Chapter Six
Santiago paused long enough to turn off his motorcycle and drop the kickstand before he climbed the steps to his home. Once inside, he used his foot to kick the door closed.
Just as he began to head upstairs, he heard Percy’s first sob. He’d anticipated his mate breaking sooner, but Percy had damn near clawed Santiago’s back, as if he was trying to hold himself together.
“You can let go now, carino ,”
Santiago murmured. “I’ve got you.”
Another sob escaped.
Santiago went directly to his bed, not bothering to remove his boots, and lay down, holding Percy closely against him.
This was on Santiago. He should’ve seen the signs that had been right in front of him. How Percy had been forcing normalcy, using sass to hide his emotions.
His mate had wanted to be his old self so badly, he’d pushed himself past the edge.
If he’d known about Percy’s breakdown in the kitchen, he never would’ve agreed to go out. Healing took time and should never be rushed.
“I’m sorry you had to face that alone,”
he said. “I should’ve been there when you needed me, carino .”
Percy shifted slightly in his embrace. “It wasn’t just about your arrest,”
he said in a low tone. “That’s how it started, but…”
“Everything else came pouring out with it.”
He gently brushed his knuckles along Percy’s cheek, savoring the softness of his skin.
His mate nodded, snuggling closer. “I was angry you let Gilmore handcuff you, terrified of what he would do to you once you were alone with him.”
Santiago hadn’t feared the deputy. But Rico? If Matias hadn’t arrived when he did, Santiago might’ve been tranquilized, because no way in hell would he have led his pack into a trap.
That’s what scared him. Not a human cop intoxicated by his authority.
“I was fine, carino . Just upset I missed dinner with you, but Gilmore didn’t lay a finger on me.”
“I was on the porch, crying, when something inside me just snapped.”
Percy had struggled so hard not to let the incident impact his life. He’d put on a facade, smiling, joking, and acting as if everything was fine. However, as far as Santiago was aware, Percy had never truly confronted what Tito had done to him.
“I don’t even remember trashing the kitchen,”
Percy admitted. “I’d gone inside to put the food away, and the next thing I knew, I was on the floor with Elijah’s arms wrapped around me.”
“That’s blind rage,”
Santiago said. “You’ve been bottling up what happened to you.”
“Don’t,”
Percy protested, trying to pull away, but Santiago held him firmly.
“If you don’t deal with it, tonight won’t be the last time you unravel, Percy. It’ll keep happening, and what if next time you’re alone?”
“Let me go.”
Percy struggled against his hold. Santiago released him and watched as his mate climbed out of bed.
Santiago got up, frustrated that Percy was retreating back into denial. “I worried the entire ride you would break, instead, you were busy burying it all again.”
If he didn’t face his issues, another breakdown was inevitable. And what if Santiago wasn’t there? What if his mate’s actions became more reckless? What if next time Percy flirted with another male?
The thought made Santiago want to commit homicide. He closed his eyes seconds before he felt his pupils glowing. Percy was unaware of his world, and right now was the worst time to reveal the truth. Santiago took deep, controlled breaths, trying to calm down.
“It’s not your place to decide how I handle…”
Santiago opened his eyes. “I would never take your choices away, carino , but how can you start to heal if you won’t even acknowledge there’s a problem?”
“I’m fine!”
Percy clenched his fists at his sides, his nostrils flaring, eyes blazing.
“You were not fine in the club,”
Santiago snarled, frustrated by his mate’s stubborn denial, angry at how things could’ve gone sideways while in hostile territory. “You were on the verge of a breakdown!”
Percy screamed, sweeping his arms across the top of Santiago’s dresser. Items flew off, striking the wall and scattering across the floor. The cap of his styling gel popped open, spilling liquid onto the carpet.
He yanked open drawers, tossing clothes everywhere. Santiago lunged forward, catching Percy’s wrists just as he was about to throw a small jewelry box. Inside were his mother’s keepsakes, the only mementos he had of her.
A sharp scream escaped Percy as he pulled his hands back, retreating so quickly he hit the wall. “He lied to me! Said you wanted to see me, that you were waiting for me outside!”
Santiago closed his eyes, feeling like he’d been struck in the gut. Tito had manipulated Percy’s feelings for Santiago to draw him away from the tavern. No wonder his mate was anxious around him. In Percy’s mind—however irrational it seemed—Santiago was tied to his trauma.
