by Oliver, Lisa
Yes, oh fucking Hallelujah yes. With a surge Phillip’s cock was sheathed and as his balls kissed Kellen’s cheeks, he held himself still. He was so close to climax he knew that Kellen was going to have the shortest claiming in history. He dropped over his man’s chest, cupping Kellen’s head to bring him up for a kiss. To his surprise, Kellen’s strong arms were around him in an instant, and Phillip found himself rolled over onto his back, with Kellen straddling him, his cock still deep inside his man.
Phillip allowed his smirk to show on his face. The passion was etched on Kellen’s features, although his hard jaw was clenched. Phillip methodically settled his breathing patterns as he allowed Kellen to adjust to the foreign feeling of something in his ass. After all, it was only…crap, was it only yesterday that Phillip had gone through the same new sensations? Had it really been only two days since they’d met?
And then Kellen moved, and the whys, the wherefores and the timeline of their short but hellishly intense relationship all faded to nothing. Kellen moved like a man possessed, his strong legs powering the rise and fall of his spectacular ass, Phillip’s cock sliding in and out of the well-lubed hole with ease. Resting his hands lightly on Kellen’s thighs, Phillip let Kellen set the pace; his hand only moving to his mate’s flapping cock as Kellen’s movements became more erratic.
For a virgin, Kellen had taken to being penetrated like an expert. His erection never flagged and after a few minutes, his pace increased. Lines of harsh pleasure etched across Kellen’s face and the man’s movements stuttered; and then…Kellen pulled at Phillip’s arms, and with his face in his mate’s neck, Phillip took a deep breath and then bit down hard enough to taste blood; his mate groaning and spilling between them. The coppery tang of blood, the sweet sounds of Kellen’s pleasure, and the smell of his spunk along with the intense grip around his cock, combined to send Phillip over the edge, and he moaned as he swallowed mouthfuls of Kellen’s life force, his seed filling his mate’s insides.
Mated – double claimed. Permanent. Forever. Mine.
As you are mine.
Phillip disengaged his teeth in shock, his tongue making quick work of the wound left behind. Kellen’s neck would heal within hours, although like Phillip’s, his scar would be permanent.
We have a mind link. Shit! It’d happened. Now his mate would know the despair that tormented him. How could he have let this happen?
“Phillip.” Kellen’s voice was a calming counterpoint to Phillip’s panic. Phillip’s gaze locked with his mate’s eyes and he couldn’t speak, couldn’t look away.
“We’ve been blessed, mate of mine. Blessed. But it doesn’t mean I’m going to be blasted with every thought you ever have, nor you with mine. Sure, we’re more closely connected than single claimed couples, but I won’t hear everything you think and thankfully, you won’t be in my mind all the time. You don’t want to know what goes on inside of my head when I haven’t had my coffee in the morning.”
Kellen was trying to make him feel better, and somehow, in a strange way, it did. Phillip vowed to shield his negative thoughts. He wouldn’t subject his mate to his inner bitch. The important thing was they were double mated, and in allowing himself to be claimed, Kellen had given him a gift. One that Phillip would treasure.
He slid his hands up Kellen’s warm thighs, more to comfort himself than anything else. He could be persuaded to go a second round if his mate was willing. Kellen’s stomach rumbled, loud in the silence of the room, and as Kellen laughed, Phillip’s semi-hard cock slid from his body. Oh well. Perhaps not. Hopefully another time.
“Let me order food. We should have time for a shower before it arrives,” he said, trying to project as much warmth as he could into his words, while imagining a wall in his head. He gave a weak smile and climbed off the bed, glad that Kellen let him go.
/~/~/~/~/
Kellen sensed Phillip’s attempts at shielding and kept his smile and his comments to himself. Phillip would learn that it wasn’t possible to block out a mate completely, but if it made him feel more comfortable, Kellen would go along with it. Phillip’s wolf would want the closeness offered by their mind link, and eventually Phillip’s human self would too.
