To Have A Human (6 page)

Lucan was a cute kitty. He’d be a good hacker if he could stand being seated for more than a few seconds at a time. Maybe he should ask Broden to look into one of those standing desks for Lucan
—
that way he could fidget and still get work done.

Pulling on his jacket, Carey headed out the door.

Chapter Four

The club pulsed with life and dancing as pre-recorded music pounded from the speakers positioned all around the building. Carey spied his band mates on the small stage, setting up gear. Sometimes it struck him odd that he was the only human in a band of shifters, but his father called him a shifter magnet for good reason. If there were sick or injured shifters within a hundred mile radius, they always found Carey.

“Hey, guys.” He waved to his friends as he approached.

“Hey, rock star,” Eaton called out.

Carey laughed. If either of them looked like a rock star, it was Eaton. The man’s gold hair and perpetual tan gleamed under the stage lights.

Catching sight of the familiar bag in Carey’s hand, Eaton’s smile went nuclear. “You are the best, dude.” He grabbed the sack Carey held out and opened it eagerly.

“I figured you wouldn’t have time to eat.” He didn’t mention he doubted Eaton had the money. His eagle shifter friend sent all his extra funds to his parents to help raise his five brothers and sisters in Guatemala. His family didn’t have a lot of money and Eaton worked two jobs besides playing with the band. Despite everything, Eaton’s sunny nature always shone through his exhaustion and he’d never let the band down.

“The double cheeseburgers are on top.”

Eaton grabbed two from the top and handed them to Harris.

“Thanks, Carey, I freaking love their salmon patties.” The sandwiches looked almost dainty in Harris’s large hands. A nicer guy hadn’t been born despite the hardships life had dealt him. If Carey hadn’t found Harris crammed into a small cage in a sicko’s backyard, the bear shifter might not be alive today. By mutual consent, they never discussed Harris’s condition when Carey found him. Some things didn’t need to be talked about between friends.

“Did you get my steak burger?” Denton stepped forward, his ripped shirt exposing his six-pack abs. The man didn’t have a single ounce of fat on him and as a crocodile shifter, he burned off tons of calories whenever he transformed, leaving his human form lean and muscular.

“Have I ever forgotten?” Carey asked, mildly insulted.

Denton’s eyes flashed reptilian for a moment. “Sorry, dude, I didn’t eat lunch,” Denton apologized.

“You know you can’t skip meals,” Carey scolded. When Denton got super hungry, his croc half took over and bit down on whatever was closest.

A flush crossed Denton’s cheeks. “Sorry, I was working on a new song.”

“Ah,” Carey nodded. Denton got lost in the creative process and forgot to eat or drink or do anything except the music.

Carey got his own chicken sandwich out and sat at the end of the stage next to Eaton. “How’s it going?”

Eaton scanned the stage. “Pretty good. I think we’ll be ready in ten minutes or so. We should have a nice crowd tonight.”

Carey followed Eaton’s head nod toward the audience. The tables were filling up quickly.

“Anyone playing after us?” Carey dared not hope the crowd was there for them. He thought they were good, but he might be biased.

“Nope, they’re all here for us,” Eaton said with satisfaction.

“Really?”

Carey scanned the audience with new eyes. The crowd wasn’t huge, but it was growing, and it looked to be a good attendance.

The band quickly finished their food and tossed their wrappers.

“I’ll change quickly, then we can get started.”

Carey grabbed the clothes Denton handed over to him and rushed to the backroom to get dressed.

* * * *

Broden exited his Mercedes and slammed the door. He could hear the music from the parking lot. A deep driving beat and a luxurious voice could be heard above it all.

Carey!

His footsteps sped up as Broden rushed to the front door. When the bouncer went to intercept him, Broden flashed his fangs.

“Whoa, cover charge!” the bouncer said.

Broden pulled out his wallet and tossed some money at the bouncer
—
he didn’t bother to count the bills. He needed to get inside, to claim his man before someone else dared. Pushing his way through the crowd, Broden ignored the angry looks and frowns until he reached a few feet from the stage.

Wow!

On the stage was a man of pure sex appeal. Carey writhed and sang like a siren spinning his spell upon his hapless victims. Broden knew if Carey crooked his fingers, half the audience would be more than happy to offer themselves to him.

A low growl rolled up his throat while Carey continued his song and shook his ass on the stage. His inner Jaguar wanted to drag the object of his attraction away from the crowd so no one could drool on him. That ass should have
exclusive to Broden Lyall
tattooed on it to keep the others away.

Isaac walked through the busy bar to come stand beside Broden.

“He’s good,” Isaac shouted to be heard over the crowd.

Broden nodded, but didn’t say anything. Right now he didn’t want anything to distract him from his mate, especially with Carey dripping sex like an incubus after a dry spell.

Four songs later the band stopped for a break.

Broden spun away from Isaac and followed Carey’s path off the stage and to the bar.

“Good evening, Carey,” Broden said.

Carey spun around. “Hey, Broden. You’re earlier than I thought you’d be.”

“The conference call ended sooner than I expected,” Broden replied. “Happy to see me?”

“Always.” Carey stepped closer until his sweaty body pressed against Broden.

Broden slid his hands into Carey’s hair, holding him still for his kiss. Carey tasted like everything right in the world. Broden’s inner jaguar let out a purr, vibrating both of their bodies.

Carey laughed. “I think kitty approves.”

“What’s not to approve of?” Broden looked Carey up and down. “I think I might have to demand a new company dress code.”

“I don’t think we’d get much done if everyone wore skin tight pants to work. I wouldn’t be able to sit at my desk, that’s for sure.”

“Hmm, okay, maybe only on Fridays,” Broden amended.

