Emily's Protective Doms [Leopards of Leopold 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 2

  “Nah. If it’s not important, I’ll just talk to him in person at work tomorrow.” Besides, James swore he’d focus on Sam tonight.

  “Should I let everyone in the pard know your secret?”

  James raised one eyebrow at him.

  “That you’re actually a big tender softie?”

  James growled. “Watch it, pup.”

  Sam grew sober as they reached their floor. “Sorry, Sir.”

  The usual delivery guy waited outside their unit with their bags of food. James could hear Sam’s stomach rumble loudly. After paying the guy, they settled in the living room. Watching Sam dive into his third box of noodles, James realized he still sometimes couldn’t believe how lucky he was.

  Before Sam, he’d been a wreck. James didn’t do relationships, just casual sessions at Extreme. Occasionally, he’d bring someone home for the night, but that was it. He didn’t believe in the notion of mate bonds. Hell. He had scoffed at the truth all shifters were built with an internal radar and that they’d instantly know when they found their mate.

  Sam had just graduated from college then and had just moved back to Leopold city. God. James couldn’t forget how Sam’s scent hit him like a sledgehammer. Like most members of the pard, James had a hand in raising Sam and Rain, but the moment Sam locked his gaze with his, the orphan wolf cub disappeared and a confident young man took his place. That felt like a century ago.

  “Thinking deep thoughts?” Sam asked. He dangled a stray piece of egg roll to their one-eyed golden retriever, Bacon, and threw another at the paws of Eggs, their obese tabby cat.

  “Oh for God’s sake, Sam. You spoil them. We just fed them.” James sighed, and then addressed his question. “I was reminiscing about the past, so they’re all good thoughts.”

  “Not dirty ones?” Sam asked suggestively. Bacon nudged his head at Sam’s calf, wagging his tail. When Sam didn’t budge, Bacon turned to James, who, reluctantly gave him another.

  James smirked when discomfort, the good sort, flittered across Sam’s features. “Don’t worry, pup. I’ve been thinking creative thoughts all day.”

  Sam put his box of noodles down on the coffee table and climbed on his lap. Locking his arms around James’s neck, a wolfish grin appeared on his lips. Sam nuzzled his neck, made his spiritual leopard purr in recognition.

  “Won’t you tell me about the fantasies you’ve been having, Sir?”

  James’s cock twitched in his jeans. Even now, heat radiated between their bodies, and it would be so easy to give in to temptation. To roll his mate on his back and fuck him senseless, but that would spoil the game and James had too many plans for the evening.

  “My fantasies involve gagging your smart little mouth, pup, and tying you up,” James said in a firm voice. He didn’t break eye contact. Delighted by Sam’s squirm, he went on. “Have you been a good pup? Do you think you deserve a visit to the play room?”

  Sam shivered. “Oh yes, Sir. I’ve been real good.”

  James chuckled. “Let’s clear this mess, then head on over there.”

  Sam pouted. James did his best to ignore him. Sam always complained he was a neat freak, but then it was a good balance to their relationship since Sam hardly bothered cleaning up unless James threatened to spank him. All in all, each argument proved to be a win-win situation for James.

  “The task is all done now, Sir,” Sam chirped. He had cleared out the last of the empty bags and boxes of food.

  “You’re being a petulant pup, Sam. You’ve just earned yourself an additional set of twenty with the strap for that.” James grinned.

  Sam groaned, but James didn’t miss the provocative way Sam led him to the playroom. The playroom used to be an additional guest bedroom. It would continue to remain the one secret Sam’s foster father, the leopard king, would never know about. Lars had become testy and overprotective of his adoptive pups lately, especially after Rain mated three of his leopard enforcers.

  “Clothes off and assume position,” James ordered.

  He watched Sam, put a handle on his emotions and raging erection, even though Sam had taken one look at the bulge in his jeans and licked his lips. With another mouthy sub, James would have punished him instantly, but this was Sam.

  James made a mental note to have another talk with Sam about the prospect of trying out a third, a sub to balance both of their dominant sides, although it was an uphill task. While they never had a lack of play partners at Extreme, James and Sam couldn’t seem to find the right one—a third who called deeply to both their leopard and wolf.

