by Toby Aden
“Hmm.” Will sighed then said, “Well, I have three brothers, I’m a gamma, as you know, and we left our old pack a long time ago.”
Gregory raised a brow and stared at Will.
“You asked about me, remember?”
Gregory chuckled but shook his head. “I know. But those are bare facts. It tells me nothing about you, mate. Now tell me something that you’ve never told anyone before. Or something no one else knows about you.”
* * * *
Will stared steadily at his mate. “Like what?”
“Why did you leave your pack?”
Will’s smile fell as he stared across the table at his mate. He was torn between telling the truth and glossing over the facts. He didn’t want Gregory to know about his past. Mostly, he didn’t want the way the man looked at him to change, and there was no way Gregory knowing wouldn’t change things for them.
Besides, mates or no, they were still getting used to each other. They hadn’t known each other for long, and he didn’t want to jinx anything or have to be on the run once again, leaving his mate behind. If it came down to it, he knew he’d have no choice other than to leave with his brothers because he was not willing to put them at risk any more than they were willing to put him at risk.
He was torn and didn’t know how to answer. It was a simple enough question, yes, but it wasn’t something that was easy to talk about. It didn’t affect only him either, and he just couldn’t risk it. At least not yet.
“Can we not talk about that?” Will asked, staring at anything but at Gregory.
A thoughtful look came across the other man’s features, and he regarded Will silently, watching as Will anxiously tapped a finger against the table and wouldn’t meet his eyes.
* * * *
It was clear that his mate was uncomfortable talking about this subject, and it was a sour spot for him. It surprised him that his mate found it hard to open up to him at least on this subject since it was clearly something Will needed to talk about.
But he was willing to let it go. For now. It seemed that was the heart of Will’s painful past, so he wasn’t going to push, but he wouldn’t be held off for long. The fact that he already knew what bothered Will so much didn’t much play into it. He wanted to hear it directly from Will. To have his mate trust him fully to the extent that he would tell him anything. Eventually, he would chip away at his mate’s walls until the man could trust him fully and without a sliver of doubt in his mind.
“Fair enough. But we will be revisiting this subject.”
* * * *
Will nodded, grateful that Gregory was not pushing him but until he was ready, he would not be divulging anything at all.
“What about your parents? Is it just your brothers and you? I never did get the chance to meet them properly the other day,” Gregory said.
“It’s just Gavin, Kelly, Jason, and I. I was told that there were some complications with my birth, and the circumstances weren’t that great either. Mom died a few days after giving birth to me, and I guess you could say Dad died from heartache and the loss of his mate.” Will laughed, but it wasn’t an amused or joyful one. “How my brothers don’t hate me I’ll never understand. I’ve been nothing but trouble and a burden to them…”
“Did they say that?” Gregory asked, his face hard.
Will looked up at Gregory, surprised. “What? No. Of course not. If anything, they’ve been protective of me and they keep reassuring me that it wasn’t my fault, but it is my fault.”
Gregory reached across the table and took Will’s hand in his. “It’s not your fault your mother died, Will. It’s not your fault your father died either, and your brothers don’t hate you either. You need to let go of this guilt you feel.”
Just then, the waiter returned with their food, and they fell silent, Gregory withdrawing his hand as they waited for Jake to set their food down and take his leave of them.
“Will you need anything else, Alpha, Alpha mate?” Jake asked once he’d laid their food down.
“No thank you. That’ll be all,” Gregory responded for them, never taking his eyes off Will as he casually dismissed their waiter.
Once the waiter turned and left them to it, Gregory reached for Will once more, holding his hand in his. Will shook his head then lifted a finger to wipe away the single tear that slid down his cheek at the hurtful memory.
“You don’t know, Greg. There’s so much you don’t know. If you knew, you’d see it.”
“Then give me a chance. Tell me.”
Will shook his head and withdrew his hand away from Greg’s, leaning back into his seat. “I…can’t,” Will said, shaking his head.
“You said we should get to know each other better. You said you wanted a date. Why won’t you talk to me?” Gregory pressed.
Will was silent for a while, fingering the sleeves of his black shirt, his eyes downcast. He knew that Gregory was frustrated with him not opening up, but he didn’t know what to do about that. He had no idea how to even start or if he could really allow himself to get the words out of his mouth.
“I’m…I’m scared,” Will said in a small voice.
Even with his advanced hearing, Gregory had to strain to hear those words. “You have nothing to be scared of with me. I would never…hurt you, Will.”
“I know that. I may not have known you for long, but I can see that, Greg. It’s just…it’s not easy for me to trust. To drop all my guards, and except with my brothers, it’s been a while since I’ve let my guard completely down with another person.”
“But you did. With me,” Gregory pointed out.
Will nodded, a small smile on his face. “I don’t know how but yes. I did. I really did. Just I’m not ready to bare my soul and all yet.”
Gregory was silent for a while, and for a second there, Will thought he’d offended his mate and was unable to disguise his sigh of relief when Gregory finally nodded.
