A Panther's Bite

STORY EXCERPT

Dalton McCall set the bottle of tea he was nursing back on the table in the quiet bar and grill of the Cast Iron Club. Seated with him were two of the senior members of the panther pride Haven Claw and its leader. The grim-faced men were gathered to discuss the anomaly occurring in their pride. In only the last three weeks two pride mates had been killed and they had no answers as they continued to work on the revitalization project that seemed to have sparked the murders.

“The humans haven’t come up with any answers,” Dalton said quietly. “And I doubt they truly give a damn about men being killed in the Cactus District in spite of the sudden interest in our project.”

The Cactus District was only one of three areas left in Peyton that the panthers hadn’t claimed as their territory until recently. Their decision to do so had been sparked by the fact that some of their pack members worked and chose to live in the neighborhood rather than in pride-run gated communities. Some of them, including himself, owned businesses here. Securing the neighborhood as well as finding the killer was even more important since one death was a random occurrence but two in the same area was a pattern.

“I agree,” Valentine Voss, their pride leader, said. Voss owned the construction company handling all of the revitalization projects in the Cactus District. “But we have to work in conjunction with the mortal police as you well know.”

He gave his pride leader an impatient grunt. They’d engaged a private detective, a panther, to look into the murders. “Well, what has Lawry found out?” He didn’t think they were taking a hard enough line, but his pride leader wouldn’t be swayed by a senior enforcer’s impatience. That’s why Voss was the leader and not him.

“Both Larry and Russ met with someone from a shadow company called Hoof a week before they were killed,” Voss said, his voice vibrating with tension. “The company wanted to buy their properties, but both men said no. I’ve talked to Terry, and he said he’s also been approached along with Russ’s daughter and wife.”

“The computer plays a part in pride security, but surely Hoof isn’t looking to break into pride homes. So, they might be interested in compromising our security for some reason,” Collen said with a deep frown.

“That might well be the case since the bookstore was just a bookstore and office for Larry’s part-time genealogy business,” Dalton said quietly.

“We need to beef up security since we’ve taken the district over,” Collen said. “We have to keep our people safe.”

“We need someone on each, on Peta and Terry at all times,” Dalton said. “Until we can ascertain exactly what Hoof’s endgame is.”

“I’m moving enforcers in tomorrow,” Voss told them. “The enforcer station was finished this evening. I’ll have it manned by six panthers at all times. Four of them will be actively running patrols in the neighborhood day and night.”

“You should beef up security here too,” Collen told Marcel Mendes, the mocha-skinned man who owned Cast Iron.

“I’ll get on it first thing in the morning,” Mendes agreed with a sharp nod. “Dalton you need to keep an eye on Terry.”

“I’ll contact him first thing in the morning,” Dalton murmured as his gaze fell on a five-foot-eleven-inch-tall man striding toward the bar with a male of the same height. He watched him take a seat, and turn to face his companion. Dalton liked the classic boy-next-door-good looks and his chocolate skin. Man and panther wanted to lick him up and play with his long black hair, which hung past his shoulders in black dreadlocks. “Does Lawry have any clue who owns Hoof?”

“Nothing is popping on Hoof,” Voss answered in an irritated tone.

“We could get Peta to run an in-depth computer search on them,” Collen said. “I’ll talk to her about it.”

“Probably a dummy company of some kind,” Dalton murmured. He throttled a purr that threatened to erupt as Keenan turned around and their eyes met. The boy was his mate, and he’d figured that out three months ago when he first met Keenan in the club.

He hadn’t done anything more than dance a few dances with him. He was going too slowly for the panther who craved its mate with a hunger that grew more vicious each day. However, there was just too much risk of Keenan rejecting him if he didn’t ease him into a relationship.

“It damn sure isn’t a real estate company or Dawg and I would recognize the name,” Collen told them.

Voss sighed deeply. “We’ll find them, but if this is just a few homophobes banded together to make trouble, then the PR campaign will smooth some things over with the city. And we’ll make damn sure they pay for Larry and Russ’s deaths.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Dalton worked Keenan’s belt open as he kissed his neck. “I want to touch you.” He unfastened his pants and dragged the zipper down its track before pushing his hand down inside them to cup his ass. Dalton worked his hips in erotic circles grinding against Keenan.

Keenan let out a sizzling curse. He caught his lip between his teeth. It was going to be so damn good when Dalton did take him. “Sir, you feel good grinding against me. I can’t wait to get you inside me.”

