by Lynn Hagen
Riley was unaware of the captivating picture he made when he smiled. It had been a small smile, barely there, but it was there. Sterling would get the stick out of the man’s ass yet. He wanted to see the tentative smile turn into a full-blown one. The man had only smiled a handful of times, and he was simply stunning when he showed teeth. It always made Sterling’s cock hard as he turned into a babbling idiot.
“Is it me or is Riley a little intense?” Chey asked as he stood next to Sterling.
“He’s intense,” Sterling answered as he watched Bryce climb from the truck. All was well in Riley’s kingdom. It was only Riley’s brother. The most damage that bear could do was make someone want to strangle him. Bryce was always smiling, always laughing. Sterling liked him. Bryce was fun to be around. Sterling liked all of Riley’s brothers. The twins were hilarious and seemed to always get into trouble with Pa. Now those two bears knew how to have a good time. Maybe Sterling could have them teach Riley how to relax and laugh. The man was way too serious most of the time. The perpetual scowl on Riley’s face wasn’t doing the bear any justice.
“Well, that’s Riley’s brother. I’ll catch up with you later.” Sterling clapped Chey on the shoulder.
“God, no!” Chey shouted as he backed away, his brown eyes filled with horror. “Please don’t tell me you have something awful in your past that you don’t want to relive.”
Sterling cocked his head, wondering what in the hell was wrong with the strange man. “Uh…I once ran over a frog in midleap when I was driving. I felt like crap for days.”
Chey blinked at him, and then a smile formed on his lips. “I like you, Sterling.”
“Aw, shucks, thanks,” he teased Chey before jogging over to where Riley and Bryce were standing.
Bryce and Riley were talking with each other until Sterling neared them. “Hey, Sterling, my man. Pa wanted me to bring you some milk for your pig.” Bryce reached into the front seat of his truck and pulled out a knapsack. “He was worried that Bacon wouldn’t find anything to eat.”
Riley’s eyes widened, and then a faint yeah right look flashed in their grey depths. “You’re telling me Pa was worried about a pig?”
Bryce winked at Riley and then handed the knapsack over to Sterling. “Find somewhere to store the milk so it doesn’t spoil.”
Sterling wasn’t stupid. He knew Bryce had come here for other reasons than milk. He took the sack and wandered off, trying to figure out where in this village he could store milk. It wasn’t like they had a refrigerator or cooler.
He knew Bryce wanted to talk to Riley in private, so Sterling made himself scarce.
“Spill,” Riley said as he rounded on Bryce. “I know damn well Pa did not send you all the way out here for milk.”
“Suspicious, are we?” Bryce teased, knowing Riley was probably going to hand him his ass for fucking with him. The man didn’t have one damn humorous bone in his body.
“No. I know my family like the back of my hand,” Riley said as he leaned back casually against Bryce’s truck, his arms folding over his chest. “So, why are you out here?”
Bryce gave a nod, knowing he couldn’t fool his eldest brother. He scanned the village, seeing a few elven men glancing his way curiously, and spotted Chey standing over by the outhouse, talking with Max. “I see the grey wolves made it here.”
“They came in last night. I wasn’t aware they were coming, though. Maverick should have told me he was sending medical help as well as someone to train the sentinels.”
Bryce looked over his shoulder at Riley, his brows furrowing. “Sentinels?”
Riley squatted down, picking up a stick from the ground and tossing it. “They have a few men who are supposed to guard the village. But they aren’t doing a bang-up job. Vampires keep attacking because of the feys’ sweet-smelling blood. Eagle has agreed to train the sentinels so they can defend their people better.”
“Huh, I didn’t know about that. I thought Ahm was supposed to only find a leader and a healer for them.”
Riley shrugged, gazing over to where Sterling was standing. Bryce could see the love gleaming in his oldest brother’s eyes as he studied his mate. It did Bryce’s heart good to know Riley had finally found his mate. But he also knew that Riley wasn’t going to skip down the road to blissful mating happily. The man was going to grouch his way down the entire path.
