Leopard's Spots 2: Oscar (14 page)

Uncaring of giving away his position since he was being tracked anyway, Josiah yelled. “Oscar!” He ran and cursed his clothing, his human form. He’d be faster as his wolf, but his clothes would trip him up if he shifted and that might be all the time his pursuer needed to kill him.

“Jo!”

Josiah heard Oscar calling off to his right. He turned sharp and caught movement from his peripheral vision, two cougars stalking him. He was going to have to shift, because he stood no chance of living if he tried to fight cougars in his human form. Josiah tried to put more distance between himself and the cats, but knew if the cougars wanted to they’d be on him in seconds. They were stalking him, playing with him even. It pissed Josiah off, but he couldn’t do anything about it.

“Get to the truck, Oscar! Get to it and lay on the horn!”
God, he hoped Oscar heard him! Josiah shoved his hand in his jeans pocket and grabbed the key fob. He hit the button to unlock the doors—he hoped—and the one for the engine. Josiah pulled his hand back out, pumping his arms as he ran. It might have only been seconds before he heard the horn, but it felt like ages. He wasn’t out of shape at all, but the combination of hauling ass, adrenalin, and fear for his own life and his mate’s had stripped his body of its usual endurance. His lungs and legs burned, as did his arms and throat.

But when he cleared the trees and saw Oscar driving his big Dodge up into the grass, swerving around picnic tables and trash cans Josiah’s aches and pains disappeared under a wave of hope. They were going to make it!

Josiah dared a glance over his shoulder and shouted when one of the cougars lunged out of the trees right at him. He veered to his left and dived under a cement picnic table as he heard the roar of his truck’s engine. Josiah smacked his head hard enough to make him see stars, and he blinked away the dancing spots, expecting to find himself fighting off a cougar. Josiah already had an arm up to protect his throat, but there was no cougar anywhere near him. He panted as he tried to sit up, then Oscar was there, reaching for him, pulling him out from under the table.

“I hit him,” Oscar was saying, looking pale and shaken. “Josiah, are you okay? Can you hear me? I hit that fucker, but not hard enough. You smacked your head, you have a knot here.”

“Ow!” The jolt of pain by his temple snapped Josiah out of his stupor. “Stop! I’m fine, just…what the fuck happened, Oz? How did they find us? What do you mean you hit him? Where are they now?” Realisation dawned and he grabbed at Oscar, trying to hug him. “With the truck? You mean you ran over him? God, Oz, I didn’t ever want you to have to do anything—”

“No,” Oscar said, his voice muffled against Josiah’s chest. “Let me go!” Josiah did and Oscar glowered at him. “They’re gone. Didn’t you hear the squeal of tires when they pealed out of here? The other cougar flipped out and turned human, grabbed the cougar I clipped with the bumper. I didn’t hit him hard, and just barely caught him, just enough to stop him from getting to you. Now I know what they both look like since the downed one shifted too. As for how they found us, I’m guessing someone followed us from the hotel, or your place, since I bet there’s plenty of people who know you.”

“Aw fuck. I bet you’re right.” Josiah touched the spot on his head and grimaced when pain spread out from it. “I should have thought about that. We were all afraid the brothers had been followed, which, yeah, they probably were, but we didn’t even consider the possibility of anyone following us. Kind of short-sighted.”

“Kinda,” Oscar agreed, “but we aren’t a bunch of psychos who think about offing people for monetary gain, or use people for our own ego kicks or paranoia. We’re the good guys.”

“We need to be the smarter guys, too.”

“Or at least the more devious. We are smarter. It’s the ‘good guys’ part that keeps us from getting the upper hand, since we won’t go out and slaughter people.”

Oscar had a valid point, and anyway Josiah wasn’t in any shape to argue. His head was throbbing, and he was feeling shaky. “Okay, can you drive for a while?”

Oscar cupped his chin and studied Josiah intently, a worried look creasing Oscar’s brow. “You really did take a hard hit to the head, didn’t you? And I can’t even risk taking you to a doctor because we’re shifters.”

“Yup and yup,” Josiah agreed. “It suck if I was concussed and did something like shift in front of a doctor or whatever.” He started to tremble. “And I was scared y-you were going to be h-hurt or h-have to kill ag-gain and—”

“Shh, shh,” Oscar soothed, his eyes glistening as he thumbed Josiah’s lower lip. “It’s okay. We’re okay, right? You’ve got a bump, but I’ll take care of it, of you. Now come on and let me help you into the truck.”

