Jasper Read online

  “Holy shit, that’s a perfect match. But how are you going to explain that to the public? Blame it on the Unholy?”

  “That same thought just crossed my mind,” Jasper said as he moved back from the table. He had done his fair share of slashing throats recently as he helped the Clan fight the Unholy. Jasper had no problem in taking out the monsters that threatened society. “However, they rarely enter homes during broad daylight. I also have to consider the note. Most Unholy aren’t sane enough to leave a calling card. The house would have been destroyed had it been one of them. No, I think we are looking at a Goyle.”

  Trevor swallowed, the sound loud in Jasper’s ears. It finally dawned on his mate that the evil one who was after him might be a suspect. “Do you think…”

  “I don’t know what to think. Yet. I want you to call Dante while I call Dane. We need to have a meeting and come up with a story to tell the press as well as what to document in the reports. When you are unable to identify a weapon, what do you list on your paperwork?”

  Trevor shrugged. “I’ve never run across this problem before. I’ve always figured out what the weapon was.”

  Of course he had. Trevor was that smart as well as that tenacious. Jasper was proud of his mate for the great job he did. “I don’t think we need to scare the public with a lie about the Unholy, at least not yet.” Jasper stepped into the other room to call his boss.

  When he returned, Trevor had stitched up the laceration. A toe tag had been applied, and he was transferring the body to the refrigerator for safe keeping. After he slid the drawer home, Trevor turned to Jasper and said, “I’m hungry. How about lunch?”

  Chapter Six

  Jasper was amazed that Trevor could eat immediately after sewing up a dead body. “What do you want?” Jasper asked Trevor when they were seated in his car.

  “Huh?” Trevor asked, his mouth slightly open. Jasper couldn’t take his eyes off those soft lips. He had only had the pleasure of barely tasting them earlier that morning, and it hadn’t been nearly enough. He couldn’t stop the low growl that escaped. Trevor’s eyes widened, and Jasper turned to look out the windshield.

  “To eat. What do you want to eat?”

  “Oh. Burgers are fine. Or tacos. There’s an Arby’s on the way back to your house. I could go for one of their shakes.” Trevor was seriously saying he wanted fast food. Not that Jasper had an aversion to the stuff, he just never ate it. He preferred to have big, sit down meals like steak and baked potatoes. His Gargoyle metabolism required lots of calories.

  “I was thinking more along the lines of Giovani’s,” he said as he turned his car away from the hospital.

  “I’m not dressed for that. Besides, I smell like the morgue. I’d need to take a shower.”

  “I tell you what. We’ll run through a drive-thru for lunch, and then we’ll stop by your place so you can grab an overnight bag. We’ll go shower at my place, and later, I’ll take you out for supper. How’s that?”

  When Trevor didn’t answer, Jasper glanced over at his mate. Trevor was worrying his bottom lip with his thumb and forefinger.

  “I don’t mean shower together, Trev. And if I’m going to keep an eye on you all weekend, it will be a lot easier doing it with you playing video games at home than me watching your apartment from my car.”

  “Oh.” He almost sounded hurt.

  “That’s not the only reason I want you at home. I told you I would give you all the time in the world to come to grips with the mate bond. I’m not going to lie; I want you. I’d move you into my house today if you’d let me. Into my bed. I would drive you home right now, and we would take that shower together. After we showered, I’d make slow, sweet love to you. I’d ravish every inch of your beautiful body.” Jasper readjusted his dick that was now begging to be released. “But not until you’re ready for that. If you’re never ready, then I’ll settle for being friends, but know this – I’ll never have another lover in my bed. I’ll never have another lover anywhere as long as you’re in my life. I plan on having you in my life forever. When I gave you the code to the gate, I did it with the intention of you being there all the time. I want it to be your home, too.”

  Jasper could feel the turmoil rolling off Trevor from the other side of the car. As strong as his feelings were, Jasper would probably have felt them from miles away. He pulled into the drive-thru and asked, “What would you like?”

  “A number three combo with a Jamocha shake to drink,” Trevor responded without looking at the menu board.

  “I’ve never had one of those. Is it like a coffee milkshake?”

  “Yes, it’s heaven in a cup.”

