by Marcy Jacks
He was already bare chested, so every kiss Declan pressed to his shoulders felt like a branding.
And it wasn't enough. Chris wanted another kind of burn. He wanted, needed, Declan to claim him.
Declan slowly inched Chris back toward the bed. When Chris' knees hit the mattress and he fell back onto it, he looked up at the other man with a smile.
"How are we going to do this?" Declan seemed genuinely perplexed.
"I brought something. It's in my bag."
Declan smirked at him. "Wasn't talking about anything to slick the way, sweetheart. I meant on your bed."
"Oh."
Chris forgot. He looked down at his mattress and sheets. It really was such a small space. Hard to believe this was happening at all. In his parents' house.
He wasn't going to think too deeply about that. If he did, then he was going to chicken out.
"I can lie on my side. You can lie down behind me."
Declan looked as though he were contemplating how something like that would even be possible, but then he nodded. That determined expression on his face let Chris know he wasn't going to back out.
Declan leaned in, kissing him, getting on his knees and kissing his way down Chris' chest.
Chris hadn't expected this. He'd sort of thought the other man would get into bed with him and just start shoving away. Chris was sorely tempted to let him, considering where they were and how much he needed this.
But as Declan stroked Chris' cock, licked at the head, and then put his mouth around the crown, Chris had to cover his mouth to keep in all the sounds he wanted to make.
His body, suddenly overcome with heat and pleasure, felt as though an implosion was necessary.
And oh God, he was so much further ahead than he would have thought. Declan had barely touched him, and Chris was ready to explode.
“I love you,” Declan said.
It embarrassed Chris to hear words like that so soon into this thing they had. This mating, relationship, whatever they were going to call it.
At the same time, he couldn’t deny that he liked hearing those words. He wanted to keep hearing them. Again and again for the rest of his life. He wanted Declan to whisper those words in his ear with that look on his face for the rest of their lives.
“I love you, too.”
Declan looked at him as though he was shocked to hear it coming from him.
Chris shook his head. “Come on, you had to know it.”
Declan’s eyes turned into a beautiful shade of gold. “Yeah, I knew it. I’m just stunned you’re admitting to it.”
Chris’ defenses immediately went on the rise. “You’re my best friend. You always have been. Is it that much of a stretch to think I would say something like this?”
Declan smiled. Not a smirk, and it wasn’t just in his eyes. He genuinely smiled, and he looked as though he’d never been happier in his entire life.
“Considering how stubborn you are, yeah, it does shock me.”
“What?” Chris tensed. “I’m not stubborn.”
“Yes you are. You absolutely are.”
Chris wanted to deny it again, but the look on Declan’s face showed just how much he was waiting for it. He wanted Chris to deny it because then it would just prove him right.
The absolute asshole. Great. Just great, Chris was stuck.
Declan chuckled at him, and Chris had enough.
“Yeah, yeah, get back to work if you know what’s good for you.”
“That is a command I can easily follow.”
And he did. Declan returned his mouth to Chris’ cock, his tongue licking around the underside of his head, his hand gently cupping Chris’ testicles, and he almost couldn’t believe how good it felt.
“Ch-Christ you’re good at that.”
He let his fingers push through Declan’s buzzed hair, all the while trying to hold back his pleasure and the noises he made.
Declan didn’t shush him at any point, but it was the look in his eyes that made it clear they had to take a little more care than this.
It was bad enough his parents probably suspected what he and Declan were up to. He didn’t want to make it that obvious.
Declan was a master multitasker. The entire time his mouth paid tribute to Chris’ cock, his hand abandoned Chris’ testicles, his fingers sliding around his waist and down the cheeks of his ass.
Chris knew what was coming. His heartbeat fluttered, and he easily found himself adjusting his hips, making it easier for the other man to slide his fingers into the crack of his ass, down and deep, to his hole.
The first touch of those fingers against his pucker forced a shiver from Chris’ body. He gritted his teeth to hold back even the softest of sighs.
God, he might just chip his teeth while he was at it.
So good. It was so good he could hardly stand it, and Chris found himself getting lost in the pleasure. Thrusting his pelvis forward and back, trying to push his cock deeper between those perfectly plump lips, and get Declan to stop teasing him and do more than stroke his hole.
Breathe. He had to breathe, and not loudly either. Oh God, his entire body was on fire.
“Wh-where did you learn how to do this?”
Chris looked down at the man. Some of his old boyfriends told him he talked too much during sex, but if Chris was going to stop himself from getting too loud, then he needed something else to focus on.
Declan looked at him, his eyes still that brilliant shade of gold. “I don’t think you want to know that.”
“Why? Is it bad?”
“No, but do you really want to know about my past lovers when I’m trying to make love to you?”
Heat rushed into Chris’ cheeks. “I guess not.” Then Chris thought about it. "I thought you said you didn't have other men for lovers?"
Declan sighed.
"I know you want me to let it go, but I just can't. I'm sorry."
"No, don't be. And there have been no other men. Just women. And a lot of gay porn."
