A Growl, a Roar, and a Purr Read online

  Horvan beckoned Rael, holding his arms wide. Rael gave a glance in Dellan’s direction, then came over to where Horvan sat. Horvan pulled Rael into his lap, his arms enfolding him. “I know it’s difficult, sweetheart. Once we’re in the cabin, we’ll work real hard at reminding him there’s a human being in there somewhere.”

  Rael put his head on Horvan’s shoulder. I know. I hate this… waiting.

  “Can I ask you guys something?” Hashtag leaned forward. “You do know that Dellan is gay, right?”

  Horvan blinked, and Rael sat up. “Well… now you mention it—” Horvan began.

  “We don’t know that for sure,” Rael interjected.

  Hashtag frowned. “Yeah, but… I mean, I don’t know who decides these things—hell, I know nothing about shifters, and from the sound of it, you two only know slightly more than that—but… would they mate you with a straight guy? Is that a possibility?”

  Rael seemed perplexed. “I never thought about that. I assumed he’d be gay or bi, seeing as he has two guys for mates.”

  “But you’re gay, right?” When Rael nodded, Hashtag smirked at Horvan. “And we all know you’re gay.”

  Horvan stared at him. “Actually, I’m bi.”

  Hashtag’s mouth fell open. “You… but… have you ever slept with a woman?”

  Horvan gave a shrug. “Sure, a couple times. I don’t have hang-ups about who shares my bed. Sex is sex, right?” Then he became aware of Rael’s hard stare and mentally gave himself a kick up the backside. “Or it was. Before I found out I had mates.” Talk about backpedaling.

  Judging by Rael’s narrowed gaze, Horvan wasn’t out of the woods yet.

  “Oh.” Hashtag gave a knowing smile. “I get it. So shifters are basically sluts?” His eyes glittered.

  “Hey!” Rael’s eyes flashed. “I haven’t had sex in, like, a year.”

  Aww, sweetheart. I had no idea. Then it hit him. And yet you told me to wait? Christ, you have fucking strong willpower. As soon as Dellan was himself again, Horvan aimed to make up for the dry times.

  Over and over again.

  Horvan? You do know I can feel you getting hard, right?

  He stroked Rael’s back. You’re sitting in my lap, and I’m thinking about fucking you. Duh.

  Well, stop thinking, because all I wanna do is grind on it, and I think Hashtag might object to that.

  Horvan chuckled inwardly. Wouldn’t be the first time he’s seen me fuck someone. There was that time in—

  Shut. Up. I do not want to hear it, okay? There was a pause. There is something I was meaning to ask. Have you… have you had many… three-ways?

  Horvan cupped Rael’s cheek and gently turned his head toward him. You haven’t, have you?

  Rael shook his head. But I’ve been thinking about our first time.

  Horvan grinned. So have I.

  Rael glared at him. Stop that. Just listen, will you? I think the first time we’re… together should be different. What if we just… touch? To remind Dellan what it feels like to be held and caressed and… loved?

  Horvan’s chest tightened. I think that’s a wonderful idea.

  But so we’re clear… you are gonna fuck my brains out at some point, right?

  He laughed and pulled Rael into a hug. You know it.

  “I’m getting that feeling again.” Hashtag’s voice broke into their communication. “Like there’s this whole other conversation taking place.” When both Horvan and Rael smiled, he held up his hands. “Forget I mentioned it. I don’t wanna know.”

  At the front of the RV, Crank was muttering, and Horvan couldn’t quite catch the words. “What’s up with him?”

  Hashtag snickered. “Oh, he’s grousing because he can’t listen to his favorite music like he can in the car.”

  “Oh really? And what is that?”

  Hashtag’s eyes gleamed. “That is something that is gonna stay in the closet.”

  Rael laughed. “I may not have known Horvan all that long, but even I know he’s not going to stop until he finds out Crank’s guilty pleasures. You’ve set him a challenge.” He stilled, glancing toward the rear. “Do you feel that?”

  Cold spread through Horvan’s body. “He’s afraid.” Only that was putting it mildly. The waves crawling off Dellan were terror, bordering on panic. Like Dellan was caught up in a nightmare.

