He could still smell the frighteningly dominant figment of his imagination. The sharp masculine scent of leather, smoke and werewolf musk. Sol sniffed the air eagerly, his ears perked up and his tail swayed to and fro behind him. Hold on a second. Tail? Why were his ears perking up?
“Good morning, sunshine,” came a deep husky voice from the bulk that lay beside him.
Sol leaped out of bed, his paws nearly slipping on the silky sheets. Instead of a yelp, a little growl came out of his mouth. The hard planes of Aries’ sun-kissed and inked flesh stared back at him. The big man’s midnight blue eyes were dark with amusement.
Panic began to course through Sol. Last night had been real.
Fuck. He knew it was too sharp and too vivid to be a damn dream. Sol wasn’t sure whether he should be relieved, pleased or worried out of his mind. There was a more pressing manner. He was walking on fours, not two, and he didn’t know the first damn thing about how to turn back.
“I’m not sure when you changed, Sol, but there’s no need to worry.”
Aries was beginning to reach out for him, and Sol remembered how those large rough fingers felt so sure and so calming as they stroked his hair. They terrified him too, because Aries’ words echoed back at him.
He’d been half asleep at the time, but he couldn’t forget them.
“You can quit your job and move in with me.”
Fuck. He couldn’t handle this right now.
His hackles were raised. What he needed was solid ground. Earth, wood and open air. Not claustrophobic man-made spaces.
He did what he always did when faced with a situation he couldn’t face head on. Sol ran. He dodged Aries’ thick fingers and nimbly jumped off the bed. He heard Aries curse and fumble for his clothes. Sol’s own wolf whined inside him, similarly cursing his stupidity at running from his mate, but he didn’t care. He worked on the knob of the front door with his jaws and rushed out of the apartment.
In seconds, he was out in the streets. He’d remembered to stick to corners and shadows so he wouldn’t scare off normal humans. Being stealthy was easier than he thought.
His mind reeled with confusion as he ran. What exactly did being mated to Aries mean? Did the asshole think he’d just drop everything to be with him? Who the hell did he think he was? But hadn’t some tiny and miserable part of Sol wished last night he would no longer be alone?
Aries was right. Sol hated his job, and he occasionally wondered if something was lacking in his life. While he’d convinced himself he was content to live as his other counterparts and identities in his games, all he’d come back to was his empty apartment and to the familiar drowning loneliness.
Sol used to think it was fine if he was sick and fucked-up in the head anyway, but Aries told him last night he was neither. Aries thought he was just fine the way he was. “Perfect. Just perfect.”
Aries was lying. The last thing Sol was was perfect. Why would someone like Aries want someone like him?
Sol wasn’t sure where he was going. He ran across the city, emptying his thoughts of Aries and trying to ignore the panic festering inside him. Sol still had no clue how to change back, but was it so bad to be a wolf? At least he didn’t have to deal with messy human emotions.
In the end, he was too cowardly to drop everything and simply disappear into the woods outside the city.
Sol wasn’t sure why he found himself loping back to his old neighborhood and back to his pathetic studio apartment. He’d become sick and tired of aimless wandering about. Sol didn’t really think about the forced open door on his unit, or the rake marks on the door. When he entered, a low and threatening growl made all the fur on his back stand out.
It wasn’t a large apartment, so he had a full view of the black monster of a wolf waiting for him. In-built instincts told him to run, but in-built instincts didn’t apply to the beast sharing his soul when it saw its mate. His wolf told him Aries wasn’t going to hurt him, but nearly two hundred pounds of muscle pounced on him before he could decide what to do.
Sol snarled and tried to fight the beast twice his size. It took him a second to realize he hadn’t felt the bite of Aries’ canines and claws. A whine tore out of his throat when he realized his mate had settled for just sitting on top of him.
Amber eyes stared down at him, and the sheer force and dominant metaphysical waves coming from Aries made him offer his throat and belly in submission. Sol whined again when a playful paw swatted at him. Then the beast on top of him was blurring seamlessly to the form of his massive, inked and naked detective.
“Fuck, Sol. Don’t ever run out from me again, you understand? Do you know the fucking worry you put me through?” Aries asked harshly.
The other man was doing something unbelievably good. He was caressing the tender fur on Sol’s belly and scratching his ears. Sol let out a happy sound.
“I know you’re scared about us, about changing for the first time, but I’ll always be by your side to guide you.”
Sol stared up at him, trying to ignore the magical fingers caressing his perked up ears. He panted in assent. When had Aries ever wronged him?
“Come on. Pull back to your human skin. Imagine putting on a heavy winter jacket and taking it off. Simple as pie, Sol.”
Aries’ words were soothing and so were the clever hands rubbing his tummy. Bones popped and shifted under his skin. Eventually, those large scarred knuckles were brushing against his human skin.
“Sunshine, you know I have to punish you for running out on me,” Aries said in a firm voice.
Sol swallowed. He wanted to look away, but he remembered Aries didn’t like that. Besides, he owed the big man an explanation.
