| |
Stone struggled all day to keep his mind on the river, then on setting up the camp, but he kept coming right back to Loren. He’d lusted after guys before, but this wasn’t like that. This longing made him ravenous. If things didn’t shake out soon, he didn’t think he’d be able to hold on.
“What makes you think it’s going to rain?” Loren held the edge of the tent taut while Stone hammered in the tent peg.
“Experience.” Stone lifted his head and sniffed then lowered his voice as he breathed into Loren’s ear. “And my wolf senses.”
Loren shivered. “You probably shouldn’t do that again.”
“Why not?”
“I’m having a really hard time keeping my hands off you.” Loren reached out but stopped himself from making contact at the last second.
“You’re shaking.”
“I feel like I’m craving a drug, and I’ve never even done drugs.”
“We’ll be okay.” Stone hoped if he kept repeating it enough, he could make it come true. “Let’s finish getting everything set up in our tent then go join the others.”
“Safety in numbers?”
“I certainly hope so.”
“And we need to make dinner.”
“You don’t have to help if you don’t want to.”
“I want to. That’s not the problem.”
“What is?”
“Being that close to you.”
“You mean you might just throw me down in the sand and mount me right there in front of everyone?”
“I might.” Loren uttered a long sigh like he’d been holding his breath all day.
“I should be shocked, but instead I’m really, really turned on.”
“You are so...” Loren leaned up and kissed him. “Tell me it’s going to be all right.”
“It’s going to be all right.” Stone gave him one good squeeze then let go.
“Okay. Let’s start making dinner.” Loren led the way to the kitchen area then got started setting things up without any prompting from Stone. After a handful of days, he had the routine down.
When Channing and Jon showed up to help, things went even faster and Stone took it as a good sign, especially when Channing and Jon stood close together while working.
“Come and get it,” Stone called.
The group demolished the pork chops, applesauce, macaroni and cheese, baked potatoes, and apple hand pies in record time.
When Stone saw Channing and Jon making eyes at one another, he picked other people to do dish duty. Watching the two wander away, with their arms almost touching, gave him so much hope he almost hurt himself smiling.
“You think tonight’s the night?” Loren asked softly, his gaze on Jon and Channing.
“I do.” Stone kissed the top of Loren’s head and took a long, deep breath of him. “I feel like I’ve been waiting for you my whole life.”
“I know I’ve been waiting for you.” Loren kissed him, just a soft peck on the lips, but it seemed to take all his will to move back.
“Let’s get things cleaned and boxed up.”
Loren nodded and moved away, probably so he could keep his focus.
When Jon came back to the kitchen, Stone’s hopes started to sink.
“Hey, I was wondering if maybe I could heat some water?”
“You want coffee?”
“I want to clean up for Channing.” Jon ducked his head. “I know, we’re not supposed to do that with our limited propane, but this is special, and I’d really appreciate it.”
“I think we can spare some propane for that.” Stone got a large pot.
Jon filled it with water then put it on the burner. “I’ll keep a watch on it.”
“Okay.” Stone went back to working on the kitchen.
As soon as the water was warm, Jon took it and hurried away.
Loren flashed Stone a thumbs up.
Stone flashed him two then continued cleaning up and putting things away.
When Jon returned a second time for a smaller batch of water, Stone heated that up too, but he also put together a bundle of snacks. Just in case, he made a second bundle for him and Loren.
Jon took the hot water and returned the pan with a clean-shaven face.
Now Stone got it. He didn’t want to chap his mate’s hide. Stone rubbed his own bristly face. He turned to Loren. “Can you do the rest of this?”
“Sure. Where are you going?”
“To get cleaned up.”
“Without me?”
“If I take you with me...”
“Right.” Loren shooed him away then continued cleaning up the kitchen.
Stone didn’t need a lot of hot water, just a little. Usually they used solar showers but a few uses of the propane to heat up water wasn’t going to hurt anything. Stone always brought an extra tank.
Finished shaving his face, he washed thoroughly, and then put on fresh clothing.
When he returned to camp, he got whistled at by all the guys.
“Oh, knock it off.” Stone grimaced at them, but secretly he enjoyed their support. He put on a little water for Loren. “If you want to. You don’t have to.”
“You want me when I’m all gross and grungy?”
“Will it be weird if I say yes?” Stone wanted Loren no matter what.
“A little.” Loren considered the pot. “Let me go get my stuff.”
“I’ll carry it over to the water’s edge for you.” By the time the water was ready, Loren was at the private area Stone had told him about. “Can I stay?”
“Are you sure you’re okay with that?” Loren pulled off his shirt and set it aside.
“I can be good.” The bruises had faded a bit more, but they were still there. Only this time, Stone didn’t clench his fists. He didn’t want to beat the shit out of Loren’s ex nearly as much as he wanted to make sure Loren never had to endure a beating again. “Here. Let me get your back.”
“I should probably take these off first.” Loren slid down his shorts and his swim briefs, giving Stone his first full look at his bare body. “Stone?”
“Yeah.” Stone’s voice cracked a little as he lifted the washrag to his mate’s back. “You okay?”
