“Look, buddy, I don’t know who you think you are, but—”
“Kelan.”
“Huh?”
“My name is Kelan. Kelan Morgan. And you are?”
“Oh, uh, Jake Bradfield.”
“Well, Jake Bradfield, do you want to get that drink, or are you in a hurry to get me home so I can fuck you into the mattress?”
Jake gulped.
The sound was so loud to his ears, he was sure Kelan had heard it too, even over the loud boom of music that flooded the room. Although Jake never bottomed, the idea of this giant of a man behind him or on top of him, thrusting into him, caused his heart to speed up in his chest.
Kelan continued to fix him with those piercing blue eyes.
“Well. What’ll it be?”
Jake stared at the man in quiet contemplation.
He wanted Kelan to think that he was considering his options…even though he wasn’t entirely sure he had any.
Something about this man called to him on a very basic level.
Jake had to have him in his bed.
He wasn’t sure where the thought had come from, but going home with Kelan felt as important as breathing.
It was more than a need or a want—it was a necessity.
Besides, he was sure that Kelan would let Jake fuck him. No man he had propositioned had ever refused him before. How could they? He was as sexy as hell even if he did say so himself. He always got his own way in the end. Jake smiled inwardly.
This was going to be fun.
“Home,” he said, offering Kelan his most seductive smile.
Chapter Five
Jake had told Kelan he only lived a couple of blocks away from the bar.
If they didn’t get back soon, Kelan was tempted to shove the man up against the nearest wall and fuck him right there in the street. His control was diminishing with every step he took.
Kelan had realized Jake was his mate the minute he’d laid eyes on him.
He’d felt an unusual tingle throughout his body at the mere sight of the handsome man, and it had been all he could do to keep his eyes from shifting and his canines from protruding right there in the bar.
As soon as he had got near Jake, there had been no doubt in his mind. His scent was the sweetest thing Kelan had ever had the pleasure of smelling, and he’d been rock hard ever since he got a whiff of it.
Now all he could think about was claiming Jake.
It was driving him insane.
Nothing else mattered but sinking his cock into Jake’s tight channel while sinking his teeth into the man’s neck.
After watching both his brothers find their mates, Kelan had been anxious to find his. Knowing that there was a man out there who was just his—the other half of his soul, got his adrenaline spiking. He finally understood his brothers’ reactions when they’d found their mates. Kelan was out of control with lust and the need to claim Jake was so strong, Kelan had to shove his hands in his pockets so he didn’t reach for Jake and bite his right here out in the open where everyone could see.
He wondered if the mating bond was somehow stronger because he was an alpha. He thought back to Stefan kissing his brother in the middle of a pack meeting and decided that it had to be true. He’d have to speak to Stefan about it when he next saw him.
Kelan slowed his pace a little so he could stroll behind Jake and watch that fine ass of his sway while he walked. The man was a wet dream come true. While shorter than Kelan, he was not a small man by any means. He had a tight, lean body that Kelan was sure came from hours working out in the gym. He liked a man who looked after himself, and Jake was groomed to perfection. Jake was a stark contrast to Kelan’s blond, blue-eyed all-American look, with his wavy, dark brown hair and the richest chocolate-brown eyes imaginable.
There was something in the way he carried himself—confidence seemed to ooze out of his every pore. Kelan had always had a thing for cocky men. He loved a man who had belief in himself and his abilities. He’d always found that self-assurance sexy as hell.
Jake looked like he could take care of himself, too.
That was a good thing.
As Kelan was the alpha of his pack in Texas, when Jake came to live with him, there would undoubtedly be some wolves who’d be unhappy with his arrival. They’d want their alpha mated to a woman so that he could carry on the wolf gene and alpha line through his children—in the same way that Kelan had inherited his position from his father.
The most difficult thing he was going to have to deal with was explaining to Jake that he was a wolf. The mating aspect was inconsequential as far as Kelan was concerned. Even though he was human, Jake would feel the pull as much as Kelan did. Although Kelan had to admit, it was easier when your mate was another wolf. Usually both parties had already been on the lookout for their mate.
Still, they were destined to be together.
For whatever reason, fate had given him a human mate so things would work themselves out—they usually did.
Kelan had to believe that.
Jake paused and looked over his shoulder.
“Are you checking out my ass?” he asked with a smug grin.
“Hell, yes, and that’s not all I’m gonna be doing to it when we get to your place, so just hurry the hell up, will you?”
Kelan didn’t miss the shiver that ran through Jake’s body.
He could smell that Jake’s arousal had turned up a notch, too.
Kelan was relieved that Jake appeared to be feeling the same things he was. Even better was the fact that Jake seemed to be aroused by his dominance. As alpha, he was used to people doing what he said. It would not do to have a mate who wanted control, especially in the bedroom.
Kelan would not be able to relinquish it.
He just wasn’t wired that way.
“Patience, man,” Jake admonished, but his pace quickened, undermining his words.
Kelan growled and grabbed hold of Jake’s hips from behind.
