“Well, if you’re old enough to be the pitcher or however it’s called, you’re old enough to ask me if I want to bottom or top.”
Christian’s cheeks flushed. “Do you want to top or to bottom?”
“I enjoy both, but I like receiving better.” Christian looked relieved, and Clea couldn’t resist kissing his cheek. “That wasn’t what I wanted to ask, though.”
“No? What else is there to ask about having sex? We don’t need condoms, so that’s out. What about lube? You have some in your room, right?” Clea shook his head and Christian’s eyes widened. “You don’t? We need to go buy some, right? I mean, I can’t fuck you without lube. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Clea laughed. “I have lube, don’t worry, and even if I didn’t, I could ask around or shimmer to get some. That’s not what I was talking about. I was wondering if this would be only sex, or if you’d thought about mating.”
Christian frowned. “I thought we were going to. You want to wait?”
“No!” It came out a bit too loud and Christian’s eyes widened. Clea shook his head. “No, I don’t want to wait,” he said in a calmer voice. “I just thought you might, since you didn’t seem so eager until recently. Maybe take one thing at a time and everything. Wouldn’t want you to be overwhelmed and, I don’t know, run.” That was the last thing Clea wanted.
Christian smiled softly and cupped Clea’s cheek. “I won’t run away, not again. I’m done with that.”
Clea swallowed. He needed Christian to be more specific. “And that means...”
“That you and I are going to go to your room, get the lube, get naked, make love, and mate.”
“That... sounds great.”
Christian’s smile widened and he leaned down to kiss Clea. Their lips brushed and the front door swung open. Clea wanted to slug whoever was on the other side of it, but his eyes widened when he recognized the guy yelling, “Yeah, I found him all right. I guess I can understand why he skipped the last mission. I would have, too, if I’d had that waiting in my bed.”
Clea turned sideways and launched himself into Lorcan’s arms. Lorcan almost fell backward, but Sue was standing right behind him and held both of them up. Clea opened his arms and pulled her into the hug. He knew he was probably smothering them, but he hadn’t known they were back, and he was relieved to see Lorcan and Sue were both all right.
When he stepped away, he looked behind them, his heart stuttering at the sight of Davis, Rose, and Janelle standing in the entrance. They were all fine, and they were home. “God, I’m so glad to see you guys.”
“We missed you,” Sue said, kissing his cheek. Her gaze slid to a spot behind Clea. “But I understand why you stayed.”
Clea turned and took Christian’s hand, pulling him closer. “Guys, this is Christian—Christian, this is my team.” Or was, probably, but now wasn’t the right moment to talk about that. He knew most of them would understand him leaving the enforcers, but Sue and Lorcan might need to be eased into it. Clea had bonded with all the other team members, but he felt closer to Sue and Lorcan.
“Close the damn door! It’s fucking cold,” someone yelled from the living room.
Clea chuckled and pushed Lorcan aside to step into the entrance. Christian closed the door behind them, then he hugged Clea from behind, kissed the side of his neck, and whispered, “I guess receiving will have to wait, huh?”
Clea knew his cheeks were turning red. What Christian was talking about wasn’t obvious, but from Davis’ smirk, he at least had understood the reference. “A few more hours, if it’s all right with you,” Clea whispered back, avoiding Davis’ gaze.
“You waited for me for weeks. I can wait a few more hours.”
* * * *
Christian hadn’t really had the opportunity to see Clea with other people yet. He hadn’t exactly stalked Clea while he was trying to keep as much distance as possible between them, although completely avoiding him hadn’t been possible. Well, he had flown around in his bat form a few times just to see his mate, but he’d seen Clea only with a few people—his cousin Sei, Dallas, Kameron and Zach. Clea’s team had obviously been sent away during the first few days after Christian had arrived.
Christian had thought Clea was a quiet guy, and maybe he was with most people, but his team was obviously different. Right now, he was holding the small guy, Lorcan, in a headlock and was ruffling his hair. Lorcan wasn’t that small, so Christian thought he was probably letting Clea have his way. He was trying to push away, and they were both laughing.
