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Loren knew next to nothing about wolves, but he sensed there was a lot of history between Stone and Jon that transcended their beastly natures. A long-time friendship with strong bonds of loyalty could account for Stone’s reluctance. But now wasn’t the time to get into it, not when they needed to finish cleaning up and get everything ready by the time the others came back from the hike.
Working with Stone, even after such a short time, flowed like silk. They divvied up the chores without having to say a word and even started loading the kitchen boat.
“I’d like to make a seat here, closer by me, if you’re okay with that.” Stone pointed to an area near where he sat to row.
“Will I stay drier?”
“Of course.” Stone grinned and slipped on his sunglasses. “The captain of the boat always protects his own ass from monkey butt.”
“Monkey butt?” Loren had never heard the phrase.
“You know, after sitting in wet trunks all day your butt gets all red?”
“I think, technically, that’s baboon butt but let’s not split hairs.”
“Good point.” Stone hesitated. “So is that a yes?”
“Yeah. That’s a yes.” Loren had liked sitting on top of the gear yesterday, but he could still do that. Mostly, he felt an urge to stay close to Stone. He wondered if that had anything to do with the mating instinct. “What would happen if I had some of your blood?”
Stone’s hips thrust forward once, sharply, seemingly of their own accord.
“I guess I shouldn’t have asked that.”
“It’s not you. It’s me thinking about how that would happen and going right to the...love making.”
“You can call it fucking.” Loren agreed with him about the difference.
“I’m trying not to be crude.”
“Is it only out of control for the wolf-shifter or does the human feel that crazy lust too?”
“I don’t know.” Stone widened the area where Loren would sit. “Are you afraid?”
“A little.” Loren couldn’t help but consider how big Stone was. If he got out of control...
“I wouldn’t hurt you.”
“Not intentionally.”
“Yeah.” Stone groaned and hung his head. “What’s frustrating is that Jon is fighting his instincts because he doesn’t want to scare Channing, but the longer he holds off, the harder it’s going to be on us.”
Loren almost corrected him and said, harder on you, but that wasn’t the case at all. When he’d seen Stone, he’d just thought he was a big guy and kinda sexy, but now he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off his forearms. More than any other part of the male body, Loren sexualized a man’s forearms the way other men sexualized his ass.
“Loren?”
“Sorry. What?”
Stone flashed a self-satisfied grin. “You want me bad.”
“Isn’t that normal for mates?”
“I sure hope so.” Stone strapped down the larger boxes. “I want one of those relationships where we’re both thinking about sex all the time.”
“All the time?” Loren shook his head. “I won’t be able to work.”
“That’s okay. You can come work for me.” Stone settled on the thwart then eased Loren between his legs. “You can keep me in line.”
“Is that what you need?”
“That. And other things.” Stone kissed him very gently then cupped his ass with one big hand, moving him close. When their cocks pressed tight, and both of them turned out to be hard as hell, Loren groaned and pulled himself even closer.
“Fuck, that feels good.” Loren had never felt like this with any man.
“And you are turning into quite the potty mouth.”
“I blame you.”
“And I blame mating hormones.”
“Isn’t there any way we can, I don’t know, ease the stress?”
Stone pulled back and gave him the biggest, dirtiest, most lecherous grin Loren had ever seen. “A man after my own heart.”
“I’m after some relief.” Loren squirmed against Stone. “I feel like I’ve got an itch I just can’t scratch.”
“Believe me, I know exactly what you mean.” Stone lowered his lips to Loren’s neck, kissing him then lightly biting him.
“Oh God.” Loren thrust his hand between their bodies and wrapped it around Stone’s cock. “You’re huge.”
“Are you trying to make me come in my shorts?”
“Yes?”
Stone laughed. “Here. Let’s...” He pulled away from Loren’s neck, growling the way a beast did when someone dared to yank away his dinner. Instead of being afraid, the way any sane person would be, Loren wanted to grab his head and pull him back. He wanted Stone to bite him. More than that, though, he really wanted to bite Stone.
“What are you doing?” Loren allowed Stone to move him back then followed him around the edge of the boat.
“Trust me.” Stone moved them around so that their backs were to the nearest canyon wall then he settled Loren on the thwart and stepped into the water.
“Isn’t that cold?”
“It’ll help me keep a shred of self-control.” Stone eased down Loren’s shorts and his swim briefs.
