Midnight Matings 13 Splash and Elegance (9 page)

“It’s not that bad.” He had to believe that it wasn’t, and Carter was only in the first stages. Everything would be fine. He hadn’t lost him yet.

“Jude!” Whitley yelled at him. “He’s feral.”

Chapter Eight

Well, Whitley finally understood why Jude couldn’t go to the elders with this. No way in hell would they allow him to free Carter without executing him on the spot.

“How did this happen?”

“Can we talk later?” Jude pushed a hand through his dark hair and groaned. “We don’t have a lot of time. Just shut down the cage so we can get out of here.”

“And just what do you plan to do when we get him free? He’s not in his right mind, Jude. He doesn’t know who you are, and he’d just as soon attack you than hug you.”

“I’ll deal with it. I just need you to get the fucking cell open!” Jude roared at him.

Whitley jumped and stumbled back a few steps before regaining his composure and dipping his head. He was doing this for Carter, because no matter if the kid had lost his mind or not, what had been done to him wasn’t right.

“Thank you,” Jude said reverently when Whitley dropped his backpack by the door and hurried across the room.

Whitley ignored him. It was already difficult to concentrate with Carter screaming and snarling and his own body overheating because of whatever curse the elders had saddled them with. He was so furious with Jude, he almost wished he had the guts to just leave and never look back. Now that he was faced with what happened when a shifter went feral, he was too chickenshit to want something like that to happen to him.
Skirting around to the back of the portable cell, he knelt near a small metal box attached to one of the steel bars. Carter darted across his cage and his arms shot through the bars, forcing Whitley to scramble back out of his reach.

Carter jerked back and howled when the skin on his arms began to sizzle from the electric current running through the bars. That didn’t stop him from trying it again, though.

“Jude, I need you to distract him.” The control box being connected to the actual cell was the worst design Whitley had ever seen, but he guessed things had changed since his father took over.

God, the man was an idiot.

“Carter,” Jude said loudly, his deep voice booming throughout the room. “That’s right. Come here, buddy. Yeah, it’s Jude. You remember me, right?”

Whitley highly doubted that Carter even remembered his own name, but at least he’d moved away and was slowly stalking toward Jude who stood on the other side of the cage. Working as fast as his shaking body would allow him, Whitley leaned back on his butt and kicked at the lock connected to the box, breaking it so easily he had to roll his eyes.

Once he had the control panel exposed, he sat up and closed his eyes, trying to think of what code his father would have used. Every cell was equipped with a code to deactivate the high voltage that coursed through the metal bars. The extreme power surge was what short-circuited a paranormal’s powers and left them virtually defenseless inside their prison, but it also posed a danger to the guards.

Two separate override codes were programmed into each cell in case a guard, or worse, the code keeper, found themselves on the wrong side of the bars. Whitley didn’t have a clue what passcode Jude’s father would use, so that left him with his own father. His dad wasn’t an extremely intelligent man, nor was his thought process particularly complicated, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.
Damn, he felt like his insides were boiling. Perspiration dripped into his eyes, making them sting and blurring his vision. If they got out of this alive, he was going to kill Jude.

He tried the obvious numbers first—his father’s birthday, his mother’s birthday, their anniversary, his parent’s bank account numbers. None of them worked. He even went as far as to try his own birthday, but he’d had little hope for that one, so he wasn’t too let down when it didn’t work, either.

“It’s been ten minutes, Whit.” Jude sounded tense, and Whitley couldn’t blame him.

He’d had no idea so much time had passed already. They still had at least forty minutes before Mr. Chambers returned from his dinner, but once he got the door open to the cell, they still had to wrangle Carter down to the pickup without him chomping their heads off.

At the rate he was going, it would be cutting it damn close.
Think,
damn it!

Jude’s cell phone chirped, and Whitley almost jumped out of his skin. He didn’t know what the text message said, but he assumed it was nothing good. Sure enough, Jude groaned as he stared down at the display screen. “I guess the meeting didn’t go as planned. Arman is going to try and stall, but we’ve got about twenty minutes tops.”
Crap! Crap! Crap!
Whitley tamped down his panic and tried to make his brain work. Over and over he punched different numbers into the keypad, but the little light still blinked green, taunting him.