Dalton lifted his head and looked down into Keenan’s eyes. “You’ll have to, darlin’,” he murmured as he pushed his hand down inside Keenan’s briefs to capture his swollen cock. “I don’t want the first time to be up against the door.”

IHe didn’t sound in any hurry to get in his pants, but it was obvious he wanted him. Maybe he should push him, force him to show a few of his cards. If they had sex tonight at least they’d have it out of their systems. At least, they’d be able to work without distractions.

Dalton worked his thumb over the tip of Keenan’s cock and swiped the drop of pre-cum and used it to ease the friction. Dalton gave his cock a slap. Keenan gasped. Dalton gave his cock a harder tap.

“Oh, yeah.” He licked his lips. Dalton’s hands were warm and callused, exciting him even further. “I like that.” He scraped his fingers over the back of Dalton’s neck. His hips pumped.

“I can’t wait to get you in my mouth,” Dalton murmured. “I’m going to suck you dry, sweetheart.”

Keenan grunted as Dalton worked him harder. He loved it. He was getting hotter with each commanding stroke and rough pull. “Kiss me, please, Sir?”

Dalton smiled. “You want my kiss?”

“Yes.” He panted. “Please.”

Dalton brushed his lips over Keenan’s. “The closer you get to coming the sweeter you taste.” He kissed Keenan’s top lip. “But don’t come yet.”

He pumped faster into Dalton’s hand. “Feels so good, it’s driving me crazy.” His eyes closed as heated sensation washed over him. He wasn’t going to last no matter how much he wanted to.

“You’re going to make me punish your cute little ass, aren’t you?” he crooned as he squeezed the base of Keenan’s cock. “I said not yet. Now, be good or I’ll make you turn around and spank you.”

He shivered at the thought. There was nothing sexier than a spanking and after what he’d just gone through a hand on his ass would be a welcome prelude to a hot wet dream tonight. “You’re making me hotter, Dalton.”

“Good,” he crooned as his thumb stroked over the mushroom head of Keenan’s cock. “Get rid of the tie and unbutton the shirt.”

Keenan was in a haze. He didn’t bother to question. He merely reached up and worked his tie free and left it hanging around his neck as he worked the buttons of his shirt free. He grunted as his cock was slapped hard. He didn’t normally enjoy too much cock and ball torture, but tonight it felt too good to call a halt to it.

Dalton blinked and Keenan stilled as he remembered what he was wearing beneath his shirt and pants. Black lace T-shirt with matching briefs. He’d wanted to feel sexy even though there was no one special in his life.

“Shit.”

“I agree,” Dalton murmured. “I had hoped you’d have on nothing beneath. Do the briefs match?”

“Yes.” He averted his gaze and prepared for Dalton’s rejection but he felt a tug on the T-shirt and then heard it rip before Dalton’s lips skimmed over his shoulder.

Dalton licked a path down to his nipple and Keenan marveled at the slight sandpaper roughness of the moist tongue that quickly reignited the flame in his loins. He pushed his fingers into Dalton’s hair and groaned as his tongue curled around his nipple, lashed it. Sharp teeth played over the areola before Dalton sucked the tiny aching point into his mouth.

Keenan panted, his head thrashed against the wall. He whimpered as wave after wave of bliss washed over him like a flood. “Dalton!” The word was a whispered plea for more as desire throbbed inside him.

The sharp pinch of his nipple had him crying out. It felt so good he was losing himself in the sensations.

Dalton turned his attention to the other nipple and laved it before giving it a light slap and then sucking it. Keenan pushed a hand into his hair and tugged the short strands. He heard the soft approving moan as Dalton’s soft lips trailed kisses down to his stomach where his tongue teased Keenan’s navel.

“Yes.” He groaned softly. This would be the only time he allowed his weakness for this man to rule him. His eyes slid closed as Dalton took the head into his hot mouth. Keenan’s hips jerked from the sensual caress of the roughness of Dalton’s tongue.

Dalton closed one hand around the shaft as he sucked Keenan’s cock deeper into his mouth. Keenan looked down at him, watched as his damp flesh slid from Dalton’s lips before vanishing back into his mouth. The sight pushed his arousal higher.

He pumped his hips fucking into Dalton’s mouth. He threw his head back, eyes closed, reveling in the heat and suction. “Fuck, you’re killing me!” He groaned harshly. He clenched his fingers tighter in Dalton’s hair as a ragged moan fell from his lips.

“You taste good, baby,” Dalton murmured then licked down the shaft to the tight balls. He licked over one orb then the other before drawing it into his mouth.

Keenan groaned. “Sir, suck my cock,” he whispered. He was going to go up in flames. “Suck it.”

