She turned and hurried out of the bar.
He got out of the booth saying, “I didn’t tell her. I forgot. I’ll be right back.”
Chris caught up with Dana in the parking lot where she leaned against her car, head bowed.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I found my mates. I didn’t want you to find out like this.”
When she turned to look up at him, her eyes could have flayed him on the spot. “I didn’t find out like this. Tony called me and said he’d seen your mate this morning. He thought he was congratulating me, that I was your female. What the hell, Chris?”
Oh, shit. He’d never for a second thought that when Alex didn’t show up at the meeting people would assume his mate was Dana. But he also didn’t remember ever naming his female mate. Stupid. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to happen like this. Everything’s just so up in the air right now.” He didn’t want to tell her about the rogue wolf pack encroaching on their territory. Knowing her, especially as angry as she felt, she’d tell everyone. And the last thing he wanted to do was panic his pack.
“So you’re mated to that little bimbo. Instead of me. Me! Didn’t I put in enough time with you? Didn’t I stick by your side all these years?”
“You know we don’t choose our mates.” If they did, he wouldn’t have chosen Alex. As hot as he found her, he still didn’t like the idea of mating jailbait. But he couldn’t tell Dana that, either. His loyalty had to lie with Alex. Now and forever. That didn’t mean he couldn’t lie a little, soften the blow. “You were a great girlfriend. I have no complaints, none at all. One day you’ll make someone an excellent mate.”
She jabbed a finger at him. “We’re supposed to be mates.”
“We have no control over that.” If they did, they’d doubtless choose the wrong mates, over and over. “I know you don’t want to hear this. But I’m not rejecting you. I’m not in control of this.”
Dana took a long breath, tears gathering in her eyes. “I’ve waited all these years.”
He almost reached out to her then pulled back. “You’ll find your mates. Females do. You’ll find them and then you’ll be glad you and I didn’t end up together, because you’ll know that those two men are the perfect men for you. No matter what you think right now, they’re more perfect for you than I am.”
She started crying in earnest. He reached out this time, but she pushed his hand away. “Go back to your mates. I want to be alone.”
He hated to see her in pain, but he couldn’t do anything for her. When she saw he wasn’t leaving, she got in her car. He could hear her sobs from behind the glass of the windows. She turned on the car and drove away.
* * *
Ben continued to hold Alex’s hand after Chris ran off. He didn’t want to offend her when she had just spilled her guts, but he could barely keep the smile off his face. Everything was coming together—his mates, his pack, his life. He felt better than he had since he that challenger killed his father.
He squeezed Alex’s fingers. “Let’s go home after this.” He couldn’t wait to get her into bed.
“I don’t have a home anymore.”
“Of course you do. Pledge yourself to Chris and then we’ll go to his place. Which is now our place.” He loved saying that.
“I can’t just move in with two guys I don’t know.”
“Why not? We’re mates. That’s what mates do. We live together and we make each other happy.” He kissed her fingertips.
“Is sex all you think about?”
“Tell me the mating urge hasn’t got you cranked up to full power. Go ahead, tell me.”
She blushed. She actually blushed.
He had to take advantage of this. Leaning forward, Ben said, “Imagine us going back to Chris’ house in a few minutes. Imagine my hands on your naked skin. I’m going to touch you and kiss you all over your body.” His cock, already hard, got even harder.
She made a soft noise in her throat. “Stop.”
“Why?”
“We’re in public.”
Yes. “Am I turning you on?”
“What do you think?”
“That’s not an answer.” He wanted to hear it from her.
“Yes. So stop.”
Ben smiled and leaned back, still holding onto her hand. “I’ll stop. For now.” He hoped Chris got back soon. Or Ben might just drag her to the back alley and have his way with her.
She was his. His.
He gazed at her for the next few minutes, until she squirmed and looked away. Even then, he could only bear to take his eyes off her for a few seconds. She was so beautiful. Maybe others wouldn’t agree, but he couldn’t imagine anyone more lovely.