One of the women was looking at them as if she was their mom and they were two kids. The last man in the team was talking with the other two women. And Christian, well, he was watching.
He didn’t know these people, but he could tell he would. They were a big part of Clea’s life, and even if he decided to accept Kameron’s job offer rather than going out with them again, it was obvious they were more than just teammates. They were friends, a family of their own, and Christian didn’t want Clea to lose them.
“So, Christian,” Davis said, and Christian knew the time had come. He was about to get the if you hurt him I’ll find you and kick your ass so hard you’ll be able to taste my boot in the back of your throat speech. He’d expected Sei to be the one to deliver it, but Davis would probably do a better job of being intimidating.
Christian didn’t know what kind of shifter the man was, but he was tall and his muscles had muscles. His brown hair was cut short and he had a beard. If Christian had to guess, he’d go for wolf or bear, or something hairy. Not that the human form always mirrored the animal one, but it was a feeling he had.
A bear or a wolf wouldn’t have any problems dealing with Christian, at least not when he was in his bat form. Not that he thought Davis would hurt him, but still. Davis obviously saw Clea as his little brother or something. He wasn’t going to let Christian down that easily, especially after what Christian had done.
“Yes?”
“Looks like you finally made a decision.”
Christian looked at Clea, who had released Lorcan and was now trying to tickle him. “I did.”
“You made the right one.”
“I know.”
“He took it pretty badly, you know.”
Christian looked around and noticed that the women had moved closer to Clea and Lorcan, giving Davis and him more space. Christian was ready to bet they knew exactly what Davis was doing and that they were probably all about him threatening to kick Christian’s ass if he was an asshole.
“I know,” Christian answered. “It wasn’t my intention, but I needed time to think about everything.”
“You could have told him.”
“Yeah, I was an asshole. I know that, and Clea and I talked about it. He forgave me.”
Davis snickered. “We all noticed that when we found you making out on the porch.”
“We were talking.”
“Sure. With your lips.”
Christian grinned. “Isn’t that how you talk?”
Davis laughed. “You’re a smartass. I like you.” He sobered. “That means I hope you don’t go and ruin everything. I’d be kind of sorry if I had to kill you now that I know you.”
Christian raised his hands. “No killing will be necessary. Like I said, we talked and I explained why I ignored him. We’re together now.”
“Yeah, we saw that. You sure didn’t take long to get over the no-guys thing.”
Christian cocked his head. “Does everyone know about that? I mean, it’s not like I actually told any pack member. Only my family knows.”
“Only your family knew, and Iggy is kind of a gossiper.”
“He told everyone?” Christian was going to strangle his brother.
“I don’t know who he told, but it wouldn’t have taken much for the news to spread.” Davis scratched his chin. “The pack is a family. Everyone knows everything around here, whether you want them to or not.”
That was one thing Christian would miss from
his colony. There, everyone had minded their own business, mostly because not doing so could be deadly, but still. He didn’t like everyone knowing about him and his sex life. He didn’t want anyone knowing about Clea’s sex life. That was something only he should know about.
“I don’t have anything against sex with a guy.”
“Sure seemed to.”
Christian kind of wanted to strangle Davis too now. “Look, I discovered the brother I thought had been killed by the pack was alive and fighting for them. I almost killed his mate, was shimmered to Gillham after thinking for months that they were the enemy and would kill me and my family, found my mate and discovered he’s a guy. All over a few hours. Wait, not even a few hours. It happened in barely fifteen minutes. I’m sorry if people hate me for having to wrap my mind around everything.”
Davis raised his hands. “I’m just trying to look out for Clea.”
“And I appreciate it, but I know what I did, and I won’t do it again. I like Clea. He’s my mate, and I’m not about to fuck that up. I want to be happy. Being away from him wouldn’t make me happy at all.”
Davis stared at Christian for a moment. “Well, we’ll be there to kick your ass if you do.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Clea flopped on the couch next to Christian. “Is Davis giving you a hard time?” he asked, snuggling close.
