by Nikki McCoy
A low growl issued forth from Kaden’s throat and his upper lip curled into a snarl before he could stop himself, which drew a short laugh from Michael. “Easy, pup. There was never any competition. Once I met you, you were all I saw, every day. Your face, your body. And most especially, this.”
Michael reached down with one hand and grasped Kaden’s limp cock, squeezing and pumping it a few times until it grew as hard as steel. Kaden let out a gasp of shock and his eyes widened in wonder. Michael continued to slide his hand slowly, from base to tip, along his shaft.
“There has been no one but you these past four years, and there never will be again.”
Kaden watched as the man leant down to capture his lips, sliding his tongue seductively along them and delving inside the moment he opened up. Michael’s taste was every bit as heady as he remembered. He drank in as much of the arousing taste as he could and had to wrap his hands around the thick biceps surrounding him as he felt the room tilt.
A gentle thumb feathered across his cheek in a soft caress before the palm it belonged to moved to the base of his head, holding him there, giving him no chance to escape.
“I want all of you, baby.” Michael bent his knees until his own cock, already engorged with blood and weeping pre-cum, was level with Kaden’s, then opened his hand to grip both of them. The sensations of the water hitting their cocks, the warmth of their skin touching, and the friction caused by Michael’s hand that never stopped pumping, had them both groaning. Kaden began to thrust his hips frantically, but the larger man took complete control, setting his own languid, excruciating pace.
“Your cock.” Michael gave a particularly rough tug that caused Kaden to gasp and sent a shiver through his entire body. “Your perfect ass. Your sweet smile.” Kaden’s bottom lip was sucked into that demanding mouth before Michael bit down with just enough force to cause a stinging pain that made the swirl of his tongue across it all the more electrifying.
The slow pace of the man’s firm hand on their cocks was beginning to drive Kaden insane. He could feel a deep pressure building in him that had all the muscles in his body tensing and releasing, but he needed more. He lowered his hands to Michael’s hips and dug his fingers into them, raking his nails down his buttocks and moaning when he felt him shudder.
“Your laugh. The way you make me feel.” The strokes began to quicken as Michael kissed his way down to his neck, where he licked at the mating mark. Kaden trembled and started to whimper pleadingly as a tingling sensation raced down his spine, letting him know that his orgasm was imminent. Michael pumped them both harder and faster and said fiercely, “Come, boy. Come for me.”
That deep, commanding voice sent him over the edge and he felt his balls tighten just before his release shot out of him. He dropped his head back, screaming his mate’s name, unable to keep in the powerful, rocking force of his pleasure. It blinded him and made him hyper-aware of the hard, glorious body pressed so intimately into him as he trembled with pleasure.
Moments later, Michael let out a loud growl and jerked against him as he found his own release. With the steam in the shower and the haze of their forceful orgasms still clouding their minds, it seemed as if they were floating in their own little world. The large hand never stopped pumping until they were both soft again. Kaden’s body went limp and he was sure he would have melted into the floor if not for the strong arm encircling him, holding him close.
“I never want to let you go, baby,” Michael whispered, bowing to kiss the top of his head.
Michael heard a muffled sigh from his mate and chuckled. Turning Kaden to the side and leaning him against the wall, he asked, “Can you stand for me?”
Kaden offered a weak nod, but Michael made sure his knees were braced before reaching over to grab the bottle of body wash and pouring a good portion into his hand. He began to wash his mate’s body, starting with his neck and shoulders. When his fingers rubbed over the mating mark, he felt Kaden’s body shiver and he couldn’t stop the grin that curved his lips.
There were still a few bruises marring his chest and legs where he had been battered against the rocks beneath the water at the bottom of the ravine. Michael had tried to cover as much of his body as he could, but after they had crashed into the water, Kaden had struck his head on a boulder jutting out from the edge and had immediately lost consciousness.
It had been almost impossible to hold on to every part of the boy’s limp body as they had been tossed about by the shifting currents.
He’d remained conscious, but had suffered several scrapes in his effort to hold on to his mate. They were inconsequential, however, considering the fact that, had he taken just a few more seconds in discovering that his mate was gone, he wouldn’t be holding him, caring for him, right now.
When he got to the boy’s now slack cock, he heard a moan and watched it begin to rise again as he spread the body wash over it, thorough in his attention. His mouth watered as he realised he had yet to taste the long, thin spear rising under his ministrations, but there would be time for that later. He had no intention of letting Kaden out of his reach for as long as he could justify it, let alone out of his sight.
He moved down to his legs and feet, rubbing lightly over the abraded skin and massaging the muscles. Standing up again, he poured more soap into his hands and gave the younger man a brief kiss.
“Turn around.”
Lazily, Kaden turned and raised his arms to the wall, resting his head on his forearms as Michael began to wash his back. He was glad that his mate was no longer self-conscious about his scars around him, and he worked to keep the thoughts of how they got there from affecting his emotions.
Tomorrow, he would need to encourage Kaden to tell his story. If he knew the killers, Michael would need to know what his association with them was, and he had a feeling that it was connected to his scars, but that was tomorrow. Today, he wanted to lavish his mate with as much attention and love as he could.
