With Love

by J. L. Langley

  “On the side of the road.”

  “Are you stranded? If you call the car rental, they should come and get you and give you another car.” Oh no. “Uh, you didn’t wreck did you?”

  “No, no.”

  “Okay, why are you on the side of the road?”

  Cole sighed. “Caroline was eating an ice-cream cone.”

  Dev couldn’t even imagine where this was going. “And?”

  “And she decided it was too cold to eat ice cream.”

  He still wasn’t seeing a problem that would have Cole stranded on the side of the road. “Did she drop the ice-cream cone on the map?”

  “No, she threw it out the window.”

  “And?” Dev asked.

  “And it hit a police car.”

  Dev’s mouth fell open, then he started laughing so hard he nearly dropped his phone. He had to stop outside Laine’s shop and compose himself. Good Lord. My life would make a great sitcom. “Okay, listen. Once you guys get situated in a hotel or a bed and breakfast or whatever, give me a call. I’m taking Laine and his grandmother out to dinner tonight, the two of you might as well join us. Then tomorrow, I’ll take you to see the office building and we can make appointments with the realtor to see the plots of land. I’m thinking about putting a bid on a two acre lot, just outside of town, if Laine likes it.”

  “Okay, we can do that. Did you meet with any of the plumbers or central air and heat companies yet? You know we are going to have to find some good ones to contract out with.”

  Hadn’t he given Cole his itinerary? “Not yet, I have four meetings tomorrow and I also have a possible contract. The real-estate office I’m working with wants to do some major remodeling. They have four offices in this area.”

  “Cool.”

  “Yeah, cool. I’m at Laine’s shop, so I’m hanging up on you. Try to keep Caroline out of jail and call me later.”

  Dev’s good humor lasted until he opened the door to Flower Lane. He stopped dead in his tracks, the smile melting from his lips. The place was a disaster. Flowers littered the floor, along with shards of glass and ceramic from broken vases. Stuffed animals lay strewn from one side of the shop to the other and water covered the floor. The place looked like a twister had touched down inside. “What the…?” Oh God, Lainey. Dev’s heart plummeted to his feet. His gaze darted around the shop as he inhaled deeply, trying to scent his mate over the heavy aroma of flowers.

  Laine was sitting behind the counter, his head in his hands. He looked up and gave Dev a weak smile, but his eyes were a little on the watery side. “Hey. How did your meeting go?”

  “Fuck that. What happened?” He walked over the debris and made a beeline to his mate. He stepped in-between Laine’s legs, pulled him up and deposited him on the counter. It was waist high, making Dev’s face level with Laine’s chin. He hugged Laine tight enough to make Laine’s breath huff out. “Are you all right? Lainey, what happened?” He pulled back to look into the teary amber eyes.

  Laine blinked. He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds then looked back at Dev. “Victor’s goons came to give us a message.”

  Dev groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. He’d known deep down something like this was going to happen.

  Laine ran his fingers against the side of Dev’s face. “It’s not your fault. I started it. I’m the one who opened my mouth to protest their plans in the first place.”

  Dev hugged Laine again. “Ah, Lainey, it isn’t either of our faults, this is not normal behavior. The man is a lunatic. He’s a power-hungry tyrant and he has to be stopped.” Dev truly believed that. People like Victor didn’t stop, they kept on bullying until someone made them stop or someone died. Dev was not going to allow this to continue. Laine was his to protect and take care of and because of that alone Dev would’ve put a stop to this, even if he himself wasn’t involved. No one was going to hurt Laine ever again. The man didn’t have a mean bone in his body. He was obviously a joy to everyone around him. He was a florist for crying out loud. And damn it, he was already well on his way to being the center of Dev’s world.

  Laine snorted. “He doesn’t fight fair, Dev.”

  He pulled back again, caressing Laine’s face. “Then we won’t either. He isn’t getting away with this.”

  A tear streaked down Laine’s face and he wiped it away quickly. “I don’t want you hurt because of me.”

  Dev used his thumb to mop away another tear and kissed Laine’s neck, which was the closest thing he could reach. “You’re mine. Whatever affects you, now affects me too. And it isn’t because of you. You didn’t do anything wrong. Besides, they were going to jump me, remember?”

  Laine’s lower lip quivered. “If we fight back it will probably get worse.”

