Robin thought he was going to start to hate Mondays.
No one liked them, he didn’t think, but after his weekend in Casey and Travis’ bed, going back to the hotel room was sheer hell. He had to, because he needed access to all the business trappings, but he resented the fuck out of it.
He kept looking for bed bugs in the room, because he itched, all the way down to his bones. There wasn’t even a hint of them, though, and God knew this place wasn’t dry at all. The Carolinas made Dallas seem like a desert.
Robin glanced down realizing he was scratching his chest. Again. Damn it. He wanted to call Travis and Casey, but they were on the job site meeting with a surveyor, so he stopped himself from reaching for his phone.
He answered emails, trying to focus, but his hands kept shaking and his mind wouldn’t settle on anything. Maybe he was hungry. He’d skipped breakfast. Had a granola bar for lunch.
Maybe he needed another coffee. One with a lot of cream. Something dreamy. He could totally do that. There was that little place across from Mona’s diner. Java Hutt? They did an affogato frozen coffee slush.
He could lap that up.
That’s what he’d do. He’d take his laptop down, grab a coffee and work from somewhere new. Somewhere not here. Somewhere interesting.
He grabbed his laptop bag and his phone, then thrust his key in his pocket. Which was in pajama pants. Shit. Robin changed quickly, a little ashamed of himself.
Terry would beat his ass, if he knew what he was up to.
Ass beating. His cheeks heated, and he had trouble zipping his khakis because his cock was firming up. He thumped it hard. “Working. Not playing.”
God knew that his new lovers weren’t having this problem. Work hard, play hard.
He took a deep breath, then let it out. Calm. Evince calm. And out the door, his key in his new pocket.
The hallway of the hotel smelled like chemicals, the scent making his nose itch. Crazy. He wiped his eyes, which watered hard, and headed outside. Better. Much better.
He wandered over to his rental car, wrinkling his nose at the new car smell. He’d rather be in Casey’s truck. It smelled good. Like his lovers.
Were they his lovers? The word rang in his head, the absolute proper noun. Yeah. They were his.
He sat there, scratching his shoulder, the deep bite there. Itchy. God, he itched.
His cell phone rang, making him jump near out of his skin. Shit. He tugged it out of his pants. Terry.
“Hey, boss.”
“Hey, Robin. How are you holding up to the steamy Carolinas?”
“Christ, this humidity is hell, man. Pure hell.”
“That says something, coming from Dallas.” Terry chuckled. “Fill me in.”
“All the permits are in and filed. You should have them in your inbox. The contractors are --” Hot as hell and pure sex on a stick. “-- with the surveyors.”
“Yeah? The county is out there already?”
“Yep. The blueprints are approved and they’ve got the foundation pour date.”
“Rock on. You’re doing good. You sound a little stressed out.”
“I just have a bug or something, man. I’m itching all over. I’ll grab some Benadryl.”
“Huh. You have any mold issues?”
“I’m sure there are, but I haven’t seen any.” The bite on his shoulder burned.
“No, dork, I mean allergies.” Terry sounded amused now.
“I did too. I mean I haven’t seen any evidence of mold in the hotel room.” Right? Isn’t that what he meant?
“Yeah, but it’s in the air. Try that Claritin stuff or something.”
“Good point. I’ll get some of both. After a coffee.”
“Coffee. Yum.” Terry faded for a moment, the sound of him shifting the phone to the other side clear. “So when do they pour? I could fly in for that.”
“Thursday or Friday, depending on the weather, but I got this. Seriously. I’m on it.”
“I could come in Friday…” Terry cleared his throat. “I trust you, Robin. I really do. I still feel the need to be hands on here.”
“Well, tell me when to pick you up at the airport and I’ll be there.” Still, it stung a little bit. Not much, just a little.
“I’ll holler when I have a flight in. Wednesday is the full moon. Watch out for whackadoodles.”
