STORY EXCERPT

Doyle punched his good friend and lover, Louis, in the arm, nodding toward the café. “We missed him again,” he said, sighing.

“Dammit!” Louis said. “That man is always leaving somewhere when we’re just arriving.”

“Why don’t we follow him, see if we can at least say hi?” Doyle suggested.

Louis nodded. “Good idea.” They had to hustle, since Cullen was already out of sight. “Geez, he’s eager to get somewhere,” Louis said breathlessly.

They saw the cinema multiplex coming into view, situated within a mini mall which had a bowling alley, games arcade, plus a trampolining center, and a tiny critters activities center. Cullen was scurrying for the cinema. They high-fived.

“Perfect.” Doyle grinned.

They followed, practically running when Cullen disappeared through the doors.

“Which movie did that last guy buy a ticket for?” Louis asked as they reached the ticket booth.

“Hey, guys,” Olivia, one of John’s brood, greeted them. “Which guy?”

“Cullen,” they both said together.

She grinned, tapping a finger to her lips, then hit the screen in front of her. “Here you go, boys,” she said, her blue eyes twinkling merrily behind her glasses. “Cinema 2.”

They nodded and rushed in that direction, entering the darkened auditorium. “There we are,” Louis whispered, then he exchanged a shocked glance with his brother in arms. “Geezus, the entire mini critter community is here tonight.”

Doyle groaned. “What movie are we seeing?” he asked.

“Lego Batman,” Louis moaned. “Is this really the movie Cullen’s gone to see?”

Doyle nodded, jerking his chin. “He’s up there,” he said. They both looked at the back row, where Cullen was seated with Kathleen, Sherman, Chaz, and their tribe, plus John and Cameron’s kids, Murphy and Aiden’s children, and about a dozen more. Two newcomers, Dorothy and Arthur Fielding, were also sitting with the group, looking settled and happy after their recent move from England.

“We’re over that side,” Louis said, pointing to the back right. Groaning again, they trooped up the stairs to their seats, cramming into them like sardines.

“I can’t see,” a little voice complained behind them, and they twisted around, towering over the kids behind, despite being seated.

“Sorry,” Doyle said, glancing at them.

“Why don’t you swap places?” their mom, Jayne, said sweetly, smiling at the bear shifters, looking amused. Jayne was John Hasting’s sister and a snow leopard shifter.

“Er, we might squash you,” Louis said, wincing.

She waggled her brows. “Just swap, guys, the movie’s about to start.”

Doyle got up and lifted both kids into his arms, who squealed with laughter at being so high up. Stepping up a row, he swiveled, placing the children in the seat in front, as Louis managed to leap up, as well. Fortunately they were by the wall so there was nobody on the other side.

“Thanks,” Doyle whispered as the lights went down.

Jayne laughed, patting his arm. “You do know this is Lego Batman, don’t you?”

He nodded. “We do now,” he sighed.

She grinned, hooking her arm through his. “Enjoy,” she said, winking, and handed him her extra-large tub of popcorn. “By the time it ends, trust me, you’ll need a crane to lift you out of those seats. They’re not built for super-sized bear shifters like you two.”

He rolled his eyes, but laughed, as well. “That’s why we bought a surround-sound home-cinema system. Saves us having to cram ourselves into tiny tots seats like these.”

“Ssshhh,” hissed the kids in front. Ducking down, he tried to stay quiet, hearing a quiet chuckle from Jayne.

* * * *

Cullen stared in amazement as Doyle and Louis entered the movie theater, looking around in horror as they viewed the mass of kids. He grinned to himself, seeing their resignation, then the trudge to their seats on the opposite side.

Freddy, sitting beside him, nudged his arm and began singing the tune to Love Boat.

“Told you they were smitten,” Freddy drawled in his ear.

“They’re not here because I am,” Cullen retorted, blushing despite himself.

“They bought a state-of-the-art system for their house, a few weeks ago, because they hate being squashed up like that,” Sherman drawled on the other side. “Trust me, Freddy’s right. Those boys are here for you.”

Cullen flushed bright red at their knowing smiles and couldn’t help but look across the theater at the huge bear shifters. He giggled suddenly, seeing them swapping with Jayne’s two cuties, swinging the little ones into the air, then easing them gently down again. Those guys were so great with kids, it was amusing to see their horror when confronted by so many in one place.

He locked gazes with Doyle, who smiled shyly, waving. He nodded awkwardly, wrenching his gaze away, but within seconds, he couldn’t help his gaze roving that way again, like a homing beacon. Louis was staring intently at him, looking at Cullen with a wistful yearning that tugged at Cullen’s heart. He had wished for that sort of a look from Ghost, once, but it had never happened. To have these two big, strapping bears gazing at him with such longing, almost adoration, was a balm to his soul.

“Why don’t you ask them out?” Freddy suggested.

“Both of them?” Cullen hissed.

“Bear shifters like to share,” Sherman said, waggling his brows.

Cullen’s flush deepened, and his mind rushed to thoughts of being sandwiched between the two in bed, as they tag-teamed plowing his ass. His cock rocketed to life, telling him his libido was out of limbo finally.

“I didn’t know they liked me that much,” he said lamely.

