Rick’s arms tightened around Cole and he smiled against his mate’s lips. “Open up.”
“W-w-what?”
“Your mouth. Open your lips for me.”
Rick’s lips opened. Cole ran his tongue over his mate’s lower lip, then over the upper one. He heard Rick’s breath hitch and Rick’s mouth opened a bit more. Cole moved slowly, licking his way into his mate’s mouth. He touched the tip of his tongue to Rick’s and watched Rick’s eyelids flutter.
Rick hesitantly mirrored what Cole had done to him, his tongue moving along Cole’s lips. Cole opened his mouth to Rick, but Rick didn’t move in, so Cole did. He slipped past Rick’s lips again and explored, his touch growing bolder when Rick seemed to understand there wasn’t a wrong way to kiss and lost a bit of his shyness.
Rick was breathless when Cole finally moved away, and Cole wasn’t far behind. He leaned their foreheads together and listened to his mate’s heart. “So?”
Rick smiled and kissed Cole’s jaw. “I like it.”
Cole laughed. “I sure hope so.”
“I want m-more.”
“More?”
“I mean, more k-kisses.”
“I think that can be arranged. So, what’s in the basket you arrived with?”
“Oh! I brought y-you lunch.”
“Mmm, smells good.” Cole briefly wondered if Rick was ready, but he decided to take the chance. He pressed his nose in the crook of Rick’s neck and inhaled deeply. “Not as good as you, though.”
Rick chuckled and gently moved away. “It’s chicken and p-potato salad.”
“You cooked them?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, they’re going to be good. Should we go sit in the forest?”
Rick nodded and Cole leaned down and grabbed the basket with one hand, then Rick’s hand with the other. He pulled his mate along as he walked toward the edge of the clearing their house was in. “You’re sure you won’t be cold?”
“No. I’m f-fine.”
“Let’s go have lunch then.”
Cole’s bear was at peace right then, more so than ever in the past two months since they’d met Rick. Cole realized what a huge step kissing him had been for Rick—it had been his first kiss, it had been the touch of someone he’d known for only a couple of months, yet he’d trusted Cole with it. Cole was flattered, happy, and more than a little horny, but he wasn’t about to break Rick’s trust by trying to push him into something he wasn’t ready for. So he just held Rick’s hand and luxuriated in his mate’s touch.
* * * *
Rick gathered the last container and put it in the basket. “You have to go b-back?”
Cole was leaning against a tree, his eyes closed and his hands linked on his stomach. “Mmm, yeah. I want to finish it as soon as possible.” He opened his eyes and looked at Rick. “Or do you want me to stay with you this afternoon?”
“No, it’s fine. I w-want to try a new recipe a-anyway.”
“I liked the one you did the other day.”
“The beef one?”
“Yeah, that one.”
Rick smiled. “I’ll c-cook it again when the house is d-done.”
“That’ll give me another reason to speed things up then.” Cole sighed. “I have to go now. Do you want me to walk you to the house?”
“No. I can find my w-way on my own.”
They both stood up and Rick hesitated. Would Cole want to kiss him again? Rick wanted him too, but would it be okay if he took the initiative?
Cole solved his problem by taking his hand and placing a soft kiss on his lips, then on the tip of his nose. “I’ll see you later?”
“Of course. T-t-tonight.”
Rick watched Cole walk away and waited until he disappeared from sight to grab his basket. He hesitated between going straight to Duncan’s house or passing by the alpha’s house to put the basket away first. Since he hadn’t thought to check if Duncan was on patrol, he decided to head home.
Once there, he washed the containers he’d used for lunch and put everything away, then went to the schedule that hung in the house entrance. Duncan wasn’t on patrol, and hopefully he was home. Rick still wasn’t sure this was the right thing to do, but the alternative was to talk to Cole, and he just couldn’t do that.
He walked out of the house and took his clothes off. He left his shoes on the porch but folded his clothes and put them in one of the tote bags they used to transport their clothes when they shifted. He shivered—the October wind was cold against his skin, and he shifted quickly.
His wolf yipped in delight at being free. Rick knew he didn’t shift often enough and made the decision to do it more often. Maybe he could ask Cole to join him. He still hadn’t seen Cole’s bear, and he was more than a little curious about it.