“I’m good. It’s a little cold, but it feels so nice to get clean I don’t mind at all.”
“That’s good.” Stone’s hand shook as he worked his way down to Loren’s buttocks. “You’ve got such a great ass.”
“Thank you.”
Stone cleaned him everywhere then turned him around.
“I can get the front.”
“Please let me.” Stone got down on his knees and rubbed the soapy cloth all over Loren.
“I think I’m clean.” Loren’s voice came out breathless while his cock strained upward.
“I’ll help you rinse.” Stone cleaned the cloth in the river then dipped it in the warm water. He rinsed him, starting with his head then working his way down. When he finished, he turned Loren around and cupped his buttocks.
“What are you—oh God.” Loren gasped when Stone tongued his ass.
Stone tried to stop but he couldn’t. He’d waited a lifetime for this man. He wanted to know every inch of him. Round and round he worked his tongue while gently fisting Loren’s cock.
“Please.” Loren uttered a breathless cry.
“It’s okay.”
“What about you?”
“I’m okay.” Stone could wait. If he pleased Loren, he thought he could hang on until Jon claimed Channing tonight.
“I want you inside me.”
Stone growled and plunged his tongue into his mate’s ass, making him whimper with need. Gently he turned him around and drew his cock into his mouth.
“I can’t last.” Loren peered down at him with his big hazel eyes. He placed his hand on the top of Stone’s head to steady himself then uttered a soft moan of bliss when Stone sucked him down to the base. Loren’s eyelids fluttered, his body swayed. Stone cupped his ass, holding him steady while he continued to suck his cock.
“I’m so close. So very close.”
Stone redoubled his efforts.
Loren gasped and then climaxed.
Stone drank him down then rose and kissed him. He lifted him against his body and carried him toward their tent.
“My stuff.”
“Trust me.” Stone took Loren to the tent where he laid him down on his cot. “I’ll be right back.” Stone pointed. “Don’t go anywhere.”
“As if I can walk after that?”
Smirking with pride, Stone hurried back to the water, retrieved Loren’s things, then took the pot back to the kitchen.
“I can clean that for you and put it away.”
It took Stone a minute to remember the third human’s name. “Shane?”
He nodded.
“You sure?”
“Absolutely.” Shane smiled. “I’ll do it exactly like you taught me.”
“Thanks.”
“Go on.” Shane grinned, shooing him away. “Go have fun.”
Stone practically ran back to the tent. He found Loren right where he’d left him. Only, Loren had turned on his side and had a come-hither look on his beautiful face. Stone hung up the wet clothing then settled on his own cot.
“How will we know if Jon and Channing have, for lack of a better term, done the deed?” Loren asked.
“I don’t know.” Stone stripped off his shoes. “I kind of thought we might feel it.”
“Feel it?”
“Well, I guess I could ask him.”
“Don’t you dare go over to their tent.” Loren wagged his finger at him for good measure.
“I meant I could ask him, well, mind to mind.”
“What?”
“Packmates can talk that way.”
“Direct communication?”
“Yeah.” Stone nodded. “Jon can shut his off, though, since he’s the pack leader.” Stone considered not sharing the rest, but Loren would know everything soon enough anyway. “If he gets overwhelmed, he just starts spewing garbage, so he shuts it off.”
“Is this something all wolf-shifters can do?”
Stone shook his head. “We can because we’re blood bound.”
“I thought you weren’t related?”
“We’re not.” Stone showed Loren the bite mark on his hand. “After Jon healed me, I pledged myself to him, and he bit me.”
“He what?” Loren sat up and inspected Stone’s hand. “If you swore yourself to him, why in the world would he bite you?”
“I let him bite me on purpose.” Stone soothed. “All of us did. It’s a way to bind us all by blood.”
“So you bit him back?”
“No. I showed my loyalty by letting him bite me. He has my blood in him. He has the blood of all of us.”
“Will I have to let him bite me?” Loren’s tone sounded not afraid, exactly, but kind of squeamish. Interesting, considering what the two of them had done. But Stone supposed that was the difference. Sharing bodily fluids with him and sharing them with a man he didn’t know were two different things.
“I honestly don’t know.” Stone lifted Loren’s chin. “Would that make a difference?”
“I don’t know.” Loren tilted his head, examining Stone’s bite mark. “So wolves are kind of like vampires?”
“Don’t even get me started on those guys.”
“Vampires are real?” Loren leaned into him, his eyes widening as his brows rose.
“Yeah. But you don’t want to be around them.”
“I pretty sure you’re right, but how would I know?”
“Well, they—never mind. We can talk about that later.”
“I was thinking it might be a good way to distract ourselves from the fact we’re in here alone, I’m naked, and you could very easily join me.”
Stone considered. On the one hand, talking about vampires would distract him, and they’d certainly turn him off, but his mate was right there in front of him, naked and beautiful and—Stone closed the distance between them and kissed Loren. Softly at first, but then he deepened the kiss.
Loren moaned with his mouth closed then eased his way into Stone’s lap, spreading his legs around his hips.
