Underneath

by Maggie Walsh

  “No, I can do it. I don’t want Dale up in that cold winter air. He’ll freeze to death,” Dante said, and he held out his hands to his mates. They each took one hand, but nothing happened. Dante looked to Viktor. “Would you mind helping here? That is if you’re up to it.”

  Viktor smiled. “I think I can handle it,” he said with a smirk and walked to the trio.

  Dante looked at Micah. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said, and Micah nodded at him. Dante stared at his friend for a moment. He worried about the depth of pain he saw in his friend’s eyes. “We’ll figure it out, brother. I promise.”

  “I know,” Micah said sadly, and Jesse looked at him in concern. “Just go take care of yourself and your mates.” Dante nodded.

  Nicco and the other two vampires moved in beside Viktor. They all grabbed onto Dante, Dale, and Dare, and the group disseminated.

  “What did he mean, love?” Jesse asked in concern as he slid his hand up Micah’s forearm in comfort.

  Micah covered Jesse’s hand with his and looked in his eyes, giving him a sad smile. “We’ll talk about it later when we’re alone, baby,” he said, and kissed Jesse’s head.

  “Man of mine, can we go to bed now? I don’t think I can keep my eyes open for one more minute,” Taylor asked as he still lay curled up in Gabriel’s arms with his eyes closed.

  Gabe smiled down at his mate and kissed his head. “Of course, sweet baby. But can you hold on enough to shift first? You need a little healing, too.”

  “I don’t think so, hunk of burning love. I don’t think even the promise of you eating my ass and fucking me through the mattress will keep me awake tonight,” he said with a smirk, and then yawned.

  Everyone chuckled as Gabriel laughed. “Not even if I…” he put his lips to Taylor’s ear and whispered.

  Taylor’s eyes popped open wide and looked at Gabriel with lust. “Really?” Gabriel smiled and nodded as he wiggled his eyebrows. “Well, what are we waiting for?”

  “I thought you were too tired.” Gabriel smirked.

  “I suddenly got my second wind. Just the thought of you laying…” Gabriel covered Taylor’s lips with his own and started for the door.

  “Well that’s our cue, too. I need to get Aaron to bed. Poor things unconscious already,” Raith said, and stood with Aaron in his arms. Rory grabbed onto the loop in Raith’s pants and the three left.

  “Let’s go, angel,” Christian said, still holding Raffy, and they left the room.

  “Shit, now I wish I had a mate to carry me up to my room. I’m exhausted,” Crew mumbled. Lexi, Cass, Xander, and Xavier all looked at him with raised brows. Crew turned bright pink and looked down. “Good-night,” he mumbled and left the room. Everyone else followed.

  * * * *

  Raffy lay on his bed as he waited for Christian to come from the bathroom. He thought about all the things Christoph had done to him over the years, and he started to shake as tears sprang from his eyes. He wiped them away quickly when he heard the snick of the bathroom door.

  “Thank you for letting me use your shower, angel. I didn’t want to spend any more time away from you right now,” he said as he entered the room only wearing a towel around his waist and rubbing another towel over his wet hair. “That felt great to shift and then take a shower…” his voice trailed off as he caught the look on Raffy’s face. His eyes were full of lust as they roamed Christian’s naked chest. Christian just stood there and smiled, giving his mate all the time he wanted to explore his body with his eyes. When the tip of Raffy’s cute pink tongue appeared from between his sexy lips and then slid over the plump bottom one, Christian thought he would come just from the motion.

  Suddenly Raffy’s eyes snapped up to his, and Christian could see the pain in his mate’s eyes. “Hey, angel, what’s wrong?” Christian said, and hurriedly went to the bed and sat down, wrapping an arm around Raffy’s shoulder and pulling him close.

  “I can’t believe he’s dead. He’s finally gone. But what about the others?” Raffy asked as he melted against Christian’s side.

  “Brighton got away with the witch, but we’ll get them. I promise I won’t let them hurt you again,” Christian said with conviction, and kissed the top of Raffy’s head.

  “Is it wrong that I’m happy that he’s dead?” Raffy asked anxiously.