  Jasper took Trevor’s word for it and ordered two number three combos. He added an extra sandwich to his order and made everything a large. As soon as they had their food, Jasper asked Trevor to get him a straw out of the bag. He wanted to taste heaven in a cup. Instead of handing him the straw, Trevor pulled the paper wrapper off and stuck it into one of the cups, handing it to Jasper. Jasper said, “Thank you,” and stuck the straw in his mouth. The shake was extra thick, so he had to suck really hard, his cheeks almost touching. When he finally got some milkshake into his mouth, he moaned. “Gods, that’s good.”

  Trevor made his own moaning sounds from the other side of the car. Jasper laughed and turned up the radio. He was glad Trevor was enjoying his shake, but Jasper couldn’t listen to the moans without getting turned on, so he used the music as a distraction. Instead of going home, he drove to Trevor’s apartment like he suggested earlier. Trevor hadn’t said he wouldn’t spend the night, so Jasper was going to assume that he would. Jasper parked, grabbed the food bag, and followed Trevor inside. He was ready to get a look inside his mate’s apartment.

  Trevor unlocked several locks before entering his home. “Why do you have so many locks? Not that I’m complaining, but these don’t appear to be new. Have you had trouble before?”

  Trevor scrubbed his hands in the kitchen sink. Jasper was just about to stop him when Trevor turned the water off. He grabbed a couple of plates and set them on his small, two-person table. He hesitated briefly before saying, “I have some valuable information here.” He divvied up the food between them before continuing, “I already told you I’m a clone. What I didn’t tell you was when I was growing up, I made friends with others like myself. As we met more and more clones, I began keeping a journal of names, addresses, phone numbers, birthdays, and characteristics we have in common. When we went off to college, someone else would take the task of gathering the same information and sending it to me for the master list.”

  Jasper inhaled one of his sandwiches while Trevor offered up this secret of his. He wanted to rejoice that his mate trusted him with the information. Trevor stopped talking long enough to eat part of his food. When he had about half of it down, he continued, “The information I keep is sacred to me. I refused to put it on a computer for fear of it falling into the wrong hands. Gordon Flanagan was hell-bent on finding Tessa. He had more money than God and all the technology at his disposal. I couldn’t trust the information to be out in cyberspace. I have the journals locked up tight in my bedroom closet.”

  “Now that Flanagan is dead, are you going to transfer the information?” Jasper asked as he wadded up his empty wrappers and placed them in the bag. He sipped the last of his shake loudly as the straw came up empty. “Ahh, that was good.” He leaned back in his chair and linked his fingers together behind his head.

  Trevor had just taken a bite, so he chewed and swallowed before answering. Jasper’s eyes traveled to Trevor’s jaw then his throat. How could eating be so fucking sexy?

  “I might someday, but not while I live here. It’s too easy for someone to break in, even with a cop living down the hall. I doubt Dane will stay here much longer now that he’s the chief.”

  “And he’s a half-blood. Now that he’s part of the Clan, Sixx will hook him up with really good financial planning. Dane will be in his own house sooner rather than later. Speak
ing of Sixx, can you believe he’s Desi Rothchild’s father? How cool is that?”

  Trevor choked on the bite he was swallowing. He beat against his chest with his fist, and Jasper flew out of his chair, dropping to his knees beside his mate. “Trev, Baby?” Trevor waved him off and took a sip of his shake.

  “I’m good. That just went down the wrong way. I knew they looked like twins, but damn. How is that possible? I thought Gargoyles had only become aware of mating with humans recently.”

  When Jasper knew Trevor was okay, he returned to his chair. “He didn’t realize at the time he was mating with his female. They were into some hot and heavy sex, and he bit her, not realizing it would seal the deal. Now, he has a son who looks like a tattooed version of him running around the country as lead singer for a major heavy metal band and a mate who looks like she did when they met twenty something years ago. I think he needs to tell her the truth, but he’s on the fence about it.”

  “So this mate thing, if the women have a kid, they stop aging, right?”

  Jasper nodded. He was pretty sure he knew where Trevor was going with this line of thinking.

  “For shits and giggles, let’s say you and I do make the bond official. I can’t have babies. I’ll keep aging, won’t I?”