“Do the rednecks get weirder?” he teased. “I promise not to drink any muscadine wine or go bass fishing.”
“Thank God. Red mud doesn’t come out of loafers.” Terry hooted as if that was the funniest thing ever. “Go by the place we went that first night at some point and say hi to little Alain for me.”
“I might. If not, we can go Friday.” Alain. Christ. Not his type.
“Sure. I just want you to tease him a bit. I never gave him my number and I hope he wants it.”
“Good to know. If he asks me for it?”
“Slip it to him. It will prime him for my next visit.” Terry paused. “How are the contractors?”
Delicious. “Good. Real good.”
“That’s great to hear.”
He knew Terry was still worried about his personal life but, to his boss’ credit, Terry let it go.
They chatted for a little longer and he pulled out of the hotel parking lot, heading for caffeine and then Benadryl, because he was tearing himself up. His skin felt raw.
“Okay, buddy. I’ll send you my itinerary.” Terry was ready to stop the chit-chat, he could tell.
“Check your inbox for all the paperwork,” Robin replied. “Bye.”
“Later.”
Finally. He tossed his phone into the passenger seat so he could scratch.
Jesus, this was miserable.
His phone rang again and he fumbled around for it, trying to keep his eyes on the road.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Dallas.” Oh, Travis. That slow, Southern honey voice made him shiver.
“Hey there. How’s it going?” He pulled into the first parking lot he came to. He was going to kill someone, trying to focus.
“Lonely. Case had to run over to Charlotte to file some paperwork for your corporate office. What are you up to?”
“Itching. I’m going to grab some coffee and some drugs and then… go somewhere and do something.”
“Mmm. I can think of things we can do tonight.” Travis’ voice went deep, husky.
He moaned, the sound loud, shocking in the silence of the car. “It feels like I haven’t seen you two in days instead of hours.”
“I know. I keep thinking about you and springing wood. Casey offered to suck me before he left, but we’re on a timeline.”
“You’re a slave driver,” he teased.
“I’m also a sad kitty.” Everything was cats with Travis. He’d expected the guys to have, like, fifty of them at home but they had no pets.
“I’m restless. Itchy. I can’t settle.”
“Hmm.” Travis’ little purr made him feel better somehow, full of sympathy. “Come see me.”
“I wish I could. I wish I could do more than that.”
“Why can’t you?”
He chuckled softly. “You were the one who said we were on a deadline.”
“Timeline, but yeah. We are. Damnit.” Travis sighed for him, then cleared his throat. “Get some Benadryl, honey. It will help.”
“Yeah. I’ll do that.” Maybe he’d just sleep through whatever the fuck was wrong with him. He’d done that a lot when he was a little kid. He’d feel like the whole world was off kilter, his mom would give him chicken soup and tea, and he would snore away two days. That was it. Chicken soup. Tea. Meds. Naps. He’d talked to Terry; he could hide out.
“Okay, honey. Call me if you need me to bring you something.” From horny to concerned, Travis had it all.
“I’m just going to get supplies and get some rest. I’ll be on site in the morning, most likely.”
“Okay, Dallas. Be safe, okay?”
“I got this. Bye, babe.” Babe was good, right?
“Bye.”
He hung up and sighed. Right. Soup. Meds. Drug store.
No more coffee. He sighed. He hated being sick. Maybe this was just a twenty-four hour bug.
He’d hate to have to call and get Terry out here earlier.
* * *
Casey poked Travis in the ribs. “It’s Wednesday.”
“Ow!” Travis glared at him from under his cap. “I know.”
“We haven’t seen Robin since Monday morning.”
“We’ve been busy, baby.” Travis hated when shit went wrong, and one of the houses they’d worked on last year had lost a piece of roof thanks to a windstorm the previous month and some shitty handyman work.
“But he hasn’t even called since Monday.”
“I’m sure he’s been busy, too.”
“You said he was sick! And it’s the moon tonight.”
