by Lisa Oliver
Cam didn’t bother answering. The time for talking was over. Cam gave Fergus’s wide, long cock one quick glance, and then bent down, widening his lips as far as they could go, so he could get the head of it in his mouth. There was no way he could get Fergus’s entire length down his throat without a hell of a lot of practice, but Cam had a strong suck and a wide hand. Fergus was writhing in seconds.
There was nothing better, in Cam’s opinion, than the taste of male cock on his tongue. He didn’t have it often. He was usually the one being sucked, and it was just as easy to finish a random guy off by hand when they were both in a hurry. But Fergus’s groin held concentrated scent, and that, combined with the juices Cam was sucking up was pure ambrosia. He worked his hand, gently at first, but then with more firmness as he longed to taste more.
“Take it out,” Fergus pleaded. Cam stopped sucking but he didn’t take his mouth off his new mate’s cock. “Take it out, it’s teasing my prostate. I’m going to blow.”
Actually, I think I’m the one giving the blow job. But the prostate comment had Cam changing tactics. If anything should be tickling his mate’s insides it should be his cock, not some lump of silicone. He reached down with his free hand, feeling across the curves of a plump rump, seeking for what shouldn’t be there. Found it. And damn, Fergus’s hole was snug around the plug. Cam felt the slick of lube around the hole and wanted to laugh. His mate had been sitting there all that time, painting his nails. No wonder he started talking about sex.
“Please.” A thud sounded. Fergus was pounding the counter with his fists. “I need you. Gods, get inside me please.”
Cam kept his mouth busy while his hands made quick work of his jeans, and the plug. Dropping the offending item on the floor, he shoved his jeans part way down his thighs, giving enough room for his cock and balls to be free. The single serve lube packet he always carried was slathered over his length in quick order and then with one final lick, he let Fergus’s cock slip from his lips and straightened up.
“There’s no going back from this,” He warned as he lined his straining length up with Fergus’s softened hole. Truth be told, he was just as eager as his mate.
“I know.” Fergus was almost screaming. “Get on with it.”
Oh fuck, heaven. Cam pushed forward. Fergus’s body took him in and held him tight as though it’d been waiting for him. Perfect pressure. Just enough lube left so Cam could slide on home. Looking down, Cam took in Fergus’s flushed face, the plaster of black curls on his forehead and the sweet torso also beaded in sweat. Perfect mate.
Their eyes locked, just for a moment, but it was enough for Cam to know his mate was as eager for their claim as he was. Gripping Fergus’s outspread thighs, he started to move – long, sure strokes, his eyes never leaving Fergus’s face. His mate was so open, so innocent. Cam’s stony heart cracked open, his animal side already bristling with protective instincts evident in shifters everywhere from the beginning of time.
Cam knew, as his thrusts got harder, that he would work his ass off to make sure his sweet and precious mate was protected from the evil he’d witnessed for all their days. He would make his mate smile. He would keep his mate safe. He would… he would…
Fergus tilted his head, arching that slender neck that was screaming for Cam’s marks. As much as Cam didn’t want the moment to end, his balls were already tightening and the pit in his belly let him know he was so close. When his fangs dropped, Cam knew it was over and pushed by instincts not entirely his own, he bent over, shoving his dick as hard as he could into Fergus’s pliant body.
One bite. Fergus’s taste and emotions flowed through the blood that followed. Cam grunted against the skin, his spunk pulsing deep inside his mate, marking Fergus for all eternity. From the new smell filling the kitchen, overpowering the scent of food, he knew that Fergus had reached his climax too.
Carefully withdrawing his fangs, Cam tilted his neck just a tiny bit. He wasn’t sure if a bull shifter would want to bite, but a brief sting on his neck gave him his answer. His whole body jolted, a second orgasm following before the first had even finished and as he closed his eyes, gently licking across the wound that would be scarred by morning, Cam could see his proud and stroppy animal, greeting the placid bull with a gentleness unheard of among the males of his kind.
