by Bru Baker
“I’m of sound mind and very sound body,” Danny continued, pressing his own flannel-covered erection against Max’s hip. “And I know exactly what I’m offering.”
Max grunted and hauled Danny up for a kiss.
“I don’t know that I’m in sound mind,” he said, his voice rough. “Not after waking up to that. God, Danny. You don’t have any idea how much I want you.”
Danny smirked and bared his throat. He didn’t have to look to know Max would be fixated on it. The resulting growl was very satisfying, as was the way Max lunged forward and latched on to the exposed skin. Danny wished he could carry the mark like a human would, a hickey that would have lasted for days if not for Danny’s healing factor.
He could smell how much Max wanted him. The bedroom was thick with arousal and excitement, his own scent mingling with Max’s to form something that smelled so good Danny wanted to bottle it and take it with him everywhere. Was this the mate bond flaring up as it solidified, or would it always be like this?
He could feel Max’s desperation through their bond. It was wilder than his, and that sent a thrill through Danny. Max was so much more in tune with his shifter side than Danny. He didn’t know if that was responsible for the almost feral tint to the feelings or if it was Max’s Alpha side driving it. Either way, it was the hottest thing Danny had ever experienced. It was like a feedback loop—Max’s arousal fed into Danny’s, pushing both of them higher and higher until Danny wanted Max with a fierceness that was almost painful.
Max kneaded his way down Danny’s back until his clever fingers reached Danny’s ass. Danny lost his breath when Max’s strong hands cupped his ass, a moan punching out of him when Max used his thumbs to push the fabric down so his palms could rest on Danny’s bare skin.
His touch was electric, setting Danny’s skin on fire. His cock throbbed, confined by the flannel sleep pants. He pushed against Max’s hip, desperate for more friction, more pressure, more anything.
Max chuckled, the sound reverberating through Danny’s entire body. He tugged on the sleep pants again, and Danny lifted his hips, letting Max free his cock from its flannel cage. Danny’s entire body went taut when Max closed a warm hand around his erection, giving it a teasing pump that made Danny arch and writhe.
Max released him, and Danny fought to silence the whimper in his throat. Max didn’t leave him hanging for long. He kissed the column of Danny’s throat and slid down Danny’s body until he could rub his face against Danny’s exposed hip. His stubble was rough against Danny’s oversensitive skin, and he fisted his hands in the blanket to stop himself from grabbing Max’s head to reposition it a little bit lower. Max was being an agonizing tease, and Danny was torn between loving the way his entire body was singing with anticipation and hating it.
He tried to spread his legs to make room for Max, but his pajama pants were tangled around his thighs. Max sat back and helped free him, then urged Danny up so he could take Danny’s shirt off too.
Being naked while Max was fully clothed made Danny’s already racing pulse speed up. He wanted to see Max naked more than anything, but he also liked the way Max was so fixated on his body that he couldn’t even take the time to rip his own clothes off. Danny’s wolf wanted to preen at the attention his Alpha was giving him.
Something must have changed subtly in his scent, because Max inhaled deeply and his eyes flashed gold.
“Fuck. You look so good spread out for me,” Max murmured. He settled between Danny’s legs and lowered his head, nosing against Danny’s balls. “I’m going to take care of you. Make it so good for you that you can’t even look at another guy.”
He licked a stripe up Danny’s dick, laughing when Danny nearly jumped out of his skin. Max planted a hand on either side of Danny’s hips and took him in his mouth. Wet heat engulfed him tip to root, and Danny couldn’t get enough air. He sucked in a greedy lungful, panting as Max’s mouth moved over him. This was going to be over embarrassingly fast if he didn’t do something to slow Max down.
Danny let go of the blanket and ran a hand through Max’s hair. The wild strands were silky and thick, and Danny brushed them back from Max’s face and stroked a thumb over Max’s forehead to get his attention.
Max looked up, eyes glinting, and swiped his tongue over the head of Danny’s cock.
Danny arched up off the bed, his fingers tightening in Max’s hair as he let out a string of curses.