Loren didn’t wait. He tugged down the zipper on Stone’s cargo shorts, pleased to find the man had nothing at all on underneath.
When they came back together again, bare flesh met bare flesh.
Loren gasped and rocked against Stone, but he couldn’t move. Not that it mattered. Stone grabbed his ass, yanked him close, and then rocked their naked cocks against one another so hard and fast Loren climaxed before he even knew what hit him.
“Fuck, yeah.” Stone groaned and crushed Loren’s hips against his, using the slickness of Loren’s climax to ease the friction. “Hang on. I’m almost there. Almost there.”
Loren kissed him hard, splitting the tear on his lip again.
When Stone tasted his blood, he snarled and pumped harder.
Following his instincts, Loren bit Stone’s lower lip, earning himself a taste of his mate’s blood, shocking himself with how delicious he found the flavor.
Stone erupted into a frenzy. He kissed him while working his body up and down, coming so violently he splattered Loren’s shirt. Aroused by the aggressiveness, Loren climaxed again.
When Stone finally allowed him to settle back on the thwart, Loren could hardly stay upright.
Panting, he clung to Stone’s shoulders while Stone kept his big hands on his ass. If not for his powerful arms, Loren would have collapsed, fallen into the river, and floated away.
“Fuck.”
“Yeah.” Loren nodded. “I think that’s as close as I’ve ever come to fucking.”
“What?”
“I’ve never really wanted to—” Loren cut himself off. “Ignore me.”
“I think maybe you’d better tell me.” Stone touched his mouth. “You bit me.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I had to taste you.” Loren stroked his finger through the mess on his own stomach then lifted his finger to his mouth and tasted Stone again.
Stone’s eyes turned positively fiery when he growled.
“I’ve never felt like this. Free and crazy and—I wanted you to fuck me so much I almost...”
“You tried to impale yourself on me.”
“I know. I couldn’t control myself.”
“You’ve never wanted to do that before?”
“I wanted to have sex but not like what just happened.” Loren had always felt intimidated. “I didn’t really...participate very much.”
“You did this time.”
“I tried to take over.”
“Anytime you want to do that, you should totally do that.” Stone grinned then reached down and swiped his finger over his stomach then tasted Loren.
They kissed again, sharing the flavor of one another.
“Shit.” Stone moved back.
“What’s wrong?”
“We’ve got company coming.”
“I don’t hear anyone.”
“I’ve got my wolf ears on.” Stone used his bandana to clean up both of them.
By the time the rest of the group entered the camp, they were dressed and putting the last of the items on the kitchen boat.
Loren had his lust sated for now, but he didn’t think the relief would last for long. Now that he knew just how good it felt to be ravenous with a man, to feel a craving so profound he honestly lost sight of himself, he didn’t think he’d be able to wait until nightfall.
Of course, that led him to wonder what they would do once the sun went down. Loren knew for a fact he wouldn’t be able to resist Stone. If Jon didn’t hurry up and claim Channing, what would happen to the two of them? The last thing Loren wanted to do was come between Stone and Jon, but he didn’t know if he could keep a lid on his newfound desire.
Once the crew got some water and had a brief rest, they rigged the other two boats, and then they set off for what Jon called the Roaring Twenties.
“Nine rapids, one right after another?” Loren asked, settling into his new seat closer to Stone. Now he could sit and thoroughly enjoy watching his big forearms, or at least he could until Stone covered up with a long-sleeved shirt.
“There’s a little break in-between each of them.”
“Is there anything I can do to make today easier on you?”
“You could try not to be so sexy, but I don’t know how you’d do that short of putting a bag over your whole body so, no.” Stone grinned. “I’m good.”
“You’re good for me.”
“I feel the same way about you.” Stone turned the boat around and rowed while his back faced downstream. “You’ve got a thing for forearms, don’t you?”
“I’ve got a thing for your forearms, yes.” Loren slipped a pair of sunglasses on.
“That’s not going to help, you know.” Stone slipped on his sunglasses too. “I can feel when you look at me.”
“I can feel when you look at me.” Loren pulled the borrowed shirt away from his neck then stroked his finger over the skin, giving himself goosebumps. “You keeping looking right here.”
Stone growled then forcefully turned his head away. “Careful, pup.”
Loren shivered again.
“You like that?”
“What?” Loren asked.
“You like that name, don’t you...pup.”
