Page 6

Chapter

Six

E yre sat in the sumptuous bedroom at Rian’s house and just sort of stared.

How had he ended up here?

He was in an alpha’s guest bedroom. He had his own bathroom. And somehow there was a pile of clothes neatly stacked on the bed. When he glanced at them, they were all his size. Sweaters. Sweatshirts. Fuzzy socks. Clothes that were meant for comfort and warmth. He even had a fluffy robe. It was weird.

Weird and incredibly sweet. They’d come back after their meeting with Symon and Adrian in Boulder, and he was embarrassed to admit he’d fallen asleep. And when the car stopped in Rian’s driveway, Quin wasn’t in it anymore. They must have dropped him off. And there he was in this huge old house again.

It was a little nuts.

Maybe a lot nuts. Wild.

But he didn’t feel in danger here. There was even a lock on the bedroom door. He’d taken a second blessed long, hot shower. And now he wore jammies. Like real pajamas with little stripes on the fabric. Curled up in his bed, watching television.

And trying not to panic.

He was really thirsty. A bit hungry, and he thought Rian wouldn’t mind if he scooted downstairs and did his thing. Got a glass of milk maybe? A cookie. Surely there was a cookie? He opened the door, quiet as a mouse. Eyre tiptoed down the massive staircase to the gleaming kitchen.

Thinking milk. Maybe cheese. A cookie.

Another little round of tapas. Finger food was great, but he was damn hungry all the time, and he’d been on his own so long that he hadn’t been able to stuff his face…

Not that the pizza hadn’t been great too.

There were two kinds of cookies in jars sitting on one of the counters. He lifted lids to sniff them, and one was oatmeal scotchies, and one was maybe ginger snaps?

He’d noticed that Rian didn’t really like chocolate with the dessert options they’d had with the tapas.

Too bad none of them had raisins… He loved raisins.

He wasn’t used to having so many options. But he was careful. He took one of each type of cookie, a couple of slices of cheese and a big glass of milk. Arranging it on the plate, Eyre sat at the pass-through, perching on one of the barstools.

Oh, he was hungry. The cheese smelled so yummy. His nose twitched. Eyre paused, making himself wait. Making himself enjoy the anticipation, the knowledge that there was food there and…oh, were there any more garlic rolls?

He knew there had been some leftovers. Where would Rian keep them? Surely he could find whatever they’d been stored in.

He started sniffing. Eyes closed, head up. All he had to do was focus on the garlic.

There. He kept his eyes closed because it heightened his other senses, and he followed his nose to another counter, where a sealed container had been tucked into a breadbox.

“Woo.” He did a little dance. “Excellent. Now, is there ranch?”

“In the fridge. The leftover pizza is in there too.” Rian’s voice had him jumping a foot off the ground, spinning around, and holding out his hands like he would karate chop Rian.

Except he was holding a roll in each hand.

“Super-fox garlic knot fighting?” Rian asked, one eyebrow rising.

“You don’t know, it could be a thing.” He was not going to die of embarrassment. He was not. He wouldn’t. It was not a thing.

He was totally going to die of embarrassment right here.

“I’m sorry, but you said I could come have a snack if I wanted to.”

“No reason to be sorry. I was doing the same thing. You mind if I join you?”

“Of course not.” It was Rian’s house. Eyre would never complain about Rian wanting to eat in his own kitchen. “Is it okay that I got garlic bread?”

“Oh, honey, you can have anything you want.”

His cheeks heated. “I got cheese, cookies, and garlic bread.”

“Well, let me grab the pizza, and we can have a snack together.”

“Okay.” The idea made him happy right now. Late night, with the whole house quiet, he liked the idea of being with Rian.

“Do you want to sit at the table?”

“Let’s couch. I’m not formal.” That was surprising.

“Cool.” He gave Rian a tentative grin and got a wide, approving smile in return.

Rian heated up pizza in the toaster oven, which was more high-tech than anything he’d ever seen, then led him to sit on the couch, going back to get the ranch before coming to sit. “I figure caffeine would be bad at this point.”

“Probably, if you want to sleep.” He was a bit of a night owl, if he was honest.

“Eventually. I work a lot at night. I’m not a club guy like Quin, but I’m not exactly diurnal, either.”

“You’re a lawyer, right? Do you like it?” He was an artist, or he wanted to be. He really wasn’t, yet.

“I do most of the time, yes. I enjoy the intricacy of the law. Sometimes, it does get bogged down and I want to do things Quin’s way, though…” Rian’s wry look made him laugh.

“Yes. Quin is like a hammer—to a nail, to glass, to a skull…”

“That’s exactly it.” Rian clinked their milk glasses together.

They shared a warm grin, which was totally not what he wanted to do. Eyre sat back, though, gnawing on a garlic knot. He needed to put some distance between them before he crawled into Rian’s lap.

Because God, he wanted to. He wanted to snuggle in and rest.

Rian made him feel super safe, which was probably silly, but there it was.

Rian rumbled softly, the sub-vocal growl vibrating in his soul.

