by J. D. Light
I couldn’t get enough of how he responded to my touch. I could kiss and lick him all day long, and satisfy myself on his moans and whimpers alone.
When he bucked his hips and his dick pressed against the underside of my chin, I growled, wanting it in my mouth. I pulled back, wanting to see him.
He was just as beautiful down there as he was everywhere else, and I pressed a kiss to the tip of his dick.
His scent was unbelievable and so much more potent and intoxicating as it wafted up at me from his groin. I wanted more.
I leaned down, opening my mouth over the crease between his balls and his thigh, and sucked on the skin, flicking my tongue against it.
He yelled out, and more pre-cum oozed from him. I let go of his skin and kissed up along his dick, and he pressed against me, trying to grind against my face. It was sexy as fuck and if it wasn't for the fact that I desperately wanted more of the taste of him in my mouth, I would have let him.
Pulling back slightly, I wrapped my fingers around his dick and propped it up before taking the gorgeous meat between my lips and sucking just the tip, lubing it up before sinking down on it all the way.
I hummed at the flavor of him, wanting to draw more from him, wanting it coating my tongue and sliding down my throat.
He groaned low, his entire body shuddering. I knew it wouldn't be long for him. He was already holding his breath like he was right there on the edge, ready to fall over. I pulled off slowly, letting my finger drag against his taint before slipping into his crease. I slid back down as my fingertip rubbed against his hole, and then I gave a gentle tug.
He screamed out beautifully and erupted into my mouth, his dick pulsing against my lips and his cum flooding my mouth and down my throat.
I grunted around him as his flavor hit my tongue and the essence of my mate sent me over the edge as well, and I shot against the blanket beneath me.
I pulled off his spent dick slowly, not wanting to miss a single drop of him. He shuddered, lifting his head to look down at me, and then letting if flop back to the blanket, his garbled response more a series of sounds than words. I smiled, pressing a kiss to his thigh, and resting my head against it until I could breathe again.
"Holy shit," he finally whispered at the ceiling. "I'm never going to be the same again."
***
We took our time on the ride back. He talked some, but for most of the ride he hummed, occasionally rubbing his face against the thick hump on my back, and dragging his hands over my shoulders, even though I'd told him to hold on to the rope.
It was close to midnight by the time we got back, and the house was fairly dark, so I shifted, and we crept inside like teenagers. And just like when most teens snuck out in the middle of the night, there was someone waiting up for us.
"Where the fuck have you two been?" Malik demanded, with his hands on his hips, tapping his foot angrily.
"Fuck," my mate yelped, grabbing his chest.
"And why are you naked?"
Stepping in front of me, Braden pressed his back against my front, blocking Malik's view of my naked body, making me cough out a chuckle.
"We went for a run in the rain."
Malik frowned at his friend, curling his lip. "Relax, Brade. I'm not going to ogle your man. Wait. You went riding naked?" His eyes widened in horror. "Where do you put your balls? Ew. Now I'm picturing your balls just resting on a saddle. I don't want to know. But, next time you decide you want to disappear and stay out all night, I better get a fucking phone call… and yes, I know I sound like a fucking mother," he yelled, throwing his hands in the air before reaching behind him and pulling a piece of paper out of his back pocket.
"Who's this?" he demanded, unfolding the paper and thrusting it in the direction of my mate and me.
It was a picture of Rowe and I at the office building we worked out of, him holding a little animal in his massive paws, a smile on his mouth even as his eyes looked surprised, and though I'd seen the picture probably a hundred times, I couldn't help but chuckle.
Malik looked at me, clearly confused and possibly horrified at the sound of my rusty laugh, while my mate leaned sideways, so he could look up at me in awe, a small smile on his gorgeous mouth.
Did he like the way I laughed? I was just going to have to start doing it more often if it meant seeing that expression again.
"How did you get that?" I asked, reaching out to take the picture, Braden still plastered to my front, only to have it jerked back away from me.
I could have had the thing if I'd wanted, but there was something humorous about the fact that Malik seemed so interested in it—in Rowe—and I was happy where I was, my body flush against my mate's.
"I found it online," he said, pursing his lips. "Now, answer the question."
In order for him to have found it online, he would have had to do some pretty good digging, since neither Rowe nor I had any kind of social media. It would have had to have been one of our colleagues who had posted it.
Was the little shit some kind of computer genius?
I narrowed my eyes. "That's Rowe Belk. He's my partner."
"Rowe Belk," Malik said thoughtfully, blinking. "That's a stupid name. Why does he look like that?"
"Like what?" I asked, but I already knew. The man was definitely between expressions.
"Like he sat on a tack, but he's happy about it."
I raised my eyebrows, nodding my head. That was actually exactly what it looked like.
"He's really shy," I said, shrugging. "The only way we can get him to take a picture is to trick him. Animals are his weakness, so Samantha put a kitten in his hand, and I steered him into position. Beverly called his name and snapped the picture. He wasn't ready, but it was the best we could do."
Malik smirked, continuing to look at the picture. "If he looks like this next to you, he must be huge. Is he a shifter too?"
