by Lisa Oliver
“My father’s dead. The rapid death of my mother and her wolf didn’t lie. Now, thanks to you, my mate could be too!” Karl raised his hand to take the killing blow, but a loud growl stopped him.
A white wolf stood where Tanner’s body had been, his fur slightly singed, but still glowing magnificently under the porch light. He was a big animal, far larger than any other shifted betas Karl had seen, and with his hackles up, and his fangs bared, a lot more menacing.
Bevan gasped, scuttling back across the steps. “My gods, look at that thing!” He started babbling as Tanner loped closer. “I told you, he’s not natural. Omegas are small, defenseless, helpless, weak... He’s got you under his thrall, he’s an abomination. Can’t you see? I’m trying to save you from that.”
“You’re just a lazy, conniving bastard who consorts with magics, and lies through your back teeth to get your own way.”
“How could anyone want to end up with a mutant like that?” Bevan’s finger was shaking as he pointed at Tanner’s chest.
“He’s magnificent and he’s like me. He adapted. Beautifully.” His eyes firmly on his omega, Karl let his instincts guide his claws. A splat of blood on the back of his hand let him know his aim had been true. Shaking himself free of his uncle’s hands, Karl reached over, wrapping his arms around Tanner’s neck. “Gods, you had me so scared. Please tell me you’re all right.”
I’m fine. A little hot, but fine. A wet tongue licked over Karl’s cheek. Surrounded by bodies, the smell of burned clothing lingering in the air, Karl chuckled, and then he laughed loudly, a huge sense of relief settling over him like a cloud. They were free. They might not have all the answers, but Karl and Tanner were free from his uncle’s machinations and prejudices. The wolf in his arms was well enough to lick him… they were going to be okay.
/~/~/~/~/
Tanner groaned as Karl slid over his body. The council cleanup crew had been and gone and aside from a few damp patches, the lawn looked like it’d always had. An officious looking bear took Karl and Tanner’s statements, individually, which pissed off Karl, which in turn amused Tanner. Now, they were sharing a long, hot bath, something Tanner was enjoying to the fullest.
Tanner’s head was back, eyes closed, his neck resting on the towel Karl had thoughtfully placed on the edge of the bath. Although, calling the tub a bath was understating things – it was more like a mini pool. It was definitely long enough for him to stretch out fully in, and Tanner was taking advantage of it to soak his tired limbs. “What are you doing?”
“If you don’t know, I can’t be doing it right.” Karl nipped at Tanner’s collarbone just along from his mating mark. “I have this strong urge to connect with you and I thought we’d try something different tonight.”
“In the bath?” Tanner lazily opened one eye as Karl’s hand found his dick. It was already half hard, and under Karl’s touch, it was plumping up quickly.
“You were so comfortable, I didn’t want to move you. Besides, there’s something sensual about being together like this.”
“Hmm, there is,” Tanner agreed, his eye drifting shut again as his hands found a natural resting spot around Karl’s lean waist. “I’m not sure I’m up to much. Maybe I could drape my legs over the edges of the tub?”
“No need,” Karl crooned, dropping kisses around his throat. “You don’t have to do anything but lay there. I’ve done all the work. I just need this hard... which it is…”
It’s also sensitive. Tanner groaned as Karl’s hand disappeared from his cock and the man moved off him. “I was enjoying that.”
“I’m sure you’ll enjoy this even more.”
There was a breeze along the top of Tanner’s cock, and he held his breath… was Karl going to… Tanner’s eyes flew open as something ‘not Karl’s mouth’ nudged at the top of Tanner’s cockhead. Karl was balanced awkwardly, one foot on either side of Tanner’s hips, sitting in a sort of squat position, one hand around the base of Tanner’s dick and the other holding onto the edge of the bath, peering down between his legs. “What are you doing? You look like you’re trying to lay an egg.”
“I’m trying to sit on this monster dick.” Karl looked up and grinned and then looked back down again. “It’s not as easy as it looks on the computer.”
“Oh, fuck.” Tanner groaned again as he held Karl’s hips steady. He couldn’t see how Karl would be successful, but he wasn’t going to put his mate off from trying. “Have you been watching porn again?”