“Take all the time you need, Will. I’ll always be here whenever you’re ready, and I’ll always be on your side,” Gregory said, reaching out to squeeze Will’s hand once more.
With a soft smile, Will turned his hand until he was able to entwine their fingers together then squeezed back. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me for having your back, Will. You’re my mate.”
Will barked out a short laugh. “You make it sound so easy.”
“That’s because it is. Just take all the time you need and I’ll be here whenever you’re ready to talk.”
Will nodded then wiped away another tear before giving Gregory a watery smile. “I didn’t mean to make this date a depressing one. You went to so much effort the least I can do is make sure we at least have a good time.”
Gregory laughed at that. “Anytime with you, Will, is always a good time for me. I don’t care if it’s on a date or not. Just finding you, meeting you, being with you is more than good enough for me. Now let’s eat before our meal gets cold.”
With a short laugh, Will nodded, and they dug into the delicious food they’d been served.
After that, they moved on to lighter subjects, with Greg regaling Will with stories about his family. He skimmed over a lot of parts, only talking about the fun and good times they’d been able to squeeze in between the war, the search for his missing brother, and the loss of his mother.
All in all, they managed to still have a good time once they moved past the heavy parts. After a while, Gregory moved his chair closer to Will, both enraptured by the other and their newfound bond. Sitting so close to each other, it was hard not to touch, and so they made small touches here and there. A brush of the finger here, a caress there, a kiss here, and generally just enjoying the good food and wine and dessert they were served in between their chats.
Chapter Seven
“Just a kiss,” Will said, eyeing his mate’s mouth hungrily.
Will and Gregory stood in the parking lot of the restaurant, holding hands as they stared at each other. Gregory had
been so eager to get his mate home he’d let Will know with his every gesture and his words just how much he was dying to fuck Will until the man begged him to stop and felt him for days. Then Will had said those absurd words that Gregory could not comprehend.
“You’re joking,” Gregory said disbelievingly. “Please tell me that’s a joke.”
Peering at him from underneath his long lashes, Will blinked once, twice. “I never put out on a first date. At least, that’s what it normally says in romance books.”
Gregory groaned, resting his forehead against the smaller man’s. “You and your romance books will be the death of me, Will.” He pressed a kiss to Will’s cheek, stayed that way for a while, then leaned back. “And besides, you did promise to proceed with the ravishment once our date was over. The date is over, and now, are you going to renege?”
“Well, I don’t really want to…”
And Gregory did not wait for Will to continue before taking the other man’s mouth in his in a deep passionate kiss. He held Will flush against his body, bending the man backward slightly with the force of his kiss, and devoured him whole.
Gregory kissed Will like there was no tomorrow. Laving and lapping and sucking and biting down and drawing Will’s tongue out to play. He mastered his mate’s mouth, uncaring that they stood on the street and they were not the only ones around. Gregory kissed Will like a man drowning and as though Will’s mouth held the secret to being saved.
They were lost in each other and so taken by what they were doing that, should they be interrupted, Gregory was sure to tear some heads off in the aftermath. Nothing and no one would stop him from claiming what was his, and there was no stopping him now that Will had let him know that he didn’t object.
Gregory walked Will backward until the other man was plastered against the side of the car and trapped between his body and the metal. He slithered his hands down until he grasped Will’s hands then spread them against the car, pinning them down so that Will could not move his arms, all the while never breaking the kiss.
Gregory slid one leg between Will’s, humping the man a few times before tearing his mouth away so that they could both take a much-needed breath into their burning lungs. Eyes lidded with barely restrained desire and lust, Gregory eyed his mate, seeing the blush that flamed on his mate’s cheek in excitement.
“Can I?”
Gregory saw the reflection of his own feelings staring back at him from the chocolate brown eyes peering back at him and the red swollen lips that begged to be ravished once more. Their hearts thudded wildly against their chests, and their chests heaved as though they’d been running a marathon.
“Yes,” Will said, simply.
Will licked his lips then gently bit down on his bottom lip, and the move was enough to drive Gregory mad with desire. He moved in once more and took Will’s mouth in a brutal kiss.
“Want you.” Gregory panted as he trailed kisses down Will’s neck, kissing every inch of exposed flesh available to him.
“I’m yours, Greg,” Will whispered, tilting his head sideways to give Gregory more access, and before he knew what was going on, he felt the door open slightly against his back, causing him to jump into Greg’s space.
Gregory wrapped a hand around his mate and pulled him closer, walking backward so that he could open the door wide enough for them to enter the car. With the way he was feeling, he just knew he wouldn’t be able to hold off till they got back to the Alpha compound.
All without breaking off their kiss, Gregory shuffled his mate into the backseat of the Jeep and climbed in after the man before shutting the door behind them. From there, it was a race to get both of them naked and fast. Clothes flew all around, and the sound of material ripping rent the space between them. Neither cared what had ripped, as all they knew and wanted was naked flesh on naked flesh.
* * * *
Will wrapped his hands around Gregory’s neck and drew his mate closer to him, meeting the man halfway and slamming their mouths together in a kiss. He pulled Gregory closer to him, unmindful that the other man was still trying to get them both completely naked as he went for what Will knew he wanted.
