At least Mark had finally managed to get himself a job. Foreman work was scarce in these parts, but it was the only thing he knew how to do. All that remained was to petition to the local pack alpha for rights to stay in the community, although he didn’t figure he’d be staying long. When Joe had told him the reason he’d let the previous foreman go, Mark had almost walked out on him right then and there.
Firing someone because of their sexual preference didn’t sit well with him. Hell, Mark wasn’t gay himself, but he thought what men got up to in the privacy of their own bedrooms was nobody’s business but their own. He knew he couldn’t work for a man like that for long. He’d just have to sit tight and keep his mouth shut until something better came along.
“And if you’re looking to find yourself a fine piece of ass of a Saturday night, there’s always Jessie’s Dance Hall. Isn’t that right, boys?”
Dan and Lyle, two of Joe’s farm hands, enthusiastically nodded their agreement. Mark shuddered. Any place Joe recommended he’d be sure and stay clear of. Besides the man was nearing seventy if he was a day. What in the hell was he doing going to honky tonks to look for a piece of ass?
Mark tuned out of the conversation once again. He couldn’t listen to anymore of the old man’s ramblings. Unexpectedly he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and a shiver ran over his body. He furrowed his brow in confusion. It was damn near a hundred degrees in the shade.
Mark’s senses seemed to be on hyper alert. He felt a tingling sensation in his stomach and a feeling of euphoria rushed over him. In fact, he felt happier than he had in his life. What the hell? And where was that damn smell coming from? It was the sweetest, most fragrant ambrosia he had ever had the pleasure of smelling. It made his cock stiffen inside his jeans until he was so hard he thought his cock might burst open his zipper.
Mark tried to pay attention to what the old man was saying, he really did, but that damn smell was intoxicating. Mark was sure he hadn’t had the pleasure of scenting it before, but it seemed familiar to him somehow. The smell grew stronger, and Mark swallowed hard as the realisation of what the scent was hit him like a ton of bricks. Holy shit, his mate was here somewhere. There was no other explanation for the things he was feeling.
Joe stopped what he was saying and his face lit up into a broad grin.
“Kelan, Luke, how nice of you both to drop by. Come on over here, there’s someone I want to introduce to you.”
Luke and Kelan walked over to Joe and shook the old man’s hand. When Luke looked over at the men, one of them was staring at him open-mouthed. Luke felt a shock like a thunderbolt hit his body when he looked into the man’s eyes. They were the deepest blue he’d ever seen, he wanted to go swimming in them. What the…
Holy crap! His mate was a man!
Luke couldn’t even manage a hello. Words caught in his throat as he stared back in astonishment. It was little consolation, but the man seemed to be as flabbergasted as he was.
“Mark, I’d like you to meet Kelan Morgan. He’s our pack alpha, so it’s him you’ll need to be speaking to about staying in these here parts. Kelan, this is Mark Malone, my new foreman.”
Luke looked on in utter bewilderment as Mark reached out and gave Kelan’s hand a firm shake. Throughout the action Mark didn’t take his eyes off Luke. Luke blushed under the scrutiny.
“Then this here is Luke, Kelan’s youngest brother.”
Luke reached out his hand tentatively and the minute his fingers touched Mark’s palm, he felt tingles over his entire body and his hard-as-steel cock twitched inside his pants. The smell of arousal coming from Mark filled his nose and set him on fire—he sure as hell hoped none of the other men could smell it. He was dimly aware of his brother talking to Joe but he had no idea what they were talking about and quite frankly, he couldn’t care less.
“Pleased to meet you, Mark,” Luke managed to choke out.
“Uh, likewise,” Mark said, swallowing hard.
Luke looked over at his brother, who was now regarding him curiously. He tried to subtly nod in Mark’s direction but Kelan just pulled his eyes together in a frown.
“Well thanks for the tools Kelan, I surely appreciate it. Why don’t I get Dan and Lyle here to come give you a hand with them? I need to be getting back to the house myself. Alice will have dinner ready about now, I reckon. Boys?”
