“Duh.” Nathan unlocked the door then opened it and all but jerked Keegan inside. After he engaged the locks, he turned to Keegan.

  Marcus held out his hand and Keegan passed over a thick piece of paper. “I’m not the best sketch artist around, but Walter said this is pretty close.”

  Nathan moved to stand beside him, looking at the drawing. The man in it was almost androgynous, except for the prominent Adam’s apple and the thin moustache.

  “Walter said he only caught a glimpse of him once, and he thought the man’s hair was orange, not red like Nathan’s.”

  “These are freckles?” Marcus asked as he traced splotches on the cheeks of the drawing.

  “Yes, sir. I didn’t know how to draw them right, so I just—they kind of look like zits.”

  Marcus snorted and Nathan did too. Keegan wasn’t lying. “Did he have a name?”

  “No, but Sissy is running her hacking programme through the Arizona missing persons database, seeing if she finds anyone close to resembling this guy.” Keegan perked up a little, if his voice was anything to go by. “Oh, and hey! Remember you asked me to keep digging on Dirk?”

  “Yeah.” Marcus looked up and gave Keegan his undivided attention. “And?”

  “I found the brother and sister. Got some information on Dirk, too. I’ll print it all out and bring it to you as soon as we’re done with this.” Keegan nodded at the sketch.

  Marcus wished he could read something into the man whose features had been captured in pencil, but it was just a sketch, nothing more. “Make copies of this and make sure everyone in this compound gets one. Get me the information on Dirk immediately. Good job,” he said, patting Keegan on the back once he gave him back the sketch. “We’ll see you in a few minutes.”

  “Yes, sir.” Keegan strode energetically to the door. Nathan strolled, contrary man that he was. He unlocked the door and let Keegan out before sliding the deadbolts back in place.

  “I’m going to call and check on Maarten and Ryder while we’re waiting,” Marcus said.

  “Okay. I’ll fix us something to drink. Juice, water or milk?” Nathan asked.

  “Whatever you’re having. I’m not feeling picky.” Marcus called Shania and wasn’t surprised it went to voicemail. He hung up, knowing she was most likely in the medical centre monitoring Maarten. She would call him back shortly.

  “You get milk, because it does a body good and all that shit,” Nathan told him as he handed Marcus a glass.

  “None of that healthy crap?”

  Nathan sniffed. “Almond milk is good for you.”

  Marcus didn’t see how. “Don’t you wonder how they milk them?”

  “Goofball,” Nathan said, smacking his arm. “Same way they do cows, except with much, much smaller teat attachments.”

  Marcus sputtered mid-swallow and almost spat milk all over Nathan. If Nathan hadn’t been so quick, it’d have been a drenching for him. As it was, Marcus had a mess to clean up off the floor. “That’s evil, making me laugh when I’ve got a mouthful.”

  “That depends on what’s in your mouth.” Nathan winked at him.

  Marcus’ phone rang and Nathan took his glass. “Talk to Shania, I’ll clean the floor.”

  A check-in with Shania proved of little help other than to let Marcus know Maarten hadn’t improved, but he also hadn’t deteriorated. Shania still hadn’t been able to discover what the substance was that had sent Maarten into his current state. It was anyone’s guess as to whether the dissolved capsule of the original shifter’s remains was helping or not. They did agree it likely wasn’t hurting anything.

  “Are Ryder’s brother and Val still there?” he asked.

  “Yes, I don’t think they’ll be leaving until Ryder tells them to, and Ryder is in deep with his mate.”

  “Good that Harley is there, and Val. I don’t want Ryder to be without support.” The ‘should Maarten die’ didn’t need to be said. Shania understood.

  “Me either. I’ll call if anything changes. I’ve got to get back to trying to figure out what caused Maarten’s convulsions.”

  They hung up and Marcus filled Nathan in on what he’d learnt, which was, essentially, nothing. Before they could say anything else, Keegan was knocking on their door, returning with the information Marcus had asked for—and more.

