by Jools Louise
He moved to the side of the large tub, bending gracefully at the waist and spreading his legs slightly. He heard Noah’s low groan, then groaned himself as he felt Noah tweak the handle of the butt plug Fly had inserted that morning. He hadn’t wanted to wait, and knew that he and his lover would be continuing their sexy antics of that morning.
“Do you know how fucking sexy this looks?” Noah asked, his voice almost feral as he growled out the question. Fly gasped as the man tugged on the plug, then shoved it in again, teasing Fly mercilessly as he repeated the motion several times.
“Please,” Fly begged. “Make me yours,” he said. “I’ve dreamed of you, for so long. I need you inside me, claiming me.”
Noah snarled, and removed the plug. Reaching over, Fly switched off the water, inhaling the fragrant steam.
“Where’s the lube, sweetheart?” Noah asked. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
Fly shuddered and pointed vaguely to the shelf beside the bath. He heard the sounds of the tube opening, then a farting sound as Noah squeezed the gel onto his fingers. The cool substance was a relief against his aching chute, and he moaned as Noah smeared the stuff over his rosebud, probing gently with two fingers, making sure that Fly was ready. Then he felt Noah’s big body blanket his back, hot and muscular. A large, blunt torpedo began to push at his hole, and with a hard shove, Noah punched past the ring of tight muscles, pausing when Fly’s hole clenched around the intruder, shivering in reaction.
“I don’t think I’m gonna last too long, baby,” Noah said, sounding as though he was in pain again. “Your ass is so beautifully tight, it feels like heaven.”
Fly turned his head, meeting Noah’s searching lips hungrily, moaning when Noah drove deeper, with shallow little thrusts, steady and slow, until he was fully seated. Fly felt so full, his ass split in two by the giant dick, but he couldn’t imagine anything better. Noah was everything he wasn’t, size wise, and had the cock to prove it. Fly wanted his lover to fuck him hard, so he’d feel it for days. He moved his hips back, tempting Noah to retaliate, and felt Noah groan with need.
“Are you ready, baby?” Noah asked, stroking Fly’s flanks gently, his hairy thighs spread, cradling Fly’s. He reached around, gripping Fly’s thick cock, and began fisting it firmly.
“I need you, Noah,” Fly whimpered, shoving back again. “I want this to hurt. Fuck me hard, bear.”
Noah grunted and began to move, building up speed steadily. In full control, he alternated his tempo, fast and hard, slow and languid. Fly felt the sharp snap of the man’s hips, driving him deeper, over and over, his balls drawing up, getting ready for the finale.
The slap of their flesh meeting blended with the grunts and moans of passion, both lost in the heady combination of their bodies meeting over and over, joined as one, as Noah pummeled Fly’s hole relentlessly. “I’m gonna blow,” Noah moaned, his thrust becoming jerky and erratic, until with a loud yell of ecstasy, he came, spurting hard down Fly’s clenching chute.
Fly felt the lash of warm semen erupt inside him, and gave a low, shrill cry as he shot over the cliff, as well, his cock shooting a load of spunk all over the wall behind the tub, coating it with thick cream. Noah kept fucking him, Fly’s ass milking him dry as they floated back together, kissing languidly in the aftermath. Fly felt sharp fangs bite deep into his shoulder, and closed his eyes in bliss as Noah claimed him. He felt their connection embed deep inside him, felt the eternal bond click into place, a lock snapping shut and joining them forever.
“I could stay like this all night,” Noah murmured after a while, stroking Fly’s belly as they kissed again, as Noah’s fangs disengaged. “But I think I may need that soak in the tub now.”
Fly felt Noah straighten, and they both moaned in dismay as they separated, Noah’s flaccid cock flopping out, slick and dripping with cream. “Come on, big boy,” Fly said teasingly, helping his mate into the tub of steaming hot water. “You relax in there, and I’ll get us a glass of wine,” he said, and assisted Noah, steadying him as he clambered in. Aching pleasantly, his ass full of warm cream, Fly headed off for refreshments.
