Jasper (6 page)

Phelam
was a different story. He never got off on the bondage. He didn’t enjoy the
power Theron held over him. He fought Theron at every move, and that was what
got Theron off. He hadn’t found anyone who came close to making him hard the
way Phelam did. Too many years had passed, and Theron was going to take back
what he wanted. He had to get rid of the little human first.

He
set his latest victim up against the headboard of his bed, admiring the
placement of the note. Careful not to leave any DNA, Theron didn’t remove his
gloves until he was outside and in his car. He left the home and headed to find
his next victim.

Trevor
remembered too late that Jasper had super sensitive hearing. He was probably in
the kitchen laughing at Trevor for jerking off in the shower. Oh, well. The
damage was done. But, fuck, he’d needed the release. Jasper talking about
Trevor living a long life if he accepted the mate bond got him to thinking
about the possibilities. Trevor would stay young forever. With Jasper. When he’d
made the mistake of looking over at Jasper while he spoke, Trevor didn’t miss
the longing in the gorgeous man’s eyes. Bond or not, he wanted Trevor. He
wanted to move Trevor in with him and begin a life together. When Trevor
thought about being in Jasper’s king-size bed, he had to get away from the
table before his dick got any harder.

A
knock on his front door had Trevor panicking. The last time someone knocked on
his door, he’d received the shock of his life. Actually the second shock.
Finding out he was a clone was a pretty big fucking surprise. He threw open his
bedroom door and ran into the living room. His socked feet slid to a stop as
Jasper closed the door holding a box.

“You
have a package,” he said, holding it out for Trevor. When Trevor didn’t move,
Jasper looked at the label and said, “It’s from Travis.”

“Oh,
thank god.” Trevor knew they would have to discuss the last package he’d
received, but he didn’t want to kill his good mood. He took the box from Jasper
and shook it. “Christmas,” he said to Jasper, grinning like a kid. He and
Travis always sent presents on Christmas but never on birthdays. Trevor had
been so distraught at being cloned that he claimed not to have an actual
birthday, even though there was a birth certificate that stated otherwise.

He
started for the kitchen then stopped. He turned back to Jasper and asked, “Will
you do the honors?”

“All
you want me for is my claws,” Jasper deadpanned. For the second time that day
he extended a sharp appendage and ripped open the box. Trevor couldn’t wait to find
out what Travis had bought him this year. His collection of sci-fi books was
only as large as it was because of his brother.

“Yes!”
he exclaimed as he pulled a book from inside. He turned it around and showed it
to Jasper. “H.P. Lovecraft,” he said as he ran his fingers across the cover.
“What color is it?”

“Green,”
Jasper told him. They had already discussed Trevor’s form of colorblindness and
the shades he could see.

“Green,”
he repeated as he placed his present on the bookshelf with other books by the
same author. “That reminds me; there’s something I need to do before we go to
your house. Do you mind taking me to the toy store?”

“Of
course not. Do you mind if I ask who you’re buying toys for?” Jasper cocked his
head to the side, his brow lined with creases.

“I
don’t mind. I always get a few things for the hospital Santa.”

“That’s
a great idea. I’ve never really celebrated the holiday, but when I was a
fireman, we collected toys for the less fortunate. I didn’t even think about it
this year.”

“Okay,
let me get my bag.” Trevor grabbed his overnight bag and put on his boots. He
locked his door, and they were off.

The
mood was light on the ride to the store. With it being Christmas Eve eve,
traffic was crazy trying to get into the parking lot. Jasper didn’t try
fighting with other drivers. Instead, he parked as far from the door as he
could find. Trevor didn’t mind the walk, and he agreed parking at the far end
of the lot was easier than waiting on a spot up close. They would be halfway
finished shopping before most of these people got inside.

When
they entered the store, Jasper grabbed a shopping cart. Trevor didn’t plan on
buying that many presents, but Jasper might also buy a toy or two. Normally
Trevor bought the toys he had wanted as a kid. He didn’t know the ages of the
kids in the hospital, but he figured there had to be at least one young boy in
the mix. Instead of heading to the boy stuff, Jasper headed to the dolls.
Trevor had nothing against dolls, but he didn’t know anything about them
either. Jasper was a Goyle on a mission. He had the cart halfway full before
they got to the boy section. As Jasper grabbed remote-controlled cars and
action figures, Trevor looked at the latest Lego sets. Jasper walked up behind
him and asked, “You like Legos?”

