Bound to the Beasts (Monsters of New York #21)

Chapter One

Elias

I cannot believe he is here.

Him.

Branson Tucker.

Of all the goddamn luck.

I sniff the air—full of his sultry feline scent—and move to the cover of a low arched bridge that spans north to south in Central Park. I’ll wait in the shadows for him to move on.

He’s in his panther form. I’d recognize him anywhere. He’s huge with wide muscular shoulders, great big silent pads, and a tail with the cutest kink at the end. The moonlight catches on his velvety black fur, shimmering as though touched by silver. He pauses and also sniffs the air.

I hold my breath, but there is nothing I can do about my wolf scent. As an ex-alpha, it’s strong and dominant.

He’s got me. I can tell by the flash of his deep yellow eyes, the pupils thin vertical slits, as he turns my way.

I sink deeper, glad of my own dark fur, but I have no chance of avoiding him, not now.

As he comes closer, he shifts, stretching upward, elongating, his dark fur turning to acres of perfect black skin. His face is angular, his features strong, and as always confidence flashes in his human eyes.

I walk from the shadows, shifting as I go.

It’s impossible not to look at his cock and I see his attention dip to mine.

Once upon a time we knew each other so intimately I could almost have believed he was part of me.

But that couldn’t last. We are so different we may as well be from different galaxies.

“Elias,” he says, tipping his head and giving me one of his cocky-as-fuck grins. “You’ve got more gray hair than when I last saw you.”

Cheeky fucker.

“What are you doing here?” I ask and run my hand through my overly long hair. It falls almost to my shoulders.

“Probably same as you.”

I nod. There have been two killings in the park recently. Not your average serial murders or psychotic stabbings, but mauling. Nasty business.

“Smell anything?” I ask and nod east, where the second murder took place.

“Only you.” He steps closer. “So damn strong.”

His muscles ripple beneath the surface of his skin and it makes me want to lick him again. All over.

“I caught your scent first.” I frown. “When you were way back there.”

“Maybe I wanted you to.” He shrugs in that maddening way of his. “Maybe I miss you and wanted you to smell me and remember that you miss me too.”

I grit my teeth. We can’t go over this again. It broke my heart the first time, and I refuse to be a sucker for more pain. It would ruin me. There are only so many times a guy can put the shattered pieces of his soul back together.

“Elias.” He steps closer still, his grin dropping and his face becoming serious. “I miss you so much it hurts.”

“And I fucking miss you too, all right, but there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s the way of the ancient world, the traditions of our clans must be respected.”

“But we’re a new generation. We could change all of that.”

I huff. “You might be, I’m fifteen years your senior, remember.”

“And so good at teaching me everything I needed to learn. You recall when you taught me how to deep throat you and—”

I growl low in my chest and it vibrates around my body.

“Fuck, you’re sexy when you do that.” He takes my hand and it’s like an electric shock has gone through me.

My body reacts to his with a jolt, my heart skips a beat, and heat goes to my cock. “What are you doing?” I don’t move my hand.

“We kept us a secret for three years, we still could.” He frowns. “We’ll be careful. No one will find out, I promise.”

I swallow, my throat tight. He’s so young and handsome but he doesn’t understand—or refuses to try. Wolves and panthers don’t mix, the way cats and dogs don’t. It’s nature’s way. It’s how shifters evolved.

“You can’t make that promise, Branson.”

“I would do anything to have you back.” He touches my cheek, his fingertips gentle and warm. “To have things the way they were.”

“That can’t happen.”

“You’re not alpha anymore, it will be easier.”

I grimace and close my eyes. Giving up my alpha spot had been a gut-wrenchingly difficult decision. But my heart wasn’t in it, how could it be when it had so many scars? The best thing had been to willingly relinquish to my top beta, Fraser, before we ended up fighting to the death.

“Branson,” I whisper as I stare into his eyes. “You will have to be content with memories. I have nothing more to offer you.” I tug my hand free and turn back to the tunnel. I have to escape before he dissolves my willpower because right now he’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to resist.

“Don’t walk away from me.” His voice is sharp and he grabs my biceps and spins me to face him.

Our bodies come into alignment, his chest brushing mine and his semi-hard cock nudging my hip.

“Don’t you think it was fate that we met here tonight like this, Elias?

Alone in the dark. Just you and me. The darkness hiding our secrets once more. ”

“Not fate.” I grip his shoulder. “We are both out hunting for a killer, not even a coincidence, it was inevitable our paths would cross.”

“Exactly, we are inevitable, so stop fighting it.” He curls his hand around the back of my neck and pulls my face to his. He’s not rough but he’s not gentle either.

