Page 10

Enda had been teasing Giorgio all through their meal. Giorgio didn’t think that Enda knew he was doing it, but as he walked with his mate to their room – their private room where they could be alone for the first time since he’d plucked his mate from the warehouse – his mind had been conjuring lists of all the ways he could bring Enda pleasure.

The thing is, most of the time, Enda looked like a waif – his straight black hair hung over his finely crafted face. Combine that with large eyes and full lips, and he was a gorgeous waif. But when he smiled, his whole face lit up, and when he laughed, he was like a ray of sunshine. And yes, I’m thinking these thoughts because I want to strip my mate down and lick him from head to toe. Those cheeky teasing glances, the way Enda ate his food…Giorgio shook his head as he unlocked the door to their hotel suite and ushered Enda inside.

First things first. “Er…where did you want to do this?” Giorgio asked as he closed and locked the door behind them.

“The collar side of things?” Enda looked around. “This living space is bigger than the bedroom, but then I don’t know how big your hound gets.”

“Did Consort Ali explain what will happen?”

“He did admit he hadn’t seen a collar ceremony himself, but I got the impression it wasn’t really a ceremony, but more that if I open the box, then your hound will come through and I’ll put the collar that is in the box around your hound’s neck.” Enda tilted his head to one side, looking shy. “Apparently, it’s as big of a deal as if I were to shift and bite you through my bird spirit.”

“We can do that afterward if you want to,” Giorgio said, loosening his shirt. “But you’ll need fingers to open the box and get the collar around my neck. My hound isn’t going to be a lot of help. He tends to be a goofy beast a lot of the time. He doesn’t get out much.”

“My bird knows that feeling. Shifting is…difficult. But let’s do this, and I can worry about that later.” Enda perched on a chair, resting his hands on his knees. “This is a big deal though, isn’t it?”

“It is.” Giorgio called his box to him. It had been in a safe in his London house. Holding the big, black velvet box, he could feel the magic start to glow. His hound was seeing it, too, and could feel the vibrations from the box. “I feel I should make a speech,” Giorgio said quickly as his hound started getting pushy. “About how glad I am I found you when I did, and how honored I am you’re my mate, and…and…I’m glad it’s you. Have a box.”

He dropped it. His hound was so keen to come out and meet their mate, Giorgio dropped his collar box. Enda burst out laughing, clapping his hands as his hound pushed the box with his nose over to Enda’s feet.

“You are so clever, and look at how big you are.” With Enda sitting down, their heads were at the same height. “Do you like pets and scritches?”

Only about as much as steak. The hound pushed his head forward, nudging at Enda’s knee.

“I’m guessing that’s yes.”

You jammy bastard. Giorgio could only huff, caught inside his hound’s form. How come Enda has his hands on you first?

Although it felt a-maze-ing. Enda’s hands were surprisingly strong, and he was using both of them, scratching behind the hound’s ears, the top of his head, and under his chin. The hound sat himself down and closed his eyes, happy to be manhandled by his mate.

What about the collar, you doofus? Remember? The collar?

The hound’s ears went up, and he froze, his cheeks held firm in Enda’s hands. “Did you just remember the box?” Enda was laughing so hard, he had a tear in his eye. “You are such an adorable hound, and with me in your life, there will be plenty of time for scritches. But I guess we’d better make sure it is me that box was intended for.”

The hound already knew Enda was the one. The box had reacted just with Enda being in the room. He had to move back because the box was still on the floor, and Enda had to bend over to pick it up.

“It’s such a beautiful box, and it’s heavy.” Enda’s eyes were wide. He ran his hand over it and the lid started to open. The hound could see the glow of his master’s gems as they began to appear. Curling his fingers over the edge of the lid, Enda opened it fully and gasped. “No wonder the walls in the Underworld are black. Your Master put all the color in these collars. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful. Let me get this out.”

Thick, wide, and encrusted in gems, the hound could feel his Master’s love and power beaming from the collar. It signified approval, his Master’s wishes for a happy life for his hounds. The hound was trembling with excitement.

