Valentino's Cowboy [Brac Village 10] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (3 page)

“Oh, come now,” Valentino said with a devastatingly handsome smile. “You’re not afraid to kiss me are you?”

Abe opened his mouth and the strangest noise passed his lips. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he could feel his face burning with embarrassment. The noise was almost like a squeak and a burp combined.

Valentino’s head jerked back as his eyebrows flew up. “I’m not sure if that was a yes or a no.”

Abe was completely and utterly horrified. He had to get away! He could hear the twins laughing behind him and his mate was staring at him as if Abe was a cute little dimwit. He did the only thing he could think of…Abe shimmered out.

He groaned when he found himself in a closet. Abe had always sucked at shimmering. It didn’t matter how much he had practiced, he never ended up where he intended to go. And now he had no clue where he was at.

When he heard heavy footsteps outside the closet, Abe held his breath. There was no telling whose closet he was in. The scent of mothballs filled his nose as he watched the shadow move back and forth under the crack of the door.

“And why should I wait?” someone with a deep and raspy voice asked. “The world should know that these vile creatures prey on innocent human beings. We could save lives if the human race were aware of the dangers all around them. Lester Berkeley already fled. I have men looking for him, but I have a feeling he won’t be so easily found.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” the second man said. “But if the paranormal creatures’ existence is revealed to the world then you would no longer hold your power as the head Vampire Hunter. Every yahoo with a gun and half a brain cell will go hunting. The order and discipline of our men who we have worked hard to achieve will fall to the wayside.”

“How so?” the first man asked.

“Our teams are structured and organized. They not only kill anything not human, but they gather intel. If the public finds out those abominations exist, then the vampires and other paranormal creatures will go into hiding, making our job that much harder,” the second man argued. “Our fight must remain in the dark or you will lose your seat of power.”

“Or,” the first man countered. “Those abominations against nature will be wiped out that much quicker. I already sent a team of spies into Brac Village. I’m gaining more intel than I could have ever hoped to gain just chasing them down.”

Abe broke out into a sweat as he listened. His heart was beating so fast that he could hear the blood rushing in his ears. He didn’t know who these men were but knew that they were arguing about exposing the paranormal world.

He needed to get home and tell Ahm what he had heard. The Shadow elf was part of the
Ultionem
—seven paranormal creatures who held a great deal of power—and would know what to do. Abe just prayed like hell that he didn’t shimmer himself into the room beyond the closet.

Abe had relayed what he had heard to Ahm. He hadn’t gotten a look at any faces and never caught a name, but the Shadow elf seemed to know who he was talking about. That made one of them.

“You never heard who won the argument?” Ahm asked as he placed his daughter, Ashayla, over his shoulder and patted her back. “They didn’t say whether they were going to expose us or not?”

Abe shook his head, still amazed how much Ahm had mellowed out and how much he hadn’t. When it came to family, the Shadow elf seemed to have infinite patience—everyone else was just out of luck. Thank goodness the elf viewed Abe as family. “They were still arguing when I shimmered out of there. One of them had come too close to the closet and I panicked.”

Unfortunately, Abe had shimmered into the apartment above the diner and had to call for a ride home. He was grateful that Bryce had come and picked him up. Abe didn’t want to see Chauncey or Chance right now.

“No,” Ahm said as he bounced the baby gently. “You did the right thing. Thank you for letting me know right away. I’ll handle it from here.”

Abe had no problem with that. As long as he didn’t have to face the full
Ultionem
council, he was happy. He could go back to his problem of worrying about Valentino. His mate was gone by the time Abe had returned. Since he knew the man was the town vet, Abe knew where to find him.

He just didn’t want to find him right now until he worked out why his brain took a vacation when the man was near. That had never happened before, but then again Abe had never been serious about his flirting.

“Abe,” Gavin called out. “You have a phone call.”

Who in the dickens would be calling him? Abe had been disowned by his tribe, didn’t have any friends aside from the men on the Lakeland ranch, and he had no family. The men on the ranch were nice and Abe got along with pretty much everybody, but as far as having a buddy, Bryce was the closest thing to a friend.

Curious, Abe walked into the kitchen and grabbed the phone off the counter. “Hello?”

“Would you care to join me for dinner?” Valentino’s voice was light and teasing, making Abe ache low in his groin. No one had ever affected him that way. He was standing in the middle of the kitchen with an erection. Abe hoped like hell no one walked in right now.

“Do you plan on taking me to a restaurant or having me as the main course?” Abe’s confidence was back and he wanted to pump his arm in the air. Maybe it was the initial shock of finding his mate. That had to be it.

“Both, my little cowboy,” Valentino purred into the phone. “Although you won’t be the main course. I plan on gobbling you up for my dessert.”

If Valentino kept talking that way, Abe just might have to run upstairs and jack off. There was a high probability that he would. Hearing the naughty words in that sultry tone and picturing his mate naked was a combination that was threatening to unravel him.

It was becoming difficult to stand here in the kitchen and hold a conversation while his cock was hard. He kept one arm crossed over his chest while the other one held the phone to his ear. Abe refused to get caught touching himself in the kitchen.

“Does six sound good to you?” Valentino asked.

“Sounds perfect,” Abe replied. “But you’ll have to pick me up since I don’t have a car.”

Valentino gave a low chuckle. “I can see why you wouldn’t need one. Just don’t pop out on me again.”

Abe did not want to think about his earlier embarrassment. He wanted to put it behind him and forget that he had made an ass of himself. He knew that wasn’t going to happen once he saw the twins, but at least for now he could forget about it. “See you at six.”

Hanging the phone up, Abe hurried toward the steps. He had an erection to take care of and a date to get ready for. Was it a date if Valentino was his mate? Oh, who cared. He was going to see his mate again and that was all that mattered.