He caught his breath, his fingers twitching against the urge to reach out.

“I don’t want you to think I’m trying to pressure you or take advantage of you, Eyre. Say the word, and I’ll go back to bed alone…”

“I don’t want you to go.” Eyre leaned so close.

“Good.” Rian’s mouth closed over his, lips warm and heated and just right.

He melted into Rian’s chest, his heart pounding hard against the big wolf’s.

Rian slid a hand up his back, holding him close, fingers closing on his nape. His toes clenched, and he opened up, just allowing Rian in.

That rough tongue invaded his mouth, Rian tasting him, making him moan. He wrapped his arms around Rian’s neck, not sure what else to do, what to touch first.

It was pure insanity, the way that Rian made him feel. He didn’t know this man. But deep down, he felt a connection to him. Impossible to explain, but it was there, a shining thread that throbbed between them.

Mate.

Shh. He was fiercely hard, his balls tight and aching.

Mmmm. We’ll revisit that later. Rian kissed him as if there was nothing else he wanted to do, as if Eyre was all he desired.

Rian’s hands dragged over his skin, crossing his eyes and making him gasp and grunt.

Maybe Rian could be the one to give him what he needed. What he wanted so bad. He needed an alpha who could be a gentle lover but also a dominant one with a strong hand.

That had been what all his friends had been looking for. They all had that in common, and they had decided not to be ashamed of it.

Still, he wasn’t going to—He needed Rian to understand.

There’s nothing you can’t tell me. Rian squeezed his ass, and he had to wonder when he had moved to sit on Rian’s lap.

I can’t. I don’t… He didn’t want to be turned away.

I do . Rian kissed him again. Anything you want. I’m relieved, to be honest. I’m… adventurous.

He was all about adventure. He wanted to be…pushed beyond himself.

Rian chuckled, the sound a puff of hot air against his lips, then he was moving, flying, almost, as Rian rose, carrying him toward the stairs.

“What about the food?”

“It’s fine.” Rian wasn’t concerned, that much was obvious.

“But I?—”

“We’ll come back for our snack. I promise I don’t have mice.” Rian forged up the stairs like he weighed nothing.

“No, but I bet you don’t have cats, either…”

“Well, no.” Rian laughed. “They wouldn’t get along with the dog. But honestly. Quin and I are way less likely than Symon to have pets. We’re not as domesticated.”

“Mmm…” That was a delicious thought, wasn’t it?

Something in the way Rian had promised to help his friends had really allowed him to open up and turn a corner, and he could feel how much Rian wanted him. Like in his soul.

He snuggled in, his lips parted, tongue flicking out to taste Rian’s skin.

“Oh, now. That’s cheating since I have to focus on not dropping you,” Rian teased.

“No dropping. I’ll whine.” He wouldn’t, but he could tease.

“I would never hurt you, love. Well, not in that way. In ways you wanted me to? I could hurt you so good.”

His balls pulled up, his dick so hard it actually hurt for a moment. “Okay. I need a little. You know?”

“Just a little, sweet?” Rian strode down a long hallway, then pushed into a huge bedroom suite that had to be the master. And it looked like something out of the Victorian era, all dark wood and wine-colored rugs, the walls a deep gray color. The bed was…enormous.

“I could get lost in there.” It looked like pure heaven.

“I might have to tie you to a bedpost, so you have an anchor.”

“Ohhh.” He moaned, his body bucking, his dick so hard he could drill holes with it.

How had this happened? How had he gone from zero to one-twenty so fast? He didn’t know, but he knew it was magical and he wasn’t going to waste it, even if he had to go back to the street tomorrow.

He landed on the bed gently, Rian staring down at him, eyes all but glowing.

“You’re not going to be back on the street. You will not.”

“How do you hear me?”

“I don’t know, love. I just do.” Rian stripped off his robe before leaning in to nuzzle Eyre’s jaw.

“Oh.” He felt Rian’s heat all along his body, and he moaned, the sensations rushing through him making him jerk, his hips rocking.

“Mmm…you taste like mine.”

Goddess, he needed that to be true. He stroked the hair at Rian’s nape, letting his fingers test the silkiness. “I want you to like how I taste.”

“I do, sweet fox. I like you, balls to bones.”

“You haven’t seen my balls yet.” He clapped his free hand over his mouth. God, he was an idiot.

Rian chuckled softly, nuzzling his fingers.

He jumped again, because that shouldn’t be so sexual. “That tickles?”

“Are you telling me or asking me?”

“Telling.” That much he could do. He snorted. He felt like such a dork. And, okay, he was, but in this case, even more so. Rian was so…effortlessly alpha. So in control.

“Oh, make no mistake, sweet. You push me to the very edge of control. I want to do very bad things to you. Not like that ass you and Quin encountered, true, but that doesn’t diminish the need.” Rian pressed a kiss to his wrist.

He shivered again, his nipples drawn up, his hips rolling. “I—yes.”

