by Odessa Lynne
Then he kissed Mason, taking a sharp little bite at the corner of Mason’s bottom lip before sucking the sting away.
The kiss didn’t last long enough. Breathing raggedly, Mason grappled with the hold Five had on his wrists. He wanted to touch Five, hold him. He wanted to bring their mouths together again.
Five forced Mason’s arms down, then caged him in with a tight hug, but it didn’t stop Mason from dragging his hands along Five’s waist.
Two seconds later, he was stuffing his hand down Five’s pants.
Five grabbed at Mason’s hand again.
Mason shoved, and they staggered into the table.
The table rocked, and the glasses of liquid skittered across the surface. Five somehow managed to push Mason off him and grab the alien drink before it hit the floor. His hand was hot in the center of Mason’s chest, claws just the faintest prick through the fabric.
Mason had both hands free now, and he burned with the desire to touch Five, but the little bit of rationality he had left kicked in and he started working his fly open. “You’re going to fuck me again, I know you are, but I—I want something else first. I want you to touch my cock. Suck me—lick me the way you did last night. I want to know if I’ll like it as much today as I liked it then.”
Chapter 17
Five set the half-empty drink on the table, the hard thud of the glass hitting wood echoing in Mason’s head, and then he dragged Mason forward by his t-shirt.
Mason grabbed reflexively at Five’s hips.
Five cupped the side of Mason’s face. “You’ll like it just as much every time I touch you.”
“Will I?” He sounded breathless, needy, but he didn’t care at all.
“You will. And if you don’t, I don’t deserve you or your submission.”
Mason pushed his head in against Five’s throat, breathing deeply against hot skin, pushing his hips forward, rubbing his cock against Five. Pleasure sparked through him, lighting up every nerve-ending, and his next deep breath brought with it a warm, sharp scent that flowed into his lungs.
“You smell nice,” he said. “I’m going to—”
But the urge to act now and think later was too strong to resist. He touched the tip of his tongue to Five’s collarbone, tasting the salt of Five’s sweat and the tang of his skin.
The sound of Five’s soft gasp was a pleasure Mason didn’t expect. So he did it again and felt as much as heard the vibration rising through Five’s chest. He trailed kisses along Five’s throat and across his jaw. Five sighed and turned his head toward Mason, letting their mouths come so close that Mason couldn’t stop himself. He covered Five’s mouth with his own and kissed him with a groan of hot, desperate need.
Hands captured his face, and suddenly he wasn’t the one leading the kiss. Five thrust his tongue against Mason’s, tangling their hot breaths and making Mason want nothing more than to climb inside Five and live there for the rest of his life.
But then Five pulled away, breathing heavily.
Mason started working Five’s trousers open.
Five shook his head as if he were trying to regain his senses. He grabbed Mason’s right hand. “Not yet.”
Mason still had his left hand. He started popping buttons free.
“Stop,” Five said.
Mason had never touched another man’s penis before and he needed to know what it felt like. He thrust his hand inside the open fly and felt the hot, hard length of alien cock against his palm.
Five sucked in a harsh breath, his eyes flaring wide, teeth flashing. “Enough!”
The roar sent a pulse of something unidentifiable rushing through Mason. The pressure in his chest became almost too much to bear. He closed his eyes, hand unmoving, breath nearly stalled in his lungs. He dug his forehead into the hard ridge of Five’s shoulder.
When the strange feeling in his chest faded, he asked, “Why’d you stop me?”
“If you want me to suck your cock and tongue your anus, you can’t touch me the way you’re touching me. I need control. Your scent intoxicates me, enthralls me, makes me desperate to have you, but your touch… your touch inflames me and makes me forget why I shouldn’t push you to the floor with my claws at your spine and fuck you the way only a mate would dare.” A harsh breath followed. “Prove to me that you’ve regained your senses, and I’ll give you the pleasure you want.”