It was done. Cam would never be alone again, and he vowed on his animal spirit that Fergus would never regret taking him as a mate. Gods, I could stay here forever, he thought, still lying prone over Fergus’s heated body, the smell of their arousal still perfuming the air. But… What the hell is that fucking noise? Cam pushed himself up, his eyes seeking out the intruder.
“It’s the oven timer,” Fergus grinned, his face still flushed and his eyes gleaming. “I think the dinner’s done.”
As far as Cam was concerned, their dinner could burn to a crisp. He hadn’t kissed his mate yet and that just wasn’t right considering they were now bound together for life. Brushing back Fergus’s errant curls, Cam leaned back down and cemented their mating with a passionate kiss.
Chapter Eleven
Phone calls in the middle of the night were never good news. No one ever rang and said “hey, you’ve just won twenty million dollars on the lottery,” in the middle of the night. It was never positive, unless a family member was calling up to scream the good news about a baby’s birth perhaps. But Cam wasn’t close to anyone pregnant and the feeling of dread that hit his gut as he reached for the vibrating phone told him the call wasn’t going to be a pleasant one.
A glance at the screen. Withheld. It’s not about the bar then. Cam debated for all of two seconds before accepting the call. “What?”
“You know, friends are a weakness.”
“Not if they’re good ones,” Cam said shortly. He should have known Austin wouldn’t leave him alone without having the last word. “Your jackals didn’t find anything on the bull. Your stooge was run out of town. What’s next? A well-placed bomb to attract my attention?”
The huff over the phone was loud and angry. “Yes, well that’s what comes of having imbeciles under you. Those jackals were meant to bring me the bull, not shove him out of a window. Noisy idiots can never do anything right. Let’s get to the bottom line. What do you want?”
“I don’t want anything from you.” Cam looked over to see Fergus was watching him and managed a half smile. “I’m not even going to say I want you to leave me alone, because that in itself constitutes a deal and we both know how good you are at breaking them.”
“It’s one job. Purely personal.”
“You’ve got a hundred men on your teams who can do just as good a job.”
“Not in this instance, I don’t.” Austin hesitated and Cam wondered what he wasn’t sharing. “There’s a guy… he’s gotten persistent and it’s causing me no end of problems… I need him gone.”
Cam stared at the phone in shock. “A mate?”
The silence went on for so long, Cam thought Austin had disconnected, but the time indicator was still showing the call was active. Finally, Austin said, “Do you know why you’re my best killer? Because you don’t have a heart. Because your type of shifter is gung-ho, go after anything and aren’t afraid of any other living being. Heartless, fearless, with no respect for romantic ties. You wouldn’t acknowledge your own mate if they came up and bit you and if they did do that, you’d still walk away.”
Fergus slapped his hand over his mouth, his eyes gleaming with mirth in the dull light. You’d better not, he mouthed, his lips still upturned.
“Thank you for your ringing endorsement of my skills,” Cam said drily. “What you seem to forget is that not all people conform to their animal type.” He had a lightbulb moment. “Is this guy wearing your bite?”
“That’s not important.” Jackpot. “I have other commitments, prospective family commitments that render this person a highly problematic nuisance.”
Cam chuckled. “Okay. You say this man is wearing your bite mark, your permanent ma
ting scar, and you want me to kill him. Is that right?”
“Yes,” Austin huffed.
“He definitely has the mark? You haven’t just given him a hickey?”
“He has my mating mark on his left shoulder.”
Cam winked at Fergus who was following the conversation closely. “Sure thing. Send me the details. I’ll do it for you, no charge.”
Fergus’s eyes widened so far, Cam thought they would fall out. He silently shook his head and lifted a finger, warning his mate to stay quiet.
“Good. Good. I knew I could rely on you.” Then Austin must have finally realized something was wrong. “Wait. Why are you being so accepting of this job, when you’ve never taken any other I’ve offered you?”
“I have my reasons.” Cam chuckled. “Let’s just say, I’ll be getting more out of this job than you think.”
“You said you’d do it for free.”
“Uh-huh.” Cam could see when Fergus finally twigged what was going on. “You won’t have a problem with my checking to see the potentially dead man has that mating bite before I kill him, do you? Only, you know damn well, I won’t kill an innocent.”
