by Marcy Jacks
He didn’t get the chance to put the man’s hand back where it needed to be, where Aiden wanted it the most. The man holding him refused to let his hand budge.
“You’re injured. You’re taking my blood in. Fuck, it doesn’t matter. Mating or no…I can’t just…”
“Please,” Aiden begged, a horrible pain blooming in his chest.
The pain of rejection. The pain of knowing he wasn’t good enough for this man when he wanted to be.
He didn’t want to be rejected. He didn’t want to be tossed away.
He needed this man to want him. More than he needed anything else in his entire life.
Aiden wasn’t sure why, but he got the feeling that if he didn’t get what he needed, then he was going to spend days in agony. Worse than when he’d been in that prison, worse than being starved, worse than being deprived of sleep and exercise.
The worst possible thing anyone could ever do to him.
It was kind of funny when he thought about it. The fact that he was so eager to be fucked, to be turned over and taken that he was willing to let a complete stranger, let a Dog Catcher, be the one to do it.
Maybe he’d been drugged with something other than the suppressants that kept his inner wolf away.
Because he sure as hell felt it now through the haze, wanting out, howling for escape in ways it had never done before.
Fuck. Mate. Submit. Bite. Fuck again.
What the hell was happening to him?
Aiden began thrusting his hips without realizing he was doing it. He felt as though he was in heat. That wasn’t right. That couldn’t be possible with a Dog Catcher, but damn, was that what this was?
“Honey, I can’t. Shit. Okay, let me see if you’re healing.”
The man lifted Aiden’s shirt. The air was suddenly cold again on his hot skin. It had been freezing when he’d first gotten out of that facility, and then it was made worse when he had to cross the streams in that freezing water, but he had gotten used to it.
Apparently not so much because his skin positively boiled when the man touched him, right where the silver bullet had grazed him.
It didn’t hurt anymore. It felt fine, and it tickled slightly when the man’s fingers touched his flesh.
“Kiss me. Please. Need you.”
The man groaned. He was the one who sounded as though he was in pain, which wasn’t right, considering the only reason they were having this problem at all was because he didn’t want to give Aiden what he needed.
The man finally gave in, however, because then Aiden felt that mouth pressing against his belly then his ribs.
The heat! The heat and pleasure was so powerful, so intense. Aiden moaned, his body constricting everywhere. The man reached up beneath the loose shirt, fingers finding and touching Aiden’s nipple, and that was all he needed before he came.
And he came hard. A loud moan escaped his throat as he thrust his ass against the man’s lap. He felt the man’s hard-on. He wanted it inside him. Aiden was nowhere near finished. He could go again. Despite the satisfaction that should have left him satisfied for days, the pleasure, the throb of his cock, everything coiled within him to demand more.
So much more.
“Oh Christ, fuck.”
He sounded as though he was…ashamed. Angry, even.
That wasn’t good. Not if Aiden was going to get what he wanted.
God, the smell coming off him. It was the best thing Aiden had ever inhaled in his entire life. Intoxicating.
This was where Aiden belonged. This was where he needed to be. For now and for always.
“Okay, that’s enough,” the man said. “I’ll take you home.”
“You have to finish it,” Aiden begged, with all the conviction in the world. “Please, I need you to finish it.”
He needed to be fucked. He needed to be taken, to be dominated by this man.
By his mate.
That was what this was. Aiden could feel it now. It wasn’t just that his brain was scrambled and he wanted the sex because this guy was a looker, even with the odd, green-frosted blond hair.
No. This was his mate. He was sure of it.
It wasn’t as though he would die if he didn’t get what he needed, but he sure as hell felt as though he would. If his mate denied him, what would happen?
“Please,”
He didn’t even know the guy’s name. He didn’t know a thing about him other than he was good looking and Aiden wanted him.
The man lifted Aiden into his arms. Aiden could no longer feel the erection that had been beneath his ass as he’d sat in the man’s lap.
He didn’t like that. He moaned, as though he’d suffered a loss.
“I got you, sweetheart. But I need to take you home. You…we…fuck…”
Except Aiden didn’t want to wait. He didn’t want to wait for this man to do something to him. He wanted it here. He wanted to be fucked right here. He wanted his mate to claim him here.
The heat. The heat was unbearable. Aiden didn’t think he could handle it for much longer. He could hardly breathe because of it.
Then, just as he felt himself on the verge of passing out, the darkness calling him back, a heavy clicking sound caught his attention.
“Put him down, right now!”
Oh. Tim was here.
Chapter Three
Rey growled at the intruder, the man pointing the gun at him.
His first instinct was to be shocked. Shocked to see an omega do such a thing. They usually weren’t so ballsy when it came to people who were bigger than they were. Those perceived as alphas.
However, when Rey caught a whiff of something other than a mammal shifter, he couldn’t contain his growling.
This omega smelled a little like the chemical that had been given to his mate. The chemical that made it impossible for him to touch his mate in the way he wanted to.
