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“Yeah, I’m fine. Austen Payne is a cheetah Therian.”
So his brother had heard him? And what? Chose to ignore him? “Cael—”
Cael shook his head, his stern expression telling Dex his brother wasn’t in a sharing mood. Dex had considered pushing the matter but conceded now was not the time. Something was up with Cael and had been since he’d been in the hospital along with Hobbs after the bombing. Whatever was going on, it had to do with Ash. The guy had called in sick this morning, which was apparently like the second time he’d done so in the twenty-something years since joining the THIRDS. Lately Cael was easily distracted, his head elsewhere, which was dangerous not only for him but the rest of the team. Yeah, Dex would definitely be having a talk with his little brother. For now, he turned his attention to Rosa.
“So tell me something about this Austen guy.”
“He’s a slippery little shit,” Rosa said, though she was smiling affectionately when she said it. “Fast as fuck too.”
“Is that your professional opinion?” Dex teased, receiving a couple of loving expletives in Spanish. “How the hell is Sloane going to catch him?” If a cheetah Therian didn’t want to get caught, he didn’t get caught. Unless he made a stupid mistake. Rosa was right about how fast they were, whether in their Human or Therian forms. Dex remembered all the times he’d attempted to outrun his brother when they were kids. He never even came close to catching up with him despite being older and having longer legs—at least in his Human form. The only problem for cheetah Therians was the distance. They could only handle high speeds in short bursts. If Austen ran, Sloane could still catch up once the guy tired out. ’Course, who the hell knew where he’d run to by then.
“Sloane’s not going to chase him,” Rosa said, a wicked gleam in her eye. “He’s going to hunt him. No one stalks like our Team Leader.”
“Tell me about it,” Dex muttered. The guy had a bad habit of walking in a room and scaring the ever-living fuck out of Dex. It wasn’t right that a guy of Sloane’s size made no sound when he walked in his Human form. He was like a sexy ninja.
Speaking of his sexy ninja partner, the screen rose, and Dex crouched down in front of the huge black jaguar, talking quietly. “You be careful.” Sloane’s glowing amber eyes stared at him, and Dex eyed him warily. He was familiar with that look. “Don’t do it. Don’t—” A broad, sandpaper tongue licked him from his chin to his ear. “Damn it! Right in the ear! Every freakin’ time.” One would think he’d have learned after the first few dozen times his partner had licked him to annoy him. “That was—as usual—extremely unpleasant. Thank you. I appreciate it.”
Dex stood and wiped at his face and ear with his sleeve, ignoring his teammates chortling behind him. Letty opened one of the BearCat’s backdoors, but Sloane had to quickly rub up against Dex’s legs to leave his mark—as if it wasn’t all over Dex already—before leaping out of the truck. That done, Dex went to the console where his brother was tracking Sloane. He watched his Therian partner pad silently toward some bushes before he disappeared into the shadows. Dex could have sworn there had been something stuck on his partner’s back paw. Well, there was no way to know until Sloane returned. “You sure Sloane will be able to catch him?”
“Always does,” Cael murmured.
“So why does Austen run?”
Cael shrugged. “I think he likes it.”
“What do you mean ‘he likes it’?”
His brother’s cheeks flushed. Uh-oh. Dex knew that look. Cael worried his bottom lip and Dex waited while his brother racked his sweet little head trying to figure out whether he should spill or not. “Austen’s got a crush on Sloane.”
Dex eyed his brother, a silent conversation going on between them in which Cael gave him a shrug and apologetic smile. Interesting. Dex pursed his lips but said nothing. He sidled up to the bench before squeezing himself in between Rosa and Letty. There wasn’t much to do now other than wait and tease a little information out of his teammates.
“Is this Austen guy reliable?” Dex asked. “And how come this is the first I’m hearing of him?”
Letty looped her arm around Dex’s, and he smiled. He could always count on Rosa and Letty to bring him down to earth. They were both brutally honest and straightforward, but always with the best intentions at heart. Sometimes it felt like they were the only two with functioning relationships. Rosa was happily attached to her long-time girlfriend, and Letty was happily attached to whichever hottie made her toes curl that month. This month it was a firefighter from Brooklyn with dimples in all the right places.