Mason breathed hard into the cotton of Five’s t-shirt. Under his hand, he could feel the heat and hardness of Five’s cock. Now that his thoughts were slowing and the fire burning through him smoldered instead of raged, he could hardly believe what he’d admitted out loud to Five only minutes ago. Being forced to admit that he knew what he was doing seemed cruelly clever of Five—by doing so, he forced Mason to take responsibility for his own choices—and for what happened next. And yet—
Mason carefully pulled his hand free of Five’s pants. “I know what I’m doing. I’ve known since I kissed you.”
That seemed to be all Five needed to hear. He gripped a handful of Mason’s hair and used that grip to pull Mason’s head back. His eyes burned bright, the blue irises as dark as Mason had ever seen them, the color intensifying at the edges with unnatural brilliance.
“The sweet sound of your submission fires my blood and strengthens my control. I’ll need every bit of it for what I’m going to do to you if I don’t want to trigger my next heat cycle.” Five turned Mason and pushed him toward the bed. “Undress.”
“Shouldn’t I—”
“Now.”
Mason pushed away the thought that he should have a shower first and opened his pants the rest of the way, then pushed them down.
“Your underwear, Mason. I want to see the beautiful clench of muscle when you crawl onto that bed for me.”
Mason closed his eyes but he did as Five said and pushed his underwear down to his thighs to tangle with the jeans.
“On the bed.”
His heart was already thumping hard and the command sent blood rushing through him even faster. His skin flushed hot and it was the worst and best kind of uncomfortable. Anticipation thrummed through him.
He wanted this—but it made no sense why. Just yesterday, the idea of submission to one of the wolves had felt like a punishment he deserved, and now—now it felt like a reward he hadn’t earned at all.
He wasn’t that far from the bed, because the room wasn’t that big. He shuffled the few feet to the bed and carefully crawled up into the mussed sheets and scattered pillows.
“Turn over.”
Mason swallowed and rolled onto his back. His jeans were at his thighs and his shirt had rucked up above his navel and his cock was standing in the air, moisture glistening at the tip. He looked up to see Five’s narrowed eyes on him and it suddenly felt ten times harder to swallow.
“You are mine,” Five said in the wolves’ language. “Mine.”
Mason looked into that face and wondered what it might feel like to believe you had a fated connection with someone.
Then Five came down on the bed and pushed Mason’s legs up to his chest and proved to him that once was not a fluke and twice wasn’t going to be enough and three times might just be the end of everything he knew about himself.
* * *
The pillow hit the floor with a loud whoomp, but it wasn’t the noise that startled Mason into opening his eyes. It was the sudden movement beside him, and he turned his head to see Five sitting up in bed, his long, jean-clad legs stretched out on the sheets, his feet bare, and his head tilted back against the wall above the simple wooden headboard, exposing the strong column of his throat and the prominent jut of his larynx.
Mason hauled his jeans up and zipped them quickly, then sat up long enough to yank his sweat-soaked shirt off and toss it to the floor. Then he rolled to his side and propped himself up on his arm. He could still taste the bitter tang of his own come in his mouth, put there by Five’s last kiss, after he’d sucked Mason off and then licked the last dribbles of semen off Mason’s
belly and groin.
“I didn’t think you could do this… you know, without wanting to fuck.”
Five lowered his head, his eyes catching the light as they landed on Mason. “Don’t misunderstand. I want to fuck. But my need to take care of you is helping me control my instincts for the time being.”
“Why bother? If we’re just going to fuck later, why not just fuck now and—”
“I have too much to do to allow myself to succumb to the heat early. The strongest urge to fuck comes at the peak of the heat cycle. Fucking now won’t stop those natural cycles, just delay them for a short time. I can’t sacrifice the time I’ll spend mating now for that small benefit later. It won’t be enough. I’ll continue to take the drugs for as long as I can. But I have an obligation to take care of you. I gave you the drink knowing what it would do to you, and it was only right that I satisfied the desires it left you with.”
