Page 4 of Destined Prey (Wild Ones #1)

Chapter Four

Ben winced as Lacey cleaned the wound on his forearm.

“You’re lucky that’s as bad as it gets for you, considering the way you were so distracted by the pretty boy,” she said.

“He’s not a boy,” Ben growled. “Don’t make him sound like less than he is.”

“Oh? And what would that be?” Lacey spread antibiotic ointment on his arm. “Do tell.”

“You said it like he’s less than us,” he accused. “And he isn’t a boy. He’s a man.”

“You sure are touchy. Maybe you need a nap.” Lacey wrapped the wound in a light covering of gauze. “Don’t glare at me. I’ll poke you in the eye, brat.”

Ben tried to roll his eyes, but his chest was tight, his pulse still running hot.

He’d been in plenty of fights, he’d been hurt worse than this, but he’d never walked away with his head this scrambled.

One look at Jack and he’d forgotten the basics—teeth, claws, survival.

He’d almost gotten Emil killed because his brain had been full of wide green eyes and shaking hands clutching a rifle.

She probably would, too. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

Just…just don’t say anything else about him.

I was only trying to keep him and that Rhett guy from getting killed anyway.

That’s what Casey told me to do.” Crap! He was babbling, and everyone who knew him knew that was a tell—one letting on that he wasn’t exactly being honest.

“Oh really?” Lacey drawled. “His name is Jack, by the way. Well, Jackson Tucker. He’s Rhett’s younger brother, visiting from New York.”

Ben pulled away from her. “How do you know that? You’re making shit up, aren’t you? Just to fuck with me?”

But when Lacey said his name, Jack Tucker, the syllables caught and held in Ben’s mind.

Jack. It tasted right, too right, like something he shouldn’t know but couldn’t forget.

His chest went warm, his stomach twisting with the kind of need that had nothing to do with hunger or blood.

A human shouldn’t be able to do this to him, not with a single look.

Lacey cackled, her golden eyes twinkling at him. “As much fun as it is to torment you, no, I’m not. I know that info because Rhett came into the diner last week with Olivia. I overheard them talking about Jack coming home for a while.”

Ben swallowed down some of unaccountable nervousness he suddenly felt. “You know Rhett?”

Lacey waved one hand. “Nope. Never talked to him. I only know his name because several of the other waitresses drool over him and talk about all the dirty, dirty things they’d like to do to him.

” She frowned. “No, that’s not right. What they want him to do to them.

Damn, it’s like a sexual revolution never occurred in this backwoods town.

They’re all, let me lie on my back and get pounded.

” She grinned wickedly. “If I swung that way, I’d ride that man—”

“No!” Ben covered his ears. “No, no, no! I’m not listening to my sister talk about having sex with anyone!”

“Prude,” Lacey mouthed before laughing again and walking off. “Take a nap,” she ordered before shutting his bedroom door.

Ben slumped on his bed, back to the headboard, and tucked his knees close to his chest. He didn’t know why he was being so weird about the man—about Jack.

Yes, Jack was very attractive. That was an understatement.

He was the hottest guy Ben had ever seen.

Oh, maybe not to everyone else. Jack wasn’t tall and muscular like his brother Rhett, who apparently made all the women’s hearts—and other parts— flutter, nor did he have the muscular bulk Rhett did. In fact, they hardly looked alike.

Jack was almost delicate of bone structure, his face in particular that perfect model of androgynous beauty that captivated Ben so much when he saw it in magazines or online.

With a pointed chin, a wide, full mouth, and cheekbones so sharp they should have been classified as a weapon, Jack was stunning.

Add in the large, dark-lashed green eyes, and Ben was a goner.

He really liked Jack’s build, his shorter stature and wiry body.

Ben was tall and muscular, and he just knew Jack would fit perfectly in his arms.

By the time Lacey left him alone, the silence was thick, restless.

Ben scrubbed a hand over his face, trying to shake it off, but Jack’s face kept forming in his mind.

Hell, he didn’t even know the man, hadn’t spoken a single word to him, and already it felt like Jack had taken root inside him.