Chris blinked. "Really?"
Declan let his hands slide up and down Chris’ thighs, and the man looked at Chris as though he were the best damned thing to ever happen to him.
“Really. Though I've had a few of the women do…a couple of things to me. Just so I would know what it felt like. How to please you and all that."
Again with the embarrassing heat. "Are you saying some of those women—"
"It’s always been you. That’s all you need to know. Everyone else who came before, it was for you. To get better, so I would be better, and you were worth every second of it.”
Chris wasn’t so sure that was true. The way Declan spoke about him was as though he were royalty.
It was a lot of pressure, but Chris wanted to live up to Declan’s expectations.
It sounded as though he'd had some of those women go through his back door. Most likely with a toy, but Chris was so used to seeing Declan as the dangerous, bad boy type that it was difficult to imagine him in that position with anyone.
Though the idea that maybe he would allow Chris to top him at some point was exciting. Chris' cock throbbed thinking about it, but he would rather receive than give.
For now.
“I hope I never disappoint you.”
“You never will.”
Now that was pressure, but then Declan reached for Chris’ bag, rummaging through it.
“Top pocket,” Chris said, knowing what he was looking for.
Declan pulled out the little travel-sized bottle of lube.
Chris hoped he didn’t ask why Chris would have one that size, and luckily it didn’t come to that.
The man just opened the cap and slicked his fingers.
“You have no idea how good you smell,” Declan said, moaning as he returned his now slick fingers to Chris’ hole.
“Goddamn, you’re perfect.”
Chris barely held on as Declan spoke to him. “What…what exactly does it smell like? What does it do to you?”
Which meant that whoever was out there could also smell this on Chris. The other shifters who were looking for him.
He didn’t point that out. The mood was so good. Everything Declan did to him was perfect, and he didn’t want to ruin it.
Besides, Chris realized that it felt kind of nice being told he smelled good.
Spicy and sweet, huh? That was an interesting mix. He liked it.
“You always smell like…aftershave.”
Declan looked at him, blinking those glowing eyes, confused.
“Aftershave?”
Embarrassed, Chris struggled to think of something nicer than that to compare the other man to. “Well, that and…you know. You. You’ve always smelled like you. It was just…nice. I always liked it.”
Declan smiled at him. “Come here.”
Chris leaned in, enjoying Declan’s kiss.
It was more than enough to make him forget all about what a spaz he was.
Declan got into Chris’ bed with him, the both of them naked and ready.
Chris had slept in this bed all through his teen years, and sometimes as an adult whenever he came to visit and stayed the night.
It had always fit him just fine. He didn’t need much space, but now that he was with a guy almost twice his size, Chris realized how small it actually was.
But in the best possible way. The bed barely fit them as they lay on their sides, but to be forced to snuggle into each other like that felt nice.
There was no hiding the firm length of Declan’s cock behind him, and Chris shivered with pleasure as the other man thrust his prick against Chris’ ass cheeks, his warm mouth pressing down on Chris’ neck and shoulder.
“God, I want to bite you.”
That stunned him but only for a second before Chris’ lust-addled brain put together what he was talking about.
He turned his head and looked at the other man. “Do you really?”
Declan groaned, nodding and hiding his face against Chris’ shoulder.
For a shifter to bite someone was supposed to mean a lot. It was a symbol to all other shifters.
This person belonged to someone, someone powerful.
The problem came with the fact that a bite on the neck usually involved blood, and while rare, it wasn’t exactly unheard of for some people to die while being bitten by their mates.
Bacteria could get in the wound, some people with poor immune systems didn’t take well to it, and sometimes the shifter lost control and bit down too deep.
There were risks to something like this, and considering what was happening lately, Chris couldn’t ignore those risks.
He hated risk, but he loved Declan so much more than he feared what would happen.
“I want you to do it.”
Declan paused. “Are you sure?”
Chris nodded. “Yeah, but wait until after.” He reached back, putting his hand on Declan’s hip so there would be no misunderstanding. “Do what you have to do first.”
Declan’s face changed. Relief clouded his features as he leaned in and pressed his mouth to Chris’ again.
The kiss was far more animal, more out of control than any other kiss Chris had from Declan.
From anyone.
Not that he had much to compare it to. He and Declan hadn’t been kissing for that long, but he got the impression that Declan was letting out a little of his wild side in that moment.
As though he couldn’t hold it back.
Chris was more than all right with that, and as he felt the slick head of Declan’s prick sliding up inside him, he groaned.
He was easier to take after the night before. Chris still burned a little. It would take a little while longer before he was used to Declan’s size, but he could do it.
Maybe it was instinct. Maybe it had something to do with the whole mating thing, Chris didn’t care to look too deeply into it.
All he knew was the burn felt good, and Declan needed to keep kissing him, keep swallowing his moans. Otherwise, it was going to get a lot more obvious to his parents what was going on in here.
“Shh,” Declan said, smiling as he tried to keep Chris quiet while he fucked into him.
