Timothy (9 page)

Otto’s thoughts shot back and forth between the troubling poacher and everything Otto wanted to do with Tim. The day passed quickly although without any results. Otto checked his phone again and couldn’t ignore his disappointment when there was no message from Tim. Steve hadn’t contacted him either, so Otto guessed they were out of cell range. Or busy. Steve at least had a satellite phone.

“Well duh.” Sometimes Otto wondered if a brain cell dozed off or something. He should have thought about his dad’s satellite phone sooner. Otto fired off a text asking if they were returning tonight. Within seconds he had a reply, and his mood lifted as surely as his cock did.

Drop Tim off at my place, if he’s agreeable please.
Otto sent the message then started making his way back to his place. He kicked it up to a jog when his dad replied that he’d drop Tim off in a few hours. Otto was almost all the way across town but he’d make it home in time to shower, fix a decent dinner, and be waiting, naked and ready for Tim.

Shifter or not, Tim’s ass had to be sore. Otto had tried to be gentle the second time he took Tim, but between his leopard, his own need, and Tim’s demands for
more damn it
, things had got pretty rough. He’d marked Tim again, too, on the other shoulder. The man was likely sore all over the place. Otto just hadn’t been able to control himself, and Tim hadn’t seemed to want him to.

So tonight, he was going to let Tim fuck him every which way ‘til Sunday. Or was it nine ways ‘til Sunday? Or six ways? Otto could never remember, but it didn’t matter. He was going to have his mate drilling into him until his scent leaked from Otto’s pores.

As eager as he was, Otto didn’t forget his goal of finding the stranger Naran had told him about. He sniffed each person he passed, sometimes with more caution than others, but he didn’t catch a whiff of the scent he’d followed yesterday. He knew it could be as simple as having followed a wrong trail, but he just couldn’t believe it. Otto had always been open to the possibilities of prescience—how could he not when mates could share a telepathic bond? So he did not doubt his instincts when they were all but screaming at him that he’d had the right man and lost him.

It wasn’t until Otto reached his front door that he remembered he was supposed to go out with Naran tonight to try to find Ochir. Okay, he could still help Naran and make it back here before Tim arrived. If Otto did run late, Steve had a key. Honestly, considering Otto had been damn near over the entire city of Dalanzadgad already today and he hadn’t seen a kid fitting Ochir’s description anywhere, he doubted there’d be much ground left to cover. He’d let Naran take the lead—she might have some new ideas of where to look since last night.

One more message to his dad, letting him know to give Tim the key should Otto not be home, then he was off again, but this time he drove over to Vukpuo. Naran was locking up the store as he pulled up out front. Otto rolled down the window. “Is this okay, or would you rather go on foot?”

Naran hurried over and opened the passenger door, which was answer enough. “I was thinking, if Ochir is scared, he might be hiding outside of Dalanzadgad. Maybe in the foothills. I know we can’t go all over them, but,” Naran looked at him earnestly, her eyes darting back and forth over his as if she were reading him in some way.

A slither of suspicion licked down Otto’s spine. There was an awareness in Naran’s eyes, a knowing that turned the suspicion into fear. Granted, there had always been rumours, legends of snow leopard shifters in Mongolia, but Otto had thought, short of a few very old, superstitious people, no one really believed them. The look Naran was giving him told him otherwise, and he didn’t know what to do.

Except turn his head and pull away from the kerb. “But what? We can drive out to the foothills, it’s only an hour or so away.” It wasn’t very far, only about sixty-three kilometres, but there were several sharp turns and the road was very narrow. Driving fast wasn’t happening. “I’ve been all over Dalanzadgad today and caught sight of neither the man you told me of nor any child with a scar like the one Ochir has. I wasn’t sure if I should ask about him or if it would get back to him and send him further into hiding.” If he was hiding.

Naran cleared her throat and Otto heard the snick of her seatbelt being buckled before she spoke again. “I have people looking for him besides you and no one has seen him. The usual places he goes for food and shelter, he hasn’t been there for a few days. It’s very worrisome. I am going to bring that boy home and keep him. He needs a mother, a family.”

Otto was glad the weird tension had dissipated. He didn’t want to know what Naran had been about to say, but he thought he was going to have to find out eventually. If by some manner she knew what he was, Otto told himself he had nothing to fear from her. Naran was one of the best people Otto had ever met. He did trust her, as much as he trusted any non-shifter.

