Grace Duncan is here with an exclusive excerpt!
Hope you get back to chasing mice around soon…. Chad & Jamie.
Quincy pulled out a furry rat and held it up, then a bag of catnip, one of those feathers on a string, and even a ball of yarn. It took Quincy a full minute to stop laughing. “Oh gods, I’m so getting them for this.”
Miles, grinning, took the feather on the string, lifted it in front of Quincy, and shook it. Quincy snorted but batted at it anyway, making Miles laugh. As Miles pulled it away, though, Quincy batted again, chasing after it a little, nose twitching. Eyebrows raised, Miles fought the smirk.
Quincy sniffed. “I was just humoring you.”
His smirk broke out into another grin. “Uh-huh.”
“I was.”
Miles laughed and kissed Quincy’s temple. “Do you know that if we let ourselves go too long without shifting outside of the full moon, we start acting a bit like dogs… even while in human form?”
“You’re kidding,” Quincy said, staring. “Oh, the blackmail I’ll have on Chad….”
“Not kidding at all.” Miles coughed, then said, “I once chewed my own slippers right before my board exam,” as all one word.
Quincy snorted, then started laughing again. “Oh, that’s too much! I’m going to have to remember that. Make sure I hide my slippers.”
Miles grinned, because it showed Quincy planned to be with him, at least at some point in the future. He started to speak again, but the door opened and Sara walked in.
“Time for your vitals,” she said brightly.
Quincy rolled his eyes but sat still and patient as she took his blood pressure, temperature, oxygen level, and pulse. She wrote everything down on a little piece of paper, then stuffed it back in her pocket. “Can I get you anything? Are you ready to order your dinner?” She glanced over and saw the Styrofoam container. “Dr. Grant! Are you smuggling him contraband?”
Miles smirked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Sara! That was for me.”
She snickered. “Right.” She turned back to Quincy. “Something to drink?”
Quincy shook his head and pointed to the pitcher on the counter, still with water in it. “That’s fine with me.”
“All right, dear. Get some rest.” She patted his foot and left.
“I wonder what she’d say if she knew just how much more healed I was,” Quincy mused.
Miles laughed. “I’d probably be admitting her to Western Psych across the street.”
Quincy grinned. “That wouldn’t be nice, then, would it?”
Miles shook his head. “Nope. Oh!” He hurried around the bed and picked up the messenger bag on the floor. One side had a logo Miles had never seen along with a graphic of a guy with bright orange hair in a black robe with a huge sword resting on his shoulder. He lifted the bag and set it on the bed next to Quincy. “Apparently this got left in the ambulance. I… hope you don’t mind, I checked inside. Your laptop, phone, and wallet are still in there.”
“Oh good.” Quincy opened the bag and pulled out a case. He took out a pair of glasses and slipped them onto his nose. “So much better.” Next he took out a slim Mac laptop, then his wallet, and blinked. “My money’s still in here.”
Miles shrugged. “Guess they didn’t need it.”
“Well. That’s a surprise.”
“I don’t know if they’d get into the computer or phone or anything. I’m guessing you’ve got it locked down fairly well.”
Quincy nodded. “Yeah, and the data’s encrypted too. No one’s going to get to my stuff.”
Miles raised an eyebrow. “What do you do, anyway?”
“Draw things.”
Miles blinked. “I’m sure you do. But what do you do that requires encrypted data?”
Quincy’s lips twitched. “I’m an information broker. The kind you can’t look up in the phone directory.”
“Ohhhh.” Miles nodded. “Well, that makes sense. I’m guessing I don’t really want to know anymore.”
Quincy shook his head. “No, you probably don’t. Um….” Quincy tilted his head and studied Miles for a moment. “Do you think I could see your wolf?”
“Hmm….” Miles raised his eyebrows as he thought it through, but then nodded. “They won’t be in for a bit. I think there’s time.” He kicked off his shoes, pulling his shirt off at that same time and laying it on the bed. It never even occurred to him to worry about getting naked in front of Quincy. He was used to the very sociable wolves, not the solitary jaguars. So when he turned around from taking his pants off, he realized what he smelled was arousal. It did his wolf good things to smell that, but he focused instead on giving Quincy what he’d asked for. Miles laid his pants next to his shirt and let his wolf forward.
His vision turned gray first, and then his claws extended and teeth dropped at the same time. A few seconds later, red fur that matched his human hair erupted over his skin. His bones shifted and muscles realigned, then a moment later, he landed on four paws. He lifted his front paws and braced them on the side of the bed, grinning his wolf grin at his mate.
Quincy reached out, running a hand over Miles’s head. “Wow. I didn’t realize your fur matched your coloring. It doesn’t work that way for us. It’s gorgeous.”
Miles couldn’t resist closing his eyes as Quincy stroked his fur. He had to be careful or he’d end up with a hard-on in wolf form. But it felt so good to have Quincy’s hands on him, even in that form. To keep things out of the realm of sexual, he leaned forward and licked Quincy’s cheek.
Quincy scowled, but there was no heat in it. “Gross. Dog slobber.”
Miles snorted. And licked him again.
“Just you wait. Next time I’m in cat form, I’ll give you my tongue.”
Miles chuffed, then backed up to let himself down.
Before he could rein in his wolf and shift, Sara stepped into the room again.
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Acceptance
Finding his mate is the least of Quincy’s worries–keeping Miles alive is the real priority…and will take every ounce of creativity Quincy has.
Dr. Miles Grant acknowledges that his destined mate could be either gender even though his bisexuality cost him his family and his pack. Luckily he found the Forbes Pack, who happily accept him just as he is. What he never counted on was finding his mate in Pittsburgh or for his mate to be another species entirely—a cat!
Quincy Archer isn’t just any jaguar shifter. He is the heir to the leadership of his pride. Destined mates are nothing but legend to the nearly extinct and generally solitary jaguars, and Quincy certainly never expected to find one for himself, much less a male… or a wolf.
However, finding each other and coming to terms with their species is the least of their worries. Quincy is expected to select a proper female mate, father a cub, and take his place as heir to the pride. Except Quincy refuses, having no interest in women or leadership and knowing he isn’t right for it. But his father will stop at nothing—not even attempting to kill Miles—to get his way. Quincy and Miles must overcome many obstacles to stay together as the destined mates they’re meant to be.