  Dev picked Laine up off the counter, giving him no choice but to wrap his legs around Dev’s waist. “You let me worry about it. I promise you, I’ll take care of it. You aren’t going to have to put up with Victor and his bunch anymore.”

  Laine nodded and put his head down on Dev’s shoulder.

  Serena came out from the back and gave him a sad grin. “Why don’t you take Lainey home? Beth and I will clean up this mess.”

  A small blonde-haired lady, who Dev hadn’t seen before, came out of the back. “Yeah, take Lainey home. We’ll close down for the day and clean up. We are getting a new shipment in tomorrow, so it’s not that big of a loss. We still have a bunch in the back too, the only stuff damaged was out here.”

  Laine turned his head, probably to protest, but Dev didn’t give him the chance. He pushed Laine’s head back to his shoulder and rubbed his back. “Thank you, ladies.” He gave them his cell number and left.

  Laine lifted his head off Dev’s shoulder, frowning at him. “I can walk.”

  “Yeah? Cause I’ve seen you walk, and—”

  Laine groaned, but his lips twitched into a faint grin. “Hey, I warned you I was a bit of a klutz.”

  Dev set Laine on his feet, kissed his nose, then grabbed his hand. “That’s all right. I have quite a fondness for clumsy redheads.”

  “Wow, Lainey. What in the world do you need this big a bed for?”

  Laine glanced at his California king-sized bed and the man sitting on it, and grinned. “Good thing I have it. You wouldn’t fit on a regular king.”

  “Yeah, that’s true enough. That bed at the hotel sucked. I had to sleep diagonally.”

  Laine nodded, that much was true. Dev had thrashed around half the night, then finally picked Laine up and laid him on top of him so he could stretch out without crowding Laine off the bed. “I usually move around a lot. I’m not one to stay still when I sleep. That’s a warning by the way. You’ll likely wake up with bruises from sleeping with me.”

  “Then I guess I’ll just have to let you sleep on top of me like last night. You didn’t move around too much then.”

  Laine hung up another pair of Dev’s slacks in the closet and reached for a shirt out of the suitcase. “That could work. Only, I don’t know how much sleep either of us would actually get.”

  “Lainey, come sit down. You’ve been puttering around here since we walked in the door. You don’t have to hang up my clothes.”

  “I can’t sit.” Laine sniffed. If he didn’t stay busy until dinner, he’d start thinking about the shop again. And then he’d get all mad and weepy. “Your clothes will wrinkle.”

  “No, they won’t. They’ve been in that suitcase for almost a week. And what if they do? I have a travel iron.”

  Laine shrugged and grabbed the last of Dev’s pants. “It’s no problem. I like the idea of your stuff being in my closet.”

  “Good, because a lot more of my stuff is going to be there until we can get a house built. Are you going to come back to Dallas with me when I have to go? Help me pack stuff up?”

  Laine closed the closet. He needed to clean out a dresser drawer for Dev’s socks and underwear. “Yeah. I can get Grammy to manage the shop for me for a few weeks.” Maybe he could even afford t
o pay some security guards to hang out at the store and protect Grammy and the girls from Victor’s goons. He sighed and started towards the dresser. He didn’t want to think about it yet.

  Dev sat up on the bed, snagged Laine’s arm and pulled him down. He landed with an “umph” on top of Dev.

  Dev nipped his bottom lip. “Much better.”

  He gave Dev a weak smile, kissed his lips and tried to get up.

  Dev tightened his hold. “Nope, I’m not letting you go. You’ve been moping around here since we got here. If all you were going to do is clean, we could have stayed and helped Serena and Beth. Talk to me. I know you’re upset about the shop. You kept me from going and ripping Victor’s head off by telling me you needed to come home. We’re here, Victor is still in one piece and I’m not even stomping around throwing a temper tantrum, so talk to me.”

  Laine grinned. Yeah, Dev not killing Victor immediately was something. He’d wanted to…bad. Laine had stopped him by telling him that he didn’t feel well and really needed to go home; which wasn’t a lie, he hadn’t—still didn’t—feel well. So Dev had brought him here.

  Laine dropped his head down on Dev’s chest, listening to his mate’s heartbeat. “I feel…violated. I know that sounds cliché, but I do.”