Dan and Lyle started to follow Kelan to the truck while Luke looked after them hopelessly. He really should go help his brother, but all he could think about was the fact his mate stood in front of him. His male mate.
“Mark, why don’t you stay here and get acquainted with Luke until Dan and Lyle get back? Then I’ll get the boys to show you around the place.”
“Thank you sir.” Mark said.
Joe nodded and followed Kelan and the hands to the truck. Luke watched him walk away then turned to Mark and stared at the man, not really knowing what to say. He felt his cheeks heat up when Mark’s eyes travelled down to the bulge in his crotch and widened. His cock jerked at the scrutiny of the larger man.
“Shit. I think you and I need to have a little chat.” Mark finally broke the silence. “But we can’t do it here. Come, let’s go to the bunkhouse.”
Luke nodded and followed in Mark’s wake. Mark’s commanding tone had him practically panting. He trailed behind the man as they walked to the house, eyes never leaving Mark’s firm ass which swayed seductively with each step he took. He shook his head incredulously. He couldn’t believe he was staring at a man’s ass.
When they were inside, Mark closed the door behind them and began to pace. Luke crossed the room and stood in front of him. Someone had to say what was clearly on both their minds.
“You’re my mate.” Luke said simply.
“It would seem so, yes,” Mark said, avoiding Luke’s eyes. “Look, before you say anything else you should know I’m not real happy about this situation, Luke. Hell, I ain’t even gay.”
“Neither am I.”
Mark’s head jerked up and he stared at Luke open-mouthed. “You aren’t?”
“No, I’m not. You thought I was?”
“Well yeah, it’s just that you’re so…pretty.”
Luke felt his face heat up from Mark’s compliment, but at the same time, he wasn’t happy with what Mark was insinuating.
“I’m pretty so I must be gay—is that what you’re saying?”
“No, I just…”
“Are you homophobic?”
“Hell no, no way. That wasn’t what I meant. It’s just that destiny put us together, so I assumed at least one of us had to be gay.”
“Well I’m not, okay? Not that I have any problem with it. My older brother is gay.”
“Okay. Look, it’s not only that, there are a whole heap of reasons why this can’t work. I mean, for starters I’m thirty four and you’re, well, you’re just a kid. You can’t be any more than, what, nineteen?”
“For your information, I’ve finished university. I’m twenty-two, hardly a kid, and what the hell has that got to do with this anyway?”
Mark sighed. Arguing was getting them nowhere. He couldn’t deny he was attracted to the young man, but that was their damn pheromones. There was nothing he could do about that. There had been no doubt in his mind when he’d looked at the young man that he was his mate. Luke was the prettiest man he’d ever laid eyes on, and he had never thought of men as pretty before, but Luke sure was. His sky blue eyes were utterly beguiling and his pale blonde hair looked so soft, Mark had to shove his hands in his pockets to stop himself running his fingers through it, just to check. Shit. What was he thinking? He couldn’t do this.
“Look, Luke, under the circumstances I think the best thing would be for us to forget this whole thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, we are the only two that know we’re mates, right? Neither of us is gay, so we don’t have to go along with it.”
“You mean you want to pretend we’re not mated?”
>
“Well yeah, no one else has to know. This way we could both meet women if we wanted to and settle down with them, raise a family. No one but us would know they weren’t our mates.”
“Is that what you want?” Luke asked quietly.
“Yes. Shit, I don’t know. Maybe. Yes.”
Luke nodded. There was really nothing left to say. He had been in no rush to find his mate and he certainly hadn’t wanted a male mate. But a man had been what he’d got. Even though Mark was not what he’d expected or hoped for, his mate’s rejection hurt.
Luke could feel a lump form in the back of his throat and tears begin to well behind his eyes. He had to get away before the floodgates opened and he embarrassed himself in front of this man. His pride was all he had left.
“Right. Well, if that’s what you want then I guess there’s nothing left to say. I’ll go. Goodbye, Mark.”
