THIRDS Beyond the Books Volume 2 Read online

  “Oh, he doesn’t love you.” Alexis patted his arm sympathetically.

  Sloane frowned at her. “Actually, he does love me. Very much.”

  “So why don’t you wanna marry him?”

  Really? Why was she so insistent? He didn’t have to justify himself to a six-year-old. “Because it’s a little more complicated than that.”

  Alexis peered at him. “No, it’s not.”

  “Yes, it is.”

  She put her little fists to her hips. “Nuh-uh.”

  “Yeah-huh,” Sloane said.

  “You’re just a scaredy-cat.” Alexis huffed and folded her arms over her chest.

  Sloane gaped at her. “I am not.”

  “Yes, you are. You’re a big scaredy-cat.”

  “You shouldn’t call people names. It’s very rude.”

  Sloane was smiling smugly when he saw tears pool in her eyes. Oh no. Oh shit. What did he do?

  “I’m sorry. Please don’t cry.”

  Alexis sniffled and rubbed at her eye, her bottom lip jutted out. Oh God, what was he supposed to do? What if she started bawling?

  “I didn’t mean it. You’re not rude. You’re right. I am a big scaredy-cat. A super, huge, gigantic scaredy-cat with commitment issues.”

  A big grin came onto her face, and the tears vanished. The little sneak!

  “It’s okay to be scared.”

  Alexis patted his head. He was about to reply when Alexis’s mother came running, a small blond-haired boy with amber eyes in her arms. The mother was Human, but the little boy was also a jaguar Therian.

  “Alexis! What are you doing?” She put the little boy down when she reached them. “I’m so sorry. She loves to get herself into mischief. I’m really sorry, Mr.…?”

  “Brodie.” He shook her hand and smiled. “I’m Agent Sloane Brodie.” Sloane motioned to the stage. “Agent Daley’s partner.”

  She let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you so much for looking after her. I’m sorry if she’s caused you any trouble.”

  “She was no trouble,” Sloane assured her as he placed Alexis on her feet.

  The mother knelt down before Alexis. “Sweetie, how many times have I told you not to sneak off like that? You scared me.”

  “I’m sorry, Mommy.”

  This time the pout was genuine, and she hugged her mother, who thanked Sloane again before heading off with her two children. Sloane found himself smiling as he watched them walk off. Alexis’s little brother stuck a thumb in his mouth and looked at Sloane from over his mother’s shoulder before waving at him. Sloane waved back. He hadn’t even realized the show was over until he saw Dex hop down from the stage.

  While Dex made his way over to Sloane, Alexis pulled away from her mom and ran up to Dex, who knelt down so she could whisper in his ear. He smiled widely, his gaze darting to Sloane before he whispered in her ear. She nodded and gave his cheek a kiss before running back to her mom.

  Sloane braced himself. Who knew what Alexis had told Dex?

  “Made a new friend, huh?”

  Sloane tilted his head up for a kiss, receiving one without hesitation. “Yeah. Cute kids.”

  “And you didn’t run—er, hop—for the hills? No spontaneous combustion?” Dex gasped.

  Sloane poked Dex on his side, making him laugh. “Smartass. I was fine. There may have been a slight moment of panic, but I pulled through it like a big boy.”

  “Yeah?” Dex helped Sloane to his feet, then wrapped his arms around him. “A little tutu-wearing birdie told me that you needed some extra special hugs.”

  “Is that so?” Sloane gave Dex’s cheek a kiss before taking hold of his crutch. They headed for the exit, with Dex stopping on occasion as the organizers thanked him profusely and begged him to do it again soon.

  “Yep. She said even big prickly Therians need lots of hugs and kisses.”

  Sloane chuckled. “Can’t argue with that. What did you tell her?”

  Dex opened the glass door for Sloane and followed him out onto the sidewalk. “I told her not to worry because I had a limitless supply of hugs and kisses for prickly jaguar Therians.”

  “A prickly jaguar Therian,” Sloane corrected.

  Dex laughed. “Right. A prickly jaguar Therian. One question.” Dex looked up at him, puzzled. “What are kitty tissues?”

  Sloane stared at him. “What now?”

  “Alexis said you needed extra hugs and kisses because you had kitty tissues.”

  Sloane burst out laughing.

  “What?” Dex asked, laughing with him. “What are kitty tissues?”