  Hashtag’s eyes were compassionate. “Go be with Dellan. It sounds like he needs you. We’ll sort out the driving between us at the next stop. Only ten more hours or so and we’ll be there.”

  Horvan thanked him and got up from his seat, taking Rael with him. Dellan was lying in the nest of blankets, his paws jerking as though he was trying to run in his sleep. Horvan climbed onto the bed and stretched out at Dellan’s back, stroking the soft fur. Easy now. You’re dreaming. We’ve got you.

  Rael was in front of him, his hands buried in Dellan’s ruff. Dellan. It’s just a dream.

  Both of them stiffened at the fleeting image in their minds. An unknown man, standing above Dellan, who was clearly on the ground. Anson stood beside the stranger. It was obvious from Dellan’s reaction that he feared this man.

  Who is that?

  Dellan’s hackles rose and he growled. The hairs on Horvan’s arms stood to attention, and Rael shivered.

  Dellan might not have answered them, but the implication was clear.

  This man was an enemy.

  Chapter Fifteen

  DELLAN OPENED his mouth to growl for the second time in as many minutes, and Horvan laid a gentle hand on his snout. You have to keep quiet, baby. Just a little while longer, okay? Rael and Hashtag had gone inside the cabin with the owner. Roadkill and Crank were unloading the fishing rods and anything else to keep up the pretense of being guys on vacation.

  Dellan out.

  Horvan rubbed along Dellan’s back, keeping the motion soothing. Soon. But we have to wait until that man has gone. He lowered his face, until he was looking right into Dellan’s eyes. No one can know you’re here, okay? It wouldn’t be safe.

  Beneath his gentle touch, Dellan stilled, and Horvan knew he’d gotten through. Slowly he removed his hand from Dellan’s snout.

  Not baby. Dellan’s voice was almost sullen.

  Okay, that made him want to laugh out loud. I promise, one day you won’t mind me calling you that. Dellan made that snorting sound again.

  Horvan couldn’t wait to meet him as a human.

  Crank poked his head around the RV’s door. “He’s leaving,” he said quietly. Then he shivered violently. “And for the record, it’s fucking cold here.”

  “Could have something to do with all that white stuff lying around,” Horvan commented dryly. “How does the place look on the inside?”

  “Looks good. There’s a wood stove in the corner of the living area, and it’s already lit. I’ll make sure we have plenty of wood inside, because I sure as shit am not going outside for it.” He disappeared from view.

  Horvan glanced at Dellan. “You’ll have to forgive Crank. He comes from southern Florida.”

  Rael climbed into the RV. “Okay, he’s gone.”

  No sooner had the words left his lips than Dellan was off the bed and heading for the door. Horvan followed. “I guess he needs to go again.”

  Except Dellan wasn’t stopping. He was running away from the RV at speed.

  “Where’s he going?” Roadkill shouted from the cabin porch.

  “Fucked if I know.” Horvan and Rael ran after him, through snow that lay about five inches deep. The landscape was white but for a few splashes of green where snow had fallen from tree branches. Dellan was a flash of orange-and-black stripes against the stark white.

  “He’s heading for the river,” Crank yelled.

  “There’s a river?” Horvan could see no sign of it.

  Crank caught up with them. “Hashtag says it’s on the map.”

  Seconds later, the sound of ice breaking reached Horvan’s ears. “He’s found it.” He ran to where Rael was standing
on the bank, watching Dellan in the water. The tiger disappeared below the surface of the ice, then reappeared again, shaking his fur.

  Horvan stared at him in disbelief. “What is he doing?”

  Rael shrugged. “Not sure. Tigers love the water, but not when it’s so cold. Let me try asking him.”

  Inside Horvan’s head, Rael pleaded with Dellan to get out of the water.

  Not mate. Not mate.

  Rael turned to Horvan. “What does he mean, not mate? It doesn’t make sense.”

  “Ya think?” Crank rolled his eyes. “Jesus, are you that dumb? You were bitching because you could smell those women on him. You think he can’t smell them himself? Or maybe feel the disgust through your link? He’s probably trying to wash the scent off.”

  Fuck. Now that Crank said it….

  Horvan stomped through the snow to the edge of the water. “Get the fuck out of there before you freeze your fur off, Dellan.”

  Not mate.