  “Not at all, sweetheart. He was an evil man who hurt a lot of people for over three hundred years. I’m happy that he’s gone, too. I know the memories are still there for you and it will take time for you to heal from them. I want to help you get past them, but he can’t hurt you anymore. Don’t give him that power over you, angel,” Christian said comfortingly as he rubbed his mate’s back.

  “I know, and thank you, Christian.” Raffy cuddled in closer.

  They sat there quietly for a few minutes, just holding each other. Christian cleared his throat. “I grew up in a pack just outside of Mesa, Arizona. My pack was very strict about following the old ways, and from what I’ve heard, they still are. My dad died when I was fourteen and left my mom to raise eight kids alone. So I took any job I could get to help my mom with the bills. The Alpha always took ten percent of every pack member’s earnings as pack dues and for security. When he found out I was working, too, he upped our family percentage one percent a year. So when I was sixteen I quit school so that I could work full time to help bring more money in. Back then school wasn’t really big on the to-do list. I did any job I could get my hands on to help my mom and siblings.” He stopped for a minute and took a deep breath.

  “When I turned eighteen the Alpha came to me and told me it was time for me to spend time with the omega. He said that if I really wanted to help my family and the pack that I needed to have sex with the omega so that it would strengthen the pack. It was his law that every male over the age of eighteen had to sleep with the omega at least once a moon cycle. He and his inner pack took the omega whenever they wanted. I didn’t want anything to do with her.” He stopped when he felt Raffy stiffen beside him. He tightened his hold and continued.

  “The omega was a she, and I already knew I was gay, so I really didn’t want to bed her. She told the Alpha that to strengthen the pack properly she would have to have sex with every male member over eighteen, which included the mated ones. She said that it was only the bond of a true mated couple that she couldn’t interfere with. We didn’t have any fate-mated couples in our pack. So she said it didn’t matter if they were mated, it wasn’t their true mate so the Alpha made even the mated men bed her once a month.

  “When the Alpha told me it was my time to help the pack, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want her and I didn’t like her. She was a mean woman who thought she was the queen of the pack. The Alpha did whatever she wanted or she would make him suffer by using her powers. So one night the beta called me and told me I had to come to the Alpha house right away. I thought I was in trouble. I showed up and the omega, the Alpha, and the four betas were there. They wanted me to fuck the omega, but when the time came, nothing happened. I couldn’t get hard. She told the beta that I found to be hot to take his shirt off. I got instantly hard and I was forced to bed her. The next month she showed up at my house and when I told her I couldn’t do it because my younger siblings were there, she just laughed and said good, bring all the boys in to watch. I was horrified by her words and I refused. She told me that I would listen to her or she would go to the Alpha and tell him that I was gay. I must have shown my shock on my face because she knew she was right. I told her that I would bed her, but not in front of my little brothers.

  “So I took her to my room and I had sex with her and the next day the betas dragged me from my home and brought me to the Alpha. She told him that the reason I fussed so much about sleeping with her was because she had seen in a dream that I was gay. To prove it, she stripped off all her clothes and rubbed her body all over my naked body, but nothing happened. Then she stepped back and told the beta to strip. He was terrified of what she might want him to do, but
the Alpha ordered him. He stripped and she made him stand in front of me. She told him to grab my cock and tug it. He didn’t want to of course, but he was more afraid of telling her no. So he touched my cock and it instantly went hard, even though I tried to stop it.

  “So they asked the omega how they could get the gay out of me. She told them that I needed to fuck her every night, and throughout the day they needed to leech and cut me to bleed me. So I had to bed her every night for a month and then in the day the Alpha would cover me in leeches for hours and let them feed from me. Then they would cut me all over and let the blood ooze until my shifter genes healed the cuts, then they would do it again. They would keep that up for hours, until it was time for me to fuck the omega.

  “After the first month of this and the sight of her still couldn’t get me hard, they threatened my family. They said that I would do what was best for the pack and bed the omega or they would make my little brothers do it. Orlando was two years younger than me, then Marco who was four years younger, then the four girls and then Matthew, who was thirteen years younger than me. He was only five, for god’s sake, but they were going to force him to fuck this mean, spiteful, conniving beast of a woman.” He stopped and swallowed down the lump that formed in his throat as he thought about his siblings.