Shaking his head, Carey accepted the bottle of water the bartender handed him. “Did I see Isaac?”

“Yes. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.” Broden gave the bartender a cold glare when the man flashed Carey a flirtatious look. The stupid man also had the gall to check out Carey’s ass when he turned away.

His inner jaguar clawed at Broden’s insides. The cat wanted to rip the bartender apart. Broden took long, slow breaths and imagined his inner animal curling up in a ball to sleep, a calming exercise he’d learned when he was young. It had been years since he last got so close to losing control.

“Hey, you all right?” Carey slid his hand along Broden’s arm.

The feel of Carey’s skin touching him soothed him as only a mate could
—
another sign Carey was meant to be his. Broden grabbed Carey and kissed him. He started out gently, giving Carey the chance to pull away if he wanted. Instead of objecting, Carey rubbed against Broden, ratcheting up the desire to unprecedented levels.

Broden’s grip tightened as he added more aggression to his embrace. Carey matched him, kiss for kiss.

“Carey, we need to get back on stage, man,” Denton’s voice broke into Broden’s lustful haze.

He lifted his mouth to glare at the intruder. A reptilian gaze flashed at him until the man’s eyes returned to human.

Carey looked over his shoulder. “Sorry, Denton.”

Denton smiled at Carey. “Come on, you’ve got fans waiting.”

Broden received a quick kiss before Carey headed back to the stage.

“Keep your hands to yourself, cat, Carey’s not for you,” Denton warned.

Broden bristled at the order. “Why is that?”

“Because Carey’s good people and I know you kitty cats stick with your own. I won’t have him toyed with because you’re in heat,” Denton growled.

“I’m not in heat. I’m interested in Carey and no lizard is going to stop me from getting what I want.” Broden had no interest in playing games.

Denton smiled, revealing rows of razor teeth. “I’m not a lizard. I’m a crocodile. Trust me when I say I’ve got Carey’s back. If you hurt him, you better sleep with one eye open, because we’ll hunt you down. I’ve declawed a cat or two in my time.”

Broden nodded. “It’s good to see he’s got people on his side. Someday maybe you can tell me how a croc shifter came to be watching out for a human.”

“You’ve got that wrong, mister. Carey usually watches out for us.” Denton turned around and headed back to the stage before Broden could ask any more questions.

Isaac walked up beside him. “I still think he’s hot.”

“He’s a croc.”

“Hmmm, I like to live dangerously,” Isaac said.

Broden watched as his friend tracked Denton’s progress to the stage where he picked up his guitar.

“Are you going to stay?” Isaac asked.

Broden watched Carey begin a song and leaned against the post beside him. “I’m not going anywhere.” No way would he leave the sexy man in a bar full of horny young people, all of whom had their eyes glued on Carey’s gyrating hips. He’d tell Isaac about Tony tomorrow
—
it wasn’t like the man was going anywhere now.

* * * *

Carey tried not to stare while he focused on his music, but Broden stood out in his fitted suit like an Abercrombie model in a sea of trolls. Closing his eyes in order to keep on tune, Carey belted out his words. They sang a combination of cover songs and ones the band wrote, mostly Denton.

The heat from the lights made sweat soak his clothes and saturate his hair. He knew by the end of the night he’d be able to drench a full-sized bath towel with his moisture. The crowd went wild as the band wrapped up their last set. Taking a bow, they exited the stage.

Carey only made it a few steps before a low growl sounded beside him. He turned to see Harris’s eyes glowing. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“That man is here,” Harris said.

Carey froze. Over the past few weeks, a wolf had watched them, but never close enough to spot and not always at every performance.

“Where?” Since Carey didn’t have enhanced senses, he depended on his friends to let him know if there were any strangers they needed to keep an eye out for.

As a band of three shifters and a human, they were more cautious than they might’ve been if they had an all-human band. Carey wouldn’t trade his friends for anything, but it did cause some interesting times. More than once they’d had to hide their true nature from the world at large in order to stay safe.

Carey scanned the crowd, his training kicking in as he picked out a few people he considered possible targets. Unfortunately with his tight leather pants, he had little room to hide a gun.

“Let’s clean up. Denton, you keep an eye out,” Carey ordered, taking control of the situation. In their group of four, Carey had always been the leader.

“I’m on it,” Denton replied without hesitation.

Carey, Eaton and Harris all packed up their equipment.

“Can I help with something?” Broden asked.

“Carry this,” Carey handed over a subwoofer.

“What can I do?”

Carey looked up to see Isaac standing by the stage, his gaze pinned on Denton.

“You can carry Denton’s guitar,” Carey nodded toward the black case and ignored the dagger glares from his friend.

He hid his laughter as he bent down and grabbed the keyboard stand. It only took a couple of trips before everything was packed up. The person Harris had scented never made an appearance and after twenty minutes, the bear shifter declared the stranger gone.

“Do you want to go home with your friends or with me?” Broden asked.

Carey turned to face his band mates. “What do you guys think? You need me to go with you?”

It would be the perfect reason to avoid Broden. As much as he liked the guy, he was still on the fence about the forever-bonded mates things.

“We’ll be fine,” Eaton reassured him. “Don’t use us as an excuse. If you don’t want to go with Broden, don’t.”

“Don’t be a pussy, Carey,” Denton taunted. “Not when you can be with one instead. Of course if he hurts you, I will kill him.”

Carey smiled. His friends were the best. Leave it to Denton to cut to the heart of the matter.

Broden cupped Carey’s face, his thumbs brushing across Carey’s cheekbones in a surprisingly gentle touch.

“I’m going to kiss you right now unless you tell me no,” he warned.

“Go ahead,” Carey whispered. He might have reservations about his possible relationship with Broden, but he had none when it came to kissing the sexy cat shifter.