Curtis's Dads 23 (12 page)

All four ran for the steps, taking them two at a time.

“Take the fucking clothes off now,” someone said from behind the closed door. Chance knew the voice had to belong to Billy. Hawk was the first to smash the door open. Chance growled when he heard a gun go off and watched in horror as Hawk crumbled.

“Come any closer, and he gets it,” Billy said as he grabbed the frightened young man and curled an arm around his neck, holding a handgun to his head. The young man’s eyes were smashed closed as tears fell.

Kota inched closer, holding his hands up. “I’m just going to check my friend.”

Billy looked wildly from Kota to Chance and then to Bryce.

Finally, his eyes dropped down to Hawk. “Who the fuck are you guys? Why the hell are you naked?”

Chance kept his eyes trained on the gun and the scared young man at the same time. There had to be a way to distract Billy. He was relieved when he finally noticed that the young man still had his clothes on. Billy hadn’t gotten to him yet.

Chance tried to stay as still as possible when the door toward the back of the room opened ever so slowly. He wasn’t sure who it was, but he didn’t want to give that person away. He remembered Hawk making a phone call.

His eyes widened for a split second when he saw Maverick walk through with a deadly silence, which was amazing considering the man’s size. Billy must have caught that look because his head swung around. That was all Chance needed. He leapt, taking Billy down. The gun went off again, and Chance saw Bryce drop this time.

He saw red. Chance shifted, mauling Billy as Maverick grabbed the young man from Billy’s grasp, turning the guy’s head into his large chest. Chance tore at Billy, rage consuming him until he heard Kota say that Bryce was alive.

He felt a weight pulling at him. Kota was trying to stop him.

Chance snapped his head around, his jaw damn near unhinging as he roared at the wolf. Billy needed to die!

“He’s dead, Chance,” Maverick said before escorting the young man from the room. Chance took a good look at Billy’s victim. His stomach knotted when he saw that the guy was barely out of his teens.

He roared and swiped at Billy’s shredded form again. He was the mother of all monsters!

“Come on, Chance. We need to get Hawk and Bryce out of here,” Kota said as he lifted the commander. Chance shifted, pulling Bryce from the floor. He carried his brother downstairs, noticing that the place was swarming with shifters and humans. Lewis watched as Chance carried his brother from the house, not saying a word. He was glad to see that Lewis’s new partner wasn’t there.

“Give him here,” his pa said as he grabbed Bryce from Chance’s arms. His pa and Riley took Bryce to the bed of the truck.

“Shift, son,” his pa said to Bryce once he laid him down. Riley walked back over to Chance, handing him a pair of jeans and a towel.

Chance tried his best to wipe the blood from his body as he dressed.

“Maverick is going to take care of the body,” Lewis said as he approached. “The mother will be taken some place. Don’t ask where.”

“And the boy?” Chance asked as he looked from his brother to the detective.

“He’s fey. The alpha is taking him back to his tribe. Go home. Everything is being taken care of here.” 

Chance looked over his shoulder at the house, seeing Maverick watching him as he loaded the young man into his vehicle. The alpha’s jaw clenched as he gave one short nod to Chance.

* * * *

Chauncey sat on the porch swing as the trucks turned down the driveway, kicking up dust as his family returned. He was still pissed beyond belief when he found out from Olsen that Billy had been found and was being dealt with.

That had been his job, and his family had taken that from him. No words could appease his bear. He jumped to his feet when he saw his pa and Riley pull Bryce from the bed of the truck. “What the fuck happened?”

Chance climbed out of the truck, nodding toward their pa and brother. They carried Bryce into the house without saying a word.

Chance climbed the steps, taking a seat on the porch. The scent of blood instantly assaulted Chauncey. He gazed at his brother and saw the dried smears all over his upper torso.

“I couldn’t let you do it.”

Chauncey clenched his jaw as he stared straight ahead, looking out into the front yard as he tried his hardest not to hate Chance. “That wasn’t your call.”

“Maybe not, but I couldn’t let his blood rest on your hands,” Chance’s voice resolute.

Chauncey sat back, eyeing his brother as he sighed, knowing in his heart that he could never hate his twin. “Is Bryce okay?” Chance sat back as well, staring out into the yard, his eyes clouding over with anger. “He was shot…” Chauncey sat there listening as his twin explained to him everything that had taken place.