So. Fucking. Difficult.
Chris clenched his teeth against the pleasure, biting down on the sheets in front of him, anything to keep from making too much noise.
God, he hoped his parents were sleeping.
“Baby, you need to be quiet.”
Chris nodded, breathing deep, and he actually managed to prevent a few more small mewling noises from seeping out.
Strange how even the tiniest of sounds suddenly seemed as though they were amplified on speaker phone when it was the dead of night and he was desperately trying to stay quiet.
And then it all went to ruin as Declan thrust forward again, changing his angle and catching Chris at his weak spot.
He couldn’t hold back. He opened his mouth and moaned long and loud into Declan’s hand.
The other man had seen that noise coming a mile away, it seemed.
Declan continued to kiss his shoulders and neck. He might have said something to Chris, but Chris couldn’t be sure what the other man was going on about when the way he fucked into Chris felt so damned good.
He reached down, taking his cock in hand, gripping it tight but not stroking.
He just needed to get control. He needed to get a grip before he embarrassed himself.
He really hoped Declan didn’t let go of his mouth.
“You are perfect,” Declan said with a groan, still fucking slowly and steadily into Chris. “So fucking tight. Like a damned glove, you know that? You’re mine. You’ve always been mine.”
And while that would have been kind of unnerving had it been Rory who told him that, or any of his other former boyfriends, with Declan, it was perfect.
He nodded. Yeah, he was Declan’s. He would be Declan’s for the rest of their lives if the other man would have him.
He didn’t care. He would do whatever he needed to do to make Declan happy.
Even adhere to a shifter-and-mate clichéd stereotype.
He clenched his hole around Declan’s cock, finally stroking his own prick from root to tip, desperate to come, to feel that pleasure he’d been searching for this entire time.
“You about there? You’re feeling it right now, aren’t you?”
Chris nodded beneath Declan’s hand, wondering how in the hell the other man was able to keep such control over himself.
He sounded a little breathless, but otherwise, he barely showed any signs that he was enjoying himself at all.
Chris didn’t like that. He wanted to participate more. He didn’t want to lie there and take it.
So he thrust back against Declan, trying to let the other man sink deeper inside him, to let his cock touch everything that could be touched.
Chris moaned loudly beneath Declan’s hand, but that wasn’t the only thing that moaned.
“Baby, the bed is squeaking. I don’t think you should move around too much.”
Chris was no shifter, but he growled at that.
And Declan chuckled. “Later. I promise. I’ll let you do whatever you want to me later.”
Chris was going to have to go with that, because even in the throes of amazing pleasure, not waking his parents still came higher on the priority list than getting himself, and his mate, off.
Fortunately, Declan knew what he was doing.
He moved in all the right ways, and he made Chris’ body come alive. Then, just as Chris felt himself pushed over that sweet edge he’d been waiting for, Declan bit him on the neck.
It was a sharp feeling. It hurt, but it didn’t feel like the kind of hurt he expected. Maybe that was because Declan was biting him at the same time as he was coming.
It was a real good thing the other man kept his hand over Chris’ mouth then. Otherwise, he would have woken up the entire neighborhood.
The pain was over with quickly, making way for the last of that sweet pleasure from his orgasm.
Chris felt his body relax, as though he were coming down off a cloud. It felt kind of like that in that moment.
When Declan pulled his hand away from Chris’ mouth, his teeth were no longer in Chris’ throat. The warmth of the other man’s tongue licking at the wound made Chris smile as the sensitive flesh was tickled.
“You like that?”
Chris closed his eyes, nodding. “Yeah, that feels…real nice.”
Declan stayed inside him, arms wrapped tightly around Chris’ body, holding him as though he were something special.
Chris liked that feeling, was warmed by it. Just thinking his best friend could hold him like that…
Chris started to nod off. He was already the type to get tired after an orgasm, but after today, he was beat.
And falling asleep in Declan’s arms felt pretty damned good.
Which was why he was a little shocked to wake up to the sound of his bedroom door closing softly.
Chris jerked up. It was still dark in his room, and he had the covers on him. Declan must have covered him before leaving.
A quick check of his digital clock on his old nightstand showed he hadn’t been asleep for that long. Maybe twenty minutes.
Chris wanted to lie down again. He wanted to go back to sleep and wait for Declan to come back from the bathroom or from getting a drink. Whatever he was doing.
He couldn’t.
Something bugged him. Something not so…
Fuck it. Chris wanted a glass of water. He would go and get one with Declan and then come back to bed.
Finding his clothes, and cleaning himself up as much as he could so he wouldn’t accidentally walk into his mother looking like he’d just had sex, Chris left his bedroom.
The bathroom door was open, and the light was out. There was no one there.
Chris took care of business, bandaged his neck, grabbed a drink, marveled at how clean the wound on his neck was, then went to the kitchen.
Still no Declan, but Chris could make out voices outside.
Ah, shit. Was his dad chewing Declan out?
Chris sighed, pushing his hand through his hair as he went to the door to put a stop to this.