“I
love them. I asked for them every year when I was little, but my mother said
they would mess up the vacuum cleaner.” Trevor placed several smaller sets in
the cart. He was amazed at all the toys Jasper was buying. “It’s probably a
good thing you don’t have kids of your own. I have a feeling you’d spoil them
rotten,” he said jokingly.

Jasper
didn’t say anything. If Trevor hadn’t been looking, he’d have missed the
sadness that crossed the detective’s face. Trevor grabbed his arm before he
could walk off. “
Do
you have kids?” he whispered, holding his breath
while waiting on the answer.

Jasper
shook his head. “No, and I probably never will.”

Trevor
let it go. If Jasper wanted to talk about it, he would when he was ready.
Trevor hadn’t ever really given it any thought. He never expected to find
someone to spend the rest of his life with, and even if he had, he didn’t have
a clue about taking care of babies. He let the thought go as they paid for
their purchases. Jasper surprised him by letting him pay for his own toys. He
figured the Goyle would go all badass on him and insist he pay for all of it.

They
dropped the toys off, and by the time they got to the house, Jasper was out of
his melancholy funk and back to his usual spunky self. Jasper rolled up to the
gate, rolled the window down, and spoke Trevor’s name into the security box.
“You don’t have to punch in a code?” he asked, confused.

“Nope.
Voice recognition. When you move in, I’ll have Julian set it up for you as
well. You have to be present when he does it though. That’s why you only have a
punch code for now.”

When.
Jasper said
when
, not
if
, like he knew Trevor would be living
here sooner or later. Even though Trevor had been there before, Jasper still
showed him all the spare rooms, telling him to choose whichever one he wanted.
Trevor chose the one directly across the hall from the master suite. They
returned downstairs, and Jasper went to the kitchen. “Beer?” he asked as he
pulled one out of the fridge.

“Yeah,
sure.” Trevor was ready to ask about the photos of Jasper and Craig, and he
needed some liquid courage to hear the truth.

“Jas,
I need to know. You said the photos of you and Craig had been manipulated. I
need the truth. I’m ready to hear it.”

Jasper
handed him a beer and grabbed his empty hand, leading him to the living room.
The feel of this man would be his undoing. If he was ever going to avoid the
mating bond, he couldn’t allow Jasper to touch him. That was easier said than
done, though. The need to have contact was like needing to breathe. Trevor had
a feeling if he was a Gargoyle, his claws would be out twenty-four seven. They
both took a seat on the sofa, and Trevor turned toward Jasper.

“I
probably should start at the beginning, but I think this will be easier.”
Jasper picked at the label on the bottle as he spoke. “I met Craig at the fire
department. He transferred in from another company and immediately took an
interest in me. At first, he just wanted to hang out as friends. I was okay
with that, because I didn’t have many. Even in the Clan, I didn’t hang out with
anyone unless we were patrolling. Unholy are more scarce on the West Coast, so
my duties to the Clan weren’t very demanding.

“Anyway,
Craig and I would go out for beer and wings after work. He asked me to come
over to his place one weekend, so I did. I thought we’d be watching the game
and kicking back. The moment I walked in the door, he was all over me. I
thought it was strange, because he never hit on me before that night. I wasn’t
in the closet, but I didn’t announce my sexuality either. It felt forced
instead of natural. Like he was trying too hard. He never kissed me, never said
the things lovers are supposed to say to one another. We got into a routine,
and our relationship evened out. I won’t bore you with the details.” Trevor was
thankful for that. Hearing about Jasper having sex with another man, even
though he’d seen the evidence, wasn’t something he wished for.

