His to Protect
His to Protect
Alateeka Protection Services
Copyright 2014 Alice Cain
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
All Romance
Edition
September 2014
All Romance Edition, License Notes
This ebook is for your personal use only.
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~ Alice
This is a fictional story from the author’s
imagination and is not to be confused with fact. It is not advice or
suggestion. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons is purely
coincidental.
Blurb:
When Tyler Defoe discovers his best friend
has been murdered, he can barely comprehend his loss, so when the investigator
sent in the sheriff's place suggests that Logan might not be dead, Tyler is
happy to believe him. Watching his friend wake as a non-human, however, isn't
exactly what he expected.
Adrian Alateeka has been doing this for a
long time. He and his siblings are well known in both the paranormal and human
communities as security experts who can be trusted. A recent spate of murders
in their home town, however, suggests a very personal attack on Adrian, his
siblings, and the people who work for them.
Unwilling to leave a new paranormal
unprotected, and unable to ignore the astonishing physical attraction to the
man’s best friend, Adrian does the one thing he's never done before—he takes
his work home.
Caring for his friend is surprisingly
difficult, and Tyler is very grateful for the help he gets from the Alateeka
siblings, yet it's his own unruly hormones that seem to affect him the most. It
doesn't help when he learns that Adrian is quite willing and able to help
Tyler…cope.
Yet, even as emotions grow between Adrian
and Tyler, the systematic attacks on paranormals continue. With no leads and
few clues, Adrian and his siblings scramble to identify how so many different
attackers can be using the same MO.
But as they draw closer to answers, and
motivations for murder are revealed, can Adrian protect Tyler from what's
coming?
Warning
:
Gay erotic romance. This fictional
story contains explicit adult content and coarse language and is intended for
mature readers only. All characters involved in sexual behavior in this story
are adults capable of consent, are over the age of twenty-one, and are willing
participants.
36,630 words
Alateeka
Protection Services Book 1
Alice Cain
Copyright 2014
Prologue
He watched.
Patiently, he waited for his chance,
determined to set the world right, needing to fix that which had gone wrong. He
watched as the man—a teacher, a good man, but also a slave and a
victim—returned home each night to greet the creature who looked like a man but
wasn't.
He watched and he ached as the teacher
smiled affectionately for a monster. He ground his teeth as the thrall offered
his throat for its taking. And he felt a murderous rage each time the demon fed
on this innocent man's blood.
For too long he'd believed the lies, thought
he understood the realities, but not anymore. His eyes had been opened and he
knew now what he had to do.
He watched and he burned and he waited for a
chance to rescue him, to rescue them all.
For rescue them he would.
Chapter One
Tyler Defoe parked his car behind the silver
compact in Logan's driveway and glanced at the house. The sun would go down
soon, so if someone was home they were currently sitting in the dark. He'd
wanted to get here earlier, but he'd had several parent-teacher meetings to
deal with before he'd been able to finish for the day. He'd tried calling, but
no one was answering the phone and that worried him more than ever. Logan didn't
take days off, and it was completely out of character for him not to call work
and explain.
Shaking his head as he tried to push away
the worry, Tyler turned off the car, stepped onto the pavement, and then headed
toward the front door. He knocked several times, hoping that his concern was
for naught, but when neither Logan nor his roommate came to the door, Tyler dug
out the emergency key Logan had given him years ago and opened the house
himself.
"Hello?
Anyone home?"
The place looked normal. Everything was
where it usually was, including the stack of student assignments that Logan had
brought home yesterday to grade.
A cool breeze puffed through the house and
Tyler headed toward the back door. It was a little cold to be sitting on the
open veranda, but it wasn't necessarily something that would bother Logan's
roommate.
William was a bit of a strange one. He
tended to keep to himself, worked nights, and rarely socialized, so it had made
it hard to get to know the man.
Tyler called out again, hoping that he wasn't
about to walk in on something he shouldn't—perhaps Logan's claims that he and
his roommate were just friends weren't entirely true—but as he headed through
the living area and into the kitchen he was surprised to find what looked to be
mud smeared all over the floor. The smell was very unpleasant and Tyler found
himself backing away before he truly understood what he was looking at.
Terror clawed at him as he followed the
trail back to its source. His hands shook violently as he dragged his cell
phone from his pocket and dialed nine-one-one.
~*~
Adrian Alateeka watched the scene in front
of him with a jaundiced eye. A long time ago he would have enjoyed the display
of a submissive being flogged to orgasm, but it seemed those days were well and
truly behind him. All he saw now was flawed technique and a sub topping from
the bottom.
