“You sure?”
“Trust me. I want to see what's mine.” Morgan threw a hint of mean into his voice, needing Kisho's beast to recognize that just because Kisho was bigger, he wasn't necessarily badder.
Kisho moved off Morgan and lay down next to him. Morgan turned on his side to watch, intrigued and excited as the beast rose to take command.
Using the energy swirling between the two of them, and feeling high on the sweet scent of orange and cinnamon that filled the room, Morgan unconsciously pulled a tendril of energy from Kisho and wrapped it around himself, more than content with the feeling of belonging.
Kisho trembled. “I don't know what you did, but my beast loved it. Do it again.” As Kisho's skin darkened, his body elongated, and his muscle mass grew. Morgan stole another band of energy and hugged it tight.
A loud purr vibrated next to him, and Morgan stared into the face of the inhuman creature he'd fallen in love with.
“Fuck, you're so hot when you're raw. I love your beast, kitsu.” I love you. Morgan kissed Kisho's larger mouth and licked at his fangs. Then he leaned closer and shoved his throat at Kisho's mouth. “Come on. Taste. You know you want to.” The purring grew louder. Kisho opened his mouth and nuzzled Morgan's throat. The danger of having the beast so close, so near to doing him harm if he barely tried, turned Morgan on yet again.
“Hmm, tasty,” Kisho rasped. He nipped at Morgan's throat, but Morgan barely felt the sting, his attention once again drawn to his unbelievable recuperative powers.
“I'm hard again,” he said in amazement. Even for him, this was unusual.
“Like a Circ.” Kisho sucked at his throat and lapped the small wound closed with his tongue. “God, you taste so good. You're mine now. And that should be bad. But I can't think of why at the moment.”
Kisho suddenly sat up and pulled Morgan with him, caging him in his hold from front to back. He forced Morgan's legs wide and lifted him higher, positioning Morgan's ass against the tip of something hard. A large erection prodded Morgan's puckered hole. “You like pain. I can smell it. And I can see it.” Kisho kissed his neck and leaned over his shoulder, fixating on his cock. “How fast do you heal?” Kisho shifted his hips, and Morgan felt something hot and wide tease his anus.
“Hell. I knew this was coming.”
“Oh yeah. Coming. I like the sound of that. Open up, lover. Because it's time my beast had some fun too.”
Morgan wanted to protest, but he instinctively knew Kisho, though seemingly too large to accommodate, would fit. He had to accept all of his mate. And he would.
What he hadn't counted on was how he'd make it happen.
Chapter Seven
Kisho didn't know what to say. His beast hadn't stopped purring since he'd come hard into Morgan's tight ass the first time. Hours later, he still couldn't believe it.
“You're Circ.” He continued to spend, in awe at this marathon sex he shouldn't possibly be having. With the team, he had sex as a beast and could go for a long time, until they sated the mating heat.
But he and Morgan had been fucking as beasts for hours without a break. Ever since Morgan had subtly changed into a weird kind of human-Circ hybrid, Kisho's arousal had been off the charts. Morgan had grown taller, more muscular, and slightly darker. But his eyes didn't change, nor did he grow fangs or claws. All of him had simply been more. And his strength matched that of a Circ's, measure for measure.
Kisho's dick ached as he finished jetting into Morgan's ass. Taking turns on top had at least evened the playing field, but Kisho acknowledged he liked Morgan in charge better than being in charge.
“Oh, man,” Morgan breathed as he shook out the last few drops from his shaft and rubbed them over Kisho's belly. “I think we're okay now. I hope,” he muttered. “Is this normal for you guys?”
“No. I don't know what the hell that was.” Kisho ran a hand through his hair and watched as Morgan slowly changed back to normal. As he did, Kisho changed with him, his beast finally sated. “For that matter, I don't know what the hell you are. You say you're not Circ, but you are.
You call me kitsu, and I've seen you in my dreams for years.” And how it never ended well. “I need answers.”
“I need answers, mate,” Morgan said with a smile.
Kisho smiled back without meaning to. “Anyone ever tell you you're obnoxious?”
“All the time.” Morgan lifted himself off Kisho and headed to the shower.
Kisho joined him. They didn't speak as they cleaned up. But even the soap couldn't mask their combined scent.
Morgan sighed and rinsed the shampoo from his hair. “Your scent goes straight to my head, you know?” He slicked back the water from his hair and stepped closer to Kisho.
He stood taller and had broader shoulders. When he backed Kisho to the wall, Kisho stared into his eyes, aware of a deep sense of belonging that should have scared him. After all, Morgan featured in every one of his visions involving his own death. But he couldn't find the desire to move away.
Morgan slowly leaned closer until they were a breath apart. “You ran, kitsu, but you couldn't hide. I came for you, and I finally have what's mine.” The words sounded familiar, but Kisho couldn't think because Morgan kissed him.
Different from the other touches they'd shared, Morgan's mouth comforted, soothed, loved.
Kisho didn't know how to handle the softness and tried to move away, but Morgan wouldn't let him.
“Shh, it's okay. I just want to hold you.” Morgan gathered him in his arms, as if Kisho were precious, and just…held him.
An odd, unnamed emotion caught in Kisho's chest.
Morgan stroked his back and his hair and murmured words of praise and affection as he kissed his cheeks. “That's it. Ease into it, baby. Trust me. I have you.” The shields holding anything and everything at a distance began to dissolve as if they'd never existed. Kisho tried to remain firm, but he sagged in Morgan's arms. Before he knew it, he was leaning against the man. Unlike before, nothing sexual clouded their embrace. Only caring and a genuine warmth between Kisho and the man he feared he could seriously come to love.
Morgan reached to turn off the shower. He grabbed a towel and dried off. Then he dried Kisho, who was too exhausted to move. Leading Kisho by the arm, Morgan brought him back to the bed and tucked him under the blankets.
“I'm not a kid.”
“Trust me, I know. I'd never do to a kid what you and I did in this very bed,” Morgan chided. “Now let go. I have you, baby. Just sleep. You need it. I promise I'll keep you safe.”
An odd choice of words, considering four tough-ass Circs, a psychic Mrs. Sharpe, and an ex-government agent/handyman guarded the house.
But when Morgan donned a pair of sweatpants and slid in next to him, Kisho fell promptly asleep.
A gray-brown owl flew overhead in a dark sky layered with moonlight. Under the owl along a path in the forest, a fox ran, the cool wind breezing through his thick fur like fingers. The fox yipped and played, and the owl spotted a second fox with him, one slightly larger and redder.
The pair disappeared into the forest, and the owl narrowed in on a field mouse just ahead.
Before he could swoop down on his prey, a hawk flew out of nowhere and intercepted his meal. The sky brightened, night turning to day in an instant. The owl vanished, and the hawk landed in the back garden of the Circ estate, where he dropped the mouse. It scurried away, hiding in the shadows of the building.
Where the winter garden should have been, en exotic jungle of bright flowers and lush plants overwhelmed the rock-bordered bed. A feeling of peace and healing surrounded the hawk, and he gradually changed shape from bird to beast to man. Jules stood staring into a bright blue flower, his aura a visible glow around him.