No matter how much he and the twins had tried to pull the proverbial stick out of Riley’s ass over the years, his brother had squeezed his butt cheeks tightly and kept it lodged deeply. It was a shame, too. The few times Riley did laugh or joke, Bryce found the man witty, and his humor was well timed. He would have made an excellent prankster if he hadn’t been so moody.
“It’s only been one day. Besides”—Riley stood, brushing his hands off—“this place isn’t so bad. It lacks modern conveniences, but I’ve dealt with worse.”
“Pa sent me to ask how bad the attacks are. He wants to know if you need Maverick to send some of his sentries.” Bryce hadn’t been looking forward to giving that bit of news to Riley. The man prided himself on taking care of his family, and Bryce wasn’t sure if Riley would be pissed that help was offered. Sometimes Riley could be too damn proud.
“I’m not sure, Bryce. There was an attack last night, but Max, Eagle, and I handled it. Until I see how bad it really is, tell Maverick to hold off on help. I don’t want shifters crowding the village and making the fey feel as if they are being taken over.”
Bryce blinked at Riley. Had the man just talked calmly to him about having help? Maybe being mated was a good thing for Riley, or maybe the man was a clone. This new Riley was scaring Bryce. He wasn’t used to his oldest brother acting this way.
He was going to have to tell the twins, just as soon as he got over his goddamn heart attack.
Riley couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth as he watched Bacon follow behind Sterling with a happy bounce. There was a gentleness in Sterling that even the animals could detect, and Riley was starting to see it as clear as day. He had been so busy running from his mate that he had never taken the time to get to know what made Sterling tick.
The man looked at the world with an amused wonder, and he was starting to make Riley do the same. Who would have thought that Riley would have been the one to change? He had sworn that he wouldn’t give his heart to his mate once he found him. He had sworn that he would never fall in love. And Riley had also sworn that his mate was going to do what he said and that was final.
Oh, how wrong he had been.
He was starting to see what his pa meant when he had told Riley that he would understand when he found his mate. Riley had thought his pa foolish at the time, but now he was seeing that his pa knew what he was talking about.
He was starting to see why his brothers acted like goobers for their mates. Sterling had Riley’s heart in the palm of his hand, and Riley hadn’t even realized his mate had taken it. A grin overtook his features as he watched Sterling talking to Warrior. His horse was probably just as confused as Riley felt, but the damn horse looked like he was listening. The grin on Riley’s face was so wide that his cheeks began to hurt.
“Oh, my god. Is that a smile on your face?” Bryce asked in mock astonishment.
“Shut the fuck up.” Riley glared at Bryce, but couldn’t hold the expression. Sterling was definitely getting to him. He chuckled as he turned his back to his brother. “Go harass an elven.”
Riley started when a tall and elegant fey appeared right in front of him. He hated when the fey or vampires did that. It was creepy as hell.
Before Riley had a chance to ask the elven man what he wanted, he heard a quick intake of breath and glanced over at Bryce to see his brother’s eyes grow wide and then narrow as he growled.
“Whoa!” Riley shouted, but was too late to stop his brother as Bryce punched the fey square on his jaw. The fey flew off of his feet, hitting the dirt hard.
“You bastard!” Bryce shouted as Riley grabb
ed his brother, pushing him back from the fallen man.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Bryce?” Riley asked as he blocked Bryce from getting another shot in. “Calm the hell down.”
“You fucking knew and you kept it from me!” Bryce stabbed a finger at the man as he took a step back, his eyes becoming flat and as unreadable as stones.
The fey pulled himself up from the ground, his jaw clenching as he raked his eyes over Bryce. It wasn’t a friendly look. “It was better this way.”
“For you!”
Riley watched as Bryce’s grey eyes went from unreadable to pain filled in under a second. They were glowing with hurt as his brother spun around and headed for his truck.
Riley turned toward the fey, totally lost. “Who the hell are you?”
The man’s eyes were fixed on Bryce, but he answered Riley. “Ahm.”
This was Ahm? He wasn’t blue. He was white. Riley could have sworn he was told that the leader of the shadow elves was blue.
“What in the hell is going on?” Riley asked Ahm.