That was dangerous. That was wrong. And yet it had his cock thickening against the soft cotton of his sweats.

Ben closed his eyes and let his mind drift, images of Jack, both remembered and imagined, bringing the warmth of arousal to him. It went right to his groin, and his dick began to harden. He stretched his legs out, giving himself some room to play.

Ben slipped one hand down to cup his shaft through his sweats. Unsatisfied with the material being in the way, he had to wiggle around to get undressed. At least his injured arm wasn’t too badly damaged, just a bite that would heal quickly, thanks to his shifter DNA.

It certainly wasn’t having any ill effect on his libido.

With his legs spread, Ben began jacking his dick before his head hit the pillow.

An unusually strong wave of need seemed to be possessing him.

There’d been guys he’d found attractive before, guys he’d fucked or got off with in other ways, yet none of them had ever made him feel so wanton or horny.

None of them had burrowed into his mind like Jack had done. Ben’s skin flushed hot as he clenched his ass, stroking his shaft steadily, the dry friction not yet feeling good, but he didn’t stop. He imagined Jack, nude, his lean body spread out on the bed.

He shouldn’t be picturing this. He shouldn’t be lying there, leaking need for a man he’d barely seen.

But the harder he tried to shove Jack out of his head, the faster his hand moved, the deeper the ache grew.

It wasn’t just lust. It was something gnawing, primal, terrifying in its intensity.

Ben clenched his teeth, gave up fighting, and let the fantasy devour him.

Mmmm, on his belly, so I could tie him down, blindfold him, and lick every inch of his body.

His ass looked delectable, round and pert, not too big.

I’ll spread him open and eat him out until he begs me to fuck him, until his hole glistens and clenches for me, until he can’t stand being empty for one second longer.

“Fuck,” Ben whispered, seeing it so perfectly in his mind’s eye.

Jack would have smooth, sweet, soft skin, with just a dusting of hair on his legs and down his crack.

There’d be a small scar beneath his left shoulder blade.

Perfection was overrated, and Ben thought a scar would be sexy.

He hoped so, since he had plenty of them himself.

He wanted Jack to find him irresistible.

“Ungh!” Ben tightened his grip, then released his dick long enough to spit in his hand before going back to jacking off.

Jacking off is right. Jack’s ass would be so tight and hot, would grip his cock almost to the point of discomfort.

It’d take a lot of lube even after Ben had rimmed him, but then…

Then he’d line his shaft up and thrust into Jack’s ass, fill him with one hard, fast move that made them both shout.

Ben’s breath was coming in pants as he stroked himself faster. He bent his legs and dug his heels against the mattress for purchase, fucking his fist in earnest.

“Yeah, baby. Take it. Let me hear you fall apart.” He wanted to bellow, to yell and call out Jack’s name, but Ben kept his voice low. This fantasy was for him and him alone, not for his siblings, who’d be sure to overhear him if he wasn’t careful.

And desire was tightening him up all over. Ben’s nipples ached, his balls were snuggled up close to his body and his legs trembled as he moved faster and faster.

“Fuck yeah,” he muttered, seeing Jack so clearly, his neck arched, mouth open, lips parted, swollen, wet. Then it was Jack’s back, lean muscles rippling as he bowed it, the divots in his ass deepening when he clenched his butt snugly.

Ben’s dick would spread Jack’s hole, his balls would slap against Jack’s, Jack would cry out and Ben would smack his ass, once, twice—

“Fuck!” Ben’s intention to keep it down failed spectacularly as he came, his climax knocking a shout from him.

He jerked from head to toe as cum splattered onto his chin and chest, then his belly.

He was dizzy from the intensity of his release, and lack of oxygen, because maybe he’d forgotten to breathe.

When he finally came back to himself, he went limp, trying to melt into the bed.

And he heard the applause coming from outside his room.

“I’d give that one a ten at least,” Casey called through the door.

Ben would have told him to fuck off, but figured it was best to be quiet like he’d tried to be in the first place. Plus, he was exhausted, and sleep held the promise of dreams of Jack.

There was no way Ben was passing up on that possibility, and he wasn’t even going to worry about why he was suddenly so focused on a man he didn’t even know.