Purrfect Protector (19 page)

Aleksi just laughed, making Kale even angrier.

“I am a cat, love. Eventually, if I want it bad enough, I get exactly what I want.” Aleksi leaned in and kissed Kale gently.

The corner of his mouth tugged upward but he pursed his lips to kill the smile threatening to come out. “I’m serious, Aleksi. Get back in bed. Right now.”

“You know what to do to make me do what you want.”

Glaring, Kale stood up and tried again to lift Aleksi, grunting when it was like trying to move a two-ton rock. On second thought, the rock would probably be easier to budge.

“Fine!” He stood then paced for a moment and tried to hold on to his anger. The shadow in his mind flared again, as if it were nudging him, and he realized it was Aleksi trying to show him something.

It was as if he’d stepped into a warm hug when he accepted the nudge. The happy feeling covered him like a blanket. “This was not your fault,” Aleksi coaxed, standing then invading Kale’s personal space again. Aleksi framed Kale’s face with his big hands, keeping him from trying to escape Aleksi’s searching gaze.

“It wasn’t my fault,” Kale said it quietly and tried to pull away.

Aleksi held fast and started stroking his temples. “Again.”

“It wasn’t my fault,” he repeated in a stronger voice.

Aleksi’s eyes sparkled and Kale was mesmerized. “I love you,” Aleksi asserted.

The words rolled off Kale’s tongue before he understood what he was saying. “I love you—
what
!”

Aleksi danced away too agilely for someone who had been shot almost a dozen times, laughing happily, as Kale swatted at him half-heartedly. It was bad form to hit someone who had taken multiple bullets for you.

Aleksi grinned victoriously. “I knew you liked me.”

A punch in the face was really too good for some people. “Are you twelve?”

“No, just a little lightheaded from moving about too much,” Aleksi said honestly, looking a bit wobbly.

“Get in the damn bed,” Kale ordered, annoyed at how calm his mate sounded about being hurt. He ushered the shifter back to the bed and wondered if he could get the doctor to loan him some restraints so he knew Aleksi would sit still.

“I’ve never tried bondage before.”

Aleksi’s comment made him stumble and the only thing stopping him from face planting on the floor was Aleksi grabbing his forearm, steadying him.

“Don’t
do
that,” Kale said.

“Do what? You were the one talking about restraints.”

If Kale had thought dealing with Caleb when his brother was hopped up on pain pills was embarrassing, this was mortifying. Being shot and drugged was turning Aleksi into a naughty, sexy, temping…pain in the ass.

To hide his embarrassment, Kale retrieved the anesthetic spray and thrust it out toward Aleksi. He turned around and whipped the scrubs shirt over his head before he could chicken out. The pain caused by the quick movement helped him to get over his awkwardness. This was the first time he’d ever said ‘I love you’ to someone he wasn’t related to and he was trying really hard not to freak out.

In his head, falling in love had been part of the plan. Agreeing to mate Aleksi had been a big risk. Kale might have been teased into saying the words, but in his heart, he felt them. Damn tiger had gotten his way again.

Aleksi knew he should probably feel guilty about playing dirty to get Kale to say he loved him. Honestly, he hadn’t expected Kale to repeat his declaration or that he’d have to scent the truth in Kale’s words.

He would let Kale have his space for now but not for long. With a dozen new bullet holes in him, Aleksi thought he was entitled to be a little bossy. He hadn’t lied when he’d said he was lightheaded. Rapid healing was something to be thankful for at times like this, but it had its own consequences, such as a drunk feeling, and his lips tended to be looser than he’d like—such as could his declaration of love. Aleksi had had a long-term plan to woo the human and make Kale fall so in love with him that he would never want anyone else.

That was out of the window now. He came out of his thoughts when he noticed Kale had come back to the bed shirtless, holding something out for him. “Will you do my back for me, please?”

Aleksi snatched up the spray before Kale changed his mind.

Kale swallowed loudly. Aleksi scented the nervousness giving way to fear as his mate hesitated and half-turned so he couldn’t see his mate’s back.

“I love you,” Aleksi said again, this time without the playfulness.

Kale nodded and twisted around slowly. Aleksi could see the tremors racking the man’s body.