Freddy laughed hysterically, elbowing him. “Are you kidding?” he snorted. “Those boys have done everything but moon at you for attention. Why do you think they’ve been spending so much time at the mall, taking the same shifts you have?”

ADULT EXCERPT

Cullen cuddled with his bears, propped up in the big bed in his apartment, feeding them ice cream and kisses. He knew there were things to be done, people to check on, but right now he needed to be with his lovers. His mates. Nothing else mattered for today. He’d lost too many people, friends and family members. And he’d come so close to losing these two gorgeous men.

“Hmmm, that’s good,” Doyle said, slurping up a spoonful of B & J’s Cookie Dough confection. Cullen smiled, leaning in and kissing his lover, sharing the icy treat from his lover’s mouth.

“Me next,” Louis protested, stroking Cullen’s back gently. “Although, in that position, I’m thinking we need to heat things up a bit.”

Cullen groaned when the big bear licked a trail along Cullen’s spine, then parted his cheeks and lapped at his crease.

“Here, baby, sit on this,” Doyle told him, lifting him so he lay sprawled along Doyle’s hairy body. They kissed again, hungry, their cocks thickening with anticipation.

Cullen yelped as a cold dollop of ice cream landed on his ass, then moaned softly, feeling the scorching touch of Louis’s tongue lapping up the mess, ensuring none was missed, paying particular attention to his hole. He lifted his butt enticingly and groaned again when Louis accepted the invitation, parting his cheeks then delving between, probing delicately at Cullen’s needy rosebud.

“So gorgeous,” Doyle grunted approvingly. “You’re everything,” he whispered.

“I nearly lost you,” Cullen whimpered, clutching at his hairy bear, writhing against him urgently, peppering kisses over his lover’s whiskered jaw. “Don’t run off like that again. Please. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to either of you.”

“I won’t, baby,” Doyle promised. “I just…it was too much. Seeing the coffin, and the grave. Who would do that to someone like Humdrum?”

After the events of the day, Cullen had almost forgotten the reason that Doyle had been in danger. He promised himself he would find out what happened to Humdrum. So far, there was no conclusive evidence, except that he had been strangled, probably hanged, but the location was unknown. Someone, somewhere must know something. Cullen kept returning to a possible suicide, but why? Humdrum had been hopeful and looking to the future. That didn’t seem the state of mind of someone wanting to die. Humdrum would want to stay around to help Mystery and their friends, Chill and Bone.

A slick finger sank knuckle-deep into his butt, and he forgot about everything else but making love to his mates. Arching his back, he closed his eyes, enjoying the burn as his ass stretched to accommodate Louis’s thick digit, then yelped a little when a second joined the first. Louis was not a small man. Anywhere.

“There we go, sweetness,” Louis murmured. “Doyle, why don’t you get ready, honey. I want us to go off together. With Cullen balls-deep in your ass, while I fuck you both.”

Cullen whimpered, licking his lips as he heard the snick of a tube of lube opening, then the slick smear of gel along his crease. Doyle lifted his legs, widening his stance, and grabbed the lube, then shoved two fingers inside his own hole, groaning as he stretched himself. Cullen knelt between his thick thighs, mesmerized by the display. He nibbled a path along Doyle’s thigh, then leaned down, sampling his huge cock. A moment later he cried out as a thick prong speared his ass, taking his breath away.

“Oh my,” he growled, shoving back against his lover, urging him deeper.

“So fucking tight,” Louis muttered, wrapping his thick forearm around Cullen’s chest and dragging him backward, thrusting with short, shallow little fucks, until he was fully impaled. Cullen turned his head, mouth open, begging for a kiss, and found himself ravaged by a hungry bear. Fucking upward, Louis drove Cullen insane, hitting his gland with each stroke.

“Louis!” Cullen whined, bouncing with each hard thrust. His ass was on fire, stretched to the max, and he loved it all. Pain became pleasure, the burning replaced by scorching ecstasy.

“Me, too,” Doyle said, breathing hard as he watched the sex show.

Louis held on to Cullen, an arm around his waist, and positioned him, still embedded. Kneeling between Doyle’s legs, parked at the man’s stretched entrance, Cullen gasped as Louis thrust hard, shoving Cullen forward, forcing him two inches inside Doyle’s slick chute. A second thrust, which Cullen helped along with a snap of his hips, and he was halfway there.

“Here’s the clincher,” Louis chuckled hoarsely, and delivered the hat trick, driving Cullen into the hilt. On hands and knees, his butt speared by Louis’s cock, his own deep inside Doyle, Cullen knew he’d found heaven. He was surrounded by heat, his back blanketed by Louis’s warmth, and his dick enveloped within Doyle’s snug walls.

“I love you,” Cullen whispered, turning his head again to kiss Louis, who gave a low growl and took Cullen’s lips with a tenderness that shook Cullen to the core.

“I love you, too, little fox,” Louis murmured, kissing him again and again as he began to move his hips, making love to both men, his thrusts slow and deep as he and Cullen and Doyle danced together.

Cullen dipped lower, taking Doyle’s mouth hungrily, hearing the man’s low sob as they kissed. “I love you,” he said, stroking Doyle’s cock gently. “So much. I didn’t realize, until I thought I’d lost you, that I’d destroy heaven and hell to keep you with me.”