Travis whipped his head up. “It is?”
“Duh.” Christ on a crutch, T was addlepated as all get out around the full moon. As if he lost all his bossy self and went soft.
“Sorry.” Travis sighed. “I got mad at him, I reckon, and decided to ignore him.”
“Well, I’m not mad at him. I’m not interested in ignoring him.” Hell, Casey wanted to play with him and, if he was going to fuzz out, Casey wanted to see that, too.
“I know. It’s the moon, I swear.” Travis reached out, so Casey took his hand. “I wanted him to ask me to come help Monday and he just stonewalled me.”
“Or maybe he thought he was sick and didn’t want to get us sick, too.” Wait. Was he being the logical one? Was that allowed? Travis was so damned full of pride. So easily hurt, too.
“Oh.” Travis’ golden-green eyes went worried. “We should go check. We got this job done now.”
“Yeah. Is he at the hotel or the job site? You talked to the plumber?”
“I did. You know Jace is on it. Oh. He said the corporate guy had checked in but left…”
He reached over to twist Travis’ nipple. “Some mate you are.”
“Fuck, Case! That hurt.”
Travis was a loony when the moon came. Like, total inside out man. All that swagger just reverted to kitty with a ball of string.
“Focus, Travis. Our mate is sick and we need to see him. Bring him food, snuggles. Nibbles.”
“We should get him and take him home.” Travis headed over to check in with their roofer, Kaleb. Then he trotted back. “Come on. Time to go.”
Now, there was his confident mate.
Christ.
He rolled his eyes and followed along. Maybe Travis had hit his head. Casey figured he should have said something yesterday, but he was so used to Travis taking the lead.
“You think he’s okay?” Travis asked, hopping into the truck. “I feel disconnected from him.”
“Maybe he’s really sick…” Drugs could do that. Hell, he’d had a couple of things that made him all wrapped in cotton wool.
“Jesus, I hope not.” The truck roared to life, Travis burning out onto the main road.
“Well, you talked to him last. Did he sound sick?”
“No, he sounded like a shifter who was getting near the moon. Said he was itching like mad.”
“And you just…” He closed his eyes, swallowing back his recriminations. None of them had mated with someone that didn’t even know they were shifters. “It’ll be fine.”
“I’m sorry.” Travis sounded… lost almost. Casey got it. He’d been thinking about Robin all morning, but in this sort of abstract way. As in, we need to see him, but I’ll wait for Travis.
How was that like either of them? They needed to see Robin. Touch him. That would reconnect the broken threads. Maybe that Terry guy was interfering. Maybe that Terry guy was here. Or another male, sniffing around.
Casey growled a little. No. No one got their mate but them.
You think he’s okay? Travis’ jaw clenched, his hands white-knuckled on the wheel.
“Of course he is. He would have called.”
“He did call.”
“Stop it. Just get us to the hotel.”
Travis nodded, eyes on the road. Nowhere was too far away in Whisker Hollow, North Carolina, and it took no time to get to the hotel. Travis was out of the truck and heading to Robin’s room before the springs stopped rocking. They didn’t even have to search, the scent of Robin was like a drug, weird as it was.
Travis knocked on the door, the noise huge to Casey’s ears.
“Honey? Dallas? We’re worried about you. We came to check on you.”
There was a low moan from inside the room.
“Shit.” Casey stopped Travis from breaking the door down, pulling out his wallet instead. “Let me try.” This might be a fancy Holiday Inn Express, but it was still just a flimsy door. If this didn’t work, they’d call Travis’ cousin, for fuck’s sake. “Drama queen.”
“I can fix it if we need to.” Travis did step back and let Casey go to work.
It took a couple tries, but he managed it and suddenly they were in, the room stinky with sick sweat and chicken soup.
“Robin?” Casey ran to the bed, tugging away the sheets.
The bite marks on Robin’s skin were torn open, raw and bloody, the wounds edged with patches of shiny black fur, and Travis groaned. “Let’s get him in the shower.”