“Max, c’mon,” he rasped. “I want to get a taste of you too.”
Max released him and scrambled up, ripping at his clothes as he moved. Thank God, Danny thought. A minute longer and he’d have come down Max’s throat. He didn’t want their first time to be over that quickly.
Max’s chest was as defined as his stomach. Danny traced a finger down Max’s side, grinning when Max shivered and broke into gooseflesh.
“I offered you a massage last night,” Danny said, coming up on his knees. “How about I follow through on that now? You look tense, Alpha.”
Max’s eyes went glassy when Danny addressed him as Alpha. He didn’t know why he’d done it, but he liked the result. It clearly turned Max on to be addressed like that, and it gave Danny a thrill that he could have that effect on him with something so small.
He waited for Max to arrange himself facedown on the bed, which ended up involving several pillows. Danny smirked, pleased that Max was aroused enough he couldn’t quite get comfortable.
Danny straddled Max’s upper thighs, enjoying the way Max let out a breathy moan when Danny’s dick bobbed and rubbed along his ass as Danny leaned down to knead at the tense muscles in Max’s upper back.
He’d chosen this position to see how his Alpha would react to being in a more submissive pose. The musky rich smell of his arousal hadn’t flagged a bit, even when Danny’s cock smeared precome along his cheeks as Danny stretched to massage his shoulders.
Danny worked his way down Max’s back, intent on kneading all the stress out of him, even though each touch built up more tension in Danny. He used his thumbs to work down Max’s spine until he was rubbing circles at the base of it, his fingers teasing down the swell of Max’s ass. Max’s breath caught every time he did it, and before long his hips were squirming. The motion pressed Max’s ass against Danny’s erection, and both of them dragged in a harsh breath.
Danny used the heels of his hands to push up Max’s back, following the stiff massage by lying on top of Max, his chest covering the smooth expanse of Max’s back.
“Want to flip over so I can do your front?” Danny whispered in his ear.
Max had them flipped before Danny could register he was moving. He pinned Danny to the bed, trapping the hands Danny had been teasing him with against the pillow. His face was flushed, and his heart was beating so hard Danny was half-convinced he could see it fluttering at Max’s throat.
“I want to finish what I started,” Max murmured.
He let go of Danny so he could wrap his hand around both of their cocks. Danny worked his freed hands down between them so he could help. He locked a hand around Max’s and kept pace with his strokes. It was too dry and a little awkward, but that didn’t stop it from feeling amazing. Danny’s muscles were screaming like he’d been on edge forever, even though it couldn’t have been more than an hour; probably less. Time seemed to stop when he was caught up in Max. He’d never experienced anything like it.
His orgasm built quickly, and it didn’t take more than a half-dozen strokes before he spilled over their wrists. Max’s nostrils flared at the scent, and he groaned, following Danny over seconds later.
Danny had written simultaneous orgasms off as a fairy tale, but apparently not. Or maybe they were just so in tune through the bond that his orgasm overstimulated Max. He’d like to test the theory some time. Maybe even yet this morning.
Good to know that even awesome sex wasn’t enough to turn off the running commentary in his head. Danny laughed at himself, shaking his head when Max quirked an eyebrow at him.
&nb
sp; “It’s nothing. I mean, this wasn’t nothing. This was the best orgasm I’ve had in forever. But I was thinking about the bond and all the things I want to do to you to test it out.”
“Is that so?” Max rolled off him, padded to the bathroom, and returned with a towel for each of them.
Danny cleaned himself up as best he could. “My undergraduate degree is in sociology. What kind of social scientist would I be if I didn’t carefully examine all aspects of this bond?”
“For science,” Max said, amused.
“And because it’s fun,” Danny admitted. He sighed when his alarm went off. “We’re supposed to meet Sloane for breakfast in half an hour.”
Max got out of bed again, and Danny lost his train of thought as the muscles in Max’s back rippled as he moved. They were mesmerizing.
“Think she’ll have Oscar with her?”