"He'll be here tomorrow or the next day," I said, trying not to laugh when that definitely got his attention, and he snapped his head up, looking at me. "Why don't you ask him then?"
"Rowe Belk," he said, sounding disgruntled, but I didn't miss the way he ran his finger over the man's picture. "That's barely enough letters for a first name, much-less two."
"Malik Newton," Braden said, dryly. "What do you have, like… three more letters?"
"I have two syllables in both of my names, and over ten letters," Malik said, sticking his nose in the air, before folding the picture once again and sticking it in his back pocket. "My name is great."
"We're going to bed, mom," Braden said, gripping my hips and steering me backwards toward the hall.
Malik waved a hand in the air carelessly, mumbling something about enormous fucking shifters, and then he ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time, which seemed pretty impressive considering how short his damn legs were.
"Will you come sleep in my room again?" I asked, grabbing Braden's shoulders and spinning him to face me.
"That was the plan," he said, leaning his head back and smirking up at me. "Let me go take a shower and get my stuff."
I nodded, and then stood there, watching him walk up the stairs, not seeming to have a limp at all.
Recker had told me that when they'd first arrived at the house, he'd offered to let Braden have his room, so Braden wouldn't have to climb the stairs, but Braden had just smiled and told him that the height difference with his legs didn't actually affect him at all when he was walking upstairs, which actually made sense once I thought about it, since he was changing height each time he took a step.
Deciding I needed a shower too, I quickly ran off to get cleaned up as well, wishing I didn't have to wash my mate's scent off of me, but hoping I was about to get even more of it, minus the horse smell.
I washed up quickly, not wanting him to get back to my room before I did. By the time he shyly walked into my room ten minutes later, smelling clean and sweet, and turned to shut the door, I was already beneath the blankets, completely naked and ready to
either hold him in my arms until he fell asleep, or claim him.
He was wearing sleep pants and nothing else, and I nearly told him to shuck 'em before he climbed into my bed, but I knew I would be completely useless if his bare ass went anywhere near my dick, and I still needed to have a conversation I wasn't sure how he was going to take, so I simply lifted the edge of the blanket for him to slide in.
He settled against me, lying on his back with his shoulder pressed to my chest and his hip to my groin where I lay on my side facing him. I scooped his legs, draping them over mine as I tucked my thighs up under his firm ass, making him turn his head and smile at me, our faces inches from each other's.
"I need to tell you something," I whispered, bringing my hand up to cup his face.
His brow furrowed, and he licked his lips, looking a little nervous. "Okay," he said quietly, and again my heart ached with emotions I didn't want to deal with.
I hadn't meant to worry him.
I smiled softly, leaning forward to press a quick kiss to his plump lips.
"You're my mate," I said quickly, looking into his butterscotch eyes.
He opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out was a weird squeak, and then he shut it again, frowning.
"You're not saying anything," I said, suddenly the nervous one.
Was he happy, sad, so surprised he couldn't speak?
"I'm sorry," he said, licking his lips and blinking. "I just don't understand. I thought there was more to mating than a blowjob…" He paused, shaking his head. "…not that it wasn't an amazing blow job, I just thought there was more involved."
"Oh," I said after a moment, a chuckle of relief escaping as I realized what he was talking about. "You mean the claiming? Yeah, that takes the penetration and biting thing."
He nodded slowly, lifting the blanket and looking down his body. "Did you bite me without me knowing?"
"No." I said on another laugh, stealing another kiss. "I haven't claimed you yet, but you are my mate. Like… my soulmate."
He blinked owlishly at me, his eyes huge. "I… we're…" He motioned between the two of us almost violently. "We're soulmates? How do you know?"
"A shifter can tell by scent," I answered, not really sure what to think about the fact that he didn't necessarily look all that excited about it.
Shaking his head, he looked up at the ceiling, blinking rapidly. "Huh," he said simply, clearly trying to process the information.
"Huh?" That was all he had to say? I'd just told him we were soulmates and all he had was huh? What did that even mean?
He raised his eyebrows, turning to look at me. "Sorry. I just never thought I'd have a soulmate. I've never had anyone that actually belonged to me. My family belonged to their terrified conspiracies, and I've never really felt close to anyone else—not even Maryann, even though she was one of the kindest people I've ever been around. What does it mean to be your soulmate? Are we like best friends forever, or something?
Something. I was really hoping for the something.
"We can be," I said hesitantly, nibbling my bottom lip as I tried to think of a way to tell him everything without scaring him too much. "But, it means we are more compatible with each other than any other person in the world…" His rich, warm eyes blinked up at me from behind those black-framed glasses, and I raised up on my elbow, so I could look down into his perfect face, running my thumb over his lip. "…romantically."
He gasped, jerking slightly. My heart throbbed in my chest as excitement and hope entered his eyes. "You'd want that?" he whispered, tears building along the rims of his lower lids. "With me?"
Oh, my sweet, sweet mate. How the hell was I supposed to be any good for someone so precious?
"More than anything," I answered, around a lump in my throat. I hadn't been so close to actually shedding a tear since I was a child, nearly fifty years ago.
"Wow," he said on a happy sob, tears spilling from the corners of his eyes and running down his temples into his hair.
