Overcoming His Pride

by Amber Kell

  “What happened?”

  “His mother is in town.”

  A long silence stretched between them.

  “I’m on my way.”

  Lou disconnected. The bear wasn’t known for his communication skills. Still, the fact he dropped everything to come to James proved to Andrew that at least his son had chosen well. A lion and a bear wasn’t a pair he would’ve imagined together, but it worked for them. He’d never seen his son so happy.

  Andrew began to head to his place, but he remembered the wrens were taking James to the pride house. Maybe he should go talk to the lion alpha instead of calling. They had a lot to discuss. Andrew trusted Talan like he trusted few people. The lion shifter always had his pride’s best interests at heart. James might not live at the pack house with the lions, but he was in Talan’s territory and Andrew knew the alpha considered James one of his pride members.

  Ten minutes later, he pulled up to the mansion. From the array of lions sprawled across the porch, it must be after-breakfast naptime. With the addition of new lions in town, the felines often spent time bonding in a mass catnap. Andrew didn’t know how many now belonged to the pride, but overall the group appeared to get along. Talan led with a firm but fair fist and no one crossed his wolf mate, Adrian. The smallish shifter had poisonous claws that he was more than willing to use to protect his people.

  Andrew almost wished Juliet would foolishly come to visit Talan. She’d quickly have her tail tucked between her legs and run out of town. He picked his way towards the largest lion with a mighty mane and reached out to touch one flickering ear.

  “I wouldn’t do that.”

  Andrew jerked his hand back and spun around to meet the amused eyes of Talan’s mate, Adrian. “You wouldn’t?”

  Adrian shook his head. “Lions get cranky if you interrupt their nap. They tend to bite off hands first, ask questions later. Come inside you can talk to him after the king of the jungle has his nap.”

  A few snorts from the other lions proved that not all of them were sound asleep.

  Adrian cast the group a fond look before turning on his heel and going inside. Andrew followed the wolf shifter to the kitchen only to find Chen and Marlen sitting on a bar stool and licking a bowl of chocolate batter. Their faces were smeared and their fingers appeared slightly sticky.

  “Boys.” They had never looked so much like naughty children as they did at that moment. Andrew couldn’t help but smile at them. His heart ached with emotion he couldn’t contain. Something must’ve shown in eyes because both of the wren shifters stood and approached him.

  “Have a taste.” Chen held up his finger, his eyes challenging Andrew to refuse.

  Andrew kept eye contact with the wren shifter. He wrapped his fingers around Chen’s wrist to hold him still. Leaning forward, he lapped at the sticky digit, the taste of bittersweet chocolate, cream and warm male sliding across his tongue in a decadent swirl of flavour. The underlying taste of Chen’s flesh on his taste buds twisted his gut with need like a starving man stumbling across the perfect buffet of treats.

  He lifted his mouth away from temptation, before he slammed the wren shifter against the counter and gave in to his carnal urges.

  “Suck him,” Marlen whispered into Andrew’s ear as he stepped behind him.

  The wren shifter had a few inches on Andrew so he always felt surrounded by the wrens when they sandwiched him between them. He’d never had anyone want to protect him before.

  “You guys can use a guest room if you’d like,” Adrian offered. “I don’t think Talan would want you having sex in the kitchen.”

  Andrew reluctantly pulled away from the wrens. Talan would skin them for exposing their naked bodies to Adrian. During a shift was one thing, having sex another.

  He cleared his throat and took another step back. “Where’s James?”

  Adrian answered. “He shifted and went for a run. I think he needed a few minutes alone.”

  Andrew couldn’t blame him. James’ entire world view had been changed again. The poor man couldn’t catch a break. Andrew had tried to soften the blow of his mother leaving them when James was growing up, but all secrets came out eventually. He should’ve known that.

  “I called Lou and told him what was going on. He’s coming back from his conference.”

  James needed his mate more than his father. Maybe Andrew should move away. All he brought James was bad news.

  “Hey.” Marlen’s warm brown eyes examined him as if trying to peer into his soul. “It’s not your fault.”

