Royal Line (3 page)

"Not stubborn, crazy. Do you think they'll sedate me?"

"No, because you aren't going to tell anyone." It was rule number one. "You never talk about it to anyone who doesn't know." Because yeah, then they'd all be in the psych ward, or worse.

Phoenix stared at him, eyes wide, burning.

"Do you need me to shift again to prove that it's real, that you're not losing your mind?" Which he would do, but all this back and forth in such a short time was tiring. He sure hoped the place was stocked with a whole lot of meat.

"No. I want to go home now." Oh yeah, Phoenix was
very
stubborn.

"That's not going to work. You need to learn how to control it, how to live as a Saffron Tiger."

"You said that you'd let me go home. You said five minutes. That was up ages ago."

"I will let you go home. Once we're both confident you won't spontaneously shift in the middle of a class or something even more public."

Things were going to get ugly soon. He could see it in the way Phoenix twitched, shuddered, in the way those fingers moved.

Grio stepped forward, doing something he'd never done with a new tiger before. He pressed his lips against Phoenix's, kissing Phoenix.

Phoenix stepped backward, then immediately stepped forward and kissed him back before collapsing in a heap, landing with a thunk.

Okay. Fainting. That he was prepared for, that he could deal with. He would focus on that and not the kiss. Fainting prince of tigers, fainting prince of tigers--that was his sole focus right now.

Picking Phoenix up, Grio carried him up the stairs to the bedroom to lay Phoenix out on something soft.

Phoenix sat on the edge of his mom's bed, trying not to stare at the restraints at her ankles, her wrists. They looked like they hurt, so bad.

"Nix, son, you have to pay attention to me."

"I am. I mean, yes, ma'am." He stared at his foster mom, Meghan. She was always there, solid and quiet, offering him a smile when he looked to her for reassurance. Meghan had been his family for six years. Most of his life.

"Pay attention!" His mom snarled, drawing his focus.

"I am!"

"You're not like other boys."

No, he wasn't. His mom was crazy.

"You listen to me. You are special. We both are. A royal line, Nix. Royal."

"Royal. Yes, ma'am." He wanted to go home. He had a new video game that he had saved up all his allowance to buy.

"You aren't listening!" she screamed at him.

He jumped up, running right for his foster mom's open, comforting arms. "Meghan!"

"Nix! Get back here!" His mother pulled at her restraints, voice becoming hysterical.

"Let's go, honey, we don't have to stay here." Meghan hugged him and turned them to the door.

"You're not normal! Listen to me! You're going to hurt someone!"

Phoenix looked at Meghan, horrified, but she just shook her head, looked sad. "She's sick, honey. You're not going to hurt anyone."

"We're special! You need to be prepared! Special!" She continued shrieking at him all the way out.

He looked to his foster mom. "I want to go home, please?"

"You know it."

"Then let's go home, honey."

Meghan shook him. Then she shook him again.

* * * *

"Wake up. Phoenix. Wake up."

Oh fuck, his head hurt. Hell, everything hurt.

"Come on, your majesty. Wakey-wakey."

Phoenix groaned, trying to focus. How much had he had to drink?

"That's it. I have a nice rare steak for you. I bet you're starving."

"I..." His stomach snarled at the smell of meat and he nodded before he focused. Who was that? Where was he?

He was in a bed, but he wasn't actually lying down. Instead he was propped up against pillows, a plate of steak being placed in front of him, a fork and steak knife pushing into his hands.

"Thanks..." Oh, man. Maybe food would help. He was so fucking confused.

"Just eat, man. I know you need it."

He dug in, starving. He'd never had a better steak. Never. It tasted so damn good.

The man--Grio, right?--ate, too, almost snarfing the food down like he hadn't eaten in days.

Right. Wait. Shit.
"You kidnapped me."

Grio simply nodded. "Can you imagine doing what we did out on the quad of your university?"

"What we did?"

One of Grio's eyebrows went up.

Phoenix's mind went back, but there was nothing, just a quiet blankness. And the recurring nightmare of the last time he'd seen his mother.

"You honestly don't remember?"

