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.He’d have nightmares about the possibilities if he wasn’t careful.“As for you,” Shonti slapped at Otto’s arm.“Let go of him and let me do my job.”Hope lit Otto’s eyes.“Can you—”Shonti cut him off with the wave of her hand.“I can’t magically make him better, not a hundred per cent, but I can give him a little help at least.There’s a path up there,” Shonti pointed behind her to her left.“It’s not too bad.You’ll find another path down, almost like steps.We shifters have kept them a secret for a long time.You get him down them and I will have your family meet you at the bottom, or else I will drive there myself.”An uncomfortably warm tingling began in Tim’s shoulder and quickly spread over his chest and back and down his arm.It went from uncomfortable to burning, and he yelped as he tried to pull away.“You fair skinned ones are so sensitive, I forgot,”Shonti said by way of apology.She leapt up and shifted, and was gone before Tim could think of a comeback.“She lied.” Otto slid his arm under Tim and lifted him up.“She lied! Look, Tim!”Tim’s entire body still felt too hot, unnaturally hot.Not like a fever, but like he’d been covered in some weird solar flare or come too close to a lava, he didn’t know.But he looked.He touched.He gasped.“What the fuck? How is that even possible?”Otto sat back and held Tim.His rich laughter washed over Tim and chased away the lingering odd sensations.“Fuck if I know, Tim.I thought there was nothing I didn’t know about our people, but it just goes to show you how much I have to learn.”“You and me both.” Tim’s head spun but this time it was with a pure joy as he shifted.He was healthy, whole, and in love with the most wonderful man in the world, and Otto loved him right back.Even the horrible events from earlier tonight couldn’t negate those facts.EpilogueThey did as Shonti had asked and kept the knowledge of the departing snow leopard spirit to themselves, but the rest of the story they told their eager audience.Steven hadn’t been shot.Benjamin had been as shitty a shooter as Shonti proclaimed him to be.The sounds of those first two bullets being fired had sent Lona and Vendelia running back to Steve, then the three of them had been terrified when Benjamin had fired his gun again.In the end, they were all just happy to be alive and uninjured, especially Tim, who thought getting shot had to be the worst thing ever.“What about the body?” Steve asked.Then he gasped and slapped a hand over his mouth.“Oh shit, Benjamin Klein!” was his muffled explanation.“Care to explain to the others, dear?” Lona arched one eyebrow in a perfectly intimidating manner.Steve unclamped his hand.“That’s why the records were tampered with.He worked for one of the labs in Nepal, I believe.Before we began exclusively using the one at the Museum of Natural History.He’s actually part of the reason why we switched.His work became shoddy and untrustworthy.We had to find someone dependable.” Steve sighed and looked towards the mountain.“I am so sorry about his mate.We are going to have to immediately cease tranquillizing the leopards, or at least the ones we aren’t a hundred per cent certain are shifters.Maybe change the tranquillizer we use, too.”“Can’t you just quit doing it at all?”Steve frowned at Vendelia.“No, I’m afraid not.It’s the only way we can tag and collar the true snow leopards and study them.They are very much endangered, you know this.We have to do what we must to keep them here, to help them thrive once again.I know there might be a cost, but hopefully the benefits will outweigh it in the long run.”Not ideal, but probably the best they could hope for, Tim decided.With people willing to hunt the animals to extinction all in the name of money and misguided medical beliefs, it would be a battle to protect the snow leopards.“I trust Shonti will take care of Klein’s body.” Otto pulled Tim closer to his side.“And I guess Klein was targeting us specifically all along because he knew we were shifters.”“And because of my role in the programme.” Steve nodded.“I’m afraid so.I don’t ever remember meeting the man, but he must have figured out I was mated to a shifter.He could have spied on us and seen Lona and you kids.God, he could have hurt any of you.”“But he didn’t,” Lona interjected before Steve could castigate himself.“Now, let’s go home.Vendelia might still be able to keep her date, and Otto and Tim did have plans we interrupted.”Tim was too grateful to be embarrassed.All he wanted was to hold Otto in his arms and start planning their future.They needed to figure out if they should buy another home here—very likely—and what months they would spend where.Tim couldn’t wait to bring Otto home.Gods, he hadn’t even told his mom about Otto, they’d been so busy! He’d barely even been in Dalanzadgad a week.It was amazing how quickly one’s life could change.“Yes, it is,” Otto told him, right before kissing the stuffing right out of him.Tim’s entire body was lit up and on edge, hungry for more of his mate.Otto bit his bottom lip then licked it.“Soon.I believe you promised your cock in my ass.”“I did.” If his voice was a tad squeaky, so what? The drive back was twice as long as the drive there, Tim just knew it.He considered leaning over and sucking Otto’s dick but Otto vetoed it.“Not that I wouldn’t love to have your mouth on me, but I’d either have to pull over or I’d wreck, and I really, really want you to fuck me.” Otto’s eyes glistened when he risked a quick look at Tim.“I’ve never been so scared, Tim.Never in my life.Please don’t get hurt again.”Tim fought back the tears stinging his eyes.“I can’t promise that, Otto, but I can promise to do my best not to do anything stupid and dangerous.So can you.”“All right.” Otto took his hand.“I do.” He cleared his throat.“Speaking of which, can we get married when we go to the States? Or we can stop in Canada, I don’t care.I want the human trappings of a spouse, as well as the leopard’s mate.”Tim was going to melt right into the seat, just turn into liquid happiness.“Oh.Oh yeah, we can do that.Will you marry me?”“That’s what I was asking you,” Otto said, no longer sounding quite so scared.Tim shook his head.“You didn’t.You just asked if we could get married, which isn’t the same thing at all.And you didn’t answer me, either.”Otto cheeks turned ruddy.His grip on the steering wheel tightened, but not his grip on Tim’s hand.“It is the same thing.You know what I meant! I just bungled it a little.” He smiled so brilliantly Tim was surprised the cab of the vehicle didn’t light up.“I know what you’re doing, too.Prodding me out of the last bit of my brooding over almost losing you.Well, don’t worry.I’m not going to waste our time on the possibility of an unhappy ending.It didn’t happen.We are going to have our happy ever after.And yes,” he brought Tim’s hand to his lips, kissed it tenderly.“Yes, I will marry you.”Inside their suite, Tim took his time undressing Otto.The urge to fuck him hard and fast was gone, replaced by a different need.He guided Otto to the bed and gently pushed.Otto didn’t fight, his body languid as he lay waiting for Tim.“I’m going to make love to you,” Tim told him.“Slowly, deeper than anyone ever has.I’m going to reach so far inside you I will always be a part of you.My heart, my body, my soul.They will always belong to you.”Tim lay beside Otto and traced the line of his cheeks, the hollows there, the sharp, straight ridge of his nose, the soft, sweet lips [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]