“It’s quite heavy,” Enda said, taking it carefully out of the box. “But then you have such a wide neck, I guess it was meant to be sturdy.” He frowned as he looked at the ends. “How does it close? Oh, I remember. Consort Ali said that was magic. Lean forward, my lovely hound.” The hound shoved his nose in Enda’s lap, feeling the collar tighten around his neck. “Now, I just wrap this around here and put the two ends together and…oh, wow.”

There was a click. Giorgio’s hound felt it. In that instant, he could feel his bond with his mate, see his mate’s bird spirit – that’s a weird looking crane if that’s what you are, my mate - and their happiness, and from Enda, an overwhelming sense of relief. “I’m so glad I’m the one,” Enda said with a sob. “I can feel you right here.” He patted his chest. “Go on. Bounce and jump around. I know you want to.”

Oh, well, now that you mention it. Just a little bit. Giorgio’s hound bounced around the room, running into the bedroom and jumping on the bed, before he raced back to his mate again, howling in his mind. Congratulations poured in from his packmates, and he felt so proud.

“Is that your pack?” Enda had his head up, tilting it one way and then the other. “It’s like I can hear them. They are all so happy for you.”

“They’re happy for us,” Giorgio said gruffly as he shifted, immediately reaching up and tapping the chain now around his neck, checking it was there as he knelt in front of his mate. “They’re your pack now, too. Can I hold you, please?”

“Oh, yes.” Enda fell off his chair in his hurry, but that was all right. Giorgio caught him and pulled his mate to his chest, settling Enda on his lap.

“Did you know you aren’t wearing any clothes?” Enda asked, as his arms wrapped around Giorgio’s neck. “You’re very naked.”

“That was intentional.” Giorgio looked down at Enda’s happy face. “Fancy getting naked with me?”

“You know I do.” Enda tilted his face up, his lips twitching, and Giorgio met him halfway.

He had to close his eyes. As much as Giorgio wanted to watch every expression on his mate’s face, Giorgio was caught in a kiss he never wanted to end. He just had to savor it. He’d noticed how strong his mate’s fingers were when Enda was petting his hound, but everything about his slender mate had a strength to it.

Enda tasted of sugar and spices, like a spicy muffin covered in ice cream and toasted marshmallows. It wasn’t a flavor Giorgio had ever tried or even considered, but supping on Enda’s lips was his new obsession.

His arms tightened around Enda’s back, their chests pressed together without leaving room for an ant. The eager way Enda was kissing him, the way he was actively pressed against Giorgio’s torso – no hesitation. In fact, as their kiss deepened, Giorgio could feel his little bird’s desperate need to get closer through their bond.

He’s a shifter, his hound growled through his head. As if that explained everything, but Giorgio realized it did. As he pulled out of their kiss, because even immortal beings needed to breathe at times, he peppered kisses up and down Enda’s neck, feeling the racing pulse beneath the skin.

“Hold on tight, little bird,” he whispered in Enda’s ear as he translocated them. Enda’s clothes got lost between the living area and the bed, but Enda’s excited whimper let Giorgio know he didn’t mind.

Moving in for another kiss, Giorgio ran his hand down Enda’s back. The knobs of his spine were too prominent, but Giorgio was confident with a few meals Enda would be back to a more optimum weight. Cupping his hand around Enda’s butt, he gently tapped against Enda’s crack. “Have you ever?” he murmured against his mate’s lips.

Enda leaned his head back and Giorgio opened his eyes to see the concern in Enda’s. “Once,” Enda said softly as he winced. “A long time ago. It was not…pleasant.”

Okay, so, we can work up to that over time, which Giorgio was fine with. It was enough for him that Enda was so open with his kisses and his body.

But his face was gripped in Enda’s hands, and Giorgio realized Enda’s bird was peering through his mate’s eyes. “I need you to do it,” he insisted. “My bird needs this claim.”