Josiah wanted to protest that he didn’t need help getting into his own truck. Hell, he’d done it on his own thousands of times, but he couldn’t quite figure out which of his four feet went where. “That’s not good,” he mumbled.

“No, it’s not.” Oscar sounded worried, and Josiah didn’t like it, but when he tried to say so Oscar silenced him with a kiss. “Now come on, up you go.”

So Josiah went, knowing even in his disorientated state not to argue with Oscar.

Oscar kept glancing at Josiah, at the lump on the side of his head, at his chest moving as he breathed during sleep, and all Oscar could think besides how grateful he was that his mate was okay, was he would kill anyone who ever hurt Josiah again. Fuck the fear of becoming a monster. He wasn’t someone who’d kill just for the hell of it, but to protect his family, his mate? Yes, and he knew now that was just the way he was made, to protect the ones he loved. He wasn’t any kind of historian, he was more of a guardian. Oscar felt it in his bones.

Accepting it eased so much of the burden he’d been carrying, which was, he knew now, the conflict between man and beast, what he was and what he’d been told to be in the human world. But he wasn’t strictly human, and the world he lived in wasn’t either. He couldn’t apply the same laws and rules to shifters, to his dual nature. Wild creatures defended themselves and their young, their prides and packs and whatever else, they defended them to the death, being a fierce protector was a part of Oscar. Fighting it only made him miserable, but now that he knew and was beginning to understand himself and what was inside him, Oscar felt more at peace than he had since just about ever.

No, he wasn’t proud of killing Albert, but he’d done what was necessary. And he’d had no other choice. When he’d been bullied in school, he had held back from retaliating for the most part. He’d known he could have seriously hurt and even killed Richie Burrows, but Oscar had kept two things in mind. The first, he’d never expose his family’s secret, and second, Richie was as queer as he was—and Richie was going to have a fucking miserable life because of the things he’d done to Oscar, and because he couldn’t accept himself. Karma, Oscar thought, was an utter bitch.

He’d been keeping an eye on the road and, like before, when they’d pulled off at the rest area, Oscar didn’t see any other vehicles on the road. He’d passed several, though, but the stretch they were on right now was pretty much deserted. That was good, because he needed to pull over and relieve his bladder, and he wanted to make a call and check in at home. If the Tavares brothers had caused any problems, they’d be in for it, but he also needed to fill his dad in on what had happened, and make sure all was good at home. It probably was, otherwise someone would have called him.

Oscar checked the GPS and saw that there was a little town up ahead. He needed to fuel up the truck, as well as pee, and he wanted to wake Josiah again. He’d kept him up until about half an hour ago, and frankly it was unnerving Oscar to have him sleeping right now.

He took the next exit and headed for the Exxon gas station. When he pulled up to the pump and shut off the engine, Josiah’s eyes popped open like he’d been goosed.

“Where are we?” His speech was slightly slurred, but Oscar hoped that was from being woken from a sound sleep.

“Gas station in bumfuck Texas.” Oscar unbuckled himself first before taking care of Josiah’s seatbelt. “How do you feel?”

Josiah gingerly touched his head. “Like I’ve been kicked in the head by a freaking mule, but other than that, I just need to pee really bad.”

“Me too.” He got out and came around to Josiah’s side while Josiah opened his door. “You got it? You could lean on me.”

Josiah shook his head once and groaned. “Fuck, don’t let me do that again. And no, I probably shouldn’t lean on you. Might get us both killed in a town like this, and besides, it’d draw attention to the fact that I got a big ol’ knot on my head, and who knows if someone would call the cops or what have you.”

Oscar raised his brows at Josiah’s rambling but he stepped back and tried not to hover too much. Once he was standing, Josiah seemed to steady himself. “All right, I’m not going to keel over.”

Inside the gas station, the attendant gave them a curious look. Oscar went over to talk to him and hopefully distract the guy as Josiah headed for the restroom. He paid for the gas, guessing at the cost to fill up the truck, and wandered around the store picking out snacks and drinks, which made his bladder cramp. By the time he’d purchased the stuff and Josiah was back at the truck, Oscar was ready to explode. He hurried to the bathroom and nearly wept as he relieved himself.

And damned if Josiah wasn’t smirking at him when he got to the truck. “I pumped the gas in the time you took to piss.”

“Oh fuck you,” Oscar said, grinning since he was joking. “It was a good piss, and maybe that wasn’t all I did in there.”