“He deceived you, carino . I would never send someone else to fetch you. I would come myself.”
But Percy hadn’t known that.
“He told me you were in the shed, working on something, and you needed my help.”
He wrapped his arms around his midsection, trembling. “It was so hot in there. I kept pounding on the door, but no one…”
Because everyone had been focused on helping Diablo at the time. He’d burst into the tavern with thick chains wrapped around his wrists, his eyes wild. He wouldn’t let anyone approach, but everyone had been desperate to free him from those damn chains.
At the same time, Percy had been trapped in the shed, desperately begging for help. Santiago felt sick to his stomach. “I had no idea, Percy. I never would let anything happen to you.”
“What if… what if he comes back?”
Santiago’s eyes flew open as he growled. “He’s never coming back. I made damn sure of it.”
After dragging Tito from the hospital room, Santiago had lied, telling him he had to pack his shit and leave town. It was the only way to ensure Tito didn’t make a scene.
But instead of heading to Tito’s place, Santiago had driven them to a remote spot in the forest, shifted into his lycanthrope, and torn the son of a bitch apart.
Afterward, he’d gone home and showered before returning to Percy’s bedside, where he’d remained until his mate’s discharge.
“You killed him,”
Percy whispered.
“He hurt you,”
he said, needing Percy to understand that Tito would never return and that his mate was safe now. “You almost died because of him.”
Santiago stepped closer, locking eyes with his mate. “I will destroy anyone who harms you, Percy. You’re mine to protect, and he nearly made me fail you,”
he said gently.
Percy’s bottom lip quivered as he ran into his arms, tears brimming in his eyes. Santiago held his elegido close, breathing in his scent, finding his own calm while providing Percy the support he needed as his mate cried, finally acknowledging the damage Tito had caused.
“Can we use a code word?”
Percy mumbled against Santiago’s chest. “So I won’t be deceived again.”
Santiago rested his cheek on his mate’s hair. “That’s actually a brilliant idea, Percy.”
“ Cabra morada ,”
Percy suggested.
“What is it with you and purple goats?”
Santiago grinned. “Is this some kind of secret obsession I should know about?”
Percy shoved at him, causing Santiago to reluctantly release him. “I’ll answer you, if you tell me why Sully called you wolf.”
He stood with his hands on his hips, eyes narrowed. “I’m not clueless, Santiago. I’ve noticed things.”
He wasn’t about to confess to anything until he knew exactly what “things”
his mate was referring to. “Like what?”
he asked playfully, though he was sweating bullets. He wasn’t sure if Percy could handle the truth in his fragile state.
“You growl an awful lot,”
Percy noted. “So did a lot of the guys at the tavern.”
They were wolves. It was natural for them.
Percy looked down, lips pressed together. Santiago waited patiently, giving his mate time to process whatever he was grappling with. “He said his pack wouldn’t understand right before he locked me inside the shed.”
Another gut punch. “Nobody would understand.”
Anyone decent would think Tito was deranged for what he had done.
His mate looked up from beneath thick, golden lashes. “What are you, Santiago?”
His heart thundered as he stood there, torn between revealing the truth or dismissing his mate’s question as nonsense.
Their eyes locked. This was it. Either Percy would accept the truth, or he would walk away. “Are you sure, carino ? There’s no turning back.”
“It’s already too late for me,”
Percy admitted. “My reaction to your arrest said everything, zorrillo de peluche .”
Santiago’s lips curled into a slow smile as they continued to gaze at each other cautiously. “I’ll be your teddy skunk.”
Percy narrowed his eyes. “Stop stalling, and you know damn well I called you teddy bear.”
He loved how Percy was convinced that his Spanish was flawless and thought Santiago was just messing with him. If anything, it only made his mate more endearing.
“Last chance,”
Santiago warned.
“Swear to pedicures and lattes, if you don’t tell me, I will unleash full bitch mode on you,”
he growled.
Santiago’s humor vanished as he realized they had reached an irreversible moment. “Wolf.”
Percy’s gaze swept over him, his brows knitting together. “I would’ve bet everything you were about to say bear. That’s why I called you teddy bear. I was cleverly telling you that I already knew,”
he huffed.
Santiago wasn’t sure what to think. He just confirmed he wasn’t human, and Percy was having a snit that he was the wrong breed of shifter? “Not an oso , carino .”
“Look at you.”
Percy gestured toward Santiago’s body. “How can you not be a freaking bear with that build?”