Rick grabbed the tote bag with his teeth and trotted away. He was halfway there when he was joined by Arlen, and he let the bag fall on the dead leaves. He head-butted Arlen in the flank, making him jump to the side. Rick jumped after him, playfully batting at Arlen’s nose, and Arlen seemed to understand Rick wanted to play.
He growled and jumped on Rick. They rolled in the dirt, snapping at each other’s neck but careful not to bite too hard. Rick didn’t know who won, but it didn’t really matter. He stood and shook his fur out once he’d had enough. Arlen swiped a wet tongue on Rick’s muzzle and yipped. He curled on the ground and looked at Rick, but Rick needed to go.
He head-butted Arlen one last time and left the other wolf on his own. When he got to Duncan’s house the door was already open. Rick shifted back and dressed, hoping from foot to foot on the cold ground. He knocked on the door and a voice came from the back of the house.
“Come in. Duncan is in the living room.”
“T-t-thanks.”
Rick closed the door behind himself and padded to the living room. Duncan was curled on the couch with a book in his hand, but he was already looking at the living room door. “Hey Rick.”
They’d talked several times since that time in the kitchen, and Rick liked to think they’d become somewhat friends. It still wasn’t easy for him to open up, even knowing the people around him actually liked him and certainly didn’t want to hurt him.
“Hi.”
“You look frozen. Where’d leave your shoes?”
“At Kameron’s house.”
Duncan grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch and threw it at Rick. “Here. Sit down, come on. I don’t bite.”
Rick smiled. “I k-k-know.” He chose one of the armchairs to sit in, keeping some distance between them.
“So, did you need something? Not that I don’t want you here, but you’ve never come by just because you missed me,” Duncan said with laughter in his voice.
Rick shook the blanket open and curled his feet under his ass. He spread the blanket over himself and smoothed the creases it made on his thighs. “I... need someone t-t-to talk to.”
“Has something happened?” Duncan asked in a more serious voice.
“No. I’m f-f-fine. I just have some q-q-questions.” Damn, Rick’s stutter was worsening. He knew it was because he was nervous, so he gripped the blanket with both hands and tried to breathe deeply. It worked up to a certain point, but then Rick hadn’t expected to be completely at ease while having this conversation with a man he didn’t know all that much.
“You okay?”
“Yes. Thank y-y-you.”
Duncan leaned forward and put his book on the coffee table. “So, what did you want to talk about?”
Rick kept his eyes firmly on his hands. “S-s-sex.”
“Sex?” Duncan sounded surprised, and Rick couldn’t blame him.
“Yes. I know w-w-we’re not really friends, but you’re t-t-the closest thing I have to one, and... I t-t-tried to look on the internet, b-b-but it’s kind of s-s-scary.”
“Okay, wait. First, I’d like to think I am your friend. That means you can come to me for wha
tever you need and I’ll do my best to help you. You don’t have to be scared, or embarrassed, or whatever. Okay?” Rick nodded. “Second, can I ask why you want to know about sex?”
“Me and Cole h-h-haven’t, you know. N-n-not yet. And I have no i-i-idea how it works. Well, I d-d-do have an idea, but n-n-nothing specific.”
“Cole isn’t pressuring you, is he?”
“No, no. He’s g-g-going slow. So s-s-slow we’re not even m-m-moving.”
“But you want that to change.”
Rick shrugged and tilted his head forward to hide behind his hair. “Maybe? I m-m-mean, I know it’ll h-h-happen someday. We’re m-m-mates. And I know I w-w-want more than just holding h-h-hands with him. I asked him to k-k-kiss me today.” Rick smiled at the memory. “It w-w-was my first kiss.”
“Oh my God, you’re so cute!”
Rick glared at Duncan from behind his hair. “I’m not.”
Duncan grinned. “Believe me, you are. So, first kiss. And now you want to go further.”
“I really j-j-just want to know what happens.” Duncan arched a brow. “Okay, I w-w-want to do more than just k-k-kissing. I’m nearly t-t-twenty! It would be weird if I d-d-didn’t want to have sex. I just don’t k-k-know where to start.”