“Good. Now, about seeing those balls…”

He felt as if Rian wanted him to take this step, to bare himself and prove that he was here of his own will, so he rose and shimmied out of the fancy, new pajamas.

“I want you. I’m not scared.”

Excited. Aroused. Curious. Anticipating. Aching—all of those. Not frightened.

Once the pants were off his ankles, he dared to spread, exposing himself fully.

“I’m glad, sweet.” Rian touched him, but only between his legs, palm flat against his sac, lifting and testing his balls. The touch sent him up on his tiptoes, a noise coming out of him that might have embarrassed him at any other time. “So responsive. So perfect.”

“I’m just a fox.”

Rian squeezed just the tiniest bit, which was agony and pleasure all at once. “Shhh. You’re perfect.”

He didn’t feel perfect. But he wasn’t gonna argue. He felt as if he was running a fever, first hot, then cold, shivers running along his spine in delicious waves. But he didn’t feel sick; he didn’t feel bad.

He felt like he was just beginning to come to life.

Eyre leaned down into the touch, rocking his hips, giving himself just a little more of that delicious aching pressure that made his eyes cross.

“Pushy little bottom.” The deep, rumbling growl in Rian’s voice dared to send him over the edge just like that. “I’m going to make you so happy, little fox. I’m going to turn you inside out, learn everything about you, and then teach you even more.”

“Okay.” His voice broke on the single word, because that hand slid to the base of his cock, Rian circling him with those long fingers and pulling.

His breath whooshed out, and he arched, his muscles pulling up so tight he worried he might cramp.

“Look at you dance for me, baby.” Rian laughed, then kissed him so hard his ears rang.

His entire body was threatening to light on fire, his eyes rolling right back in his head. He just did what his body told him to do, his breath coming in pants.

He wanted more, so he rubbed against that hand holding him even as he tugged at Rian’s shirt.

“Do you want my skin, sweet?”

“I do. I want to see you.” Touch you, taste you…

He wanted everything, but most importantly he wanted to please Rian, to make the wolf hungry.

“Let me, then.” Rian scooted him back, and he moaned, not wanting to lose the contact. Still, that meant Rian was out of his clothes, and that was an amazing thing.

“Oh.” His eyes widened. Rian was gorgeous from the waist up when he took his shirt off. Broad-chested, well-muscled, with flat brown nipples. He was the very picture of a hero from a movie or a book. And so much hotter than that too.

Then Rian started on his pants, and that long, thick cock sprang free, making his eyes widen even more and his mouth drop open. He might have drooled some.

Goddess. That was stunning. And the scent of Rian overwhelmed him.

“Do you like what you see, sweet?”

“I love it.” He grinned, because a foot of space had let him breathe again, which was good. Very good. Sometimes, a guy needed to be able to suck in some air and make his higher brain work again.

Not that he was thinking with anything but his basic brain, looking at that amazing cock.

He reached out, then pulled back.

“Touch me, sweet.”

He bit his lower lip, then reached out and took Rian in hand. He stroked, maybe a little too softly, but he wanted to get a feel for that amazing hardness wrapped in velvet skin. He wanted to know what Rian liked. How he enjoyed being touched.

Rian wasn’t shy. He pressed his fingers around Eyre’s. “Harder, love.”

He nodded. He thought maybe Rian liked it to burn a little. He understood that. He liked his ass to feel that way. He wondered if Rian would be happy or appalled by that thought.

“What are you thinking to put such a sparkle in your eyes?” Rian asked.

“How much I want you to spank me.” He blurted it out, then made a sharp little barking noise, his own words making him jump and let go of Rian.

Rian gently brought his hand back to wrap around the base of that rigid cock. “Next time, sweet. This time is for us to get to know each other. How we feel and smell and what we like.”

“Then you’re not mad?”

“Gods no. I love the idea that we share our needs. I am happy to do just what you ask. Next time.” Rian pulled Eyre back over into his lap. He took Eyre in hand, rubbing him in time to Eyre’s motion on his cock.

This was the best way. Rian was right. This way, he could watch Rian’s face as he stroked and pulled and rubbed his thumb over the slit at the head of Rian’s cock. He could lick his lips and then beg kisses and let Rian drive him higher and higher.

He groaned, his body rocking back and forth, his skin on fire. His balls drew up tight against his body, and his ass clenched, so empty. So wet.

He panted, his head hanging low. “Soon.”

“Yes. Soon, love. Look at me?”

He met Rian’s gaze, the heat there unstoppable, and he came when Rian squeezed his cock, his seed arcing out of him.

Moaning, Rian fucked his hand for a few more seconds, then spent as well, the scent of him strong and musky and so wonderful that Eyre felt tears prickle his eyes.

“That’s it. That’s it, sweet. Mmm. You feel amazing.”

He laughed, something in his chest loosening, trying to break free. He did feel amazing. He felt…cared for.

Rian grinned at him, stroking his back. “Now we’ve worked up more of an appetite for that snack.”

“I had no idea,” Eyre said, wonder filling his heart.

“No idea what?” Rian asked, kissing his nose.

“That making love could be fun.”