“That is between Bryce and me.” Ahm disappeared, leaving Riley to scratch his head. Bryce’s truck tires spun, the truck leapt forward, and then his brother was hauling ass out of the village.
What in the hell had he missed?
He hadn’t even found out why Ahm had appeared in the first place.
“Is everything all right?” Sterling asked as he neared Riley, a worried expression on his face.
“Hell if I know,” Riley answered honestly. “But it has nothing to do with me.” Even though he didn’t like the hurt he had seen shining in Bryce’s eyes. He would do anything to protect his family, but he had a feeling this was out of his hands.
Riley glanced down at Sterling and almost groaned. His mate’s grey eyes were compelling, magnetic as he gazed up at Riley. His cock jerked and then began to thicken in his pants. He had a lot to accomplish today, but all he could think about was fucking Sterling into the dirt floor of their hut.
Surprise showed deeply in Sterling’s eyes, and then a knowing smile turned his lips up. “I’m going to take a nap.”
Not if I have any say about it. Riley glanced around and then hurried behind his mate, twisting his lips as he glanced down at Bacon who was trailing behind Sterling. He picked the pig up from the ground and quickly jogged over to Chey.
“Pigsit for me.” He shoved Bacon into Chey’s arms and then raced back across the village, hurrying into his hut. Riley stumbled and his back hit the wall when Sterling leapt at him.
“Hold still.”
“Yes, sir.” Riley wasn’t sure what his mate was about to do, but he was anxious to find out. The heated look in Sterling’s eyes was only promising that Riley was about to have a good time. He was all for that. He would take whatever Sterling had to offer, and more.
Sterling dropped to his knees, quickly freeing Riley’s cock, and then he moved swiftly and engulfed Riley’s straining erection down his throat.
“Oh, fuck!”
Sterling sucked hard and fast as he reached down and cupped Riley’s sac in his hand, rolling his balls around and massaging them at the same time. Riley leaned heavier into the wall as his fingers grabbed Sterling’s dark-blond hair gruffly, feeling his knees begin to shake already. The man knew how to suck cock. He was using his throat muscles to milk Riley’s erection and send him into the stratosphere. Sterling was acting as if he didn’t have a gag reflex.
Fuck yeah!
“That’s it, hon. Suck my cock.” Riley hissed and moaned, his legs quivering when Sterling began to hum, sending vibrations down his shaft and straight to his nuts.
His body tightened, and Riley clenched his jaw, fighting back his release. Sterling’s mouth was so hot and moist that Riley never wanted to leave it. Riley’s cock glided in and out of the moist heat at an alarming rate. As much as he wanted to stretch this out, Riley knew Sterling’s talented lips were going to push him over the edge in no time flat. He was willing to bet that his mate could suck a golf ball through a water hose.
Riley could feel Sterling’s tongue tracing the veins of his cock, his cheeks hollowed. He was sucking hard, fast, and ferociously. The wet slurping sounds of his mouth gliding up and down Riley’s erection made Riley’s toes curl and his fist tighten in the man’s hair.
Sterling grabbed Riley’s hips, stopping him from thrusting into the younger man’s mouth. Riley fought to stay still, but the blow job was so fucking amazing. Sterling knew what the hell he was doing as he bobbed his head back and forth, taking Riley down his throat.
Riley gave a low growl when Sterling glanced up at him, a mixture of amusement and heat in his eyes. Riley cupped his mate’s jaw, feeling the muscles under his fingers work as Sterling worked to bring Riley off.
With their eyes focused on each other, Sterling pulled his lips tight over Riley’s shaft. The move was slow, leisurely, as Riley’s cock slowly appeared from between Sterling’s swollen lips. Riley threw his head back, feeling it smack against the hut. If he kept watching his mate, he was going to explode.
Like a moth drawn to a flame, Riley’s eyes slowly moved back down to what Sterling was doing. His eyes hooded when their eyes locked, and then Sterling grabbed Riley’s cock as his tongue licked a path up one side of his shaft, a moan rumbling in his chest.
The little imp was seducing him!