“Okay. Okay, well, I never thought I’d give someone a sex talk, but okay. Derick certainly didn’t need it. You know this is going to be awkward, right?” Rick nodded. “And it means we’ll be like BFFs or brothers after that. There’s no way I’d give anyone other than family the sex talk.”
“Really?” Even Rick could hear the hope tingeing his word.
Duncan nodded. “Really. So, little brother. You want to know about gay sex. You know what goes where, right?”
Rick blushed and ducked his head. His hair fell forward and he happily hid behind it. “Yes.”
“You’ll need lube. Lots of lube.”
Rick heard Duncan move and he peeked upward to see that he’d opened a drawer in the coffee table and was rustling in it. He gave a victorious yell and stood straighter, a bottle in his hand. “I knew we had a new one somewhere. Here, take it.”
Rick held his hand out and Duncan deposited the bottle in it. Rick looked at it, flushing when he saw it was lube. “Uh, t-t-thank you?”
“You’re welcome. Now, lots of this, and lots of fingers.” Duncan looked at Rick. “I don’t know what Cole is hiding in his jeans, but you’re kind of small, and he’s definitely not. You’ll want to make sure you’re properly prepped before he gets his dick anywhere near you.”
Rick groaned. “This is so e-e-embarrassing.”
Duncan shrugged and wiggled his fingers in front of him. “So, you start with one and get up to four. Well, you could get over four, of course, but I don’t think you want to talk about fisting right now.”
Rick gaped at Duncan’s hand. “Fisting? Is t-t-that what I think it is?”
Duncan balled his hand up and looked at it too. “Yeah. Personally I’ve never tried, but you know, whatever floats your boat.” He opened his hand again. “Anyway, you’ll think about that later, much, much later. For now just concentrate on the basics, okay?”
“Basics. O-o-okay.”
“I’m not sure how you feel about trying stuff alone, but maybe you could, you know, to get used to having something there.”
Rick just knew his face was going to stay tomato-red for the rest of his life. “I’ll t-t-think about it.”
“You do that. Just, start with one, okay?”
Rick nodded. He had thought about it, of course, but the fear someone would catch him while he was doing it was still engrained in him. Maybe Duncan was right, though. Maybe he could try.
“Anything else you want to know?”
“Umm, yeah. What a-a-about, you know, your mouth?”
“Mouth? Oh. Oh! You mean blowjobs! Well you have to watch out for the teeth and learn how to breathe, but—”
Rick groaned, but he listened. It was embarrassing, and probably more than he needed to know at the moment, but he listened.
* * * *
It had taken him longer than he’d thought, but the kitchen was done. Cole hoped Rick wouldn’t mind him skipping dinner even if he’d promised they’d see each other that night. But he’d been so focused on finishing Rick’s kitchen that he’d lost track of the time, and now it was nearly midnight. Rick was probably already in bed.
Cole sighed and pushed open the alpha’s house front door. He sat just inside and started working on unlacing his boots. The fact that it was never locked still amazed him, but then he’d never lived in a pack, or even a sleuth. It’d always been only him and his mother. No one else to protect them, to help if something happened. No one else to trust.
Life in a pack was so wildly different from what Cole knew, yet he liked it. It was the first time he was putting down roots ever since he’d stopped living with his mother, and it felt good.
Cole finally took off his boots and left them on the porch. He stood and closed the door before walking to the kitchen. He’d prepare a quick sandwich and go to bed.
He hadn’t taken his sweet little mate in consideration, though. Rick had left him a plate covered with aluminum foil on the counter. There was a note to go with it and Cole read it.
We left you this. I hope you’re hungry. See you tomorrow.
Cole smiled to the empty room and opened the drawer to grab a fork and a knife. He took the plate and set it on the table, then a glass and a soda from the fridge. The roast Rick had cooked was perfect, even cold, and the potatoes and green beans were good. Cole wasn’t much for vegetables, but he’d eat anything Rick cooked, it was so good.
He quickly washed the few dishes he’d used once he was done, headed to his room and grabbed a pair of sweats before going to the bathroom to take a shower. He lingered under the spray and let the day’s dirt go down the drain. The hot water worked miracles on his tense muscles. Now that his belly was full and he was clean, he couldn’t wait to go to bed.
