Andrew [Whitedell Pride: 9]

by Catherine Lievens

  He pulled his finger out and added another one before breaching his mate again, searching for that small bundle of nerves he knew would make his lover fly. He hooked his fingers, moving them around and stroking the quivering flesh until he finally found it.

  Soren moaned louder and pushed back against Andrew’s hand, and he knew he had found it. Soren’s cock was now leaking a steady stream of pre-cum, wetting Andrew’s hand and easing its movements on the hard flesh.

  “Come on, love. I’m ready,” Soren said, and Andrew hoped he really was, because he didn’t think he could wait much longer, not with the way Soren’s snug channel clenched on his fingers, making him wonder how it would feel around his aching cock.

  Andrew slowly withdrew his fingers and quickly opened his pants, letting them and his underwear fall to his ankles before using the lube still on his hand to slick his length. Finally letting go of Soren’s cock, Andrew grabbed his mate’s hip with one hand while he used the other to hold his shaft up and press it against the small pink opening that called to him. He pushed slowly, groaning when Soren’s hole opened up for him and swallowed the tip of his erection.

  Soren was panting under him, trying to move back against Andrew’s groin, but Andrew couldn’t give him the control right now. He needed to be the one making the decisions, so he reached up and buried his hand into Soren’s soft hair, using the hold to keep his mate still.

  “Oooh, come on, love. Please!”

  Andrew smiled a wicked smile. As soon as he was sure Soren wasn’t hurting, he thrust his hips, and in one long, slow move, he was buried to the hilt into Soren’s flesh, his hips touching his lover’s rounded cheeks. He had to stop there for a second, not only to let Soren get used to his presence inside him, but also to push his climax away. He didn’t want everything to end this soon.

  Andrew took a deep breath, then another as he tried to get his body under control again. It wasn’t an easy thing when Soren squirmed under him, fighting Andrew’s hold on his hip to try to get him to move.

  Andrew chuckled and leaned down again, plastering them together as he snapped his hips. “You’re an eager little thing, huh?”

  Soren growled back at him, but it was the only thing that left his mouth, because by then Andrew was moving steadily into his hot, tight channel. The need to claim reached a peak inside him, and he didn’t fight the instinct that took him over as he hammered into Soren. Andrew used his hold on Soren’s hair to tilt his head to the side and buried his face into Soren’s neck, inhaling deeply the masculine scent that was so strong there.

  He felt his teeth lengthen in his mouth, right before he lost it and bit Soren over the mark he had already left on the soft skin.

  * * * *

  Soren yowled, more from the pleasure and surprise than from the pain. He couldn’t focus on what Andrew’s teeth—his shifter teeth!—in his neck meant right now, not when he could feel his balls tighten almost painfully as his cock erupted, his spunk splattering all over the couch.

  He rode his orgasm, taking pleasure in feeling Andrew go stiff against him and his hips jerking in an unsteady rhythm as he came inside Soren. Soren didn’t move, because his mate’s teeth were still embedded deep into his flesh, and now that he was coming down from his bliss he was starting to feel it. He waited to say anything, though. He wanted Andrew to fully experience the first time claiming his mate, although he still couldn’t wrap his head around this revelation.

  Andrew moved behind Soren, slowly pulling his teeth out. “Lick the wound, love. It’ll stop bleeding.”

  “I...I don’t know what happened. Did I hurt you?” Andrew’s voice was hesitant and a little scared. Soren wanted to hold him, so he straightened a bit and moved his pelvis until Andrew’s cock slipped from inside him, then turned around and grabbed his mate, sitting on the couch with Andrew in his lap. He knew he was making a mess of sweat and semen on the couch, but they could clean it. Thank god it was leather.

  “I’m perfectly fine, love. You didn’t hurt me, you just claimed me.” Soren held Andrew close, smiling when the man buried his head into his neck and inhaled deeply. If Andrew was anything like shifters, and it would seem he was, Soren’s scent would help calm him.