“I don’t know why, but I do.” Loren enjoyed the idea of being a pup to his mate. Funny, he’d never even entertained playing any kind of sex game with either of his boyfriends, but with Stone, he felt free to try anything. Everything. “I feel freer than I ever have.”
“Good.” Stone turned and checked on the other boats.
“There’s something—I don’t want to pry, but I feel like I should know.”
“About me and Jon.”
“How did you know I was going to ask about that?”
“We’ve been edging around it all morning.” Stone let out a great sigh. “It’s not a nice story.”
“I thought he was your friend, your pack leader?”
“He is. Jon’s the best man I know. The shitty part is what led me to Jon.”
Suddenly, Loren didn’t want to know. “If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to.”
“I know. But it matters. Once I do tell you, you’ll understand why I’m willing to hold back until Jon is ready.” Stone nodded. “I think if you don’t know, you might resent him, and I don’t want that.”
“Okay.” Loren nodded and braced himself.
“Understand, before I get into this, that I’m going to be curt. I can’t do it any other way than just saying it. I can’t feel it while I talk about it.”
“I understand.” Loren touched Stone’s hand briefly then let go.
Stone nodded then turned his attention upriver. “My father was the pack leader for my birth pack. He wasn’t a demonstrative man, but he made sure everyone had enough to eat, a place to live—all the things that everyone needs.”
Loren breathed a sigh of relief. He’d thought he’d hear that Stone’s father had beaten him, but then he remembered he’d said wolves didn’t do that. Or at least they didn’t abuse their mates. He hadn’t said anything about abusing other pack members. Not only that, but he’d said wolves didn’t do that. Humans, on the other hand...
“The only thing my father really hated was gay wolves.”
“Oh, Stone.”
“Don’t, okay? I can’t feel it when I tell it.”
Loren nodded and vowed to keep his mouth shut.
“He kicked out an older kid when I was little. I didn’t think much about it, but I was too young to understand what was going on. When I got older and realized not only what he’d done, but what I was, I tried not to be what he hated.”
Loren closed his eyes and wished he had the power to change what Stone had suffered.
“Of course, I failed. Can’t change who you are deep inside. I met another guy like me from another nearby pack and I thought he might be my mate.”
Loren’s eyes widened so much they watered.
“I didn’t understand how mating worked. I thought mating was wanting to fuck a certain shifter, not that it had all these other things tied to it.”
As much as he hated himself, relief poured through Loren. He wouldn’t have been able to handle Stone with another mate out there somewhere in the world.
“We got caught fooling around. His parents shipped him to another pack and my father tossed me out.”
“How old—”
“I was fourteen.”
Loren could not imagine being alone at that age. He’d been terrified of being alone at college when he was eighteen.
“Like I said earlier, no wolf survives long on his own. I had the clothes on my back and the money I’d earned working on the farm, which wasn’t much. I had nowhere to go and no one to turn to.” Stone’s hands tightened on the oars. “When I ran out of money, I shifted into a wolf and lived that way.”
The roar of the upcoming rapid amped up Loren’s fear. Even though he had the proof that Stone survived right in front of him, he still felt horrible anxiety.
“I got shot.”
Loren couldn’t even breathe.
“I staggered away and hid. I don’t remember a lot about that time, only that this human found me and dragged me to his cabin.”
“Jon.”
“Jon.” Stone relaxed his hands. “He saved me from dying. Once I got healed enough, I became human again, healing the rest of the damage. I hadn’t been human in years.”
“Jon knew what you were?”
“Yeah. He said he heard the shots, and then he heard me calling for help. Not literally, but in his head. Wolf-shifters communicate that way. Or we can. How it happened between me and Jon...” Stone shrugged. “We’ll probably never know. But he heard me, and he saved me, and I’ve been with him ever since.”
No wonder Stone felt he owed Jon his life. He literally did. Without Jon, Stone wouldn’t be alive today.
“You get it now, don’t you?”
“Yeah.” Loren nodded. “One way or another, even if we both have to sit in the freezing water all night, we’ll find a way to hold off so Jon has time with Channing.”
“Thank you.” Stone tucked the oars into the boat and kissed Loren’s hand.
“Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me.”
“You’re my mate.” Stone kissed his hand again then let go. “I trust you with my life.”
Loren realized that he felt the same. He didn’t know everything there was to know about Stone, but he knew enough to know he could trust him completely. Only, knowing that would make keeping his hands and lips to himself almost impossible.