He thrust his hard cock against Jake’s ass and hissed when Jake pushed back into him. He would have given anything to be able to take his pants down and press his cock into his ass right where they stood. He licked a trail down Jake’s neck before biting down sharply, causing Jake to cry out. He tilted his head to the side in an unconsciously submissive gesture.
Kelan nearly came unglued.
It was all he could do to keep from coming in his pants.
Jake drove him insane.
“Damn it, Jake, get us home, now,” Kelan said through gritted teeth.
Despite his words, he wrapped his arms around Jake and continued to lick and suck at his neck. He just couldn’t get enough of the taste of the man. Jake bore faint traces of aftershave. Kelan was sure he detected rosewood and sandalwood. But the underlying scent was something that was all man. Kelan couldn’t wait to get Jake naked so he could taste every inch of him.
When Jake tensed in his arms, Kelan stopped what he was doing and turned Jake to face him.
“What’s wrong?”
Now the man wouldn’t even look him in the eye.
“Did I hurt you?”
Jake shook his head. “I’m sorry. This isn’t going to work.”
His voice was suddenly as cold as ice.
Kelan frowned, uncomprehending. “What isn’t going to work?”
He couldn’t understand the reason for Jake’s sudden turnaround. A moment ago, he had been all systems go, and now Kelan could feel him pulling away, inch by inch.
Had he done something wrong?
Jake looked up at him at last, but Kelan couldn’t read anything in his mate’s eyes now.
Nothing.
He was like a closed book.
“Jake?” Kelan prompted when his mate didn’t answer him.
“This…us,” Jake said, sweeping a hand between them. “Look, I’m sorry to lead you on, but this isn’t going to happen. I think it’s best you go back to the bar and find someone else to go home with tonight.”
T
he hell he would.
There would be no other man for him ever now that he had found his mate.
Wolves mated for life.
But there was no way he could explain that to Jake just yet.
A wave of sadness washed over Kelan.
His mate didn’t want him.
Had he misread the signals? He’d thought he could smell Jake’s arousal earlier, but maybe he’d been mistaken. A lump rose in Kelan’s throat and tears began to form behind his eyes, but he did his best to keep them at bay.
Wolves searched for many years to find their mates and some never found them at all. When a wolf did meet his mate, the event was almost sacred and the only thing that could separate them from then on was death.
But Jake wasn’t a wolf.
Maybe humans were different.
Kelan knew that some members of his pack were mated to humans, but they all seemed blissfully happy together.
Kelan had always longed for the same thing.
Chapter Six
The sensation of Kelan’s tongue teasing his neck had been almost too much for Jake to bear and yet he didn’t want to move away. The feeling of Kelan’s strong arms wrapped around him had felt divine. It was almost as if he belonged in the bigger man’s arms.
He wished he could stay like that for a very long time.
As soon as that thought had hit, Jake had tensed and pulled away from Kelan. He didn’t do commitment in any shape or form, and he was sure that was the last thing Kelan wanted, too.
The guy just wanted to fuck him, right?
For all Jake knew, in the morning, Kelan would be on his merry way back to Texas or wherever the hell he was from, and Jake would never see him again. He should have been happy about that. After all, Jake never wanted to see any of his conquests again.
It was easier that way.
The less time he spent with the men he took home, the less chance there was of feelings developing and spoiling everything. But the thought of never seeing Kelan again caused a pain in his chest so sharp, he thought he was going to pass out from it. Where the hell had that come from? It didn’t make any sense.
He’d never met Kelan before.
But, somehow, he felt like he knew him.
Jake turned to leave and with each step he took away from Kelan, the pain in his chest grew more and more intense. He couldn’t understand it but when he’d told Kelan to go and find someone else, he could almost feel the man’s sadness as if it were a physical thing.
That was insane.
No one could experience other people’s emotions—but that was exactly what it had been like.
When a tear slid down Jake’s cheek, his mouth fell open in shock.
What the fuck?
He lifted a hand and hurriedly wiped it away. What the hell was wrong with him? He was sure he hadn’t had that much to drink. Besides, drinking never made him sad—it usually just made him angry or angrier. Angry with his parents for getting themselves killed in a wreck when he was only eight. Angry with his grandparents for not being there for him when he’d needed them. Angry with Matt, his first and only love, for screwing his roommate and leaving him.
In the end, everyone left.
Now, Jake didn’t let anyone close enough to cause him pain.
He had learned a long time ago how to put up a barrier to keep people at a distance, and it had served him well for the past ten years. If you were too nice, people walked all over you. If you showed them you cared, it gave them the opportunity to hurt you.
Kelan was the first person that Jake had met who he actually wanted to get past his barriers…and that was as scary as hell.
Jake had to walk away before he said or did something that he knew without question he would come to regret.
It was the only way to protect himself from a world of pain.
He might not like it, but it was the only way.
Chapter Seven
Kelan watched the man he had waited his entire life for walk away from him.
It was all he could do to not to throw himself at Jake’s feet and beg him not to go. His heart ached at the loss. He was sure that without Jake in his life he would never be happy again.