“Only quickly. You take ages in the bathroom in the morning. I wanted to see…”
Tanner and Karl both gasped as Tanner felt the top of his cock caught in something warm and fucking tight. “Okay.” Karl puffed repeatedly, his knuckles white where he was holding the tub. “Blow out. Blow out. Blow out. I’m blowing out. Why isn’t… Ouch!” Karl froze.
“You’re meant to relax by exhaling, and push out, remember?” Tanner caught hold of Karl’s waist and steadied him, supporting his weight. “You’re going to break my dick if you fall. Are you even prepped up there?”
“Up there, down there, I had three fingers in me.” Karl looked at the wall, his mouth pursed as he let out a long breath. “There’s lube too. Lots of lube.” He blew out again. “Ooh, my legs are shaky.”
“Karl.” Tanner forced the words he didn’t want to say out of his mouth. His body, previously exhausted from the stress of the day, was now alive and raring to go, and his cock… the promise was so close. “You don’t have to.”
“I want to.” Karl’s words had a growly tinge and he was finally looking into Tanner’s eyes. “We’re equals, you and me. If you can take me into your body, then I can damn well do it for you too.”
Tanner glanced down to where they were semi-joined. “I’m really big, and you’ve never had anything in your ass before your fingers.” He took a couple of deep breaths to calm his own breathing. He’d never seen anything so sexy. “You didn’t think to build up to this, with a plug or two, or something else first?”
“Anal plugs?” A cute crease marred Karl’s brow. “I didn’t see anything like that in the sites I was watching.”
“Porn sites don’t offer sex advice.”
“I’m an alpha shifter. I can do this.”
Or I might just come before you’re halfway seated. Keeping his lower body perfectly still, Tanner helped where he could, holding Karl as the man’s thighs trembled under the strain, supporting his weight when Karl looked as if he was going to tip over. It was a long few minutes before Karl’s butt finally met Tanner’s hips.
“How in heaven’s name do men do this?” Karl was panting hard and his usually proud cock was drooped and sad.
“They prep thoroughly,” Tanner said gently, releasing Karl’s hips now the man was sort of sitting down. He cupped his mate’s cock and cradled it in his palm. “They work themselves up to taking big items in their ass with small anal plugs and get used to wearing them, increasing the size of the plugs until they can take one the size of their partner’s cock.”
“You didn’t.” Karl’s eyes flashed wolf.
Tanner tightened his grip on Karl’s cock. “I’m an omega. My body is built to receive. The inbuilt mechanism I have probably evolved from centuries of horny alphas who couldn’t be bothered to spit, let alone find slick before they started shoving their dick in and thrusting.”
“We’re not all that bad.” Karl chuckled, then as Tanner circled the area under his cock head with his fingers, Karl groaned, and his hips did a little swivel. “Okay. Starting to see the appeal.”
Tanner was definitely seeing the appeal. While his ass felt soggy and loose, nothing to do with being in a bathtub and everything to do with being near his alpha, the heat and pressure around his dick had never been mimicked by hand alone. He didn’t dare move, certain the slightest twitch from him would have the experience over in a blink. But Karl was moving, slowly, rotating his hips a bit, juggling his weight from one ass cheek to the other.
“Different.” K
arl’s cock was fully hard now. “I wonder if I…”
Tanner moaned long and loud as Karl braced himself on the edge of the tub and rose slightly before dropping back down. There was a sort of suck/grabby feeling around Tanner’s cock and then that press when Karl took him all in again. Tanner wanted to watch, to push all five of his senses into experiencing the feeling of his cock penetrating his mate’s body, but he knew if he looked – just got a glimpse – he’d be coming like a teenager. Keeping up the friction on Karl’s cock with one hand, Tanner gripped the edge of the bath with the other, doing his best to think of every dirty disgusting thing he’d ever come across.
“Enjoying yourself?” Karl leaned forward and then groaned. “Ooh, just there. That’s magic.” There was no time for words after that. Karl’s breathing turned harsh and quickened as he moved more rapidly, Tanner caught up in the explosion of arousal that filled the air. There was no question he was going to climax in spectacular fashion – Tanner just wanted Karl to go first.