Ben knew when Chris came through the door from the tingles that raced across his skin. Would he always feel like this when his mates came into range? That was okay by him.
Chris plunked down next to Alex.
“How’d she take it?” Ben said.
“Not well. She’s spent the last several years thinking the two of us were mates and we just needed to find our third. I didn’t think she was right but I didn’t bother arguing. And now this. Worse, someone who saw us together this morning assumed Dana was our third and called her to congratulate her. You can imagine how she took it.”
Dana hadn’t struck Ben as being that warm a person. He couldn’t quite see her with Chris, except as arm candy. In which case, she was probably mostly upset about not dating the Alpha anymore.
“Ohhhh.” Alex slipped her hand over Chris’ arm. “I’m sorry.”
“Nothing for you to be sorry about,” Chris said.
“I know. I just mean I’m sorry this happened.”
Chris slid his hand over hers. “Nothing to be sorry about.”
Alex frowned. Ben had the feeling his mates were speaking different languages. Except, he agreed with Chris. There wasn’t anything for Alex to be sorry about.
Chris tipped his head and gazed at Alex. “What do you say? Can we go find someplace to get closer?”
She blushed.
“If you’re not ready, we can wait,” Chris said.
The hell they could. Ben could barely hold himself back from crawling under the table, yanking off her pants and tasting that sweet nectar between her legs. And Chris wanted them to wait?
“I’m okay,” Alex said. “I don’t need to wait. Unless you do.”
Chris and Ben were already standing. Chris put his hand out to her. “Nope, don’t want to wait a second longer.”
“Where are we going to go?” Ben said. “My hotel room? I haven’t checked out yet.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Chris said. “We can’t go to my place.”
“Unless she pledges fealty to you right now,” Ben said.
Chris helped Alex out of the booth. “No,” he said.
“Why not?” Ben took her hand again.
“It’s okay,” Alex said. “I understand if you don’t trust me yet.”
“Hey.” Chris leaned down and kissed her. “It isn’t about trust. I want you to pledge fealty in front of a bunch of other pack mates, the same way Ben did. So they see firsthand that my mates are with me. Maybe tonight, at the bar.”
“Oh.” Alex nodded. “Okay, yeah.”
“Pack politics,” Ben said. “I hope you enjoy them because as the Alpha’s mates, we’re in for it.”
“You sound like you’ve experienced this before?” Alex said.
“My parents.” Ben tugged her toward the door. “One of my dads was the pack Alpha.”
“But you decided to leave?” Alex said.
Ben shouldn’t have brought it up. Not only did he not really want to talk about it, but it would be a total downer. And that was the last thing he wanted right now. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you sometime.” He opened the door and held it for Alex.
She looked surprised then scooted through with a smile on her face. So easy to please. He’d have to remember that.
Chris got into his car while Ben climbed
into Alex’s with her. They hadn’t even talked about it. It was just understood—everything was going well, but she was still a flight risk. Less so if Ben stayed with her.
“What about your parents?” Ben said. “How come you’re not in their pack anymore?”
Alex stiffened. “Like you said. Long story.”
Ben hated to think about her hurting. And she must be hurting if she didn’t want to talk about it. He put his hand on her thigh. “We’ll talk about it some other time.”
“Thanks.”
During the rest of the short ride, he blabbered on about his job hunt. Anything to keep his mind off his raging hard-on or the all too tempting female beside him. In no more than five minutes, he unlocked the door to his room and they piled inside.
For the first time, he’d be with both his mates. And they’d mark each other, completing the bonding. Not for the first time, he felt glad he and Chris hadn’t marked each other the night before. Now they could all mark each other together.
Ben grabbed Alex, pulling her into his arms and kissing her. The kiss started soft but quickly turned hard, hot and deep. He pulled her pelvis tight against him, grinding his hard length into her stomach. God, it felt good.
