Talan's Treasure (2 page)

Talan smiled. “I don’t care about everyone else. I only care about you.” Adrian made a soft sound of disagreement before shaking his head. “You care about everyone—it’s one of the reasons I love you.” He placed a hot kiss on his mate’s lips.

Talan’s lion curled up and purred inside him.

Feeling the vibration, Adrian laughed.

“I know I’m being an idiot but sometimes my cat needs reassurance.” He gave Adrian his most appealing look, the one that had always got him the pretty boys in bars, back when that’s how he chose his companionship for the evening.

“Just your cat?”

Talan’s lips curled into a rueful smile. “That’s all I’m admitting to.” www.total-e-bound.com

TALAN’S TREASURE

Amber Kell

10

The look in Adrian’s eyes showed he saw no deficiencies in Talan. Only adoration filled his gaze as he met Talan’s searching expression. “That’s why we need to get away for a bit, to remind you why I love you so much.”

“You can remind me in a more direct manner.” Talan leered.

“I plan to.” Adrian’s smile promised all manner of wicked things.

Sliding down Talan’s body, Adrian kissed his way from Talan’s chest to his belly. He slid his cheek across Talan’s stomach, slathering him with his scent. Talan let out a long sigh.

Nothing felt better than attention from his mate. Even something as mild as Adrian taking his hand while they walked down the street made his heart thump faster.

Adrian nipped Talan’s hip, making him buck from the sensation.

“Stop teasing,” Talan growled.

“I like to tease.” Adrian flashed him a toothy smile, his eyes lit with joy.

Talan couldn’t resist his serious wolf in a playful mood. Another gentle bite sent a firestorm of need through Talan. He let out a gasp as his lover’s sharp teeth sent goosebumps of desire over his skin.

“Adrian,” he whispered, too overcome with love and lust to push more sound out of his throat. His body melted beneath his lover’s ministrations.

Talan’s claws pushed through his flesh. He tried to get hold of something to settle him, anything that would ground him to reality, anything other than his lover. He’d rip out his own claws before he harmed Adrian.

“Suck me!” he demanded, trying to cling to his tenuous control.

“Patience, love,” Adrian murmured, lapping at Talan’s skin. The ‘love’ made his cock even harder.

“Now!” How could his wolf even think Talan would be patient with that sexy mouth anywhere near his man parts?

A soft chuckle had him opening his eyes. He hadn’t even realised he’d closed them.

A mischievous smile crossed Adrian’s face and his green eyes sparkled up at Talan.

“The more you fight, the longer it takes,” he teased.

Talan roared at his lover’s gentle taunt—a full lion sound he knew they’d hear throughout the rest of the house. His damned wolf appeared unfazed by the noise.

www.total-e-bound.com

TALAN’S TREASURE

Amber Kell

11

“I love it when you get all snarly.” Adrian grinned. “But if you shred another mattress, Tia said she’d have my head.”

“My sister can’t have your head. Every part of you is mine.” He loved Tia, but if she so much as mussed Adrian’s hair, he’d kick her ass.

“Hmmm, my knight,” Adrian growled right before he deep-throated Talan and took away his ability to think.

“Oh my fucking God.” Talan screamed as Adrian’s warm, wet, wonderful mouth consumed every inch of him. A few swallows later and Talan came down Adrian’s throat, spurting with disturbing speed. He’d hoped to last longer but he should’ve realised he couldn’t hold back against his mate.

Blinking to clear the spots dancing before his eyes, Talan’s lips formed a sloppy smile.

“You get better at that every time.”

Adrian licked his puffy lips. “It’s because you let me have so much practice.”

“I do what I can to help you become the best blow-job-giver in the world. Unfortunately you’ll have to remain the unchallenged champion because you’re only allowed to practice on me.”

The low animal growl alerted him that the other man wasn’t playing along before the wolf shifter said, “And you’d best only receive them from me.” Talan raised his hands defensively. “Absolutely. Now, come cuddle so I can recover and fuck you into the mattress.”

Adrian snorted. “And I was worried the romance was dead.” Talan pulled Adrian into his arms. “Never. Now tell me about our getaway.”

* * * *

Snow crunched beneath the truck tyres as Talan brought the vehicle to a stop outside the rustic cabin.

