by Fel Fern
Wren grinned. “Don’t change the topic. So, how’s it like, living with your boss?”
“It’s pretty normal actually. We’re taking it slow.”
Wren studied him closely. “You sound disappointed.”
He shook his head and lied. “I’m not. Nash understands and I have a daughter to take care of, so romance has to take a back seat.”
“So, who believes that?” Wren asked.
He took more of the cake. Wren was kind of pushy, but he didn’t sense any bad intentions from the shifter. The guy just seemed genuinely curious. He recalled Wren had a daughter of his own too and asked where she was.
“There you go, changing the topic again. She’s spending time with Cole. Your kitten?”
That was the nickname Malik had given Janine, and it sort of stuck. He found it adorable. “She’s with her grandma. Hey, since you’re here, can I ask you about the schools here?”
They chatted about their kids for a while and which places Wren shopped at to save on baby formula, clothes. He found himself liking the shifter. Wren was animated, headstrong, and he could see why Cole had fallen for him.
He hadn’t realized they’d been there for hours, until he heard the front door open and Nash entered, with Janine on the curve of his arm, mewling.
“Hey, I heard voices in the kitchen,” Nash said. “I met your mom outside, and she was in a hurry, so I offered to take Janine inside.”
“Oh, that’s your daughter? Oh my God, she’s adorable,” Wren exclaimed, jumping out of his seat to peer at the tabby cat on Nash’s arm.
“She likes to spend more time in cat form than be a little girl,” he complained.
“Well, at least she’s all soft and snuggling. Sometimes, Tricia becomes hard to manage when she turns into wren form and starts flying around the house. Drives Cole nuts somehow.” Wren furrowed his brows at Nash. “I thought Janine doesn’t like you.”
“My wolfish charm won her over,” Nash stated.
The two seemed close, he noticed, and there were few people Nash was comfortable with. His brothers for one, and him. He thought back on Wren’s words and wondered if one of them had to make a move, or say something to speed things up in their relationship.
“Right,” Wren said, rolling his eyes. “Damn, Neil. She looks like so adorable.”
“I know right?” He walked over to Nash, who handed Janine delicately over. It didn’t surprise him that Nash was good with Janine, with kids. Despite the Alpha werewolf’s rough exterior, a fierce but occasionally tender protector lay underneath.
“Anyway, I’m meeting Cole for lunch. Neil, let’s meet up with the guys sometimes, okay? I usually bring Tricia, so don’t worry about bringing Janine,” Wren told him.
“Thanks for the cake,” he said to the other man, who waved at him, then saw himself out.
“So, you seem to be doing well,” Nash observed. The werewolf Alpha glanced at his half-eaten cake slice. Well, that was his third. He blushed when Nash took a forkful and tasted it. “Good, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, Wren’s nice.”
“Annoying you mean? Don’t worry, Dale and Henry are less intense,” Nash informed him.
“I want to meet them, too.” Because without realizing it, Neil had become part of the Mercer brothers’ lives. Neil knew Cole, Malik, and even Spencer a lot better, so it was logical he met their mates.
“We don’t bite,” Wren had said, which made him smile.
“Just don’t cause too much trouble,” Nash muttered. “When those three get together, chaos ensues. Add you to the mix and I don’t even want to think about it.”
He laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll behave.”
Glacial-blue eyes held a hint of amusement in them. His heart started beating a little faster.
“I’m taking Janine to her day bed,” he said, bringing his daughter to the cat bed in the living room.
Some would think it odd that he had a cat bed, but since she spent so much time in cat form, she might as well be comfortable. Malik told him it was normal, that shifter children sometimes spent a lot of time in animal form, but eventually grew out of it when hormones kicked in and they’d prefer to be in human form.
“So,” he ventured, “how was your meeting?”
Neil liked having these kinds of normal conversation with Nash, too, liked talking about the everyday things. Wren even observed they had some kind of domestic arrangement. It was the perfect picture. Almost anyway. They talked some more and prepared lunch together. Neil thought back on how he’d managed to persuade the werewolf Alpha to accompany him to the supermarket.
