by Lynn Hagen
Jericho did as Ben instructed and gasped when his mate pulled Jericho’s jeans and underwear down to his ankles. Ben lowered himself to his knees and spread Jericho’s cheeks. The rush of air had Jericho sucking in a breath as Ben bathed his hole with his tongue.
Holy fuck! Jericho gave a short, high cry as Ben inserted a finger inside his ass. Then he added another. Jericho wasn’t sure how much more of the pleasure he could take before he became a mindless idiot.
Ben pulled his fingers free and stood. When Jericho looked over his shoulder, his mate was pulling something from his front pocket.
A small packet of lube. He lathered his cock as Jericho looked front and center, staring at the trees and a small chipmunk that scurried through the leaves on the ground. He listened to the birds chirp and gazed at the beams of sunlight trying desperately to filter through the thick canopy overhead.
Then he felt the blunt head of Ben’s cock at his hole.
This was it. Ben would mate him and Jericho’s life would be changed forever.
Stop thinking about that and just enjoy the moment.
Ben placed his hands on Jericho’s hips and thrust inside. Jericho hissed at the pain as his fingers curled around Ben’s leather jacket. But his mate didn’t pound into him. He stood there with a tight grip on Jericho’s hips as his cock throbbed heavily in Jericho’s ass.
What was he waiting for? Why wasn’t he moving? Jericho bit his lower lip as the pain began to ease. When Jericho nodded, Ben started to move. His mate railed him as Jericho cried out, filling the quiet woods with his vocal pleasure.
“I need more leverage,” Ben snarled. He eased out of Jericho and pulled Jericho to the ground, but not before he’d laid his leather down for Jericho to lie on.
The man was considerate. That was another brownie point for him.
He also removed Jericho’s shoes then the rest of his clothing, leaving Jericho completely naked as he spread Jericho’s legs apart. “This is so much better, don’t you think?”
“Shut up and fuck me.” Jericho reached for Ben, curling his fingers around his mate’s nape and pulling him down so they could kiss. Ben drove his cock back inside Jericho’s ass, making Jericho whimper into his mate’s mouth.
He slid his legs around Ben’s waist and held on for dear life as his mate fucked him with hard and deep strokes. Jericho had never had sex outside before. Although he’d prefer the softness of a bed at his back, he loved the fact they were surrounded by nature.
“Gonna make you mine, pup,” Ben growled into his ear as he punched his hips forward. “All mine.”
Jericho chose to ignore those words. Ben hadn’t met Landon, and he never wanted that to happen. Landon would go ballistic, and Ben just might walk away from the mess.
Jericho slammed a lid on those thoughts as his orgasm built and his balls drew close to his body.
Then Ben sank his canines into Jericho’s shoulder. With a shout, Jericho threw his head back and came so hard he saw fucking stars. His body shook, and he felt their connection snap into place as their souls soldered together.
There was no going back now. No second thoughts. He now belonged to this handsome wolf shifter, and Jericho wasn’t sure what he would do about that.
Ben cupped his face and smiled down at him, rocking inside Jericho’s body. His gray eyes were filled with something close to reverence, and Jericho had never had anyone look at him that way.
“Give me a moment to catch my breath, and we’re going for round two, kit.”
Jericho chuckled. “Decide on an endearment. You calling me pup and kit is confusing.”
Ben winked. “I like pup, but I’m taking into consideration that you like to be called kit.”
“I never said that,” Jericho argued playfully. “I said I didn’t like being called a baby.”
“My baby.” Ben gave him a gentle kiss. “Get used to it, babe.”
The guy was charming. Another brownie point.
If Ben kept racking them up, Jericho just might fall for the guy.
Chapter Three
Ben hadn’t wanted to drop Jericho off at the diner, but his mate had insisted, saying he needed to get some things done. They’d agreed to meet up later, and for now, that would have to do.
But before Jericho had gone inside, he’d thrown a sweet smile over his shoulder and licked his lips. The seductive little shit.
Now that Ben was alone, he could find out who’d hurt his mate. He didn’t believe Jericho’s blackened eye was caused by an accident. His mate had looked too nervous when Ben had discovered it. If someone was hurting his little bunny, Ben would rip their fucking heart out.