“We made it,” Adrian said with a sigh of relief. His white-knuckled grip on the door handle spoke volumes about his fear. Those last few miles had consisted of mostly sliding across the icy roads and avoiding the deep ravines on either side.

www.total-e-bound.com

TALAN’S TREASURE

Amber Kell

12

Talan flashed Adrian a quick grin, hiding his own churning stomach. He wouldn’t admit it, even under threat of violence, but for a moment or two he’d thought they might visit the bottom of a cliff as the vehicle skittered back and forth. Even the chains didn’t always prevent them from moving while the brakes were engaged.

“Yeah, safe and sound.” Talan cupped Adrian’s face with his right hand and pried his fingers off the door with his left. He carefully massaged the cramped hand. “You’re all right now. We won’t go anywhere until the ice melts some.” Adrian cleared his throat and flashed him a guilty look. “Yeah about that. I saw a weather report on my phone. It looks like we might have snow throughout the weekend. But, on the bright side, between storms the skiing should be great.” Talan pushed away his concern and hoped Adrian didn’t scent his fear. The idea of becoming stranded in the snow and unable to get back home terrified him. He’d rather be set on fire than freeze to death. “But the cabin is fully stocked, right?” Adrian nodded. “It even has a generator so if we lose power we’ll still be fine. All we have to do is check in with the caretaker and be on our way.” He nodded towards the cabin they’d parked in front of. On the way over, Adrian had explained that a distant cousin lived on the property year round to make sure the buildings stayed in ready condition for pack visits.

Despite his innate fear of being snowed in, the image of him and Adrian in a cosy cabin appealed to Talan. No pride, no pack, no problems…just him and Adrian. He couldn’t think of a better way to spend his time.

“Sounds great.” Talan nodded his approval to the plan, pleased when Adrian shot him a relieved smile. Apparently Adrian had worried about how Talan would take the news of their potential isolation.

“Good, come on,” Adrian said, already sliding out of the truck.

Talan scrambled to follow him without falling on his ass. His lighter mate danced across the icy stairs with little signs of struggle while Talan had to grab at the wooden handrail to prevent a tumble, which would be a graceless move for a lion shifter. He saw Adrian hide his grin.

“I saw that,” Talan grumbled.

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TALAN’S TREASURE

Amber Kell

13

“Sorry, love.” Adrian flashed him a wide smile and held out a hand to make sure Talan made it the rest of the way safely.

Talan took Adrian’s hand but only clasped it. They didn’t often have time for the simple things like handholding. This was nice.

Smiling at their joined hands, Adrian knocked on the door.

They waited for a bit. Talan shuffled his feet in the cold. When Adrian shivered for the third time, he banged again.

“Maybe he went to do some errands.”

Talan shook his head. “You said he was expecting us.” Adrian shrugged. “Maybe something came up.”

“I’m not going anywhere until we talk to the caretaker. I don’t want him to think we’re intruding and shoot us or something.” Talan awkwardly reached for the knob with his left hand, surprised when it turned in his grip. His nose twitched as a metallic smell reached him. “I smell blood. We have to go in and see if he’s okay,” Talan rationalised. Besides, if they stayed out in the frigid temperature much longer, his nuts would freeze off and ruin the purpose of this little mini-vacation.

Adrian nodded his agreement. “He wouldn’t mind. Darren is the friendly sort—he just doesn’t like to be around people all the time, which is why this is the perfect job for him.” Talan pushed the door open, reluctant to release Adrian’s hand.

A gasp from Adrian was the only response to the sight that greeted them. Talan’s heart slammed against his chest. They didn’t speak for several moments as they stared at the man on the floor. A large knife protruded from the man’s back and a puddle of blood pooled around the body. No hint of movement from the man, no breathing. The scent of death overpowered Talan’s animal senses. He wrapped an arm around his mate and gently pulled him back away from the door, turned him around and walked him back down the steps.

“Please tell me you signed up for some sort of mystery cabin event,” Talan whispered, looking over his shoulder at the cabin’s entrance.

“Nope. That was my cousin, Darren.” Adrian’s soft voice barely pushed the air out of his lungs.

If Talan didn’t have superior hearing, he would’ve missed the response. Holding Adrian close, Talan looked carefully across the white landscape, but the new snow, while www.total-e-bound.com

TALAN’S TREASURE

Amber Kell

14

pretty, erased any tracks that might have been there before. All he saw were the ones made by him and Adrian.