Nash, he remembered, had seemed to resist the idea, claiming they could live on take-outs and prepared food. In the end, they’d made it a weekly outing. Janine liked going to the supermarket too and sometimes, Neil wondered what people saw when they looked at the three of them.
A family?
God. So many blurred lines. He didn’t know how to define their relationship at all. One thing became clear to him though. Nash and he had to have a serious conversation.
Chapter Eleven
Certain Janine was tucked in bed, Neil placed the blanket below her chin and got out of bed. He glanced at himself at the full-length mirror. His banana-print pajamas didn’t seem to scream sexy at all. Neil sighed. Well, it wasn’t like he was about to get any sexy times soon anyway.
Neil padded to the door, careful not to wake his daughter. Her snores filled the room and he smiled. He’d gotten used to those a long time ago. Neil checked the baby monitor. All good to go, so he headed outside.
The hallway in the second floor remained lighted as usual. Nash’s bedroom door was slightly ajar. Nash was still awake, he realized. Good.
He took a deep breath, marched up to it, touched the doorknob, and hesitated. What if confronting Nash wasn’t the right decision after all? Things were good between them. They’d come to some understanding, and Nash had been nothing but amazing to Janine. In the workplace, Nash treated him like any usual employee, although they met for lunch occasionally.
Nash’s family, too, had accepted him and Janine to their inner circle, but what exactly was he to Nash?
“How long,” a deep voice drawled from the inside, “are you going to continue standing there?”
Blushing, he entered the room. Nash reclined on the bed, laptop on his bare stomach. Neil took in the sight. The Alpha only wore a loose pair of sweatpants. He looked at the miles of tanned muscle, wanting to touch, but he stayed right where he was.
“What’s up?” Nash asked, setting the laptop aside on the table next to the bed. Then he patted the space next to him.
Accepting the invitation, Neil joined Nash on the bed, careful to leave a space between them.
“So scared of getting close to the big bad wolf?” Nash asked, amused.
That made him glare at the Alpha, at those corded arms, those amazingly yummy biceps and triceps. God, the sight made his mouth water. It was so unfair that Nash had to be so damn gorgeous. “Of course not.”
Even the old scars on Nash’s neck no longer bothered him, because they were part and parcel of the man. Proving he wasn’t afraid, he brushed fingers against the fine lines on Nash’s throat, swallowing when Nash grabbed his fingers, showing a bit of teeth. Touchy, he realized. Nash was touchy about those scars.
“What or who caused these?” he asked.
“I’ll tell you after you talk to me. Why did you come here?” Nash took his fingers to his mouth and gave them a kiss. The tender gesture was nice, although it took him slightly aback. He didn’t pull his hand away, liking the comforting heat of the Alpha’s big body, so close, tempting.
“We agreed to take it slow before. I don’t want slow anymore.”
Nash’s gaze grew serious, as he placed his hand down, but still didn’t let go. The Alpha started stroking his arm, a possessive move, he realized. When Jon and his mom thought no one was looking, Jon always stole secret touches, be it on her arm or her neck, alw
ays making her smile and laugh. Nash was like that with him, too, when they were in private.
“You certainly don’t mince words,” Nash said.
“I just need to know where we’re at,” he said. “Where this is all going. Right now, we have a good arrangement. Janine likes being around you and your brothers. My parents trust you. I’m scared of screwing this up, but I want more, too.”
Nash wrapped a hand around his throat, not a chokehold, but to stroke the spot between shoulder and neck. “I want you, too, but I didn’t want to move too fast, scare you away. I have my own private demons to battle, too.”
“Talk to me about them,” he said. “You promised to tell me about those scars.”
Nash expelled a breath. “I’ll tell you, but after, you need to decide whether it’s worth being with a broken wolf or not. My animal thinks you’re our mate, but what if I end up hurting you in the end?”
This was a rare moment, Neil realized. He had taken a crack at the inner shields Nash had built around himself, and now, Nash was allowing him inside.