Luke turned and walked towards the door. He could feel his heart breaking with each step he took away from Mark. The pull to be with his mate was so strong, he wanted to turn around and throw himself into Mark’s arms, but he knew there was no point. He had to face facts. Mark didn’t want him. Luke forced himself to keep walking until he had made it through the door. He closed it behind him without looking back.
Outside, he stood on the porch for a moment to take stock of the situation. He felt numb. Tears began to trickle down his face. A wolf only ever got one mate and some were not lucky enough to ever find the person they were destined to be with. The pull to be with your mate once you’d found them was intense. Walking away from his mate was the hardest thing Luke had ever done in his life. The pain in his chest could have been a knife wound. It stung just as badly and cut just as deep.
Mark stood and watched Luke walk out of the house. He should be happy—after all this was what he said he wanted, wasn’t it? But watching Luke walk through the door and out of his life was the most agonising thing he’d ever experienced. He could hardly breathe through the pain in his chest.
Mark knew the pain he was feeling was only a result of the mating bond. He didn’t even know Luke, but he’d heard stories about severed bonds before and they hadn’t been pretty. If the anguish he was feeling now was anything to go by, he couldn’t imagine the sorrow of losing someone he had been mated to for a long time. He didn’t think he would be strong enough to live through it.
As the minutes passed, Mark began to wonder if he’d made the right decision after all. He was definitely attracted to Luke—hell, no woman he had dated had ever made his cock that hard. And Luke sure was pretty. His pale blue eyes were captivating and those soft, full lips… Shit. What the hell had he done? Without sparing a thought for the consequences, Mark raced out the door in search of his mate.
He spotted Luke walking just a little way from the house. He ran down the steps of the porch and across the yard.
“Luke!”
Luke stopped walking when Mark called his name but he didn’t turn around. Mark wasn’t sure but he thought he could smell tears.
Crap.
“Is this what you want?” he called out.
He walked forward and put his hand on Luke’s shoulder.
“Please, Luke, I need to know.”
Luke shook his head but he didn’t answer. The sorrow radiating from Luke hit Mark hard. His mate was in turmoil. Luke didn’t need to say anything for Mark to know how he felt. He could sense his mate’s emotions with the utmost clarity, they mirrored his own.
Mark walked around to stand in front of his mate. The pain and sadness he found on Luke’s face nearly brought him to his knees. The fact that he was responsible for hurting Luke made him feel sick to his stomach. He reached up and brushed away a tear from Luke’s cheek. Even with bloodshot eyes and a snotty nose Luke was still the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.
“I’m sorry, Luke. Please forgive me. I know this is not what either of us wanted or expected but I can’t let you go, not now that I’ve found you. I’m sure, somehow that we can make this work, if you want to try.”
Mark could see Luke was still wary but some of the tension left him with Mark’s speech.
“Do you really mean that?”
“Every word. We’re mates. It’s fate, Luke. I can’t ignore that and I don’t want to.”
Mark reached out and held Luke’s face in his hands. He leant forward and tentatively pressed his lips to Luke’s.
Luke gasped when Mark’s lips met his. He wrapped his arms around Mark’s neck and pulled him closer until their bodies were touching from head to toe. When he opened his mouth in invitation, Mark moaned, his tongue finally slipping inside Luke’s mouth.
The kiss was gentle at first but soon built in intensity until both men were groaning, their tongues duelling with one another’s for supremacy. Mark couldn’t believe how incredible Luke tasted—no kiss with a woman had ever felt this good.
“Oh god.” Luke whimpered when Mark pulled away to catch a breath.
“Wow. That was…”
“Kiss me again?”
“Fuck yeah.”
There was nothing gentle about the second kiss. Their mouths crashed together in a frenzy. Mark ran his hands down Luke’s sides and he slid them around to his ass to hold him in place while he ground their hard cocks together. They both groaned at the contact. Mark realised that Luke’s cock rubbing against his own didn’t feel awkward in any way, just the opposite in fact. It felt perfect. Like it was meant to be, which Mark supposed, it was. He wanted, no, he needed more.