How could he be happy?
If his own mate, the person who was destined to be with him didn’t want him, who would? Not that he wanted anyone else anyway. Kelan couldn’t imagine ever being turned on by another man now that he knew Jake existed.
He just couldn’t figure it out.
What was wrong with him?
Why didn’t Jake want him?
He couldn’t understand what he had wrong. One minute they’d been getting on like a house on fire, and the next there wasn’t as much as a burning ember. Kelan was confused, upset—worse, he was angry. Jake had offered him no explanation and Kelan damn well deserved one. With each moment that passed, his anger grew more pronounced.
He would not let it end like this.
He was an alpha wolf, Goddamn it, not some timid little cub.
Mind made up, Kelan stormed down the street in search of his mate.
He caught sight of Jake a few hundred yards down. Jake crossed the road and let himself into a large brownstone apartment.
Crap.
What was Kelan going to do now?
He couldn’t just stand there in the damn street. He felt like a freaking stalker. He thought about giving up and going back to Cody’s place to lick his wounds, but he couldn’t let things end like that.
He would never forgive himself if he left without even trying to talk to his mate to find out what was wrong. He’d seen Cody nearly throw away his relationship with Stefan when he’d discovered that Stefan had a wife and son. Kelan couldn’t blame his brother, of course—the discovery had been a harsh one.
Kelan might have done the same thing.
But the fact of the matter was, the drama might have been avoided if Cody had only talked to his mate first and found out his side of the story.
If Cody were there now, Kelan knew what he would say.
He’d tell him to stop over-thinking things.
He’d tell him to swallow his pride and knock on Jake’s door, to tell him everything. Honesty was always the best policy. But then, Cody had always been the brave one in their family. His brother had never been anything but honest. And then there was Luke. His youngest brother wasn’t even gay, and yet when he’d found out he had a man for a mate, the thought of hiding that fact or denying it hadn’t even occurred to him.
And then there was Kelan—an alpha wolf.
He was supposed to be the strong one, the strongest of his brothers—hell the strongest in his pack. And he was lurking on a street corner, afraid to knock on a man’s door for fear of getting rejected.
Kelan shook his head.
He was better than that—stronger than that.
Time to grow a pair.
He pulled in a deep, calming breath then crossed the street in search of his mate.
Chapter Eight
Jake let himself into his apartment and, after pouring a generous helping of scotch, he flopped down onto his custom-made, black leather sofa.
He had never felt like that before—so alone.
It was the weirdest sensation.
He felt like he could never be happy again.
Christ, he hadn’t even known Kelan for an hour but already the loss felt like a physical blow.
Jake was exhausted.
Maybe he was coming down with something. Yeah, that had to be it. It was the only way he could explain his bizarre behavior. Perhaps an early night would help to clear his mind and rejuvenate him.
He had been partying hard lately.
He probably just needed to rest and recharge. This was likely just his body’s way of telling him to slow down and maybe cool it on the hookups for a while.
He headed for the bathroom to take a shower before he went to bed when there was a thunderous knock on his apartment door.
Hell, the whole neighborhoo
d had to have heard it, it was so loud.
Wearily, Jake crossed the room and opened the door, only to be pushed out of the way as Kelan stormed into the apartment. When a thrill of excitement shot through him at the sight of the man, he frowned. He shouldn’t be there. Jake had to send him away.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Jake closed the door then folded his arms and stared at Kelan in disbelief. “I told you nothing was going to happen between us tonight. I’d like you to leave. Now.”
Jake tried to keep his face stoic as Kelan watched him closely before his eyes traveled the length of Jake’s body. He couldn’t help but squirm under the scrutiny. Jake might have told Kelan to leave but his body said something else entirely. He couldn’t conceal the erection that tented the front of his jeans and realized the moment Kelan noticed it, too.
Kelan’s eyes widened and he licked his lips.
Jake bit back a groan.
“Now, see, I think you’re lying to me, Jake. You don’t want me to leave at all, do you? In fact, I think you want me here as much as I want to be here.
“So why don’t you cut the crap and tell me what you really feel?”
Jake had no words to answer the man.
He obviously couldn’t tell him the truth—that deep down he was afraid one night wouldn’t be enough. Jake wanted more, and even if Kelan wanted the same thing, he certainly wouldn’t stick around forever.
No one ever did.
Where would Jake be then?
In the same damn situation he’d been in at twenty, that was where. He had come too far in his life to open himself up to that kind of heartache again.
Kelan crossed the room in three long paces. He grabbed Jake around the waist then pulled him up against his long, hard body. Jake opened his mouth to object but before he could get the words out, Kelan kissed him, pushing his tongue between Jake’s lips and making it at home in his mouth.
The instant Kelan’s lips touched his, Jake felt the last of his resistance to the man crumble. A low groan ripped from his throat and he deepened the kiss eagerly.
He’d forgotten how good it felt to kiss someone.
Kelan's Pursuit (2019 Reissue) Page 2