Free Sullivan (Leopard's Spots 7) by Bailey Bradford

least not physically—out the door. “See ya around,” he called out, then he left while he still could.
    He didn’t know if it was possible to stay away from one’s mate, but he was damn sure going to try.

Chapter Five

    “What the heck, man?”
    Sully pried open one eye and found Mando standing in the bedroom doorway scowling at him. After a quick check to make sure he’d pulled the sheet over his lower half, Sully turned his attention back to Mando. “What the heck, what?” Mando came in and waved a hand in front of his face. “Dude, it smells like ass and sex—”
    “Mando!” Sully shouted, sitting up and shaking a finger at the teenager. “Watch your mouth.”
    Mando shook his finger right back. “Don’t even lecture me, buddy, when I know what I smell and I don’t see any of the condoms missing from the stack I laid out for you. I thought you were smarter than that!” Mando stalked over while Sully was still trying to figure out something to say. Mando gasped and paled, stumbling to a stop by the bed. “Oh my God!
    Shit. Did he rape you, Sully? Oh my God, I’m sorry. You’re all torn up and—”
    “No,” Sully bit out, angered at first, then concerned because Mando looked like he was seeing a ghost, which gave Sully a really bad feeling about what might have happened in Mando’s past. “No,” Sully said quieter, watching Mando while pulling the sheet up to his neck. “It wasn’t that, not at all, and I…” Heat rushed through Sully, hardening his cock. “I fucked him, anyway. Turns out we both like it really rough.” He was going to melt into a puddle of mortification. That was all there was to it.
    “That’s…” Mando pressed a hand to his throat, as if trying to keep the words in. “That’s fucked up, man. I don’t—nuh-uh.”
    Sully got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as Mando’s eyes darted all around the room, on everything but him. He couldn’t tell Mando what he was, a snow leopard shifter with some rather…wild, tendencies. “Mando, it isn’t—”
    “There’s no condom wrappers at all,” Mando muttered, “so don’t even try to tell me that guy brought some y’all used. I thought you meant all that shit you told me about being safe—”
    Sully kept a hold of the sheet as he stood, moving slowly, his cat alerted on a higher level than a human would be to the nervousness rolling off Mando. “Look, I promise you, we didn’t put ourselves at risk—”
    “Bullshit!” Mando backed up until he hit the hall wall. His dark eyes flashed as he pointed at Sully. “Stay back! You told me all that shit about being safe and waiting to have sex, and I get you wanted to lose your cherry, but you did it like a stupid asshole! And you let him hurt you, a lot! There’s blood all over you, and what the fuck, man, was he part vampire? Have you seen your neck there?”
    Sully tried to see where Bobby had bitten him but it was just making him go cross-eyed trying. He could see the blood from the scratches on his arms, his chest, could feel the ones on his back. Yeah, they’d torn each other up, and Sully had loved it, just like Bobby had.
    Maybe that was why Bobby had run, but right now that wasn’t the most pressing problem.
    Mando preparing to bolt was.
    Sully tugged the sheet up higher, thinking it might help calm Mando if he hid the marks. Of course there was blood on the white sheet, but all he could do was try. “Mando, look, there are things about me, and Bobby, that I can’t really tell you, but please, believe me when I say we didn’t put each other at risk—”
    “Right,” Mando sneered. “You’re just another guy who lies. You tell me one thing then do another. I don’t know why I thought I could trust you. Y’all are all the same!” Mando ran, his thin legs carrying him surprisingly fast. Sully took off after him, but the sheet tangled around his ankles and he tripped. His right knee hit the floor hard, and his right shoulder slammed into