by J. D. Light
"So, you want it to be a thing?"
I narrowed my eyes on him, pinching his side. "What the hell did you just tell me? You know how this works. I've never in my life heard of the mate pull ever being one-sided. You are the other half of my soul. There isn't anything about you I would change."
He frowned, tilting his head to the side as he looked off over my shoulder.
"What?" I asked, feeling suddenly nervous. Had I been wrong?
"If there isn't anything about you that I don't like, and there isn't anything about me that you don't like, and that's the way it's supposed to be between mates, does that mean Thompsyn puts up with Bennett's shit… because he likes it."
My eyes widened at the horror of having Bennett as a mate, period, but to think that Thompsyn might actually like the crazy-ass things his mate did seemed completely unfathomable to me.
"Thompsyn might be a giant freak."
"Gabriel isn't much better off," he mumbled, making me laugh.
He was right about that. West might not be quite as obnoxious as Bennett, but the man had a tendency to push people to the point of wanting to beat him to death. I'd gotten close several times while we were babysitting those two celebrities after West kidnapped them. Lane wasn't big on violence if he could avoid it, and there had been times I thought I was going to have to save West from the burly sweetheart.
"You are definitely right about that."
"Should we be judging people by their mates?" he asked, still smirking."
"Oh definitely. If we don't judge them by their mates, what else are we going to judge them by?"
He chuckled, leaning in to press his mouth against mine again. I thought it might have been meant to show affection, but come on, he was my mate, and he was fucking delicious and naked and as soon as our lips touched, my body took over, and I jerked him close, pressing us together from thigh to chest once more.
We moaned in tandem, our tongues meeting and sliding together as I clutched at his back and he clutched at mine, one hand sliding down to slip beneath the towel and cup my ass.
The towel loosened, and I knew if I were to step back then, it would fall to the floor completely, but I didn't care. Just one less thing I needed to do.
"Do you have lube?" I asked breathlessly, pressing my dick against his through the terry cloth. "I didn't think I'd be getting claimed on this trip, so I didn't bring any."
He pulled back, swallowing as he looked into my eyes. "You want me to claim you?"
Raising my eyebrows, I blinked at him in surprised confusion, tilting my head to the side. "Of course, I want you to claim me. Did you not want to?"
"Have you… What? Of course, I want to claim you," he said, shaking his head like he couldn't believe I'd asked that.
Moving quick enough to startle me, he headed over to his side of the bed, and my towel fell to the floor, pooling around my feet. I stared down at my pulsing dick, biting my lip at how engorged and red it was.
I desperately wanted to wrap my hand around it, but I wasn't completely sure I had any control left in my body, or that I wouldn’t blow as soon as I touched it.
I looked up at Renn to find him walking around the room, looking completely confused, and maybe not all that focused, and I chuckled.
"What are you doing?" I asked, drawing his attention.
He opened his mouth, to answer me, and froze. Like seriously, he froze. Mid step, mid forming words… possibly mid breath, but his eyes moved. They moved over every inch of me.
It was completely flattering and arousing as hell to have someone so perfect eyeing me like that.
"What?" he asked after a moment, and I froze too, not really sure.
"What?" I asked back, needing clarification.
"You said something."
"Are you sure?"
"Fuck, I want you," he groaned, moving toward me before freezing again and holding up a finger. "Lube!"
"Oh. Yeah. We need that. Lube. I need you and the lube."
Why do I sound like a fucking idiot?
"I have some," he said, still standing where he'd frozen the second time, still staring at me.
I nodded, waiting… nothing. "Where is it?" I asked after a few moments. "Do I need to find it for you?"
"Hmm?" He jumped, shaking his head. "No, I have it. I…" He cringed slightly, giving me a strained smile. "I came prepared, just in case I'd been right about who you were to me."
I nodded, not really caring why… Okay, that wasn't true. I'd probably have lost my shit if he'd told me he brought it because he was planning on going to find someone else to fuck. It probably wasn't logical since we hadn't been together, but sometimes being logical was overrated.
"Then go get it."
We needed to stop standing around completely naked just staring at each other. We were two hot and ready mates, and we needed to get this fucking show on the road before I lost my fucking mind.
Blinking, he shook his head hard enough to rattle his brain, and then he was off, looking for his bag again, but apparently, not making any progress. Where the hell was his bag?
Moving around the side of the bed, I could clearly see it right there on the floor. In fact, he'd stepped over it twice while he'd paced back and forth, clearly in a daze.
I chuckled, walking over to it, and reaching inside to move my hand all around, looking for the bottle of lube and finding it with ease.
"Are you going to be okay," I asked skeptically. "Should I give you a minute to come to terms while I get myself ready?"
"No!" he said quickly, turning to give me a hurt look. "I want to get you ready." He dropped his head, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I really thought I would be a little more in control than this, but… I guess I wasn't prepared for it to be like this.
I smiled, walking over to him and sliding my arms around his waist. "I know exactly what you mean," I whispered, groaning when our bodies melded together. "It's all more than I was prepared for."