  “Yes it is. If I had chosen a better wife, then James wouldn’t’ve had such a bitch for a mother.”

  “All things happen for a reason.” Marlen kissed Andrew’s cheek. “Besides, if she’d been the perfect wife, you wouldn’t have us now.”

  Both wrens hovered, touching him with soft brushes of fingers and lips, trying to offer him comfort.

  He let them flutter for a bit before wrapping an arm around each of them and taking charge for once. “I’m fine. It’s James I’m worried about.”

  Maybe if he said it enough times he truly would be better. Twin demons of guilt and regret tore through his soul.

  “He’ll be okay.” Chen ran a hand down Andrew’s back as if trying to imbue comfort through his touch. “He’s strong.”

  “Yes he is.” But even the strong could break beneath too many burdens. “I hope Lou gets back here soon.” There was only so much he could do for his son. James’ mate could help with the emotional stuff far better than Andrew.

  Marlen slid his fingers through Andrew’s. “Come on, love. Let’s get going.”

  “To where?”

  “We have a couple of choices. We can go to the spare room here or back to our place for a talk, but we are going to spend a little time alone,” Chen insisted.

  Andrew didn’t want to talk at all. He doubted from the determined expression on the wren shifters’ faces that they would go along with that idea. “I don’t want to leave James yet. I’ll talk to you here.”

  There was a slim chance his son might choose to see him sometime this century and Andrew wanted to be there if it happened.

  The wrens didn’t argue, instead they led him down the hall. He kept his words to himself until they were inside a small guest room and Chen slammed the door behind them.

  Andrew sat down on the large bed since there was nowhere else to sit. The room’s sparse furnishings consisted of a bed, a dresser and a side table holding up a lamp—definitely a guest room.

  “What now?” He looked from one shifter to the other before settling his gaze on Chen. The temperamental wren generally spoke for the pair.

  Marlen crawled onto Andrew’s lap, placing a knee on either side of his hips. “Now you kiss me like you mean it.”

  If he had any sense he would shove Marlen off his lap and run. He wasn’t in any condition to start a relationship. He grabbed Marlen’s hips to prevent the wren shifter from falling and cradled him closer. A soft whimper left Marlen’s lips. Andrew smiled. Pride slid through him. This beautiful shifter not only wanted Andrew, but needed him.

  “You feel so good, my mate,” Marlen moaned. “I dreamed of you holding me like this, except we were both naked.”

  A strangled laugh burst from him. He could always count on the wren to be honest about what he was thinking. While Andrew’s world tumbled apart, the sweet young man in his arms still looked at him like Andrew could hand over Marlen’s dreams in a package with pretty gold wrapping. “I’m sorry I resisted being your mate. I still think I’m too old for you, but if I’m what you want, I’m willing to give it a try.”

  After revisiting his past and all that he’d lost, Andrew decided he needed a fresh start. If he refused these two kind, loving souls, he’d always look back and wonder what could have been. He had enough regretful memories to last a lifetime.

  Fighting against the two wrens took too much energy. Why battle with them? He doubted his heart would survive them leaving, but the batt
ered organ hadn’t done much for him anyway.

  Andrew slid his hands around and squeezed Marlen’s ass. Fantasies he’d long relegated to fiction sprang into his head like a full-grown porn flick.

  “I’ve never had a ménage before,” Andrew confessed.

  “Neither have we,” Chen replied.

  “Really? I thought you were looking for more nest mates?” The wrens confused him. He knew they had been searching for at least one more mate. Why hadn’t they been trying out other men?

  Chen slid his fingers across Andres’s cheek pulling his attention. “We’ve been looking, but we didn’t find anyone until now.”

  “Oh.” He didn’t know what to say to the sincerity burning in Chen’s eyes. The wren shifter really meant every word. They’d been waiting for him. Two gorgeous young men with everything going for them had been searching out their perfect third and they were both convinced they’d found it in him. It didn’t say much for their judgement, but he was done trying to change their minds.

  Marlen took Andrew’s distraction as an opportunity to nibble on his neck. Andrew tipped his head back and let the wren shifter have his way. Tingles of desire shivered down his spine and directly to his cock, a live wire of connection from Marlen’s mouth to Andrew’s erection.