“You’re not broken,” he stated, putting fire in his words. “You’re an amazing man, you know that? As for control, you have the best I’ve seen so far in a shifter. Remember when you fired Chester? You didn’t resort to violence, although I could sense your animal was about to break free.”
Nash wore a grim smile “Hurting you and Janine is the last thing I want.”
“I trust you completely.”
Nash nodded, eyes looking forward, seeing something Neil couldn’t—his past, maybe. He slipped further in the bed, curling himself around Nash’s big body. The Alpha wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close, so Neil could lay his head on that broad chest.
“I like touching you,” Nash murmured.
“Well, I’m not complaining.”
Nash spoke, slowly at first, but he told Neil all about the childhood that had been stolen from him. Neil kept silent, not interrupting. Inside though, he wept for the boy Nash had been, what his tough, scarred Alpha had gone through.
“These scars are a reminder I’ve lived, while others perished,” he said. “The agent who saved me didn’t understand why I did that, but Isiah did. We never talked about it, but Isiah understood.”
Neil sent a silent prayer above that Isiah had taken a chance on a broken scarred boy no one else would take and had given Nash a reason to live. He reached out for Nash’s fingers. The Alpha gripped his and gave them a squeeze.
“So you see, my wolf’s more savage than most.”
“You’re never going to hurt me,” he finally said.
Nash looked surprised. “How are you so sure of that?”
“Because I’ve lived with you, see you both day and night. Never once did you let your wolf resort to violence. You’re too hard on yourself.”
“You’re too good for me, but I want you too fucking much.” Nash grabbed the back of his neck and slammed his lips over Neil’s.
He shut his eyes, enjoying the ferocity, the possessiveness of the rough kiss. Their tongues tangled, teeth scraping against lips. His dick strained against the soft fabric of his pajama bottoms. They parted from the kiss, panting, and he moaned when Nash slipped a hand past the waistband of his bottoms to give his cock a squeeze.
“I like what you’re wearing,” Nash said, stroking his dick, hand so big, callused, and in moments, his prick was at half-mast. At this rate, he would burst, but he couldn’t have that, not yet. Ruining this moment was not in the itinerary.
“Am I better naked?” He flirted back.
Nash growled. The werewolf Alpha then moved, at a frightening speed, a blink of an eye. Nash tackled him to the bed, so he lay on his back, the huge wolf above him, glacial-blue eyes full of desire, hunger.
“Let’s get these off then,” Nash said with a growl.
The Alpha had him naked in seconds, tossing his top and bottoms away. Neil reached out for Nash’s sweatpants and gave them a tug.
“These, too,” he insisted.
Nash laughed. “Of course.”
The Alpha got off him, stripped down, and rolled on top of him again. He let out a breath, gaze moving up and down that amazing chiseled body. Neil pressed a hand over Nash’s chest and smiled at the steady beat of the Alpha’s heart.
“I was worried,” he whispered. “That this would turn out exactly like my situation with Lyle. He kept me waiting for so long, I know it’s unfair to bring that up, that you’re not like him at all. Silly fears.”
Nash growled at that. “You’re my mate. No one else’s. After tonight, you’ll wear my mark on your skin forever.”
Those words, said with such certainty, sent a shudder down his spine. Neil knew that Nash was taking a big step tonight, staring at his inner demons down, but he also wanted to prove to this protective, powerful man that his wolf wasn’t broken, to him at least.
“Yes,” he could answer.
Nash nuzzled his neck, teeth scraping against the skin, a promise. The Alpha left kisses, tiny bite marks down his body. He shuddered as Nash took one of his nipples into his mouth, sucked on it, before biting down.
Neil groaned at the slight pain, but he liked it rough and Nash knew it. Nash reached for his dick, began stroking it again, before moving to his other nipple. The sight of Nash’s teeth marks on the buds made him more aroused, needy. Nash left more nips down his ribs, his stomach. Finally, the Alpha’s mouth hovered at his groin.
