Conner wrapped an arm loosely around his chest. "In this case you should—"
Grabbing Conner's arm, Pippen held it tighter against his body and used his entire weight to jump up and yank Conner up and over his head. Conner landed on the snowy grass with a thud. Pippen smiled, turning to Frannie and Finn. He basked in their shocked and amazed faces as Conner got to his feet and with a sweeping kick, knocked Pippen's legs out from under him.
"Can anyone tell me where Pippen failed?" Conner said smoothly as if he hadn't just been slammed to the ground.
Pippen's hands froze against the ice-cold grass and his knees were wet. Conner bent down and offered him a hand, which Pippen slapped out of the way.
"He stayed to gloat," Conner replied. "Second rule, if you ever get to a point where you think you can run, even if you think you have the upper hand in the fight, do so. Always run."
***
Conner stepped away from Pippen. If he was too proud to accept his help, then that was fine, Conner would play that game.
"Okay, so we've learned prevention and running. Now let's say, Finn, you have Serena Ann and you are approached by someone you believe wants to do you harm. What would you do?"
"Run?" Finn asked with a grimace. He didn't enjoy imagining his baby daughter in danger. No parent would. Conner had spent hours wondering about his own family, left behind without his protection, until he had to make himself stop because he knew if he didn't it would drive him crazy.
"Good," Conner said. "But if you can't run?"
Finn shrugged and looked and Frannie.
"If you can't run and someone is coming at you, take the offense. I don't mean punch them, but get loud. Get crazy. Scream and make yourself as big as possible. It works with wild animals in the woods and it works with shifters. If you are holding Serena Ann, like this," Conner swooped behind Pippen and lifted him up in the air. "It will make you look bigger and a little insane, especially if you are screaming at the same time. Most assailants do not want to attack an insane person. But don't shake her, that could cause more damage." Conner set Pippen down, letting his palms slide up Pippen's sides as he did. The other shifter stepped quickly away but not before Conner felt his sensuous shudder.
They practiced screaming and flailing for a bit. Conner knew that talking about something and doing something were two different things and if they couldn't scream and act crazy in the safety of their own yard then how could they when they were in potential danger?
Occasionally, he caught Sorell laughing from inside the kitchen. Every time he did, Pippen would shoot him a look that was daggers, as if asking him if he didn't realize how important this all was.
"Show me something tough," Frannie said, stretching her arms like a boxer about to enter the ring. "Shouting and running is great, but show me something more, something that will keep me from—" She stopped talking, glancing at Finn and the Pippen, who both looked murderous. Clearly, they were both finishing her sentence, something that will keep her from being kidnapped again. Nothing could assure she would never be kidnapped again, but Conner understood her drive. He also understood the anger radiating off the other two men in the yard.
"Okay, let's say your attacker approaches from the front. You are a woman so they don't think you are very strong. They may simply try to grab your wrist, like this." Conner snagged her wrist and gently pulled her toward him. "When they do that use the hold they have on you as momentum, swing your weight back and kick at their knees from any direction you can manage. The knee is weak from every angle and you will be kicking too low for them to catch your foot. Now, you try it."
They stayed outside until the twins and Serena Ann demanded to be cared for. Finn disappeared inside to put his baby down for her afternoon nap and Sorell went across the street to do the same with the twins. Conner noticed Sorrell had a full-time guard now who didn't just check in with him at the door but who went inside his home. He hated that they had to live under this sort of fear—again—but still felt better that Sorell had the protection. Pippen stayed with Frannie outside.
Frannie had her own reasons for wanting to learn self-defense just as Pippen had his reasons for wanting to teach her. Conner hung back by the door, letting Pippen take the lead. He smiled at their conversation. Pippen was trying to explain to Frannie the most vulnerable parts of the body, the parts that she should aim for first.
"Why can't I just grab for the balls and keep twisting?" Frannie asked with so much exuberance Conner winced.