  “I have a name for the guy in the sketch—Piper Briones, age twenty-two, missing since December of last year. Light red hair, five-ten, a hundred and thirty pounds. No arrests or anything, no living family. His boss from the sandwich shop he worked in reported him missing.” Keegan handed over several papers. “As for Dirk, he doesn’t stay in one area too long as he’s not very well liked. There’s rumours he doesn’t honour the challenge rules, either. Guess he’s afraid someone will take him out. He had, at one time, a dozen siblings. He was the fifth born, and now he only has a brother and a sister left.” Keegan took a breath, and handed over one last paper. “Sissy thinks she found them, possibly, in Ensenada. They’re going by the names Juanita and Guillermo.”

  “Send the jet for them, see if we can convince them to come here. Even if they do nothing to help us end their brother’s reign, I don’t like the idea that they might be hunted down and killed by him.” Marcus pinned Keegan with a look. “Is there anyway someone can follow your tracks online, and find what you and Sissy did?”

  “Anything is possible if someone is a good enough hacker,” Keegan said. “We did our best to leave no trail, but again, on the Internet, nothing is ever erased.”

  “Get the jet ready. I’ll ask Aidan and Zane to come back from their Colorado vacation and handle this. Nathan and I would go ourselves, but with everything going on here, we need to stay.”

  “Yes, sir. Will the jet be picking Aidan and Zane up in Aspen then?”

  “If not, I’ll let you know. For now, have the flight plan drawn up to Aspen, Ensenada then back here.” Marcus took the last document from Keegan. “You’ve done a very good job, Keegan. I’m pleased to have you as the head guard of my troops.”

  Keegan glowed with the praise, and Marcus reminded himself to give it out more often. When Keegan left, Marcus called Aidan’s cell and left him a voicemail. Hopefully Aidan wouldn’t be out running around in his shifted form, because then it’d be hours and hours before he got the message Marcus left asking him to call Keegan.

  With that task taken care of, Marcus turned to Nathan and waggled his eyebrows. “So, I was thinking…”

  Nathan cocked a hip and leant back against the desk in a pose that caused his package to jut out very nicely. “Yes?” he drawled.

  Marcus grinned and tugged his shirt off over his head. Two could play the seduction game. “It’s been a very stressful day, and I could sure use a distraction.”

  “A distraction?” Nathan scoffed, but there was no heat in it. “That’s all I am?”

  “You know all that you are to me. You’re a smart, sexy man.” That had Nathan puffing up a bit. Marcus unbuttoned his jeans, exposing his hard cock.

  “Oh, nice, no underwear. You know how hot that makes me.” Nathan’s gaze was latched on to Marcus’ then. “Makes me want to strip you down and bend you over the couch, or this desk, and pound away at your ass.”

  Marcus very nearly let loose an unmanly sound. How he kept the whine back was a mystery to him. He jerked the rest of the buttons free then shoved his pants down. “Do it.”

  Nathan never did respond well to orders. He crooked a finger at Marcus. “Come over here and suck me first. Consider it lube, so get me really wet.”

  Marcus clenched his ass at that. When Nathan was like this, demanding, rough, it cranked every kink Marcus had. He stepped out of the jeans puddled around his ankles, and two long strides had him in front of Nathan. When he would have kissed him, Nathan instead presented two fingers.

  “Suck.”

  “Shit.” Marcus was already so horny he just wanted Nathan’s cock in him. He knew pushing would only end up getting him a longer wait. He opened his mouth and Nathan slid those fingers in, twirling them around and around.

  As Marcus suckled, Nathan used his other hand to reach between Marcus’ legs and cup his balls. Marcus moaned happily. He loved having his nuts played with.

  Nathan purred and pumped his fingers in and out. He kept massaging Marcus’ balls, sometimes brushing over his perineum, too.

  Marcus was quickly becoming a jittery mass of want. His arousal was almost painful by the time Nathan pulled his fingers from Marcus’ mouth. “Suck my dick,” Nathan said immediately. Marcus sank to his knees and took Nathan’s cock in hand. For a guy of…limited…height, Nathan had a surprisingly large, fat shaft. For any height, Marcus amended. The man was fucking hung.

  Nathan’s girth always caused a pleasurable stretch to Marcus’ jaws. He took the crown in, delighting in the sharply indrawn breath that pulled from his mate. Marcus flicked the slit with his tongue and Nathan shifted his legs farther apart. That was an offer Marcus wouldn’t pass up. He palmed Nathan’s balls, and when Nathan’s legs spread even more, Marcus almost came without touching his cock.

