Demon Warriors 1: Hondo (12 page)

“Not guilty, more like sorry you’re paying for both our fun.” Hondo swirled his hand around in the water as he spoke. “You’d tell me if I did something you didn’t like, right?” Chris was starting to get the picture now. Hondo knew how much Chris adored him. “I don’t follow blindly. If I don’t like it, I’ll tell you.”

Hondo’s face seemed to relax. A smile crept across his lips as he leaned back and grabbed a towel from the counter. “Good. I’d feel like shit if I ever thought I was doing something and you weren’t fully on board.”

“I was on board all right. If I remember correctly, I was the one begging.” Chris snickered.

Chris could see the want in his demon lover’s eyes but knew Hondo wouldn’t take him again. For once, Chris was thankful. He was going to be walking funny for the rest of the day, and he had to go to work.

“I’m going to go make some breakfast.” Hondo lifted his hand from the water and flicked his fingers at Chris’s face, tiny droplets splashing his face.

“Hondo,” Chris complained teasingly.

His mate smiled down at him and left the bathroom. Chris settled back, enjoying the warm water.

“Did you listen to me?”

Chris sat forward, water sloshing all around as the same elf who warned him the other night was once again intruding in on him. “I would have if I knew what the hell you were talking about.” Chris grabbed his washcloth and tossed it over his flaccid cock. Didn’t the elf have any respect for other people’s nudity?

“I can’t tell you.” The elf wrung his hands together as he looked worriedly at the door. “If I do, they’ll kill me.” Well, that sounded ominous enough. “Will you tell me your name at least?” Chris grabbed the cloth as it tried to float away, placing it back over his groin.

“No. I can’t tell you that either,” he sniveled as he looked once again at the bathroom door. “Just be careful. Things aren’t always as they appear.”

“You told me that already,” Chris said, and then a horrific thought occurred to him. “You’re not talking about Hondo are you?” If he had to watch his back with his mate, things were about to get ugly.

“No, he has nothing to do with this. Well he does, but...” The elf looked fretful as he rung his hands. “I can’t tell you. But you are the safest when with your mate. Don’t leave his side.” The elf shimmered away right in front of Chris’s eyes.

“Well damn. Talk about encrypted.”

“What’s that, babe?” Hondo asked as he walked into the bathroom with a breakfast tray.

“Just saying how cold this water is getting.” Why wasn’t he telling his mate about the elf? Something deep inside was screaming for Chris to keep it to himself for the time being.

“I’ll take this in the bedroom.” Hondo lifted the tray. “Come on and eat before it gets cold.”

Chris climbed out and grabbed the big blue towel to dry off with.

He tried his hardest to remember the words from earlier. The only thing that stuck in his mind was everything wasn’t as it seemed.

God, Chris sucked at puzzles. If left up to him, it would take the rest of his life to figure it out. His riddle solving skills were horrible.

Maybe he should tell Hondo.

Chris padded out of the bathroom to tell his mate about the elf when he came to a stop.

Hondo was growling at the cringing creature that was backed into the wall.

“No.” Chris ran into the room and jumped on Hondo’s back.

“Don’t hurt him.” He held on as Hondo began to ignite.

“Get off, Chris,” Hondo growled. “I caught him trying to go into the bathroom. I won’t have anyone threatening you.”

“He was in there already.” Chris held on even though it was getting extremely hot to do so.

Hondo roared and tried to grab the elf, but he managed to shimmer away. “Bank your fire, Hondo,” Chris warned.

“Why was he in the bathroom with you, Chris?” Hondo hissed as he calmed and the fires ebbed. He crossed the room and slammed the bathroom door open, his head snapping around as if the elf were in there.

Chris hopped down and grabbed the towel from the floor, wrapping it once again around his waist. “I don’t know. He keeps warning me about everything not being what it seems.” Hondo’s upper body twisted around to look down at Chris.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Chris shrugged as he made his way to the breakfast tray. “I asked him that very question, but he said he couldn’t tell me.” Chris grabbed the fork and stabbed at the eggs, shoving a forkful in his mouth. He swallowed and then continued. “Just like that first time.”

“You mean he’s popped in here before?” Hondo didn’t sound too pleased about that bit of news.

“Once before, saying the same thing. I couldn’t understand what he was talking about, so I didn’t bother to try and figure it out.” Chris zipped toward the bathroom when Hondo began to ignite.