A Panther's Kiss

STORY EXCERPT

Jamar had to admit the man had the kind of voice that made women wet and men hard. He was no exception, but the man was his boss. He didn’t think getting in bed with boss was a brilliant career move at this stage of the game. “Good evening, sir.”

“How are things going with Anders?”

He shrugged. “As well as can be expected, but for a man with strong political aspirations, he’s still just riding on charisma and his campaign manager makes things difficult at times. It’s as if he’s deliberately trying to sabotage his career.”

Jordan frowned. “Egan seems like a smart man. He has to know that charisma won’t win this election. Anders doesn’t challenge him?”

“Not when I’m around.”

“Is he taking your advice?” Jordan asked as he came to stand right in front of Jamar’s desk as he pushed his hands into his pockets.

“Mostly, but I think he has a problem with me because I’m gay.” He shifted in his chair as his gaze slid unconsciously down his boss’s body. He lingered on his long powerful legs before moving to the bulge between them and back up to the flat stomach.

“Has he been insulting or otherwise behaved in a bigoted manner toward you?” Jordan asked and Jamar jerked his gaze up to meet Jordan’s chocolate brown eyes.

“It’s more a feeling I get because he seems belligerent and at times reluctant to take my advice,” he answered. A thread of guilt ran through him. Jordan was a sexy without a doubt, and he wanted him in a way that was almost unnatural. It scared him so much he hated being alone in a closed room with them man.

“I see,” Jordan said and rocked on his heels. “I’ve considered having Keenan consult with you on this case.”

Keenan, that bastard was going to beat him out for partner. He clenched his fist on his desk. He’d worked so damn hard to be better. Maybe if he played racquetball with the boss and blew him, he’d have been the frontrunner for promotion instead.

“I don’t need Keenan’s help,” he said tightly. “I know how to do this job.”

“But let’s face it, Jamar you aren’t the best at PR,” Jordan said evenly as he moved to look out the window. “Keenan has firmly integrated all of the skills of PR and advertising. You’re better as an ad man.”

Like the other partner, Regent. They were probably divided, that’s why he and his friend and co-worker Keenan were still vying for the position as partner. This account would more than likely be the deciding factor.

“I can do PR,” Jamar said, fighting to keep the disappointment from his tone.

“How’s the shoulder?” Jordan faced him again.

“It’s fine.” He and Jordan had been attacked in the lobby here almost six weeks ago by wildcat and panther shifters. He still had no idea why they had been attacked and was sure he didn’t want to. However, the muscles in his shoulder weren’t back up to par, and he had a nasty scar from the damage the wildcat had done when he’d bitten him. He’d been lucky not to have suffered extensive nerve damage, according to the doctor.

“And the leg?”

A wildcat had bitten into his leg too. It had seemed as if they were fighting over a piece of meat at one point, with the wildcat biting on his shoulder pulling the most diligently.

“The leg is fine.” No damage there, though he’d been unable to put much pressure on it for a week after the attack. He had a permanent scar in his thigh and down his calf as well.

“Are you still taking meds for the shoulder?” Jordan moved back to his desk and looked down at him.

“A few times a day, but they don’t affect my ability to work,” he said defensively.

Jordan studied him. “I don’t want you staying past six until it’s fully healed.”

Keenan pushed out a rough sigh. “Mr. Jordan, I can do my job. You were attacked too—”

“But I’m a dominant with black panther blood. We heal far faster than most feline shifters, Jamar,” he broke in smoothly. “Besides, our healer is better than your human one. My injuries have been completely healed, and I can defend myself against the cats.”

“But having to defend us both—”

“I killed for you,” he cut in, his tone deadly calmly. “I didn’t hesitate and wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. In your partially weakened condition, you’re easier prey than before, sweetheart, and I don’t want to see anything happen to you.”

He shook his head. That was true. His grandmother, a brown panther shifter kept telling him that.

“I—”

“Your grandmother’s heart would break if anything happened to you, Jamar.” He cut in again as he moved around behind him. “She was heartbroken when she saw you lying unconscious in that bed. Think about her, even if you don’t want to think about yourself.” He rested his hands on Jamar’s shoulders.

Jamar’s muscles contracted from the light weight. Heat swelled in his belly as Jordan began lightly massaging his shoulders. He closed his eyes and his muscle expanded, relaxing. Some of the tension faded away.

“I know she was worried, but I can take care of myself.”

“You’ll do as I ask you to on this.” His fingers stroked along Jamar’s neck. “This is a hard limit. You’ll leave at six, or you’ll get your ass flogged in my office every evening before I escort you out of this building myself.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Jamar drew in a ragged breath and then felt a softly textured hand on his ass.