It was only early afternoon, so the
nightclub upstairs wasn't even open yet. This time of the day they allowed Doms
to use the fetish area for practice, and judging by the performance of the Dom
in front of them, the time was desperately needed.
"He needs more training," Gavin
said as he came to stand beside him.
"What he needs is a vanilla life,"
Adrian said tiredly as he again watched the Dom hesitate. "He's doing this
to please his wife, but his heart truly isn't in it. He doesn't want to be
here."
"I agree," Gavin said, "she
is definitely the one calling the shots." They stood silently side-by-side
watching as the "Dom" hesitated once more. "But shouldn't the
fact that he's willing to please his wife count for something? Surely with the
right guidance…"
Gavin let the sentence trail away, and
Adrian knew exactly where this conversation was heading—straight into Gavin
asking for a favor.
"I'm busy," Adrian said trying to
drum up enough annoyance to make Gavin back off. He was supposed to be a silent
part-owner in Santutegia—the nightclub his younger brothers ran—not the Dom in
charge of training. The fetish club wasn't even an official part of the
business. The fact that Adrian was tempted to take on the challenge was
confusing. He didn't have time to teach a naturally agreeable man how to
dominate his wife. "Have you forgotten that I'm in charge of the family
business?"
"I haven't forgotten," Gavin said
seriously. "But I do find myself wondering if you remember how to have
fun. This is your first visit in months."
Adrian tried not to roll his eyes. None of
his siblings wanted or needed the inconvenience of a permanent relationship.
BDSM had filled that hole in Adrian's life for longer than he cared to admit,
but the power exchange that once seemed so fulfilling no longer appealed to
him.
At least, not in any overwhelming way.
He wasn't
a monk, but sex with strangers just no longer did it for him.
"I've been busy."
"When was the last time you took a sub?"
"Damn it, Gavin, you know about the
murders. I can't just walk away from my investigations to train someone who is
most likely never going to understand the lifestyle."
"So why are you here this afternoon?"
Trust Gavin to hit the one subject Adrian
didn't want to talk about.
Adrian shrugged, trying to hide his agitation.
He'd been restless for weeks now, but he was at a loss to explain why. Yes, the
unsolved homicides on his desk were as annoying as hell, but he'd dealt with
far more over the years. Providing discreet protection for non-humans was a
sacred duty for the Alateeka clan, but he and his brothers and sister knew it
wasn't easy. Adrian, Gavin, and the rest of their siblings had literally been
thrust into what they affectionately called the family business, and thanks to
a genetic tweak or two they were uniquely qualified for it.
But that didn't explain the strange,
deep-seated feeling that something wasn't right. Three paranormal murders in
two weeks
was
a little unusual in a town this small,
but it certainly wasn't unheard of. Humans had an awful way of reacting without
understanding. Add that to the myriad of confusing and flawed information of
legend, fictional books, and television shows, and it put many paranormals at
serious risk. It was no wonder that they adamantly refused to come out of the
closet. Most cited human history over and over as their main reason.
Adrian sure as hell didn't blame them. As
part of the Alateeka clan he knew the statistics, and they proved every year
that paranormals were at far more risk from humans than the other way around.
Staying unnoticed was definitely the best
way to stay safe.
At least, that was the view they'd held for
so long. A recent incident in a small town called Lupinville had highlighted
how many more problems they faced in the modern age. Human technology was making
it harder and harder to hide in plain sight.
Adrian watched again as the man pretending
to be a Dom flinched when the flogger landed more heavily on his wife's thigh
than he'd apparently intended. She made a noise of annoyance and her husband
once again backed off. Hell, the guy was more submissive than his wife.
Damn. Adrian was tempted to help. Hell,
maybe he should. Maybe that's what was missing. He didn't have the time or the
inclination to have a sub of his own. Maybe taking on the training of a married
couple was a way to fulfill his own needs without getting emotionally involved.
Except that, damn it to hell, the husband
was a natural submissive. If Adrian tried to train the man he'd end up showing
both him and his wife just how submissive he really was. It was either hand her
the flogger, or find them a Dom who could take them both on.
"So what do you think?" Gavin
asked in a hopeful tone.
"I think you need to call Troy."
"You're probably right." Gavin
slowly exhaled a breath and shook his head even though he'd just agreed.
Apparently, Adrian wasn't the only one torn on how to deal with this couple.
Troy was one of their younger brothers and a hard-ass Dom. If anyone could help
the couple find what they were seeking it was probably him. "It might ruin
their marriage."
"Maybe," Adrian said with a sad
smile. Exploring one's emotional and sexual needs didn't always take people
where they expected. Adrian shook his head slowly. "Sit them both down.
