Man in the Middle [Wolf Creek Pack 9] (22 page)

Chase couldn’t control his outcry of delight as his cock pulsed inside of Justin and then erupted. Waves of ecstasy throbbed through him as shot after shot of cum filled Justin’s tight channel even as his life-giving blood filled Justin’s mouth.

Just as Taylor grunted behind him and Chase felt the man’s hot spurts of release fill his ass, Justin reared back and shouted, his release filling the space between them. Chase ripped the torn shirt off of Justin’s eyes and watched, slack jawed, as his mate’s eyes turned from green
emeralds to shards of ebony black.

“Look at those,” Chase whispered as he reached up and stroked his fingertip down one of Justin’s sharp fangs. He grinned when Justin shuddered and another shot of cum splattered against their skin. “They’re beautiful, Justin.”

“Yeah?” Justin panted heavily, arousal slowly leaving him. The blackness of his eyes slowly faded away to be replaced by Justin’s natural green eyes, for which Chase was thankful for. He loved Justin’s green eyes.

“Yeah.”

Justin drew in a deep breath. “Okay then.”

Chase groaned when Taylor pulled out of him, his ass spasming. He could feel cum dripping down his thighs as well as his stomach and knew he had been marked inside by his mates as well as outside.

He was thrilled.

Any paranormal that scented him would smell proof that his mates had claimed him. Chase felt like howling with delight. He carefully pulled his softening cock from Justin and flopped down on the bed next to him. Taylor moved to the other side of Justin.

“Can I see?” Taylor asked as he looked down at Justin.

Justin grimaced and then barred his fangs. Taylor’s eyebrows shot up before he glanced over at Chase. “It didn’t hurt?”

“No, in fact, it felt pretty damn good.”

Taylor nodded, swallowing hard. “Okay.”

Chase was confused by the sudden quietness that seemed to take hold of Taylor. Even though the man lay naked in bed with him and Justin, Chase could still feel some sort of wall spring up between them.

He didn’t like it.

“Taylor?”

Taylor’s eyes darted away. “Do you think Justin will be okay now that he’s fed?”

“He should be.” Really, Chase had no idea, but the waves of distress coming off of Taylor made him lie through his teeth. “I imagine he’ll need to feed a little more often in the beginning while his body catches up with its new vampire DNA, but after that he should be fine.”

“Good.” Taylor rolled onto his back and covered his eyes with his arm.

Chase frowned, concerned almost as much by the confusion on Justin’s face as he was by Taylor’s attitude. His mouth dipped into an even deeper frown when Justin rolled toward him and buried his face
in Chase’s chest. Justin was upset. Taylor was upset. And Chase was confused. He thought that things were going pretty well between them all now. Could he have been wrong?

Was there something else going on?

Justin glanced over at Taylor as he tried to figure out what was wrong with his mate. There were no outward signs that Taylor was upset, but Justin had been partners with the man long enough to read him.

And Taylor was very upset.

He was nice enough, helping get them packed, smiling and saying good-bye to their hosts, and even placing his hand on the middle of Justin’s back as they walked to the truck. But something was wrong. Justin could feel it.

He just didn’t know how to fix it.

Every time he brought it up, Taylor dismissed Justin’s concerns like nothing was wrong. Justin was starting to feel like he might be the problem. Maybe Taylor was still upset with him for leaving? Justin thought they had worked that out, and that Taylor understood why he had done what he did. But maybe not.

“Taylor—”

“I’m fine, Justin.”

“But—”

“Justin, drop it.”

Justin pressed his lips together to keep from whimpering as he turned his face into Chase’s muscled arm. He hated it when Taylor shut him out like this. It had happened in the past, but only when the Teacher was making Taylor do something he didn’t want to do. The Teacher was long gone, so Taylor couldn’t use that as an excuse for his behavior this time.

“It’ll be okay, angel,”
Chase whispered silently through their bond. Justin felt Chase’s hand pat him on his knee.
“Taylor will work out whatever is bothering him and talk to us about it when he’s ready to.”