He drove down the street and parked in front of the coffee shop then circled back around and followed his mate at a distance. Jericho was a little too secretive for his liking. Did he really have someone at home? Was that why his mate refused to take Ben there?
Jericho stopped at the bakery and came out with a white box in hand. He next went to the barbershop. Ben passed the time by checking his messages and emails. When Jericho stepped outside, his haircut blew Ben away.
His mate had already looked amazing, but now he looked like the cutest twink Ben had ever seen. He’d damn near blown his covert op of spying on the bunny when he let out a long groan. Ben wanted to run his fingers through Jericho’s hair as he fucked the guy again.
He still felt Jericho’s mouth on his nipples, the way his lips had moved so sensually. And the way his tongue had worked Ben’s cock had him standing there peering at his mate while sporting a boner.
“You got it that bad?”
Ben nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of Milo’s voice. He gave a low growl and pressed a finger to his lips as he watched Jericho walk away.
“Yes, I have it that bad. Jericho is my mate.”
A sly grin curled Milo’s mouth. “Then why are you stalking him?”
“Because he had some shit to do and didn’t want me helping him,” Ben said. “He also has a black eye, and I want to know who gave it to him.”
Milo’s eyes narrowed as he looked Jericho’s way. Mates were supposed to cherish each other, not abuse them. But Milo’s dad had beat on his mom, and Milo had zero tolerance when it came to abuse.
“Did you ask?”
Ben nodded. “He said it was an accident, but I don’t believe him.”
He moved from behind the large tree and walked the next block, ducking into doorways or alleys when Jericho looked back.
He’d left Milo at the barbershop as he moved along Main Street. When Jericho circled back around to the diner and got into his car, Ben hurried to get to his motorcycle. He caught up to Jericho a block over and followed him to the backroad they’d been on earlier. They passed the access road, and a half-mile down the road, Jericho pulled into the driveway of a white house with blue trim.
There was a red sedan parked toward the back and a large tree that shaded the house. The front lawn was expansive, and there were potted plants hanging from the porch ceiling.
The place appeared cozy, although the trashcans should’ve been taken out because they were overflowing. It was a nice way to attract vermin.
Ben found a clump of trees to park behind so he could keep an eye on the place. Was this where Jericho lived, or was he visiting a friend? He didn’t like knowing so little about his bunny, but Jericho seemed to be a closed book. After they had sex for the second time, Ben had tried to ask Jericho about his life, but his mate kept changing the subject.
This wasn’t how he wanted to find out. Stalking his mate felt creepy, but Ben wanted to keep an eye on the man. He wanted to know who’d blackened Jericho’s eye so he could rip the bastard a new ass.
Ben had taken his eyes off the house only twice when he’d had to take a leak, but other than that, he sat there, starving and bored.
When twilight rolled around, Ben found himself dozing off. He undressed, laid his clothes over his bike, and shifted into his wolf form to get more comfortable. No matter
how hard he fought sleep, it finally took him.
* * * *
Jericho had slept most of the day away. He was scheduled to work tonight, so he’d needed rest. Thank fuck Landon hadn’t bothered him. After his outburst about the trash, his uncle hadn’t said a word to him.
In fact, he hadn’t seen Landon when he’d come home earlier. That was always a plus.
Tossing the covers back, Jericho stretched and padded to the bathroom for a shower. When he was dressed, he went out back to find a container he could shove the overflowing trash into.
Damn it. He stared at one of the bins to find some critter had already gotten into it. Jericho went back inside, grabbed some rubber gloves, and a trash bag to clean up the mess.
He paused in the kitchen when his phone rang. “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Reese. I’m just calling to check on you.”
That was very sweet of the rhino shifter, but the call was unnecessary. Landon might knock Jericho around, but his uncle had never seriously injured him.
Wow. That had been a pretty messed-up thought. Jericho had been covering for his uncle’s abuse for so long that it was starting to feel normal. There was nothing normal about it.