“Austen’s good,” Letty offered. “Practically grew up working for us thanks to Sloane. He found the guy years ago when he was just a kid, got him a job. I don’t remember the story, but I’m sure Sloane’ll tell you if you ask. Austen’s a THIRDS SSA—Squadron Specialist Agent. You haven’t heard of him because, technically, he doesn’t exist. Those guys don’t work out of the office. You have to have high-level clearance just to access a file with his name on it. Every squad has their own specialist agent. Since they also function as confidential informants, they have to keep a low profile. Austen’s been off on some job for Lieutenant Sparks. He’s got mad skills. If you see him or talk to him, it’s because he wants you to.”
“Sloane’s coming back. And he’s got Austen,” Cael called out over his shoulder.
“That was quick.” Dex sprang to his feet and decided he’d meet his partner outside in case Austen decided he didn’t fancy getting in the truck. Having had no experience with the agent, Dex had no clue how Austen would react. Sometimes Therians were cooperative until they neared the big, scary black vehicle. The idea of being caged didn’t appeal, and Dex couldn’t blame them.
Dex jumped down and started for his partner when he noticed Sloane was walking funny. It was only until Sloane got close that Dex could see the reason why.
“Oh shit!” Dex doubled over laughing as Sloane hobbled over like he was drunk, the ferocity of having Austen in his jaws offset by the sheer hilarity of his partner trying to shake a black sock off his back paw. “Oh my God, I can’t breathe,” Dex wheezed, tears in his eyes.
Sloane huffed and continued to shake at his back paw, at one point skipping on his other three. Dex thought he was going to need Rosa to bring him oxygen. He’d been right. There had been something stuck on his partner’s paw when he left the truck. How Sloane had missed a sock was beyond him, but it was the funniest shit Dex had ever seen. “Hold up!” Dex managed to get himself together long enough to jog after his partner who stopped and stuck his back leg out. With a grin, Dex tugged the sock off. “Okay.” He received a huff in thanks.
Dex couldn’t help but feel somewhat bad for the cheetah Therian dangling from Sloane’s lethal jaws. The cheetah reminded him too much of Cael. Austen was small, lean, and clearly used to being dragged away by Sloane, judging by the way he hung in there looking almost bored by the whole thing. He didn’t attempt to get away even once. His front paws were crossed as if he were chilling. It became obvious to Dex that Austen trusted Sloane. Any other Therian would be shitting himself.
As soon as his partner reached the truck, he released Austen and hissed. Austen chirped and pushed his nose against Sloane’s, which made his partner’s ears flatten against his head before he let out a roar. Not surprising it startled Austen so bad; had he been a cartoon, his spots would have fallen off. A bristled Austen promptly jumped up into the BearCat with Sloane on his tail. Dex followed and closed the doors behind them. The privacy screen dropped, and Austen shifted first while Sloane sat patiently beside Dex, waiting his turn. Since Rosa had experience working with cheetah Therians—considering her partner was one—she provided Austen with Postshift Trauma Care, along with a THIRDS supplied disposable set of clothes, which she handed to him once he was strong enough to stick an arm out from behind the screen. A low grumble later, and Rosa disappeared behind the screen.
While Rosa helped their SSA regain Human functionality, Dex took a seat on the small single bench beside the weapons’ cage. Sloane immediately dropped his head on Dex’s lap, looking for an ear scratch, and Dex obliged, smiling when he heard the deep chainsaw-like purr and felt it vibrating against his leg.
“At least when he sheds all over you, you can’t see it.” Calvin cast his tiger Therian partner an accusing glare. Hobbs sat up with a frown. He reached over and gave a light tug on Calvin’s blond hair. “I don’t shed,” Calvin protested. Hobbs nodded. Clearly he disagreed. Dex watched the two in amusement as they argued, despite Calvin being the only vocal one. It was amazing how much Hobbs could say with his expressions and hand movements alone.
A slender, sinewy young Therian who seemed to be in his midtwenties stepped out from behind the screen with a fierce yawn. He ruffled his dark hair and strutted over to the bench where he dropped down beside Letty with a wide grin. The guy looked like he’d just rolled out of bed after performing at some rock gig, despite the out-of-place outfit he sported.
Dex didn’t have time to further study the agent before Sloane disappeared behind the screen. By now no one thought twice about Dex following his partner in. They figured after nearly a year of working closely together, Sloane no longer cared if his partner saw him naked postshift. Of course, they had no idea Dex and Sloane did a lot more than work together, and seeing his partner naked usually led to naughtier things in private.