“Keeping
my true nature from him was pretty easy. Even during sex my shifter wasn’t
clawing to be released. I was able to drive to the desert and fly fairly often.
That kept my beast at bay. After we’d been together a while, I wanted to go out
with him, like on a date out. Craig freaked, saying we couldn’t be seen
together that way. As firemen, we’d lose our jobs. That was complete and utter
bullshit, but he wouldn’t have it. We still went out for beer and pizza, but
hardly ever were we alone. Not once did he even remotely act like we were
anything other than friends. I had no idea he was filming us in the bedroom.
Now that I’ve had time to think on it, I’m pretty sure our whole life together
was a lie. The photos taken from outside my house took a lot of work on someone’s
part. My house was on a hill, surrounded mostly by trees. I often thought it
odd that Craig would pull back the curtains before we went to bed. Now I know
why he did it. He was aiding whoever was outside.

“Trevor,
I swear to you on all that’s holy, every single one of those pictures is at
least a year old. When I got the call the night I was cooking spaghetti, it was
Deacon needing help with Unholy. With Dante, Nikolas, and Gregor out of the
country, they were short-handed. Normally I would have walked out my back door
and flown to where they were, but you were here, and I couldn’t tell you what I
was. I wanted to, though. As soon as I knew you were my mate, I wanted you to
know the truth of my nature. Instead of flying, I got in my car and drove to
the parking lot at Kingsley. It was close to the area where I needed to patrol.
After we got the Unholy under control, I was walking back to my car, and Craig
was waiting on me. He and I had words, but he still grabbed me and kissed me. I
pushed him down on his ass and left him there. Since you know I was there, I’m
assuming someone called and filled you in?”

“I
got a text. Somehow, whoever it was had my cell number and texted me that you
were with your lover.” Trevor hated knowing his privacy had been compromised.
He planned on getting a new number, but if they could figure out the old number,
they would figure out the new one as well.

“And
you walked up right as he was kissing me. My back was to you, and I had no idea
you were there. I should have known, though. I was so furious at Craig that my
attention wasn’t on my surroundings as it should have been. If you had stuck
around, you’d have seen me threatening to kill him. Someone caught that on
video. It was one reason it took so long for me to be taken off suspension.
Even though I was on a stake-out at the time of Craig’s death, that video was
pretty incriminating.

“All
I wanted to do was wash off Craig’s stench and get back home to you. All the
while I was fighting Unholy, I thought about you wandering through the house,
getting familiar with it. While I was driving home, I couldn’t get the taste of
your lips out of my head. I wanted nothing more than to return to you so I
could kiss you again. Properly. When I got there, you were gone.”

Jasper
downed the rest of his beer and stood. Trevor didn’t need Gargoyle senses to
know Jasper was upset. He wanted to comfort him and tell him everything was
going to be okay, but that would be a lie. Even if he gave in to the mate bond,
Jasper’s past would still be out there. He could at least apologize for not
hearing Jasper out. He followed him to the kitchen where Jasper was looking out
the back window. It amazed him how still the Gargoyles could sit and stand.
Like the stone creatures someone had created all those years ago, the real
Gargoyles were just as solid. Keeping watch over their cities.

“Jas,
I’m sorry. I should have at least given you the benefit of the doubt and heard
your side of the story. When I saw the two of you together, my worst fear was
coming true. Your good-looking ex was back in the picture, and you had decided
you would rather have someone like him than someone like me.”

Jasper
whirled on him, grabbing his upper arms. “Someone like him is a lying,
back-stabbing manipulator. Someone like you is kind, caring, funny, sexy as
hell, and the most beautifully handsome human I’ve met in all of my long life.
Don’t you roll your eyes at me; I’m being serious.” Jasper’s grip eased, but
only minutely. Trevor would probably have bruises.

He
made the mistake of glancing up at Jasper’s face, his eyes landing on his lips.
Jasper let out a chest rumbling growl right before he clamped his mouth down on
Trevor’s. Trevor gasped in surprise, and Jasper took advantage of his parted
lips. His warm tongue sought out Trevor’s as he slanted his head for better
access. Before he realized it, Trevor was kissing him back with everything he
had. He wrapped his arms around Jasper’s body, bunching his shirt in his hands.
Jasper moved his hands down Trevor’s arms, snaking around to his ass. Jasper
grabbed his ass and lifted him so Trevor had no choice but to wrap his legs
around Jasper’s hips. He felt as if he was having an out of body experience.
Never had he felt such a deep-seated need to become one with another person.
Trevor knew he had to get control of what was happening before Jasper got the
wrong idea, yet he didn’t have a clue how to do that.