  James settled himself into the comfy armchair in the room while he enjoyed Sam kneeling in front of him, hands on his thighs. “Over my lap, love.” James decided to take it mellow for tonight. No harsh implements. Sam hurriedly draped himself over his knees and fuck, the feel of his lean and limber body made James even harder.

  “Start counting,” James said hoarsely. He palmed the smooth firm curve of Sam’s ass, and then spanked him without warning. Sam yelped, jumping on his knee, but quickly and obediently resumed position. Each resounding smack made James’s balls tighten against him, his cock hardening. At this rate, James doubted he could last long.

  “Twenty,” Sam whispered. He sighed when James began messaging his heated skin.

  “May I please you, Sir?”

  “Go ahead, but don’t think for a second we’re done. I plan to string you up on the St. Andrew’s cross.”

  James let Sam crawl between his legs and unzip his jeans. He closed his eyes, speared his hand through Sam’s thick hair, groaned when Sam flicked his clever tongue over his pre-cum—then James heard the thud. He moaned, ignoring the sound because Sam’s tongue felt so good. In a moment, Sam would take his cock between his lips and work his talented mouth, but James’s ears caught the thump again.

  James stilled. Sam did the same. He stopped licking his shaft, and tilted his head to listen more closely. Somewhere outside, they heard Bacon barking in warning.

  Chapter Three

  “What was that?” Sam asked in a low voice.

  “Stay here,” James warned. Sam frowned, already yanking up his jeans.

  “Like hell I will,” Sam furiously whispered behind him. James made a warning sound in his throat, but Sam caught his arm. “I’m not some pup in need of protecting, I can hold my own, you know that.”

  James culled his temper. He knew Sam could. Hell, he’d seen Sam fight before, and he could hold his own against most of the leopards in the pard. Old remembered fear made James protective, but he knew he couldn’t keep Sam forever in the dark. That would only suffocate his mate.

  “Alright, but I’ll take the lead.” Sam nodded, wary.

  They both walked out of the playroom, footsteps hardly making a sound on the floor. James saw the broken window in the living room first. Pieces of glass lay strewn on the floor along with flecks of blood.

  “What the hell? Did something come in?” Sam whispered by his shoulder.

  James held out a hand in warning, and used his spiritual leopard to sense for other enemies. He felt it, a mere flicker of life from another shifter. Sam let out a sound, and hurried past James. James cursed, but Sam was already running over to the window.

  Sam knelt on the floor and cradled something to his chest. Whatever it was, red and feathery, it let out a hiss. Was it some kind of bird perhaps? No. James came closer. It was too large to be a normal bird. A red-tailed hawk, he realized.

  He tentatively reached out for one of its brilliant crimson wings, but the shifter went mad. Its wings fluttered madly, its claws raking at Sam’s hands. James saw why it fell. Its left wing looked slightly bent.

  Sam didn’t drop the shifter. Instead he growled, eyes changing to wolf-like amber. “Stay still. We aren’t going to hurt you. You fell into our apartment, remember?”

  How Sam thought to reason with the shifter, James didn’t know, but miraculously it did.

  “Much better,” Sam said.

  James came by his side. Nudged a finger into the fierce creature’s head, and nearly got his fingers snapped by its sharp beak in the process. The hawk shrieked, its piercing golden gaze centered on James. “What the hell?”

  “This is James, my mate. He’s a wereleopard and I guess birds and kitties don’t go well together? I’m Sam, a werewolf,” Sam explained. “You’re safe, whoever you are. We won’t hurt you.”

  But the hawk had already fallen limp in Sam’s hands, unconscious.

  “You were always good with animals,” James told Sam.

  “We should call in Lil. I’m not sure how badly injured the poor thing is.”

  “The poor thing?” James asked warily after he made a quick call to Lil, the pard doctor. Lil didn’t even ask after he said it was an emergency.

  “Give me fifteen minutes,” Lil said, before putting down the phone.

  James already had a bad feeling about this. Worse, Sam had that determined brazen look. Even before Sam hit him with his ultimate weapon—his pleading puppy dog eyes, James already knew what he was going to say.