“Sloane? Probably. She’s so focused on finishing medical school at the top of her class. When she does go out, she tends to live it up.”
He loved the way Max moved, all confidence and animal grace. Watched as he walked across the room, completely comfortable with himself and his nudity. If Danny looked like that, he’d want to be naked all the time.
Max held out a hand. “Want to shower together?”
“Will we actually shower if we do that?”
Max grinned. “Only one way to find out.”
OSCAR was indeed sitting with Sloane in the hotel restaurant when they made their way downstairs. They were only fifteen minutes late, which Danny thought was some sort of miracle. They’d spent most of their time in the shower fooling around, but somehow both of them managed to get clean and be dressed and downstairs before Sloane came after them.
Max stooped to give Sloane a kiss on the cheek and punched Oscar lightly in the shoulder when he stood to greet them. He was wearing his tuxedo shirt and pants, but he’d ditched the bow tie and jacket. It very much looked like a walk-of-shame breakfast, but Oscar didn’t seem bothered in the least. If anything, he looked proud to be sitting there in last night’s clothes.
“Oscar said he and Max had an appointment this morning, so we went ahead and ordered for you,” Sloane said when they’d taken their seats.
That was the first Danny had heard of it. Max and Oscar had a brief but animated conversation, keeping their voices low. Danny did his best to tune out to give them privacy. Max sat back with a sigh and put his arm around the back of Danny’s chair. It was casual but calculated, and it made Danny’s pulse skip. He normally hated possessive behavior, but this felt natural and not like a declaration of ownership.
“There was a murder overnight. Detectives on the case think it might be connected to our investigation, so we’ve got to go talk with them. Sorry, Danny,” he said, brushing his fingers over Danny’s back lightly. “I’d hoped we could spend the day together.”
Danny wished they had more time, but he had some investigating to do himself today. Sloane’s private detective had a lead for him, and Danny was meeting with her after lunch to get the information. It had been weeks since anyone had seen Joss, and Danny was getting increasingly worried.
“It’s okay. I kind of like that your job involves crazy hours. It means you won’t be upset when I’m the one cancelling dates because I have an emergency appearance in court or I have to go calm a foster family down after their charge has blown something up or something.”
Sloane looked between the two of them, beaming. “Does this mean you had the DTR conversation?”
Danny snorted. He assumed her comment was for Oscar’s benefit, because she was well aware of the mate bond he and Max shared. Their relationship had been defined from the moment they met—they had just been slow to catch up.
Max fluttered his eyelashes and reached for Danny’s hand. “Yes, Sloane. We went out for milkshakes last night, and I gave Danny my pin. We’re officially going steady now.”
“Oh, I bet you gave it to him last night,” Sloane teased. “He has the look of someone who’s been well pinned.”
Danny almost choked on his orange juice. Max patted him on the back, smirking.
“Sloane!” he chastised when he could talk again. “Mind your own business. Jesus.”
Sloane’s grin didn’t quite reach her eyes, and Danny wished he could pull her aside and ask what was wrong. She liked Max, and she’d been the one to talk him through his worries about Max’s Alpha status earlier in the week. She’d curled into herself a bit, making her look even smaller in the sweatshirt she wore. It had been Danny’s a year ago, but she’d stolen it after he’d moved out of the house.
Of course. She was worried about being left behind.
Max’s fingers stroked against his collar, and Danny looked over. Max furrowed his brows, silently questioning Danny’s sudden downturn in mood, but Danny shook his head. This wasn’t the time or the place. Oscar was sitting right there, and even if he hadn’t been, it wasn’t his place to bring up the Pack. Besides, the invitation had to come from Max. Sloane might be too proud to accept if anyone other than Max made the offer, so Danny didn’t want to risk it. He couldn’t imagine being in a Pack that didn’t include Sloane.
“Aunt Veronica asked if I could join her when she meets you for lunch Monday,” Sloane said, changing the subject smoothly. “Operative word there being asked. She didn’t order me to come. She wasn’t slurring her speech, but for a moment I was tempted to run through the aneurysm checklist with her.”