The pain of being shot was nothing compared to the agony that stabbed through him at the sight of all those angry red and purple lines marking up his mate’s beautiful skin. He held his breath when Kale lowered his waistband and Aleksi saw the marks going down from the curve of Kale’s shoulders to the tops of his thighs.

He knew first-hand how much injuries like that hurt and he mourned for the little bit of light that he knew had dimmed in his mate for going through that trauma.

“How is it?”

“Fine. I don’t know what all the fuss was about,” he said with a flat tone. One of his brothers would have simply smacked him and grumbled about him being an ass.

Grimacing at the realization that Kale might not understand his dry humor, he tried to think of a way to backpedal.

Instead, Kale surprised him again and laughed. It wasn’t a snort or a polite laugh but a full belly laugh. Aleksi drew in a deep breath, confirming that his mate was genuinely amused by his scent. He breathed a sigh of relief at that, thoroughly aware that his thoughtless words could have backfired.

“They aren’t too deep but the way the lines cross over one another are what is probably causing you the most pain as the skin heals and is pulled in several directions.”

“Does it look as ugly as I think it does?”

Aleksi knew Kale’s sense of worth was significantly tied to his appearance, so he didn’t give a speech or cliché line about beauty was on the inside. Kale’s career depended on how he looked. His mate did have a good reason for being concerned, but he had a feeling it was more to do with how Kale thought Aleksi saw him than anything else.

“I suppose if you squint and tilt your head, it looks like one of those strange paintings that sell for millions of dollars.”

Kale snorted. “Will the scars bother you?”

“Do mine bother you?” Aleksi knew he only had a few that were still visible. Shifters didn’t scar easily, especially ones as big as he was. The bullet wounds would take a while to fade since there were so many of them.

Kale tried to turn around, but Aleksi clamped a hand on his mate’s waist, moving so he was sitting with his feet on the floor but his weight on the bed.

“Of course not!” Kale replied.

“Then you have your answer. Scars are what remind us that we were strong enough to live through pain.”

“You think I’m strong?” Kale sounded as if it was a foreign concept to him.

Aleksi was really going to have to drill it into his mate that he was amazing and worth a hell of a lot more than his looks. “I think you’re very strong, mate. I’ll be sure to write you a list of all of your attributes when we get back to our home.”

“Our home?”

“You said it was one of your conditions for mating with me,” Aleksi teased. The idea of sharing his sanctuary with another person still bothered him, but Kale wasn’t just a person. Kale was his mate. Aleksi was looking forward to waking up with him every morning and going to sleep with him every night.

With a little push and concentration, he sent the feeling of contentedness through the link that was starting to form between them. The closer they grew, the tighter the bond would be. It was why he’d remained unconscious until Kale had awoken. Aleksi and his tiger had felt that Kale needed them and had fought their way through the mental barrier of the sedative Aleksi had been given. His doctors had certainly had a fright when he’d woken up roaring Kale’s name.

The blush working its way up Kale’s neck was too tempting for him and he leaned forward gently to kiss his mate’s skin, mindful of all the wounds. “Mine.”

“Yours.” Kale relaxed.

Aleksi started purring in an effort to keep the man calm as he treated the wounds.

Drawing back, he read the instructions for the medicated spray. According to the leaflet, he only had to point, squeeze and reapply in four to six hours’ time. It applied easily and Aleksi saw a difference within a few minutes as Kale relaxed his muscles and loosened as the spray began to numb the area.

Leaning forward as much as he could without stressing his own injuries too much, Aleksi blew a cool line of air over the damp skin of Kale’s ass. The scent of excitement filled his nose and Aleksi grinned, tracing his fingers along Kale’s hipbone before teasing the neat patch of hair above Kale’s cock. If Kale were to turn around, Aleksi would be in the perfect position to swallow his mate down whole.

Kale swallowed loud enough for Aleksi to hear it. “Aleksi, what are you doing?”

“Showing my mate how much I want him,” he replied, getting hard at the thought of giving Kale pleasure.

Snapping upright, Aleksi snatched his hand away from his mate, in case he had to unleash his claws. He didn’t want to cut Kale. His tiger stiffened inside him, warning him predators were nearby and his gaze shot toward the door. He let a smaller version of his saber teeth descend. As he was injured, he wasn’t taking any chances that the threat could harm his mate.

Aleksi groaned when he saw who was outside his room.

