To Have A Human (5 page)

“I worry he’s not strong enough because he’s human.” As much as Broden wanted to keep Carey forever, he worried the pretty man wouldn’t be strong enough to be a shifter mate. Although a mixture of cat breeds formed their small pride, they didn’t have any humans in the mix. He ignored the unhappy snarl of his inner cat.

“I think Carey would kick your ass if he heard you questioning his strength. I think he’s plenty strong for a human, and if he somehow gets into an altercation with a shifter, he’s got you, our pride, and that band of his behind him,” Isaac persisted.

Isaac had come to some of Carey’s concerts and was becoming an avid fan. Broden suspected it was a particular crocodile shifter that really had his attention, but he didn’t point that out. Not yet.

Broden shook his head. “As much as I want to keep him, it would kill me if I hurt him.” That’s what it came down to. He didn’t want to hurt the younger man.

Humans were fragile. His father had drummed that into him years ago when he’d gone to a public human-shifter school.

Unfortunately, his parents weren’t around anymore to ask for advice. His mother had died in a plane crash and his dad died soon after from a broken heart. For shifters, it wasn’t just a figure of speech. When they lost their mate, their heart literally couldn’t take the pain.

“So that’s it. Despite claiming him as yours, you’re going to let him get away?” Isaac’s tone expressed both disgust and disbelief. “I never thought I’d see the day my alpha was afraid of something.”

“I can rip out your throat before you make it to the door,” Broden said mildly.

Isaac cleared his throat. “It’s your decision, boss.”

Broden nodded. “Remember that.”

After discussing a few more items of business, Isaac rushed off to carry out Broden’s orders. He left the door open when he exited, leaving Broden with a clear view of Carey talking to a new worker. Broden had contracted the man for protection support, but his inner jaguar didn’t like how close the man stood to Carey. No one but Broden should stand near enough to mingle his scent with Carey’s.

The new guy, Dan or Dean or something, watched Carey with a glow of attraction that made Broden’s animal half want to take the man down like a wounded deer and rip out his throat.

The Carey issue ate away at him. He needed to have the gorgeous man under him, preferably naked and wrapped around his cock. Memories of the last time they got together haunted him day and night. He had to have Carey, he just hoped it wasn’t a selfish move that would injure his pride in the end.

A loud purr rolled up his throat as he contemplated all the things he could do with the human. He imagined Carey’s robin egg blue eyes darkening with lust as he licked all that beautifully tanned skin. Broden wiggled in his chair, parting his legs to make room for the erection as he contemplated the tan that extended all over Carey's hot body.

Taking a deep breath, Broden ruthlessly forced his mind to focus on the contract before him. His erection would have to wait.

Linda came into the office, closing the door behind her and cutting off his view of Carey. Her natural reddish-brown hair, twisted in a complicated knot, looked like it took hours, but Broden had seen her twist it out of the way and pin it in place with a pencil and get the same elegant look. She had the natural grace of an old movie screen actress with the attitude of a drill sergeant.

“You look nice today,” Broden commented.

Linda looked up from her notepad and frowned at him.

“What? Can’t I compliment you?” Broden asked innocently.

“The last time you complimented me it was to cushion the blow that you'd set the coffee pot on fire,” Linda reminded him.

“That was what? Five years ago?” Broden asked.

Linda nodded. “And I only remember it because your desperate attempt at distracting me failed miserably. Anyway, I wanted to say Carey’s a sweet boy, though you should formally claim him. Spreading your scent across him, then sending him into the company to work is starting all sorts of rumors.”

“What kind of rumors?” Broden growled. “If anyone has said anything to hurt him…”

Claws popped out of the tips of Broden’s fingers. No way would he let anyone harm Carey, physically or mentally.

“Hold on, boss. I’m just saying it’s causing talk. Some are saying you’re too afraid to take what you want or you don’t trust Carey because he’s human. I don’t think anyone has said anything to him, but I don’t know for sure. Even if they don’t say anything to him directly, he’ll eventually hear the rumors and his feelings might be hurt.” Linda look worried.