  “Absolutely not,” James automatically said.

  “Excuse me?” Sam demanded, hands on his hips.

  He had placed the hawk gently over a fresh blanket on the living room couch, hovering protectively over it like a mother hen. Bacon, roused by the commotion, paced at James’s side, ever vigilant. Eggs, meanwhile, lazily flicked her tail from the top of the shelf beside the television. James automatically patted the dog’s head.

  “We’re not keeping the shifter. Damn it, Sam. Whoever the shifter is, he or she isn’t some stray pet we can keep. This smells like trouble of the worst sort, and we don’t know why or what’s after him—”

  “Her,” Sam corrected.

  “Her then.” James crossed h
is arms.

  Sam gave him a defiant look. God. James knew exactly why Sam was acting like this. Being an abandoned pup himself, James knew Sam couldn’t leave injured or abandoned creatures alone. It was the same reason why both of them had adopted Bacon and Eggs after finding them abandoned in the streets.

  James didn’t like pets to begin with, but he conceded because it was Sam, and he wouldn’t tell Sam how he’d begun to take to having Bacon running by his side during his morning runs. He even started getting used to Egg’s weight on his lap when the enormous tabby joined Sam and him during Sunday movie nights.

  “Underneath the feathers and claws is a human being, Sam. One who’s in deep shit. Trouble we don’t need. We’ll help her out the best we can, then wish her luck.” Sam continued glaring at him.

  Hearing the doorbell later, James was relieved to open the door. Lil streamed through, and she wasn’t alone. James raised his eyebrows at two of Lil’s neighbors. Gordon Houston and Emilio Reyes were also, coincidently, mates and fellow pard members.

  Emilio shrugged. “We’re Lil’s bodyguards for the moment. Boss said that in times like these, it’s best we all be careful.”

  James understood. Lately, some unnamed mastermind had been sending the pard trouble for some unexplainable reason. There was Sam and Rain’s father, and before that a serial killer. Lars and the pard enforcers had stretched out their connections and resources to uncover the culprit, but they hadn’t gotten any solid answers yet.

  “I never asked either of you to come,” Lil said, a slight edge in her voice.

  James tried not to show his surprise. Usually, the levelheaded brunette always looked in control, but the tension between the three of them was palpable. When James gave Emilio and Gordon a questioning look, both men only shook their heads, not interested in talking.

  “Lil, she’s over here,” Sam said anxiously.

  Lil touched James’s arm. “James, can you take your mate aside? We need some breathing space.”

  “Come on, baby. Let Lil do her work.” James gently took Sam aside. “Why don’t you offer Emilio and Gordon drinks? Beers maybe?”

  Sam slumped his shoulders, and then nodded. When push came to shove, James knew Sam understood being worried and hysterical got them nowhere.

  “How bad?” James asked Lil quietly after Sam went to the kitchen.

  “Her left wing’s broken and she has a few scrapes, but she hasn’t sustained any life-threatening injuries.” Lil finished up and stood, her expression dead serious.

  After studying her, James asked, “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “Have you heard about the newcomers in town from Lars?”

  “Only the tiny details. Some shifters from a mob?” James asked.

  Lil glanced back at her patient, her mouth a hard line. “What do you know about Stocoma City?”

  “Only rumors. On the outside, Stocoma City is like any other normal city with the supernatural and mortal community both peacefully coexisting, but in truth three shifter crime families rule it.”

  Lil nodded. “House Perrault is one of those families. They’re avian shifters and the main form of the ruling family is a red-tailed hawk.” Lil let James process the information, before nodding to the hawk on the couch. A chill crawled down James’s spine. Lil continued, “Rumors say a Perrault princess recently ran out on her arranged marriage from a major drug lord.”

  Overwhelmed by the overload of information, James sat down, careful not to squish the sleeping hawk on the couch. The next thing he knew, it wasn’t feathers and a hard beak brushing against his jeans, but something silky—rich auburn tresses and soft human skin. The injured and naked female moaned in her sleep, cradling her bandaged hand, nuzzling her head into James’s thigh.