“And why didn’t you tell me about the first time?” he asked between clenched teeth.

He was awfully close to the curtains. If Hondo didn’t calm down, Chris’s house was going to go up in flames. “Because we were having such a perfect night, and I didn’t want to ruin it.” Hondo ran his hands down his face, looking as though he wanted to break something. Chris watched as he disappeared through the shadowed corner of his bedroom and then reappeared. He did this a few times before Hondo stopped pacing between wherever he was going and Chris’s bedroom. “You can’t hide things like this from me.”

“I wasn’t really hiding it from you. I just couldn’t figure it out, so I didn’t think anymore about it.” Chris zipped over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of jeans, boxers, and T-shirt. He needed to get ready for work. The disruption this morning was putting him behind schedule. He turned to set his things on the bed, grabbing a pair of socks, and then closing the drawers.

Chris dressed quickly as Hondo paced back and forth. His eyes followed his friend’s movements. Chris wondered if Hondo was mad at him.

Hondo sat down on the edge of Chris’s bed, running his hands up and down his thighs. “He’s only been here twice?” Once he was done dressing, Chris went to Hondo, crawling onto his mate’s lap. “Twice. Now help me figure out what the nutty elf was talking about.”

“He said, ‘Not everything is as it seems.’ What do you think he meant?” Hondo absently began to run his hands up and down Chris’s back, and his eyes took on a faraway look.

“If I could have figured that out, I wouldn’t be sitting here asking for help.” Chris’s cock was responding to his mate’s touch. It began to fill his jeans.
I don’t have time for this.

He reluctantly slid off of Hondo’s lap, searching around for his shoes. What did the elf mean? Who did he have to watch, and what wasn’t what it seemed? Riddles, riddles, riddles, Chris hated them.

“I’ll try and solve the mystery. You get going to work before you’re late,” Hondo said.

Chris looked over his shoulder at Hondo with an
as if
look. He finished tying his sneakers and grabbed his keys and wallet, shoving his cell phone in his front pocket.

“You can’t be late, you know.”

Chris was trying his best to listen to Hondo. Trying. The man sat there gloriously naked with all that golden skin exposed, and Chris was losing his concentration on the words coming out of his mate’s mouth.

Chris licked his lips and backed to the door. “If I don’t leave now, I will be really late.” He zipped down the stairs, yelling for Hondo to lock up as he shot out of the door and off to work.

* * * *

Hondo walked into his bedroom and headed straight for the shower. He needed to get ready for his day. Once showered, he stepped out and dried off, walking into his room naked as he towel-dried his hair.

“Nice towel.” Kane chuckled from the bedroom doorway.

“Stop gawking, perv.” Hondo reached into his drawer and pulled out a pair of boxer briefs, sliding them on as he turned to Kane.

“An elf popped into Chris’s bedroom warning him about things not being what they seemed. Any ideas?” Hondo slid a pair of jeans on and then pulled a shirt over his head as Kane shook his head.

“None, but Panahasi wants us to hunt down that reporter. No one has seen him, yet he ran a story on the front page about Chris and Snooke’s ‘harrowing escape from death.’” 

“That means he’s hiding out somewhere.” Hondo shoved his feet into his boots and laced them up. “Where do you want to start?” He straightened and went to the bathroom to find a comb.

“Diablo’s. I would say Torky, but he and his brother are still down at the river.” Kane stepped aside as Hondo grabbed his keys.

“Then let’s pay a visit to the club.” Hondo jogged down the steps of the apartment building, coming out on the street to see a bunch of guys across the street at the basketball court in a huddle. It drew his attention when he saw Snooke hit the ground, and not from a jump shot.

“Shit.” He took off across the street, Kane fast on his heels.

“What the fuck is going on?” Kane snarled as they ran across the grass and hit the court.

The men scattered, leaving Snooke laying on the ground, a bloody mess. “I’m taking him back upstairs.” Kane knelt down and pulled the unconscious body into his arms, walking back across the street.

Hondo followed, holding the door open as Kane walked to his apartment. “What the hell is going on around here?”

“I don’t know, but five against one pisses me off.” Kane laid Snooke on his sofa and went to the bathroom. Hondo stared at the demon, wondering what could have happened to make five men jump him.