“So you felt obligated to suck my dick?” Mason could hear the irritation in his voice and tried to shut it down, unsuccessfully.
“I told you that you would find pleasure with me as a mate. Proving that to you is an obligation I’m happy to meet. Are you hungry?”
“What? No.”
“Did you enjoy it when I licked your anus and sucked your dick?”
“What’s this got to do with my question?”
Five’s eyes narrowed on Mason.
Mason cleared his throat. “Uh… Yeah. Sure. I enjoyed myself just fine.” Which was so far from the truth that anyone with half an ear could hear the lie in his voice.
Five raised his eyebrows.
“You know I did, goddamn you.”
The corner of Five’s mouth curled. “I’m gratified by your honest praise.”
Mason scooted up in the bed until he was sitting beside Five. “I loved it, okay? It was great. Second best blow job of my life.”
“And the first?”
Mason clenched his jaw. “You’re asking for a lot here.”
“Last night, I assume?”
“Goddammit. You don’t give up, do you?”
Five laughed—actually laughed—and it did the strangest thing to Mason’s insides. Warmth spread through him with the slow slide of molasses, heating him from the top of his scalp to the bottom of his feet. The strangest part of it all was the fact that he started to get an erection, nothing too uncomfortable, not yet, but noticeable. He waited, breathing shallow and slow, his gaze lingering on the sight of his sock-covered foot pressing against Five’s bare foot, not sure what to make of any of it.
Five flexed his toes with remarkable agility and his laugh quieted. “I’m gratified that last night’s blowjob was the best blowjob of your life.”
“Fuck you,” Mason said, then raised his arms and crossed them behind his head. He sighed. “What now? You planning to keep me locked in this room for the rest of the heat season?”
“I have your submission. The door doesn’t need a lock.”
“There’s a guard. Don’t think I didn’t see him.”
“Lake guards my door to keep others out, not to keep you in.”
Mason tilted his head and looked past the jut of his elbow to eye Five. “Your guys really aren’t particular about names, are they?”
“Lake will be gratified that you find his choice of name interesting.”
“That’s not even close to what I said.”
Five reached over and casually drew his claws along the denim over Mason’s thigh. “Irrelevant.”
Mason’s leg jerked at the sharp tickle. He grabbed at Five’s hand, but Five was too quick for him.
“Ah,” Five said. “Six can help you improve the speed of your reflexes. He’s very patient with the young ones.”
Mason gave Five a dirty look while he rubbed the tingle out of his thigh. “Bastard.”
Five let out a soft sigh. “I would train you myself but he’ll think I’ve lost faith in his abilities if I don’t allow him to do it.”
“I don’t need any training,” Mason said. “I can handle myself.”
Five turned with a speed that shocked Mason. Before he could even suck in a breath, Five had straddled his thighs and trapped Mason’s arms against the wall above the headboard.
“You’re too slow. You’ll receive training to improve your reaction time whether you want the training or not.”
The words had a hard edge to them, every smidgeon of playfulness gone from Five’s voice. It was an unexpectedly abrupt reminder that Mason was dealing with an alpha wolf he hardly knew and it startled him into stillness while his heart thumped against his ribcage and his pulse fluttered wildly at his throat.
He wasn’t afraid. He wasn’t. But he was definitely unsettled. He didn’t understand Five’s sudden seriousness, didn’t know why Five had gone from casual teasing to this, in the blink of an eye.
Five continued, “We leave within the hour on a mission to find the people who were working at the laboratory where I found you. When we find them, we’ll destroy the weapon they’ve created and turn them over to your government for punishment.”
Mason’s fingers curled tight, his knuckles pressed to the wall above. “You’re going on a mission. What am I supposed to do while you’re gone? This training you say I’m supposed to do?”
“The training will have to wait until after the heat ends. I can’t trust even Six with your safety now.” Five lowered Mason’s arms to his sides, his direct gaze never wavering. “But you’re not staying behind. We’re going on this mission. Together.”