Chauncey felt sick when he learned that Billy had kidnapped a young fey. It made him want to run into the house and hold onto his mate tightly. He’d never been more grateful that Curtis had gotten away before Billy had truly hurt him. Yes, what Billy made Curtis do was animalistic and gut-wrenching, but he had a feeling Billy had just gotten started when Curtis smashed his head with a rock and ran.

“He’s taken care of?” Chauncey had to ask. He saw all the blood Chance wore, smelled it in the air, but he needed to hear the words. If it had to be anyone else that eliminated the vile bastard, his choice would be his twin. But it sucked that Chance carried that burden now, a burden that should have been Chauncey’s to bear.

Chance nodded as he stood. “Curtis is safe, brother.” Chance squeezed Chauncey’s shoulder before walking inside the house.

Chauncey had five seconds to breathe out before Curtis walked slowly from the side of the house. Chauncey cursed.

“How much did you hear?”

“All of it.” Curtis stood there shaking. “Does he hate me now?”

“Who?” Chauncey asked. He couldn’t think of a soul who could hate his mate.

“Chance,” he answered as he inched a little closer, stopping at the bottom of the steps, looking like a lost cub.

Chauncey stood from the swing, walking down the stairs and then pulled Curtis into his arms. “None of this is your fault, hon.”

“But he killed a man because of me!” Curtis protested loudly, tears spilling from his grassy-green eyes.

Chauncey shook his head, refusing to allow his mate to take the blame for any of this. “What Chance did was for the young man Billy kidnapped and for shooting Bryce and the wolf. Billy would have been turned over to Lewis had he not gone to the extreme. Maverick’s men were there to make sure of it. Billy did this to himself.” 

Curtis settled against Chauncey’s chest, his fingers curling into his shirt. “I’m tired. Can we go to bed?”

“Yes, hon.” Chauncey carried his mate into the house, taking him upstairs and settling him in. He curled up in the bed next to Curtis and pulled him close, just holding him and thanking the powers that be that his mate was safe.

“Was this your idea?” Mark asked Chauncey as the mates helped pack Curtis’s apartment.

Chauncey grinned as he shook his head. “Nope. Curtis decided that living on his own sucked.”

Mark chuckled as he clapped Chauncey on his back. “Smart man.”

“Me or Curtis?”

Mark chuckled again as he walked out of the apartment. He was going to assume that Curtis’s dad was talking about him, ’cause Chauncey was smart like that. He poked his chest out in pride as he strolled to the kitchen where Curtis’s other dad was helping his mate pack the dishes.

“Mark called me smart,” he said as he winked at Curtis. His mate grinned as Caden frowned.

“Are you sure it was Mark?”

Chauncey nodded. “Yep. It seems I’m growing on him.”

“Oh, I could go so many ways with that,” Curtis said as he laughed. “Now help me finish packing the kitchen.” Curtis grabbed an empty box from the mile-high stack sitting off in the corner, handing it over to Chauncey.

“But I thought that’s what the mates were for,” he said with a pout.

“We heard that,” Cecil said as he walked into the kitchen. “We’re here to help, not do all the work ourselves.” Chauncey watched as Nero walked into the kitchen, Gunnar right behind him with a ladder. The small man with blue gloves climbed the ladder, Gunner standing right under him as Nero took the camera down.

“What do you want me to do with these?” Drew, another timber-wolf mate, asked as he walked into the kitchen, holding Chauncey’s boxers up. Curtis blushed and grabbed them from Drew’s hands.

“I’ll take care of those,” he said before throwing the underwear at Chauncey. He caught them and shoved them in his back pocket.

“Better be glad that’s all you found.”

“Chauncey!” Curtis shouted as he turned a lovely shade of red, glancing at his dad with an embarrassed look on his face. Caden just laughed as he continued to work.

“What?” he asked as he walked out of the kitchen, his mate forgetting that he had assigned the bear a task. He growled when he spotted the fat little manager. He hated the fact that he had to pay all that money to break the lease. The guy could have given him a break.

“No growling at the little human.” Kota chuckled as he walked back in for more boxes. “Play nice.” Chauncey didn’t want to play nice. He wanted his damn money back! He sighed, knowing it was lost to him forever. Curtis was worth it. He grabbed a box and took it downstairs. “He’s not taking all of this to my house, is he?” Chauncey wouldn’t mind, he just had no clue where Curtis was going to put everything.