"I always made fun of people who acted so ridiculous over their mates," he said, grinning. "I knew it was supposed to be unlike anything else, but I just didn't see how it could be so much it would make you move across the world for someone, or completely give up everything else just to be close to them." Gripping my face, he pulled my head closer, brushing my lips with his. "I get it now."
"It's a good thing we both have the same goals and have already pretty much committed to living in Purdy."
He nodded, sliding his hands down my neck and over my shoulders and all the way down my arms, one hand peeling the bottle from my fingers while the other slipped around my waist, tugging me more fully against him, pressing our dicks together.
I gasped when his hand slid over my ass, and he pressed his mouth to mine, dipping his tongue inside and rolling it with mine. I rolled my hips, grinding against him while reaching up to wrap my arms around his shoulders.
I loved kissing him already. I loved the way he tasted and how he felt against me. I loved the way our mouths moved together, almost like they were in a choreographed dance. I'd never get sick of the euphoria that moved through me when our mouths came together.
Wet fingers found my crack and slid the length of it before settling over my hole, and I moaned into his mouth, once again rolling my hips against his.
He pressed against my hole, sliding one finger inside, slowly but firmly. The stretch reminded me that it had been a really long time since I'd done this, but I welcomed the burn and fullness, almost immediately wanting more.
He continued to lick and suck at my mouth as he stretched me, his breathing growing more and more labored by the second as a near constant rolling growl moved though him into me. Our dicks leaked between us, making the slide of our bodies unbelievably delicious, and by the time he had me stretched and ready, I was a shaking mass of need in his arms, my skin feverish and tight.
Moving us toward the bed, he continued to kiss me until the backs of my legs hit the mattress, and then he pulled back, g
ripping my sides and surprising me, by lifting me up and slightly tossing me backward on the bed.
I laughed as I bounced on the mattress and laughed again when he pounced on top of me, his mouth immediately going to mine and pressing me back against the bed.
"I never really thought of myself as the pick up and toss type, but I could get used to that if you think your back can take it."
"I'll show you what my back can take," he growled against my mouth, settling his body between my legs and rubbing his lips back and forth over mine.
Gripping my knees, he lifted, pressing my thighs up beside us, spreading me open before pulling his hips back and pressing the head of his leaking cock against my hole, then pushing inside. Once again easing inside me slowly but firmly, letting my body become familiar with his.
When my ass was pressed against the cradle of his hips, he shuddered, groaning against my mouth. "You are so fucking hot and tight, Dylan. I'm scared to even move."
I shivered, my body primed and full and absolutely desperate for the feel of him moving inside me. "Please," I whined, surprising myself with the odd way I sounded in that moment. "Can you move, Renn? I need you to move."
He groaned, dropping his forehead to mine, and I opened my eyes, once again blown away by the deep purple of his eyes, and how they almost looked like they were a cross somewhere between a human's and a fox's.
He pulled his hips back slowly, making us both gasp at how fucking perfect he felt. When he was almost all the way out, he slammed back in, that time taking far less time to enter me, the tip nailing my prostate as he slid down slightly, angling his dick up perfectly to roll against the sensitive gland inside me, until I was gripping his back hard enough to leave bruises if he'd been a human.
"Fuck, Dylan," he panted, pressing his nose to the crook of my jaw, breathing me in. "I don't ever want to stop doing this, but there is no way I'm going to make it very long.
I could relate. Already, my balls were pulling tight. I could feel my release as it moved and tingles built at the base of my spine.
"Yes," I groaned. "Fuck yes." His hips snapped hard, almost uncoordinated as he began to lose his rhythm, his body coiling.
I threw my head back, yelling loudly as cum exploded from my dick, and I gripped him hard, amazed at just how perfect the moment felt as he grunted out his release against my neck.
He opened his mouth and pressed his teeth against my skin, lightly at first before closing his jaw quickly, his teeth slicing into my shoulder and I gasped and moaned as another wave of ecstasy hit me, and I once again spilled between us, clutching his twitching pulsing body to mine as he too rode out another orgasm.
"Holy shit," I whispered as he licked at my wound, his body still shuddering.
I could feel the connection like a physical force pulling us together. I'd never felt so connected to another being in my life, and if there had been any doubt that this man was my soulmate before that moment, that doubt would have been completely dispelled as my chest expanded with pure joy for the first time in probably my whole life, and I realized that this must be the beginnings of love. I didn't doubt in the slightest that this man was and would always be exactly what I needed. Everything I needed, and when he pulled back to look at me, his eyes wide and amazed, I knew he was feeling it too.
Chapter Six
I groaned as I hit the nasty yellow mat for the eighth time. How the hell could the people running this shit show––who were human––do this so much better than me?
I sat up, glaring at my laughing mate as the rope ladder swung back and forth above my head, meanwhile, a human with monkey-like abilities clambered across the hammock-like rope swing in the next stall, ringing the bell at the end.
If I was inclined to hissy fits, I might have let my claws out and ripped the damn thing down.
"I'm actually embarrassed for you," Dylan said, still laughing. "Aren't foxes supposed to be agile?"
I pointed at my crotch. "Nobody's that agile with a fucking hardon," I pouted, rolling to my feet and hopping down in front of him. "You lifted your shirt on purpose."