Like last night when he’d thought it was his fault for his black eye because he hadn’t taken the trash to the curb.
That realization disturbed Jericho on a very deep level.
“I’m fine, Reese,” he said as he stared out the window, wondering how he’d gotten to this point in life. “Thanks for calling, but I have a mess to clean up in the backyard. I’ll see you at work in a few hours.”
“You know you can call me if you need me, right?”
The offer made Jericho think of Raven. The wolf shifter who had pretty much said the same thing. “I know. I’ll see you soon.”
After pocketing his phone, Jericho went back outside. He only had the security light to work with as he picked up the loose trash. Ugh. It was disgusting. There were the bones of a whole chicken just lying on the ground, picked clean. Even so, Jericho gagged as he picked it up and tossed into the trash bag.
As he bent to pick up some soda cans, his ears perked up when he heard low murmuring. Curious, Jericho set the bag on the ground and moved toward the stand-alone three-car garage. All the doors were closed, so he moved around the side as the voices grew a tad louder, at least loud enough for him to hear the heated whispers.
Keeping his steps quiet, Jericho moved to the edge of the garage and listened.
“I don’t care what you have to do, Landon. You fucking owe me, and this is you repaying your debt to me.”
“What the hell am I supposed to do with him?” Landon asked.
“You got plenty of land, and a shovel, so figure it out,” the stranger said heatedly. “If his body is discovered, I’m taking you down with me.”
Jericho’s heart sped as he listened. Was the stranger trying to convince Landon to bury a body? Whose body? He leaned closer and inhaled a lungful of air. Landon’s scent hit him first. Then Jericho sniffed a bit harder.
Holy fuck. He knew that scent and was terrified of it. Ivan Carugo. He was a jaded-ass polar bear shifter with a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas. If he was involved in this, then whatever he had Landon doing was bad.
Real bad.
Well, duh. Burying a dead body is as bad as it gets.
Jericho eased back, not wanting either man to know he was there. Fortunately the wind was blowing away from the men, so they wouldn’t pick up Jericho’s scent.
Unfortunately Jericho hadn’t been watching where he was stepping. His foot hit some empty paint cans that were stacked on the side of the garage.
They clattered to the ground with so much noise that there was no way Landon and Ivan hadn’t heard it. The dead had probably heard it.
Jericho spun and raced back to the trashcans. He lifted the trash bag and started cleaning, pretending ignorance that Landon and Ivan were behind the garage.
Landon came barreling around the corner, and Jericho faked a squeak at his sudden appearance. “My god, you scared me,” he said as he pressed his gloved hand to his chest. “I didn’t know you were outside.”
Landon looked back toward the garage then faced Jericho. “Just clean that fucking mess up and take your ass inside. Got that?”
His uncle was twitching, and there was a fine sheen of sweat over his brows. Amazingly enough, the night wasn’t muggy. The humidity was low, and the slight breeze only made the night feel cooler than it already was.
Landon shouldn’t be sweating.
“I’m trying to be quick about it,” Jericho said. “I have to get ready for work. I’m also trying to be fast because a raccoon ambled out of the bushes and knocked the paint cans over. Those critters are just nasty.”
Relief clouded Landon’s eyes. “Just get it done. I’ll go pick up the cans and check around to see if it’s still in the area.”
In other words, his uncle wanted to get back to his meeting with Ivan. Landon had never offered to clean a damn thing up. Ever. And hunt down a raccoon? Seriously? That wasn’t the hard-nosed uncle he knew.
But Jericho couldn’t get those words out of his head. A body? He didn’t care who it was. No one deserved to be buried in the woods. What if the person had family? That family deserved closure. When he got off work, Jericho would find where the body was buried and see who it was.
He finished cleaning up the mess and went inside to wash his hands. Through the kitchen window he saw Ivan come from around the garage and head down the driveway. He looked Jericho dead in his eyes before he moved on.
Jericho swallowed roughly as he cut off the faucet. Did Ivan suspect him of knowing anything? Jericho sure as hell hoped not. He didn’t want to be on Ivan Carugo’s radar. It would be Jericho’s body that would be buried if Ivan thought Jericho knew what they were up to.
