Page 4 of Unclaimed

“How are you holding up after this morning’s ordeal?”

“I’m good. It’s a good thing you had Gemini to call. I can’t imagine that being something just anyone could handle.”

Waylon rocked back on his heels. “You’d be surprised around these parts. Deidra says you moved here from Boston. I’m pleasantly surprised you don’t have an accent.”

Frost winced. He had heard that a time or two. “I see I’m already a victim of everyone knowing everything about everyone.”

Waylon held up his hands. “Nope. Not yet. That’s as much as I know.”

Frost leaned his hip against the short wall of the nurses’ station. He didn’t have an issue with becoming part of the community. Frost loved his new slice of heaven—sans cobra, of course. If he wanted to be happy here, he needed to get to know everyone. Frost didn’t want to be known as the crazy hermit.

“I don’t have an accent because I’m originally from Florida. Then I went to Yale School of Medicine and took up residency at Boston General.”

“What made you move all the way out here? This has to be one hell of a culture shock.”

Frost felt the way his smile turned slightly bitter. “I stayed a little too long. A slower way of life called to me.”

Waylon tilted his head as if studying Frost. The light caught his amber eyes just right, making them almost iridescent, as if reflecting the light… like an animal. A chill ran down Frost’s spine. Waylon was a sexy guy. He wondered what it said about him that these men who scared him just a little made him hot. Frost had never had a high sex drive. He was gay, but men were just kind of blah to him. That was probably why Craig had cheated. A wave of sadness washed over him. He shouldn’t curse anyone else to a life with him.

“I think you belong here. There’s something about you. It feels like you were meant to be one of us.”

Frost had no idea why, but Waylon’s claim eased the muscles in Frost’s shoulders. “I’d like that.”

Waylon opened his mouth.

“Hey, Waylon. That guy you brought in is awake.”

Waylon glanced behind him at the shout. He sighed. A sweet smile flashed Frost’s way. “I’ll see you later.”

“Okay.” It had been nice talking to him. Frost hoped he saw him again. As Waylon walked away, Frost checked his watch. It was already ten after seven. He supposed he couldn’t stand Gemini up. Just as he had seen Waylon again, he would likely run into Gemini at some point too. Frost headed for the door. He massaged his chest. All day, it had felt like a hole had opened inside him. He hadn’t thought of his rat bastard ex at all. Frost froze halfway to his car. When he brought an image of Craig up in his mind, he felt nothing. It was odd as hell. He had spent seven years of his life with the guy, and nothing. Even when he pictured the moment, he had followed those moans to their bedroom—zilch. No emotion attached to the memory whatsoever. It was like the scene had happened in a movie he didn’t care about. Then, an image of Gemini flared to life inside him. Emotion like he had never experienced washed over him. He wanted to bite and tear. Frost wanted to climb his flawless body. He wanted to fuck. Frost bent at the waist and sucked air. The lust and longing nearly took him to his knees. He barely managed to get himself under control enough to climb into his SUV.

For a moment, Frost sat behind the wheel and stared into space. He tried to think about anything but his gut-wrenching desire. The hospital where he now worked was small—just like the town. Like everything else, it backed up to the forest. Everything here was surrounded by trees and blessed silence. Another image of Gemini sneaked its way into his head. He could feel the man’s sexy mouth on his neck, biting. Maybe he shouldn’t go to this dinner. Just the thought had pain slicing throughhim. He felt lonelier than he ever had in his life. Something was missing from him, and that was the problem. Gemini was absolutely beautiful. Frost would bet good money those sexy tattoos covered more than Gemini’s arms. That thought alone was insane. Frost had only ever dated clean-cut men. He desperately wanted to touch those long curls. Those amazing eyes still cut through him. Someone like Gemini was definitely a player. Frost was fresh meat in a small town. That was it. No doubt, once Gemini conquered him, he would simply add Frost to his list and move on. Frost wasn’t that guy. He didn’t even want to bother with all the bullshit prep to fuck someone he loved. With a stranger… the world disappeared around Frost. He felt the phantom sensation of Gemini’s hair brushing his skin as Gemini kissed a path down his body. Chill bumps rose on his skin. He was painfully hard.

Frost shook his head, hoping to dispel the image. Another blast of cold air washed over him, making his chill bumps more about temperature than desire. Frost started his SUV to get the heat going. It wasn’t that deep into fall yet, but the nights were already getting cold. As his headlights flared to life, an animal darted out of sight. Frost had barely caught a glimpse, but it had looked huge. He leaned closer to the windshield. His gaze stayed locked on the nearby brush. Nothing moved. Frost shook his head. It had been one hell of a day. He sat back. His gaze slid toward the clock on the dash. It was eight thirty. What the fuck? How long had he been staring at nothing and daydreaming? Damnit. He may as well not go to Gemini’s now. It already looked like he stood the guy up.

He pulled out his phone to text an apology. Frost had missed a call from him at eight. He hadn’t even heard the phone ring.His fingers hovered over the device. He didn’t know what to say. Maybe he would just claim his shift had run long and suggest another time. He was terrified at the idea of how Gemini could wreck him. If he had zoned out that long picturing making out, Frost didn’t know if his broken heart and hurt pride could take the blow of a one-night stand right now. Another movement in the corner of his vision brought his head whipping toward the passenger seat. There was a fucking cobra sitting beside him.

Gemini never stopped feeling Frost every second of the day. He had been on a rollercoaster of emotions with him. When he felt Frost waffle about their date, he had deliberately pushed images into Frost’s mind of what he would do to that delicious body. Unfortunately, Gemini had a bad feeling that had scared the poor guy even more. Frost was a runner.

When the shot of genuine terror hit him full force, Gemini was out the door. He drove at speeds that would definitely kill a human if he crashed. His perfect night vision easily allowed him to weave around every slower vehicle. A drive that should have taken half an hour at the speed limit took ten minutes. He felt every second like it was an eternity.

Gemini screeched to a halt behind Frost’s SUV. Waylon and Frost stood outside, staring in. Frost’s fear hadn’t lessened, and Gemini’s panic was through the roof. He glanced inside the vehicle as his long stride ate up the space between them. Riku sat in the passenger seat, tormenting Frost for a second time today. Gemini pinched the spot between his eyes. It looked like he would be taking a trip up the mountain soon to find out what in the hell the guy was doing to his mate. He had silently slithered away this morning before Gemini could ask. At the time, he thought maybe Frost seeing him had been an accident and Riku had frozen, unsure of how to handle the situation, but this was obviously purposeful.

“What? Are you the snake whisperer or something?”

Frost glanced his way. He wasn’t nearly as shocked as Waylon described from this morning. Neither did he look happy. “Apparently.”

“Go get in the truck. I’ll deal with this in the morning when I bring you back to work.”

Frost’s eyes flashed with humor. “That was bold as hell, assuming I’ll stay the night like that.”

For a moment, Gemini simply held Frost’s stare. He let the heat grow between them. They both knew where this night would end. It was inevitable.

“I’ll go get in the truck.”

Gemini fought a smile. He waited until Frost was safely shut away and out of earshot before focusing on Waylon. He motioned toward the SUV. “What’s up with Riku?”

Waylon shrugged. “I don’t know. He rarely comes down from the mountain, much less all this bullshit.”