Page 11

Imri

We caught our breaths while still locked together in a tangle of limbs on the forest floor. My mate tucked under me, my body weight held off him with straining muscles. With us locked together, I could feel his rapid puffs of air against my sweaty neck. He was napping nicely, a content smile on his pretty face.

All I wanted to do was bite him, mark him, keep him. None of that was possible. All we would have was tonight. Just this one wild heat, then I would have to tell him not to come back even if it broke my heart.

Holding him close, I let him sort of doze while he was out of it, lust drunk on our mixed pheromones and his heat. Every so often, he would wiggle and nuzzle my chest. Adorable.

Too soon, my knot went down, allowing me to pull free from his body. I slumped back on my ass, the buzz of need under my skin like an itch I couldn’t scratch.

He was on me suddenly, rocking in my lap as he licked up my throat.

“Can I suck you?”

“That’s just your heat. We should talk about this.”

“Can’t,” he panted, still rocking and mouthing kisses along my jaw. “Need you.”

I grasped his shoulders, gripping him even as he tried to lean into me. “You have to understand, this is a one-time thing. Just this heat. One night, that’s all.”

He struggled against me. “I need you.”

“Do you understand what I’m saying?” My frustration was growing. I wanted him so badly, but he was all wrong for me.

Finally, his eyes met mine. “Only tonight? Why?”

“We aren’t a good fit. I can give you this because you need it and I don’t want to leave you in pain.”

“But won’t us having this make it hurt more?”

Maybe he had a point. Greed for him had me in its clutches. “Don’t you want the memories of when you fucked a stranger through your heat in the middle of the woods? ”

“It does sound daring. Not like anything I’d normally do,” he agreed with some hesitation.

“I can take you home right now if you want? The worst of your heat is coming, but I could get you back before then.”

Waiting those moments for him to decide, while he was still perched on my lap, naked and smelling divine, was pure torture.

“If I can only have one night, then that’s what I want,” he finally said. This time, there was a determined look in his blue eyes. He had them locked on me and, as I watched him, he smirked. “Now can I suck you? I really want a taste.”

“Have at it.”

He slid off my lap in a fluid move, brushing his slender body along my very interested cock. On his knees on the forest floor, he nuzzled my balls before licking along my length. His hum of pleasure at the taste of my precome sent shivers down my spine.

Using one hand to jerk the shaft, my mate sucked on the tip, his eyes sparkled in the dimming light. Slowly, he took me deeper. The guy had skill, taking my length into his throat with apparent ease.

We were made for each other, I guess. It was a sobering thought. Here I was, getting the best blow job of my life, knowing I’d be ruined for anyone else, and remembering I had a duty to the kids in my care.

The feeling of his hot, wet mouth around my cock had my balls drawing up.

“Wait! I don’t want to come in your mouth.”

“That good, huh?” My little beast smirked once more. He was a naughty brat in need of taming.

“You’re gonna need my knot very soon. Did you bring a flashlight or anything? I want to watch you ride me.” Controlling the rut was hard. Harder than my very interested cock. Once was not enough with this little omega.

His smile widened. “I did!” He crawled towards his clothes, drew a flashlight out of a cloth bag, and laid his shirt on the ground next to me. “Better than nothing,” he explained.

With the compact lantern illuminating the small clearing we were in, I lay back on the t-shirt, which smelled of my mate. I pulled him on top of me, taking a taste from that perfect mouth. His whimpers and sighs as I touched him lit me up inside.

I ran my hands down his body, squeezed his pert ass, then traced a finger down his crease. He easily took a finger, still pretty open from the last time. I quickly added two more and pumped them in and out of him.

His body responded with another burst of pheromones as his temperature rose. This time, when I knotted him, I’d probably hit his womb.

He wriggled, moaning louder as I hit his prostate. Slick covered my fingers. He was getting desperate to be filled with my cock.

I couldn’t stop kissing him. My tongue wrapped around his. I swallowed his groans while I moved him so I could spear him on my cock. The rut, the need to breed him taking over.