But it took every ounce of his willpower to control his errant body. When fucking, Karl was at his primal best. The veins in his neck stood out, and his face glistened with sweat was sharply defined. Tanner always knew when Karl was on the verge of climaxing – he would pull his lips back from his teeth, his mouth partially open, his nostrils flaring, and his eyes would be almost fully black.
Tanner was seeing that in his mate now, and he quickened his slippery slide over Karl’s cock. Water splashed as Karl’s bounces got more frantic – he was chasing the sensations front and back. Karl lurched forward as he roared to the ceilings, latching onto Tanner’s scar with the same sure bite Tanner was used to. And that was it. Tanner’s balls unloaded, sending his seed deep into his mate’s body. A primal feeling of possession filled Tanner’s soul and as soon as Karl pulled his teeth from Tanner’s neck, Tanner took a bite of his own. They had fought together, won together, and by gods now we’re equal in every way.
“My balls ache,” Karl moaned when Tanner withdrew his fangs and gently licked over Karl’s bite. “I don’t know if I came twice or three times – it’s like they all just merged in together.”
“Stop grumbling. You know you loved it. Hit the hot tap with your toe and snuggle. The water’s getting cold and half of it’s on the floor.” Settling his arms around Karl’s back, Tanner smiled as Karl’s face nestled in his shoulder, the sound of water running in the background. Tanner never wanted to move again.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Aren’t you ready yet?” Karl strode into the outer office to see Tanner still typing madly on his computer. It’d been two weeks since Karl had killed his uncle. Tanner’s house and his aunt Julie’s had been sold, and they were just waiting for the paperwork and finances to go through. Karl had booked them an appointment to meet another agent that afternoon, to see a house he was keen on buying, before his own went on the market.
Leaving parties had been and gone. Karl had gone with Tanner to his, happy to be called Tanner’s life partner. There had been a few instances where the friendly men in uniform had pulled him aside, making whispered suggestions on what they’d do to Karl if Tanner ever got upset, which Karl took in his stride. Captain Peters was also there and after offering Karl a hearty backslap that almost sent him flying, and a handshake that was far too grippy, the bigger man had invited Tanner and Karl out to his estate for a family barbecue sometime. Karl still wasn’t sure if he was meant to go as a guest or the main course.
Tanner didn’t report any threats made to him at the company leaving party, but Karl noticed a lot of his younger staff making mooneyes at his mate every time they went past. Traffic to the outer office had increased ten-fold since Tanner was filling in as his PA, and Karl was keen to shake the company responsibility from his shoulders so he could remind Tanner constantly who he was mated to.
But his overly conscientious mate was still typing. “Excuse me.” Karl leaned his hands on Tanner’s desk. “Last I heard, I was still the boss here. Are you listening to me?”
“You have one more appointment.” Tanner barely looked up from his keyboard, but Karl caught his mate’s grin. “A Mr. Baum. Said it was a personal matter and that it wouldn’t take more than ten minutes. Then we can go. I’m just leaving some notes for Tina, who will be taking over from me in,” Tanner glanced up at the clock, “thirty-three minutes, and then you’ll no longer be the boss, and I’ll no longer be your PA.”
“I wanted to take you out for a lovely meal before we met the estate agent,” Karl grumbled. “I can’t do anything. Roger’s already taken over my desk.”
“And Dennis’s desk will be arriving in twenty minutes time.” Tanner clicked a few more keys and then closed the file he was working on. “It was a good idea, offering them joint managership of the company. They’ll work well together.”
“I’m not sure they can share an office together.” But Tanner was right. Karl had no problems leaving his company in the hands of two men he trusted. They knew how important the business was to Karl and shared his values when it came to how staff were supported and respected. While Karl would still come in for meetings once a month initially, eventually those too would phase out, with Karl’s earnings from the company going to his new trust fund. His excuse would be traveling. There was only so long they could hide their lack of aging from his staff.
“Er… hello? I’m Baum. I made an appointment.”
