
Nathan moved to stand beside him, looking at the drawing. The man in it was almost androgynous, except for the prominent Adam’s apple and the thin moustache.
“Walter said he only caught a glimpse of him once, and he thought the man’s hair was orange, not red like Nathan’s.”
“These are freckles?” Marcus asked as he traced splotches on the cheeks of the drawing.
“Yes, sir. I didn’t know how to draw them right, so I just—they kind of look like zits.”
Marcus snorted and Nathan did too. Keegan wasn’t lying. “Did he have a name?”
“No, but Sissy is running her hacking programme through the Arizona missing persons database, seeing if she finds anyone close to resembling this guy.” Keegan perked up a little, if his voice was anything to go by. “Oh, and hey! Remember you asked me to keep digging on Dirk?”
“Yeah.” Marcus looked up and gave Keegan his undivided attention. “And?”
“I found the brother and sister. Got some information on Dirk, too. I’ll print it all out and bring it to you as soon as we’re done with this.” Keegan nodded at the sketch.
Marcus wished he could read something into the man whose features had been captured in pencil, but it was just a sketch, nothing more. “Make copies of this and make sure everyone in this compound gets one. Get me the information on Dirk immediately. Good job,” he said, patting Keegan on the back once he gave him back the sketch. “We’ll see you in a few minutes.”
“Yes, sir.” Keegan strode energetically to the door. Nathan strolled, contrary man that he was. He unlocked the door and let Keegan out before sliding the deadbolts back in place.
“I’m going to call and check on Maarten and Ryder while we’re waiting,” Marcus said.
“Okay. I’ll fix us something to drink. Juice, water or milk?” Nathan asked.
“Whatever you’re having. I’m not feeling picky.” Marcus called Shania and wasn’t surprised it went to voicemail. He hung up, knowing she was most likely in the medical centre monitoring Maarten. She would call him back shortly.
“You get milk, because it does a body good and all that shit,” Nathan told him as he handed Marcus a glass.
“None of that healthy crap?”
Nathan sniffed. “Almond milk is good for you.”
Marcus didn’t see how. “Don’t you wonder how they milk them?”
“Goofball,” Nathan said, smacking his arm. “Same way they do cows, except with much,
much
smaller teat attachments.”
Marcus sputtered mid-swallow and almost spat milk all over Nathan. If Nathan hadn’t been so quick, it’d have been a drenching for him. As it was, Marcus had a mess to clean up off the floor. “That’s evil, making me laugh when I’ve got a mouthful.”
“That depends on what’s in your mouth.” Nathan winked at him.
Marcus’ phone rang and Nathan took his glass. “Talk to Shania, I’ll clean the floor.”
A check-in with Shania proved of little help other than to let Marcus know Maarten hadn’t improved, but he also hadn’t deteriorated. Shania still hadn’t been able to discover what the substance was that had sent Maarten into his current state. It was anyone’s guess as to whether the dissolved capsule of the original shifter’s remains was helping or not. They did agree it likely wasn’t hurting anything.
“Are Ryder’s brother and Val still there?” he asked.
“Yes, I don’t think they’ll be leaving until Ryder tells them to, and Ryder is in deep with his mate.”
“Good that Harley is there, and Val. I don’t want Ryder to be without support.” The ‘should Maarten die’ didn’t need to be said. Shania understood.
“Me either. I’ll call if anything changes. I’ve got to get back to trying to figure out what caused Maarten’s convulsions.”
They hung up and Marcus filled Nathan in on what he’d learnt, which was, essentially, nothing. Before they could say anything else, Keegan was knocking on their door, returning with the information Marcus had asked for—and more.
“I have a name for the guy in the sketch—Piper Briones, age twenty-two, missing since December of last year. Light red hair, five-ten, a hundred and thirty pounds. No arrests or anything, no living family. His boss from the sandwich shop he worked in reported him missing.” Keegan handed over several papers. “As for Dirk, he doesn’t stay in one area too long as he’s not very well liked. There’s rumours he doesn’t honour the challenge rules, either. Guess he’s afraid someone will take him out. He had, at one time, a dozen siblings. He was the fifth born, and now he only has a brother and a sister left.” Keegan took a breath, and handed over one last paper. “Sissy thinks she found them, possibly, in Ensenada. They’re going by the names Juanita and Guillermo.”
“Send the jet for them, see if we can convince them to come here. Even if they do nothing to help us end their brother’s reign, I don’t like the idea that they might be hunted down and killed by him.” Marcus pinned Keegan with a look. “Is there anyway someone can follow your tracks online, and find what you and Sissy did?”
“Anything is possible if someone is a good enough hacker,” Keegan said. “We did our best to leave no trail, but again, on the Internet, nothing is ever erased.”
“Get the jet ready. I’ll ask Aidan and Zane to come back from their Colorado vacation and handle this. Nathan and I would go ourselves, but with everything going on here, we need to stay.”
“Yes, sir. Will the jet be picking Aidan and Zane up in Aspen then?”
“If not, I’ll let you know. For now, have the flight plan drawn up to Aspen, Ensenada then back here.” Marcus took the last document from Keegan. “You’ve done a very good job, Keegan. I’m pleased to have you as the head guard of my troops.”
Keegan glowed with the praise, and Marcus reminded himself to give it out more often. When Keegan left, Marcus called Aidan’s cell and left him a voicemail. Hopefully Aidan wouldn’t be out running around in his shifted form, because then it’d be hours and hours before he got the message Marcus left asking him to call Keegan.
With that task taken care of, Marcus turned to Nathan and waggled his eyebrows. “So, I was thinking…”
Nathan cocked a hip and leant back against the desk in a pose that caused his package to jut out very nicely. “Yes?” he drawled.