Body taut at the sudden invasion, my mate broke the kiss to wheeze out a few breaths.

“So deep!”

Planting my feet, I pumped my hips, pushing deeper inside his body with each movement. Holy shit, he felt so good! His inner walls pressed down on my shaft, trying to suck me back inside where I belonged.

He put his hands on my chest and pushed himself up until he was seated on my dick, the tip resting against the mouth of his womb.

Rocking in place, he gasped, “yes, there!” a look of ecstasy on his face. His movements became more frantic as he worked his hips to get my cock exactly where he wanted: inside his womb so I could breed him. Chances of a pregnancy taking were incredibly slim. I’d ask him to take a potion, just in case. Hell, he’d probably do it without me asking. This was one and done, after all.

Come streaked my chest while he moaned from a long orgasm. He looked ready to melt onto my chest. I held him upright, my hips thrusting, pushing past the last of the resistance to get to his womb.

I’d never felt anything like it! Utterly incredible! The spasms around me sucked my cockhead deeper in, sparks of pleasure tingling down my spine to my balls. My knot expanded in a blink and I came.

Drawing him down gently, I wrapped my arms around him, letting him rest once more.

Later, I used his jeans, because his shirt was toast, to cover the stump, and fucked him over it again, breaching his womb once more.

We lay in a patch of grass for what would be the last of his heat. I wanted to take things slower, really savor the experience, but the little beast was demanding. He wanted to be taken hard and fast. He came twice before he passed out, my knot tying us together, my come in his womb for the final time.

A small, selfish part of me wanted to leave something behind for him to remember this night by. Rational me didn’t want to ruin my mate’s future with a baby. He could go on, mate with a better alpha, a prey alpha, and have a good life.

Soon I would be a distant memory, no matter how much that hurt.

“Imri?” came Rowan’s hushed voice. “Are you okay?”

“Don’t come any closer. I’m with another shifter and we’re both naked.”

“Oh…Oh! Do you need anything?”

“His clothes are here, ruined, but they’ll have to do. He’s knocked out. Maybe a blanket if you can get one?”

“If you cover him, I could maybe force a shift. I found your clothes. Had to take another path because the one you took was too overgrown. ”

I was still stuck on him being able to force a shift. “You can do that?”

“What?”

“Force a shift?” I reached for my mate’s clothes to cover him as I picked up the sounds of Rowan nearing us.

“It’s not something I like to do, but Mom taught us how to do it just in case the town sent shifters after us. A wolf can’t use a gun and it’s easier to get away from most animals.”

Fuck! Just how scared was Agnes that the town would turn on her kids? I hated that she was so stuck there was nowhere for her to turn. Having Uncle Malik protecting them must have felt like such a blessing.

“Okay, he’s covered. You can come closer now.”

Rowan’s eyes rounded when he saw the sleeping omega in my arms, his modesty covered by his ripped shirt. Seemed the man had been a little hasty when undressing, then our use of it did the rest. Heat really did a number on omegas.

“Hold on.” Rowan made a complicated motion with his fingers. In response, his magic flared, turning the man in my arms to the cute beast he’d been before. I laid him down carefully and pulled on my clothes.

“What is it?”

“No idea, some kind of rodent, maybe?” I said, while shoving my feet into my sneakers Rowan had thoughtfully bought. I grabbed up the bag and torch my mate had brought. He was well prepared for a hike through the woods.

“It has back feet like a kangaroo.”

“Use your phone and look it up.”

Teaching Rowan how to use tech was hilarious. He and the kids had had a pretty basic phone to contact Malik, but I’d ordered better devices with a heap of apps for them to use for their schooling. Berry and Sandy were much quicker at picking things up and already shared a tablet with educational programs. Yeah, I’d looked into a homeschooling curriculum. It had been a busy week. They were awesome at using the web, Rowan not so much. He preferred to stick to books.