  “Oh, God, you look so good together.” Chen groaned.

  Andrew’s eyes slid closed, too drunk with passion to stay open. Overwhelmed by the shifter’s touch and craving more, he absorbed their affection, certain it would be ripped away from him at any time. He wanted to cling to the pair and refuse to let them go…ever. How many times in his life would he ever feel this cherished again?

  Before Andrew could say anything, Chen climbed up behind him and straddled his back. Chen wrapped his legs around Marlen’s knees, cradling them between his long limbs.

  Two hard cocks pressed against Andrew in a position he’d only seen on Internet porn sites. He’d denied himself for too long. Now, sandwiched between two young, virile males, Andrew gave in to defeat. “You win. I’ll be yours.”

  He’d been an idiot to deny them for so long.

  “Why?” Marlen asked. He ran his fingers across Andrew’s cheeks and hair.

  By now he’d become used to the wrens’ odd need to randomly touch him. He leaned into the caresses. Cupping Marlen’s face gently, he kissed the wren shifter.

  A low hum vibrated through him. Marlen tasted as sweet as he looked. Some of it could be from the chocolate he’d been eating, but Andrew didn’t care. He just needed more.

  The pair deserved a better mate, not a tired old man who had little to offer. Affection and need trumped his conscience. He broke away. “I’m tired of fighting you. I want to be happy for once.”

  Chen rubbed Andrew’s shoulders. Somehow the casual affection was harder for him to resist than an all-out seductive assault. He soaked up the attention, wishing he could trap it in a bottle and take it out whenever he was lonely.

  “We’re here for you.” Marlen nuzzled Andrew’s neck.

  Andrew relaxed against Chen’s chest, his reassuring strength holding him up.

  “Let us take care of you,” Chen murmured. “We can make it work.”

  His entire body melted beneath their touch. He didn’t have the fight in him. “I’m just so tired,” he confessed. He’d been working to save his son, to save shifters, to make them pay attention to their children and all his work had resulted in almost killing his own son and torturing innocents. Now his ex was back in town ripping open new wounds and letting them fester.

  A tear slipped down his cheek.

  “Hey.” Chen’s deep voice vibrated against Andrew’s back. “We’re here for you. You don’t have to do things alone.”

  “Never again.” Marlen captured Andrew’s mouth.

  He opened wider, allowing the wren shifter’s tongue to dip inside. Marlen slipped his fingers into Andrew’s hair and held him tight as he ravaged his mouth. This was nothing like the sweet pecks on the lip and cheek he’d received before. Marlen’s hunger spiked Andrew’s desire as if the shifter had use kerosene to spark Andrew’s sexual fire and now he craved the flame.

  He tried to scoot closer only to be held back by strong hands on his upper arms. “Don’t leave me, babe. I need you too. Marlen, let go for a second.”

  Marlen lifted his hands. Chen stripped off Andrew’s shirt in a quick yank. Andrew blushed and fought the urge to hide his body from the shifters. Unlike them, he didn’t have hard muscles and smooth skin and he’d never had pebbled abs even in his teen years.

  “Hey, none of that. To us, you’re gorgeous,” Marlen said.

  His awed expression told Andrew that for whatever reason, the young man believed his words.

  “You and Chen are beautiful. I’m average.” Maybe below average, but he knew better than to say anything like that around the shifters. They were oddly protective of him.

  “May I take off your shirt?” he asked Marlen.

  Marlen nodded.

  “I’ll do it.”

  Chen immediately slid off the bed and moved behind Marlen. Andrew watched, entranced, as Chen stripped of Marlen’s shirt with a sexy pull and yank method that revealed bits of Marlen’s hard abs a little at a time. Andrew had already seen both men naked. As bird shifters they often appeared on his doorstep stripped of their clothes.

  This was different.

  They hadn’t just changed from their bird form. They were humans preparing for sex.

  With him.

  Andrew swallowed, trying to gather some moisture into his mouth. “How did I get so lucky?” he asked, not expecting an answer.