“Why do you keep going on about the damn mark? I told you. We’re mated. Double claimed if you must know. I couldn’t help myself – damn mating pull – and then when I bit him, it turned out he bit me too. But he turned up at the wrong time, and the damn man was talking about moving in, and giving parties for… whatever. It’s not your concern. I just want you to do the job.”
“And you fully accept all consequences?”
“What consequences? Damn it. He’ll be dead, I can have the offspring that my father’s will insisted on. Do you know the fucking lawyers are holding out on paying me my inheritance because I haven’t got any kids?”
Cam couldn’t help it. His laughter bubbled out of his mouth, and he doubled over, trying to stop it. A roar of rage came from the phone and Cam slapped his chest a few times, to try and get his amusement under control. “Oh, my gods, so funny. Just too funny for words.”
“How dare you laugh at my predicament.” From the tone, Austin was seething. “It’s no laughing matter. You know how the Fates are. I can’t even get it up for a woman since I met the damn man, let alone service one, not with my mate still living.”
“And you never will again.” Cam shook his head. “It’s fine. I’ll kill him. Innocent or not, he’d be better off dead than mated to you. And besides, once he’s dead, you will be too and that means you will finally leave me alone. Why? Because you will be dead, which is worth repeating. I don’t even have to come near you for it to happen. You have a double claimed true mate bond. You’ll die of natural causes within a week of burying him. It seriously couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”
“Stop bullshitting me. You’ve developed a fucking conscience since you left the military and you’re making up a whole stack of bullshit to try and get me to back off. There’s no way the Fates would tie two shifters together for life just because of a few misplaced bites.”
“If you believe that, then send me this man’s details. But you might want to think about how you’re feeling right now. You first got in touch with me about this, what, three days ago? Four? And I assume you haven’t seen your mate in that time. In fact, knowing you, you shifted your fat ass the moment the claim was done and left him.”
“So, what if I did? He was hardly suitable mate material for a man in my position.”
“It didn’t stop you claiming him though. You mentioned he’s a shifter too?”
“Nothing of consequence. A cheeky little raccoon if you must know.”
“Oh dear.” Cam grinned at Fergus. “So, he’s only a small guy, with a small animal spirit. I might not even have to kill him for you, not if you’ve left him to his own devices for the past four days.” His chuckle was low and nasty. “It’s time to start getting your affairs in order, Austin. You haven’t got long left to live.”
“Stop saying shit like that. If he dies I can…”
“He’s going to die. I’d be surprised if he’s still breathing, little guy like that must be made of strong stuff. But he will die, if you don’t find him. Don’t worry. Your thick-skinned rhino will let you know when that happens. Of course, by then, you’ll barely be able to get out of bed for the grief. You’ll be in so much pain you’ll wish you would die. Hell, you might even put a bullet in your own head – make sure it’s a big one.”
“I don’t feel any different.” The words were laced with uncertainty.
“Are you sure about that? When two shifters claim each other their life threads are entwined for all eternity. That is why shifters are so protective of their mates. If your animal side doesn’t go feral once the little guy is dead, in which case someone will have to put you down, your rhino will pine, he will die and when that happens, you will too. It doesn’t matter that you’re bigger and stronger than many. It’ll just take you longer, but his death signs your death warrant. There’s no cure. There’s no way out. It’s only a matter of time.”
“You’re wrong. You have to be wrong. He’s only little… he, shit, he can’t defend himself. He’s a party planner.” Austin was blustering now. “What if he… I can’t… the Fates wouldn’t…”
“Yes, they would. And if you don’t believe me, just hop on the shifter council website and see the evidence for yourself. It’s under the children’s information about a mating. You signed your death certificate the moment you walked away from your future. Without him, you don’t have one at all. At least you won’t be pestering me with calls ever again. Have a nice death, asshole.” Cam took great pleasure in ending the call.
Fergus was lying back, the sheets pushed down, his lovely body on full display, his full cock hard and leaking. “You’re quite a nasty bastard when you want to be, aren’t you?”