  It wasn’t that Nathan never cared for ass play—he liked being rimmed and fingered. Marcus simply loved pleasing his mate. He rubbed over the tight little pucker ringed with fuzz. Nathan canted his hips, pushing his cock in deeper and offering easier access to his hole.

  Marcus licked and sucked on Nathan’s shaft and two of his own fingers. When he had them sufficiently wet, he went right back to circling Nathan’s opening. He waited until Nathan thrust again, then he inserted the tips of his fingers.

  “Ah. Gimme more.”

  Marcus smiled around Nathan’s cock and gently pushed his digits in to the second knuckle. A little farther and he’d be massaging Nathan’s gland.

  “Do it,” Nathan urged. “Make me come, then get me hard again so I can fuck you for hours.”

  Nathan would do it, too. Marcus had been thoroughly fucked often enough to know it. Some days he was sure he walked bowlegged. He loved every minute of it, too. He began sucking faster, running his tongue over the thickest vein that would soon pulse with Nathan’s release. At the same time, he worked his fingers in deeper and found Nathan’s prostate.

  Nathan grabbed on to his head and began thrusting like a man close to the edge. His hips were a blur as he chased his climax. Marcus could feel Nathan’s balls pressing against his chin with every drive of Nathan’s cock into his mouth. He swallowed around Nathan’s shaft as much as he could, but the speed of Nathan’s thrusts made it almost impossible to do it well.

  Not that Nathan seemed to mind. His hands tightened in Marcus’ hair and his ring flexed around Marcus’ fingers. Marcus sucked harder, until his jaws ached fiercely.

  “Fuck!” Nathan lost his rhythm, shoving in with sharp jabs that would leave Marcus raspy-voiced. Marcus kept at Nathan’s gland and Nathan loosed a guttural groan as that vein throbbed and cum spurted into Marcus’ throat. He pulled back to catch the rest of the cum on his tongue. Nathan’s hole held his fingers in tight and Marcus’ cock pulsed. As much as he’d enjoyed the one time he’d topped, he wanted Nathan to fuck him instead.

  Nathan had the same idea, because he used his grip on Marcus’ hair to get him to stand up. “Again.” Nathan presented his dry fingers. Marcus had his own plan. He opened his mouth and Nathan’s eyes rounded. “Oh really?”

  Marcus couldn’t really speak, though he let Nathan know through their bond that yes, he meant it. It wasn’t the first time they’d used cum as lube, anyway.

  Nathan grinned and pointed to his dick again. “So get it wet—and save some for your hole.”

  It felt dirty, nasty, the way they both liked it sometimes, when Marcus fingered his ass open with Nathan’s spunk. He got as much of the makeshift lube on Nathan’s cock as he could, too, but he’d had less to be fucked with before.

  Nathan guided him to the couch and bent Marcus over the arm of it. He went down easily, tipping his ass up for the good, hard fucking he needed.

  Without any pretence, Nathan lined his cock up and pushed in. The stretch stole Marcus’ breath in the best way.

  “Hours,” Nathan said as he slowly sank his shaft in a few more inches.

  Marcus didn’t doubt it. He was counting on it, actually, to take him out of his head for a while.

  Nathan didn’t let him down.

  Chapter Eleven

  There was so much confusion, so much pain. Maarten couldn’t tell what he was truly experiencing and what he was hallucinating. It didn’t matter. He was in hell either for real or in his head, and getting out didn’t seem likely.

  Every part of him ached, from his head down to the tips of his toes. There was no part of him that didn’t feel as if it’d been beaten or stabbed with hundreds of tiny needles.

  He couldn’t think, either, his brain skittering from one thing to the next, like a fly darting about to avoid a deadly swat. His heartbeat sounded in his ears, so he knew he was alive. That ruled out hell-hell, which he didn’t believe in anyway. Now he was even confusing himself more.

  Then Maarten remembered with startling clarity. He’d been out with Ryder, hunting a murderer. His back ached with a sudden throbbing pain. Drinking. His mouth was so dry now, his throat too. He’d been drinking then, and someone had been watching.

  Bullet. Fucker shot me. Terror zipped through him and Maarten began to panic.

  “Calm down, Maarten. I have you. I’m here. Nothing can hurt you again. Nothing will get past me.”