“Do you think he’s still mad at me for leaving?”
Justin just had to know. He hated it when Taylor was upset. He felt like each second ticked by slower than the sun set when Taylor was angry. The sun only started to rise again when he would see Taylor’s sweet smile.

“I don’t think so, Justin. Taylor isn’t one to hold a grudge. Something has upset him, but I don’t think it was you.”
Chase’s massive shoulders moved as he shrugged.
“Maybe he’s worried about everything that we learned about who you are.”

Justin felt like his heart became lodged in his throat
. “Maybe he doesn’t love me anymore because I’m a vampire.”
It was the only thing Justin could think of that might explain Taylor’s behavior.
“He must hate me now. I…I”—
Justin barely smothered his sob
—”I probably disgust him now.”

“Damn it!” Chase shouted, slamming his fist into the steering wheel.

Justin’s head snapped up when he felt the truck suddenly swerve. He was worried that they might have been heading for a crash until he saw Chase pull the vehicle over to the side of the road and turn the truck off.

“Chase, wha—” Justin was silenced by Chase’s dark, angry expression. Oh perfect, now he had two men mad at him. Justin wrapped his arms around his stomach and slouched down in his seat. If he hadn’t been surrounded by his mates on both sides, he would have slid from the truck and took off running.

“I want answers, Taylor,” Chase said roughly, “and I want them now.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Taylor replied in a snarky tone.

“You’re lying.”

“Am not!” Taylor shouted.

“Taylor—”

Justin let out a loud screech and started pushing on Taylor, wanting out. He couldn’t stand it anymore. He hated being around people that were arguing or angry. Having that come from his mates made it even worse.

“Let me out!” Justin shouted.

“Justin,” Taylor began.

“Let me out now!” Justin shouted even louder. He felt like he was suffocating in a sea of overamplified testosterone around these two. He needed fresh air, and he needed room to breathe.

Taylor slid from the truck, his moves jerky as he moved aside for Justin to get out. Justin began to walk, feeling his heart sinking that both of his mates were arguing, and most likely, about him.

“Where are you going?” Chase shouted.

“Away from you two,” Justin replied.

“Running away again?” Taylor snapped.

Justin could hear the hurt in Taylor’s voice, but he couldn’t find it in him to care at the moment. He was sick and tired of this damn dysfunctional-ass relationship. They could have each other. If this was how things were going to be, Justin wanted no part of it. He would go back to Danny and his mate, and live out his lonely existence alone.

Justin spun around and stomped back toward Taylor, shoving his finger into Taylor’s chest. “It’s better than having you sulking over god knows what, and Chase yelling his demands to be told. I don’t need this bullshit!”

“
You
don’t need it?” Taylor snapped. “Then how do you think I feel when—” Taylor curled his lips in and spun around, walking back toward the truck.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Justin said as he hurried after Taylor. He grabbed his mate’s arm and spun him around. Wow, he was shocked at how strong he was. Okay, he would examine that later. Right now he had a mate to chew out. “Tell me what’s wrong, or so help me, I’ll bite you.”

“Is that how I’ll get you to feed from me?” The acid in Taylor’s voice stunned Justin. Never before had he heard Taylor speak that way to him.

He didn’t like it.

“What in blue blazes are you talking about?”

Justin watched as Chase walked slowly around the front of the truck, keeping a close eye on Taylor. Justin looked into Taylor’s blue eyes, seeing raw hurt radiating in them. Oh, gods, what was wrong with Taylor?

“I’m talking about you asking Chase what blood type he was, but you didn’t bother to ask me. I’m talking about you feeding from Chase for the first time, but leaving me out of the loop. Everything dealing with vampire stuff, you refer to Chase. Is that how it is, Justin? You’re one of the paranormal now, so little ole
human
Taylor is getting the shaft?”

Justin was knocked back ten feet with shock. Had he really made Taylor feel as though he wasn’t wanted or needed?