“Do you know what code your dad might have used?” he finally asked.

“No clue,” Jude answered distractedly. “Twelve minutes, Whit.” Well, it was a good thing his mate was so fucking helpful then. An idea occurred to him, but it was so simple, he doubted it would work.

With nothing left to lose, he shrugged once and tapped in the original override code he’d programmed upon completing his first design—his name spelled out numerically.
The little light flashed green twice more before turning red, and an electronic buzzer sounded. Whitley almost fell over in relief. “It’s down,” he informed his cohort in crime.

“Good job, Whit.” Jude rushed over to the cell door and tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Oh, right.” Whitley smacked himself in the forehead, returning to the control pad and punching in the code to unlock the door. That one hadn’t changed, either. He’d marvel at his father’s stupidity later. For the time being, he was just too relieved to care.

Jude jerked the cage door open, and took a step back, holding his hands up in surrender toward Carter. “We’re not going to hurt you. I know you’re in there somewhere, Carter. I need you to come with us.” Carter had stopped growling at them, but he didn’t look any less hostile. Jude took a tentative step toward the cell, and Whitley had to question if his mate was incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. He’d reserve judgment until he saw how the next few minutes played out.

Though he was scared out of his mind that he’d end up orca bait, the mating heat hadn’t lessened any with his fear. His stomach was beginning to cramp, and his cock was hard and throbbing inside his jeans. If he didn’t get relief soon, he was afraid there’d be permanent damage.

Glancing down at his watch, his heart kicked hard against his ribs, and his stomach clenched again. “Seven minutes, Jude.” They were cutting it too damn close. Jude said they had twenty minutes at the most. It was feasible that their time was already up.

“Fuck it,” Jude growled before charging into the cell, lifting Carter over his shoulder, and storming back out. “Let’s go. Straight out the front door and into my pickup. Don’t stop for anyone. Got it?” Whitley didn’t need to be told twice. Carter was yelling and snarling, beating against Jude’s back and flailing his legs. He wasn’t nearly as big as Jude, or even Whitley for that matter, but he was damn scary in his rage.
Turning on his heels, Whitley snatched up both their bags and beat a quick path down the hallway. Taking the stairs two at a time, he barreled through the open front door, nodding his thanks to the young man standing there. Throwing their backpacks into the bed of the truck, he wrenched open the passenger door and danced from foot to foot as he waited for Jude.

He only had to wait a heartbeat before Jude was jogging down the front steps and right up to him. After practically throwing Carter into the backseat, he ushered Whitley inside as well and sprinted around to take his place behind the wheel.

Whitley turned in his seat, pressing his back into the dashboard and trying to keep as far away from Carter as possible. The kid wasn’t yelling anymore. Hell, he wasn’t even moving, but his eyes followed Whitley as though he’d pounce at any moment.

Jude slammed the transmission into drive, stomped on the accelerator, and sent them careening around the circular drive.

“Fuck!” he spat when they passed the same black SUV that had picked them up at the airport. No doubt it was Arman delivering Mr.

Chambers home from his meeting.

“Go!” Whitley shouted, digging his fingers into his thighs and squeezing his eyes shut. Shit like this did not happen to him. He led a very normal, boring, and maybe even slightly depressing existence.

Jude pressed harder on the gas, rocketing them through the open gates and out onto the main road. No one spoke for a long time as the pickup raced over the asphalt with Jude taking turns at dangerous speeds.

“Where are we going?” Whitley asked when he realized they were still headed west.

“The ocean,” Jude answered tightly. “He needs to shift.” Whitley didn’t see how that was going to help, but then again, he didn’t understand any of this. So he kept his mouth closed and his eyes on Carter. Well, if he was going to die, at least he’d have one exciting story to tell in the afterlife.

* * * *

By the time he reached his destination, Carter was snarling again and throwing himself around the backseat. He hadn’t tried to hurt them, though, so Jude had to believe that there was still hope.