“Makes me so damn hard the way you respond to me,” Jordan murmured above him. “It’s getting too hard to fight my need to fuck you, Jamar.” He smoothed his hand down the seam of Jamar’s ass. “My cock is swollen, it hurts with needing you.”

Jamar panted. He wanted Jordan too. The cat just waiting to come into being was shaking in fear and excitement. He had to maintain control or he’d mate Jordan and tie them both to each other before he was certain this was a good idea.

“I’m going to finger your ass when what I really want to do is fuck it,” he said softly, his voice rough with lust.

A cool dollop of lube landed on his warm crease and quickly ran down to his anus. Jordan’s gloved finger captured it before it dampened his pants and drew it around the puckered rosette before pushing the digit into the tight space.

“I want you so bad that I’m going to take you.” He pulled his finger out, added more lube, and then pushed it back in deeper.

Jamar shivered and arched his ass up. He flexed his fingers on the desk as pleasure arced through him from the slow fingering Jordan gave him. Breathing hard, Jamar gasped when Jordan pushed a second finger into the tight channel. It had been too long since he’d had a man touch him this way, and he was going up in flames. The very thought of what it would feel like to have Jordan inside heated his skin even more.

“Mmm.” He moaned around the ball gag and gyrated his hips, feeling sensual and wanton enough to beg to be taken if the gag wasn’t in his mouth. How he needed to be fucked.

“You’re turning me on even more,” Jordan said against his ear. He drew his fingers free and rubbed his engorged cock against Jamar’s ass. “I want into to you, baby, in the worst way. Yes or no, Jamar?”

He nodded. His own hunger was tearing through him at the speed of light. The only way to stop it, and the clawing aching inside him, was to let Jordan take him.

Jordan kissed the side of his ear, nibbled at it. “Think before you agree, Jamar,” he urged. “If you let me fuck your sweet little ass, I’m never going to go away. I’m going to keep sniffing around you like a cat in heat.”

Yeah, well, Jamar was a cat in heat right now. He didn’t care what the consequences were. He wanted that dick inside him.

So he nodded again.

Jordan put just enough space between them to remove his prick from his pants. He heard the rending of paper and then the head of Jordan’s cock glided down his ass before being drawn around the tight pucker of his anus. Then, Jordan pushed inside him.

* * * *

Jordan growled softly as the tight muscles clenched on him. He pushed in slowly, but the animal in him shoved at him to take him hard and take him now. He fought the pull of the mating call, which demanded he make Jamar his in this very moment.  He wouldn’t just knot in him. He’d infect him with a virus that would tie them together for the rest of their lives.

Jamar would be his, forever bound to him. Jordan didn’t want that yet. He wanted to give Jamar time to accept him first.

Jordan growled as bliss wrapped around him. Jamar was as tight as he’d known he would be. The flex of muscle on his cock made him groan in pleasure. “Little one, you feel so good. It’s like I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

Jamar nodded.

“I should have taken that out, but I don’t want to share this with anyone.”  Jordan began to move and growled louder as the delectation grew. He leaned towards Jamar, both man and animal seeking to be closer as he took him with even strokes.

“Jamar,” he murmured. He rubbed against his mate sinuously and Jamar made a soft encouraging noise that spurred Jordan on. He gripped Jamar’s hips and began to pump harder into him. He fought to hold onto his control but felt it slipping as Jamar moved with him, working his little body in a sensuous dance against him.

Oh, fuck me. I want you so bad.

Jordan heard Jamar’s thoughts, but all panthers could communicate with each other telepathically. It was the mate bond that made the sound of the voice clearest and strongest.

Jordan pumped harder. He was losing it and the man had to know it. He nuzzled Jamar’s ear and scraped the flesh with his sharp teeth. His canines slowly elongated. He fought the desire to bite. It was just the foreplay to the mating itself. He would leave trace amounts of the virus in Jamar that would eventually bind them together as mates.

Jordan growled. The mating call was strong, tugged at him hard, and he hammered into Jamar. His balls slapped his ass as he fucked him with near abandon.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Fuck me hard, Jordan.

Jamar’s words were a litany in his head, a song he couldn’t resist. Jordan tugged the glove from his hand. “Get rid of the tie, Jamar,” he ordered tightly. “And unbutton the shirt.”

Jamar’s obedience told him just how much of a haze his lover was in. He was a panther. He knew what was coming. With the moves he was making on him, Jamar knew better than to allow a bite.