Roan vowed there was no way Mace was going to see him cry. He jerked on his jeans, wishing they weren’t so tight. His cock hadn’t gone down, but fortunately Mace didn’t seem to notice and he shoved it roughly under the denim, hoping the zipper wouldn’t catch his skin. Yanking his t-shirt over his head, and slipping on his shoes he headed for the door. He knew he should wait until his “Master” released him, but his head was hurting and his wolf wanted out. Somehow he didn’t think Mace would appreciate him shedding fur on his living room carpet.
“Roan, wait. Don’t go. Come back and let’s talk about this, please?”
“What do you want now?” Roan’s frustration had reached his limit, and without caring about the consequences he lashed out. “You don’t want to mate me; now you’re saying you don’t want to fuck me. Fine. I get it. You’re straight. I’m sorry but I can’t sit here and make nice with the one man who was meant to be my forever, and eat fucking pizza like you mean nothing to me.”
“You misunderstood me,” Mace said, getting up and coming closer. Roan wanted to run, wanted to disappear into a hole and never come out, but he couldn’t. Despite being human, Mace moved with a predatory grace most alphas would envy and Roan couldn’t tear his eyes away.
“I was teasing you, about the condom thing. I didn’t mean any harm by it; I now know the joke was in poor taste, but I never meant to upset you.”
“Teasing?” Roan knew the concept but never understood it.
“Making a joke? Hoping you’d laugh?” Mace was right there, his arms around Roan, his body blanketing his front; Roan’s back hard up against the door. Roan was having trouble breathing. If Mace was doing this teasing thing now he’d probably shift and never take his human shape again.
Roan could feel Mace’s hardness against his stomach and his hands automatically found themselves on what was fast becoming his favorite spot, Mace’s hard pecs. Even through the shirt Mace was wearing they felt hard, solid and bigger than any Roan had touched before.
“We need to talk,” Mace said, his voice low, his breath coasting across Roan’s neck. “You need to understand just how much I do want you before I take you. Before I shove my bare cock deep into your ass and fucking claim you as mine forever. I might have been dithering before, but believe me, once I make my mind up, nothing will shake it.”
Roan moaned at the visual Mace’s words created. He’d been fucked before, many times. But as none of those men had been his mate, his body had never responded. He could feel an unfamiliar dampness in the back of his jeans and his head swam. All five of his senses were attuned to Mace. His cock throbbed, and his wolf howled wanting to bite the lovely man who was meant to be his. He moaned again as Mace’s lips trailed across his jaw.
“I’m going to kiss you first,” Mace said, but Roan didn’t have a chance to respond. Hard lips scratched across his before his bottom lip was sucked into Mace’s mouth. A burst of Mace’s taste, the essence of who he was tingled Roan’s taste buds and he lurched forward wanting more.
“Patience, precious.” Big hands cupped his head, tilting it to one side, and then Mace’s mouth was back, his lips blanketing his, the tip of his tongue pushing inside Roan’s mouth. Instinctively Roan opened, letting his mate explore. Their combined saliva was like a heady drug and Roan was sure he would have fallen if it wasn’t for Mace’s strong hands and the feel of the door on his back.
When Mace finally pulled away, Roan growled, just a little one, but his hands reached up for Mace’s shoulders trying to tug him back. He felt cold without Mace’s body pressed against him.
“The pizza’s here,” Mace said quietly. “I need to answer the door. Go on through into the kitchen and get us plates and napkins. They’re in the middle cupboard above the sink.”
Roan blinked for a moment, trying to pull the strands of his woolly brain together. It wasn’t easy and when Mace moved away completely, he gingerly walked in the direction his mate had indicated hoping there wasn’t a wet spot on the back of his jeans.
/~/~/~/~/
Mace sighed as he watched Roan walk across the room, it was poetry in motion. Then he caught what he was doing and rapped the side of his head with his knuckles; fucking mooning over a guy like a girl. That wasn’t who Mace was and his snarl, purely at himself, must have shown on his face when he opened the door, because Jack, his local delivery guy took a step back.
“Shit, Detective. You okay?” Mace didn’t have time to explain, simply grunted; taking the pizza and giving Jack a hefty tip. Jack look surprised when Mace started to close the door. Jack was eager to share the neighborhood gossip, and as a diligent officer, Mace was eager to listen. But not today. He moved over to the couch, seeing Roan already set out plates, napkins and two glasses of water.
“I wasn’t sure what you’d like,” Roan said, his face flushing again. “But you have nothing in your refrigerator except something with mold on it, and half a bottle of ketchup.”
“Water’s fine, but I’ll have to find time to get groceries delivered, especially seeing as Shane and Dimitri already told me what a great cook you are.” Mace busied himself opening the boxes and pulled out a huge slice, indicating Roan was to have the other box.