“Then we take him home. Right?”
“Yes. We have to get him there before…”
Yeah. It was relatively early in the day, but moonrise could come fast, and he didn’t think there was any chance Robin was going to hold out.
In fact, those eyes were totally not human. Totally.
No longer bright blue, they glowed almost silver, the color fascinating. He would bet Robin would be that black color only a melanistic puma achieved.
Travis lifted Robin easily, trundling to the bathroom.
“Travis… I got the Benadryl like you said.”
Travis’ guilt poured into their bond like a flood.
“Good deal,” Casey said, trotting ahead to turn on the water. The water heated with gratifying speed, and he drew the curtain at the showerhead end, opening the other side before working on getting himself naked.
“We’ll clean you up and then it’s time to come home, hmm? We’ll have a steak, curl up together.”
“Steak?” The faintest frown lines drew up on Robin’s forehead. “I feel funny. I missed you.”
“We didn’t know, Dallas.” Travis’ voice was an agonized growl.
“Didn’t know what, y’all? So good to see you.”
“That you were feeling so bad.” Casey stepped into the bathtub, taking Robin into his arms so Travis could strip down and join them.
“Me, either. I was itching like fire. I took a bunch of allergy shit.”
They got the soap lathered up, washing Robin gently but quickly. They would have to be careful to go out the back by the pool. Robin was sprouting whiskers on one side of his face. This kit wasn’t waiting for nightfall.
He’s awful damn fuzzy, Case.
We can’t stay here, lover. We need to move. Once we get him to the truck I’ll make some calls, cancel all our stuff for the day.
“Do y’all think you can pick Terry up at the airport? He’s flying in tomorrow. Noonish.”
“We’ll get Dean-o to do it, Dallas.” Travis smoothed the soap off Robin’s belly, which was furry now, dark with black hair.
“Thank you. I just feel… well…” Robin yawned, the look pretty damned toothy. “… better now. More solid.”
He bet. Lord, lord, lord.
Casey grabbed towels while Travis held up their lover. When Travis handed Robin out, Travis turned off the water. Okay, time to move.
“Sheets, you think?”
Travis nodded. “We have to move fast. I’ll go bring the truck around back.”
“Guys?” Robin looked so confused.
“You’re coming home with us, Robin. Now. We need to feed you some protein and coddle you.” And keep him from going all big cat and freaking out the townies.
“Am I okay? Why are you worried? What’s going on?”
No. No, no, no. No stress. No worry. No panic. Peace and light and joy and less fang and more time. La, la, la. “Nothing is wrong. We just feel bad we left you alone when you were sick.” Casey wrapped Robin in a sheet, then the coverlet.
“I’m naked, guys.”
“Hence the sheets.”
“Be around back in three,” Travis said before pulling on his clothes and heading out the door.
“I need to…”
“We’ll deal with everything later.” Casey went for the seduction, nuzzling under one incredibly fuzzy ear. “Don’t you want to come home and let us make you feel better, kit?”
Robin moaned. “Yeah. I do. I kept dreaming of you and Travis. Your eyes glowed gold all the time and you kept staring at me. Waiting.”
“What a lovely dream, sugar. I mean it. Let’s go home and make things right.”
“Okay.” Robin struggled a little, maybe trying to touch him but stymied by the covers. “I feel like a mummy.”
“I love mummy movies.” He put Robin on the bed and gathered anything the hotel staff might, uh, lift. Laptop, phone, tablet. There. Laptop bag. They would come back for clothes and all. “Let’s go get in the truck and head home for steaks and maybe some milk.”
“I like milk.”
“Me, too!” He slung the bag crossbody so the heavy part was on his back. “Come on, you.” He hoisted Robin up.
“Casey!” Oh, that laughter rang out, the sound mostly yowling.