"You could, except not only are you assuming your attacker will always be a male but a guy grows up protecting that part of himself. It would be like trying to steal the most expensive thing in a store first. They're watching out for that. Go for the throat, the eyes, something they might not be expecting. Then, if you must, go for the balls. The most important thing is to never give up, Frannie. No matter how big the other guy is, how hopeless it might feel. Always fight, Frannie. Always."
Frannie paused in her process of fake jabbing the throat of the imaginary person in front of her. She most likely heard the same thing Conner had heard in Pippen's tone. She reached the side of his face and cupped his cheek. "Hey, Pippen, we're going to be okay, you know. Your face notwithstanding. You looked a little too gentle before anyway, the cut on your nose suits you."
Conner didn't agree.
Then Pippen did something entirely unexpected. Instead of pulling away and making some smart response, he leaned into her hand, accepting the comfort she offered. Frannie didn't react as if she was shocked at all. She leaned forward, hugging him. "I'm going to be fine, too. With everything I learned today? No one could touch me."
"You're just...very important...to me."
"As you are to me, Pippen. Now, show me how to break a man's nose with a single blow. Excuse me, break a person's nose with a single blow."
"Let me stand in," Conner said, launching himself from the wall where he'd been standing. "That way you can see it as well as act it out."
Pippen looked at him guardedly at first, but then got an evil glint in his eye. Conner thought maybe Pippen was looking forward to trying to break his nose a little too much. Conner wasn't afraid. He'd offered to help Frannie, but he would be lying if he said he didn't offer just so Pippen would touch him again.
He would have thought that after the night before he would have been good for a while. He'd lasted so long without sex before last night that he thought maybe he would be like a cactus with rain. He'd get it once and the memories would be enough to last him. This wasn't the case though. His body felt more in tuned to Pippen's. He'd always known where Pippen was before, but now it was as if he had to be physically near him, needed the closeness. And his dick was a force that would not be reckoned with. He was lucky to keep his erection down during their class. He didn't need anyone getting the wrong idea.
He faced off with Pippen, who explained to Frannie the steps he took as he moved. "Make your palm flat. You want to strike with the flat hard surface here." He showed Frannie the part of his palm and she mimicked the way he held his hand. "You're going to aim for this part of the nose here," Pippen swung his palm up to Conner's face, stopping just before making contact. "Though, really just hit anywhere in this area and it is going to hurt pretty badly. Got it? Do you want to try?"
Frannie smiled mischievously. "I think I need to see it in action. Could you both demonstrate? From the beginning of the attack." She stood back against the wall and waited.
Pippen seemed unsure until it dawned on him what her devious mind wanted. He stared Conner down with an intensity that made not having an erection that much more difficult. Conner's inner wolf paced, responding to Pippen's challenge with the urge to lay down a challenge of his own, to dominate and overpower.
Conner eagerly squared off with Pippen. "You sure you can handle this?" he taunted.
Pippen crouched down, seemingly having forgotten the initial request. He was so much slimmer, a little bit shorter, and a lot smaller. Conner felt like a
giant in front of him.
None of that seemed to matter to Pippen.
He took the offense, with a battle cry and two quick steps he was nearly on top of Conner. Pippen lashed out his foot, aiming for Conner's knee. Conner just barely stepped aside to miss the blow. Conner grinned and turned on him, grabbing his arm and pulling him toward his body like an attacker might. With a grunt, Pippen flung his head back. It made enough contact that Conner let go, but more because he didn't want Pippen to hurt the back of his head on the same day he busted his face.
The two of them circled each other, like wild animals fighting for the same resource. Conner moved forward first this time. Pippen struck forward with the palm of his hand, finally showing Frannie the move she'd requested, but Conner caught Pippen's hand and twisted the arm at the elbow, behind Pippen's back.
He had him.
But then, Pippen dropped all his weight unexpectedly. It wasn't much but it was enough for Conner to lose his grip. In that second Pippen slid between his legs to Conner's back and like a gymnast jumped up to his feet with two arms around Conner, one hand holding his elbow while the other held a blade to his throat.