"Yeah, to purposely wipe the tears out of my eyes from how embarrassed I was that my mate couldn't walk across the little wood chunks."
I growled, reaching out and pulling him to me before pressing my mouth to his, not at all concerned about the rest of the people at the little pop-up carnival. We were both probably a little unfit for company when we finished, but it was the middle of the day on a weekday, and there weren't all that many people there to witness the things that were happening in our pants.
It was in the low forties and the air was pretty brisk in Santa Fe, but I was warm blooded by nature, and I'd made Dylan bundle up, even as I enjoyed leaning in and kissing the tip of his red nose and nuzzling his red cheeks.
We stopped to get some hot cocoa, and a little boy, probably about eight walked by, staying close to an older girl who was playing on her phone. He stopped in his tracks to look at me, his eyes growing huge as he watched my face, and I gave him a short nod of acknowledgement.
He nodded too but kept staring until he was nearly dragged off of his feet by the girl who'd been walking with him.
"Daniel, what are you doing? Do you want to get me grounded?" she demanded, not even looking at me as she dragged him away.
I could only hope that boy didn't end up getting kidnapped. There was no way that girl would be able to help identify anyone like that, but at least she'd put up the phone.
I knew what had captivated the boy when he looked at me. It happened a lot with kids, because they usually didn't know how to guard their expressions. Adults usually met my eyes and then looked away, not wanting to get caught staring.
I actually preferred the way kids responded, rather than adults.
I took the hot cocoa as Dylan handed it to me, reaching up with the other hand to run my finger along the jagged, ruined flesh that segmented my face. "Do you think I should get this fixed? I was planning on doing it before I met my mate, but you surprised me."
Dylan frowned, reaching up and following the same line I'd drawn with his finger, smiling softly. "Only if you want to, but I like it. I don't like where it came from, and if it bothers you, I'm sure you'll be just as sexy without it, but don't change it because of me."
I blinked, trying to decide if he was telling me the truth, or just trying to make me happy. "You'd be the only reason I'd change it."
He smiled, leaning forward to press a kiss just under my cheek where the scar was the worst. "You know that first day we met. Before you told me you were obsessed with my father and wanted to torture him when he got out of prison?"
I wrinkled my nose. "I think I was a little more eloquent than that."
"Not really," he said, giving a little chuckle. "You know when you caught me peeking at you through the window?"
I smiled, remembering how gorgeous he was, even when he and his friends were peeking at me up over the sill. "Yeah. It took me a moment to recognize who you were because I was kinda stunned at how gorgeous you were."
He crossed his eyes, groaning. "I was goofy and ridiculous, and my friends were just as bad." Stepping forward, he slid his free hand around my body. "I thought you were the sexiest thing I'd ever seen. There's something about this scar that kinda does it for me." He nuzzled his nose against mine. "I mean, Scar was a bit of a sociopath, but you have to admit, he was way sexier than Mufasa."
I growled. "They were animated lions."
"Still..."
***
We didn't have a ton of time when we got back from the carnival before everyone started showing up, but we managed to fill it with a lot, taking advantage of every minute, and just barely making it out of the shower before there was a knock on the door.
Nobody even seemed that surprised to see that we were mated, and West actually shot me a thumbs up like he planned the whole thing, or something.
Dylan and I were in charge of getting Makenzie's family out, while Gabriel and West
went to the basement to get the chosen, and Jax checked all eighteen rooms for any signs of humans in the house besides the chosen that were in the basement.
Lane was basically gnawing his own hand off where he was waiting outside with Foster, Parker and Green, and when all the innocents were confirmed to be out of the building, the clean-up crew was sent in. It all went off mostly without any hitches, and since we left through the front door, Dylan even made it out without a broken ass.
We'd been back in Purdy for three days, and I couldn't believe how much things had changed since we left. Both with the building that had apparently already been shingled, bricked halfway up, and was in the process of having the metal siding put on, but simple things like us having to move rooms three different times before realizing that there really wasn't a safe place in the old leap house to go where somebody wasn't fucking in the room next to you, and the old walls really should have been soundproofed long ago.
We'd ended up going to a hotel to stay until we could find a house for rent. Thankfully, one of the leap members had several rental properties, and he had a couple moving out of one on the edge of town. We just had to wait a few more days.
I was lying on my stomach, still enjoying my postcoital bliss… and honestly, gearing up for another round since my mate was leaving sweet kisses all over my body, paying special attention to the little freckle on my ass, when suddenly, the sweet kisses stopped.
I leaned up on my elbows, looking over my shoulder at Dylan, who seemed to be deep in thought, a light frown on his face. His lips were still poised just over my ass cheek like something had struck him mid kiss. "What's wrong?"
He blinked, his hazel eyes, currently more brown than green like they always seemed to get when he was turned on, focused on mine slowly. "Do you want kids?"
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. I hadn't really put a ton of thought into kids since I'd found out Dylan was chosen, but I couldn't deny that it had crossed my mind.
"Yeah. I think I do. Do you?" Because in the end, it didn't really matter whether or not I wanted them, I wanted him, so I'd do whatever he wanted… probably with just about everything.