Right now he would prefer to keep her talking about other things until he had time to consider the ramifications of her knowing about shifters, if that was the case. He’d rather be prepared than not.

Otto just hoped she didn’t ask him to shift and hunt for Ochir. He didn’t know what he would do then.

Chapter Eight

Tim tried to find a more comfortable way to sit as Steve drove along the narrow dirt road. Dane smirked at him and Tim flipped him off. He gave Dane a smug grin of his own because Dane had been dying to grill him about Otto and Steve, gods bless him, hadn’t left them alone together long enough for Dane to get many details. Tim was kind of surprised Dane hadn’t asked a bunch of embarrassing questions in front of Steve anyway.

Of course, the way Tim was squirming in his seat probably answered most of Dane’s questions.

Tim turned his nose up at Dane and leant forward to peer around him and look at Steve. “Do you really think a rockslide took out the camera?”

Steve glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. “Don’t you?”

“Why wouldn’t you?” Dane asked before Tim could answer.

He settled for a shrug as he sat back. Tim couldn’t very well tell Steve he was certain he’d caught a whiff of another person there. It was very faint, and foul which was likely why Tim could still smell it. He’d found the odour on a few of the larger rocks that had rolled down the mountain and wiped out the camera. They hadn’t been able to find more than an inch or two of metal and a small part of the lens.

Even the bolts used to hold the camera in place were gone. And Tim believed they were just that, gone. Someone had deliberately left a scene to make them think an avalanche had wiped out the camera, but Tim wasn’t buying it. Not with the stink of man and those missing bolts. Tim should have been able to find them, and okay, maybe he’d overlooked them. He supposed they could be under a boulder. But he didn’t think so.

His senses were telling him the whole scene had been set up for them. They’d not found any hint of snow leopards, either, no scat or markings, no prints—nothing. Tim had wanted to move some of the bigger rocks, but two things stopped him.

One, his shoulders were sore from the bites Otto had given him. Just thinking about them made Tim’s dick hard, so he quickly moved on to the second reason. He was stronger than the average human, and if he’d exhibited that strength, Dane would have become suspicious. Oh, Tim wasn’t anything like superhero strong, but he definitely could lift more than a man his size should be able to. Dane was damn sure sharp enough to notice it, too, which was why Tim had always been careful to restrain himself physically with Dane and around him.

“You’re going back to Otto’s place?”

Tim pulled himself out of his musings and looked at Dane. “Yeah.” Dane flicked a glance down and Tim realised he was hurt.
No wonder, in less than twenty-four hours I’ve become completely wrapped up in Otto and have all but abandoned my best friend. Fuck, I’m a jackass.

Hoping Otto would be okay with it, Tim smiled at Dane and bumped his shoulder. “You can come with me for a while. I know you’ve been dying to ask me questions.”

“Oh God,” Steve muttered.

Dane squealed and bounced in his seat. Tim was surprised he didn’t clap his hands. “Man, you don’t know how hard it’s been not to tease you about the way you’ve been walking—”

“Dane!” Tim was going to just combust from sheer embarrassment. He squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. His skin felt hot under his hand.

“Whoops. Sorry?” Dane rubbed his back. “Sorry Steve, really. I get a little exuberant.”

“I hadn’t noticed,” Steve said dryly.

“I can stop holding back,” Dane offered with so much sarcastic sweetness in his voice it made Tim’s teeth ache.

“I can stop the truck and tie you to the hood,” Steve countered, and Tim opened his eyes as he gave a startled laugh. He hadn’t expected that from Steve.

Dane opened his mouth and shut it a few times before grinning at Steve. “Fine, you win that round, but tomorrow I will have all sorts of raunchy ammo to accidentally discharge.”

Steve grimaced and even Tim wasn’t sure if Dane meant something more with the discharge comment. One thing was certain, he wasn’t going to ask, and Steve wouldn’t either.

“Yeah, that was a bit…more than I meant it to be,” Dane said into the silence following his threat. “I wouldn’t really—I mean, that’s just gross. Sometimes my mouth and brain totally synch when they shouldn’t and annihilate my manners.”

“Are you taking responsibility for your words or making an excuse? I can’t tell at this point.”