He turned the water off and quickly dried off, put his pants on and bundled his dirty clothes. Just like always, he headed toward Rick’s room before going to his own. Rick had chosen the most isolated room when he’d moved in, at the end of one of the hallways, while Cole’s was next to the kitchen. He knew he was being kind of stalker-ish, but he liked to stand outside Rick’s room for a bit before going to bed, just to listen to his steady breathing while he slept.
It calmed Cole more than anything else could and it reassured him and his bear that Rick was fine and safe.
There was no steady breathing tonight, though. Cole froze when he heard a tiny moan coming from Rick’s room. Was his mate in pain? He didn’t waste time to think like he should have. He opened the door, only to freeze again when Rick squealed and disappeared in a flurry of blankets.
“Cole! What the fuck!”
Cole didn’t answer—couldn’t answer. The vision of what he’d walked in on was seared in his brain and he couldn’t seem to be able to think about anything that wasn’t Rick on his back, two fingers in his own ass.
“C-C-Cole?”
Rick’s voice yanked Cole out of his fantasy. “I’m sorry. I’ll go.”
“Wait!”
Cole stopped, already halfway turned toward the door. “Yes?”
“Could y-y-you... come here? P-p-please?”
“Closer?”
“Y-y-yes.”
“You’re sure?”
Rick huffed in annoyance. “Yes.”
Cole closed the door and crossed the room. He hesitantly sat next to his mate, wondering what Rick would say. God, he wanted him so much.
“Do y-y-you want to stay? Here. With m-m-me.”
“You mean, stay the night?” Cole’s heart swelled with hope.
“Yes.”
“To sleep?” Cole needed to be sure before he did anything. He wasn’t about to push Rick into something he wasn’t ready for, no matter how much he longed
for it.
“Uh, not o-o-only?”
Cole put the bundle of dirty clothes he was still holding under the bed and turned sideways. Rick was huddled under the blankets, only his face out, but Cole couldn’t forget he was naked under them. “You need to tell me what you want from me, pup.”
“I don’t think I’m r-r-ready to, y-y-you know...”
“Have sex?”
“Y-y-yes. I m-m-mean, I’m not ready for t-t-that. But maybe we c-c-could do some... other s-s-stuff?”
“Other stuff? Tell me what you want, Rick. Please.”
Cole heard Rick take a deep breath and let it out. “Just... to be c-c-close to you. To h-h-have your hands on m-m-me. Maybe i-i-in me. And... for y-y-you to claim me.”
That was the last thing Cole had expected to hear from Rick. “You want me to claim you?”
“Yes.” Rick’s voice was strong with his resolve, even if the stuttering betrayed how nervous he was. “And I w-w-want to claim y-y-you. If you want t-t-that.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Oh.” Even in the dark, Cole could see the rejected expression on his mate’s face.
“Wait, I didn’t mean I didn’t want it. I’m just surprised because I didn’t think you were ready for this, especially the claiming.”
“I didn’t k-k-know I was ready until n-n-now. It’s just... that w-w-way I’ll feel what y-y-you feel. And I’ll know you won’t 1-1-leave me.”
It made sense, and while some people would have thought those were wrong reasons to mate, Cole didn’t mind. Rick had already taken so many steps in his direction in the past two months without any guarantee that Cole really would be there for him. Cole could see why he needed something more tangible to take the next one.
“You’ll tell me if I scare or hurt you.” It wasn’t a question, and Rick seemed to understand it. He nodded, his face serious.
Cole didn’t give any warning before attacking Rick’s mouth. He pressed their lips together, delved deep with his tongue to taste his mate. Rick let out a little noise of surprise that turned into a moan as the kiss deepened. Cole reached up and held the back of Rick’s head, loving the feel of the long hair sliding against his fingers. He placed kisses along Rick’s jaw and moved his hand from the back of his neck to his chest, resting it over his heart. He could feel it beating and Rick’s breathing speeding up, but Rick didn’t try to move away, not even when Cole slid his hand down until it reached the bundle of blankets in Rick’s lap.
Rick Page 9