Just when Ben thought he’d burn up from the sensations, Chris pulled her away and kissed her himself. Ben couldn’t watch and not touch so he slid his hands around her waist from behind, one hand tucking over her stomach, between them, the other sliding all the way to Chris’ back.
Chris lifted his head. “Do you feel it? When all three of us are touching like this, do you feel that?”
Ben felt it. Not something physical, exactly. More like a completeness. It felt more right than anything ever had before.
Ben and Alex said, “Yeah,” at the same time.
Ben licked Alex’s shoulder. “Let’s mark each other.”
“Soon,” Chris said. “I’ve heard it’s best if you do it right before you orgasm.”
“Oh, yeah?” Ben had been away from a pack for so long. In the army, he’d known some other wolves but none of them were mated. So he didn’t know this stuff. “Does it make the orgasm better?”
“Loads better,” Chris said. “So I’ve heard.”
The soft skin of Alex’s neck still looked inviting. “I guess I can wait.”
“It’ll be sooner than you think,” Chris said.
“Oh, yeah? No foreplay?” Alex said.
Chris scowled down at her, a smile pulling the edges of his mouth. “You’re lucky I can’t reach your ass with Ben standing behind you. ‘Cause you deserve a spank for that comment.”
“Hunh,” Alex said. “If there’s no foreplay, it’ll be me spanking you, not the other way around.”
Ben rubbed his hands up and down Alex’s sides.
Chris laughed. “Don’t worry, sweetie. We’ll make you come and come and…”
“Come and come,” Ben said. He squeezed her hips each time he said ‘come.’
“Okay. Well, as long as we all understand each other.” Alex looped her arms around Chris’ neck and pulled him down for another kiss.
Ben pulled her toward him just enough to slip his hands between them and rub her breasts. Wow, his mate’s breasts. Soft and firm and just the right size, spilling over his hands in soft pillows. He pinched her nipples and pulled on them, prompting a growl that sounded almost like a purr from Alex.
One hand still playing, Ben moved the other to her jeans, popped open the button and unzipped them. Then he used both hands to push her jeans down, grabbing her undies at the same time. He went to his knees, pushing her clothes all the way to the floor. What legs.
What an ass.
Ben leaned forward and pressed kisses onto the rounded globes in front of him, his hands roaming over her hips. He couldn’t forget those legs. He ran his hands down her thighs, kissing every few inches, one leg and then the other, until he hit the back of her knees. He loved knees. He had no idea why, but they were the sexiest damn things. And hers were perfect. His hands rubbed up and down the front of her legs while he kissed and licked and nibbled at the backs of her knees.
Alex moaned. “Oh, God, he’s killing me.”
“What’s he doing?” Chris said.
“Setting me on fire.”
Chris laughed. “And you thought you weren’t going to get any foreplay.”
Chapter 9
Ben was dimly aware of someone removing Alex’s shirt. Her bra fell to the floor next to his knee. Above him, Chris’ hands stroked her back and ass. Ben straightened and grabbed both sides of her butt, pulling them gently apart.
“What are you doing?” Alex’s voice sounded thick.
“Wait and see.” Ben leaned forward to lick and suck her puckered hole.
Her body stiffened as she groaned loudly. “Oh, my God. No one’s ever—I mean, that’s—don’t stop.”
He had no intentions of stopping. This would be orgasm number one. Only question was whether she’d need her clit rubbed or if she could come just by him rimming her.
Her breathing got louder, each breath shorter.
“What’re you doing to her?” Chris peered over Alex’s shoulder at Ben. “Oh, I see.” He pulled back. “You going to come soon, honey?”
“Yes,” she said, the word barely a breath.
Ben tightened his grip on her hips.
* * *
Within seconds, an orgasm crashed over her, violently taking her under a riptide of pleasure. Her body shook, her knees wobbled, her vision blurred. After several long, long seconds, she regained full consciousness.