Talk to them about what they want." He glanced back at the scene and
grimaced at the very timid behavior of a man who was supposed to be in charge. "Neither
of them are getting what they need right now."
Gavin nodded, patted him on the shoulder,
and walked toward the scene. Within moments he had both a bewildered sub and
her nervously relieved Dom heading toward his office at the back of the club.
Adrian actually hoped the couple gave up on the idea of exploring their kinks
and went back to their vanilla lives. Not everyone needed the intense power
exchange and deep emotional connection that a true Dom/sub connection provided.
Even many people who lived the lifestyle didn't live it full time.
Adrian turned to watch the next scene, and
recognized the sub as a man he'd trained a few years ago. He was with a Dom
perfectly suited to him, and Adrian smiled as the sub's fiancé—the wedding was
next Saturday if Adrian remembered correctly—brought him to orgasm before
lifting him from the spanking bench and holding him close. Unlike the Dom he'd
watched earlier, this one knew exactly what he was doing. It gave Adrian a
strange feeling of hope.
Unnerved by his own wayward and sappy
thoughts, Adrian signaled his brother and headed toward the exit.
"Adrian," Gavin called just as he
stepped out of the club. "Sheriff's on the phone."
Surprised that Sheriff Lansdowne hadn't
called him directly, Adrian reached for the cordless phone Gavin held out for
him at the same time he checked his cell phone. The damn battery had died
again. It was definitely time for a new phone.
"Adrian, I'm stuck out on the highway
dealing with a head-on collision, but dispatch just got a call reporting a
double homicide at William
Danker's
home."
"Who called it in?"
"A family friend by
the name of Tyler Defoe."
"I'll be right there," Adrian said
quickly, not even waiting for the sheriff's reply before he hung up. Sheriff
Lansdowne knew that he and William were friends. He also knew what they both
were. Thankfully the sheriff would wait to hear Adrian's take on the situation
before doing anything more.
"Do you need backup?" Gavin asked,
obviously having overheard the sheriff's news.
"Doesn't sound like it," Adrian
said, trying to rationalize the situation. The sun hadn't quite gone down yet
so it was possible that the man who'd called in the report was looking at a
sleeping vampire—not a dead one. Hopefully, it was just a case of an
overzealous neighbor taking neighborhood watch ideals to the extreme.
But experience warned him life wasn't quite
that simple.
~*~
Tyler stood on the front porch anxiously waiting
to hear the sheriff's siren. Instead, an unmarked car pulled up and a man
quickly moved toward him.
"Tyler Defoe?" the man asked as he
stepped onto the porch. Tyler nodded mechanically, still too shocked by what he'd
found inside to think very clearly. "I'm Adrian Alateeka. The sheriff is
dealing with another issue at the moment and asked me to respond on his behalf."
The man held out some sort of identification, but Tyler's eyes were too blurry
for him to really make out what it said. Now that someone was here, Tyler was
very literally shaking all over. He wrapped his arms around his middle as he
tried to stay focused long enough to explain what he'd found. He owed Logan at
least that much.
"He… Lo…" Tyler took a deep
breath, trying to concentrate on what he needed to say. "Logan didn't come
to work. I was worried so I used my key to get in. He and his roommate are…are…"
He shook his head as tears filled his eyes and grief blocked his voice. Tyler
lifted a hand to his face, but the man grabbed his wrist.
"Is this blood?" he asked quietly.
Tyler nodded. "I couldn't find a pulse."
"Tyler," the man said, "I
want you to stay here while I have a look around. Can you do that for me?"
He nodded, unable to see through the tears
filling his eyes. The man guided him to the porch stairs and encouraged him to
sit down. A warm callused hand touched the side of his face.
"Just breathe for me, Tyler.
Slow and steady, okay?"
When Tyler managed to slow his
breathing down to a more normal pace, the man smoothed away the tear that had
slipped down Tyler's cheek, and then nodded his approval. "Stay here,
sweetheart. I'll be back as quick as I can."
~*~
The crime scene was eerily similar to the
other three unsolved homicides currently on his desk. But this time there was a
human victim as well.
The man Adrian assumed was Logan was lying
on his back not far from the body of his friend, William. It seemed most likely
that Logan had interrupted the murderer and paid for it with his life. Adrian
tried to stay professional as he took in details, hoping to find some sort of
clue that would lead them to the killer.
A human victim complicated his investigation
exponentially. Most paranormals lived off the radar, but dead humans needed
paperwork. Adrian tried not to notice the human's features or take in details
of William's familiar face. Desperately, he held on to his emotional distance
so that he could do his job.