In the Eyes of Crazy(15)

Beatings. Chains. Being locked in his room on the full moon, though he never actually shifted around that time. “He wasn’t very good with money,” Payson murmured, frowning at nothing. “He made some bad investment choices. When the guy found out he could make money from selling a freak like me, he did it.”

Payson sucked in a long breath and resumed his pacing again. He didn’t want to tell the rest of the story. It hurt. Everything about his time there hurt. Shaking his head, Payson grumbled under his breath about the pain and shock therapy and ice baths and needles.

Turning for another pass across the carpet, Payson nearly bowled his mate down. He realized his human was tougher than he looked. Land wrapped his arms around Payson’s waist, rested his chin on his shoulder, and held tight.

“You’re not there anymore,” he murmured into Payson’s ear. “You’re here, with me, with your friends. Nothing can hurt you now.”

The agitation drained from Payson’s body as he breathed in Land’s scent, felt him nuzzle his neck. Payson hummed. “Yeah.” He shivered upon feeling the soft lips pressing kisses along his neck.

“If you ever want to talk about it, I’m here,” Land continued, his words slightly muffled by skin. “But you’re just fine, right?”

Letting out a long breath, Payson smiled and did some nuzzling of his own. “With you in my arms, I’m perfect,” he whispered.

“Good,” Land replied.

Before he could do anything more, Eli appeared in the doorway and cleared his throat.

“Yes, Eli?” Kontra asked quietly.

“The tattooist is here,” Eli stated. “Where would you like him sent?”

“The salon. He can set up on the sideboard,” Kontra responded.

Payson was aware that Eli disappeared, but he had no desire to rouse from the nice cocoon of sanctuary created by his mate’s arms. Unfortunately, his alpha didn’t give him a choice. Kontra stepped forward and demanded his mate’s attention.

“Land, do you see now why you need to remain here until you are calm enough to accept why secrecy is best. There are those who don’t accept people who are different,” Kontra stated. “Anonymity is a shifter’s ally.”

Easing away, Land didn’t let go of Payson completely, for which he was grateful. “I understand. I’d never want anything to happen to…well, any of you.”

Payson couldn’t hide his smile at Land’s sweetness.

“Good. Because I’m Payson’s alpha, I now have to ask if you plan to allow Payson to claim you.” Before Land could say anything, Kontra held up a hand. “Keep in mind that, although we are in San Francisco now, my gang travels a lot. We don’t have a home base, instead often visiting former pack-members and friends in our travels across the country.”

Land’s brows shot up. “Wow, why do you travel so much?”

Kontra smiled. “Because I believe in the progressive approach to finding mates. Instead, of waiting for Fate to bring them along, we go out and find them.”

“Oh,” Land murmured. “That makes sense.” Land’s next question surprised not just Payson, if the other men’s scents were anything to go by. “What’s the tattooist doing here?”

Kontra’s grin was slightly feral and his eyes glowed. “My sweet mate is getting his nipples pierced and I am finishing a tattoo.” With that, Kontra left.

To Payson’s surprise, Land murmured, “I’ve always wanted nipple piercings.”

Payson remembered how sensitive his mate’s nipples were. “Another benefit of mating a shifter is swifter healing.” He paused, then added, “Of course, that means you can never go to a regular hospital. That’s why we have Eli. He’s a doctor and his mate, Sam, is a nurse.”

“So…” Land pulled back and looked him in the eye. “Do you think I could get my nipples pierced? Then you could claim me and they’ll heal…how fast?”

Payson felt the blood rush to his loins. His dick thickened. “A couple of days instead of a couple of weeks. How about we both get them done? I could use something to match my dick,” he murmured, already anticipating the delicious bite of pleasure.

“Yeah. Yeah, that’d be so awesome,” Land whispered.

Payson led his mate toward the front of the house, ignoring Mutegi’s snickers, and anticipating all the fun he could have with his sexy, geeky mate’s piercings.





Chapter Seven


Land couldn’t believe he was actually doing this. He’d always thought piercings were sexy, and most of his jack-off fodder was of men with metal somewhere on their body. Seeing the ones on Payson’s dick last night had ratcheted up his desire to another level, and also eased some of his nerves.