“This says it’s a quokka. They are a marsupial, native to what is Australia in the human world. So it’s a prey shifter, right?”

“Yeah, an omega, too.” This close to it, I still could pick up the subtle omega pheromones designed to trigger an alpha’s protective response. The last of his heat was done. We were out of the worst part.

“Is that… bad? You’re an alpha, right?” Rowan blushed. “You, um, had sex. I can smell it.” He wrinkled his nose.

“Yeah, we did. Don’t worry, I’ve got control of myself, I’m not in a rut anymore. He’s safe with us.” Years of practice made my words sound certain. I didn’t tell Rowan this was my mate.

Picking him up, I followed Rowan, who had conjured some light for us now it was so late.

“Sorry I was so long. He, uh, went into heat. Really fucking stupid of him. Dangerous. If it was anyone else…” my words trailed off.

“It’s, uh… it’s fine. I just got worried.” I could hear the lingering anxiety. His scent was tinged with the bitterness of it.

“You better not have thought I wasn’t coming back.”

The look of shame on his face told me he had feared it.

“Kid, you’re mine. You’ll never lose me, okay?” This was why I had to get rid of the little quokka, as cute as he was.

I laid the creature on the sofa. The movement must have jostled him out of sleep. He shifted back into his human form and reared back, readying a scream at the change of place. His nose twitched. He took a deep breath and practically yelled.

“Where am I?”

“My house.”

“Are we going to bond now? I feel so good after my heat, thank you.” His cheeks reddened prettily. He had dirt smeared over his body, leaves in his hair. I’d never seen anything so beautiful. His scent beckoned me to him, demanding I protect him.

“No. We’re not. Remember? One and done. I’m going to take you home.”

“What? I thought you were kidding! You’re my fated mate!”

His eyes strayed to Rowan. Who did he think he was? Did he think he could shame me into accepting him or something? Anger rose inside me.

“No, I’m not,” I automatically denied while looking him over.

He stood, bristling with anger, and I got a better look at him under the lights of the living room. He was shorter than me. Omegas usually were. He was maybe five-eight to my six-three. His pale skin was flushed, his pheromones working overtime to allure me into protecting him. His beautiful blue eyes welled with tears.

“You are!” he cried. He drew closer to me, his nose still sniffing out my scent. I tried not to groan at his proximity.

“I can smell me all over you. You shared my heat with me. You can see how good we can be together! Why can’t we be mates?

“I’m a dingo, remember? That’s why I can’t. Predators and prey aren’t a good match.“ I latched onto any excuse to get him out of my house.

He paused, just a moment’s hesitation before he shrugged it off. “You still smell like my fated mate.” He obviously had no survival instincts. “Fate clearly doesn’t care what either of us are.”

Slumping down on the sofa, he pulled a throw blanket over himself to avoid Rowan’s gaze. I was grateful for that, the alpha in me demanding we stop anyone else from looking at our mate.

“Well, I care. It matters to me.” I crossed my arms over my chest defensively while I lied my ass off. “You’re just confused,” I added. “You were going into heat, found me attractive, kissed me and got caught up in the hormones. When your heat started, I got pulled into a rut. Basic biology. We had fun, but that’s all this was.” I felt like the biggest asshole.

One glance at Rowan told me he was watching us avidly. “Rowan, could you get…”

“Sully,” the quokka offered his name. A cute name, too.

“Yeah, could you get Sully something else to wear. His clothes are ruined. I’ll give him a ride back into town.”

I needed him out of my house immediately. He was too tempting, but I had three reasons to deny what he claimed. A mate like him would draw far too much attention.

“Okay.” Rowan kept glancing between us. His magic stayed at bay, which I was grateful for. Sully hadn’t tried to pick up his scent, a small miracle.

“Thanks,” I said in a soft voice, not showing the strain of having this too sweet shifter near me. Everything about this sucked.

“What’s your name?” Sully asked when Rowan left us alone.

“That’s nothing you need to know. I take it you live in town?”