Marcus grinned and tugged his shirt off over his head. Two could play the seduction game. “It’s been a very stressful day, and I could sure use a distraction.”
“A distraction?” Nathan scoffed, but there was no heat in it. “That’s all I am?”
“You know all that you are to me. You’re a smart, sexy man.” That had Nathan puffing up a bit. Marcus unbuttoned his jeans, exposing his hard cock.
“Oh, nice, no underwear. You know how hot that makes me.” Nathan’s gaze was latched on to Marcus’ then. “Makes me want to strip you down and bend you over the couch, or this desk, and pound away at your ass.”
Marcus very nearly let loose an unmanly sound. How he kept the whine back was a mystery to him. He jerked the rest of the buttons free then shoved his pants down. “Do it.”
Nathan never did respond well to orders. He crooked a finger at Marcus. “Come over here and suck me first. Consider it lube, so get me really wet.”
Marcus clenched his ass at that. When Nathan was like this, demanding, rough, it cranked every kink Marcus had. He stepped out of the jeans puddled around his ankles, and two long strides had him in front of Nathan. When he would have kissed him, Nathan instead presented two fingers.
“Suck.”
“Shit.” Marcus was already so horny he just wanted Nathan’s cock in him. He knew pushing would only end up getting him a longer wait. He opened his mouth and Nathan slid those fingers in, twirling them around and around.
As Marcus suckled, Nathan used his other hand to reach between Marcus’ legs and cup his balls. Marcus moaned happily. He loved having his nuts played with.
Nathan purred and pumped his fingers in and out. He kept massaging Marcus’ balls, sometimes brushing over his perineum, too.
Marcus was quickly becoming a jittery mass of want. His arousal was almost painful by the time Nathan pulled his fingers from Marcus’ mouth. “Suck my dick,” Nathan said immediately. Marcus sank to his knees and took Nathan’s cock in hand. For a guy of…limited…height, Nathan had a surprisingly large, fat shaft. For any height, Marcus amended. The man was fucking hung.
Nathan’s girth always caused a pleasurable stretch to Marcus’ jaws. He took the crown in, delighting in the sharply indrawn breath that pulled from his mate. Marcus flicked the slit with his tongue and Nathan shifted his legs farther apart. That was an offer Marcus wouldn’t pass up. He palmed Nathan’s balls, and when Nathan’s legs spread even more, Marcus almost came without touching his cock.
It wasn’t that Nathan never cared for ass play—he liked being rimmed and fingered. Marcus simply loved pleasing his mate. He rubbed over the tight little pucker ringed with fuzz. Nathan canted his hips, pushing his cock in deeper and offering easier access to his hole.
Marcus licked and sucked on Nathan’s shaft and two of his own fingers. When he had them sufficiently wet, he went right back to circling Nathan’s opening. He waited until Nathan thrust again, then he inserted the tips of his fingers.
“Ah. Gimme more.”
Marcus smiled around Nathan’s cock and gently pushed his digits in to the second knuckle. A little farther and he’d be massaging Nathan’s gland.
“Do it,” Nathan urged. “Make me come, then get me hard again so I can fuck you for hours.”
Nathan would do it, too. Marcus had been thoroughly fucked often enough to know it. Some days he was sure he walked bowlegged. He loved every minute of it, too. He began sucking faster, running his tongue over the thickest vein that would soon pulse with Nathan’s release. At the same time, he worked his fingers in deeper and found Nathan’s prostate.
Nathan grabbed on to his head and began thrusting like a man close to the edge. His hips were a blur as he chased his climax. Marcus could feel Nathan’s balls pressing against his chin with every drive of Nathan’s cock into his mouth. He swallowed around Nathan’s shaft as much as he could, but the speed of Nathan’s thrusts made it almost impossible to do it well.
Not that Nathan seemed to mind. His hands tightened in Marcus’ hair and his ring flexed around Marcus’ fingers. Marcus sucked harder, until his jaws ached fiercely.
“Fuck!” Nathan lost his rhythm, shoving in with sharp jabs that would leave Marcus raspy-voiced. Marcus kept at Nathan’s gland and Nathan loosed a guttural groan as that vein throbbed and cum spurted into Marcus’ throat. He pulled back to catch the rest of the cum on his tongue. Nathan’s hole held his fingers in tight and Marcus’ cock pulsed. As much as he’d enjoyed the one time he’d topped, he wanted Nathan to fuck him instead.
Nathan had the same idea, because he used his grip on Marcus’ hair to get him to stand up. “Again.” Nathan presented his dry fingers. Marcus had his own plan. He opened his mouth and Nathan’s eyes rounded. “Oh really?”
Marcus couldn’t really speak, though he let Nathan know through their bond that yes, he meant it. It wasn’t the first time they’d used cum as lube, anyway.
Nathan grinned and pointed to his dick again. “So get it wet—and save some for your hole.”
It felt dirty, nasty, the way they both liked it sometimes, when Marcus fingered his ass open with Nathan’s spunk. He got as much of the makeshift lube on Nathan’s cock as he could, too, but he’d had less to be fucked with before.
Nathan guided him to the couch and bent Marcus over the arm of it. He went down easily, tipping his ass up for the good, hard fucking he needed.
Without any pretence, Nathan lined his cock up and pushed in. The stretch stole Marcus’ breath in the best way.
“Hours,” Nathan said as he slowly sank his shaft in a few more inches.
Marcus didn’t doubt it. He was counting on it, actually, to take him out of his head for a while.
Nathan didn’t let him down.