Sterling swallowed him down, teasing and stroking Riley’s cock to some inaudible beat. He was pushing Riley to a rapid climax, the man’s tongue pressing against Riley’s pulsing length. Riley groaned as he felt his cock swell further inside Sterling’s mouth, pressing against the roof as Sterling opened wider.
Riley shouted and rose up on the balls of his feet when Sterling pulled at his sac and swallowed him down to the root. Riley’s grip tightened in the younger man’s hair to the point Riley was afraid he would rip Sterling’s hair out as his cum splashed down the back of Sterling’s throat. His mate pressed his face into Riley’s groin, drinking down every last drop, and then pulled back, lapping at the head as if he wanted more.
“Sensitive,” Riley said as his body jerked.
When Sterling leaned back to smile up at Riley, he saw that his mate had his own cock in his hand, his fingers shining from his orgasm.
The man was out to kill him. Oh, yeah, definitely.
Riley was boneless as he leaned against the wall, his legs quivering. “Now I’m the one who needs a nap.”
Sterling grinned and then frowned. “Where’s Bacon?”
Riley tucked himself back into his pants. “I’ll go get him.” He left Sterling as he went in search of Chey. He knew that he wasn’t going to get any rest until his mate knew his pet was safe from Iam and his posse of pork eaters.
Chapter Seven
Riley smacked his cell phone on the palm of his hand, cursing when he still had no bars. He would have to be in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. How was he supposed to call his pa, smoke signals? He walked around the village, holding his hand high up in the air as he tried to catch a signal anywhere.
“You look like you’re worshiping a cell phone god,” Sterling said with a wide grin on his face as he walked over to Riley. “You better watch out or Iam will try and roast that next.”
“He might as well. It’s useless.” Riley lowered his arm, smacking the phone with his hand again. “The damn thing has never lost signal before.”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had one.”
Riley’s brows shot up in surprise. “Never?”
Sterling shook his head. “Nope.”
“How in the hell do you live without one?”
Sterling shrugged. “I can’t miss what I’ve never had. Besides, who was I going to call?”
God, Riley would go nuts if he couldn’t use a phone when he needed to. He remembered the time before cell phones were invented. It had been a pain in the ass to try and find a pay phone, and he had to drive all the way back to the house when out and about if he wanted to talk to anyone a
t home.
Of course, back then, he hadn’t lived in a rural community like this. But he still had a signal on the ranch.
“Eagle, Max, and Chey have a fire going. They’ve invited us to sit with them. Maybe one of them has a phone that works.” Sterling offered Riley a small, shy smile, and then he walked across the village to the spot where a fire was brightly crackling.
Riley swallowed hard.
He’d had sex with Sterling. He had claimed his mate. He even received some damn good head. But now was the time to put up or shut up. He was either going to openly cuddle his mate with witnesses or run and hide in their hut.
He was sweating bullets.
Riley shoved his cell phone into his pocket and glanced around. He saw a few fey mingling with each other, talking quietly, and a few laughing at what the other said. He glanced over at the fire and saw how Eagle held Chey in the apex of his legs as Max leaned close and whispered in his ear.
He also saw Sterling sitting across the fire by himself, looking a bit nervous and so damn breathtaking that Riley’s chest hurt. Sterling was trying to smile as he replied to something Chey said, putting all of his attention on the small piglet cradled in his arms as if that was all he needed in the world.
Riley shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked across the village to the roaring fire. He saw Sterling’s eyes flicker up to him and then dart away, and he wished more than anything that he hadn’t put that hesitant look on his mate’s face. Sterling didn’t know what to expect from him, and it seemed that the gorgeous little man was too afraid to ask.
Riley sighed. He had done this. His standoffish ways had made his mate hesitant to ask for what he wanted. Sterling wasn’t asking for the world. He wasn’t even asking Riley to run around the village professing his love. He just wanted to be shown a little kindness and affection from his mate outside the bedroom.
You can do this, Riley told himself as he walked past the fire to sit on the log next to Sterling. He just had to figure out how to do it. Open displays of affection were not something Riley was used to, despite having grown up with his father and his brothers. He didn’t mind the occasional slap on the back, but he knew nothing about cuddling with his mate.