  Soren gave Andrew a few minutes to gather his thoughts and smiled when the man started speaking. His control freak of a mate was back. “Okay, so I claimed you. I felt my teeth grow before I had the...instinct to bite you. I guess that means I have shifter blood somewhere in my genealogy, huh?” Andrew’s voice was calm and matter-of-fact.

  “I’d say so, yeah. Do you know about shifters in your family?”

  Andrew shook his head, moving away from Soren’s neck. “Neither mom or dad ever told me about shifters. I’m not even sure they know shifters exists, to be honest, even if dad has been friends with Dominic for years, so I guess he might. They just never said anything about them.”

  “What about Dominic?”

  Andrew scowled. “Kitty cat never told me anything either, so I don’t know if he knows anything.” He pulled himself up and looked in Soren’s eyes. “What about you? I thought shifters could smell other shifters. You surely did when you identified Fred as a bear shifter.”

  Soren frowned. “I never noticed, although it could be because the mate part of your scent overpowers the shifter one to me, and since you didn’t know anything about this, I’d say you’re definitely not even a half-breed. The shifter blood in you has to be pretty diluted as it is, or Dominic would have been able to smell it on you.”

  “What if he knows and didn’t tell me?”

  Soren thought about it. “I think he would have told you, unless he thought he was protecting you by not talking about it. You’ll have to ask him about it to be sure.” Andrew sprang up from his lap and started picking up his clothes. “Hey, I didn’t mean right this minute, mister!”

  Andrew stopped to scowl at him. “I’d think knowing who I am would be more important than cuddling.” He waved his hand at Soren. “We can cuddle later tonight if you really want to.”

  The man was talking as if he didn’t really care one way or another, but Soren knew him a bit—okay, maybe more than a bit—by now, and he knew that this was Andrew’s way to protect himself from what was to come. He moved fast, using his shifter speed to grab his mate and throw him on the couch before climbing on top of him and straddling his waist. Andrew bucked beneath him, trying to throw him off, but Soren wasn’t a shifter for nothing. He held on without too many problems, and he caught Andrew’s hands when he tried to slap him on the chest.

  “Now, love, if you would just stop being hysterical, I could tell you why I’m taking control right now.” Andrew’s eyes shot daggers at him, but the man stopped moving, so Soren went on, “I don’t need to know which grandparent or great grandparent or whatever of yours was a shifter to know who you are. I already know that, and knowing what type of shifter blood is running through your veins won’t change it. You’re my mate, a loving man who’s a bit of a control freak and a neat freak to boost that. You want things done your way or not done at all, and you hide under a shell made of glares and harsh words, even if you don’t mean them.”

  That earned Soren a peek at Andrew’s teeth as he snarled at him. “Okay, so maybe you mean them, but you still love me.” Andrew stilled at that, his eyes widening a bit. Soren realized that they hadn’t confessed their love to each other yet, although he knew they were in love. “I love you, you know that, right? I love you even if you’re snarly and a brat. I’d love you if you were entirely human or completely shifter, if you shifted or if you never do, or even if you happened to shift into a purple hippo with pink polka dots.”

  Andrew tried to keep his scowl on, but he didn’t succeed. He guffawed, the anger seeping right out of him. “A purple hippo with pink polka dots? Please tell me that kind of shifter doesn’t exists!”

  Soren let Andrew’s hands go and laughed with him. “Well, hippo shifters do exist, although I don’t think the
y’re purple.” It didn’t escape him that Andrew hadn’t told him he loved him too, but it didn’t matter. Yes, it made his heart pinch a bit, but he knew Andrew loved him, even if he didn’t tell him. He knew his man was closed off about his feelings, but even if he never told Soren he loved him, Soren knew. He could feel it flowing through their bond, and their shared love was as strong as the one he had seen between his friends who had mated in the past year and a half.

  Andrew was still snickering, and it made Soren smile. The tension that had been obvious in Andrew was gone, and Soren leaned down for a kiss. He knew things were right between them when Andrew kissed him right back, their tongues tangling.