Danny laughed. “No, I can go one better. She called me Danny last night.”
“More than once,” Max added.
Sloane’s jaw dropped. “No fucking way.”
Oscar looked confused, his eyes narrowed as he studied them. “But your name is Danny.”
Sloane made a strangled noise that was between a laugh and a hiccup. “His name is Daniel Alexander Cresswell the fourth,” she corrected. “And the first time someone called him Danny, Aunt Veronica pitched a fit.”
“And fired him,” Danny said. “It was my tennis instructor. I was nine. She fired him on the spot.”
Oscar’s eyebrows rose. “No shit? For what? Calling a kid by a socially acceptable nickname isn’t usually grounds for dismissal.”
“She’s fired people for less,” Sloane muttered.
“God, I don’t even remember,” Danny said. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to picture the instructor. He’d been a college kid, he recalled that much. Now that he really thought about it, he’d had a huge crush on the guy. That might have had more to do with his firing than anything.
But he’d loved being called Danny, whether it was because a cute older guy had been the first one to do it or because it was something that was his, he wasn’t sure. But it had stuck.
And his mother using it meant more to him than he could explain. She seemed to be realizing he was his own person, and more importantly, she was trying to accept that. It was a miracle.
He probably had Max to thank for her change of heart, but it didn’t matter. She was trying, and that was all that mattered.
Danny’s stomach growled when the food arrived. Max gave him a suggestive little wink that made Danny’s stomach swoop—he knew exactly why he was so hungry. He and Max had worked up an appetite this morning, and he’d been too emotional to do much more than pick at the dinner room service had brought last night.
“I gotta say, you seem pretty normal for someone who grew up that rich,” Oscar said as Danny dug into the waffle Sloane had ordered him.
He caught Max’s eye at just the right time, and both of them broke into giggles. Sloane joined in a second later, coughing as she swallowed her bite of egg.
“Normal,” Danny repeated, still laughing. “I guess.”
“Hey, money aside, you’re as normal as I am,” Max said, setting Sloane off into a fresh peal of laughter.
Oscar shook his head and kept eating. “I take it back. None of you are normal.”
Max bumped Danny’s knee under the table, leaving his leg
there as a warm, comforting presence. It helped Danny get control of himself. It hadn’t been that funny, but he was feeling a little on edge. It wasn’t going to take much to push him off into hysterical laughter or a torrent of tears. Everything was changing so quickly. Even things he’d always been able to count on, like his mother’s judgmental attitude, were changing.
“Did we miss much last night?” Danny asked.
Sloane rolled her eyes. “So boring. I’m jealous you got out of it.”
“Your uncle’s friend was cool,” Oscar said. “The big one. The others not so much.”
“Al—uh, Mr. Connoll is a family friend,” Sloane said. Danny kicked her under the table. “We also sat with Uncle Daniel’s newest business partner and his wife. They were dull, dull, dull.”
“When he found out I was a cop, all he wanted to talk about were zoning ordinances,” Oscar said. “He has some building that’s on hold because the neighborhood kicked up a fuss and had a protest when he tried to break ground. He wanted to know if I could go arrest them.”
“He literally talked about it all night,” Sloane said in disgust.
“But Mr. Connoll, he was an all-right guy. Real interesting for a stuffed shirt.”
Danny choked on his orange juice again. He couldn’t imagine anyone calling Alpha Connoll a stuffed shirt. He radiated power. Did humans really not feel it?
Max finished his coffee and looked at his watch. “What time did you say we needed to be there?”
Oscar groaned. “Soon.”
He pulled his wallet out of his pocket, but Sloane waved him off. “I’ll charge it to the room,” she said.
“I had a lot of fun. We should do it again sometime,” Oscar said.
Sloane let him lean in and kiss her on the cheek, but Danny doubted there would be a next time. That wasn’t her style.
“I’ll call you when I’m done,” Max said, giving Danny a quick kiss. “We can go by the house if you want. See who’s around to bug.”