  “Nope. When Frey bit Abbi, they mated in that moment, and in doing so saved her life. Frey asked Jonas about it. Jonas informed him there are a couple of Goyles who have mated with human men and the affect was the same as if they’d been women. He believes it is the transfer of a Gargoyle’s saliva into the human’s bloodstream that stops the aging. They assumed it was the women having babies, because most of them become pregnant within a year or so of having become mated. Since that’s the case, their aging stopped without them realizing it. One to two years doesn’t make a lot of difference in the way a woman looks when they are that young. If you become my mate, you will live a very long, young-looking life.”

  “I’m going to take a shower. Make yourself at home.” Trevor stood and disappeared down the short hallway, closing his bedroom door behind him. Jasper should have realized that was a lot of information to digest. He would give Trevor time for it to sink in. While Trevor was showering, Jasper cleaned off the table, discarding the fast food bag into the garbage can. He inspected Trevor’s small home. One wall was covered with a couple of bookcases, filled with everything from sci-fi classics to anime to textbooks on human anatomy. On top of one of the bookcases was the vase of roses Jasper sent him. They were dead with some of the petals lying haphazardly around the vase, but they were there nonetheless. Trevor had kept them instead of throwing them out. He did notice that the notecard was no longer attached to the plastic stick.

  Next, Jasper studied every single picture Trevor had hanging on the walls. There were a lot of them. Most contained both Trevor and another man whom Jasper assumed was Travis. He knew Travis was a couple of years older, but with Trevor being a clone, they could pass for twins. Some photos showed Travis with a black lab mix, and some showed Trevor with the same dog. All of the ones with Trevor were missing something – a smile that reached his eyes. Jasper’s heart hurt for his mate. Even with his hands buried in the black fur of the animal, Trevor wasn’t truly happy.

  Jasper could understand that, though. Had he ever felt happy enough in his four hundred eighty-seven years that he smiled with his whole face? Not until he met Trevor. The first night they spent eating pizza and playing video games was the first time in his long life he felt complete. Happy. Jasper had traveled the world searching for that one place he would fit in. That one place he would be able to finally call home and live without ridicule, without prejudice. Until he moved to New Atlanta, he had been lost. Wandering. Wondering. Now he had a Clan who accepted him as well as his mate. They not only accepted Jasper, they made him feel like he was family.

  The shower turned on, and Jasper opened his senses. Sure, it was trespassing on Trevor’s privacy, but he needed to gauge his mate’s feelings. Was he freaking out about living an almost immortal life if he bonded with Jasper? The subtle scent Jasper loved came wafting down the hall. The steam was carrying the scent of bodywash mixed with shampoo. Trevor’s heart rate was at a normal level while he bathed. He was humming a tune Jasper didn’t know until it turned into a moan. Jasper leaned his forearm against Trevor’s bedroom door as he felt his mate’s heart rhythm speed up. His shifter hearing picked up every slide of Trevor’s hand on his cock, every breath he released or inhaled.

  Jasper palmed his own hard dick, begging it not to erupt in his pants as his mate grunted through his release. He felt the sting of his fangs nipping his lip. Tasted the blood on his tongue as he licked where he scratched his mouth. He had to get his erection under control before Trevor came out of his room. Jasper brought Theron and their past to mind. The pain from the ropes and clamps was the quickest way to deflate his cock, and this time was no different. No longer aching, Jasper rejoiced in the fact that Trevor had been turned on. Maybe there was still hope for them after all.

  This body would take longer to find. The victim was a recluse who lived alone in a secluded area. As much as Theron wanted to get Jasper alone, he would make him pay with the lives of others until that happened. The first kill had been sloppy, but the cut to the throat was necessary for Phelam to realize it was a Gargoyle who had been the killer. Snapping a human’s neck was so much cleaner. Like Craig’s. Stupid fucking human. He thought he meant something to Theron. The male got off on being tied up and fucked. Most of the time, Theron didn’t have to get anywhere near his hole. Just the ropes cutting into Craig’s skin had been arousal enough.