  When Sloane managed to stop laughing long enough to breathe and form a coherent sentence, he patted Dex’s arm and explained, leaving out the marriage part and telling him only about a relationship discussion.

  “Oh!” Dex laughed. “That’s cute.”

  “Either way, I didn’t get a chance to tell her how much you’ve helped me with my… kitty tissues.”

  Dex stopped to give Sloane a kiss. “How about we go home and I make this prickly jaguar Therian purr? Show him I’m here to help him through any kitty tissues that remain.”

  “Now that sounds like a purrfect plan.”

  “You’re such a dork.” Dex chuckled. “But you’re my dork.”

  Sloane couldn’t help his silly grin. Yeah, he was. He supposed Dex was rubbing off on him. Yeah, he was a lucky guy.

  Prompt #35: Some jealous Sloane would be nice. I’d love to see him getting jealous because someone’s flirting with Dex!

  “I DON’T need to be here,” Sloane grumbled.

  “Four sessions left. That’s all.” Dex patted Sloane’s knee and smiled, hoping to soothe his grumpy boyfriend. Sloane had complained all the way to the clinic about how he didn’t need any more therapy sessions and was doing just fine on his own. “You’ve been doing great. Just a little more. Please. At least they’re going to let you shift this time.”

  Sloane huffed and folded his arms over his chest, mumbling something Dex couldn’t make out. He tried his best not to laugh at the epic pouting going on. Looking at his boyfriend, no one would suspect this was the Sloane Brodie. Team Leader to Destructive Delta. He looked more like some beach bum ready to pull up a log and bang on some bongos with a choker made of seashells around his neck.

  Lounging around the house, Sloane had let his hair grow below his ears. His beard was growing in, and he was wearing a loose gray V-neck T-shirt, black cargo shorts, and black Vans. Despite his laid-back appearance, he was still all hard muscle. Sloane had been worried about not being able to work out while he recovered, but Dex had come up with a daily workout session that suited both of them. Dex smiled at the thought. Yep. They worked up a really good sweat every day in the living room, the kitchen, the bedroom, the bathroom, and on Wednesdays the laundry room.

  “What’s with the face?” Sloane asked.

  Dex snapped himself out of it and smiled sheepishly at Sloane. “Just thinking about how I’m keeping you in shape.”

  “Ah.” Sloane looked around the waiting room before leaning into him, his amber eyes glowing with intent. “I think we’re due for another session real soon.” He put his hand on Dex’s knee, sending a shiver up his spine. “You know, we could—”

  “Nope.” Dex shook his head and removed Sloane’s hand. The sneaky sneak. “We are not skipping your therapy session to knock boots.”

  “Not even if we stop by that kinky little shop on Fifth to pick up a pair of those black leather pants? The ones you said would look good on me?”

  Dex gasped. “Oh, you fight dirty, sir.”

  Sloane took Dex’s earlobe between his teeth and gave him a nip. “I’ll show you dirty.”

  Someone cleared their throat, and Dex felt his cheeks burning. He’d forgotten where they were. Then again, that sort of thing tended to happen when Sloane got all those sexy dirty thoughts in his head.

  “This is a doctor’s office,” the man said with a snort of disgust, “not some filthy Therian porn se
t.”

  Like that was a bad thing.

  Dex jumped to his feet. “My audition!” He thrust a finger at Sloane. “You cad! You promised me a part in your new film, but what you really intended was to get in my pants! I should have known it was too good to be true. Who holds auditions in a doctor’s office?” Dex turned back to the startled looking man and placed his hands together. “Thank you, good sir. You have saved my virtue from this… this fiend!”

  The door opened, and Angie, Sloane’s nurse, appeared. “Mr. Brodie?”

  “Don’t you worry, Angie! I’ll keep you safe from this handsome and rugged deviant. If he promises you a role in his next movie, just say no.”

  Sloane took hold of his crutch and pushed himself to his feet. He shook his head in amusement as Dex followed him to the doctor’s office. Just before he went in, Dex turned to address his bigoted friend.

  “Oh, and when we get home, this Therian filth is going to be getting all freaky with this right here.” Dex rubbed his hands all over his chest and thrust his hips forward. “Mm, yeah. Have a nice day.” He shut the door on the man’s horrified gasp. “Asswipe.” With a smile he turned to Angie. “Hey, Angie. How’re the kids?”

