THIRDS Beyond the Books Volume 1 Page 8

  Ash absently toyed with Cael’s hair. “I’m glad I’m here too. Merry Christmas, Cael.”

  “Merry Christmas, Ash.” Cael silently asked Santa if he could make it so Ash could spend every Christmas with him. That would be the best present ever. He closed his eyes, his belly full of yummy cookies, the scent of Ash and his strong body keeping him warm. For now this would do nicely. Best Christmas ever.

  Prompt #13: I’m a glutton for punishment, so I would love to see anything with Sloane & Gabe. Maybe their first date? Or even just the moment one of them was like, “Hey, you’re hot, date me?”

  “IS THAT all you got, Brodie?”

  Sloane let out a breathless laugh at Gabe’s playful taunt. “Seriously?” He wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. “I just kicked your ass.”

  Gabe sat up on the mat with a groan. “Is that what that was? I think you’re overestimating your skills, partner.”

  He held a hand out to Sloane, his hazel eyes filled with mischief. Sloane braced himself. Gabe had something up his sleeve. He was a crafty bastard. Sloane had reached for Gabe’s outstretched hand when his partner made a swipe for his leg instead. It was a nice attempt, but Sloane was too quick for him.

  “Oh, it’s like that, huh?”

  “It’s like that,” Gabe said with a laugh. He held his hand out again, the other up in surrender. “No funny stuff. I promise.”

  “Then you’ll have to do something about that face,” Sloane teased.

  “Ooh! Dick.”

  Gabe jumped to his feet, and Sloane took off, Gabe chasing after him.

  They ran out into the hall leading to the different training bays, and Sloane dashed through the indoor basketball courts. Gabe almost caught Sloane when he decided to cut through one of the courts, thanks to a couple of their fellow agents getting in the way. From across the court, someone threw a basketball at their teammate, and Sloane intercepted, snatching it in midair. He hit the floor and spun on his heels before tossing at the net. Slam dunk.

  Sloane thrust a finger at Gabe. “That’s how you do it.”

  “Show-off.”

  Gabe jabbed Sloane in the shoulder, making him laugh.

  “Come on. Let’s hit the showers. Beer’s on you.”

  “Oh, really? How do you figure that?”

  They headed for the showers now that their shift was over. It had been a long day, with a couple of callouts and some intense training. He was glad they managed some time to just mess around. It helped relax him. Plus he had fun with Gabe.

  “Hey, you wiped the floor with me. The least I should get is a cold beer. Call it an incentive to do better next time. Besides, it’s Friday night.” Gabe gave him a wink, and Sloane chuckled.

  “Okay. Beer’s on me.”

  They greeted their fellow agents in the locker room before undressing. As Sloane put away his uniform, Gabe joked with some of their teammates. Sloane smiled when he heard Gabe’s laugh. His partner had an infectious laugh. It was always genuine. Then again, that’s the kind of guy Gabe was. Friendly, kind, and always genuine. The two of them had quickly become close. Gabe made it easy. He was a great guy. Always there to back Sloane up. Out in the field, Gabe was no-nonsense and intense. He was by the book and determined, but there were moments like this when Sloane saw the man behind the agent.

  Gabe finished his chat and sent off a text to the rest of their team in case they wanted to join them for a few drinks. They’d most likely head to one of the bars close to Gabe’s apartment. That way the two could just stumble to Gabe’s after. Sloane had crashed there plenty of times. Hopefully Isaac wouldn’t be around. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but he wasn’t crazy about Gabe’s career choices or Therians in general.

  The two of them showered quickly and dried off. Sloane was sitting on the bench in front of his locker in his boxer briefs when Gabe asked him for his towel.

  “I’ll chuck it in the laundry bin with mine.”

  “Sure.” Sloane got up to hand Gabe his towel, momentarily distracted by his phone buzzing his locker. At that moment Gabe swung his arm back, his elbow hitting Sloane in the mouth.

  “Ah, fuck!” Sloane hissed, clamping a hand over his lips. Son of a bitch.

  “Shit! I’m so sorry!” Gabe put his hand on Sloane’s. “Are you okay? Let me see.”

  “It’s fine,” Sloane grumbled, tonguing his teeth and inside his mouth. Luckily Gabe hadn’t hit him hard.

  “Humor me.”

