Chapter Five

It’s true. It’s damn true. Why didn’t anyone tell me I could feel this way? Ness’s parents were not mates. There were only three known families in the whole world that were the same species he was and back in his parents’ time, like bonded to like. There had been talk, roughly five hundred years before, about Ness matching up with another female from one of the two family lines that wasn’t his, but the woman concerned rejected that idea before Ness could. The women of his line had very dominant personalities, and Ness didn’t want to fight with someone for the rest of his days - the way his parents did. Ness had been quietly relieved to be let off the hook, even if his mother had been furious at what she considered a slight against their family at the time.

Fated mates, according to Ness’s family, were a myth. A legend – something more ludicrous than the idea of a monster living in a lake – and the irony of that wasn’t lost on Ness. Ness remembered his father saying once that fated mates were an excuse lazy men used so they could sleep around without ever committing to anyone. But my mate is serving me food in our family home. He knocked on the door.

“What is it you do?” Ness was struggling to think of what he could say. Cyrus hadn’t stopped smiling, and while he might have been a virgin, Ness wasn’t totally oblivious. He noticed the heat in the man’s eyes. I could be in bed with another person before dinner time. Ness wasn’t sure if he was excited or terrified. Best to start with small talk.

“I tell most people I’m a businessman, and that’s true, but at heart I’m a gangster. A made man, I believe is the term people use these days.” Cyrus handed Ness a plate. “I’m the head of a family based in Vegas, although I have casinos in eight cities. Aside from the two I run in Vegas, I have another six in Europe. What about your sweet self? What do you do?”

Ness had to swallow fast so he didn’t spit the first mouthful he’d taken back at his mate. “You’re a criminal?”

“No.” Cyrus burst out laughing, almost choking on his food. When he’d swallowed he added, “To be a criminal, I’d have to be charged and found guilty of doing something illegal, and that doesn’t happen. And before you go worrying your sweet self that I’m going to end up in jail for something, please don’t. Things might have been a bit hairy back in the nineteen thirties and forties, but believe me, we’re a lot more civilized now.”

“My apologies. That was rude of me.” Any more shocks and I’m going to be the first shifter in existence to have a heart attack. The small talk wasn’t going the way Ness thought it would. “You mentioned you’re the head of a family, so I am guessing you’re bond mated? Do you have children?” Oh my goodness that’s worse. How could he be with me if he’s already mated?

But Cyrus didn’t seem to think the question was unusual, or that Ness was strange for asking it. “No bond mate. No one special in my life.” Cyrus shook his head. He was still standing on the other side of the counter, eating his food, apparently seeing nothing peculiar about their situation at all. “I have a son and recently a new grandson, which was a huge but welcome surprise. You might already know them in fact because they live in Arrowtown. It’s where I first saw your plane, although I didn’t realize the significance of it at the time. You must’ve been taking off somewhere while I was arriving for a visit with them. Blade and Hal and their new baby Ethan Cyrus. Do you know them?”

Ness dropped his fork. It made a clatter on the plate, and Ness hurriedly picked it up as Cyrus chuckled. Ness could tell he wasn’t being mean. Maybe it amuses him to shock people. “I know them, yes.” He nodded and then felt he just had to come right out and ask. “What happened to Blade’s other parent? Can I ask that?”

“My life is an open book for you, my mate, and only you.” Cyrus placed his hand over his chest as his smile widened. “Look, this is going to sound worse than it actually was, and please believe me the situation was mutually advantageous to both of us…”

“Please don’t tell me you just went out and bought a baby?” No. There was no way Ness was going to be able to eat after thinking something like that, and he put down his fork and pushed his plate to one side, but Cyrus’s smile didn’t drop for a second.

“I can see you’re going to keep me on my toes.” He chuckled. “I love how your mind just automatically jumped to me buying a person. It makes me wonder what you think gangsters do.”

“I don’t know a lot about that way of life.” Ness ducked his head, mentally cursing himself. You talk to people all the time. Get your head together.

“I think that’s adorable. As for Blade’s mother, the lady and I, another great white shark, had a mutually beneficial arrangement. Sharks are solitary creatures as a rule, and she was no exception. She did not want anything to do with me, beyond what was necessary for conception to occur. Great white sharks carry their young for a whole year. I took care of her during that time.

“To be honest, I genuinely thought she would leave the moment Blade was born, and that was our agreement. In the wild, great whites don’t have anything to do with their young after they are born, and while I understand how different that is for shifter sharks, she and I both felt that was what would happen. However, she surprised herself and me and waited until Blade was four or five before she told Blade it was time for her to go, which she did. She was well set up, I took care of her well after she left our home, and she still stays in touch with Blade and me to this day, although she has since found her fated mate and is really happy with them. You have to remember, this was also a hundred and ten years ago.”

Cyrus shrugged. “I thought the Fates had forgotten me, but no. They’d sent me someone reclusive instead, so it just took me longer to find you. How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking. You’re clearly an adult, but it’s always handy to know these things to help keep things in perspective in relation to histories.”