  “So this went on for years. The leeching, the torture, the screwing, the threats. When I turned twenty-four I started working for a builder. I worked for him for two years and I was making good money at the time. Then one day my brother Orlando overheard the Alpha and the betas talking. They realized that everything they did to me wasn’t working and they would have to kill me. Orlando came and told me and mama what he heard. My mother told me I had to go, I had to run, but I didn’t want to leave her alone to raise the little ones. She told me if the Alpha killed me then she would still be doing it alone and she didn’t want me to die. So I left.” He sighed and rubbed his face.

  “I traveled all over the country taking odd jobs here and there and staying to myself for the next thirty years. Then I met up with Micah and the guys. They took me in and gave me a home, a job, and security. Even though Gabriel is closer to my age, it was Cass I felt a connection to. I think it’s because at first he reminded me of my brother Orlando, but Cass and I became the best of friends.” He ended his story, looked down, and met Raffy’s haunted eyes.

  “I’m sorry you had to go through all that, Christian, and that you lost your family, too.” Raffy hugged him.

  “I just wish I could have been there while they were growing up, ya know? I miss them,” he said, and sighed again. “So now you know why I hate that one omega. That doesn’t mean I hate all omegas. Honestly, you’re only the second omega I have ever met and I definitely don’t hate you,” he said with a smile, and leaned down and placed a quick kiss to Raffy’s lips.

  They sat there staring into each other’s eyes as Christian caressed his thumb over Raffy’s cheek. Finally Christian broke the connection and leaned down again. He captured Raffy’s lips with his and Raffy opened for him. Sliding his tongue into Raffy’s mouth he reached around and pulled Raffy onto his lap. Raffy straddled him and their hard shafts rubbed against each other. Raffy moaned at the incredible feel of their cocks rubbing. Christian deepened the kiss and claimed Raffy’s mouth in a scorching kiss. His hands went into Raffy’s hair and he held their heads together.

  Raffy couldn’t get enough. His erection was getting painful behind his zipper. He started to rub harder and faster against Christian’s hard shaft. Christian was claiming his mouth with a passion he never knew existed. He wanted to climb inside his big mate and keep this feeling forever. Suddenly Christian pulled back from the kiss, and Raffy whimpered from the loss. He opened his eyes and looked at Christian just in time for him to flip them so that Raffy lay on his back on the bed and his mate was above him.

  Christian put his hands under Raffy’s shirt and slid his hands up his stomach. He shivered from the touch. Christian leaned over and started to kiss and lick his skin. He was lost in the pleasure of his mate’s tongue. Suddenly he felt a cold breeze across his hard shaft and realized it didn’t hurt anymore. He looked down to find that his big mate had his pants open and he was pulling his pants down his hips. He lifted his hips on instinct, and Christian pulled the material over his hips and down his legs. He slid them over his feet and off, throwing them over his shoulder.

  Christian’s gaze settled on Raffy’s groin. His eyes turned to his wolf and filled with a feral heat. “What is this, my mate?” Christian said as a growl escaped. Raffy was confused and looked down where Christian was looking, and that’s when he saw it. His eyes opened wide and his skin blushed from the embarrassment he felt. He quickly placed his hands over his softening groin and tried to roll away, but Christian wouldn’t let him. Christian grabbed his hands and gently removed them from blocking his view. Raffy closed his eyes and hid his face behind his hands. “Now that is one of the sexiest fucking things I have ever seen,” Christian said in a deep, husky voice.

  Raffy peeked from between his hands to look at his mate. What he saw shocked him. There was no disgust or judgment in Christian’s eyes, only pure lust and love. His cock filled instantly at Christian’s words. “Is this what you bought yesterday when you went shopping?” Christian asked, and he touched the material holding Raffy’s erection in place. Raffy moaned from the contact and nodded his head. He was mesmerized by Christian’s reaction to finding the cherry-red thong made of lace.