Stopping as close to the beach as he could, he jumped out of the truck and pulled the back door open. “Go, Carter.” His brother didn’t hesitate as he launched himself out of the backseat and sprinted toward the water, stripping his clothes off as he went. Jude watched him until Carter was waist deep with the waves crashing around him, praying that this would work. He had to believe it would, because he had no other options.

When Carter took off swimming, Jude crossed his fingers and held his breath. The kid swam as though his life depended on it, and then he disappeared beneath the surface. Panic settled in Jude’s gut, and he almost went in after his brother. He’d taken two steps away from the pickup when Carter burst up from the water, completely transformed into his orca counterpart.

Jude’s legs began to shake and a wobbly smile stretched over his lips as he swallowed down the lump in his throat. They’d done it. He warned himself not to get too excited. There was a chance that Carter either wouldn’t be able to shift back to human, or he would and still be just as untamed. But for the first time in months, he had hope.

“Thank you,” he whispered to Whitley without turning around.

“Is he going to be okay?”

Jude turned to find his mate kneeling in the driver’s seat. “I don’t know for sure, but I hope so. He didn’t try to attack us, and I swear I saw recognition in his eyes while I was trying to distract him. The fact that he was able to shift right now is a good sign. I think we got him out before there could be any permanent damage. Whatever happens, I can’t thank you enough for helping him.”
“We have to tell someone. You know that, right? We can’t just let your dad get away with this.”

“I know, and I promise that he won’t. Let’s just take this one step at a time.”

Whitley frowned, but bobbed his head. “Can that next step involve your cock in my ass?” His entire frame vibrated, and his face was flushed a deep crimson. “It hurts, Jude.” So many things had happened that Jude had been able to push away his own discomfort. Now that Carter was free and they were safe for the moment, the effects of the mating heat slammed into him at full force. His heart thundered inside his chest, his breathing sped, and his cock throbbed painfully, straining against his zipper.

It wasn’t exactly an ideal location, but what choice did he have?

He couldn’t leave his brother, and now that he’d acknowledged the need, he didn’t know how much longer he could wait to bury himself inside Whitley’s tight body.

Pushing Carter to the back of his mind, Jude focused all of his attention on his mate. He hadn’t done right by Whitley, and he knew it. From that moment forward, he vowed to do everything in his power to reverse that, though.

Reaching into the bed of the truck, he pulled his bag out and rummaged through the side pocket until he found the travel-size bottle of lube he’d stashed there. Even in his hurry to get to his brother, he’d had enough clarity to realize they’d need it. Score one for him.

Whitley was already stripping out of his clothes by the time he turned back, and the sight of his lean, firm body pulled a possessive growl from Jude’s lips. There were a few stragglers hanging around the beach, but with the sun setting over the horizon and temperatures dropping, most had given up and gone home.

Privacy wasn’t an issue for him, but he wasn’t sure how Whitley felt about it. Since the man was naked except for his socks, Jude had to figure he didn’t much give a damn. “I can’t go slow,” he warned as he popped the button on his pants and slid the zipper down. Reaching
inside his boxers and extracting his pulsing erection, he groaned and his eyes almost rolled back in his head. “Definitely hard and fast.”

“I’m fine with that,” Whitley panted, spinning around on the seat so that he was positioned on all fours, and pushed his ass back so that it hung over the edge of the seat. His knees inched farther apart, and he lowered until his chest pressed flat against the seat, opening himself up to Jude’s gaze.

The first sight of his mate’s pink, quivering star made Jude’s mouth water and his body shudder violently. His chest rumbled somewhere between a growl and a purr as he flipped open the bottle of lube and drizzled the slippery liquid down Whitley’s crease. His fingers followed swiftly, rubbing the lube around Whitley’s eager hole and nudging against the guarding muscles.

“No time for teasing,” Whitley warned with a note of desperation in his voice as he rocked back on his knees, trying to capture Jude’s digits.

“Then hang on tight.” Jude barely got the words out of his mouth before pushing two slick fingers into Whitley’s twitching hole and pumping.

His lover’s inner walls clenched at the invasion, and a strangled groan erupted into the cab of the vehicle. Twisting his wrist and scissoring his fingers, Jude sawed in and out of Whitley’s heated channel until he could insert a third.