He watched as Kale glance up to see what he was looking at and paled. Aleksi could just imagine what Kale thought, as the group of scary looking men peered through the door window.

The party of onlookers was completed with Caleb. Everyone except Caleb was staring right at his mate’s bare ass and his tiger gave a growl of warning to his brothers.

“Sorry.” Kale blushed, visibly trying to regain his composure as he dragged the scrubs back on. The rushed action made Kale hiss and flinch as the back of the shirt hit his injuries. The spray hadn’t had enough time to dull the skin completely. He’d gotten carried away when the pain had started to recede.

“Be careful, mate.” Taking hold of the shirt, Aleksi gently rearranged it so it didn’t touch Kale’s injuries.

“I just didn’t want you to think…” The way Kale ducked his head and tugged at the clothes gave Aleksi the idea that maybe Kale misunderstood why he was growling.

“You’re a model, Kale. I know that I am going to have to get used to people seeing your body. I’m possessive and protective, so I do not relish the thought of scratching my brothers’ eyes out for ogling you, but I’ll never growl
at
you
, okay?”

Obviously reassured, Kale nodded. Aleksi even got a small smile before it vanished and Kale’s eyes turned dark and sad. “I may not be a model anymore. My doctor said there will be extensive scarring on my back and ass.”

“Not necessarily,” Khan, one of his brothers, said loudly from outside.

“How did they…?”

Tapping his ear, Caleb then slipped inside the room but Aleksi’s brothers remained outside. From his possessive display, his brothers would definitely know Kale was his.

“Shifter hearing,” Aleksi and Kale said together, smiling.

Aleksi waved his brothers in.

“I see your assignment is going well,” Scott said drolly.

Aleksi rolled his eyes and ignored the knowing looks from his bothers as they spotted the claiming bite mark on Kale’s neck. His mate turned to share a concerned glance with Caleb. No doubt, his mate was wondering if Aleksi planned to tell his boss and family about them.

“That reminds me. We really need to have a talk about how this bodyguard thing works. You see, I actually have to have a body to guard.” Aleksi pinned Kale with a hard look before smiling to diffuse the tension.

Kale rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry. I’ll work on that.”

The snarky reply made him grin. Having his ass handed to him later for getting shot was going to be fun. Kale was stunning when his eyes were bright with anger. As soon as Kale had had time to digest everything that happened with Not-Barry, his mate would be back to his fiery self.

“Good,” he accepted with a secret smile.

Huffing, Kale walked back over to him.

Aleksi waited until Kale sat on the bed next to him. He put his arm around his man before turning back to his friends. “Everyone, this is my mate Kale. Kale, these are my friends, my brothers. Raptor is the bald one, Dean is sporting the mohawk, Harris has the short brown hair and Merlin is the one with long black hair, while Iago has the orange-and-red curls. Finally, Viktor is the ice blond.” He went round the room, pointing and naming his friends and shaking his head, as they seemed to take his introductions as an excuse to pull faces or flirt outrageously with Kale. Aleksi would give them a few minutes to laugh it up and have fun but after that, he would see how fast his brothers really were and if any of them could outrun an angry saber-tooth tiger.

“What did you mean, Khan?”

“I mean that my venom can be altered and has proven to be very successful in the reduction of scarring. The medical trials have been very promising.”

“Medical trials?”

Nodding, Khan explained, “Yes, there was a doctor trying to track down rare venoms. I contacted him and said I’d be willing to help. I’ve been working with him a few months.”

Aleksi didn’t like the sound of that. Even though shifters were a recognized part of society now—with rights and protection laws—that didn’t mean they were safe. Rare shifters still had big black market price tags on them. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Are you being safe?”

“I’m not sleeping with him, Mom,” Khan replied with a smirk.

Somehow, Aleksi knew Khan was holding something back. Aleksi and the rest of his brothers looked at Khan. They seemed just as surprised and worried at the news of Khan getting involved with a doctor who was conducting medical trials.

“Khan,” Aleksi started, unamused with Khan’s attempt at a joke.

Khan tensed but sighed when it was clear none of them were going to budge on the subject until they knew he was safe. “I’m taking precautions. It’s all anonymous and I’m keeping an eye on his work by acting as a courier. He doesn’t know who I am. Rob checked the doc out and I did my own research too. I even broke into his lab and his house when he wasn’t there to so I could poke around. He seems legit.”