Was… was he covering up a meltdown by having a fit? Santiago studied his mate’s expression, searching for signs of distress, but found none.
The guy was genuinely irritated he hadn’t been right. Percy definitely had a unique perspective.
“You’re not scared?”
“Prove you’re not a damn bear.”
He crossed his arms, glaring. “You’re constantly telling me my Spanish is nonsense. Lie. Now you’re trying to convince me you’re a wolf when I know damn well your big ass is a bear.”
Had Santiago fallen asleep on the bed and this was some bizarre dream? He thought he would have to convince Percy, then deal with a freak out. Instead, Santiago was dealing with a freak out, but for an entirely different reason.
“I have two forms,”
he said. “Wolf and lycanthrope.”
“Aren’t those the same things?”
Percy squinted at him.
“No.”
Santiago didn’t bother explaining further, still watching for any signs of panic.
“Lycanthrope.”
Percy smirked, arms still crossed, appearing confident Santiago was about to be caught in a lie.
He had hoped Percy would say wolf. His lycanthrope form was much more terrifying. But Santiago couldn’t wait to erase that smug expression from Percy’s gorgeous face.
For fuck’s sake, a goddamn bear.
“And you did call me a teddy skunk.”
His mate waved his hand in a shooing motion. “Get to proving or get to admitting you’re lying.”
Santiago whipped his shirt over his head and tossed it aside.
Percy’s lips parted slightly as his eyes traveled slowly over Santiago’s chest. “What…”
He cleared his throat. “What’re you doing?”
Inwardly, Santiago was now the one smirking. Maybe a little peacocking too. “I’m not shredding my clothes when I shift.”
“That’s…good…”
Percy’s gaze roamed Santiago’s body, lingering briefly on his groin before darting away. “I forgot what I was going to say. Damn, zorrillo de peluche, you’re hiding all that under your clothes?”
Santiago snapped his fingers in front of Percy’s lust-filled gaze. As much as it thrilled him to see how much his elegido was drooling over his body, he had a damn point to make.
Eyes flicked to him but slid downward again. There was no use trying to force Percy to focus. His mind had already plunged into whatever fantasy was playing out in his head.
“Fucking or sucking?”
Santiago toed off his boots then slipped his jeans down to his thighs. His cock was hard, pressing heavily against his boxer briefs.
“Huh?”
Percy replied without looking up.
“The scene in your head. Are we fucking or sucking?”
He pulled his jeans the rest of the way off.
Percy’s tongue swept over his bottom lip as his breathing grew shallow. “I, uh… What ?”
Santiago flexed.
Percy squeaked.
“Having a hard time focusing, mi elegido ?”
“Oh, I’m focusing just fine,”
he mumbled.
“On what, carino ?”
Santiago took a step forward then made his cock twitch. His mate swallowed roughly, his eyes glued to the swollen outline straining against Santiago’s underwear.
“You’re a goddamn python,”
Percy remarked. “I changed my mind. You’re not a bear, you’re a fucking horse.”
Laughter burst from Santiago. “I’m a wolf, sweetheart. A very well-endowed wolf shifter.”
“Can’t argue with that.”
Percy moved closer, one hand extended while the other rested against his chest.
Santiago groaned as his mate’s fingers traced his rigid abdomen. “Rock hard.”
“Something else is rock-hard on me.”
Santiago tucked his fingers under Percy’s chin, gently coaxing him to tilt his head back. “Wanna guess which body part?”
Their lips brushed in a slow, teasing dance, their breaths growing labored. He waited, the pad of his thumb caressing Percy’s chin. “Kiss me, beautiful.”
Thin arms circled around his neck as soft lips hungrily devoured his. Santiago curled an arm around the slender back, crushing the lithe body to him.
Percy jumped, and Santiago caught him, lifting his mate until slim legs wrapped around his waist. In mere seconds, he had Percy pressed against the wall, his mate tasting faintly of the Cosmo he’d had earlier, the scent of citrus still lingering on his skin.
Percy’s breath brushed against Santiago’s mouth, his lips trembling from the weight of anticipation. Santiago held him there a moment longer, savoring the way Percy’s lashes brushed against his cheek, his pulse fluttering against his own neck. He could feel every ounce of tension in the smaller man’s frame, see the way Percy bit his lip, fire and recklessness in his eyes.
The kind of wildness a man could become addicted to.