* * * *
Noah relaxed, lowering his lids to half-mast, dozing as he considered the delightful new turn in his relationship with Fly. They were mated now, and he couldn’t be happier. Fly was a constant surprise, unpredictable as hell, and Noah loved that about him. He frowned when he heard the doorbell ring, and Fly’s horrified gasp. A moment later, after a knock at the door, the strident tones of an unfamiliar female reached Noah’s sensitive ears. He scrambled out of the bath, grabbing a thick towel which he secured around his waist. From Fly’s responses, the man was not best pleased with the appearance of their late night guest.
Wandering down the short hall to the living area, Noah observed his mate’s agitation as he spoke to the woman standing there. An older version of Fly, she had the same striking blonde hair, the same golden hued eyes, albeit with a healthy dose of malice, and her face was contorted into ugly lines as she berated Fly, who appeared to be refusing to allow her to stay at the apartment.
“Fly, I’m your mother,” the woman was saying as Noah moved closer. “I have every right to expect that my own flesh and blood would respect me enough to let me stay with him.”
“You’re no mother to me,” Fly bit back sharply, his eyes hard as pebbles, but Noah saw a flash of intense pain behind the mask. “You don’t care about me, you never did. I don’t know why you’re here, but you can just go. You’re not welcome in my home. You left me to die at that mine, knowing who Daniel was, knowing what he was capable of. Your greed got the better of you, but I didn’t crumble and fall, I got back on my feet, and I’m successful. In spite of you. Not because of any help you think you’ve given me. I owe you nothing. Now get out, before I call the sheriff and have you escorted out of town in an official vehicle, in handcuffs.”
“So, you’d rather stay with this…” She waved her hand insultingly at Noah, curling her lip into a sneer.
“I’d rather stay in a dung heap, being eaten alive by maggots, than have you stay here,” Fly retorted angrily. He’d wrapped himself in the new throw cover from the couch, toga style, and looked cute as fuck, quivering with fury as he confronted his mother.
The woman reacted to Fly’s comment by bunching her fist and striking her son across the face, connecting with his nose, which immediately began to bleed, the blood spattering in all directions. Noah leapt forward, grabbing her hand as she went for another hit, preventing her. She turned to face him, snarling, her fangs dripping saliva as she glared at him.
“Lady, I don’t care whether you gave birth to your son or found him under a fucking cabbage leaf. He’s my mate, and he’s made it perfectly fucking clear that you’re not welcome. Take the hint.” Keeping a tight hold on her wrist, he dragged her toward the phone situated on a table beside the couch, and made a quick call to the sheriff.
“You can’t arrest me!” she shouted, struggling to free herself. “Do you know who I am? You won’t get away with this. I’ll make sure you pay for this.”
“Really?” Noah asked, lowering his voice to a guttural growl, leaning in toward her, towering over her. “You just assaulted someone, and by the looks of it you broke his nose. Fly is my mate. I have every right to rip your fucking face off, if you try any kind of shit against him again. Any parent who does what you did, putting their own son in terrible danger, knowing they may not survive, knowing that their son’s employer is hurting children, has no right to call themselves ‘mother’.” He moved closer still, until they were nose to nose, staring into her eyes, seeing the first flicker of fear. He smiled, and watched the fear blossom. “If I see you anywhere near my mate, without his express permission, I’ll have you dig your own hole, and then help you climb into it before I bury you, do you hear me?” he said grimly. “Don’t come back here, you’re not welcome in Sage. This town is a place of peace and hope and happiness…not vicious, manipulative bitches wanting to spew their venom a
gainst their own kin.”
The doorbell rang for the second time that night, and Fly, looking pale and clutching a tissue to his nose, went to the view screen. Skull, the deputy sheriff, and their new law enforcement officer, Mabel, Freddy’s sister, stood there. Fly buzzed them in, and waited for them. A few moments later, there was a knock at the door. Fly let the officers inside, looking utterly miserable. Noah’s heart clenched at the despair on his lover’s beautiful face. He wanted to wipe the haughty expression off Fly’s mother’s face.
“This woman assaulted you?” Skull asked Fly gently, casting a grim stare over at the perpetrator.