“You know how we feel about you, Taylor,” Chase said as he took a few steps closer. “How could you even think such a thing?”

Taylor shot a glare at Chase that made icicles form around Justin’s heart. It was cold and withering. “I don’t really know how you feel, Chase, considering we just mated.”

“And me?” Justin whispered, feeling as though his very happiness depended on Taylor’s answer.

“I thought I knew how you felt, Justin. But since finding out you’re a vampire, I’m feeling left out,” he said softly. “Tell me where I belong in this relationship. Tell me where I fit in?”

“Oh, hell,” Justin said as he wrapped his arms around Taylor, pulling his lover close. “You’ve sacrificed so much for me, Tay. I didn’t want to ask for you to sacrifice anything else. I felt guilty for all of the years you spent defending me against the Teacher that I didn’t want you to have to feed me, too. It was just another thing on your ‘have to take care of Justin’ list.”

“Are you kidding?” Taylor asked as he cupped Justin’s face, his fingers warm and welcomed. “I love taking care of you. It would be my honor to feed you.”

Chase closed the gap, pulling them both into his strong arms. “You belong with us, Taylor. That’s where your place is. And the only shaft you’ll be getting is mine when we get home.”

A smile tugged at Taylor’s lips as he glanced down toward the ground.

“And I can feed from you next, if you’d like,” Justin said, hoping, no, praying that Taylor knew just how sincere he was. He had no idea that not feeding from Taylor was going to make the man go loopy. All he had been trying to do was take some of the burden off of Taylor’s shoulders, not alienate him.

“Ready to go home?” Chase asked right before he laid a soft kiss on Taylor’s lips, and then Justin’s.

“Sure,” Taylor said, as if he were embarrassed for his meltdown.

The more Justin thought about it, the more he knew that if roles were reversed, he may have had a meltdown as well. He hadn’t meant to not include Taylor, but as he thought about the events since finding out he was a vampire, Justin guessed it did seem that way.

“And I’ll suck your cock until your eyeballs pop just as soon as we get home,” he said to Taylor as he batted his eyes and began to walk back toward the truck, adding a little hitch to his hips.

“Tease,” Taylor said, but Justin could see the lust filling Taylor’s blue eyes.

“Let’s go home, mates,” Chase said as all three climbed back into the truck.

* * * *

Taylor was feeling one hundred percent better as Chase pulled into the driveway. Gods, it felt good to be home. It felt like a hundred years had passed since Taylor had left his house to go on the hunt for Justin.

“I never thought I would be this glad to be home,” Justin said as he climbed from the truck. “Remind me not to take off again, even if I think it’s for the greater good. As nice as Danny and Dominic’s home is, there’s nothing like sleeping in my own bed.”

“Amen to that,” Chase said as he walked around to the back of the truck to grab his and Taylor’s things.

Taylor and Justin walked into the apartment, Taylor hitting the light switch. He frowned when the kitchen lights didn’t come on. “Must be a fuse,” he said. “Stay by the door while I go check.”

“Maybe we should send Chase,” Justin said, his voice a little shaky.

“It’ll be fine, Justin. It’s just a blown fuse. I’ve dealt with them before.” Taylor walked further into the apartment, feeling as if something was off. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something on the air, something that just wasn’t right.

“What’s wrong?” Chase asked when he walked through the door. “Why are the lights out?”

“There’s a blown fuse,” Justin answered.

“Taylor. Move slowly back toward the door.”
Chase’s voice inside Taylor’s head was spoken so low that Taylor had to concentrate just to hear it. It sounded cautious and filled with tension.

“Why?”
he asked as he began to look around, slowly moving back toward Chase.

“No,” Taylor shouted as he was grabbed from behind, something metal shoved into his side.

“Long time no see, ankle biter,” the person behind Taylor said, the words coming out in a lazy drawl. “Didn’t think you would see me again, did you?”

“Let. Him. Go.” Chase bit out each word between clenched teeth.