  “Yeah, I can imagine. If you’d let me kill Victor, you’d feel better.”

  “That’s just the thing, Dev. What if you can’t? He doesn’t fight fair. He’s probably just waiting on you. He probably had them destroy Flower Lane just so you’d come charging after him.”

  Dev nodded. “I’m sure that’s exactly what he planned. I let you talk me out of going. I’m not stupid, Laine,” Dev growled.

  Laine lifted his head. “I didn’t think you were. But I’ve dealt with Victor and—” Laine shook his head, the tears threatening. Damn Victor. “Let’s just leave. Why don’t I move to Texas with you?”

  “If you run from this, you’ll regret it.”

  “I’ve been running from it since it started. The only thing I regret is not running further. I should have moved years ago.” He sat up, straddling Dev’s hips, begging Dev to understand with his eyes. He didn’t want his mate to think him a coward, but he’d rather Dev think him a wimp than to get killed.

  Dev smiled and reached up, caressing Laine’s cheek. “You have me now. You don’t have to run. Besides, if you ran you’d spend all your time worried about the people you’d left here. You can’t move everyone you care about.”

  Laine sighed and leaned into Dev’s big hand. Dev was right. He would worry. That’s why he hadn’t split town in the first place. He had Grammy and Beth and Serena, and well, he had the rest of the pack. He liked his pack and took quite a bit of abuse to keep them from having to face it. He was a good Omega. He cared about people. Laine nodded and closed his eyes. And damn if the tears didn’t start sliding out.

  Dev pulled him down, pressing his head to that strong thick chest. “Shh. We’ll fix it. You don’t have to try and handle it on your own anymore. I’m here now.” Dev kissed his forehead. Dev’s hands started roaming.

  It was nice. Dev had such good hands, strong but gentle. Laine’s cock began to swell despite his piss-poor mood.

  Laine had always had a healthy sex drive, but with Dev around? He couldn’t remember ever coming as much as he had in the last twenty-four hours.

  Dev nibbled on Laine’s neck as he worked Laine’s shirt up and off him. Immediately, Dev’s mouth found his nipple rings. The man was obsessed with his rings. Not that Laine was complaining, of course. He arched his back, pressing his chest into Dev’s face.

  “Mmm.” Dev tugged the ring with his teeth, rolled Laine under him and stood up.

  Laine groaned at the loss. Why was Dev stopping?

  Dev unbuttoned Laine’s pants and pulled them off his hips. He tapped Laine’s hip and dipped his head. “Further up on the bed, Lainey.”

  Excitement raced through Laine. He scooted up into the middle of the bed like he was told. He loved that commanding voice, that tone Dev got when he expected Laine to comply. And comply he did. God, he loved domineering men. As long as they were also compassionate and fair. Someone who wouldn’t take advantage of those weaker…someone like Dev. Dev took charge and made the decisions so Laine didn’t have to. He could relax and concentrate on pleasure and pleasing. Laine loved to please, it’s why he was such a great Omega. Or rather why he would be a great Omega if he had the right Alpha. Ugh, he didn’t even want to think about Alphas…

  “None of that.” Dev shook his head. “You aren’t allowed to think of anything right now. You are only allowed to feel.” Dev crawled onto the bed, grabbed one of Laine’s hands then the other. He positioned them both over Laine’s head, holding them to the mattress.

  Laine shivered, his cock getting even harder.

  Dev chuckled and gently kissed Laine’s lips. Laine tried to deepen the kiss, opening his mouth, even flicking Dev’s lips with the tip of his tongue, but Dev pulled back.

  “You like being held down?” Dev asked.

  Laine nodded and a tiny whimper escaped. His hips pushed up into the air. Oh God, even the air on his prick felt good.

  “You will tell me if you want me to let go.”

  Laine nodded again. “Just touch me.”

  “You really aren’t in a position to be demanding things, Lainey.” Dev winked.

  The man was an evil tease. “Please, Dev?” Laine pleaded, gazing into those deep chocolatey brown eyes. Dev’s face blurred. Laine blinked and Dev was sans color.

  “Fuck, I don’t know what’s sexier, you begging or your eyes shifting.” Dev used the thumb on his free hand to open Laine’s mouth. He dipped forward and ran his tongue over the ends of Laine’s canines.