I wiped the tears from the sides of his face, leaning down to press kisses all over their tracks. When I ended by pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth, I smiled at the sweet sigh that escaped before kissing him long and deep, letting him feel with my actions how happy I was to have him as a mate.
"I want you to claim me, Meyers," he whispered against my mouth, his panting breaths making his chest rise and fall against mine as I leaned over him. "I'm ready to be yours. I was ready to be yours the moment I met you."
I groaned, taking his mouth again. I didn't know what wall the man had broken in me, but everything about him spoke to emotions in me I thought long dormant, or not existent at all. All the years of doing a job that put me face to face with people who had almost no moral compass to speak of, sometimes made it hard not to compare myself to them. It made it hard not to wonder if there really was that much of a difference between me and the many men and women I'd had in the chair in front of me in the interrogation rooms.
But, with Braden in my life, I could feel, and even though it hurt, and I wasn't sure I'd ever be okay seeing or hearing pain in his voice, or uncertainty when it came to my feelings for him, it was completely worth it just to have him in my life.
Chapter Five
I couldn't believe what was happening. I'd just had the absolute best night of my life, and I'd honestly thought nothing in the world could top riding a rhino in the rain and getting blown in a barn in the middle of nowhere, then lying around for another hour with my head on his chest as we talked and watched the lightning play across the sky, and listened to the rolling thunder.
He'd kissed me over and over, telling me how much he loved to taste me, and I'd reciprocated, loving the way each of his kisses made me feel wanted and cherished at the same time.
"I'm going to hop up and grab the lube. I want you to get completely naked, so I can see every inch of you, okay?"
I nodded, biting my lip and smiling. Earlier in the night I'd been so worried about showing him my leg. Logically, I knew it wasn't absolutely hideous, although I couldn't help but feel a little nervous, showing him for the first time.
I had never been more attracted to anyone in my entire life, and he'd just finished doing the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me. I couldn't have taken it in that moment if he had stopped looking at me like I was the most precious thing he'd ever seen.
I'd already been halfway in love with him.
The nervousness had disappeared completely the more he touched me, the more he seemed to actually enjoy my body, my leg included.
He hopped off the bed, strolling completely naked to the bathroom, and I watched him, loving the way his ass moved as he walked. When he disappeared, I shucked my pants, happily tossing them across the room.
I bit my lip, reaching down to grip my leaking dick, needing just a little relief, needing just a little pressure. I groaned low in my throat, completely unprepared for how good even my own hand would feel as turned on as I was, but I honestly couldn't help it.
The idea of belonging to him, of him belonging to me, turned me on more than anything ever had. He was going to claim me, and I was going to have my special person for the rest of my life. I would always have someone to call mine. Always have someone who would be there for me, constantly on my side, no matter what.
He walked back into the room, growling, and I groaned, giving my dick another stroke.
He was fucking sexy as hell. Never in my life had I been so attracted to another person. His body was thick muscle and deep grooves. I couldn't believe he was actually mine, but I was beyond ready to have all of him plastered to all of me.
"You look so fucking gorgeous like that, baby," he growled, moving closer to the bed to stand over me. "I want to see what you look like opening yourself, getting yourself ready for me."
I whimpered, biting my lip harder than I intended, but there was something strangely sexy about knowing he was going to watch me as I touched myself.
"Give me your ha
nd, baby," he said, popping the top on the bottle. I reached out my hand to him, and he poured the lube on my fingers, before closing the bottle and setting it on the stand beside the bed.
I watched his face as I reached down between my legs, pulling my knees up and out, showing him my hole, as I ran my index finger around the rim. He grunted, and his dick twitched.
I stretched myself quickly, probably rushing a bit, if the sting that accompanied the third finger was anything to go by, but my eyes stayed glued to his gorgeous cock, watching it twitch and drool pre-cum.
His fists were clenched at his sides, his forearms bunching and releasing. When I was ready, I pulled my fingers from my ass and sat up, reaching out to wrap my lubed hand around his dick.
He groaned, his head falling back on his shoulders, and I blinked up at my mate, completely blown away at what I had the power to do to him.
"Claim me, Meyers," I said huskily, stroking him from base to tip, rolling my thumb over the sensitive head, and then giving him another stroke.
His head snapped up, his animalistic eyes zeroed in on me. I knew his animal wasn't an actual predator, but I didn't think he knew that, as he climbed up on the bed, settling himself between my legs and pressing me back against the mattress with a long, possessive kiss.
I wrapped my legs around him, and he pressed the head of his dick to my opening, giving a short thrust that popped the tip inside, making us both moan. I used my heel to spur him further, and he grunted, pressing all the way inside with one powerful thrust.
The stinging pressure made me gasp, but I didn't care about the temporary, minor pain, because he felt so right inside me—like he was meant to fill me.
I could feel every delicious ridge of his dick as he pulled out slowly, and then thrust back in with a snap. His girth pressed against my prostate, and I squeezed him with my legs.
He picked up the pace, the rhythm beautiful and almost brutal as he used my hips to jerk me against him, my ass smacking loudly against his hips.