Conner breathed heavily. He had never been so turned on in his life. "You cheated, love."
Pippen's breath tickled his ear. "There is no cheating in self-defense."
Chapter Eight
Pippen looked over to Frannie and just caught her backside disappearing into the house. The little minx. He began to suspect she hadn't wanted to see the move at all. He had been so focused on besting Conner that he hadn't paid attention to which parts of his body were rubbing against Conner's. Now that they were alone in the yard, everyone else out of the kitchen and no longer watching, he couldn't do anything but notice.
He released Conner immediately, sheathing his knife and slipping it inside his back pocket. "I should probably start something for dinner," Pippen mumbled stepping away from Conner's large frame.
Conner turned, advancing as he retreated. Pippen realized what he was doing and stopped. His feet froze on the snow-covered grass. "I'm not running away," he blurted out as Conner collided with his front. Conner reached out two hands, meant to steady Pippen, but Pippen batted them away. "I meant it earlier, I don't need your help."
"What if I don't want to help you?" Conner asked, his question was a low rumble, suggestive and alluring.
"What do you mean?"
"What if I wanted to use you instead? Would that be okay in that brain of yours?"
Pippen frowned.
"I don't like the sound of that either."
Pippen refused to step back and because of that he felt utterly surrounded by Conner. He was everywhere and Pippen wasn't sure he didn't like it. His reasons for not wanting to be close to Conner were disappearing with every second.
"Maybe I'll use you," Pippen said trying to sound tough, but it came out too breathy.
Conner cocked his head to the side as if considering Pippen's suggestion. "I'm oddly okay with that." He bent down, his lips centimeters from Pippen's.
Pippen made a noise in the back of his throat. It sounded high-pitched and needy.
"Tell me to stop, love. If you want me to stop, tell me now. Because when you make noises like that, I lose control. I haven't been able to stop thinking about being inside of you. Fuck, I need it again. And again. I want to fuck you until you are so overcome with pleasure that you can only whimper. How's that for a suggestion?"
Pippen searched for his voice. Then he searched for something to say with it. His body's reaction was making everything too difficult. He was so aware of everything. Each of his breaths, the way they mixed with Conner's. The cold temperature of the grass and how it seeped into his toes. And above it all was Conner, tainting each observation with his presence.
Pippen licked his lips.
"Fuck. You're going to have to stop me, love," Conner said, his accent as plain as his desire. He picked Pippen up and carried him to the side of the house, pressing his back against the wall of the house as he claimed his mouth. He set Pippen down and went to his knees as if the frozen ground didn't bother him. He pulled Pippen's pants down without another word.
The way Conner treated his body like he already owned it should not have thrilled Pippen as much as it did.
He wore no underwear and his cock sprung out, pointing towards Conner's face like a compass arrow pointing north. "Holy shit, love," Conner murmured. He licked the tip and Pippen nearly lost his footing. "You taste amazing," he said, slurping at the head again like he was eating an ice cream cone. With as cold as it was outside, he could have been. Oddly though, Pippen's whole body was warm, except for his back. The juxtaposition of cold back and warm front was another layer of sensation that added to the bouquet of feelings he already felt.
He should put a stop to it all.
This was weakness.
When Conner slid his mouth down Pippen's cock, Pippen knew he would do anything Conner asked him to do.
"Conner, I—"
Conner bobbed his head up and down and Pippen moaned out loud. He slapped his palms against the cold wall. His knees shook but Conner would not be stopped, swallowing Pippen's cock repeatedly. Pippen looked up at the sky and wondered when the sun had set. He could see only stars up in the dark sky. Then he closed his eyes and a burst of color exploded behind his eyelids. Conner worshipped his dick with abandon. The feeling was too much. Pippen grabbed Conner's head lightly, not guiding, but holding on to his hair, he pulled each time his pleasure peaked and each time, Conner slowed.
"Please," Pippen begged.