  Angie chuckled. “Up to mischief as usual.”

  Dex plopped down into the empty chair beside the examining table. “How’d your daughter do on that physics test?”

  “Top marks,” Angie stated proudly. She tapped Sloane on the shoulder and gave him a pointed look. “You know the drill, Sloane.”

  With a grunt, Sloane pulled off his shirt before hopping up on the examining table.

  “Should have brought some popcorn,” Dex said, wriggling his eyebrows.

  “Now you behave yourself,” Angie warned teasingly. She left the room to fill out her reports on the system as she always did, promising to return in a few minutes to prep Sloane. Dex liked Angie. She was really sweet, always genuinely concerned for all her patients. She also saw right through Dex and Sloane the first time they’d sat in this room. Considering the doctor who performed the recovery therapy in this clinic was also a THIRDS appointed one, Dex had freaked out a little, but Angie had quickly set their minds at ease. She knew a thing or two about forbidden partnerships. As a Therian who married an HPF officer back during the riots, Angie knew how to keep a secret or three.

  It would be all business once Dr. Ayton and his assistant arrived. Speaking of Dr. Ayton’s assistant…. The door opened, and a petite wolf Therian in blue scrubs who was not Dr. Ayton’s assistant stepped into the room.

  “Agent Brodie?” With a friendly smile, the red-haired assistant turned to Sloane. He held a hand out. “I’m Nurse Cory. I’m afraid Dr. Ayton and Nurse Reiner are running late from the previous session, but the doctor’s brought me up to speed, so I’ll be assisting you until he arrives. Hope that’s all right.”

  Sloane shook the nurse’s hand. “Sure. If you don’t mind my partner sitting in.”

  “Of course not.” Nurse Cory turned to Dex, and his smile widened. “Hi.”

  “Hey.” Dex got to his feet and held a hand out. “Agent Dexter Daley.”

  “Agent Daley, pleasure to meet you.”

  The guy held on to Dex’s hand a little longer than necessary, but Dex didn’t think anything of it. He smiled at the nurse and resumed his seat. The guy looked nice enough. A little younger than Dex expected, or it could be the freckles strewn across his nose and cheeks that made him look younger. The guy seemed to snap himself out of it and turned back to Sloane.

  “Let’s get started, then.”

  At that moment Angie returned. She greeted Cory and moved on to Sloane, asking him to step onto the scales. Dex quickly got to his feet and went over to Sloane, then helped him slip off the table. Getting up was always easier for Sloane than getting down.

  “Thanks,” Sloane murmured before limping over to the Therian-sized weight scale. Dex turned to resume his seat and ran smack into Cory.

  “Oops, sorry,” Dex said, reaching out to steady Cory, who laughed it off.

  “It’s okay, Agent Daley. I’m fine.” He waved a hand in dismissal. “Didn’t mean to come up behind you. I was just….” He reached around Dex and took hold of the tablet on the examining table. He held it up to Dex. “Just going to grab this.”

  Dex gave him a nod and headed for the door on the opposite side that led to a small canteen. “Hey, Sloane, I’m just gonna grab some coffee.”

  “Okay.”

  Sloane continued his conversation with Angie, promising he wasn’t overexerting himself. Angie of course didn’t believe a word. Sloane’s twenty-odd years of being an agent had nothing on Angie’s twenty-odd years of being a mother of four rambunctious Therian children, three of them boys. She could see through Sloane’s BS from the next town over.

  With a chuckle, Dex made his escape before Sloane could rope him into lying for him. No sense in Angie scolding both of them. Dex made his way into the canteen and ordered himself a cappuccino and a cinnamon bun with enough frosting to keep him up until next month. What Sloane didn’t know wouldn’t hurt Dex. He headed outside into a little garden patio behind the canteen that had a couple of tables and chairs. It was empty out here, so he could sneak his tasty treat without anyone seeing him. He was just about to take a big bite when Cory appeared.

  “It’s not mine,” Dex declared, putting the cinnamon bun down. “It fell onto my plate.” He pointed up to the umbrella. “Bird must have dropped it.”

  Cory laughed and pointed to the empty seat next to him. “Mind if I sit?”

  “Go ahead.” Shouldn’t the guy be helping Angie with Sloane?

  Dex dropped his gaze to his cinnamon bun. It looked so tasty. To his surprise, Cory leaned into him, his voice low and husky.