He shivered as he hurried to his room and gathered his keys, wallet, and phone.
Jericho paused and thought about Ben. His chest felt tight as he looked down at his phone. His mate had given him his number, and Jericho was tempted to call the guy. He just wanted to hear Ben’s deep voice, to look into his pretty gray eyes, and to tell Ben everything.
Including the dead body his uncle was about to bury.
Instead he tucked his phone into his pocket and headed outside. He’d call Ben later and ask his mate to come to the bar. Jericho might be terrified of what Landon would do if he found out that his nephew was mated to a man, but Jericho was desperate to see Ben again.
He looked in his rearview mirror and noticed his black eye was gone. He must’ve shifted in his sleep. He would’ve been afraid of Landon’s reaction, but his uncle had just seen him and hadn’t said anything about it. Jericho chalked that up as a good thing since Landon was too busy committing a crime to get on Jericho’s case.
After pulling from the driveway, Jericho headed into town. He parked in Tilted’s parking lot and hurried inside. Cleaning up the trash had taken longer than he thought it would, and now he was running late.
“Sorry,” Jericho said to Reese as he flew by him to clock in. “Damn raccoons got into the trash, and I had to clean it up.”
Reese grabbed Jericho’s arm and stopped him mid-run. “Mike’s in his office. He wants to know why the Red Spanking sales are down.”
Fuck. Jericho didn’t want to deal with his boss right now. Not after the eerie night he’d already had. Jericho still felt shaken that his uncle was going along with whatever Ivan was getting him into.
Taking a deep breath, he walked into Mike’s office. His boss was seated behind his desk, poring over the paperwork. When he looked up, Jericho’s heart did a flip.
He might have found his mate, but there was no denying just how gorgeous Mike Cage was. The wolf shifter smelled divinely masculine as he stared at Jericho with dark brown eyes. Did Jericho have a crush on his boss? Hell to the yes. But he was glad their relationship had always remained professional.
“Can you tell
me why the Red Spanking sales are down?” Mike waved to a chair across from his desk. “They’ve been cut in half.”
Jericho plucked at some loose thread at his knee. His jeans were worn, and the left knee had a small hole in it. “That’s because of me,” Jericho said. He told Mike about the demon who’d been after Emilio and how Moose had come in to question him. He also told Mike about Moose telling him not to sell the stuff anymore because a drunken nonhuman was never a good thing.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this when it happened?” Mike asked. “I could’ve been sued because the demon followed Emilio from the bar.”
Was that all Mike was concerned with? “Oh, and Emilio is fine,” Jericho said. “Thanks for asking.”
Mike’s brows dipped low. “I know he’s fine. He’s behind the bar working.”
“Have you ever meet Moose?” Jericho said defensively. “He’s like three linebackers put together and the tallest man I’ve ever met. He’s fucking scary, Mike. I didn’t want him coming back here and pulverizing me.”
He got enough of that from his uncle.
“Go back to selling it,” Mike said. “I’ll deal with…who the fuck is Moose?”
“The sheriff’s mate. Moose is a bear shifter. Just thought you might want to know that fact before he eats you.” Jericho got up and walked to the door. “If he comes after me for selling the stuff, I’m pointing him to you. And if you’ve forgotten, I know where you live.”
Mike’s chuckle trailed behind Jericho as he walked from the office. Reese was busy cooking, so Jericho didn’t bother his friend. He made his way behind the bar and smiled at Emilio. “Glad to see you back at work.”
“Glad to be back here. Malik has been driving me up the wall.”
The human was a big, fat liar. He had love in his eyes when he mentioned his mate’s name. Emilio used to be a standoffish kind of guy who’d kept everyone at arm’s length. Now he worked the bar, smiling, and chatting with everyone. Huh, so that was what being in love looked like.
Now Jericho really wanted to see Ben. He wanted to look like a love-struck fool, too. But how was that gonna happen when Ben didn’t even live in Maple Grove? Jericho didn’t like the idea of a long-distance relationship. That would never do since Jericho was horny as fuck and wished Ben was there to relieve his ache.