  Soren broke their lips apart and kissed the tip of Andrew’s nose. “We can go to the mansion in a little while, because I know you’ll want to, but I wanted you to know that whatever you’ll learn doesn’t change anything for me.”

  Andrew’s face was serious as he nodded. “I think I already knew that, but thanks for telling me. I needed it.” He pushed up to kiss Soren again, and Soren felt his cock twitching with interest and renewed arousal. He could have stayed in bed—or on the couch, as it was—with his mate all day, but he needed to make sure Andrew was really okay before doing that.

  “Love, are you okay with what happened with Fred?” God, how Soren hated that man! He also felt strangely sorry for him, but it didn’t mean he was going to forgive him.

  Andrew hesitated and wrapped his arms around Soren’s waist, pulling him down. Soren went willingly, but he shifted them to their sides so that he would not squish his smaller mate. He hugged Andrew close, his hand roaming the yards of dark skin he had free access to, waiting for Andrew to answer him. He had noticed Andrew needed to regroup his thoughts before he could talk about them to anyone.

  “I guess I’ll be a little jumpy for a while. It’s going to take some time to stop being scared that I’m being watched, or that I could find someone got in the house, but I’ll eventually get over it. I know he’s not going to be a problem anymore.”

  “I’ll be there for you no matter what you need, love.”

  Andrew leaned forward, stroking their noses together in an Eskimo kiss. “I know. I’m glad you’re moving in, tiger. I don’t think I would be able to let you go.”

  “You don’t need to, love. I’ll never leave you, not now that I have you.”

  Chapter Seven

  Andrew was nervous. He knew he shouldn’t be, but he still was. Soren had made it very clear that it didn’t matter to him what Andrew was, and he knew it wouldn’t matter for his friends either, but it did matter to him. He felt as if he wasn’t really himself anymore, as if he had been missing something for all his life.

  He scowled at Soren, who was sitting next to him. The man was driving and singing his head off, looking so damn happy Andrew couldn’t believe it. He turned his head toward the window and smiled when Soren hit a particularly high passage of the song and went completely off-key. He didn’t let that stop him, though, and he just went on, his voice pushing away some of Andrew’s gloom. He was happy too, really. He just wasn’t used to showing it to the outer world like Soren.

  Soren turned into the mansion’s driveway and drove to the gate, opening it with his remote. He parked next to the row of cars and pick-ups that seemed to be permanently there and turned the car off, his singing voice vanishing with the song. “So, are you ready?”

  Andrew turned toward him. He really wanted to scowl at the man and just get out of the car, but he was working on his ways, at least with his mate. The man in front of him was the one who would know him completely, who would know every nook and every quirk of Andrew’s personality, and he owed it to Soren to try to be nice to him. It didn’t mean he would completely stop being a smartass, though, so he just stuck his tongue out at his mate and then got out of the car.

  Andrew heard Soren laugh before he slammed the door closed, and his mate was soon standing beside him. As they walked to the door, Andrew decided to take a tiny step into the new him and reached for Soren’s hand, something he would never have done with any of his exes. He just wasn’t into PDA, but this was pretty mild, and it was Soren.

  They walked in as if it was their house, and in a way, it still was for Soren. He was still part of the pride, even if he didn’t live there anymore. Besides, they were still moving his things into Andrew’s house—their house—and they would take the last of them back when they left.

  Soren made to knock on Dominic’s door, but Andrew was impatient to wait for an answer. He knew the lion shifter was alone in his office since he had been the one to tell them to come see him today—Andrew would have come much earlier if it had been up to him, but the man had had business to attend to now. He just hoped Dominic wasn’t having an intimate moment with Ani.

  Andrew barged in, relieved when he saw that while Ani was in the room, the man was lying on the couch, reading. Dominic was at his desk, and his head snapped up at the sound of the door opening, a scowl on his face until he realized Andrew had been the one opening it. Yup, the lion shifter really had a soft spot for Andrew.