The moment his plea hit Conner's ears, Conner made a noise of triumph. Pippen couldn't even care that he'd lost some sort of test of wills. Not when Conner sucked hard on Pippen's tortured cock, his cheeks hollowing. He cupped and massaged Pippen's balls and Pippen began thrusting forward despite his attempts to stay still. The tightening sensation at the base of his dick told him he was close. "Yes," he whimpered. "Please, yes."
Pleasure coursed through him as his orgasm crashed through his body. He slumped back against the wall, pulling Conner's hair as each wave crashed over him.
Conner stood, his hands sliding up Pippen's body as he did. He kissed him and Pippen could taste his own release on his tongue. "If that's how you use me," Conner murmured, "then feel free to do it anytime."
Pippen smirked. He felt Conner's hard cock graze his front and frowned, crouching down to his knees. Conner caught him by the elbows. "I appreciate the gesture, but you don't need to," he said, pulling Pippen back up.
"But, you weren't able to..."
"Believe me, I know. And I'm sure it will feel fucking amazing when your lips do wrap around my cock, but right now, your face is kind of smashed up. I'm not saying you aren't still super-hot," Conner said quickly as Pippen tried to pull away. "But I would be too afraid of hurting you. I am huge after all," Conner said with a wider than usual smile.
"Not that big," Pippen teased as Conner pulled his pants up to his waist. "I've had bigger," he said flippantly.
Conner froze. "Have you?" His tone was conversational but his jerky body movements betrayed him.
"Oh yeah. Huge. This one guy, hung like a—"
"That's enough," Conner ordered sharply, but with a smile. He kissed Pippen's lips tenderly. "I'm already a walking green monster when it comes to you, we don't have to add any penile insecurities to the list."
Pippen smirked.
The sliding glass door opened then and Luke popped his head out into the cold. "Pippen, Conner are you—oh." Luke spotted them against the wall of the house and disappeared so quickly Pippen blushed.
Conner laughed. "Don't worry, love. I don't kiss and tell."
"Wouldn't it technically be suck and tell?"
"I don't do that, either."
Pippen followed Conner inside. Luke wanted to call another meeting to discuss what they had learned and what he and Felix had decided. Pippen prepared a light dinner for the pack as Luke spoke.
"Whose isn't?" he replied softly with a small smile.
"Felix and I discussed it. With him leading the downtown pack now and me at the head of this one we need to be aware of the waves we will cause. People don't like change. Shifters especially don't like change. Just think of the trouble Derrick went through with his mating to Christian. He was able to figure that out, but not without great difficulty. We don't do things here the way most packs do and the fact that we are able to be different and still thrive is a threat to packs that use fear and violence. Packs like your old pack, Pippen, the one Silas leads."
You mean the one I led with him, Pippen thought bitterly. He'd been part of that fear and violence. Silas' right-hand man.
"Now I'm not saying that we try being the gold standard of what a shifter pack could be. I grew up not giving a fuck about what people thought of me and I kind of thought that personality trait was something we all had in common. But, we'd be doing ourselves a disservice to respond to the Silas situation or to act in a way that would jeopardize how we've been able to see ourselves, how other people see us from the outside in."
A thought struck Pippen then that made his blood run cold. His hands froze in the act of slicing an apple. He nicked his finger, bringing the finger to his mouth immediately before blood could get on the fruit. He looked up instantly. Luckily, everyone was still concentrated on Luke. Except one pair of too-knowing eyes. Pippen shook his head at Conner and his unspoken question, shrugging like it was nothing.
"Felix and I have decided to invite a handful of members from Silas' pack to retrieve and bring him back to Mississippi. This will serve us in a few ways. One, we will be able to maintain the transparency that is so important, and two, the pack members who come here will be able to describe to Silas' pack exactly how we are here. They are close enough to Derrick in Louisiana that if they should want to join a pack that does not operate under a blanket of fear, they may. I have already discussed this with Derrick."
Wolf's Mate Mpreg Romance Box Set Page 57