“I don’t think he’s that delicate,” Broden responded. However, the thought of it possibly hurting Carey bothered him.

“It’s a matter of courtesy. If he were a shifter, would you hesitate?” Linda’s expression made Broden feel like he was reverting to his childhood when his mother tried to hold him accountable for his actions.

“No,” Broden confessed. “He’s right, I do treat him different because he’s human.”

Damn, he was an idiot. “I need to have a claiming ceremony. Prove to everyone I mean to make him official. I’ve been an idiot. There’s no way I’m not going to keep him. He’s my mate. I know it. He’ll have to get used to the idea.”

“That’s the spirit,” Linda approved.

Putting their heads together, they started to schedule the party.

* * * *

Carey settled into his office. Because he did all the computer stuff and needed a lockable space, he was given an office of his own. Tony’s old office.

“Hello, pretty human, what’s on the agenda for the day?” Lucan slinked into Carey’s office. The way he moved, all boneless, made Carey sometimes think of him more as a snake than the Scottish wildcat he was in his shifted form. However, Lucan treated him just like he was a member of the company. Carey had learned the corporation was actually a small pride of mixed cat shifter breeds who ran the business and shared in all the profits.

“We’re breaking into WolfTrac,” Carey informed him.

Lucan tilted his head. “A wolf company is hiring us?”

Carey tapped a few keys and examined the monitor. “Hmm, did I say that?”

“Does the boss know?” Lucan stepped closer to see what Carey was doing.

“They’ve been trying to crack our system for the past three days and I’m trying to figure out why. I don’t want to say bad things about Tony, but there were some emails between him and the WolfTrac president. The email was encoded and I haven’t had time to look at it yet, but it does make me curious as to why a cat shifter would leave an obvious good thing here to do some work with the enemy.”

“Tony is working for WolfTrac now?”

Carey nodded. “At least that’s what it looks like. His signature is all over their system. Not only that, but he left a lot of holes in our system that WolfTrac seems to somehow know all about. I’ve been plugging them and adding gates of my own to keep them out, but I’m following the a-good-offense-is-the-best-defense route and am checking them out myself.”

“I did wonder why Broden never pursued Tony. I mean, we’re a tight group and Tony never really fit in, but he was one of us, you know. The fact he just up and quit and no one went to check on him is kind of odd,” Lucan observed. Sitting on the edge of Carey’s desk, he sniffed the air.

“What? You know I hate being sniffed.” Somehow it didn’t feel quite as annoying when Broden did it, but it usually preceded sex so he was forgiven.

“I can’t help it, you smell like Broden, lemon and honey and, as a member of his pride, the alpha always smells the best. I just want to climb in your lap and sniff you,” Lucan confessed.

“Do it and you're fired,” Broden growled from the doorway.

Lucan jumped gracefully to his feet, dropped to his knees, and bowed his head. “Forgive me, Alpha.”

“Rather dramatic, isn’t he?” Carey asked.

“A little.” Broden raised an eyebrow. “Rise, Lucan, just keep your nose to yourself.”

“Yes, sir.” Lucan climbed to his feet and hovered as if unsure of what to do.

“Go back to your desk. Carey will call you when he needs you back,” Broden instructed.

“Yes, Alpha.” Lucan gave Carey a wistful look before exiting the office.

“Don’t be so hard on him, he’s young,” Carey said. He felt a little bad for the exuberant shifter. Lucan had a sharp mind, but a big mouth. Carey understood the dangers of that combination.

“I’m not hard on him, I just don’t want him sniffing you. That’s my job.” Broden walked over and pressed his face to Carey’s neck, inhaling deeply. “He’s right, you do smell good.”

Carey laughed. “I take it you like how you smell on me?”

“Absolutely, you’re the best kind of smell,” Broden confirmed.