He wasn’t in the least bit offended at my rudeness. “Yeah. I work at the hotel. I’m not long back from college. ”

Okay, so he hadn’t been lying, he was twenty-two like he said. I wondered vaguely what he’d studied, and if he’d gotten his degree. The pull to him was so strong! Wasn’t like I could ask him anything since it would suggest I was interested in him.

“Great. I’ll take you home,” I repeated. “Or do you have a car I can take you to?”

“Scooter.”

“We can put it in the back of my truck.”

“Do I really not get to know your name?” he asked with a sexy pout.

“No.”

Rowan returned quickly with a t-shirt and sweatpants more likely to fit Sully’s lean form than they would my taller and wider frame, meaning they were his. I didn’t like the thought of my mate in another guy’s clothes, but it was better than giving anything of mine.

“Here,” he handed my things over, phone and my keys. I was grateful he didn’t say my name. “I’ll watch Sandy and Berry until you come back.”

I ruffled his hair. “Go back to bed at least. Even if you don’t sleep, try to rest.”

“Okay. ”

Sully tried to hide his interest in what we were talking about as he put on the borrowed clothes. He followed me out to my truck once he’d dressed, unable to delay any longer. I noticed he was limping, except I didn’t comment on it. He was mobile enough to get outside without help.

“Have you lived here long?” Sully put on his seatbelt, not acting at all bothered that a predator shifter had found him asleep and vulnerable in a bush then had a wild night of sex with the same guy.

“A little over a week. Do you always go shifting in the woods at night? This isn’t the first time you’ve wandered into my territory.” I turned the truck onto the dirt path out to the road.

He blushed. “I… it’s against the rules—“

“To go into the woods alone. Which is why I asked.”

“Huh, so you know the town rules?”

“Yeah, I’ve been made aware. Got one of those inhibitor thingys.”

“You don’t sound like you’re a fan of the town?”

“Astute, aren’t you? No, I’m not. Look, let’s find your stuff and get you home.” We made it to the main road and I pulled onto it, heading towards Haenvale.

“Oh, there!” Sully pointed at a copse of trees. The one I’d found myself staring at a time or two. I stopped the truck and hopped out to get the scooter and helmet. I put them in the truck bed easily, then returned to the driver’s seat. “Thank you for this. My house is just over that side.” He directed me further into the town.

We were quiet for a moment. His scent was everywhere. I wished he’d put his inhibitor back on. I could see it poking out the pocket of his jeans on his lap.

“Are those your kids? Do you have a mate? Is that why you won’t tell me your name? Is that why we can’t bond?” Sully fiddled with the hem of the borrowed t-shirt.

“I adopted them. No, I don’t. You don’t need to know my name because we shouldn’t be together. I’m not your fated, Sully.”

“Why not?” he asked, latching onto my reason against us.

“I don’t think anyone in this town would like it.” I stopped the truck. “This close enough?”

“Yeah,” he said, sadly. “That’s my house there.” He pointed in the direction of a large house, outside lights shining. When he made no move to open the door, I leaned across him to open it. He unclipped his belt and turned to face me. “Thanks for bringing me home. Maybe I’ll see you around?”

I got out to put his scooter on the road behind the truck facing his house. When I returned to the cab, he was still looking at me.

He was so obviously hopeful that I would change my mind about him, it crushed me to say no. He was a complication I hadn’t considered. Why would I have thought I’d meet my mate in this wretched town?

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said, slowly. “You should stay away from the woods, Sully. Be safe, okay?”

“Could I have one more kiss? I wanted to remember this night properly.”

Leaning into him, I brushed my lips over his.

His fingers grasped my head, his mouth met mine again. He kissed me deeply, his tongue plunging into my mouth. There was a tinge of desperation in this sensual assault. My cock thickened against my thigh as his pheromones filled the cab of the truck.

He broke away. “How about once more? Then I won’t bother you again.” I think we both knew that would be a lie.

Sully was a drug and I feared I was addicted.