After aiming the spray to rinse the soap from his mate and turning him around again, he poured a dollop of shampoo into his hand and lightly applied it to the man’s scalp. A small whimper sounded from Kaden’s lips as his fingers grazed over the knot on the back of his skull.
“I’m sorry, baby. You hit your head pretty hard, but I’ve got to wash out any blood left there.” He felt his chest tighten as the other man nodded his head and pressed his thin body against him, wrapping his arms around his waist and tucking his face into the hollow of his neck.
It showed an amount of trust that made his eyes sting with new tears, but he blinked them back and pointed the shower nozzle so that the water cascaded over Kaden’s hair and down his body.
When Michael was finished, he quickly washed his own body, keeping himself as close to his mate as possible. Afterwards, he turned the water off and grabbed a towel from the shelf above the toilet to blot the water from his mate’s soft, pale skin before drying himself off. Kaden’s eyes were half-lidded as Michael scooped him up and carried him back into the bedroom.
“I can walk, you know,” Kaden said in a teasing voice.
Michael shifted him in his arms so that he could grab his own clothes from hangers in the closet, then picked up a green, cloth bag from the top of the dresser before settling Kaden onto the foot of the bed.
“I know you can. Just humour me.” Michael knelt down in front of the sexy man and held out the bag to him, answering his questioning look simply by telling him to open it. Kaden looked inside, then pulled out two pairs of slacks, one blue, the other black, along with a black, long-sleeved, button-down shirt and a red T-shirt. There were also unopened packages of boxers and socks at the bottom.
“You got these for me?” Kaden asked with a frown.
“As much as I’d like to take the credit, they’re from my mom. Read the note.”
Another glance inside the green bag revealed a small, cream-coloured envelope. Setting aside the clothes, Kaden took out the card inside and read the elegant scroll written
in pen.
For my new son, Kaden,
I hope these fit you. I’m in the process of making more, so if you have any preferences, please let me know. We have been looking forward to having you as a part of our family for years, and now that I’ve met you, I feel wonderful knowing that my Michael is in such good hands.
All my love,
Mom
Kaden continued to stare at the note for so long that Michael began to get worried. He could smell the tears before he saw them glisten on his mate’s long lashes.
“Your mom made these?” he asked quietly.
Michael cupped a hand over his cheek and said, “Our mom made them. She’s crazy about you, you know.”
“But…but…she only just met me, and I’ve made so many mistakes… I must seem like a total loser.”
Michael let out a sharp bark of laughter. “You think she dances around the kitchen listening to country music with just anyone? I’m the only one she’s ever done that with, and that was only until I reached the age of eleven and became too embarrassed and self-absorbed to indulge her. You’ve made her a very happy woman. You and Missy. They’ve been cooking up a storm over the past few days. This keeps up and I’ll have to invest in a second fridge.”
A single tear slipped free but Kaden wiped it away and asked, “You’ve been looking for me for years? You told your parents about me?”
Michael felt pain engulf his chest as he replied, “Of course. I went back to that club every night for six months, then wrote to every clan I could find. But I should have told the rest of my clan about you. I’m sorry for that. It wasn’t that I was ashamed of you, it was just that I’d only met you briefly and, after a while, you started to seem more like a dream that I couldn’t make come true instead of a reality. I can’t seem to stop making mistakes with you, but I promise I will always try to make up for them, if you’ll let me.”
Two more tears trickled down his cheeks and, if not for the hand he kept on Kaden’s face, allowing him to gauge his feelings, Michael would have thought he’d screwed up again. It tore him apart to watch his mate cry for any reason, but as far as he could tell, these tears reflected happiness, not sorrow.
“I know that nothing I say is going to convince you of the fact that what I feel for you is real and permanent, but for however long it takes, I’ll be here, and I won’t give up.” He made sure to put all of his sincerity into his emotions as well as his eyes.
“Now get dressed. It’s about lunchtime and I think I smell hamburgers, which means mom knows we’re awake and is expecting us.” Michael grinned and kissed his mate on the forehead before reluctantly removing his hand to allow him to get dressed.
They both donned shirts, underwear and pants, but forewent socks and shoes. Michael had no intention of going anywhere that day where he might be required to relinquish physical contact with his mate. As soon as they were ready, he grabbed something from the nightstand, stuffed it into his pants pocket, then swiftly lifted Kaden into his arms and headed out of the room.
“Are you going to carry me everywhere?” Kaden asked wryly.
Michael looked into those vibrant, nearly violet eyes and replied in a solemn tone, “Yes. Mine. For as long as I can keep you.” The levity in his eyes belied his serious demeanour. Michael took him downstairs where the smell of food grew stronger and its aroma caused Kaden’s stomach to growl.
As Michael entered the kitchen, he saw Sam sitting at the table and his mom hovering over a skillet on the stove. Missy had practically squeezed her entire little body into a bottom cabinet, obviously looking for something that was hiding from her.
His father looked up and smiled as Michael took the seat across from him, adjusting Kaden’s weight in his lap and encircling his arms around his small waist. Katherine turned at the noise and also smiled broadly.