  “We’re the lucky ones,” Chen said in a deep, sexy voice rough with emotion.

  Not willing to argue, Andrew turned his attention to more important things. He pressed a kiss to Marlen’s shoulder, relishing the shiver trembling through the shifter.

  “Do you want me?” Andrew asked.

  “Yes,” Marlen said.

  Andrew met Chen’s eyes. Chen nodded.

  “Stand so we can take off the rest of our clothes,” Andrew ordered.

  “Now you’re talking.” Chen helped Marlen to his feet.

  Andrew removed his clothes, trying not to let his self-consciousness prevent him from enjoying time with the wrens. They wouldn’t judge him based on his age and less than perfect body. Whatever had attracted them had little to do with his appearance and more to do with his scent.

  Chen trailed a finger along Andrew’s shoulder. “You are so warm,” he said in delight.

  “Come closer and you can see how warm.” Andrew scooted back then lay down, displaying himself for their pleasure. The sudden heat in the wren shifters’ eyes told him he’d done the right thing. He wrapped a hand around his erection, trailing his hand up and down. The soft, needy sounds they made boosted his ego. He might not be model perfect, but the wrens didn’t seem to mind at all.

  “I want to taste,” Chen said.

  Andrew didn’t bother hiding his surprise, he would’ve bet money that Marlen would’ve been the one who approached first. For it to be Chen threw him off a bit. He’d anticipated Marlen wanting him more.

  The wrens impatiently yanked off the rest of their clothes then climbed onto the bed with matching expressions of lust. Chen stopped between Andrew’s legs, pushing them apart with his broad shoulders as he lay down.

  “We’re claiming you, Andrew. You know what this means for shifters?” Chen asked.

  Andrew nodded, his throat too dry to speak.

  “We need your verbal consent,” Marlen said.

  Chen continued, “We don’t want any misunderstandings later. Do you agree to be ours?”

  Andrew thought it over. He could hold back and fight his own needs and resist the wonderful young men before him or he could grab what they offered with both hands. Maybe then the gnawing craving in his stomach would ease. What would James think about his dad and two men his own age?

  “What’s holding you back?” Marlen a
sked his eyes, concern lit his eyes.

  “I don’t want James to be ashamed of me,” he confessed. There, it was out in the open.

  Marlen cupped Andrew’s cheek. He always had the gentler touch of the pair. Chen was more intense, his passion overwhelming. Marlen wrapped Andrew in a gentle tide like he would protect Andrew from any of the world’s ills if only he gave up his worries to the wren shifter to take care of.

  “He never seemed concerned when we talked to him before,” Chen said. “Has he said anything to you?”

  Andrew shook his head. “No, but I’m not sure if that’s because he thought I’d turn you down or not.”

  “Does it matter?” Marlen asked. He nibbled on his bottom lip, a nervous habit that had Andrew wanting to soothe.

  Of course it mattered. But did it? Did James care if his father bonded with two wren shifters? A bit of soul searching gave him the answer.

  “No. It doesn’t matter.” Even if it did, he had no doubt his son would be pleased for Andrew as long as he was happy. James had a kind heart and would want his father to have whatever he wanted in life, even if that included two sexy wren shifters half his age.

  “Good. Now can we claim you?” Chen scowled.

  Andrew smiled over the profound differences between the two men. Where Marlen worried, Chen attacked the problem. Chen ordered while Marlen coaxed. Andrew adored them both.

  “Yes. I’m all yours.” Words had never had such an immediate response.

  Marlen slid alongside Andrew’s body and tackled his mouth as if he needed to mark him with his scent. Did birds scent their mates like cats?

  “Shh, you think too much. I can practically hear your brain spinning with questions. Sex first, questions later.” Chen’s tone didn’t leave room for discussion. The bird shifter pinched Andrew’s left nipple and he found he didn’t care.

  “You’re right. Thinking is overrated.” Andrew tossed years of careful, methodical thinking out of the window without regret.

  “Suck him, love,” Marlen addressed the other wren.

  Andrew gasped. Hot, wet suction surrounded his cock, better than anything he’d ever felt before. “Oh, fuck.”