The two men ate in silence, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. In fact, Mace was tempted to turn on the television and see if there was a game. But he reminded himself it was the middle of the afternoon, and he’d brought Roan home with him to get to know him better. His mind quickly reviewed their conversation so far, the detective in him thinking of questions he wanted to ask.
When the boxes were empty, Roan cleaned up the mess, folding the boxes for the trash, something Mace was too impatient to do, and rinsing the plates and putting them in the dishwasher. Mace noticed Roan shaking his head when he saw the dishwasher was full; after a quick hunt through the cupboards, Roan found detergent pellets and got the machine going. Again, something Mace was too busy to worry about. But when he saw Roan look at the state of his countertops he called out, “Leave them precious, please.”
Roan came and sat beside him, and Mace put his arm over Roan’s shoulder, pleased when the younger man melted into his side. It felt right, and made Mace feel like he was ten-feet-tall and bullet proof. He would have happily gone back to kissing his mate, but they needed to talk first.
“Now precious, I know you explained to me how I can claim you, and I’m sorry I was callous enough to tease you about the condoms. But I wanted to ask, won’t your wolf want to bite me in return, or don’t omegas feel that way about their mates?”
“Of course he wants to bite you. That’s how our wolf halves claim their mates.” Roan twisted under his arm, and Mace looked down to see Roan chewing his bottom lip as he peered up at him. “A wolf bite, it will bring you pleasure,” Roan said slowly, “but it has a bit of a side effect with it too.”
“What? Am I going to turn furry too?” Mace smiled. He’d heard about how Sin had always thought he was human until Ben had claimed him and he turned into a freaking bear. But he doubted he had a similar lineage. Although it would’ve been way cool if he did.
“No,” Roan said, still looking worried. Mace ran his hand down Roan’s face, a warm glow hitting his chest when Roan leaned into it. “If I bite you, then you’ll never get hard for anyone else except me again. I…I didn’t think you’d want that.”
Mace’s initial reaction was to be angry. He already knew about that side of a claiming bite, because Dimitri had told him about it one night after their pack run. He was annoyed that Roan thought so little of himself that he never expected Mace to be faithful. But he cautioned himself. He’d already put his big foot in his mouth more than once.
“Do you think that humans have a problem with being with one person? Do you expect me to be unfaithful?”
Roan frowned, and chewed his lip again. “I trust you, you’re my mate,” he said hesitantly. “But…. I used to hear things my Masters would tell me, things about how I should expect to be treated. I would accept it if you weren’t.”
Mace felt his anger rising again, for a totally different reason this time. He never imagined himself as some kind of caveman but the thought of people mistreating the man in his arms; he realized how easy it would be to hunt down those assholes and shoot them. He took in a couple of deep breaths, letting them out slowly and then cupped Roan’s face gently.
“Precious, believe it or not there are a lot of humans that long to find their soul mate, their other half. I never thought I’d be a decent partner, which is the only reason I didn’t consider it before learning about you. But believe me, I’ve thought about nothing else since I met you and found out we’re mates. I wouldn’t throw that away by even trying to cheat on you.”
Roan seemed to be considering his words carefully, which was probably a good thing. Mace knew that trust, even between mates was something that took time. Roan would learn he was someone who could be trusted. When Roan did say something, it wasn’t what Mace had been expecting.
“I believe you’d be a good mate; my wolf thinks you’re amazing, and I trust him if nothing else. But it’s important that I be a good mate to you as well,” Roan said. “I’ve done a lot of thinking this past week or so, mostly about you. I’m always going to be conscious of the fact that I don’t have the things you’re used to – you know a vagina, boobs and softness. As an Omega, there’s nothing I could do if you pursued women. I heard those men at the station; you’re known as a bit of a player. I’m not sure I’m worth you giving that up for. It’s my job to make you happy, and if that’s what it takes…” Roan trailed off and this time it was Mace’s turn to process what Roan was saying. No matter how he turned the words around in his head all Mace could see was that Roan wasn’t respecting himself, his wolf, or their mating.
“How would you feel if I did that? How would your wolf feel about me being intimate with someone else?” The growl Roan tried to hide was the answer Mace had been looking for. Dimitri told him more than once that all shifters were possessive of their mates; it was great to see, despite his upbringing, that Roan was no exception.
“Roan, precious, I know life hasn’t been easy for you, and I understand that you’ve been taught that your opinions and things special to you have no value. But they are important to me.” Mace lifted Roan’s chin so the man could see the honesty in his eyes.
“I want to claim you. I want you to claim me. I don’t know how to make things any clearer. I wouldn’t have approached you unless I was absolutely sure. Now tell me, please, how do we make this happen?”
He didn’t get a verbal reply, but Roan’s answer was clear enough. Within seconds he had both arms and a lap full of a wriggling, hot, beautiful man. Now all he had to do was stop from climaxing before he got to the good part.