Dane huffed and set his bangs to fluttering. “I’m taking responsibility, but hell, it isn’t like I killed anyone or anything.”

When Steve laughed Dane did too, although he sounded more relieved than happy. Tim settled in and listened to the two of them banter back and forth. Steve’s grandfatherly looks were deceptive because the man had a sharp wit he didn’t hesitate to batter Dane with when necessary. Tim enjoyed knowing someone could nail Dane periodically. Verbally, because just about any interested and attractive guy could nail him sexually.

The pinch of jealousy Tim usually felt over Dane’s sexual freedom wasn’t there now, and Tim knew why. The throb in his ass reminded him of the night before, and the morning, and filled him with a bubbling anticipation for the evening ahead of him and Otto. Would Otto let him fuck him? Tim’s ass was out of commission for a day or two, but he wanted Otto back inside him as soon as possible. He intended to suck Otto until the man shattered for him, then Tim wanted to get him hard all over again and—

“Huh, wonder what Otto’s doing coming out this way.”

Tim’s eyes flew open when he heard Steve, but if they hadn’t then they sure would have when Steve laid on the horn.

“Jesus, are you trying to make my ears bleed?” Dane snarked.

Tim would have loved to point out it was worse for him but couldn’t. Steve jerked his hand off the horn and shot an apologetic look his way. “Sorry.”

Steve pulled the truck over and Tim watched the headlights of the oncoming vehicle until his eyes watered. He was still seeing white splotches when someone opened his door from the outside.

Otto’s scent rushed in on the evening breeze and Tim shivered as much from the chill in the air as from his lover’s sudden appearance. He ignored Dane and Steve as he unbuckled, and within seconds he was being half-lifted from the vehicle. The moment his feet hit the ground, Otto kissed him, cradling Tim’s face with both hands and plundering his mouth, turning it from something sweet to a carnal act that threatened to have Tim coming in his pants.

Tim’s cock pulsed, pre-cum leaking from the slit as Otto moaned into his mouth. He grabbed onto Otto’s hips and moved what little he could, which wasn’t much since he was pinned between the truck and a wall of hard male flesh. Otto shuddered and lifted his head. He panted against Tim’s temple, warming him there even as the moisture from his breath made Tim’s hair feel damp and heavy.

“I rate it a nine.”

Tim didn’t think his tongue would work just then so he ignored Dane’s comment. He propped his chin on Otto’s shoulder instead and only then became aware of a petite woman standing a few feet behind Otto.

“Uh.” Tim clenched his hands on Otto’s hips. The woman was pretty, dressed in a pair of baggy jeans and a dark sweater. Her hair was pulled up into a painful-looking bun, and she was watching them with more than a hint of impatience, with her thin arms crossed over her chest as she tapped one foot. “Otto?” Tim squeaked out, and yes, his tongue felt like a brick in his mouth. Probably he should have tried the mental link think, but his brain was scrambled from that kiss.

Otto must have understood anyway, because he moved back enough to give Tim a reassuring smile. He smoothed Tim’s forehead, which Tim took to mean he was frowning, since he always got a pair of wrinkles on his brow when he did so. Otto glanced behind him and turned partially, keeping his erect dick nestled against Tim.

“Naran doesn’t speak English, but I’m pretty sure she understands most of it.”

Naran scowled and burst out a rapid fire string of words. Otto nodded and Tim could feel his dick softening just like Otto’s was where he was pressed to Tim. Dane got out along with Steve. Dane glared at Naran. “Chill out, woman. Wherever you two were off to, it isn’t hurting you to let the lovers have a moment.”

Naran obviously did understand English and just as obviously didn’t appreciate Dane’s scolding. Tim didn’t know what she said, but if it was as mean as it sounded, he was surprised Dane didn’t fall over dead on the spot. Dane laughed and started to reply but Otto clamped a hand over his mouth.

“Not now, Dane. Naran is right. We need to get going, a boy’s life could depend on us. I shouldn’t have let my needs interfere with our search, but I couldn’t—” Otto stopped and peered into Tim’s eyes.

“I understand. I think I would have begged Steve to turn the vehicle around and follow you.”
Tim could see that Otto had heard his thought, saw the warmth flooding Otto’s gaze and warming the space between them. Out loud Tim said, “Let me come help you.” Two shifters would be able to cover more ground even in human form due to their heightened senses.