  “I won’t tell if you won’t.”

  “Thanks, man.” Dex took hold of his cinnamon bun and chomped down on it, ripping off a big chunk. “Sloane will kick my ass if he finds out I’ve had this much sugar in one snack,” he said through a mouthful.

  “Why? You’re in amazing shape.” Cory rested his elbows on the table and propped his chin on his hands, his smile wide.

  “Thanks,” Dex replied before swallowing. He took another bite and let out a moan. Damn, this was good. He could practically feel the sugar coursing through his bloodstream.

  Cory tilted his head to one side. “You must be really strong to provide PSTC to a jaguar Therian. I bet you have a lot of energy and stamina.”

  “Our training’s pretty intense,” Dex admitted. He took a sip of his coffee. “You okay to be out here?”

  Cory nodded. “Dr. Ayton arrived just after you left. I’m off duty.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Weird. Oh well. Dex continued to munch on his sweet treat. He had plenty of time. Chances were Sloane knew he was indulging in something he shouldn’t. When wasn’t Dex eating something? Besides, he deserved the right to indulge a little after agreeing to Sloane’s new diet regime. He’d let Sloane swap out a long list of foods for healthier options providing he left Dex’s gummy bears alone. His gummies were sacred.

  “Your eyes are amazing. I could get lost in them for hours.”

  Dex almost choked on his cinnamon bun. He swallowed hard before breaking out into a cough.

  “Oh my God, are you all right?” Cory jumped to his feet and patted Dex’s back. He rubbed his hand in a circle and leaned over him, his face close to Dex’s. “Are you okay?”

  Dex tried to talk, but instead a cough came out. Was Cory flirting with him? He knew he was kind of crap at that sort of thing, but he had a sneaking suspicion Cory was flirting.

  “Maybe you should drink some coffee.”

  Cory took Dex’s coffee cup and put it to his lips. His other hand slid up to Dex’s shoulder, where Cory began to massage it. Dex tried to shrug off his hand while simultaneously attempting to drink coffee and not wear it.

  “Get your hands off him.”

  Dex put a fist to his mouth and held a finger up as he tried to control h
is cough long enough to speak. Damn it. Death by cinnamon bun. Sloane was always warning him sugar would be his undoing.

  “Agent Brodie, what are you doing out here?” Cory asked with a tsk. “You should be inside.”

  “The doctor had an important phone call. I wanted to see where my partner was and why you followed him.”

  Sloane’s voice was a low growl. One Dex knew well.

  Cory arched an eyebrow at Sloane. “I don’t really think that’s any of your business, Agent Brodie. I’m off the clock. We were just chatting.”

  Sloane took a step closer, his eyes gleaming dangerously. Uh-oh. “You always manhandle whoever you’re talking to?”

  “He was choking,” Cory replied with a sniff. He straightened to his full height, which was about half of Sloane’s. “I was helping.”

  Sloane’s eyes narrowed. “I bet.”

  Cory looked from Dex to Sloane and back. “Your partner’s a little aggressive over you.”

  “He’s um, just looking out for me,” Dex said, giving Sloane a pointed look. They didn’t know Cory, and Dex wasn’t about to trust just anyone with their secret, especially a nurse who worked in conjunction with the THIRDS. Sloane pressed his lips together. He knew Dex was right. Didn’t mean he wasn’t going to be pissed about it.

  Cory smiled pleasantly. “Maybe you should return to your session, Agent Brodie. I’ll assist your partner.” He brushed his fingers down the side of Dex’s face.

  Dex shot to his feet. “I should join Sloane.”

  “Don’t go.” Cory put his hand to Dex’s chest, his fingers tracing a line down Dex’s arm.

  Oh shit. The mark! Cory’s pupils were dilated, and he pressed himself up against Dex. At least until Sloane grabbed a hold of him and dragged him off. Cory growled, and Sloane hissed.

  “You’re barking up the wrong tree, pup.”

  Cory’s expression turned indignant. “How dare you! I’m not scared of you!”

  Sloane lowered his head, his fangs growing in as he limped slowly over to Cory. Despite his injury, his graceful movements exuded strength and gave hints of the apex predator lying in wait behind amber eyes. Sloane stopped in front of Cory, looming over the younger, slighter Therian with his larger frame. “You lay a hand on my mate again and you will be.”