Christian was surprised, but he wrapped his arm around Clea’s shoulders. Clea obviously was comfortable around his team, enough that he didn’t fear Christian would reject him. Christian wasn’t stupid—he knew Clea was afraid of that, and the only way to show him he wouldn’t was to take him upstairs.
Why did Clea’s team have to come back now? Christian could have had Clea naked in his arms right now if they hadn’t, damn it.
But it was worth seeing Clea smile like he was smiling now, all happy and soft. “Nah, he’s not. We’re just being friendly.”
“Right. What did he threaten you with?”
Christian kissed Clea’s hair. “Nothing so far, although he did say that he was watching me.”
They both looked at Davis, who shrugged. “You can’t blame me for looking after you,” he told Clea. “I’d do it for anyone on the team, and you know you’d do it for me.”
“Yeah, I would.”
Davis got up and stretched. “I don’t know about you, but I’m beat. We got in just before you, and I can’t wait to shower and sleep in my bed.” He looked at Clea. “You’re probably not as tired as we are, since you spent the past few weeks sitting on your ass instead of hunting the last members of one of the prides aligned with Tom, but I’m sure you’ll want to go to bed as soon as you can too, huh?”
Clea blushed, and Christian loved it. “We’re pretty tired,” he answered.
“Yeah, I’m sure you are.”
Davis patted Clea’s head as he passed by them. He went to the other couch and hauled Lorcan up, then offered Rose his hand. “We’ll be going, then.”
Lorcan pouted. “I don’t wanna go yet. I missed Clea.”
“And you can see him all you want tomorrow, but right now, Clea has stuff to do.”
“What stuff? I could help.”
Davis patted Lorcan’s shoulder. “Pretty sure Clea wouldn’t want you to help him having sex with his mate, but you could always ask, I guess.”
Lorcan laughed and Clea buried his face against Christian’s neck. “I hate them,” he said with a groan.
“Nah,” Lorcan said. “You love us, but okay, I’ll let you go have sex with your mate. See you tomorrow?”
Clea looked at him. “You couldn’t keep me away if you’d tried.”
“And we both know I won’t.” Lorcan leaned forward and kissed Clea’s cheek. “Have fun for me too, okay? It’s been too long since I last got laid. I need to live vicariously through you.”
“Whatever.”
Christian waited until everyone had said goodbye and was out the living room door to look at Clea. “So. Are you still up for receiving?”
* * * *
Clea jumped up from the couch and offered Christian his hand. “You can bet your ass I’m still up for it.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “In more than one sense.”
Christian’s gaze lowered to Clea’s crotch. “I can see that.”
So Clea was half hard just after being close to Christian. Sue him. Christian was his mate and he smelled like heaven. It was enough to make Clea hard. “You should take care of it.”
Christian licked his lips. “I think I will.”
“Let’s go, then.”
Christian was up and out the door before Clea could move.
Clea laughed, his heart feeling lighter. It was a weird sensation after being all doom and gloom for the past few weeks, but it was good. He wanted lighter. He wanted to be happy, and he’d be happy if Christian didn’t change his mind. He didn’t look like he would, so that was good.
“Wait for me!” Clea yelled as he followed Christian. “You can’t just barge in!”
Christian stopped at the top of the stairs and looked down. “Hurry up, Clea. I’ve already had to wait long enough.”
Clea bit his lower lip and instead of climbing the stairs, he shimmered next to Christian. Christian gasped, but before he could say anything, Clea took his hand and shimmered them to his room, right on his bed.
He pushed Christian onto his back and climbed on top of him, kissing him hard. Fuck, he wanted to be able to make just their clothes shimmer away. It would make getting naked so much easier, and he wanted easy right now.
Christian slid his hands around Clea and pushed into the back of his jeans, then cupped both of Clea’s ass cheeks and squeezed
Damn—he really didn’t seem to have problems with touching a guy. Of course an ass was an ass, so maybe he would have problems once Clea’s dick was out, but for now, it was perfect.