We are exactly the same height, and my cock, now hardening rapidly, taps against his body. “Branson, what are you doing?” I stare into his eyes, their ethereal depths flash with desire.

“Reminding you of what you’re denying yourself, Elias.”

His soft lips crush against mine and he moans as he keeps me pressed close. I close my eyes and allow myself a moment of memories, a few seconds of bliss and being where I’ve wanted to be on so many long lonely nights.

“Fuck, you’re everything I need,” he murmurs and then kisses me again. He traces his free hand to my ass and squeezes my left butt cheek.

My cock reacts by throbbing between our bodies. He’s hard as steel too, and I know him well enough to know he wants me to fuck him.

A tremble goes through him and his breaths pick up as we kiss.

“We can’t...” I manage, yet as I speak I find his cock and grip it in my fist. “We can’t, Branson. “

“I say we can.” He tips his face to the stars. “Hell, yeah. Touch me like that.”

I rub his cock root to tip, his body heat soaking onto my palm.

“Yeah. Like that, Daddy. More.”

That word has another growl rumbling from my chest and my asshole clenches with longing for more of everything we used to do to each other.

I work his cock, reminding myself of the shape of his glans and his hot deep slit. He groans and buries his head in my neck. The curve of his body is like coming home and I want each and every one of his gasps to belong to me. Only me.

My focus returns and I look over the pathway to the glossy shrubs hiding us from the skyscrapers. What the fuck am I doing?

“Stop.” I release his cock and push him away. “Branson, we can’t ... you know we can’t.” My lust turns on a dime to anger. He’s always had the unnerving skill to make me forget myself, forget who and what I am and what I can and can’t do.

Hurt creases his brow and his chest puffs up as he takes a deep breath. His dark cock is fully erect and he clasps it in his hand. “Elias ... but...” He presses his other hand over his chest. “Why are you angry? I thought ... you were just...”

“Why am I angry?” I shake my head. “You just show up in the middle of the night, kiss me, practically beg Daddy to fuck you ... yes I’m angry, what did you expect?”

“I expected you to fuck me.” He points at my erection. “Seems to me you’re good to go and we’ve got a nice dark tunnel there. No one around. My guess is it won’t take either of us long.”

I snarl. “You think you have it all worked out, huh?”

“No, I don’t, I can just see that you want me as much as I want you so why deny yourself? Why torture us both to the point of pain?”

“Because.” I step up to him with my finger pointed. “Unlike you, I’m not na?ve, we were lucky to get away with it for so long, but sooner or later we would be found out.”

“Na?ve?” He whacks my pointed finger aside. “Maybe I’m just not stuck in the old ways like you are. Times are changing. The modern elders are more forgiving than the ancients. They understand that there are a minority of shifters who fall in love with different species.”

“Bullshit.”

“It’s not. I look.” He gestures to his eyes. “And I hear.” He tugs his left ear and continues. “You’ve been so wrapped up in grief and heartbreak, you’re out of touch, old man.” He bites on his bottom lip, daring me to react. “Age is blinding you.”

I do react. I curl my right fist and thump him square on the chin.

“What the fuck?” He clasps his face and stares at me with surprise and hurt flashing in his eyes.

But then he returns the punch, catches me on the nose, and then goes for a belly blow. Hits target. I grunt and hunch over.

“I can’t believe you hit me.” The pain in his voice slices away another part of my heart.

“Yeah, well, you just hit me ... twice.” I keep my head down and charge at him. I take him full in the chest and we both fall to the ground in a tangle of legs and arms.

My spine tingles, my hackles rise, and I shift. Turning in a second from man to wolf.

He does the same, his panther-self hissing and baring large teeth at me.

I snap and snarl and pull my tail between my legs.

Then the bastard pounces, taking me to the ground again in a roll of fur and teeth and claws.

Over we go, twice, three times, he nips at my neck, not hard enough to draw blood but enough to tell me he could have dug into my carotid.

My anger swells to new levels and I twist and get him beneath me.

I glare down at him, growling and letting him see my sharp canine teeth.

It’s then I sense it and smell it at the same time. A sweet tickle over my scalp accompanied by an ashy scent that laces my tongue. A human is near.

Branson has clocked the same whiff on the breeze. He stills.

I look left and right. There is nothing to be seen.

“It’s female,” he says using his internal voice to communicate now we are in shifter form.

“And I’m out of here.” I step away from him, head low as I scan the area. There is nothing to be seen. After three paces, I’m in the cover of the tunnel and I break into a gallop, my claws tapping on the cobbles as I head west. What the hell just happened? My emotions are battered.

Branson is what happened, that’s what. Trouble wrapped up in sexy.

And so did something else—that ancient ash scent. It was no ordinary human in the vicinity. It was something else. Something magical, like nothing I’d come across before.