At least until his mate sobered up.
“Who are you?”
The omega shook his head. He smelled a little like a wolf.
Rey let his teeth elongate out of his mouth. It had the desired effect, because of course it did.
The omega tensed at the hint of the threat. They were easy to intimidate. Easy to control. They were followers and very rarely showed traits of leaders.
Which was why it was odd when the omega straightened his spine, narrowed his eyes, and refused to put the gun down.
“Let go of my friend.”
Friend?
That caught Rey off guard. “You smell like the people who were drugging him. You smell like…”
He almost smelled like dragons.
But that couldn’t be right.
“That’s not your business. Give him to me and go away.”
Rey looked at the man and the way he held the weapon. He thought about the sound of his voice, about the way he sounded when he’d made the command.
This guy didn’t know how to use a gun. This guy was scared shitless.
Some omegas were known to work for the Dog Catchers. In exchange for their freedoms, and a few extra perks, they sought out and trapped other omegas, calling them in to be taken away.
And that Glock was a standard issue for the Dog Catchers. They didn’t often pull them out, but Rey recognized the model.
This little prick wanted to take Rey back with him.
“You’re not going to shoot me. I bet you barely had training for that.”
In fact, he was pretty sure the other man was holding it wrong. He’d better hope that if he pulled the trigger that it wouldn’t go off because he might take his thumb off.
The omega trembled. “I…I can’t just…you can’t take him. Who the hell are you, anyway?”
“Who the hell are you?”
The man swallowed. He answered the question. “I’m Tim. That’s…I don’t know, he’s my friend.”
“You don’t know or you do?”
“I do know,” he said with more conviction.
Rey didn’t believe him for
a second.
But he didn’t have time to get into the details about this, however. He had shit to do. He’d given his mate blood. The man was recovering, but Rey stood there now with a rock-solid hard-on, and if he didn’t get his mate back home and into bed, and throw himself into a cold shower, he might lose control and fuck his mate right here.
But this guy…this guy could have answers. He might know where his mate had come from.
He might be useful.
“I’m going to put him down. Don’t shoot me.”
The man, Tim, swallowed hard. He nodded.
Rey kept his eye on the gun as he lowered his body, putting his mate back down onto damp, cold earth.
He stood slowly, satisfied when he knew his mate wouldn’t accidentally be shot.
“Now what?”
Tim blinked, as though he hadn’t thought that far. “I…you…”
“How about this?” Rey slowly lifted his hands into the air. “You can come and search me for weapons. I’ve got nothing on me, but it’s the best if you make sure, right?”
Tim blinked, and Rey couldn’t believe it, but the man actually went for it.
“R-right. And don’t move, or I will shoot you. I don’t want to, but I will.”
Sure he would.
Rey agreed nonetheless, and he held perfectly still as Tim approached and seemed to work out how to best search someone who was not restrained.
That was his major mistake. The instant he got close enough, Rey reached out, grabbed him by his wrists, pointing the gun up and yanking it out of his hand before Tim could get a single shot off.
He smacked the omega hard across the face. The force of the strike knocked him to the ground.
Normally, Rey would have felt bad for that, had his mate not been at risk.
“Don’t you ever point a gun in my face again.” Rey took apart the magazine from the handle. He slid the bullets out before throwing the gun in one direction and the clip in another.
He stood over the omega, who trembled up at him.
“You came from the place that did this to him, didn’t you?”
Tim flinched. “I…It’s not like that. I mean…”
Rey’d heard enough. He didn’t need to know anything else. Just that this little prick was involved.
He pulled at his belt, already planning what he was going to do with this man when he got him. He spread his wings out.
“I’m taking my mate and flying home. You’re coming with me.”
Tim scrambled back, but he was too slow as Rey grabbed him by his wrists. It was almost too easy to tie them together. Sometimes he forgot how weak omegas could be.
“No!”
“Yes. Don’t struggle and keep your mouth shut, or I will drop you.”
It would be difficult not to drop the man even on accident.
“You try choking me, and you’re a dead man,” he said, looping his new prisoner’s arms around his neck, forcing Tim to ride on his back while he picked up his mate.
He cradled his mate gently in his arms while Tim begged and struggled behind him.
Rey spread his wings, staying in his human shape otherwise, and launched himself into the air with only a touch more difficulty than usual thanks to the extra weight. Either way, he was getting out of here and going home.
* * * *
When he made it back to the territory, it was surreal.
At some point during the flight, Tim’s bonds had come undone, but Rey hardly noticed because the man had been clutching to him, deathly frightened of falling.
Rey was going to be honest with himself and admit that he’d made some of those sharp turns, and that hard landing, on purpose, just to scare him.
It was night, and though not entirely late, no one was really outside. He had to yell for help when he landed, pressing his foot to Tim’s chest to keep him from going anywhere.
Lightning was the first to answer the call.
The houses of the dragons charged with protecting the property were closer together. Circled around each other, the vehicles parked in the center of the circle.