“She’s my mother. She’s the one who tricked me into going to that mine in Colorado. She knows Daniel, and she knew what was happening to Kathleen and her sons. She knew that I was taken down into the tunnels, and left to die. When I called her, she just told me not to be weak. That was over three years ago. Now, when I’ve refused to give in to her, and have my own place with Noah, she shows up, demanding that I become her whipping boy again. She hit me because I wouldn’t let her stay here.” Fly kept his gaze on the floor dejectedly, completely unlike his usual, feisty self. “I just want her to leave town, and never come back,” he said brokenly. “She’s evil. She hates me. I don’t even know why she pretends that she doesn’t.”
“Fly, why don’t we go into the bathroom and take a look at your nose,” Mabel said gently, gripping his hand and tugging him off the couch. Fly went with her, as though he was on auto-pilot.
Noah remained with Skull, keeping hold of the bitch of a woman who claimed to be Fly’s mother. He wondered what the hell she was doing here, when she clearly didn’t have any love for her offspring. Noah had lost his parents many years ago, as a child. He had mourned his family, who had been loving and respectful, giving their lives to save his. He grieved for his mate, knowing Fly’s pain must be absolute, suffering such rejection by his mother, over and over again.
“What do you hope to gain from destroying your son?” Noah asked quietly, genuinely puzzled. She shot him a nasty glare for his trouble, then spat at him, a thick wad of saliva landing on his cheek.
“You’re just his man-fling,” she said viciously. “You’re nothing to him. You’ll leave him, just like they all do. Then he’ll be alone, and he’ll come back to me, begging me.”
“We’re mates,” Noah retorted sharply. “That means forever. It means that no matter how many skanky bitches try to separate us, we’ll always share a bond. I love him, and he loves me. You can’t change that.” He smirked at her, then delivered the final punchline. “You’ll never know that kind of love, because you’re a cold-hearted, selfish, ugly old hag. You’re a shell with no heart, a poster child for everything that’s evil in the world. People like you don’t have a place in Sage. Now get the fuck out of my face.”
“You’ll be sorry,” she warned as she was dragged away by Skull, who sent Noah an approving glance before departing. “He belongs to me. I’ll let him die a thousand deaths before I leave him with you.”
“Why don’t you take care of your mate,” Mabel said as she returned to the living room. “I’ll go and help Skull deal with that nasty old witch. We’ll come by tomorrow and take a statement.”
She left with a wink, and a concerned glance back along the hall.
Noah shut the front door and sighed wearily. Why was there always a downpour, right after you’d found your silver lining? He ambled back toward the bathroom, and found it empty. The tub was still full of water, and he emptied it out, using a cloth to wipe up the traces of spunk from the wall. He smiled to himself, thinking about his mate’s delicious responses to his lovemaking, and went to find Fly.
He entered Fly’s bedroom, an exquisitely decorated room, in a deep purple color, with accents of crimson, burnt orange, and subtle splashes of vibrant yellow. It was an explosion of hues, and fit Fly’s personality, the one he hid from the world behind a mask of snark and sarcastic wit. This was the passion behind the cool exterior. Noah frowned as he heard Fly sniffle, and peered toward the window where there was a large ottoman, decorated in white, with a red cushion on top. Fly still wore the blanket from the couch, and was curled up in a fetal position on the ottoman, his head resting on a bright orange pillow.
Noah saw Fly’s shoulders shaking, and felt his heart bleed. “Hey, baby,” he murmured, moving swiftly to gather Fly in his arms, sitting him on his lap. He felt Fly’s entire body trembling, and listened as the man’s sniffles turned to full out crying, appearing to be wrenched from deep inside his soul.
“You let it out,” Noah whispered, kissing Fly’s soft blond hair. “She’s done a number on you for years, hasn’t she?” Fly kept on crying, great wracking sobs that shook his body. Noah held on fast, cuddling his slender mate close, letting him release his misery.
Gradually, Fly subsided, exhausted, and rested against Noah wearily. Noah lifted him, and placed him carefully on the bed, smiling as he noted the collection of soft toys that Fly had placed on the huge mound of pillows. Fly’s nose was red and looked sore, but wasn’t bleeding any longer. His face was streaked with tears, and there was a mess of mucus and blood that was gently congealing on his upper lip. It was his eyes that held Noah’s attention. They were a dark gold, shadowed with a pain so deep that Noah literally flinched as Fly’s gaze met his. “Can we take a rain check on tonight?” Fly said, his voice husky.