  Andrew stomped to one of the chairs in front of the desk and sat down, narrowing his eyes at Dominic. The man just chuckled. “Please come in, Andrew. Why don’t you have a seat?” Andrew narrowed his eyes even more and Dominic held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, let’s go straight to business. I missed you too, by the way.” Dominic flashed Andrew a smile. “What brings you here?”

  “Did you know I was part shifter?” There, right to the point. Why didn’t everyone understand that was the best way to solve things?

  Dominic brows rose high on his forehead, but he didn’t seem completely surprised. “You knew!” Andrew spat out, a growl escaping him as he rose from his chair. He didn’t really know what he was going to do—he hadn’t exactly planned his moves, but Dominic growled a bit at his aggressive reaction. Huh. It looked like he did have a limit when it concerned Andrew.

  Soren grabbed Andrew’s arms and pulled him on his lap, and Andrew didn’t resist. He was still a little stunned at the growl Dominic had given him. It had never happened in all the years he had known the lion shifter, not that serious a growl. “He didn’t mean anything by it, Alpha.” Andrew looked at his mate in question. “You growled at him. He could have taken it like a challenge for his position, or at the least like a challenge to his authority.”

  Andrew had known that. He just hadn’t growled on purpose. He turned to Dominic. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything with that growl, you know that. I didn’t even growl on purpose. It’s just...this whole thing is so confusing, I don’t know what to think anymore.”

  “You said you’re part shifter. How did you find out?”

  Andrew knew his friend was hiding something, but it seemed that he would have to pull it out of Dominic, so he went with it. “I bit Soren while we were having sex.” Ani gaped at him from his place behind Dominic and Soren made a little strangled sound. Andrew turned to him. “What? It’s true.”

  “I know, love, but you could have been a little more subtle about it.”

  Andrew shrugged and turned back to Dominic. “So?”

  “So...I already knew it.”

  Andrew narrowed his eyes but before he could start yelling again Dominic finally started spilling the beans. “Fifty years ago I lost my best friend, Christian. He was killed in a car accident, and I found out only later that he had fathered a child. Your grandmother got married shortly after your father’s birth, but she agreed for me to be part of her child’s life. I was having a hard time then. I was shunned out of my birth pride and I didn’t have a place to live, so I roamed the States, and while I wanted to be close to your father, I wasn’t able to. He grew up and I found out he had gotten married to his high school sweetheart, and that they had a baby on the way. They had moved to Whitedell and I followed them here, got reacquainted with your dad. I was in the hospital when you were born, and I watched you grow up.”
>
  “Why didn’t you...why not tell me anything?”

  “It wasn’t my place. Who was I to decide to tell you your grandmother had had a child outside marriage? I wanted to, but...”

  Andrew got it, really. It just hurt that not even his father had ever told him, even though he was a half-breed himself. “What kind of shifter was Christian?”

  “Lion, like me. We belonged to the same pride.”

  “Am I ever going to shift?”

  “I don’t know. Your father never did, and he never claimed your mother, although I don’t know if it’s because he’s not able to or if it’s because she isn’t his mate.”

  Andrew couldn’t think about that right now. He had enough on his plate on his own, and he couldn’t add his parents’ problems to that. It wasn’t even a problem, really, since they were very much in love still, mates or not mates.

  “Why did this happen now? Why not earlier?”

  “I think it must have been Soren’s saliva when he claimed you. It’s the only logical explanation.”

  Andrew nodded. He felt as if the top of his head was about to blow off, soon.

  “Does knowing this help you a bit?” Soren whispered in Andrew’s ear, and Andrew jolted out of his thoughts. Dominic and Ani were softly talking, ignoring them as best as they could, and Andrew was thankful for it.

  “I don’t know. I have to let everything sink in, you know?”

  The handsome man that was Andrew’s mate nodded and gave him a small smile. “Sure. Love you, babe.” Soren kissed Andrew’s lips and turned to Dominic and Ani, inserting himself in the conversation and giving Andrew a little time to figure things out. The care Soren had for him, the way in which he always seemed to make sure Andrew knew exactly how much he meant to Soren, made him realize that it didn’t really matter if he had shifter blood, or if he would ever be able to shift.