“Only to the people who piss me off.” Tossing his phone on the bedside cabinet, Cam leaned into his mate’s open arms and pressed his lips against Fergus’s plush full ones. Being with Fergus was everything he could ever dream of. Cam gave a passing thought to Austin’s mate. I sure hope you’ve got a spine of steel little one, wherever you are. You’re going to need it.
Fergus pulled away from the kiss first. His skin was warm, the arms around Cam’s neck solid and they felt so right. “You wouldn’t have really killed Austin’s mate, would you?”
Cam shook his head. “I would have gone to find him if I didn’t think Austin’s doing that right this minute. I’d try to help him, but the only time I’ve ever known a shifter to survive the death of a true mate is if the surviving partner has young children. Legend has it, the Fates entwine the fated mates’ life threads so that they can reincarnate together into another life after death.”
“I feel sorry for Austin’s mate,” Fergus said quietly. “From what you’ve told me, Austin has no heart, and yet he tried to claim you didn’t either.”
“Austin had better find his and fast,” Cam said. He hesitated a moment, he found it difficult to share secrets, even with his mate. “Shifters know not to cross me. I can be lethal when I’m angry, and I won’t apologize for that. But I’ve never killed anyone who didn’t deserve it, even if I’d been ordered to. The only reason I asked Austin for his mate’s details was so I could find him quicker.”
“How can you tell? If a person’s innocent or not?” At least Fergus wasn’t running screaming from the bed.
“A shifter knows, hon.” Cam gently stroked down Fergus’s fine face. “One of the first lessons I learned after I shifted for the first time, was to trust my animal spirit. He is a stroppy bastard; I’d be the first to admit it. But there’s a line no shifter should ever cross, and killing innocents is mine.”
Fergus’s eyes searched his and Cam let him. His animal had nothing to fear from the gentle bull, and he didn’t feel challenged by him either. “Would you… would you still want me as your mate if I wasn’t as innocent as you think I am?” he asked softly.
There goes my s
pidey senses tingling again. Cam thought for a long moment before answering. “We all have stuff in our past we wished we’d never done. That’s the nature of our beasts, it’s the nature of life. But the moment I saw you, my animal told me you were as sweet and as innocent a man as I could ever hope to meet. And I just told you, I trust my animal, and… I trust you too.”
“I will tell you,” Fergus said, and Cam saw pure hope shining in his eyes. “Just, if it’s all right, not yet. Not here, in our bed, on our claiming day. Please?”
The cynical part of Cam’s nature wanted to demand the knowledge now – shake it out of his mate if necessary. Secrets had the potential to cause problems – problems, Cam couldn’t protect his mate against if he didn’t know their nature. But his animal side wasn’t perturbed, and Cam meant what he said about trusting him. And besides, Fergus’s skin was so warm against his, and the sweet scent of their arousal perfumed the air. “Tell me when you’re ready,” Cam said gruffly, leaning down for another kiss.
Chapter Twelve
Fergus let himself into the back of his bakery, hung the keys on the hook beside the door, and then slumped on the long counter that ran almost the full length of his kitchen area. It was three AM on Monday morning, the air was humid, and Fergus was exhausted. But the empty cabinets in his shop wouldn’t fill themselves and the construction workers would be in at six thirty for his breakfast creations.
“I need a boost of fabulousness,” he sighed, glad there was no one else around that early in the morning. Snagging his apron from its hook on the back of the door, he slipped it over his head, tying the ties firmly behind him. “Bread first. Buns. Cinnamon, I think. Time to work.”
It wasn’t easy. Cam proved to be an energetic lover with the stamina any bull would envy. Whether it was Austin’s early morning call that set his mate on edge, Fergus wasn’t sure, but the two men had barely left their bed the whole of Sunday. Fergus was only glad their last bout had been in the shower. He didn’t want the sound of running water to wake his heavily snoring mate. But as Fergus mixed, and kneaded, pounded and shaped his loaves, buns and pastries, he couldn’t get Cam out of his head, or more specifically, when to tell Cam his secrets.