“And what’s that?”

“Mine.”

Carey laughed. “Did you come by for a reason or just to sniff me?”

“I wanted to double-check you were doing your concert tonight. I’m going to show up, but it might be closer to the end of your gig. I’ve got an overseas conference call later tonight.” Broden gave Carey a pained expression that told him it wasn't something his lover was looking forward to.

“No problem. We’ll be there until midnight. After that, you’ll have to hunt me down at home.”

“Speaking of home, when are you going to take me to yours?” Broden frowned.

“I’ll have you over soon,” Carey promised. “I-I’ve never invited a date home before.”

It was sort of an unwritten rule. None of the roommates brought anyone into their house. It was their safe zone, where strangers weren’t welcome. He’d have to check with his friends to see how they felt before dragging Broden home.

“Really? Never?” Broden asked.

“Nope. I’ll check with the guys, maybe we can have a dinner or something,” Carey offered. He didn’t want to make any hard promises, but if Broden planned to become part of his life, Carey needed to be comfortable with Broden in his home. Carey usually kept his private life private
—
it would be a big step to allow someone into his small group.

“Are you worried your friends won’t like me?” Broden’s expression was almost amused as if Carey’s concerns were ridiculous. Maybe they were.

“Not exactly. It’s sort of complicated. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got work to do.” He waved meaningfully at his monitor.

“What are you working on?”

“Hacking the wolves. They’ve been trying to break into our system over the past few days. Do you know why Tony left?”

“No. Why?”

“I think he might be working for WolfTrac now, and I don’t know why anyone would go work for those psychopaths if they didn’t have to. I’m wondering if maybe he had to.”

“You think blackmail?” Broden asked in surprise.

Carey shrugged. “Did he give notice or anything?”

“I don’t think so, I’ll double-check with Isaac. As far as I know, he just stopped coming to work and told Isaac we had too many jobs to do.” Broden frowned. “That does sound suspicious, doesn’t it?”

“It kind of does.” No good roads led to the wolves. If Tony was working for them now, that might be something Broden should investigate.

Broden grabbed Carey’s desk phone and called Isaac’s extension. After a minute, he slammed it back down. “I forgot he’s taking the day off to go to a security seminar at the convention center. He won’t be back in the office until tomorrow. I’ll leave him a note and have him check on that.”

“Thanks,” Carey felt a rush of relief that Broden not only believed him, but was willing to look into his concerns.

“No, thank you. No one else thought to look into this. We should’ve been more concerned with one of our own.” Broden kissed Carey, hard and fast, leaving a blaze of heat behind.

“Um, you’re welcome, but Lucan is the one who mentioned that he didn’t think anyone followed up,” Carey got out once he caught his breath.

“I’ll thank him, too, minus the kiss.” Broden tapped Carey on the nose and left.

“It better be without the kiss,” Carey mumbled as he tapped on his computer keys. The idea of Broden touching anyone else, kissing or not, made Carey cranky—Broden belonged to him.

“Crap,” Carey said, looking at the ceiling. “I’m in love with the fucking alpha.”

“About time you admitted it,” Lucan said, entering the room. “Thanks, by the way, for telling Broden about my idea.”

“He talked to you?” Carey didn’t realize he’d been fixating that long on his computer screen.

Lucan nodded exuberantly. “He said I had good instincts for the pride.”

“That was nice of him.” Whatever faults Broden had, he was a good alpha.

“It was. I hear you have a concert tonight.” Lucan scuffed the floor with his shoe. “Is it okay if I come along?”

“Sure, the more the merrier.” Carey sighed. “I’m not making much progress with this right now. I’m going to run a few programs, then leave it for tomorrow. We’ll be at Feathers on Capitol Hill. It starts at ten, come early if you want a seat.”

“Cool. I always wanted to go there,” Lucan exclaimed. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” He smiled as Lucan all but bounced out of Carey’s office.