  Phelam was a different story. He never got off on the bondage. He didn’t enjoy the power Theron held over him. He fought Theron at every move, and that was what got Theron off. He hadn’t found anyone who came close to making him hard the way Phelam did. Too many years had passed, and Theron was going to take back what he wanted. He had to get rid of the little human first.

  He set his latest victim up against the headboard of his bed, admiring the placement of the note. Careful not to leave any DNA, Theron didn’t remove his gloves until he was outside and in his car. He left the home and headed to find his next victim.

  Chapter Seven

  Trevor remembered too late that Jasper had super sensitive hearing. He was probably in the kitchen laughing at Trevor for jerking off in the shower. Oh, well. The damage was done. But, fuck, he’d needed the release. Jasper talking about Trevor living a long life if he accepted the mate bond got him to thinking about the possibilities. Trevor would stay young forever. With Jasper. When he’d made the mistake of looking over at Jasper while he spoke, Trevor didn’t miss the longing in the gorgeous man’s eyes. Bond or not, he wanted Trevor. He wanted to move Trevor in with him and begin a life together. When Trevor thought about being in Jasper’s king-size bed, he had to get away from the table before his dick got any harder.

  A knock on his front door had Trevor panicking. The last time someone knocked on his door, he’d received the shock of his life. Actually the second shock. Finding out he was a clone was a pretty big fucking surprise. He threw open his bedroom door and ran into the living room. His socked feet slid to a stop as Jasper closed the door holding a box.

  “You have a package,” he said, holding it out for Trevor. When Trevor didn’t move, Jasper looked at the label and said, “It’s from Travis.”

  “Oh, thank god.” Trevor knew they would have to discuss the last package he’d received, but he didn’t want to kill his good mood. He took the box from Jasper and shook it. “Christmas,” he said to Jasper, grinning like a kid. He and Travis always sent presents on Christmas but never on birthdays. Trevor had been so distraught at being cloned that he claimed not to have an actual birthday, even though there was a birth certificate that stated otherwise.

  He started for the kitchen then stopped. He turned back to Jasper and asked, “Will you do the honors?”

  “All you want me for is my claws,” Jaspe
r deadpanned. For the second time that day he extended a sharp appendage and ripped open the box. Trevor couldn’t wait to find out what Travis had bought him this year. His collection of sci-fi books was only as large as it was because of his brother.

  “Yes!” he exclaimed as he pulled a book from inside. He turned it around and showed it to Jasper. “H.P. Lovecraft,” he said as he ran his fingers across the cover. “What color is it?”

  “Green,” Jasper told him. They had already discussed Trevor’s form of colorblindness and the shades he could see.

  “Green,” he repeated as he placed his present on the bookshelf with other books by the same author. “That reminds me; there’s something I need to do before we go to your house. Do you mind taking me to the toy store?”

  “Of course not. Do you mind if I ask who you’re buying toys for?” Jasper cocked his head to the side, his brow lined with creases.

  “I don’t mind. I always get a few things for the hospital Santa.”

  “That’s a great idea. I’ve never really celebrated the holiday, but when I was a fireman, we collected toys for the less fortunate. I didn’t even think about it this year.”

  “Okay, let me get my bag.” Trevor grabbed his overnight bag and put on his boots. He locked his door, and they were off.

  The mood was light on the ride to the store. With it being Christmas Eve eve, traffic was crazy trying to get into the parking lot. Jasper didn’t try fighting with other drivers. Instead, he parked as far from the door as he could find. Trevor didn’t mind the walk, and he agreed parking at the far end of the lot was easier than waiting on a spot up close. They would be halfway finished shopping before most of these people got inside.

  When they entered the store, Jasper grabbed a shopping cart. Trevor didn’t plan on buying that many presents, but Jasper might also buy a toy or two. Normally Trevor bought the toys he had wanted as a kid. He didn’t know the ages of the kids in the hospital, but he figured there had to be at least one young boy in the mix. Instead of heading to the boy stuff, Jasper headed to the dolls. Trevor had nothing against dolls, but he didn’t know anything about them either. Jasper was a Goyle on a mission. He had the cart halfway full before they got to the boy section. As Jasper grabbed remote-controlled cars and action figures, Trevor looked at the latest Lego sets. Jasper walked up behind him and asked, “You like Legos?”