Karl looked over to the door and his eyes widened as he recognized the face. It was the pack enforcer who was supposed to have seen Allan back to the pack before things went all horribly wrong.
“I do get you’re probably surprised to see me,” Baum said, stepping inside the room, and holding up a set of handcuffs and a thick file. “I did say I would come when I could. I have a few answers for you if you’re interested.”
“You were head enforcer when my uncle died, but you weren’t with him.” Karl couldn’t help being wary – it was another wolf near his mate and his heart still hadn’t gotten over seeing Tanner go up in flames.
“I think this conversation is better held in your office, Karl,” Tanner said, standing and picking up the phone receiver. Pressing a button on the phone he smiled as he said, “Hello Tina. Can you let Roger and Dennis know Karl and I have one more meeting in his office so perhaps they could go for an early lunch? I promise, we will be out of your hair within the next hour.” He chuckled at something Tina said. “I noticed that this morning. Tell the delivery guys to go and get some lunch too, on us. Take the money out of petty cash for it. Yes, yes, I will. You too.” Hanging up the phone, Tanner smiled. “We’ve got an hour, come on through Baum.”
“I still don’t see why everyone is getting lunch and not me.” Karl followed Baum and Tanner through into his office, closing the door. “I wanted to take you out,” he said to Tanner, although he was curious about what Baum had to say. Of course, Tanner knew that, and simply took a seat, indicating Baum should do the same.
Going around his desk, shit this isn’t even my desk anymore, Karl grimaced at the papers and family photos Roger had already left, waiting to be set up. Pushing the boxes aside, so he had room for his elbows on the desk, Karl nodded at Baum. “You understand my wariness?”
“I do, but I can explain.” Baum held up the file. “After Bevan insisted I let Allan go…”
“Hang on a minute,” Tanner interrupted. “The alpha told you to let Allan go even though he’d stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars, and tried to incite an attack on his nephew’s mate?”
“Yeah, pretty hinky, aye?” Baum shrugged. “I don’t claim to be the brightest crayon in the box, but I’ve been loyal to the Blue Moon pack for nigh on fifteen years. I worked hard to get to my position and until I met you guys that day in the park, I’d never had a reason to doubt my loyalty to Bevan. But the way Allan acted, the things Bevan said. They didn’t add up to me.”
“So, you used your initiative.” Karl nodded.
“Bevan didn’t even want me
to take Allan back to pack grounds. He ordered me to let him go. Said Allan was on an important mission for the pack and that I wasn’t to interfere.” Baum looked down at his clasped hands. “I felt like shit. I’d promised you two that Allan would never cause trouble again and the next thing is, I hear from the shifter council that Bevan’s dead along with four other enforcers – guys I knew – and four more were on the critically injured list.”
“My mate prefers to incapacitate rather than annihilate.” Karl grinned at Tanner whose cheeks went red. “Why did you even go to the council? How did they know to get in touch with you? I take it you weren’t on pack grounds at the time any of the attacks on us were planned or actually happening.”
Baum shook his head. “I flew straight to New York from here. I didn’t know what was going on, but you’d been talking about the stolen money, involving police, and the chance we could lose the pack grounds and everything. I didn’t understand why Bevan didn’t care about any of that. I thought Allan would be lucky if he was still breathing by the end of the day. Instead, I was told to let him go.” Baum’s sigh was heartfelt. “I’m so sorry I didn’t warn you guys, but I didn’t know any of this shit was happening until after the fact.”
There wasn’t a shred of deceit in Baum’s scent. “Well, hopefully now more than a few people know my mate and I are capable of handling ourselves. It’s okay. So, what happened when you went to New York? I take it you were going to see the council?”
“Yep.” Baum nodded. “But, by gods those guys can talk. It took me four days to get an appointment to even see anyone. Then, when I told them my concerns and about what happened here and at the pack, they spent hours probing me about every interaction I could remember Bevan ever having with anyone. They wanted to know about you and your omega mate.” He looked up. “I couldn’t tell them anything about you or the omega. I’d only met you once.”
“My name is Tanner,” Tanner broke in softly. “I’d be pleased if you used it.”