Searching his mate’s eyes, Giorgio warred with his instincts – to give his shifter mate the claim he needed against the “do no harm” to his mate. “I can use magic to prep,” he said slowly. “It will help, but if you’re in any pain…”

“I will tell you,” Enda said fiercely. “I’m not a martyr or a victim. But you have to be in me, and I need to bite you. I don’t know why, but there are some instincts I can’t and won’t ignore.”

Giorgio could argue against the words – he was sure a couple of his packmates had bonded with their fated ones without penetrative sex - but he promised Enda he would have what he wanted, and truth be told, he desperately wanted that too.

“You are so precious,” he said instead, kissing under Enda’s chin and sucking up a mark. Enda relaxed against him, and as he moved his lips back to Enda’s mouth, their kisses quickly became heated again.

Grazing his fingers over Enda’s hole, Giorgio used his magic, determined the experience would be pleasurable for his mate. Enda’s cock was hard on his abs, and once Enda started rubbing against him, Giorgio slowly inserted a finger, testing that his magic was doing its job.

Enda moaned, his cock leaving streaks of precome on Giorgio’s torso. Rolling them over, Giorgio sat up, taking Enda with him. “Spread your legs across mine,” he said, helping Enda get into position. “I’m going to support your weight, and I want you to control the entry.”

A look of confusion crossed Enda’s face, but then his eyes widened as Giorgio reached behind him, finding his dick, holding that up, and then nudging Enda until his butt and Giorgio’s cock were kissing.

“Ah.” Enda braced his hands on Giorgio’s shoulders. “Oooooh.”

“Breathe out, little bird. Long and slow. It helps those muscles relax.” Giorgio clenched his jaw as the head of his cock was caught in Enda’s heat. It felt…incredible.

“Just keep breathing, long and slow, that’s right.” Giorgio curled his toes, his butt clenching and his teeth clamped shut. The pressure…the heat…the added sauce that Enda was his mate and that meant forever… “You’re doing good, my mate.”

His voice didn’t squeak. Giorgio would deny that till the end of time. Enda was so focused, looking down as if he could see what was going on behind him, his fingernails leaving gouges in Giorgio’s shoulders.

Time lost all meaning. The only thing in Giorgio’s world in that moment was his precious mate easing his body down Giorgio’s cock. When Enda’s butt finally grazed across the top of Giorgio’s thighs, they both let out a whoosh.

“You doing okay?” Giorgio swallowed hard. If Enda twitched, his balls were unloading. “Take your time. You can move when you’re ready.”

“I did it.” Enda’s face was lit by a huge smile. “You’re in me.”

I don’t need a reminder. Trying to focus on something else, Giorgio kept one hand on Enda’s hip as he cupped his mate’s cock with the other. Enda’s cock wasn’t as hard as before, but with a few strokes of Giorgio’s hand, it quickly hardened.

Unfortunately for Giorgio, when Enda’s arousal increased, he started to move. Giorgio’s orgasm was already lurking, and with Enda moving his body up and down Giorgio’s shaft, his balls thought it was party time.

Giorgio tightened his hold on Enda’s cock. He was determined that Enda would climax first. But Giorgio’s senses were being bombarded with a level of sexiness he’d never experienced before. The smell of Enda’s arousal, the feel of Enda’s cock in his hand, his deep moans as he moved his body, reminding Giorgio of the world’s most sensual lap dancer.

In desperation, Giorgio tilted his neck. Enda let out a low growl, lurching forward and sinking his teeth into the ridge where neck and shoulder met. Spunk coated Giorgio’s fingers as his release pulsed into Enda’s body. Enda didn’t linger at his neck for long, licking over the bite and then tilting his own neck.

But we don’t… Giorgio did it anyway. His body rocked into back to back orgasms as Enda’s blood coated his tongue. Enda moaned long and low, a sound of pure pleasure as Giorgio followed his mate’s lead, licking over the wound that was already healing.

Thank you, my mate. Giorgio jolted as he heard his mate’s voice in his head. Then he chuckled as Enda slumped in his arms, brushing his hair from his sweaty face, a wide grin on his face, as his eyes half-closed. Giorgio understood the feeling. A double orgasm would do that to a person.