Ness looked down at where his plate had been and wished he hadn’t pushed it away. He’d dearly love something to keep his hands occupied. “Three thousand and twenty-six,” he said in a low voice.

“That’s a long wait for a mate.” Cyrus whistled. “You make me feel like a youngster, and not many people can say that. I’m only six hundred and fifty years old. But you’re in luck. I’m not the type of man to call anyone ‘Daddy.’”

Ness wasn’t sure what Cyrus meant but he nodded anyway. You have to tell him. His animal side was still pushing to get to the claiming side of things and Ness knew he’d have to explain his little difficulties before that could happen. It was the only fair and right thing to do. “You’re clearly a man of the world,” he said slowly. “I mean, you have a kid and a grandson already, and I’m sure that Blade’s mother wasn’t the only person you’ve been with intimately.”

“Is that a problem? Because I’m sure you can say the same.” Cyrus cleaned off his plate and then pushed it aside and reached for Ness’s hand. “What’s happened in the past has no relevance to fated mates when they meet, surely you know that. But I am sensing some apprehension coming from you, so you clearly have something bothering you when this is meant to be a time for celebration. Share your trouble with me and we’ll solve it together, before we get onto more pleasurable activities.”

Are all shifters so pushy about the claiming business? But he already knew that answer. Ness might not have felt the sheer tsunami of need he was feeling before, but he’d heard thousands of stories about it over his years.

“I’m sorry, but yes, there is something you should know about me before…before anything else,” Ness managed in a rush and quickly moved on. “My animal side is really happy – I’ve genuinely never had this sort of reaction to another person in my life before.”

Inhaling sharply, Ness said, “But your assumption was wrong, when you mentioned about my sexual experience. I went to see the shifter doctor in Arrowtown…” It all came pouring out – the stress Ness had been under, the unfamiliar feelings in his body, the agitation, not being able to think straight, and how he’d struggled to keep his various businesses running.

“Doc laughed at me when I first went to him with my symptoms,” he explained. “But they didn’t go away, and I kept going back because I genuinely didn’t have a clue what was going on. Finally he told me that basically my body is going through puberty – at three thousand years old, can you believe it? He even suggested I engage in sex with someone to relieve the stress…”

“There’ll be no one else darlin’, not now I’m here.”

“No, no, you misunderstand.” Ness really didn’t want Cyrus to get the wrong idea. “I told him my kind didn’t have sex until we were married or bond mated. Because of, you know, with how big I am down there… I don’t know how to get you to understand. Look. This is what happened. The elders in our clan sat me down and told me when I was about twenty years old, that because I was a big shifter and my junk is so big, that I could hurt someone if I went near them that way, so I never have. Do you understand me? I never have.”

Ness looked at Cyrus’s face. The man was blinking – once, twice, three times. “Are you telling me, my amazingly unique mate, that you’re a virgin in all things? After three thousand years?”

Ness nodded. His cheeks were flaming hot. “I know that must sound ridiculous to a worldly man like yourself…”

But Cyrus put up his hand. “No. Do not put yourself down like that. Ridiculous is not the word I would use at all. Am I pissed at your elders for putting that fear into your head when you were little more than a baby? Damn right I am. And I suppose they never expected you’d have a male mate, either.”

“I don’t think anyone in my family line has a same sex bond mate, but then no one in my family has found a fated mate either.”

“They probably never even looked for one. I’m guessing you didn’t either which is why you were a little weak-kneed seeing me at the door. I understand now.” Cyrus was looking deep into his eyes and Ness couldn’t look away if he tried. “The question is what do you want to do about us now? I’m not leaving you. That’s not an option and I think your animal side would chase me down if I tried.”

“Probably.” Such deep dark eyes.

“I am more than happy to court you, if that would help you feel more comfortable being around me. Take you out, date you, woo you like they used to do back in the day. Or…” He trailed off and Ness couldn’t help himself. That sounded lovely, but so time consuming as well, and Ness needed…he hadn’t a clue what he needed, but the feeling was intense.

“What’s the second option?” Am I sounding breathless? The intensity of Cyrus’s gaze was making Ness’s heartrate stutter, and his lungs were working overtime.

“Option number two is that I could take you to bed, make love to your amazingly large body, show you that your dick size should never be a barrier to giving or receiving pleasure, and fuck you until you can’t stand up. If you’re up for it. Whatever works for you.”

Studying his new mate – the man’s eyes were mesmerizing - but there was something else there and Ness came to a stunning realization. “You’re always going to look out for me, aren’t you. Protect me. Care for me. Consider my interests.” It wasn’t a question, but Cyrus nodded anyway.

“It’s what I do, darlin’, and everything I’ve done in my life for others will mean one hundred times more when it comes to you. When you accept me, you’ll stand above all others in my life. You will always be cherished, you will always be cared for, and I’ll kill anyone who harms you without a second thought.”

And that right there is the difference between a predator and a prey animal. Despite his size, Ness’s animal spirit was a giant gentle soul. “Take me to bed,” he whispered. “Just don’t let me hurt you, please.”

“Nothing but pleasure between us, darlin’. Nothing but pleasure.”