  Gabe arched an eyebrow at him and pointed down to the bench. There was no point arguing. His partner was too damned stubborn. With a sigh, Sloane sat down and let Gabe inspect him.

  Gently, Gabe took hold of Sloane’s chin and lifted his face. He put his thumb on the corner of Sloane’s mouth, and Sloane did his best not to fidget. It was strange, having Gabe be so gentle with him. Sloane opened his mouth as Gabe instructed.

  “No bleeding,” Gabe murmured, giving him a nod. Sloane closed his mouth, noticing how Gabe’s fingers lingered on his face, his thumb brushing his skin as he drew back. Gabe cleared his throat, his hazel eyes dark. “We uh, we should go. You know what traffic will be like. Beer’s on me, for almost knocking your teeth out.”

  Sloane stood so he could finish getting dressed. “Don’t sweat it. It was an accident.”

  Something was… off. Gabe was having trouble meeting Sloane’s gaze, and Sloane wasn’t faring any better. They’d carpooled that morning, so they took Sloane’s car.

  “Listen, I um, I’m kind of beat. How about we just throw a couple back at my place?”

  Sloane shot a quick glance at his partner, noticing how he was looking out the window, his expression unreadable.

  “Sure. No prob.” A few minutes later, he’d pulled into a spot a couple of doors down from Gabe’s apartment. He followed Gabe up the steps, something he’d done countless times, yet this time it felt different. Something had changed, and he couldn’t quite tell what. Gabe closed the door behind them, and Sloane hung up his jacket. He turned and ran right into Gabe’s lips. At least that’s how it felt, until the taste of Gabe exploded in his mouth. Sloane didn’t think. He kissed Gabe back and allowed himself to be led over to Gabe’s couch where they both sat, their breaths mingled as they explored each other’s mouths. Needing to come up for air and possibly get his brain functioning again, Sloane pulled back.

  “Wow, okay.” Sloane let out a soft laugh.

  “Shit, I’m sorry, I thought—”

  Sloane took hold of Gabe’s face before he could pull away and kissed him. He didn’t know what had brought this on, but damn, it felt right, even if his head was telling him it was wrong. Gabe was his partner. After what happened with Seb, this was the last thing he should be doing. He pulled back, intent on telling Gabe they needed to forget about whatever craziness had gotten into them, but when he saw Gabe’s shy smile, his cheeks flushed and lips pink from being kissed, Sloane couldn’t bring himself to say the words.

  “I can’t believe I did that.” Gabe shot to his feet and started pacing, his handsome face filled with worry. He stopped and turned to Sloane. “Tell me I didn’t just fuck everything up. I know after what happened to Seb, this is the last thing you need, and I completely understand if you want me to back off. Hell, we can forget it ever happened.”

  “That’s it?” Sloane stood and folded his arms over his chest. “Why did you kiss me?”

  “I don’t know, I—”

  Gabe started to pace again, and Sloane took hold of his arm. He pulled him close, their bodies almost touching. Out in the field Gabe was nothing but fearless. He was meticulous and levelheaded. In Sloane’s arms, he was soft and unsure, almost vulnerable. It was a side of Gabe Sloane hadn’t seen before, and he had to admit he was curious.

  “I’m serious. Why did you kiss me?”

  Gabe swallowed hard, his eyes dropping to Sloane’s lips before moving up to meet his gaze. “I wanted to. No. I needed to.” A small smile crept onto his face. “You’re kind of hot,
if you haven’t noticed.”

  Sloane chuckled. He brought Gabe in close and kissed his cheek. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

  “Jerk.” Gabe huffed and placed his hand on Sloane’s arm. “So, what happens now?”

  “Now we can see where this goes or… walk away. Pretend it never happened. Stay friends, partners. No matter what happens, you know I’ll have your back.”

  Gabe worried his bottom lip between his teeth. “Do you think it’s worth the risk?”

  “I think you’re worth the risk.”

  Gabe’s smile lit up his face, the expression reaching his beautiful hazel eyes. He leaned in for a kiss when the front door opened. They quickly pulled apart, and Sloane turned to find Gabe’s brother, Isaac, at the door, a deep frown on his face. He made no effort to hide his disapproval as he raked his gaze over Sloane.

  “Jesus, Isaac. You scared the shit out of me.”