Even as he had teased Gregory earlier, he knew he could not wait to have the other man in him once more. To feel his mate moving inside his body and the closeness and pleasure that feeling brought him. He craved it and wanted it and could not wait another moment to experience it again.
“Want you. Need you in me.” Will panted, and as though they were the magic words, Gregory peeled Will’s arms from around his neck, took both Will’s hands in one of his, and pinned them above Will’s head.
Gregory began kissing his way down Will’s neck to his shoulder and then lower to bite down on Will’s nipples.
“It’s going to be fast and hard, mate. Can’t stop…don’t want to stop,” Gregory mumbled as he kept kissing down Will’s body.
“I’m yours. Only yours. Take me. Do it,” Will encouraged, thrashing from side to side and pushing upward in an effort to get closer, delirious with the need for his mate.
“Don’t move your hands,” Gregory growled then moved down between Will’s legs and drew them open farther before taking Will’s cock into his mouth.
* * * *
Gregory moved up and down against Will’s cock, swallowing and releasing as he sucked on it and drew several cries from his mate. Will was always especially loud during sex, and Gregory loved every minute of drawing each moan and groan and cry from his mate’s delectable mouth. He loved knowing that he was the first to teach his mate the carnal act and he was possessive and protective of the amazing man fate had chosen for him.
Will was his, and he didn’t care how many people knew that so long as they all knew the man belonged to him and only him. Gregory used his hands on Will’s waist to hold his mate down when the man continued thrashing about in pleasure. Releasing Will’s cock with a pop, he swallowed down the man’s balls and began sucking on them, playing with them and swirling his tongue around them even as he began stroking Will’s cock.
“Greg, Greg, Greg!” Will chanted over and over again, drawing closer and closer to the edge.
Gregory moved his hand faster over Will’s penis. Stroking and pulling on it, faster and faster, until Will came, shooting all over with a loud cry. Gregory stroked Will’s sensitive cock gently, watching from beneath half-lidded eyes still filled with desire the flushed look of passion and contentment on Will’s face visible through the glow of the streetlight bathing into the car.
Using Will’s release as lube, Gregory drew Will’s legs up and over his shoulders then began massaging the twin globes of Will’s butt, holding them apart to see the hidden treasure there for him. He rubbed the milky release over the crease then gently, gently, pushed a finger in until it slipped into Will’s hole.
“Greg, Greg, Greg,” Will mumbled, panting.
“You’re mine, Will. Mine to please, mine to do with as I please, and mine to pleasure,” Greg said, slipping another finger in and scissoring them inside the tight heat of his mate’s body.
Greg crooked his fingers inside Will’s body, nailing his prostate, and Will arched upward, yelling with the jolt of intense pleasure that erupted inside him. Gregory stretched Will properly until he was ready, and then he spit in his hand and used it as lube against his cock before lining up and driving into Will’s body in one powerful thrust.
They cried out together as one, consumed by each other and uncaring that they were basically in a public place. Gregory pulled out of Will’s body then slammed back in, hard. With the soft glow of the light shining into the car, he stared down at his mate in the throes of passion, the expressive features staring back at him driving him further into succumbing to his passion for the man underneath him.
The only sound in the car was the sound of skin slapping against skin and their pants and breathy moans and groans, as well as their mixed cries. Gregory grunted and yelled Will’s name as he continued the punishing pace he set, driving t
hem both to a rapid burning end where they were both raced toward orgasm and an explosion of mutual passion.
Will tightened his inner muscles, milking Gregory’s cock for all he was worth, and with Gregory pumping his cock, the pressure built so high that they were fast falling headlong into an eruption so powerful they screamed themselves hoarse. Gregory shot his load into Will’s channel, and Will erupted not long after for the second time in the span of a few minutes.
Their orgasms were so powerful that, when they both came down from the high, it was to Gregory falling on top of his mate, still buried into the tight heat of Will’s channel as they hugged each other tightly.
“That was…that was…” Will breathed out, squeezing his eyes shut then blinking them open to stare up at his mate.
“Yeah,” Gregory replied with a hoarse chuckle. “It was.”
A soft smile graced Will’s lips, and he lay there, content in the knowledge that his mate knew exactly how he was feeling, and the feeling was entirely mutual at that. He stroked Gregory’s nape, giving them both time to calm down.
They lay together like that for a while with Gregory on top of Will and his face buried in the man’s shoulder as he inhaled the scent of sex and their combined musk, along with a scent entirely Will’s.
He burrowed farther into Will’s body when the man began stroking his naked back and head, simply being in the moment, as neither of them spoke, just reaffirming their mated bonds. After a while, Gregory pulled away from his mate, raising himself onto his hands on either side of Will.
“You okay?”
Will nodded, a dreamy look on his face and his soft smile still plastered on his lips as he stared happily and contentedly at Gregory. He could not believe how lucky he was to finally find his mate, and it felt as though the missing part of him that had been missing for so long was finally in place and he was finally where he was meant to be.