Chapter 18
“Why would—” Mason shook his head and clenched a handful of the sheet under him. “You don’t trust me. You can’t. You shouldn’t. We’ve only known each other for two days. Why would you want me going on a mission with you?”
“I don’t trust you. Yet. But if I expect you to earn forgiveness for your crimes against us, I have to give you the opportunity to prove yourself worthy of that forgiveness.”
“That’s damn considerate of you.”
Five responded with a flat look. “There’s also the fact that having a human along on this mission could prove useful. My choice was between you and your brother. Would you have preferred for me to choose him?”
“Why is it you don’t seem to care about him earning forgiveness? You haven’t mentioned anything about that, not one damn time.”
“His fate isn’t yours.”
“That’s not an answer.” It was also a repeat of something Five had already said and it pissed Mason off because he didn’t know what the hell it was supposed to mean.
“His fate is his,” Five said. “Yours is yours. What forgiveness he earns is irrelevant to you.”
“Stop using that goddamn word,” Mason said through gritted teeth.
“Stop pretending you don’t have the intelligence to understand why he requires no forgiveness while you do.”
Every muscle in Mason’s body went tight. “If I knew the answer to this goddamn question, I wouldn’t be asking it.”
If he sounded defensive, it couldn’t be helped. He’d always known he wasn’t the smart one, but he wasn’t stupid.
One thing he did know: he wasn’t interested in another goddamn lover who thought he ought to be everything Marcus was just because they looked alike.
“Mason,” Five said with a touch of exasperation. “He swore fealty to Traesikeille three years ago and earned his forgiveness through submission to First Alpha’s rule. You have to know this.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. He—”
“He accepted responsibility for his actions and the actions of his betas. That’s why Craeigoer released you without requiring you to answer for your crimes. As your alpha, it was his responsibility—”
“Whoa the fuck down,” Mason said. “Marcus isn’t my goddamn alpha and he never was. He’s my brother. Family. Brendan was in charge, but even he wasn’t my alpha. I only did what he told me to do when I wanted to.”
“Who do you claim as
your alpha then if not your brother or Brendan Greer?”
“I don’t have a goddamn alpha. I’m human. Why would I have an alpha?”
The sharp light of an argument won glittered in Five’s gaze. “And that is why you must still earn forgiveness for your crimes. You had no alpha who could accept responsibility for your actions three years ago. Your brother’s fate is not yours.”
Mason opened his mouth, then snapped it shut. He stared at the tight lines of Five’s expression, realizing in the blink of an eye that he’d walked into a fucking trap.
“You really think you’re clever, don’t you?”
Five brushed his thumb across Mason’s bottom lip and looked down his nose at Mason. “And you don’t agree?”
“No, I fucking don’t agree.” But he sounded more like he was grumbling than about to start a fight he probably couldn’t win.
“We didn’t understand human packs as well back then as we do now. If we had, he would never have been able to leave with you until you had chosen your own path. But the universe has brought us together and I’ve offered you another chance to seek the forgiveness you should have sought three years ago. You will swear fealty to Traesikeille and you will find a place among us as my mate.”
“Generous bastard.” He figured Five was smart enough to know what he really meant: Not fucking likely.
Five smiled, but the showing of teeth was more unsettling than the fierce look that had been on his face moments before. “I’m starting to enjoy our arguments almost as much as I would enjoy a good fight. They make me want to fuck. Unfortunately, that means I have to put a stop to this before we have time to take this any further.”
“Well, thanks for that anyway.”
Five dropped his hand to Mason’s groin where it was no trouble at all for him to trace the half-hard outline of Mason’s traitorous dick. “So human.”
“Arrogant asshole,” Mason said under his breath.
* * *
Six hours later, Mason was struggling to hold on to the limber branch of a young oak tree and not lose his footing on the steep incline he was puffing his way down.