Now, as Phillip pottered about, getting a cloth, cleaning Kellen’s skin, ordering food, and generally putting a bit of distance between them, Kellen lay on the bed, relaxed and calm. Much to his surprise, his wolf had taken to being bitten with surprising eagerness, and even now was curled up asleep – happy that their mate wanted them enough to claim them. If anyone else had tried to make him submit in the most carnal way, the man would have been missing some teeth. But wolf and man accepted Phillip.
Getting Phillip to accept himself, was going to be a harder task. But Kellen could afford to be patient. Wolves mated for life, and he had all the time in the world.
Chapter Sixteen
“We need to get our stories straight before I call Malcom.” Pearson had allowed them half a day and an evening to themselves, but Phillip’s phone rang at seven the following morning. Pearson’s demand for him and Kellen to be in his office in an hour was tempered with the offer of breakfast, but it was an order nonetheless. Phillip still felt half asleep, it had been an energetic night, but fortunately the only other people present were Kyle and Steel with their mates.
“The reason I want you and Teric here, Kellen, is because you know the man. Steel has dug up with some impressive info, but none of that will help us understand the triggers that’ll get the man to hustle his butt down here,” Pearson continued.
“I thought the plan was to say the ferret made a complaint about Malcom, and that he needed to come and investigate.” Phillip might’ve spent the night under his mate and over him at a totally different time, but Kellen had mentioned that much at least.
“That would work to a certain point,” Steel said. “Unfortunately, because Malcom is a Council member he has every right to send enforcers and insist that Tristan be taken back to New York for questioning. If we mention that the man has been spying on us, it’s still not enough to bring Malcom here.”
Phillip thought quickly. One of his strengths was his ability to strategize and when working on behalf of his pack, he excelled at it. “You need to keep it vague,” he said haltingly, as his plan came together. “We’re shifters, so lying won’t work, although some truths can be stretched a bit on the phone. If Tristan were to attack one of us, unlikely I know, but it would mean that shifter law would be on our side, with respect to keeping him here. And if Tristan then offered information about a council conspiracy to undermine wolf packs; and mentioned Malcom by name in an effort to avoid being killed he’d have no choice but to come here. Malcom wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave the questioning to someone else, would he?” Phillip ignored Kellen who still had a smug expression on his face and asked Teric. He didn’t have a lot to do with the cheeky cat shifter, but he valued the man’s experience and knowledge about all things Council.
Teric shrugged. “It depends on how paranoid he’s gotten lately. I was shocked, as you know when we found out why Kellen was sent here. I’ve always believed that the Council was above reproach and I have to say this whole business has me feeling damn sick.”
“I think it’s a good idea,” Kellen said and Phillip felt a burst of pride that his mate was pleased with him. He squashed it quickly. He was not a sap. “But,” and yep, that one word helped with the whole squashing aspect. “Tristan’s not the type to attack anyone. He’s a ferret. He goes for sneaky, or in his case, a sex attack. He considers himself totally irresistible to men and women and uses it to his advantage.”
Still feeling a bit pissed about that.
Wouldn’t you?
Yes. Definitely yes, but Phillip forced himself to keep his head on the matter at hand.
“The ferret is a damned slut,” Dante said forcefully and Phillip wondered what the little man had done while he and Kellen had been holed up in their room. “None of the enforcers can go in there without being h
it on, not even to deliver food. He had Sebastian’s pants round his ankles before the man had barely blinked.”
“In fairness, Sebastian probably didn’t mind,” Phillip said with a smile, “He’ll plug anything with a hole. But he’s loyal as an enforcer.” He’d always got on well with the sexy shifter; simply because once they’d realized they weren’t each other’s type, Phillip had a chance to see how fun-loving the man could be.
“But a sexual come-on isn’t a criminal offense, and that’s all Tristan seems to use. I can’t see him physically attacking a wolf shifter, or a cat for that matter,” Pearson said, running his hand over his hair and looking at Teric.
“He’d attack me,” Phillip said, realizing it was true as soon as he said it. “He already thinks I’m a runt; he hates the fact that he can’t control Kellen anymore because we’re mated, and because we’re mated his sexual attacks are just going to be water off a duck’s back. A few choice words and I’m sure I can get him to lose his shit.”