“Well, there you two are.” She walked over and placed her hands on their heads, kissing each of them on the cheek before returning to the stove to flip the burgers she was cooking. “Kaden, I figured you were roughly about my size, but if the pants don’t fit, I can let them out.”
Before Kaden had a chance to thank her, Missy sprang from her position on the floor and barrelled into him with a little too much enthusiasm. At the man’s grunt of pain, Michael reached around and rubbed the teenager’s arm.
“Take it easy on him for a little while, okay? It’ll still take him another day or two to heal completely.”
Missy immediately stepped back but retained her excited grin. “I’m so happy you’re finally awake. Do you like the clothes? I helped Katherine make them. She’s teaching me how to sew, and it’s really fun! Not as fun as cooking, though. I actually taught her a new recipe, although she has way better ones. Did you get the herbal medicine I made for you?”
“Hi, Missy. And no. Where did you put it?”
Missy turned a fierce glare on Michael. “Grrrrr…”
He was so surprised at the snarl that came from such a sweet-looking girl that he didn’t know whether to laugh or run and hide. “Umm…I may have forgotten it in the room, but I promise I’ll see that he gets it tonight.”
“Oh, you’d better. Now, I have work to do. Gotta go.” With that, she pecked Kaden on the cheek and span around to finish whatever task she’d been working on when they came into the kitchen.
Michael turned an incredulous look on Kaden, who only laughed and said, “Don’t let her sweet face fool you. She can get mean when she wants to.”
Sam grunted. “Great. Two females that could liquefy a man’s backbone in two words or less.”
“With relish,” Michael added.
They fell into a companionable silence then as they watched the women bustle about the kitchen, making entirely too much food for five people. It was mesmerising the way they worked so well together. After a while, he even began to notice a routine in their actions. Missy always seemed to know which ingredients were needed next, and Katherine helped her by opening drawers and cabinets while watching the food.
Kaden leaned close to his ear to whisper, “Your mom’s hot!”
He could tell that the man had only meant it for his hearing, but his voice hadn’t been nearly low enough. Sam burst out laughing so hard that he almost choked on the swallow of water he’d been sipping from his glass. Michael joined him, throwing his head back and practically howling out his amusement at Kaden’s unexpected words.
He looked up to see if his mom had also heard the hushed words. Yup. She turned on the sink faucet, grabbed the nozzle of the sprayer beside it, and shot a stream of water at Sam, causing him to sputter in surprise. Michael started laughing harder at seeing his father get soaked, until the spray turned on him, missing Kaden completely.
Katherine locked gazes with Kaden and displayed a grin so wicked that the pup started laughing as well. He and his dad were still chuckling when she turned the water off and picked up the spatula she was using to flip the burgers.
“Now what brought that on?” Michael asked.
Kaden shrugged. “I’m gay, not blind.”
Michael and Sam laughed again and Katherine turned back, waving the spatula threateningly at them.
“You two could learn a lesson from him. I’m liable to keep the cherry pie we made for dessert for just us three,” she said, waving the utensil to encompass herself, Kaden and Missy. Michael and his father shut up immediately, but couldn’t wipe the smiles from their faces. “Mmm-hmm.” Katherine turned back to the food with a little swing in her hips this time.
Katherine brought the food to the table and when Kaden tried to move to the empty chair beside them, Michael once more held him in place and gave him a stern look. Without skipping a beat, he began loading food onto a plate for Kaden, not missing the smile that curved Missy’s lips as she took in his actions.
He could feel a slight pang of frustration from his mate, but it quickly disappeared as the man attacked his food. The table was filled with chatter throughout the meal, though Missy contributed most of it,
and for once, Kaden’s plate was empty by the end of it.
“I’m glad you got your appetite back,” Michael said.
Sam spoke up from the sink where he was washing his plate. “I’m going to head out to finalise the paperwork Mrs O’Neily needs to expand her lands. I’ll have my cell phone with me if you need anything.”
“And Missy and I are going to run to the store to pick up some more material. I’m working on Mora’s gown for her celebration party. I told you she finally got mated, right?” Katherine asked Michael.
He nodded and smiled. “To Richard, right? He’s a lucky wolf.”
“Yeah, well… I swear that woman is in full panic mode. She’s so nervous she’s changed the design of her dress as well as the dresses of her mom and girlfriends—all of which, by the way, I need to have done in the next two weeks—three times already. My heart goes out to the poor party coordinator. I can just imagine what he’s going through.”
Michael laughed and called out his goodbyes. Kaden made sure that Missy was keeping up with her homework online, then gave her and Katherine a kiss goodbye, remembering to thank her for the clothes she’d made. After hearing the front door close, Michael kept a firm hold of the man’s hand as he started gathering their dishes and taking them to the sink.
Much to his chagrin, he found that he had to release the hand in order to clean up, but managed to keep his mate close to him at all times. Kaden was helping him, and from the brief times their fingers touched, he started to feel what he thought was confusion and something else from the boy.
“Kaden, is something bothering you?”
Kaden looked up in embarrassment before shrugging a shoulder and returning his attention to the cup in his hand, scrubbing it a little too vigorously.
“Kaden, I can feel your emotions, remember? I know something is wrong. Tell me.”