Noah nodded. “Baby, we’ll do whatever you want,” he said. “Let me get you cleaned up, and then if you want to talk, we’ll talk. If you just want to cuddle, then we’ll cuddle.”
“I just want to be alone,” Fly said, cutting Noah to the quick as his mate turned to the side, away from him. Not having a clue what to do, Noah left quietly, retrieving a washcloth from the bathroom, moistening it, then returning to the bedroom again.
“Don’t shut me out,” Noah pleaded, seeing Fly tense. “We’re mates. Being mated isn’t just about fucking, it’s about being there in the bad times, as well.”
“I’m not worthy,” Fly muttered into the fur of a stuffed gorilla. “I’m weak, and girly, and I’m too thin, and Mother’s right. I should have died in that mine. She’s never going to stop. She’ll just keep on, and on, and on, until she gets what she wants,” he said bitterly. “Then you’ll hate me and leave. Everyone leaves.”
“And what does she want?” Noah asked quietly.
Fly turned his head, a hard and disturbing glint in his eye. “My brother back from the dead,” he replied, then buried his face in the pillow again, letting out a yelp of pain, then giving Noah the cold shoulder once more.
Noah didn’t know how to respond to that. The wealth of bitterness and failure in his lover’s voice was as deadly as a punch to the gut. He stood for a moment, studying Fly’s slender back, pale flesh gleaming under the dim light of the standard lamp in one corner, the shade adorned with a full solar system which glittered merrily as it caught the glare from the fluorescent bulb. He smiled a little. This was Fly’s nest, his security blanket. With the arrival of Fly’s mother into this sanctuary, or close to it, Fly must be feeling wretched, and was trying to deal with his emotions in the best way he knew how. By shutting the world out. Noah sighed and decided to give his mate the space he needed. He didn’t want to. He was desperate to curl his body around Fly’s slim body, and hold him all night, giving him comfort. He wouldn’t push, though, and if Fly wanted to be alone…
He turned and left the room.
Chapter Six
Fly awoke slowly, wincing as he felt his sore nose throbbing in earnest. He blinked awake, shivering a little in the coolness of early morning. He realized he was wearing the throw cover from the couch, and nothing else. Confused, he glanced around, and then gave a whimper of dismay, recalling the events of the previous night. The clock on the nightstand winked the time at him. Crap! He was late.
“Noah, we’re late,” he called out as he raced for the bathroom, relieved himself, and then got dressed in record time. He rushed to
the living room, but didn’t see his mate, and frowned in concern. “Noah?” he yelled, scurrying through to Noah’s bedroom. Empty. Where the hell was…oh crap! He remembered telling Noah that he needed time alone. His heart dropped through the floor, and he felt the loss as a physical pain, clutching his chest. He cried out, dropping to his knees. He’d just found his mate, his forever love, and now he’d sent him away, as though he was just another Saturday night hook-up. What the hell was he thinking?
He shuddered, then heard a knock at the door. He cringed, remembering the previous night. He’d seen his mother downstairs after she’d rung the doorbell, but had blocked her, not wanting her to mar his evening with Noah. She’d somehow gained entry into the complex, though, and after the knock at the door, he’d had to confront her or risk her screaming the place down. Perhaps he should have done that. At least his nose would still be intact.
“Fly, come on, honey, let me in. I’ve got chocolate.” Fly heard Alfie’s voice and felt even worse. He got up and reluctantly opened the door, and met Alfie’s sympathetic gaze. Behind the leopard shifter stood several of his friends, including his boss, Kaden, and his cheetah buddies, Swift, Rush, Lightning, Fleet and Haste. Standing tall behind them was Noah. Fly’s face crumpled and he looked down at the carpet, feeling tears overflowing.
“Come on, now, sweetie,” Alfie said gently, embracing him and guiding him to the couch. They sat down, with the others crowding onto the other sofa. Fly lifted his head, staring at Noah, and saw the sympathy and love there. That finished him, and he began sobbing in earnest against Alfie’s shoulder as his friend held on tightly.
“I thought I’d lost him,” he cried. “I thought Noah was gone.”