He cuddled Adrian close. “Are you okay?” He didn’t know the dead man so saved all his concern for his mate.

Adrian nodded but his gaze had an unfocused look. “We should call somebody.” Talan squeezed Adrian in a quick embrace. “How about you call your brother and I call the police?”

“Be careful, Sheriff Bob doesn’t like shifters.” Talan snorted. “Sheriff Bob? Seriously?”

Adrian nodded, his face as pale as the snow. “Laugh all you want but he tried to arrest Kade once for disturbing the peace when all he did was walk through town with a few of the pack. The man hates us.”

“I’ll be careful.” The phone was picked up on the other end and Talan conveyed the situation to the dispatcher, all the while listening in on his mate’s conversation.

“No, I’m not rushing home,” Adrian growled. “I’m here with Talan and we’ll be fine.

I’m not giving up the first vacation in forever because of some psycho-killer asshole.” Adrian argued with his brother some more before hanging up without saying goodbye.

Talan frowned at him. “Can he order you back home because he’s your wolf Alpha?” It never occurred to him before that Adrian had split loyalties even though, other than running under the moon with the pack and visiting his brother, Adrian didn’t meet with the wolves very often.

Adrian shook his head. “Kade lost control over me once I mated outside the pack.” He let out a long sigh. “But he can still strongly suggest as my brother and head of the family that I return. It’s not above him to use my future niece or nephew either.” Talan waved his phone. “The police are on their way.” Adrian shivered. Talan didn’t think the cold caused his shivers as much as the dead body, but he pretended otherwise. “Come on love, let’s wait in the Hummer. I can turn it on and jack up the heat. I don’t want you freezing your ass off, and we shouldn’t mess up the murder scene.”

Not giving Adrian a chance to comment about unnecessarily polluting the environment, Talan dragged the other man off.

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TALAN’S TREASURE

Amber Kell

15

As soon as they were tucked inside the vehicle, Talan blasted the heater up until Adrian looked less in shock and more his usual colour, if not a little on the hot and sweaty side.

They sat in silence for a while, each man buried in his own thoughts.

“Who do you think killed him?” Adrian asked, breaking the silence.

Talan shrugged. “I have no idea. It could be anyone. He didn’t look like he’d been dead long.”

Adrian shook his head. “No, I talked to him only a few hours ago and told him when we’d be here. We might have just missed the killer.” A chill went through Talan that had nothing to do with the cold. The idea of a killer coming into contact with his mate made his lion growl protectively and his human half clutch the steering wheel in relief that they hadn’t arrived earlier in the day.

“Maybe the cops can tell us something. Dispatch said they’d send someone right over. I guess they don’t get a lot of murders here.”

“It’s a tourist town. Most people come to have fun,” Adrian said. His voice lacked its usual vivacity and his eyes were dull with sorrow.

“Hey.” Talan stroked Adrian’s head. “It’s not your fault he died.”

“I know.” His eyes remained troubled even as he nodded in agreement. “I know intellectually it isn’t my fault, but the wolf pack has owned this property for years and we’ve never had any problems before. I wanted this to be a romantic getaway and now I’ll never get the blood out of my mind. I wasn’t real close to Darren but he was a nice guy and never gave me any crap about being gay.”

“Did the other wolves?”

Adrian shrugged. “Before Kade became Alpha, I would occasionally get snide remarks or comments. That faded when he seriously injured the first guy and banished the second.” Talan nudged Adrian. “I’ve seen you in action. Why didn’t you take them out yourself?”

“I’m sort of an all or nothing kind of guy and didn’t want to kill anyone. And besides, you know how protective my brother is.”

Talan gave him a wide smile. “I love your brother’s protective streak. It’s what brought me you. If he hadn’t been so worried about that pack member attacking you, I’d never have been able to convince him to give you to me.”

www.total-e-bound.com

TALAN’S TREASURE

Amber Kell

16

A bit of tension eased out of Adrian’s shoulders. “I didn’t really appreciate it at the time,” he admitted. “But it did turn out well in the end.” Talan leaned over and kissed Adrian lightly. He had all kinds of ideas about how to distract his mate. “Which cabin were we supposed to use?” Adrian smiled but Talan could see it was an effort.