Kellen growled beside him. Phillip ignored him. He focused on Pearson.
“Look,” he added when no one seemed inclined to speak. “We need a plausible story. Lying over the phone is one thing, but if we drag Malcom here, then there needs to be some truth to the rumors otherwise Malcom will smell a rat and not even bother to come. If Tristan attacks me, that’s an automatic death sentence because I’m an enforcer; at least under pack law. It doesn’t matter that Tristan’s not a wolf. He’s a shifter, so the law applies.”
“He’s right in that respect,” Teric said. “There’s nothing Malcom can say or do in that situation. If he wanted to know what Tristan was saying about him, he’d have to come here himself.”
“I totally respect your ability to handle yourself, Phillip,” Pearson said. “I’m just reluctant to kill another shifter, or use him as bait to protect this pack; especially a prey animal.”
“I won’t kill him,” Phillip said, although he had to admit his wolf was quite keen on the idea. “He needs to be alive so that Malcom thinks he has to do some damage control.”
“And where am I supposed to be when all this crap is going down?” Kellen demanded as angry as Phillip had been the day before. “I’m the one Malcom sent here. I’m supposed to be investigating this pack for problems and taking care of them.”
“You will be, but Malcom doesn’t know you’ve met your mate here, and it’s not a good idea to tell him yet,” Pearson said decisively. “You’ll take your friends, Cain and Prism, and interview Roger and Cam, and then Devin and Ace. Talk to others around the club as well. In other words, do your job. Write a report, a true report. The Council’s going to need it if this all goes to shit. Phillip, I’ll put you on cell guard duty when the shift changes at ten this morning. You have six hours to get this done. One of us will be nearby to pull you out after you’ve been attacked, and the rostered guy can go back to his post then. If it doesn’t happen within this shift, then we’ll think of something else.”
“It’ll happen,” Phillip said with a humor he didn’t feel. He slapped his hand on Kellen’s tight thigh. “I have a source of insider information. You’ll help me won’t you, sweetie?” He risked a glance at Kellen’s stony face and wondered if he’d gone too far with the sweetie comment. But this was his chance to redeem himself in Pearson’s eyes, and no amount of bad temper from his mate was going to stop him from doing his job. And a one-time shot to ruffle the ferret’s fur? Priceless!
/~/~/~/~/
Kellen was spitting tacks, and he was sure everyone in the office knew it. It was one thing for a wolf shifter to be attacked in the course of protecting his pack. It was a totally different story when a shifter willingly went into a situation where he wanted to be hit. What was more, Pearson had approved the plan, and as Phillip’s Alpha, his mate was going to obey. The damn man fucking came up with the idea, so he was hardly going to back out now. He risked a quick look at the clock above Pearson’s desk. Twenty past nine. He had forty minutes to convince his mate this was the dumbest idea in the history of ideas and do it in such a way that he didn’t piss him off.
He followed Phillip out of the office, and was surprised when the man headed to the restaurant area, rather than to their rooms. “I need another coffee,” Phillip said over his shoulder. Actually coffee sounded like a good idea, but Kellen wouldn’t be able to get at his mate – convince him that he’d had a dumb idea – if there were other shifters within hearing distance. His mate had a position to uphold, and Kellen wouldn’t undermine that.
It wasn’t until they were seated in a booth with steaming mugs in front of them that Kellen felt he could say something. And he opened his mouth to do just that, but his wily mate beat him to the punch.
“So, I know you’re not happy with the plan, but that’s commonly known as tough shit,” Phillip said bluntly. “I’m not leaving you to run off on a fool’s errand. There will be enforcers close by to get me out if I find I can’t handle one fucking ferret. You’ll be in the club, with your bodyguards and we have a mind link. All I need to do is let the guy assault me, and he’s in deep shit of his own making.”
“Phillip.” Kellen felt it was time to put his looks to good use, not to mention the deepness of his voice. He already knew that he just had to use a certain tone and Phillip shivered. He leaned on the table, catching those baby blues with his own, a little put off by the resolution he saw there. It was time to turn on the charm.