The albino dragon ran to him just as Silver exited his home, leaving Erin to stand in the doorway, watching with worry and confusion in his eyes.
Lightning looked at Rey then frowned at the omega he carried and the one on the ground beneath Rey’s foot. “What happened?”
“Dog Catchers are nearby. This one escaped,” he said, nudging his mate. Then he growled down at the omega on the ground. “This one was helping them.”
“It’s not like that!”
Rey added more pressure to his foot.
When Silver stood before him, he repeated his story, though he explained what his mate was to him.
“Are you serious?” Silver asked.
Rey nodded. “Silver, I need to get him home. Up into bed. I need a shower. Christ, he hasn’t even woken up yet.”
Silver nodded, his eyes still wide and bright at the news.
“I’d congratulate you, but I think we should wait before doing that.”
“Fine by me. Take care of that little shit. I’ll come back in about ten hours.”
Or longer. It depended on how much care his mate needed, how much sleep, and how long they would need to have sex for after his mate woke up before they were able to properly present themselves to everyone else.
And everyone else was already appearing. Storm stood on his deck, watching the scene carefully. Drake came down to join them, and Gold, Silver’s twin brother, also arrived, asking more questions that Rey didn’t have the time to answer.
He needed to go. Right now.
He hated to do it, but he left Silver and Lightning to explain everything else to the rest of the guys and the few curious dragons who had come up from other parts in the territory to have a look at what was going on.
It wasn’t just the houses of the protector dragons that were close together.
Children played here. Parents worked here. Mothers and fathers just trying to earn a living. Having a new mate around was one thing, it was a happy occasion even, but that other guy, a traitor to his own kind, Tim…he doubted Silver would kill the man. A guy like that would be too valuable.
Still, it would be a hard pill to swallow having someone like that here, especially with Erin expecting their first child and all.
Whatever. Who cared? He’d deal with it later. He just needed to get upstairs, into his house and away from where prying eyes could see him.
Rey turned on all the lights as he went, and only when he was indoors could he really look at his mate. And smell him.
God. He looked so much worse. His skin so pale and his cheeks so gaunt. His face and hands were filthy, and the blood on him…
He still managed to be handsome despite all of these things. A beautiful mate, even with the darkness beneath his eyes and hair caked with mud.
A bath then. For his mate. That was where Rey would start.
Then he’d put the man to bed, not touching him anymore, not making him come.
Not yet.
It was only when Rey got into the bathroom and started undressing his mate for a hot bath that he realized he was going to have to get the other man naked for this to work, and again, his dick reacted.
The stupid thing jumped at the thought, as though this was somehow supposed to be a good thing.
Looking at his naked mate was a good thing, but not when his mate was injured, in need of care, and in no condition to be receiving such attention.
He was so fucked. He really was.
Chapter Four
Lightning grabbed the guy by the hair, yanking him to his feet.
The man grunted. He reached up, trying to grab at Lightning’s hands, trying to ease off the pressure on his head.
Lightning wouldn’t let him go.
He smelled…familiar. Good in a way, like home.
Home was bad. Lighting remembered all too well what had happened to him when he’d been back home.
W
hen he’d been under the control of his original dragon clan.
“Who are you?”
The man gasped for breath. Clearly, he was still stunned from the flight.
Lightning shook him a little. “I said, who are you?”
Gold stepped forward. “Come on, man. Ease off a little. Look at him. He can’t fight back.”
“He made his choice when he pointed a weapon at Rey.”
Lightning looked to Silver, the man in charge of this place. “He smells like my old dragon clan.”
Silver’s eyes flew wide. He composed himself quickly, looking at the young man with interest and suspicion. “Does he, now?”
“You’re…you’re Lightning, right?”
Something deep within Lightning snapped. He grabbed the man by the throat. Now he held him by his neck and his hair. “Who the fuck are you?”
Silver touched Lightning’s shoulder. “I don’t think he can breathe, Lightning.”
This time, Lightning did ease up. Even he knew that if he wanted answers, he had to show just a little restraint.
“Tell me your name. Right now.”
The man gasped for breath. Sweat formed on his brow. Lightning squashed down any pity he felt for this man. He didn’t like hurting those smaller and weaker than himself, but sometimes…
“M-my name is Tim. I…I remember you. We were in the same clan. I’m not a dragon though! I was…I worked in the clan run by…by your father and mother.”
“My mother?” A tiny muscle in Lightning’s eye twitched.
“Stepmother,” Tim said. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Lightning didn’t hear it.
He was back there, back in that time when he’d been run out of his own home again and again by that cunt. She hadn’t liked his white skin and hair or his red eyes. She’d worried the warlocks would come in the night for him, killing her and her precious children.
She wasn’t even a dragon, and his father chose her over his own son.
She had quite a few of her own children, oddly enough. There had been at least six when she’d married his father.
Lightning never knew his stepbrothers or sisters. He didn’t have the chance to meet them. That evil bitch had refused to put her young anywhere near Lightning.