Christian sucked on Clea’s tongue as he slid a finger between Clea’s ass cheeks. He brushed against Clea’s hole, and Clea shivered. He wanted more. He needed more, so much more.
He pushed away, mourning the loss of Christian’s hands on his ass. It would get much better, though. He just had to get naked.
He pulled his T-shirt off and threw it to the side of the bed. Then he got up, opened his jeans, and pushed them down his legs along with his underwear. Cool air kissed the skin of his cock and he shuddered. He couldn’t wait to have Christian suck on it. He wanted so many things to happen, though, and he didn’t think they’d be able to do all of them tonight. They’d have the rest of their lives to do it. It was enough.
He strode to the nightstand and dug the lube out of the drawer. When he turned to Christian, he frowned. “Why are you still dressed?”
Christian was still on his back on the bed, his arms crossed behind his head as he watched Clea. “So eager.”
“Well, yeah. I’ve been waiting for this since I met you. Aren’t you eager?” Clea swallowed and put his hands in front of his dick. Was Christian changing his mind now that he’d seen Clea naked? Was it only because of Clea’s dick, or was it because he didn’t like Clea’s body?
Christian sat up and slid closer. He took both of Clea’s wrists and gently pushed them away from Clea’s cock. He kissed the back of both of Clea’s hands and opened his fingers to take the lube from him. “Of course I’m eager. I was just enjoying the show.”
“The show?”
“You getting naked.”
“Oh.”
Christian nodded. “Oh.” He put the lube on the bed and grabbed both of Clea’s hips, pulling him closer. Clea’s cock bobbed and he swallowed. The head was so close to Christian’s mouth now that he was sitting on the edge of the bed facing Clea, but Clea didn’t want him to do anything he wasn’t ready for. He could do without having his cock sucked.
Christian stared at Clea’s cock and licked his lips. Okay, so maybe Clea wouldn’t survive if Christian didn’t suck his cock right now. He certainly felt like it. Still... “You don’t hav
e to do it.”
Christian briefly looked up. “Do what?”
“You know. Suck... that.”
Christian chuckled, and his warm breath felt like both heaven and hell on Clea’s dick. “You mean suck your cock, right?”
“Yeah. Yeah, that. You don’t have to do it.”
“But I want to.”
“Okay then. You can go ahead. Whenever you’re ready. I’ll be here. Waiting.”
Christian chuckled again. “Don’t hold it against me if I suck at this, though.”
“Oh, I’d be really happy if you sucked.”
Christian rolled his eyes and finally stuck the tip of his tongue out. He lapped at the head of Clea’s cock, and Clea had to tighten his hands into fists to avoid reaching for Christian’s hair. He didn’t know how Christian would feel about his hair being pulled, and God knew there would be a lot of hair pulling if Clea got his hands in Christian’s hair.
Christian smacked his lips. “Mmm.”
“You like it?” Personally, Clea wasn’t crazy about the taste of cum and precum, but to each their own.
“It’s okay. Not that different from mine.”
“I’m going to have questions about that statement later.”
“Later?”
“Much later.”
Christian opened his mouth and took the head in. Clea swallowed heavily and stared at something he hadn’t thought he’d ever see. Christian sucking his cock was a work of heaven, and Clea wasn’t thinking only about the way it felt.
Christian was slow but thorough. He licked around Clea’s head, pushed his tongue into its slit and licked over the glans just under it. Once he was done with the head, he followed the vein on the underside of Clea’s cock until he reached the base. He sucked it, and Clea was sure blood was about to trickle down his hands because he was tightening them so hard.
Christian looked up. “You’re not touching me.”
“I wasn’t sure...”
“Touch me, Clea.”
Clea obeyed. He put his hands on Christian’s shoulders and squeezed when Christian licked a path up Clea’s cock again. Clea barely noticed it when Christian grabbed the lube from the bed, but he did notice it when Christian chuckled.
Clea (Gillham Pack Book 17) Page 7