  Horvan took a deep breath. “No, they weren’t your mates, but we are.”

  Not mate. Dellan sounded on the verge of panic.

  Rael knelt in the snow, shivering. “No, they weren’t your mates,” he said softly, “but you know we are. Come into the cabin and let us help you. We can give you a… bath.” He looked to Horvan, an obvious plea for backup.

  Horvan nodded, silently praying the tub would accommodate a full-grown tiger. “That’s right. We’ll wash it all off, Dellan.”

  Dellan stood in the river, the icy water reaching his belly. Bath. He made for the bank and clambered out.

  “Take cover!” Rael called out to Crank, hastily retreating several feet, Horvan doing the same.

  “What the fuck?” Then Crank yelled when a spray of ice-cold water showered him as Dellan shook himself violently. “Christ!”

  “We did warn you.” Horvan followed Dellan as he headed for the cabin. Roadkill watched their approach from the porch. “Roadkill, run a bath.”

  “You want a bath now? Can’t it wait? We’ve got to unload the RV.”

  “For Dellan. And it’s kinda urgent.”

  That was all it took to have Roadkill duck into the cabin.

  Crank chuckled. “I don’t think we have enough bubble bath for Dellan.”

  Horvan hoped soap would be enough to rid Dellan’s fur of the scent so that he felt comfortable again. He was still kicking himself that he hadn’t thought about Dellan’s reaction to the shifters they’d brought to his cage. At least Horvan now understood why Dellan had immediately taken to cleaning himself once the intruders had gone.

  Rael laid a gentle hand on his back. “Stop that. I didn’t think of it either. What matters now is that we help him feel better, okay?”

  Horvan nodded. “Once we’ve got supplies in from that store we passed, I’m sending Roadkill to fetch the doc.”

  Horvan prayed the doc would be able to help.

  “YOU’RE ENJOYING this, aren’t you?” Horvan rubbed a soapy hand over Dellan’s back before reaching under to clean the fur around his cock. “This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”

  Dellan stood patiently in the tub, warm water around his legs, while Horvan and Rael washed every inch of fur they could lay their hands on. The water clung to Dellan, and Horvan knew it was going to take a shitload of towels to dry him, but that was preferable to Dellan spraying the bathroom.

  “I think we’re done,” Rael announced from Dellan’s head as he poured a jug full of water over him, rinsing away any last remnants of soap. He looked into their mate’s eyes. Is that enough?

  Enough.

  Roadkill stood in the bathroom doorway, his arms full of folded towels. “I think we might need to buy more, guys, if this is gonna be a regular thing.”

  “It’s not,” Rael assured him. “Not now that we’ve gotten rid of… them.”

  “Is that what Dellan’s nightmare was about? Crank told me.”

  “No, that was something else entirely.” Horvan took the towels from Roadkill and spread them over the floor. “Okay, Dellan, out you get.”

  Dellan stepped carefully out of the rub and onto the towels, and Rael immediately began rubbing him vigorously. As soon as a towel was saturated, he swapped it for another.

  “Can I ask you a question?” Roadkill crouched low, watching the proceedings.

  “Sure.” Not that Horvan could stop him. Once Roadkill got something in his head, there were only two choices—help him work through it or deal with the fallout.

  “Dellan’s nightmare got me wondering. How much of you is in there when you shift? I mean, obviously there’s some of you in there, or Dellan would’ve killed us all, right?”

  Now there was a question….

  Horvan thought about how best to answer. “The animal is mostly in control. Our thoughts aren’t ordered and logical, most of the time.” Although he had communicated fine with Rael the first occasion they’d both shifted in his apartment. “We act on instinct, but it’s… tempered somewhat. Like, when I’m in the forest and I’m hungry, I have to find something to eat. My bear wants fish, so I lumber on down to the river and snatch me some dinner. Now, in this form,” he said, gesturing to his body, “I wouldn’t eat it without deep frying it first in some batter and spices and then washing it down with a six-pack of beer, but all the bear wants is a full stomach. He doesn’t care about anything beyond that.”

  “Our needs are simple,” Rael added. “It’s why when we’re stressed, we head off to the woods to shift and decompress for a while.”

  Roadkill cocked his head to one side. “Okay… but you said it’s tempered.”