“Okay, here we go.” He went out the door and down the hall to the back stairs, Robin bouncing wildly. Thank God, no maids had made it up here yet. Most of the girls would understand but, then again, the ones that got it would have tonight off.
He made it out, the old guy floating gently in the pool never even glancing their way. Of course, old dude was starting to look markedly like a cooter and, if he wasn’t careful, that blow up lounge chair deal would get caught in his tortoise shell.
Werecooter. God, that tickled him.
They managed to get in the truck without Robin spazzing out, and Travis headed out of town toward their place lickety split. He just kept rubbing and rumbling and petting and praying that there weren’t any claws before they could get home. Leather seats and kitties didn’t mix. Too many teeth and claws.
They pulled into their long drive in record time, and Travis looked back over the seat and grinned.
“How’s he doing?”
“I’m right here,” Robin snarled around teeth that were too big for his mouth.
“Furry. About to really kitty out. If this is his first time since he was a toddler, I have no idea how well his human and cat will connect.”
“Let’s get into the house. It’s safest.”
“I’ll need your help.”
Robin was already twitching and shuddering in his arms and he was no match for a full sized male cat, experienced or not. Hell, Robin the cat was bigger than the man, probably coming in at close to two hundred pounds. As big as Travis…
“T. We gotta hurry, mate.”
Travis came to help him, grabbing the lower half. “Inside. The little bedroom.” The room they called the little bedroom had no windows. It could contain a full-grown cat for the moon. They both knew sometimes they couldn’t roam on the moon.
Robin spit and hissed, wriggling madly, body caught more than halfway to kitty. Hell, they got Robin inside, but that was it. They were faced with full-grown, pissed off, pretty fucking scared and surely hungry cougar.
Goodie.
Travis grabbed Casey and pushed in front of him. “Hey, now. It’s okay, Dallas. It’s okay.”
“Meat or cream, mate?” They’d just lure Robin in.
Robin’s head tilted, flat face turning side to side as he scented them.
“Get the cream. That’s his weakness. How much did he go through over the weekend?”
“Four gallons of milk and six quarts of cream. He wasn’t even aware of it. You have this?”
“Yeah, don’t run.”
“Travis, I’m not a kitten. I won’t engage his prey drive.” Christ. Casey backed out of the front room into the kitchen slowly. They needed to lure Robin into the little bedroom. He grabbed a quart of cream and a bowl.
He circled around behind, then slid into the little bedroom and poured the cream before stepping out -- right into the middle of Robin’s business. Well, hello.
“Hey, Dallas. You want a drink? I poured out some cream.” Please don’t disembowel me. I prefer my intestines inside, thank you.
Robin pushed past him, tail tickling his belly through his shirt. Kitty just wanted cream, and Casey didn’t think. He simply closed the door behind Robin, with him and Travis on the other side.
“Okay, that was fun.”
Travis snorted and looked a little wild-eyed. “So, we’re like the worst mates ever, huh?”
“Hey, I brought him cream!” Although, yeah. Maybe they should have been less standoffish and more here, let us help.
“We’ll let him calm down. With a belly full of cream he’ll want a nap.”
“Worst comes to worse, we’ll wear him out with a laser light.” It was a fabulous fucking idea, if you asked him.
“I like it.”
Casey grinned at Travis, who dropped a quick kiss on his mouth. Somehow they’d fucked up and still managed to not get anyone killed. That was what? A ten-year run? Fifteen? They deserved a medal or at the very least a plaque.
A chirp on the other side of the door made them jump. It was rough, kind of plaintive. Cougars like them didn’t roar, but they could vocalize, and Robin was kind of on a roll.
“Hey, Dallas. You feeling better? You want a little more?”
A long scratch sounded against the door. Then another yowl.
Travis snorted. “We can try keeping him company in there.”
“I think we should. He’s lonesome.”
And Casey wanted to see. He was so curious it burned.
“Get the cream. We need to be armed.”
Casey brandished the half full bottle. “Go.”