He looked for cues. He was naked, Grio wore only a pair of jeans, top button open. The room was softly lit, masculine. He was under the covers.

"Did we have sex?" God, please say they used protection. Please.

"I'd love to say yes. It would be so much simpler." Grio scrubbed his face and sighed.

"Did you drug me? I feel...so weird."

"No. I can't believe we have to go through all this again." Grio got up and started pacing, like some big cat in a too small cage.

A low rumble built in his chest, and Phoenix stood. "Where are my clothes?"

"They're torn and tattered. It happened when you shifted." Grio came over to him, standing over him and staring at him. "We are Saffron Tigers and you are a prince among us. I know you don't want to hear it, but it's the truth."

"A prince. Me. Excellent." His brain seemed to be hiccupping, over and over.

"Did you deliberately ignore the tiger part?"

"God, yes." And he'd continue to. That way led insanity. No wonder he'd had the nightmare starring his mother. Crazytown was right here.

"But that's the part that's most important! Do you honestly not remember shifting? Exploring this place, roaring at me? Why do you think you were so hungry for meat so rare it barely just came off the cow?"

Phoenix was not going to listen to the nonsense. He wasn't. People didn't turn into tigers and what the fuck was a saffron tiger anyway? That was the name for a shitty Indian restaurant.

"What's it going to take to make you believe?" Grio's hand landed on his shoulder.

A roar left Phoenix, this insane sound. "Back off."

"You didn't hear that? You roared at me. You. Are. A. Tiger."

He whipped around, staring at Grio--the huge man had the oddest eyes and who colored their hair like that? Orangey-red with dark and black streaks. Crazy people did, that's who.

Grio was right there, undeniable and refusing to back down. "What are the odds that your mother, you and I all share the same hallucination? You don't know me from Adam."

A deep growl built inside him, which was insane. In. Fucking. Sane. Because this guy could clean his clock. "And yet, you seem to purport to know me."

"I know about you. There are only about a hundred of our kind. Headquarters finds Tigers who don't know, like you, and I'm sent to inform them and train them, teach them--you--how to be what you are out in the world."

Phoenix could hear his mother in his head plain as day, like she was right there. "We're special, you and me." If they'd been so special, how come she'd died in an insane asylum?

"I know it sounds insane, but you watched me shift--you shifted yourself!" Grio touched him again.

Tail twitching, Phoenix stepped forward. "What do you want?"

"I need you to believe what you are and learn how to be a tiger."

Phoenix let out another roar, allowing it to tear out of him, slam into the other man.

Grio took a step back and bowed his head. "You are our prince."

Phoenix felt like he was being pulled apart in the center, like his brain was cracked.

"Would it help if I changed again?" Grio asked. "I can again, quite easily, now that I've eaten."

Phoenix opened his mouth to respond, but it didn't matter, nothing came out. His muscles rippled, the world going razor sharp.

"Oh, there you go! You're a tiger. And a magnificent one at that. There's a mirror here. Come on." Speaking softly and not looking at him, Grio backed away, indicating he should come along.

His ears swiveled and he tried to decide whether or not killing the man was good or bad.

"Come on." Grio kept walking, head down slightly.

Phoenix finally decided to follow. The big male was courteous, unfrightened.

Grio stepped aside suddenly, a mirror there, showing him a tiger. Oh. Oh, wasn't he fine? He stared, smoothing his whiskers.

Grio chuckled, hand landed on his neck, stroking him. "You are a beauty. The most beautiful one I've ever seen."

He preened a bit, stretching and arching, his stripes rippling.

Grio suddenly shifted behind him, the tiger bigger than him, but not better looking. Head lowering to the ground, Grio bowed to him.

He looked at Grio, blinked slowly in greeting, chin dipping. Grio vocalized, then lay down and offered his belly. He leaned down, nuzzling the soft, pale fur, the scent of another flooding him. Grio smelled amazing. Spicy and male. Sexy.

He groomed for a long moment, cleaning the whiskers. Grio licked his paw and chirruped. He eased down, stretching, claws out, exposed. Grio set to grooming him, starting at his paws. He watched, his eyelids heavy, his heartbeat slowing.