  “I love the way the thong holds you tight, but the lace shows a little skin through it, like it’s playing peek-a-boo with me and teasing me. So fucking hot.” Christian grabbed the waistband of the thong and peeled it from Raffy’s body. “Next time I want to see what it looks like from the back, too,” he said with a smile. He placed his hands on Raffy’s calves and caressed slowly up his thighs. He ran his hands between Raffy’s legs and lifted, while spreading them apart.

  Raffy swallowed hard as he watched Christian’s every move. Christian licked his lips as he stared at Raffy’s hairless cock. His eyes traveled further down. “Such a pretty hole, angel, and all hairless. Do you like to shave your balls, sweetheart?” Raffy was in a trance, watching his mate enjoy looking at him. He just nodded absently.

  “Maybe someday you’ll let me shave you. They do say that a shaved scrotum makes you feel every sensation more. Let’s try out that theory,” Christian said, and lay down on his belly on the bed between Raffy’s legs. He placed his hands on the backs of Raffy’s thighs and lowered his head.

  Raffy cried out from the sensation of Christian’s warm wet tongue as it made a long lap from his hole, over his sac, and up to the tip of his leaking cock. “Mmm, you taste amazing, mate. Like ambrosia. I need another taste of you.” Christian lowered his head again and made another pass from hole to tip, and Raffy’s hips jerked up from the bed. “Do you like that, angel? Does it make you feel good to have my tongue loving on you?”

  “Yes,” Raffy said breathlessly on a moan.

  “Then you’re gonna love this,” he said, and stuck his tongue into Raffy’s tight hole. His eyes rolled into the back of his head at the total bliss he felt as Christian fucked his hole with his tongue. He grabbed the sheets tight as he threw his head back and forth. Then he thought for sure his head would explode when Christian stuck his tongue further into him and started sucking on his hole. “Chri…Chris…Christian,” he whispered.

  Christian slowly slid his tongue from his hole and licked up his balls. He took both globes into his mouth and rolled them around with his tongue gently as he added a slight sucking sensation. Christian ran his hands up Raffy’s smooth, flat stomach, and then he caressed them down again. He released his balls with a small pop and ran his nose in the crease where his groin and leg met. He could hear his mate inhale deeply and then he felt his tongue lick up the crease to his hip as he moaned his pleasure.

  Christian nipped his hip bone and then licked the sting away. He sucked on the bump for a few seconds an
d then pulled back. Christian wrapped his big, calloused hand around Raffy’s shaft and applied gentle pressure. “Oh, gods!” Raffy cried out.

  “Is that good, my mate? Does that feel good?” Christian asked, and Raffy could feel his hot breath caress across his cock.

  “Yes, Christian. Yes. That all feels so good,” he panted out breathlessly.

  “Good, my angel. Because that’s what you deserve. To feel good. To feel me loving on you and worshiping you.” Christian flicked his tongue across the tip of his cock and then ran his tongue down to the spot where all his nerves met at the underside of the helmet of the tip. He applied more pressure on the spot as he flicked his tongue against it. Then Christian began stroking his shaft from root to tip as he kept flicking his tongue against the spot. It made Raffy go wild with want. Christian wrapped his mouth around the head of his cock as he continued to stroke him and then he sucked hard. Raffy’s back bowed and he arched off the mattress, throwing his head back against the pillows. “Christian!” he screamed out as he shot his cream down Christian’s throat. Christian continued to suck until every drop was pulled from Raffy’s body. Christian released his spent cock and kissed the tip. Raffy’s body was like a puddle of goo. He lay motionless, catching his breath with his eyes closed. He felt Christian roll off the bed and heard him go into the bathroom. He ran the water for a moment and then he returned. He felt the bed go down as Christian sat on it. Suddenly he felt a warm wet cloth gently rub against his sweat-soaked chest.

  He opened his eyes and watched as Christian tenderly cleaned his chest and stomach, then his limp member and balls, and finally he swiped it across his hole. He tossed the cloth into the bathroom and turned back to meet Raffy’s eyes. There was so much tenderness and love in his big mate’s eyes that it made Raffy want to cry from the happiness that filled him.