“What, you’re going to spank me here too?” He gestured to the messy apartment. It was a pert remark. Sol didn’t really expect Aries to do it.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” There was a familiar glint in Aries’ eyes Sol was beginning to realize he should be worried about.
“Of course not. I don’t like such a thing.”
The moment Sol finished saying those words, he was already being effortlessly lifted off the floor and thrown over Aries’ broad lap. How Aries had seated himself, cross-legged on the floor, and had easily spread Sol on his lap like it was the most natural thing it the world, stumped him.
“Aries, its morning. People might see through the windows or someone might just walk through the door and call the cops.” Sol squirmed on his lap. For his efforts, he was rewarded by a smart smack on his left butt cheek.
He shrieked. Sol could still remember Aries’ hand the night before on his aching ass. He could also remember the exquisite feeling of being completely filled and joined with his mate.
“You know everyone’s probably at work or school. In case you’ve forgotten, I am a cop, so you don’t have to worry about a damn thing. Now take your morning spanking like a good little sub. Do you think we should make this a daily ritual?”
Aries delivered carefully time swats as he spoke, alternating between quick stinging slaps and heavy ones. Sol groaned, trying not to wriggle too much when Aries asked if he needed to tie him up. Gods. Sol’s cock began perking up and tightening. Remembering the feel of the rough leather on his wrist made him uncomfortably hot. Aries chuckled, making Sol suspect his mate could see everything when it came to him. Fuck. It was a nice and sweet thought.
“I see my little needy mate likes being tied up too. We can do something about that, Sol. Not to worry. I’m quite proficient with shibari.”
Sol nearly came at those words. Gods, heat was beginning to flood his entire body. He bit his lip and tried to hold his throbbing cock back. The last thing he wanted was to disappoint Aries.
“Sol, I can see how you’re struggling, but let’s finish this first. Another set of twenty, and start counting. I’m not hearing you.”
Sol had difficulties mouthing the numbers, already dreading, yet looking forward to, each of Aries’ smacks. The blows were spread evenly, he realized, from
the tops of his thighs and up his buttocks. Damn. He was tempted to look at his ass in the mirror. It would feel good knowing Aries marked him well. That he was proudly wearing Aries’ marks.
Soon enough though, all logical thought fled from his mind as pain intertwined with slow-building, sizzling pleasure.
“Please, Aries. Please let me come.” Sol panted. Aries gently palmed the welts on his tender bottom.
Those large hands slipped lower and he gasped out loud when Aries’ digits curled around his hardening length. Aries began to pump his cock until it thickened and grew steel-hard. Sol’s entire body tensed, on the verge of exploding.
“Let me hear your voice again, Sol. I thoroughly enjoy hearing you plead.”
“Please, Aries. Let me come,” Sol whispered, groaning when Aries ran his fingers, slow and deliberate, up his throbbing length before suddenly pinching at his cock head.
“Come for me, Sol.”
Sol did, and his entire body sang and hummed as waves of pleasure ruthlessly assaulted it. His eyes rolled wildly in his sockets as the sight of his apartment fell away. All he could feel was his warm and aching, loosening body quivering against his mate’s lap.
Aries’ fingers remained curled around his emptying cock, and his intimate touch made his orgasm last longer. When he came to, Sol found Aries arranging him so he sat on his lap with his legs spread either side. Sol was looking back at him.
When Aries raised his wet fingers to his lips, Sol diligently lapped at each one without needing to be asked. He liked the look of obvious pleasure and pride in his mate’s eyes.
“Move in with me, Sol.”
Aries’ other hand slid up the side of his cheek. He rested his hand there so Sol couldn’t turn away and make any more excuses. The touch burned more than the spanking he’d just delivered.
Aries continued, “I promise you, we’ll figure things out together. We’ll discuss whatever it is you’re so afraid of.”
Sol let out a breath.
“I am afraid of things changing so fast. Most of all, I’m afraid of us,” Sol admitted guiltily. “I mean, I don’t even know a thing about you except you’re a cop and a werewolf who happens to be in the lifestyle.”
“Are you still afraid of us, Sol?” Aries asked. “I’m a patient man. I don’t expect you to leave everything at the drop of the hat. I told you this was the fucking long road, and I’ll willing to ride it out with you and no one else.”
“I’m still afraid, but…” Sol faltered.
Looking at his confident, domineering, occasionally gentle mate, Sol realized he was no longer afraid. If Aries was brave enough to admit he’d been watching, stalking and looking for him all over the city, and if Aries was confident enough things would work out between them, then Sol could also take risks. He could also be brave, confident and admit his needs. Admit Aries was exactly what he needed and wanted.
“Okay. Yes, Aries. I want to move in with—”
Before Sol could finish, Aries caught his lips with his and gave him a deep and lingering kiss. Words weren’t needed anymore. It was a kiss rough enough to draw blood, but it also tasted of promises and of good things to come.
The End
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Other Books by Angelique Voisen:
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