  Sloane’s friendly greeting wasn’t returned. Instead Isaac turned his scowl on his brother.

  “What are you doing?”

  Gabe placed himself between Sloane and Isaac without hesitation, the gesture not lost on Sloane. The last thing he wanted was to stir up trouble for Gabe, and in the short amount of time he’d known Isaac, he knew the guy was a pain in the ass. Still, Gabe loved his brother. Isaac was the only family Gabe had. Sloane wouldn’t come between them.

  “I should go,” Sloane said, his hand going to Gabe’s back. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Isaac barely acknowledged him as he left the apartment. He sat for a moment inside his car wishing he’d had more time alone with Gabe. As he turned on the engine, he smiled and his heart did a little dance. They had plenty of time. And he was looking forward to every minute of it.

  Prompt #14: I would like to see what happened when Sloane filled up all the pockets in Dex’s uniform with catnip. :-)

  HE COULD do this.

  All he had to do was stay under the radar and pay attention to his Felid companions’ signals. No problem.

  Dex was just a few weeks away from completing his probationary period and earning his THIRDS tags. Among callouts and the search for Isaac Pearce, he was up to his eyeballs in training and hostile simulations, a good number involving his sexy partner, his Felid teammates, and a few of the other Felid agents from Unit Alpha.

  Today Destructive Delta, along with half a dozen other Felid agents from Unit Alpha, was performing an extraction simulation. They faced an undisclosed number of hostile Therians in their Therian form hiding in the abandoned buildings of Greenpoint, or rather the very detailed replica of Greenpoint within the THIRDS training facility.

  Rosa’s quiet voice came in over Dex’s earpiece. “Any visuals?”

  “I got nothing,” Dex replied, his voice low.

  Dex, Rosa, Letty, and Calvin had lost sight of their Felid Therian teammates ten minutes ago and decided to split up to cover more ground. Since Sloane was off having one of his quarterly evaluations, Destructive Delta’s numbers were slightly off, and they were down a Team Leader. Instead of rescheduling the simulation, Tony decided it would be a good learning experience for Dex. As the low hisses and growls of Felid Therians resonating from within one of the empty buildings met his ear, Dex decided his dad was so getting a tie for Father’s Day this year. And not a fun one either. A really boring one.

  Movement caught his attention, and he spun, tranq training rifle in hand. He really hoped it was Ash so he could shoot his ass with red paint and pretend it had been an accident. Instead the barrel of his rifle was aimed at a black heart-shaped nose.

  “Dammit, Cael. Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

  His brother chirped and flattened his ears before pawing at Dex. With a chuckle, Dex crouched down and scratched his brother behind the ear. Cael let out a series of small chirps before rubbing his head against Dex.

  “Dude, what are you doing?”

  Cael chirped cheerfully and continued to rub against him.

  “Stop that. We’re in the middle of a mission scenario. You’re kind of creeping me out.” Dex gave his brother a gentle shove away from him. Why did he keep smelling mint? Dex sniffed around. He could have sworn there was the faintest hint of mint in the air. He turned and yelped at finding himself nose to nose with a big furry tabby tiger. “Hobbs?”

  Hobbs mewled and closed his eyes before rubbing his head against Dex’s. “Um, yeah, I like you too, buddy, but we’re uh, kind of in the middle of something. You know, bad guys, guns, sharp claws.”

  Hobbs ignored him, hitting his head against Dex’s shoulder and knocking him onto his ass. Cael pawed at Dex’s tac pants.

  “Seriously, what is up with you two?” Were they really going to play now? True, it was incredibly challenging to control Felid Therians when in their Therian forms, but this was ridiculous.

  Cael chirped away at him, his two front paws digging at Dex’s pocket. Having officially been weirded out by his brother and teammate, Dex pushed himself to his feet, swatting away Cael and Hobbs as they followed him. They continued to rub up against his legs. Sloane was gonna be pissed. He hated when other Felids rubbed up against him.

  Ignoring them, Dex headed for one of the crumbling buildings when two other Felid Therian agents from Unit Alpha joined their merry gang. Soon another three had joined them. What the hell? They were all looking up at him, mewling and purring, pupils dilated. Occasionally one would paw at him, without claws luckily.

  “Who do I look like to you? The Pied Piper?” Except in his case he hadn’t invited his little entourage.