Josiah sniffed then made a disgusted face. “Gah! Remind me not to do that near a gas pump, I think I singed all my nose hairs.”

Oscar laughed so hard he snorted, which made his eyes water since the gas fumes were a vicious assault on his delicate nasal passages. “Fuck, you did that on purpose!”

“I’m not that smart,” Josiah said, but his eyes were sparkling and his lips were curled up in a smile that warmed Oscar through and through.

“I’m glad you weren’t hurt worse.”

Josiah’s smile didn’t fade exactly, but it turned into something darkly sensual as he stared at Oscar. “Me too, but I am really pissed about missing out on these”—he traced Oscar’s lips—“being wrapped around my dick.”

Oscar groaned and closed his eyes. He licked Josiah’s finger, a surge of desire coiling in his belly when Josiah moaned softly. “Fuck, I want you,” Oscar murmured, “in me, somewhere. Mouth or ass, I don’t care, I just need you, Jo.”

“You can have me, any time you’re ready.”

Oscar opened his eyes and shook his head. “You’re hurt, and I’m being selfish. We’ll wait a day or two.”

“Hell no,” Josiah snapped, surprising Oscar. “I am not so injured I can’t have a blowjob! That kind of injured would be…would be dead, Oz! Now maybe I’m not up to thrusting and thrashing around, but I can damn sure put my seat back and lay here and let you suck me dry.”

They shouldn’t. He should say no. He was the reasonable one right now, the one who wasn’t hurt and supposedly in possession of all his faculties.

“Oscar,” Josiah rumbled, “stop it. Look at me.”

Oscar was looking at him, but not in the right spot. Josiah tipped his chin down and Oscar followed the line of sight. “Oh.”

Josiah finished freeing his cock. The long, hard length was dark red, the cap leaking already. “This hurts as much as my headache.”

“Cheesy line.” Oscar licked his lips, watching Josiah slowly stroking himself. “Can you get your balls out too?”

Josiah did just that instead of answering verbally, and Oscar could have swooned, had he been the type. As it was, he grunted and told Josiah to buckle up. “But leave your cock and balls out. Keep yourself hard until I can find somewhere a little more private.”

‘Somewhere’ turned out to be the backside of the gas station where several rigs were parked. Oscar manoeuvred the truck between two of them, driving down to the end of the trailers. He hoped the windows were tinted enough, but if not, oh fucking well, he was doing this.

“Put your seat back as far as you can,” he ordered, but Josiah was already doing it at the same time as Oscar was wiggling his jeans down lower.

Oscar crawled over and knelt on the floorboard between Josiah’s legs, which took some doing considering he still had his pants on. He ran his hands up Josiah’s thickly furred legs until he thumbed Josiah’s balls. Careful not to use too much force, Oscar pushed, adding pressure to his sac and Josiah’s breathing immediately sped up.

“Yeah, more, Oz, please. Don’t stop touching me.”

Oscar looked up and thought he’d never seen anything sexier than Josiah reclined in the seat, his hands clenched over his belly, head down to watch as Oscar played with his balls. Oscar gave him a wicked smirk and held the base of Josiah’s cock. He’d never sucked dick before, but he was determined to do a damned fine job of it. Josiah’s breath stuttered as Oscar leaned up and licked under his glans. He tongued the bundle of nerves there and delighted in the shiver that shook Josiah, the way his thighs quivered and the whimper that slipped from his lips. It gave him a thrill of power to know he affected Josiah so.

He was going to enjoy doing this, and he’d just as surely be at Josiah’s mercy when their positions were reversed.

Oscar had enough mind to unfasten his own jeans and fish his cock out. He had no delusions about being able to last while he sucked Josiah off. Once he had himself in hand, Oscar licked down to Josiah’s balls, crinkling his nose at the way Josiah’s pubes tickled his nose. He sucked a nut into his mouth as he started jacking Josiah’s dick.

“Oh, yeah, baby,” Josiah babbled, sounding like one of the pornos Oscar had watched on his laptop. Usually he turned the volume off because the guys really couldn’t act for shit, but hearing Josiah make those sounds, spew those words, just lit Oscar up inside. “Suck my dick, please, come on, up here.”

Oscar let Josiah beg for a few minutes more as he learned every taste and texture of Josiah’s balls. He tried to lick further down, eager to taste his mate’s ass, but it was virtually impossible with the way they were positioned. He settled for wedging a finger in that dark cleft and pressing into Josiah’s hole. Josiah choked on the words he was saying, and he slapped at Oscar’s shoulders as he shook.