  Oh, oh, he knew that voice! Maarten frowned, trying to discern whether he’d heard the voice with his ears or in his head. It didn’t matter. Ryder was with him.

  “That’s right, I am. Right here. Feel me.”

  Warmth, perfect against his skin. Maarten inhaled, and his mate’s scent filled his lungs.

  “Open your eyes. Come back to me, Maarten. I’ve been waiting for you for days now.”

  Days? That terror tried to kick up again, but Ryder’s soothing voice chased it off. Maarten felt something cool and wet against his lips, and he parted them for a straw.

  “Suck.”

  If he only felt better, he’d have so much fun with that order. As it was, he closed his mouth around the straw. Soon water was on his parched tongue. He swallowed and almost wept as his throat was wetted.

  “Can you open your eyes?”

  Maarten wanted to do it because it’d make Ryder happy. He tried, but his eyelids felt like someone had glued them shut.

  Ryder gently wiped at his eyes with a damp cloth. “Try again for me.”

  Maarten did and found himself grimacing as bright light assaulted his eyes. “Ow.”

  “All over,” Ryder agreed. “You hurt everywhere. Fuck, I am so glad you’re awake!”

  And with that, Ryder sobbed, once. He peppered Maarten’s face with kisses. Maarten sluggishly raised a hand and clutched at Ryder’s arm. Touching Ryder was what he needed now.

  “I need to check him.”

  “In a minute, Shania. It isn’t going to hurt to let them say their good mornings. Nathan and I will come back later, when Ryder and Maarten have had time together.”

  The second voice had been Marcus’, Maarten recognised it. The first was familiar in a weird way. He hadn’t been around Shania much at all before.

  “Go ahead. I want to make sure he’s okay.” Ryder moved back and Maarten saw him clearly for the first time since awakening. “Not so handsome, am I?”

  “I disagree,” Maarten croaked, and even those two words made his throat hurt. Ryder was the most beautiful sight ever, as far as Maarten was concerned, and he let Ryder know it, sending all the praise he could to him. Ryder hadn’t shaved, and his face was halfway covered with the beginnings of a beard. His hair was in disarray, and he had the biggest smile. Yes, Maarten thought he was perfection.

  Shania began poking at him, listening to his heartbeat—“Excellent,” she pronounced. She asked him where he hurt and he grunted out, “Everywhere.”

  “Can you move your toes for me?”

  Maarten could, but it sucked doing so. His feet cramped and he groaned pitifully. Having high arches could be such a bitch.

  “Let me rub them.” Ryder moved down and began chasing away the cramps with blissfully strong hands. “I hate getting cramps in my legs. I can’t imagine them here.”

  Maarten could vouch for it being a painful experience. Ryder rubbed while Shania took his pulse, looked in his ears, throat, nose—that was kind of embarrassing as she tipped his head back and looked right up his nostrils. She kept checking every part of him just about.

  “I still don’t know what was on that bullet that almost killed you,” Shania told him when she finished. “We gave you one of the pills, you know the ones.”

  Maarten grimaced at that. He did indeed know which one, and gross, he had dead dried-out shifter in him.

  “At least you’re alive.” Shania shone a light in his eyes. “Be glad for that, because your body was shutting down on you at one point. I’m not sure if it was that pill or your mate who pulled you through. The pill did heal up the bullet wound quickly, but the poison that had been in your system, possibly not so much.”

  “It might have,” Ryder argued. “You don’t know what would have happened if he hadn’t been given the medicine.”

  “I think you would have dragged him through it all kicking and screaming regardless,” Shania replied. “Now, as far as I can tell, he’s healing nicely. There might be some residual numbness to your fingers or toes, we’ll have to see, but other than that, I expect you to be walking out of here by tomorrow, understand?”

  “Yes,” Maarten got out. He noticed another couple sitting nearby.

  “Harley and Val. Harley, Val, this is my mate, Maarten.”

  He got two nods and smiles to go along with them. Harley stood and walked over to stand with Ryder. “I wish we were meeting under better circumstances. Of course, if my brother had told me he’d found his mate sooner, well…”

  Maarten wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say to that so he didn’t say anything at all. He lay and sipped from his cup of water while Ryder, Val and Harley chatted. Harley didn’t look like Ryder much, though there was some resemblance. Harley was shorter, thinner and had more delicate features than his brother.