  One of the jaguar Therian agents nipped at his tac pants, and Dex jumped to the side.

  “Whoa, hey now. Easy there, big guy.”

  Three of the tiger Therian agents bumped into him, another lion Therian agent tugging at his pants before he managed to bite down on Dex’s thigh rig and pull. The force knocked Dex to the ground.

  “What the hell?” The Felids advanced, sniffing at him, nudging him with their furry heads, and pawing at him. “I need backup!”

  “What’s going on?” Rosa asked worriedly over their com.

  “I don’t know, but they’re all… sniffing me!” They weren’t attacking him. It was almost worse. They were rubbing up against him. Some of them had their paws in the air, bellies exposed as they writhed on the ground next to Dex.

  “What?”

  Hobbs nipped at Dex’s pockets, managing to get one open. He tried shoving his big nose in, inhaling and chuffing. Cael lay across Dex’s chest, pinning him on the ground.

  “Cael, get off. What are you doing?”

  His brother chirped, then sneezed. He licked his paws before rubbing his head on Dex again.

  “Oh my God, what’s happening? Why is this happening? It sounds like I’m getting run over by a train. So much purring!” Dex was on the verge of panicking. He had seven Felid Therians pawing at him and trying to get into every pocket on his person. What the hell were they looking for?

  He tossed his rifle to one side, dug into his pockets, and came back with… grass? He sniffed at it. So that’s what smelled kind of minty. His eyes widened as realization set in. He knew what this was.

  “Help!”

  “Dex?” Rosa, Letty, and Calvin came running, coming to a halt when they saw Dex. The three promptly burst into laughter.

  “That bastard! He put catnip in my uniform!” Dex wailed as he was descended upon.

  They pushed and prodded, batted him with their paws, rubbed up against him, licked him, and tugged at his uniform. A nose poked him in the butt, and he jumped with a start.

  “Get away from there.” He swatted a tiger Therian agent away. “No! Bad agent. There’s no catnip there!” The more he tried to fight it, the crazier they went.

  There was a roar, and Dex froze. “Nope. No.” He managed to peek over his shoulder and saw Ash. “Rosa, don’t let him near me!”

  Ash sniffed the air. He let out a growl before turning tail and taking off, leaving nothing but dust trails i
n his wake. Thank God for small miracles. Looked like Ash wanted to stay clear away from Dex. On the plus side, it meant Ash was not immune to catnip.

  I’ll just store that away for future reference.

  There was no escaping. He curled up on himself as they rolled him around like their personal cat toy. Dex yelped as Hobbs stuck his furry face in Dex’s.

  “No. Don’t do it. Don’t—”

  Hobbs licked Dex from his chin, up his jaw, to his head.

  “Ah! Right in the freakin’ ear!” His jerk Human teammates were in tears from laughing. “I hate you all! I shall have my vengeance, and it shall descend swiftly upon all who—Ah, my freakin’ ear!”

  Damn you, Sloane Brodie! Dex thrust his fist in the air. “Damn you!” A paw batted his hand, and Dex glared at his brother. “Traitor.”

  With a chirp, Cael lay across Dex’s chest and closed his eyes.

  As Dex lay there surrounded by slumbering apex predators, he closed his eyes and sighed. He heard his giggling teammates approach.

  “Aw, look at how sweet he looks,” Letty said quietly.

  “Screw you all.”

  Calvin snickered. “You know, if you try to move they’ll get pissed.”

  “Yep, I gathered. Thanks.” Dex opened his eyes and arched an eyebrow at them. “Anyone care to help me out here or….”

  “I’m thirsty,” Letty said, turning to Rosa. “You thirsty?”

  “Yeah, why don’t we take a break.”

  “Very funny,” Dex grumbled. “Seriously, guys. Help me out here.”

  The three of them walked off.

  “Guys? Oh, come on!”

  Cael huffed and poked his tongue out to lick Dex’s jaw.

  “I’m assuming that’s your half-assed, high-as-a-kite way of comforting me. It’s still gross, but thanks. I appreciate it.”

  Cael went back to sleep. Note to self, partner is devious. Very devious. Does not forget. A wicked smile came onto his face. Musicians with Mullets marathon. With a sigh, Dex drifted off to thoughts of sweet vengeance.