  James didn’t know why he automatically reached out to run his fingers through her hair, or why everything else around him fell away. The world narrowed its scope. All he saw and smelled was her—the mysterious hawk princess.

  Fuck, did her scent suddenly hit him like an enormous wrecking ball. The smell of hurt and blood enraged his leopard, and made it bare its teeth. He wanted retribution, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth—the whole works. James had no idea why he became so protective of a female that wasn’t Sam’s or his. James wanted to badly hurt whoever did this to the woman whose name he didn’t even know.

  She shivered against him, curling tightly into a ball.

  “Lil, hand me the blanket by the table,” James ordered.

  Lil raised an eyebrow, but helped him drape the blanket over the sleeping woman. She sighed against James, wiggling closer to him contently. The gesture was a contrast to the shrieking hawk who nearly tore at his fingers with her beak. Did he smell safe to her somehow?

  James sniffed at her, imprinting himself with her signature scent. She smelled a little of strawberries mixed in with something sharp and exotic. Wonderfully female. James had always known he was bisexual. After Sam, he labeled himself gay, but now, he grew uncertain.

  “Hon, you want a beer?” Sam halted in his footsteps, seeing James with a naked woman on his lap. “Oh.”

  “It’s not what you think,” James said defensively.

  “What do I think?” Sam asked. He placed the beer down and knelt beside them to peer at the sleeping woman.

  His expression grew serious. Thoughtful. James didn’t miss the tender way he brushed the side of her arm. The way Sam’s face lit up when she nestled closer to James. God. If she crept any closer her head would touch his embarrassing erection. Sam chuckled softly under his breath. Clearly, the fiend felt James’s growing discomfort through their mate bonds, and James’s odd protectiveness.

  “I felt your spike in emotions just now. Does this mean we can keep her?” Sam asked James hopefully.

  “That is for the pard to decide,” Lil interrupted, tone cautious.

  “Lil’s right. Lars needs to know this development.” Emilio picked up his phone from his back pocket, but Sam leapt to his feet and touched his arm.

  “Don’t do that,” Sam began. Gordon frowned beside Emilio. James bit his lip, and wondered if Sam knew how all this appeared to Lil, Gordon and Emilio. Would the other cats see keeping secrets from their king a betrayal?

  On one hand, James understood by extending their protection to the injured woman, they risked endangering the pard, but after seeing her and touching her—James knew he couldn’t stand down. Worse, he felt that slight whisper when his beast brushed against hers. The same tiny spark James sensed when Sam came back from college. His. James knew instantly. Sam belonged to him without question, but could this nameless woman be their third?

  “We cannot keep what we have seen tonight a secret from the king. James, I do not doubt your loyalty. You have proven yourself numerous times to the pard, and Sam, you are like a little brother to us, and practically a son to Lars,” Emilio pointed out. “Will you really risk so much for a female you both know nothing about?”

  Behind Emilio’s large frame, Gordon watched them with narrowed eyes. Eyes, James didn’t fail to notice, began flickering to leopard green. Sam let out a growl under his breath.

  Both men were large and powerful bastards. Every hard line in their bodies tensed and knotted. They did not like hurting their own, but if it came to it, duty to the pard came first. While James knew he and Sam could stand their ground, he didn’t intend for this situation to escalate to blows, claws and teeth.

  “Everyone calm the hell down,” Lil snapped. “James, Sam, explain to us what you intend to do.”

  James traded looks with his mate, and decided to speak for them since Sam didn’t look like he could utter a sensible argument. “Let Lars know we are taking this female under our protection, and we accept whatever consequences that will follow.”

  “Usually, we don’t mind helping outsiders, but she’s a special case. We help her, we risk the mob coming after all of us, and the Perrault family has enormous influence and manpower. Lars will probably tell you both that you’re on your own. Can you deal with that?” Lil asked.

  “Yes,” Sam said automatically. He ran a nervous hand through his hair, and James could tell the full implication of their decision was only sinking in. Despite the weight of the consequences though, James could tell Sam would not be backing off any time soon and he was the same. “Don’t worry. I’ll explain everything to Lars tomorrow morning. The last thing I want to do is keep secrets from him.”