“You know, your presence would be helpful to me when I’m interviewing your packmates. You can point out who would be best to talk to, introduce me to some of the others. I could really do with that kind of input.” Kellen put as much charm as he could into his words, letting his eyes reflect the caring and desire he had for his mate, remembering to bend his elbows a bit so his biceps were flexed. He was the king of charm.
And for a moment, Kellen thought he’d done it. Phillip’s eyes warmed, followed by his beautiful smile. But the laughter that followed wasn’t as reassuring.
“Does that work for you?” Phillip asked, still snickering around his coffee. “Those soulful green eyes, all that sexual tension and less-than-subtle charm. Used to getting what you want?”
Kellen leaned back, and sighed. “I thought I was being romantic with my mate,” he said, even though he could tell his words were bordering a lie. “I’d feel better if you were with me on these interviews, that’s all.” Damn it. He took a swig of coffee. It was good stuff.
Phillip snorted. “One, you’re more than capable of turning on the charm with anyone; although if I catch you getting hot and heavy with anyone else but me, I’ll rip your balls off. Two, I’ve been given my orders by the Alpha and I’m going to do my job. Just like you’re going to do yours. If you’d stop trying to dissuade me, and gave me some juicy tit-bits about your former fuck-buddy instead; I could be out of there in an hour and back up here helping you with your interviews.”
One of Kellen’s strengths was to know when he was beat. It didn’t happen often, but looking at the determination on Phillip’s face, he knew his mate was right. Tristan was temperamental, but like many drama queens, he did have his triggers, most of which Kellen had found out to his detriment. He leaned over the table, catching Phillip’s hands; and began the unenviable task of telling his mate everything he could remember about his former bed-buddy.
Keep it factual, keep it basic, and for fucks sake remind my mate he means everything to me. It was a tall order for a thirty-minute conversation.
Chapter Seventeen
Phillip hurried down to the cells after leaving Kellen with Cain and Prism. He had a good feeling about the two mountain men who clearly cared about his mate’s safety and not for the first time, he wondered what would happen once the threat to the Washington pack was over. He’d meant what he’d said to Kellen the night before. Unlike most wolves, he wouldn’t have a problem with leaving the pack and traveling with his mate. He’d spent years in the Navy with no other shifter contact; and only approached the W
ashington pack after his discharge because he fancied the idea of using his skills without bureaucracy attached.
But all of that could be settled after Malcom had been dealt with. To further inflame the scumbag ferret, Phillip ducked up to his suite and pulled out club clothes that hadn’t seen the light of day for at least six months. His leather pants looked as if they’d been painted on, and his equally tight shirt was a blue that apparently complemented his eyes. He used the tiniest bit of hair gel, borrowed from a sub since he never messed with it; and after pulling on his boots he was as ready as he’d ever be.
“Woohoo, you’re looking damn fine for ten o’clock in the morning.” Sebastian’s eyes lit up as Phillip went to relieve him.
Phillip shook his head. “Heard you’ve already had some action, so keep your eyes and your hands to yourself,” he said with a smile. Once passed the innuendo and come-ons, Sebastian was a decent man. He nodded his head to Tristan’s cell door. “Everything quiet in there?”
“Quiet enough,” Sebastian said, rolling his eyes. “After the blow job he gave me didn’t get him out of his cell he resorted to threats, crying and I have a feeling most of his breakfast is decorating the walls. I’m tired, I can’t go in there and deal with his shit.”
“Oh great, I’ll get him on cleaning duty then,” Phillip said. If anything was likely to throw the little man into a snit, then having to clean up his own mess was going to do it.
“Yeah, just watch it though. The little shit shifted the last time I poked my head in. Damn near got out of the door. He’s a fast little fucker.”
“Hmm.” Phillip thought quickly. If Tristan stayed in his animal form, he would be hard to catch unless Phillip shifted too, and that wasn’t on his list of things to do. Then he grinned. “Hey, does Farren still have that big fishing net on a pole he uses when he heads off to the Anacostia?”