Derek's eyes were still wide. He glanced toward the kissing couple for a split second, then his face flushed as he returned his gaze to Luther. "They're, uh … they're a couple?"
Before Luther had a chance to respond, Manon came out of the bedroom carrying a box. "Dis be the last of it in dere. I-Oh, dey be at it again? Don't dey know the bed already be packed?"
Luther snorted. "The shower curtain is still up. They could always take their quickie in there."
Evidently, that caught at least one of the men's attention, for Jared yanked his lips from Carson's and, with a feral growl, turned to look at him. "Now there is an excellent idea," he murmured, his hips rubbing blatantly against Carson's. He returned his focus on Carson and he purred, "Oh, Injun. I think it's time we take care of a little personal business."
"My mate," Carson rumbled. "I'll more than take care of you."
With that, Carson showed off his shifter strength by shoving Jared away from him. Jared laughed as he stumbled backward several steps. Just as quickly, Carson reached out and grabbed Jared's wrist before stalking toward the bathroom.
Luther hustled out of their way. He reached into a bag on the floor, one he'd emptied the contents of Deke's nightstand into earlier-some of those items he found very interesting. "Here," he called, pulling out a tube and tossing it toward the men.
Carson caught it easily in his free hand. Then, he disappeared into the small room with Jared, slamming the door behind them.
Manon snickered. "What you give dem?"
Luther shrugged. "Lube."
"Lube? What are they-" Derek started.
A loud thud from the bathroom followed by the sound of masculine chuckles and grunts drifted through the thin door.
Sighing, Luther turned and headed toward the door. "Time to make a pizza run, I think," he said. Manon nodded, walking beside him, still carrying his box.
"Wha-"
Derek tried again, but Luther cut him off with a hand on his shoulder. "Come with me if you want me to give you a general idea of what they're doing in there. Otherwise, feel free to stick around and listen." He winked. "You'll get a very good idea that way. Those two are not quiet."
Gaping, Derek nodded. "I've never seen two men go at it like that," he muttered, stumbling toward the door.
"No?" Luther queried. "Not even stumbled across it in porn?"
Derek reached down and adjusted his crotch. "No," he denied. "Is it always that hot?"
Well, well, Luther thought, maybe it ran in the family. Instead of saying anything of the sort, as he led the way from the apartment he commented, "I find it that hot, but then I love your brother, so-"
"You love Deke?"
Shit, the words had been out of his mouth before he'd even thought about them. Which, of course, meant that, yes, they were true. He nodded. "I do, and I sure look forward to getting back to him."
Three hours later, Luther said good-bye to Derek. Every once in a while, he had seen a bit of Deke in the man, and he sure hoped the man figured out his own shit and tried to mend bridges with his mate. Deke would appreciate that.
Standing at the airport waiting for Manon to receive clearance to take off, Luther's cell phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw the number for his home phone show up on it. Smiling, he answered and greeted, "Deke?"
"No, it's Leo," the man answered. "We have a problem."
"Michael?" Luther immediately growled.
"I'm not sure. Not that I scented, anyway," Leo answered.
Luther frowned. It wasn't like his cousin to beat around the bush. "Well, what is it? What's going on?"
"When I got to your place, Deke wasn't here. When I called his phone, it went straight to voicemail," Leo told him. "I noticed Synthia's scent in the foyer and the kitchen, but no other I don't recognize."
Luther's heart froze in his throat. "Synthia? What the fuck was she doing there?" She had no business being in or near his house.
"I don't know, Lu," Leo replied. "I called Frankie and Dirk, but nobody has seen him or heard from him in hours."
"Son of a bitch," Luther snarled. "Keep looking. We're just leaving." Ending the call, he whipped his head this way and that, searching for Manon. Finally, he found him exiting from the private hanger, striding toward him and the chopper.
"Hurry up!" Luther hollered. "Deke's missing."
Manon broke into a sprint. "Climb in," he ordered, waving toward the bird.
Within minutes they were all on board and strapped in.
It was the longest hours of Luther's life.
Chapter Eleven
Deke couldn't believe he'd fallen for that. Damn it all! When would he learn that not everyone could be trusted?
When he'd peered through the peephole and seen Synthia, he'd called through the door, asking what she wanted. She'd smiled widely, held up a plate of cookies, and said she wanted to apologize and welcome him to the pack.
Self-consciously, Deke had reached up and touched the claiming mark on his neck. He'd managed to hold out a week, but it hadn't taken him long to realize that he hadn't wanted to be anywhere but with Luther, in his bed, making love with him … and that's what he realized it was.
Making love. Have I ever truly been in love with anyone?
Not until then.
Still, Synthia was pack, so he'd let her in. He'd offered her a drink and led the way to the kitchen. Deke knew now that he should never have turned his back on her. She'd knocked him on the head with God knew what and he'd fallen like a sack of potatoes. He figured he'd only been out for a few seconds, but it was long enough for her to truss his arms with something. She'd tossed him over her shoulder-which was kind of impressive, considering she was a woman-carried him outside and tossed him into the bed of her pick-up truck.
Staring at the blue sky, Deke tried to figure out where he was from the shapes of the trees. That didn't work though. He just wasn't familiar enough with the trees. Would howling help? Deke almost snickered at the thought. Maybe Synthia had hit him on the head a little harder than he'd thought.
It couldn't hurt though, right? Snickering, feeling a little light headed, and a lot sore, Deke opened his mouth and howled. After a few seconds of nothing but truck motor and getting tossed around in the bed-damn, he was gonna have some hellish bruises if he made it through this-Deke opened his mouth and howled again.
Within seconds, the little sliding window opened and Synthia yelled, "Shut up, stupid human!"
Just because it pissed her off, Deke did it again, and again. He howled even as she pulled the truck over and leaped into the bed of the truck. He howled until she pulled a roll of duct tape from a toolbox in the bed, yanked off a piece, and strapped it over his mouth.
Synthia sneered, gripped his hair, and slammed it against the metal bed of the truck.
Damn, that hurt.
That was the last thing he thought before darkness converged … again.
"What the hell did you do to him?"
Deke wanted to cringe at the angry sounding man, but some instinct told him to keep feigning sleep. Keeping his breathing even, he tried to figure out where he was, who was around him, and how in blue blazes he'd ended up there.
"I brought him to you, just like I promised," a woman replied, sounding bored.
"I didn't tell you to hit him or truss him up," the guy replied.
The woman snorted. "Your boyfriend is shacking up with my boyfriend and you expect me to be nice to him? Fuck you," she snarled.
"Never gonna happen," muttered another male.
"As if I'd let you near me with your pathetic dick," the woman responded just as snidely.
"Enough," the first man shouted. "It makes it a little hard for me and my friends to remind Deke of his place if he's unconscious," he claimed.
"What?" the woman snapped. "You said if I brought Deke to you, Michael, you'd get him out of town."
"No, Synthia," Michael snarled back. "I said I'd teach him a lesson and take him home. You need to learn to listen." His tone turned cool. "Maybe that's why you can't keep your man. You don't listen."
Another round of cussing each other out started, and Deke finally remembered what had happened. He'd been living with Luther and only going out of the house when he was with friends because no one could figure out where Michael had gone. Evidently, he'd holed up in the woods somewhere and had teamed up with Synthia.
Even as Deke wondered how that happened, he cracked his eyelids open. He wished he hadn't. Two other men stood leaning against the wall, watching him. They were the same men Michael had brought over to the house all those weeks ago. The men he'd run from.