  Horvan nodded. “A lion might see someone walking their poodle and have no qualms about snagging little Fifi off her leash, but the human part keeps that in check.”

  Rael was nodding too. “We know not to draw attention to ourselves, and do what we need to in order to keep our secret.”

  Roadkill glanced at Dellan, who was lying on the towels, licking his paws. “And when you mind-talk, or whatever you call it, with Dellan, how does he communicate? It’s obviously not all that complex.”

  “With Dellan, no,” Horvan affirmed. “See, we know we run the risk of losing ourselves if we don’t shift back to human, and Dellan hasn’t been human for a long time. His vocabulary is a little limited, like he’s forgotten how to talk. And as for that nightmare, it wasn’t so much the words he used to convey his fear, it was more his emotions that we sensed.” Right then, all he was sensing from Dellan was profound relief. You smell of you again, don’t you?

  Horvan’s throat tightened when Dellan rolled lazily onto his back, presenting his slightly damp belly. Horvan grabbed a towel and gently dried his fur, conscious of Dellan’s submission. My baby.

  Dellan’s gaze met his, but this time the tiger made no response.

  “And whatever Dellan saw, whatever it is that dream means, it scared him.” Rael jerked his head to stare at Horvan. “Maybe it scared him enough that staying a tiger is preferable to facing it again.”

  Like Horvan hadn’t already considered that possibility too.

  Hashtag appeared at the door. “I’ve called the doc. He says he’s ready to come here as soon as we need him.” He looked at Dellan and smiled. “Hey, a clean kitty.”

  “Where’s the doc now?” Horvan demanded, rubbing behind Dellan’s ears and loving the low, rumbling purr that resulted.

  “Casper, Wyoming. I’ve booked him on an early flight tomorrow. He should get into Missoula about 1:00 p.m.” Hashtag smiled. “He wouldn’t hear of Roadkill driving eight or more hours to pick him up, even though I said Roadkill would have no problem with that.”

  Roadkill sighed. “Like eight hours is anything to stress about. Still, I can be at the airport when his flight gets in.”

  “The airport is a couple hours from here,” Rael told him. “Maybe three if the snow is bad.”

  “And it’s not like we haven’t got space to put him up. There’s plenty of room. Which reminds me….” Roadk
ill inclined his head toward Dellan. “Where’s he gonna sleep? On this floor, we’ve got two loft bedrooms. Plus there are three beds on the floor below this one, along with a couple of couches.” His eyes twinkled. “We do not have a bed big enough to fit you two and a tiger. Just saying.”

  Rael glanced at Horvan. “I think we make him comfortable out there in the living room area. We can take one of the loft bedrooms. That way we’re close if he needs us. There’s space enough for him.”

  Horvan agreed.

  “Then me, Crank, and Hashtag will sleep downstairs. Two of us can share when the doc gets here. Not like we haven’t done that before, right?”

  Hashtag chuckled. “Dibs on not sharing a bed with Crank. He has wandering hands when he sleeps.” He winked. “Although between us, I’m not one hundred percent convinced it’s subconscious behavior.”

  “I heard that!” Crank hollered from the kitchen. Rael and Hashtag laughed.

  Roadkill got to his feet. “Then let’s get a list together, and I’ll go to the store for supplies. I’ll take Crank.” He peered at Hashtag. “You’ll wanna set up the perimeter cameras, right?”

  Hashtag nodded. “I’ll get onto that now. And by the way, boys—we made the national news.” He grinned. “Of course, the animal rights groups are taking all the credit, but I think we’ll allow them that, right? And speaking of them….” He disappeared for a moment, then returned, carrying a folder he handed to Horvan. “In case we get any visitors who spot Dellan.”

  “What’s in there?” Rael asked.

  “Forged papers that say Dellan is a legally acquired animal,” Horvan told him, peering inside the folder. “I got Hashtag to procure them for us.”

  “Forged?” Rael appeared appalled.

  Hashtag snorted. “You don’t think those papers Anson’s secretary referred to are real, do you? We know they’re not, because we know Dellan was not found in some drug dealer’s basement. Well, if he can have forged papers, so can we.” He walked over and patted Rael’s shoulder kindly. “But we’re the good guys.”

  Hashtag left the room, Roadkill behind him.