“No,” Mark said as he shoved the box Chauncey was carrying into the back of one of the SUVs. “It will go back to the Den. We have plenty of rooms.”

Thank god. Chauncey stared up at the apartment building, glad they were saying good-bye to it. He had to admit it was a nice place, just not for Curtis. His mate belonged under
his
roof.

“Stop goofing off. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go eat,” Chance said as he brought a box down. Chauncey smiled at his twin.

“You got that right,” he said. He was starving. They spent the next hour getting the apartment cleaned out. Curtis’s personal items were stored in the back of Chauncey’s truck, and then his mate and brother climbed in.

“Thank goodness that’s over,” Curtis said with a deep sigh.

Chauncey agreed as he pulled the truck away, heading for home and a nicely cooked meal. It was night out already. They had gotten a late start. He smiled as he remembered why they had gotten a late start. Curtis was one hell of a sex partner, and Chauncey wanted more.

He felt his cock blossoming in his pants as he thought about how his mate had sucked his cock until Chauncey was singing to the angels. His mate turned out to be a very talented man in the bed.

Chauncey couldn’t get enough of him, which worked out well for him because Curtis couldn’t seem to get enough either.

Chauncey pulled the truck into the driveway, seeing Olsen and Tater sitting out on the front porch, D sitting on one of the steps.

Chauncey wondered where Sloane was. Even though Maverick had said he didn’t need to be around the Lakelands any longer, Sloane had lingered for a few days.

“Evening, gentlemen,” Chauncey said as he climbed the stairs, tugging Curtis’s hand as he sat down next to D.

“Can you get me some more coffee?” D whispered to Chauncey.

“No way,” Olsen called out. “I now know why Pa has banned D from drinking it.”

Chauncey raised a brow as he stared at the vampire. “What’d you do?”

Olsen snorted as he leaned forward. “The little vampire cleaned the kitchen, top to bottom.”

Chauncey looked over at his brother. “That doesn’t sound too bad.”

“No, it doesn’t. But while the little shit cleaned the kitchen, he threw all the food away, claiming it wasn’t healthy enough to eat.” Chauncey gaped at D. “Did you really?”

D shrugged as he stared at his sneakers. “I watched a program that said humans weren’t eating the right things.” He waved his hand toward the house. “And everything in the kitchen was unfit.” Olsen chuckled low. “But he didn’t throw away the coffee.” D narrowed his eyes at Olsen. “A guy’s gotta have some sort of crutch. Mine happens to be coffee.”

“And mine happens to be steak, which you threw away, every last one,” Olsen argued.

Chauncey nudged the vampire with his leg, winking at D. “I’ll get you some if you promise to stay out of the kitchen.”

“Fine, but when you’re starving, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Olsen complained as he grabbed his extra-large mate and walked into the house.

“I thought it was funny as hell,” Tater said before disappearing into the house behind his mate.

* * * *

Chauncey walked his mate into
their
bedroom. He closed the door as he held onto his mate’s hand. He was feeling playful and horny.

His mate looked over his shoulder at Chauncey, batting his eyelashes as he grinned devilishly. “Want something, big boy?” Chauncey felt like stomping his foot into the floor, panting and growling. Curtis knew what the hell he wanted. The guy knew how to play Chauncey like a violin. “Maybe I do, maybe I don’t,” he teased as he released Curtis’s hand.

“That’s too bad. I was hoping you did,” Curtis said as he toed his shoes off and unzipped his pants. He reached inside the waistband, pulling his cock free. “It’s a shame to let this go to waste.” Chauncey was salivating. He licked his lips as he watched a bead of pre-cum being squeezed from the head of Curtis’s cock. His own shaft had grown hard back in the truck and hadn’t gone down since.

He was praying his mate would go down, though. “What do you have there?” he asked as he sauntered across the room, resting his ass against the dresser as he crossed his arms over his chest, trying his best to play things casually.

A smile tugged at the side of Curtis’s lips as he shrugged. “If I have to tell you…” He trailed off as he slid his pants down his legs, gifting Chauncey with a magnificent sight. He bit his bottom lip to stop the growl from erupting. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold out with this game. He was rock hard and ready to shove his cock into that sweet-looking ass nicely displayed in front of him.