He widened his eyes as Nash swiped his tongue around the head, licking the pre-cum away with relish. Unsure of what to do next, he gripped the bars of the headboard. Dominant shifters didn’t give, always took, so this was new. Then again, he shouldn’t be surprised, because Nash had always been generous. Once Nash put his tongue to work, he lost his ability to form coherent thoughts.
Nash swirled around his cockhead again, tongued his slit, before tracing the length of him, leaving no bump or ridge untended. Even his balls, Nash took into his mouth, sucking at them. He gasped when Nash opened his lips to finally take Neil’s dick in. Once his prick hit the back of Nash’s throat, Nash pulled back up, repeating the motion.
He squirmed, overwhelmed by the bolts of electricity that emanated from his insides and went right to his dick. His nipples ached from where Nash had bit him. God, he’d missed this, but he had a feeling after having that talk, they would take every chance to fuck. Now that, Neil could certainly look forward to.
Neil tightened his grip on the headboard as Nash bobbed his head up and down.
“Please,” he uttered, all too aware the Alpha held his shaft captive in his mouth.
Nash’s blue eyes glowed with amusement. Right when his balls were about to burst, Nash pulled his mouth away.
“Hey,” he protested.
Nash took his mouth again, kissing him slowly before giving his dick a squeeze. He held his climax back but knew it wouldn’t be long now before he lost all sense of control. Nash released his lips.
“Fuck me?”
Nash laughed. “Exactly what I’m thinking of doing.”
“How do you want me?”
“On fours.” Nash got off him and helped position him at the edge of the bed. On his hands and knees, Neil wiggled his ass suggestively at Nash, moaning when Nash gave it a smack. He jumped. Nash gave him a few more playful swats, before moving to the drawer on the other side of the bed to get the lube.
“Need you in me. Please.”
“You know I like it when you beg,” Nash commented, walking behind him, running his hand down his spine, his buttocks. Feeling Nash’s fingers at his puckered hole, he mewled.
“It’s been so long,” he stated, feeling the cool gel on his ass.
“I’m going to make sure this will be one unforgettable ride, so will the next.”
“The next?” he asked, hopeful.
“Do you think I’ll—we will be satisfied with just one?”
“You have a point.”
Nash pushed a slick finger inside him
and added a second later on. He shut his eyes, enjoying the sensation of Nash opening him up, preparing him for penetration. This was it, he realized. There was no going back once they got the ball rolling.
Nash’s words echoed back in his head.
You’re my mate. No one else’s. After tonight, you’ll wear my mark on your skin forever.
Neil realized at that moment that he had never wanted anything so much than to be Nash Mercer’s mate.
Chapter Twelve
Both wolf and man were in complete agreement. Neil would become their mate by tonight. These past weeks hadn’t been easy on Nash, but they were necessary. Neil, too, had his own inner scars to bear. Nash still couldn’t forgive the bastard who’d left Neil and Janine for another, but he promised Neil he wouldn’t hunt the fucker down—tempting as it was.
All relationships needed building blocks, and he didn’t want to rush Neil, knowing he had his doubts to face. If Neil hadn’t approached him, he would have the conversation with Neil tomorrow morning anyway.
While talking to Neil about his past and seeing his human accept it, all of him, wholeheartedly, Nash felt like a fool. His wolf had known from the beginning that Neil was their mate. Now, there was nothing stopping the two of them, their bodies colliding, their hearts becoming one.
He added a third finger inside Neil’s ass and deemed Neil ready.
Nash pulled his digits away, replaced them with his cock. God knew he’d been thinking of having sex with Neil on numerous occasions. The hunger had built over the past few days, ready to explode. He gripped Neil’s waist and thrust all the way in. Neil’s inner muscles clamped on his dick, as he sheathed himself, balls deep.
Neil groaned, clawing at the sheets. “Ride me, please.”
How could Nash say no to that? He began to move, hammering in and out of Neil at a rhythm that suited them both. Neil became louder, whimpers of pleasure filling the room. Nash picked up the speed, his dick steel-hard, ready to blow any second, but not yet. He fucked Neil faster, deeper, breaching his human’s most intimate places.
