Page 17 of Visions, Paws, and Claws

They ended as they always did, Vic lying between them, his leg hooked over Saul’s thigh, his arm up and back around Crank’s neck as they kissed. Both Crank and Saul had their hand on Vic’s ass, their fingers meeting at Vic’s hole where Crank’s come trickled and Saul pushed it back into him.

Crank pressed his lips to Vic’s neck.Fucking beautiful.

Vic turned to smile at him.More like beautiful fucking.

Saul laughed.You’re both wrong. Beautiful fuckers.He claimed Vic’s mouth once more before they moved into a lingering three-way kiss.I fucking love that smell.

Crank arched his eyebrows. “You talking about my sweat? ’Cause you can shove your face into my pits if you like. Don’t bother me none.”

Saul chuckled. “I think it’s a mates thing. Whenever I’m around you, there’s this scent. A mix of spicy and sweet. And it’s only you two.”

Vic smiled. “I smell it too. So yeah, it has to be a mates thing.”

Crank’s heart rate slowly returned to its normal rhythm as he stroked Vic’s body, dragging his fingers through the sheen of sweat that covered him, appreciating the way Saul’s damp chest glowed in the lamplight. He sniffed, and a sweet scent filled his nostrils.

“Oh wow. I never noticed that until now.” Crank liked it. Liked it a lot.

“Kiss me again, both of you,” Vic demanded.

Crank would spend all fucking day kissing his mates if he had the chance.

“You’re sure about this?” Saul said at last.

Crank didn’t have to ask whatthiswas; he’d heard the whole conversation.

“Are we talking about Vic going on this mission, or you and me fucking without him?”

Vic smiled. “While the shark’s away, the humans play. Besides, you might work out some new tricks for when I get back.”

Saul’s chuckle was positively evil.

“Now you’ve gone and done it. We’ll have to come up with new ways to wear you out.”

Crank pressed his chest to Vic’s back. “Be safe, okay?” He couldn’t contemplate losing either of them. Not now.

Vic kissed him, then Saul. “I will, I promise. Besides, I’m visiting Fridan groups. I’ll be perfectly safe.”

Even with his limited experience so far, Crank knew it was foolish to say such things.

No one knows what lies around the corner.

Chapter Four

MILO KEPPLER’Swell-ordered, comfortable world was starting to fray at the edges, and he couldn’t tell a soul about it, becauseDuh.

People who did that suddenly disappeared, and Milo wasn’t about to join the ranks of the Vanished. A year ago he hadn’t even realized such a thing could happen. Not that he was one hundred percent sure, but….

There were too many such occurrences to ignore anymore.

I thought I knew my place in the vast scheme of things.

He’d been raised to believe shifters were the superior race. That humans were meant to serve them. That shifters were at the top of the evolutionary ladder, and one day humans would be in their rightful—inferior—place.

Now? He wasn’t so sure.

Milo’s childhood had been idyllic. The shifter school he’d attended had provided him with fertile soil in which to grow and develop. His athletic prowess had been applauded, his intelligence celebrated. When he reached the age of eighteen, his parents told him about the origins of shifters. Milo’s pride knew no bounds when his lineage revealed him to be a direct descendant of Ansger. And when he’d announced that he wanted to join the Geran military, his parents had supported him 100 percent. Joining the human military was out of the question. Physical exams and blood testing made that an impossibility unless someone in the command chain was also a shifter so physical exams could be doctored. Which was easier than anyone might think.

Shifters wereeverywhere.

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