When Grio cleaned his face, it was with the gentlest, most respectful of licks. He rumbled softly, so pleased. He should explore, but the sun was warm right here and he was sleepy. So sleepy.

Grio's grooming didn't help, instead it encouraged him to ease. The low rumbles said he would be safe.

He let his eyes fall closed. Better.

He felt the change in the air and Grio was in man form again, rumbling out words. "Don't forget this time, my prince."

Don't forget. Don't forget.
He chirruped softly, tail sliding on the floor.

"You could always shift back now and talk to me. Tell me what you're thinking."

Don't forget.
His head tilted, and he tried to understand, tried to focus.

"Remember how it feels to be a man. Look into my eyes and remember."

Be a man.
He purred deep in his chest, and tried to listen to the words.
Be a man.

"Come on, Phoenix. I know you're in there. Think about the kiss I gave you. You can't kiss like that as a tiger." Grio laughed. "You can't tell me off for doing it like that, either."

He chuffed, the sound becoming laughter as his fur fell away.

"Well done!" Grio looked pleased.

And he was still naked. They both were.

"Thank you. I think." Phoenix needed to think. How had this happened? His whole world view was turned upside down on its head.

"Does that mean you believe it now?"

"I don't understand it." That was for sure. It was kind of hard to deny something so...real, visceral.

"But you don't think you're crazy anymore. Understanding will come."

"I need some clothes. We're naked." He didn't like to have insanity discussions while naked.

"It's a hazard of shifting. If you don't get naked first, you ruin your clothes. Luckily the organization has been doing this long enough they have that covered." Grio walked to the chest of drawers, offering him a fine view of the man's amazing ass.

"Although..." Grio looked him up and down. "It's a shame to cover a great body like yours."

"People don't turn into cats. How did this happen?" He was not going to acknowledge the look because he was already a little ramped up.

"It's hereditary. People have, in fact, been turning into cats for millennia."

"And my mom?" They'd all thought she was crazy, insane. She'd died knowing her son thought she had lost her mind.

"I don't know if she was actually a shifter or if she just carried the gene. You're the royal family, though, Headquarters will know your family's history."

"I'm not royal anything. I'm a foster kid." That was always the dream when you were really little, wasn't it? That your father was really a king and he'd come find you and whisk you away to make you a prince. He hadn't held onto that dream for very long.

"The royal family have a distinctive hair color. Your hair color."

"My hair?" He was royal because of his bright orange hair? "It...it won't dye."

"God, why would you want to? It's stunning." Grio reached out, fingers sliding through it.

Phoenix's eyes crossed, the touch surprisingly erotic. Grio's nostrils flared, a sound like a muffled moan coming from him.

He'd never met someone he instantly wanted, someone he could simply hump. This man, though? Crazy, kidnapping, weird and fucking hot. And Phoenix wanted him like he'd never wanted anyone else.

Leaning in toward him, Grio moved in for a kiss. Phoenix met the man halfway, one hand wrapping around the back of Grio's head. Mouth dropping onto his, Grio kissed him. It wasn't gentle or tentative. It was all male.

He met Grio head on, the kiss going wild almost immediately. Big hands wrapped around his ass, pulling him up against Grio's solid body. His cock was hard as a diamond, and when their skin touched, he damn near shot.

Grio growled into his mouth and deepened the kiss further. He rumbled back, rocking them together, slamming them together.

Grio backed him up against the wall, humping against him. Their teeth clacked together, the tinge of blood in their kiss. Grio's hand moved back to his hair, fingers threading through it. The tug made his eyes cross, made his belly clench.

Biting his lower lip, Grio drew more blood. He wrapped one leg around Grio, dragging them together.

"Gonna be in so much trouble for this." Grio dived back in for another kiss, grinding against him.

Trouble. He turned into a tiger. A royal fucking tiger. What was trouble?

It didn't matter anyway, Grio's kisses were making him ache, making him want to crawl into the man. Every touch made him gasp, made him twist and meet Grio halfway. He couldn't remember ever being so hard.