“Oh, ‘m gonna come if you don’t stop that.” Luke groaned into Mark’s mouth.
Mark wasn’t turned off by the declaration. Luke’s words only excited him further. Shit, he was close to blowing himself and Luke’s whimpers and moans were pulling him closer to the edge with every passing second.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Mark and Luke froze when Joe Walker’s enraged voice boomed out behind them.
Chapter Three
Luke quickly broke away from Mark, his face colouring to a pretty shade of red. Mark turned to see Joe standing behind him, his expression a mixture of loathing and disgust. Kelan was walking towards them with Dan and Lyle at his heels.
Mark groaned. It looked as if he wouldn’t be working for the bad tempered, crusty ole fool after all. Even though he wasn’t that bothered about the job, he couldn’t believe his actions. He’d been practically humping Luke right here in the yard. Joe turned to him, and Mark was sure if the old man had a shotgun in his hand right about now, he wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger.
“I want you off my land, now,” Joe spat. “And you! You were raised better than this, Luke. Your daddy would be turning in his grave if he could see you now.”
Mark felt a threatening snarl rip from his chest and could do nothing to prevent it. He pushed Luke behind him and crouched into a defensive stance in front of him.
“Don’t speak to him like that!” he growled.
“I told you to get off my land before I have you thrown off.”
Kelan stepped in between the two men and looked at them each in turn. His brother stepped out from behind Mark, and for the first time Kelan noticed his blood-shot eyes and tear-stained face. No one messed with his baby brother. It was all he could do to stop from shifting on the spot and rip out Mark’s throat. He growled menacingly at Mark.
“What the hell is going on here? What have you done to Luke?” Kelan was barely able to control his anger.
Being alpha of their pack, Kelan exuded power. He rarely lost his temper but when he did, look out. Lesser men would be cowering at his feet by now but Mark stood tall.
“I didn’t do anything to him,” Mark said defensively. “Well, other than kiss him.”
Kelan’s head whipped around to his younger brother, whose face had coloured to a deep shade of pink. Luke looked embarrassed as all hell, but he still stepped forward and took hold of Mark’s hand.
“It’s true,” Luke said quietly. “I tried to te
ll you before. Mark is my mate.”
Joe snorted and when they all turned to look at him, he was staring at Luke and Mark with contempt. Dan and Lyle shuffled their feet nervously beside him but they looked just as disgusted by Luke’s announcement as Joe did.
“Don’t be ridiculous. He’s a man. You can’t mate with a man. Kelan, you’ve got to do something about this. What would your daddy think? When he was alpha of this pack, he would never have condoned this kind of behaviour. They…” he said, pointing to Luke and Mark, “are an abomination. Your daddy was a good man, and this is how he gets repaid. Not one, but two faggots for sons.”
Kelan rounded on Joe—he had heard enough. It was always difficult to keep from throttling the old man when he spouted his repellent and sickening comments, but when they were directed at Kelan’s family…
“Remember your place, old man. I am alpha of this pack now, and if you want to remain in it, you’ll keep your distasteful comments to yourself. I never want to hear you say another word about anyone in my family again, you hear me? My daddy was a bully. I’m glad he is not around to witness this because if he was, I would not be able to keep my mouth shut like I did the last time. And by the way, he has three faggots for sons, not two. Luke, Mark, we’re leaving.”
Luke trailed after his brother, tugging Mark along with him. Kelan’s parting comment had left him speechless. Kelan was gay? Since when? Luke had only ever seen his brother with women. He had to admit, he was pleased to see the effect it had on Joe and the hands, though. Joe’s face was puce—he looked about ready to blow a gasket—and Dan and Lyle didn’t look any better. Dan’s face was scrunched up in distaste and Lyle looked like he might fall over from the shock.
Luke didn’t know what to think. Was this a recent development, or had Kelan always been gay and only keeping up the pretence of being straight for their father’s benefit? Now that he thought about it, Luke hadn’t seen Kelan with a woman since their father had passed away eighteen months ago.
Luke's Surprise Page 2