  Laine whimpered and bucked his hips, his whole body a tingly ball of sensation. He was close to blowing without Dev even touching him. He wanted to kiss Dev, to get in on the action, but he couldn’t. It just felt too good. He closed his eyes, relaxing into Dev’s ministrations, just lying there with his mouth open letting Dev have his way. Oh, it felt so good. Who would ever have thought someone caressing your teeth with their tongue could be such a turn-on? Not that it ever took too much to turn Laine on. His gums tingled. “Uhh…” His balls drew closer to his body and both his top and bottom canines lengthened. Laine gasped, his eyes flew open as Dev leaned back.

  Dev’s eyes were also lupine. He grinned and dipped his head to capture a nipple ring. He sucked and licked at Laine’s nipple while his free hand wrapped around Laine’s throbbing prick. He started tugging, jerking Laine off.

  Laine’s back arched up off the bed, his head thrashing side to side. He moaned and grunted and whimpered like crazy, but Dev didn’t seem to mind. Laine was in absolute heaven.

  Dev held his arms firmly, not allowing Laine to stop the ministrations. He bit down around Laine’s nipple, his longer canine teeth pinching a tad.

  Laine came unglued, his balls pulled tight, his voice came out in a ragged groan as his whole body stiffened. He cried out, staring into Dev’s eyes and shot. Hot semen splashed against his stomach.

  “That’s it, Lainey, come for me.” Dev stayed there and whispered encouraging, naughty words to him as he stroked his dick.

  It felt like forever until he came down from the orgasmic high. When he did, Dev smiled at him.

  Dev kissed him long and slow. He continued to stroke Laine’s cock, not allowing him to go soft. When he pulled back he grinned at Laine, his teeth extended, his eyes still shifted.

  Laine’s own eyes had returned to normal, but seeing Dev’s eyes and teeth made Laine’s shift right back to their lupine equivalent.

  Dev messaged Laine’s wrists where he’d been squeezing, making sure they weren’t sore. “You ready for round two?”

  God, yes, always.

  Dev chuckled.

  Oh. He’d said that out loud. Laine shrugged. “Well, I am. Let me suck you?”

  “Hell yes. Come ‘ere.” Dev let go of Laine’s arms and
got off the bed, standing beside it. He unfastened his pants, and pushed them out of the way, freeing his long, gorgeous cock.

  Laine whimpered, licked his lips and crawled over to the edge of the bed. He intended on sitting on the edge, but once he got there, Dev rubbed his prick against Laine’s face. “Suck it, now. Like that. Don’t move.”

  Laine opened up and swallowed the nice piece of meat, staying on his hands and knees. He loved to suck dick. A day ago, giving him most any cock to play with would have made him a happy man. Now he only wanted this particular cock. He knew part of it was body chemistry, but he couldn’t help thinking, even if he were human, Dev would’ve spoiled him for other men.

  Dev groaned as Laine swallowed around his dick. His hands clenched and unclenched in Laine’s hair.

  Laine reached up with one hand and grabbed Dev’s, pushing it against his head, encouraging Dev to get a hold.

  Apparently that was the only encouragement Dev needed. He clutched Laine’s head and started thrusting, fucking Laine’s mouth.

  The forcefulness was a huge turn-on to Laine. His damned cock was already leaking again. He was going to come just from giving Dev a blow job. Just like the first night. Oh man, Dev got to him. He was actually moving his hips.

  Dev let go with one hand and bent over him. “Close, Lainey, close. Swallow it all, babe.” His hand snaked down, encircling Laine’s cock.

  Laine nearly choked, it felt so good. He groaned around Dev’s prick and kept working. His head bobbed up and down and took that long cock all the way down his throat. He wasn’t sure who moaned louder when Dev started pumping his fist on Laine’s prick.

  Dev came first, but only by a few seconds.

  Laine tasted the salty tangy flavor of his mate and joined him in climax. He shot into Dev’s hand, on the bed and on his own thighs, as he swallowed Dev down. He didn’t miss a drop. “Mmm…”

  Dev finally let go of him and rested his chest over Laine’s back. He kissed Laine’s spine. “Feel better?”

  Laine nodded and let Dev’s dick slip out of his mouth. Now a snuggle and a nap were in order.