Alex held onto Chris’ shoulders. She’d fall down otherwise. No one had ever licked her there before, and she’d never imagined it could make her come. “That was great.”
“That’s just the beginning.” Chris swung her up and laid her on the bed.
“You’re both still dressed.” How did that happen? Had she been so out of it she hadn’t even realized that they’d stripped her and not themselves?
“Not for long.” Ben got up from his knees.
Alex propped up on one elbow, her legs tucked together and bent at the knee. “Why don’t you strip each other?”
The two men exchanged a look.
“That’ll take a long time,” Chris said.
“It’s part of the foreplay,” Alex said.
Ben took Chris by the neck and pulled him in for a kiss. God, it was the sexiest thing Alex had ever seen. There was something about two hot men together.
Chris’ hands roamed over Ben’s body, then gripped the bottom of his shirt and pulled it over his head. Their kiss only broke for a few seconds and then they were at it again, except this time Ben’s magnificent body was on display. Shafts of light shone through the closed drapes and highlighted his large biceps, his muscled shoulders, his strong back.
With a whoosh, Ben yanked Chris’ shirt over his head and dropped it to the floor. Alex’s eyes nearly crossed. Ben looked ripped until you put him next to Chris. Chris had muscles like nobody’s business. Like Schwarzenegger or something.
“Enough,” Chris said. He fumbled with the button on Ben’s jeans.
Ben pushed his hands away. “Enough is right.” He unbuttoned it himself and pushed his jeans to the floor. Then he kicked off his shoes and pulled off his socks while Chris hurriedly disrobed.
“I was enjoying the strip tease,” Alex said.
Ben lay down beside her. “There’s time for more of that later.” He turned her toward him, capturing her mouth with a kiss.
Ah, her beautiful men. Each so different and yet so perfect. Alex wrapped her arms around Ben’s neck as he pulled her into him, their bodies fitting together like puzzle pieces.
Chris lay down behind her, sandwiching her between them. Hands rubbed her everywhere, her hips, back, butt, breasts. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so turned on and so satiated at the same time.
Ben pushed her back toward Chris. “Spread your legs.” He crawled downward.
&nbs
p; “Ben?”
Chris rolled onto his back pulling Alex on top of him. The two men spread her legs wide. While Ben positioned himself between her thighs, Chris rubbed her tits and pulled on her nipples. His cock rubbed her ass. “You think I could slide right into you like this?” he murmured in her ear.
“You’d need to be lower.” She felt her face getting hot. Somehow talking about it was way more embarrassing than doing it.
“Not for your ass.” Chris slid his arm down to wrap across her abdomen, pulling her harder against his cock.
He couldn’t be serious. “I don’t think—”
”No, you’re right. This isn’t the right position.”
Ben kissed the inside of her thigh, then the other thigh. Then he latched his mouth around her clit.
Alex would have bucked her hips if Chris weren’t holding her in place like a vice. It felt like her entire pussy had melted into molten lava, liquid and explosive.
“Is it good?” Chris plucked at one of her nipples.
In between her moans she managed to say, “Yes.” She held onto the arm Chris had across her hips, her fingers digging into him.
Ben slid a finger into her pussy, then a second one, sliding them in and out as he sucked on her clit.
Alex tried to grab onto his hair but it was too short so she simply left her hand on his head. “More.”
Chris ran his teeth along her throat then nipped at her ear. “Come. Come now.”
As though his words had taken control of her, her body flashed into an orgasm even stronger and deeper than the last. She strained against Chris’ holding arm, wanting to arch, wanting to thrash, unable to do either.
Suddenly Ben loomed over her, on his hands and knees above them. “I want you.”
His cock brushed against the inside of her thigh. She spread her legs a little wider. “Yes.”
“Chris?”
“Go ahead.” Chris brushed the hair away from Alex’s face. “I’m right here.”
Fated Mates: The Alpha Shifter Boxed Set (12 Book Bundle) (Insatiable Reads) Page 103