Loosening his hold, Santiago watched as his mate slid down his body. Fuck me. The look in his eyes was so intense, electricity should’ve crackled in the air. It wouldn’t be a hardship to love this man, to wrap his heart around Percy and never come up for air. An explosion of personality that coiled around Santiago and blew him apart in the best way.
The moment Percy’s feet touched the floor, he looked up at Santiago, a sin-laced look in his eyes. A wickedness that made him wonder what his mate was up to.
He palmed Santiago’s trapped cock, kneading the hard length. Raw heat surged through Santiago’s body, spreading like wildfire. He’d intended to prove a point to Percy, but his mate took a few shaky breaths before his fingers slid beneath the waistband of Santiago’s underwear. A strangled groan escaped, low…and damn those fingers for feeling so incredible as they glided down his hips.
Santiago just stood there, gazing down at the man he’d fallen deeply in love with, wanting nothing more than to protect him, to keep him safe. He’d gotten inside Santiago’s head, his heart, making him want to grin like a fool.
His emotions were a tangled mess when it came to his mate, his fierce elegido with claws and heart, who refused to let life take from him, even if it meant coasting too close to the edge at times, because Santiago would always bring him back.
With a firmer grip, he pulled Santiago’s underwear down his thighs, his engorged cock springing free. He nearly lost his shit, desperate to feel those soft lips on his erection.
Beads of precum were already dotting the slit, his shaft throbbing in time with his pounding heart.
He was lost to Percy’s touch, drowning in those big green eyes before his mate lowered them. His wicked tongue flicked out, tracing along his lower lip, leaving Santiago undone. Completely and hopelessly wrecked.
Jesus. He was out to kill Santiago just from that needy look alone.
His heart raced even faster as Percy lowered to his knees, pressing his nose into Santiago’s balls, inhaling deeply. Everything else vanished—the world, their troubles, every other living soul besides them.
Parting his lips, he took Santiago’s cock into his mouth. Motherfuck. He hissed, guiding his fingers through Percy’s soft hair, the strands gliding through his fingers. What Percy was doing to him had Santiago on the edge already. Had him coasting straight for oblivion in the best damn way. His gaze fused with Percy’s lips, watched as his cock disappeared into that sweet mouth repeatedly. He was the gentle breeze Santiago needed, a wild storm at times too. Sass contained in a compact body Santiago wanted to worship. Wanted to own.
A desire that swept through him whispering, I see you, I need you, I’ve got you.
He fought not to thrust his hips, to let his mate explore him at his own pace, but he was quickly losing that battle. His hips flexed slightly an inch, his balls growing tighter.
“ Mi elegido ,”
Santiago groaned. “So fucking good.”
Santiago’s whole body tingled, burning from the inside out, making him feel like he was breaking apart. How could one man have come to mean so much to him? Time seemed to stand still as Percy took Santiago’s cock back into his mouth. He might’ve thought Percy was using sex as a distraction, but they both needed this after the night they’d had.
A release to ease it all.
Every touch Percy gave him screamed with passion and possessiveness. The way he was sucking Santiago’s cock was…fuck. He growled to himself when he couldn’t find the right words.
Percy gazed up at him and Santiago forgot how to think. Those beautiful eyes were magnetic, enthralling. He brushed his knuckles over Percy’s throat, moaning at the way the muscles worked under his fingers.
An electrical storm wound its way up Santiago’s spine. A snarl ripped free. “Percy…gonna…”
He took Santiago’s cock even deeper.
That wicked tongue. Pure fucking bliss.
Santiago’s muscles tensed, and his body jolted as his cum shot down his mate’s throat. A sound ripped from Santiago, something between a groan and a growl. Then he pulled Percy off his knees, spinning him around.
His mate breathlessly laughed as Santiago pressed Percy’s back to his chest. “ Tienes una boca talentosa, hermoso .”
You have a talented mouth, beautiful.
“Don’t tease me, zorrillo de peluche .”
“ Quiero acostarte en mi cama y adorarte con mi lengua. Podría hacerte gritar mi nombre muchas veces, carino .”
I want to lay you on my bed and worship you with my tongue. I could make you cry my name many times, sweetheart.
Santiago curled his fingers around Percy’s cock, stroking the hard, throbbing shaft until his mate was crying out his own release. He slumped back, panting. Santiago brushed a kiss over Percy’s temple. As much has he wanted curl in bed with his mate, Santiago still wanted Percy to meet his wolf.