Kane came back into the room with a wet washcloth in his hand, sitting on the edge of the couch as he began to wipe the blood away from Snooke’s face. Hondo could see the rage clearly on Kane’s face.

“If I find out who those men were, I’ll teach them a fucking lesson about bullying a defenseless man.”

Hondo studied his fellow warrior and friend. He’d never seen Kane act this way about anyone. It dawned on him that Kane was taking an interest in Snooke. Hmm.

“I’m going to go down to Diablo’s. You go ahead and take care of him. I’ll call you if I find out anything.” 

Kane nodded but didn’t look up at Hondo. He wiped down Snooke’s neck, lifting the demon’s shirt up looking for further damage. “Thanks,” he said absently.

Hondo let himself out, once again heading for the club. He decided to stop in at the coffee shop first to check on Chris. With what just took place, he wanted to assure himself that Chris was okay and at work.

He smiled when he opened the door of the shop, seeing his mate behind the counter zipping around and laughing. Chris was so damn handsome. Hondo wondered how he never noticed that before. “Hey, beautiful.”

“Hondo!” Chris grinned from ear to ear as he held a silver cup under the spout for frothing milk. “I thought you had things to do?”

“Just wanted to stop by and say hi.”
And make sure no one had
gotten to you.
Hondo glanced around the shop, but everyone seemed to be minding their own business. No one
looked
suspicious.

“Do you want something to drink? I’ve gotten pretty darn good at making them.” Chris giggled as he handed the customer the drink he had been making.

Hondo’s chest tightened at the gorgeous smile on his mate’s face.

“Sure.”

“I’ll surprise you.” Chris grabbed a cup and began to mix and whip, producing a drink that smelled like cinnamon. He watched with expectant eyes as Hondo took a sip.

“This is very good.” It really was. Chris’s smile widened at Hondo’s approval. Give the guy a little encouragement and he shined.

“I need to head over to Diablo’s. Thanks for the coffee, babe.”

“You’re quite welcome.” Chris zipped around the counter and hugged Hondo around his waist, tilting his head back for a kiss.

Hondo placed his hand on Chris’s jaw as he forgot where they were and kissed him with deep passion.

“Break it up.” Jake chuckled. “Get back to work, Chris.” 

Chris broke the kiss and stared up at Hondo with dreamy eyes.

“We’ll pick back up where we left off later,” Chris chuckled as he ran back behind the counter, taking the next order.

Hondo left the shop with a free coffee and a boner. At least he had two blocks to walk it off. Chris was affecting him in ways he never thought the little demon would. He stayed in a perpetual state of readiness around his mate. Hondo tossed the cup in the trash can as he walked into Diablo’s club. Even though it was early, the place was packed as usual.

Hondo didn’t have to push through. As he walked, the crowd parted around him. He took a seat at the bar, waiting for Diablo to make his way down to Hondo. The place was lively twenty-four-seven. Hondo turned around, resting his back against the bar as he watched the drag queens strut their stuff, every man in there vying for their attention.

He thanked the bartender when he set his drink down. The employees knew the warriors and knew what each one preferred to drink. He tilted the beer to his lips as he watched the crowd. Where the hell could a reporter disappear to?

“I hear you have a mate now.” Diablo’s voice was deep and rich as he spoke. “Didn’t think I would see you back in here.”

“I don’t have a need for any eye candy, but I do have questions.” He tilted the bottle back as he turned around to face the owner.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Diablo leaned one elbow onto the bar, leaning toward Hondo. “Ask.”

“I hear there’s a reporter who has gone missing but is still printing the news. Know anything about that?” Hondo spotted a cute little shifter down at the end of the bar winking at him. Although the guy was a hot piece to look at, he wasn’t Chris. He could appreciate the view though.

“I heard the same thing. Must be true then.” Diablo scratched his jaw as he looked around his club. “I also hear he may be hiding out at Cheveyo’s.”

“I didn’t hear that one.” Hondo finished the rest of his beer and sat the bottle on the counter. “I haven’t been to the dollar store in a while.

Maybe I’ll go see what bargains they have.”

“You do that.” Diablo straightened and walked away. Hondo hated the fact he had to play this game. But the dragon shifter never came right out and told anyone anything. It was stupid to him, but getting the information he needed was imperative.