“Not so fast,” Pa said as he walked inside. “Gavin and Winter need your help.”

Could his timing be any more off? Abe was so hard that it was almost painful and Pa was trying to send him outside to work? Was this some kind of cosmic joke? “I have to get ready for my date.”

Pa threw his arm over the railing as he gave Abe a wide smile. “Riley told me that you found your mate. Congratulations, Abe. Dr. Prayze seems like a mighty nice fella. What time is your date?”

Abe was having an extremely hard time listening to the man. All the blood in his brain had moved south. The only thing firing in his brain right now was “upstairs,” “bedroom,” and “jack off.” That was it.

“Abe,” Pa said his name a little more loudly.

“Six,” he managed to push out past his lips.

“That’s plenty of time to help and still get ready,” Pa said as he pointed toward the door. “Now go help them out.”

Abe gaped at the bear as he walked away. Was the man freaking serious? Not wanting to make the large bear shifter mad, Abe stormed from the house. He had seen Pa angry before and didn’t want the man pointing that anger toward him.

But this was so unfair!

“Over here,” Gavin shouted when Abe began to glance around. He spotted the bear on the side of the barn, Winter standing next to him. Abe hoped that this didn’t take long. He liked having extra time to pamper himself. There was nothing worse than rushing to get ready.

He still needed to figure out what he was going to wear. It would have helped if Valentino had told him where they were going.

“I need someone with small enough hands to grab the cylinder when I lift the housing.”

Abe had no clue what Gavin just said. The bear had just spoken a foreign language to him. Mechanics was not Abe’s specialty. But he would try just like he always did around the ranch.

If Abe had to be shunned by his own people, living on the Lakeland ranch wasn’t a bad deal. Abe had grown up with the Wood elves but never truly felt as though he fit in. Shanta had ruled them with an iron hand and Abe had tried his best to stay under the radar and out of the leader’s way.

But then Shanta was killed and Abe had betrayed his tribe by helping Malcolm and Chauncey. He had come here with a traitor named Garrett. Luke didn’t like Abe much in the beginning, but they soon got along.

This wasn’t a bad place to live. The Lakelands were kind and had big hearts, but it wasn’t Abe’s home. He was just living here and helping out.

“Okay, on the count of three,” Gavin said.

“Right after you say three, or when you say the word three?” Abe asked. “I just want to be clear.”

Gavin let out an aggravated sigh. The men seemed to do that a lot around him. “Just grab the cylinder when I lift the housing, Abe.”

Abe dried the sweat from his hands on his pants before he gave Gavin a nod. “I’m ready when you are.” He had no idea what the thing was that he was standing in front of, but it was pretty big. Both Gavin and Winter braced their feet to lift the thing. With hefty grunts, they began to raise the heavy-looking metal.

“Now, Abe,” Gavin said with a strain. “Just reach a hand in and grab the long round piece of metal and pull it out.”

Abe reached his right hand in and began to panic when he felt more than one long round piece of metal. “Which one?” he quickly asked as both men grunted, their muscles straining. He didn’t want to grab the wrong thing.

“On the left,” Gavin said through gritted teeth. “Grab the cylinder on the left.”

Using the word
cylinder
did not help Abe. The only thing he saw was a bunch of metal parts. He grabbed the one on the left and pulled, but it didn’t budge. He yanked again, trying to hurry because the strain on the men was growing in their features.

“I’m losing my grip,” Winter warned as the veins in his neck strained. “Get your hand out, Abe.”

“We need that part, Winter,” Gavin argued and then directed his next words at Abe. “Rock the cylinder to see if you can loosen it.”

Abe shoved his hand back and forth a few times, feeling the part start to loosen. He was trying his best to get a tight grip, but oil was all over everything. His fingers kept slipping.

“Get your arm out now!” Winter shouted right before he lost his grip.

Abe yanked his arm back as the heavy piece of metal came slamming down. But he wasn’t quick enough. The piece of equipment caught his hand, making Abe scream as if his very insides were being torn apart.

“Get it up! Get it up!” Gavin was shouting. Abe had never experienced this level of pain before. It felt as if his whole left arm was being ripped from the socket. Men raced toward them and helped to lift the metal off of Abe’s hand.

As soon as he was free, Abe fell to the ground, writhing and screaming.

“Get a fucking doctor!” Gavin shouted. Abe wasn’t sure who the man was talking to. He began to swim in and out of consciousness as his arm began to go numb. He knew that was a bad sign but was grateful when the pain began ebb.

“Hang in there, Abe,” Gavin said as he pulled Abe from the ground and raced toward the house. He could hear a flurry of action all around him, but Abe was past focusing. All he wanted to do was pass out until the pain was completely gone.

“Put him on the couch,” Pa said as he rushed toward them. “Get me something to rest his hand on.”

Abe arched his back, a silent scream falling from his lips when someone touched his injury. His head began to swim and the pain came back full force, making Abe try to rake his arm off with his other hand. “It hurts!”

Luke must have shimmered, because Dr. Sheehan was soon standing in his line of sight. He could see the horror in the doctor’s eyes as he grabbed a syringe from his bag and began to inject a series of shots into Abe’s arm and hand. But Abe couldn’t feel the needle entering his skin.

“I–I have a d–date,” Abe said as his teeth began to chatter. The last thing he wanted was for Valentino to think that Abe had stood him up. “Please make the pain stop. Take it away!”

“Someone get a hold of his mate,” Pa shouted as he began to pile blankets onto Abe. “He’s the vet.”

Abe shoved his feet into the end of the couch, trying his best to cope with the agonizing pain that was radiating throughout his body now. He could feel the tears sliding from his eyes as he clamped his jaw closed, breathing out through his nose. Spittle was flying from his mouth as he exhaled, wishing the horrific pain would blow away with his breath.