“These shouldn’t be on you.” Loren unfastened Stone’s cargo shorts and pushed the edges out of the way. Then he hooked his feet together and used his leverage to rub himself against Stone’s cock.
“You ever hear the expression you’re playing with fire?”
“No. Teach it to me.” Loren kissed Stone hard on the mouth then nipped the inside of his lip again, making him bleed.
“Loren.”
“Stone.”
“Fuck.”
“Yes. That’s what you should do.” Loren unhooked his feet then rose and tried to center Stone’s cock against his hole. “You should fuck me.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Stone grabbed his mate’s hips, stopping him from sliding down. “No lube.”
“Um, I don’t think we’re going to need it.” Loren reached between them and stroked down the length of Stone’s cock. “You’ve made so much precum I could slide right down, effortlessly.”
Stone eased Loren back then looked down. “I’ve never done that before.”
“Clearly, it’s a sign.”
“Is it?” Stone asked.
“Did you happen to bring any lube?”
“A little bottle.”
Loren leaned back and crossed his arms. “For what reason?”
Just then a crack of thunder shook the tent and then rain pounded against the sides.
“Well?” Loren demanded.
“I didn’t do that.”
“I’m not talking about the rain and thunder. I’m talking about you bringing lube with you on a river trip.”
“I told you I sometimes hook up on these things.”
“Did you bring condoms too?”
“Yes.” Stone grimaced. “Why are you getting angry with me?”
“Because I can’t wait anymore!”
Another flash of lighting added a dramatic flair to Loren’s words.
“I’m sorry.”
“I know.” Loren shook his head. “I know he’s your best friend. Your pack leader. You owe him your life.”
“I do.”
“But he’s not in here now and I don’t see how this can be wrong if you’re making your own fucking lube.”
“Aren’t you the potty mouth?”
“Don’t try to distract me.”
“Oh, but I think I will.” Stone lifted Loren and spread him out on his cot so that when he dropped to his knees, he had his mate pinned and completely accessible.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Loren struggled to rise.
“I’m going to tongue fuck you until you come.”
“You already did that.”
“Then I’m going to do it again.” Stone lifted and spread Loren’s legs, half expecting him to struggle, but once he got started, his sweet pup melted into submission. This time, Stone took his time. He teased and tormented Loren until he writhed in helpless surrender.
“Please.” Loren begged him not just with his plaintive voice but his eyes. “I’m going to go crazy if I don’t have you.”
Rising, Stone pressed his hand against Loren’s chest. “Relax.”
“I don’t think I can.”
Stone swallowed hard. He’d never wanted anyone as much as he wanted Loren. Still, he tried to delay the inevitable until he was certain Jon had claimed Channing. To stall, he swiped precum off his cock, smeared it over his finger, then eased his slick digit inside Loren’s ass.
“Yes. More. More.” Loren relaxed and spread his legs as wide as they would go.
Transfixed, Stone watched his finger slide in and out of his mate. When the light got too dim, he turned on the lantern and kept going.
“Please, Stone. I’m begging you.” Loren’s cock stood hard and ready, a thick string of precum going from the head of his cock to his stomach.
Stone added more precum and then slid in another finger. Thunder cracked in the sky, making him think he’d done the wrong thing, but that didn’t mean he could stop.
“Please.” Loren’s mournful cry called to the beast within. That ravenous hunger he’d been keeping at bay sprang into his body and took control of him.
Rising, Stone shoved his shorts down then off. He pulled his fingers free then rubbed the head of his sticky cock around his mate’s hole until they both uttered frantic mating cries.
Desperate to delay the inevitable, Stone reached out to Jon, but couldn’t connect. Finally, unable to stop himself, Stone said, “If you can hear me, forgive me, Jon. I can’t wait another moment.” Stone eased his cock into Loren.
Loren gasped and lifted his head, his eyes wide, his mouth open.
“Oh, gods, I’m hurting you.” Stone edged back.
“No!” Loren reached for him. “Don’t stop. It’s not pain. I’ve never felt anything so goooooood.”
Stone exhaled hard then inched forward. “Are you sure you’re okay?” The rain thumping against the tent matched the pounding of his heart.
“I’m beyond okay.” Loren shoved a pillow behind his head. “I want to watch you. See your face. Enjoy the way your whole body flexes when you move.”
Each inch he made inside amped up the needs of his beast. Stone had bedded hundreds of humans, but not one had ever felt like this. His cock felt a dozen times as sensitive, his balls felt heavy and tight. The urge to fill and mark pushed at his body and brain. When he finally filled his mate balls deep, he lifted his head and let loose a prideful growl of satisfaction, of supremacy only to have a crack of thunder drowned it out.
Loren whimpered and wrapped his legs around Stone’s hips.
“No.” Stone grabbed the soft inner part of his mate’s thighs then spread him wide. “I want to watch. I need to see and feel you surrender to me.”
Loren lifted his hands over his head, giving Stone exactly what he wanted most.
Slowly he worked his cock in and out, each time gaining just a little more depth. Each time he felt the urge to mark rise, Stone held it back. He wouldn’t rush. He refused to hurt his mate or shortchange either one of them.
“I feel like I’ve been waiting my whole life for this.” Loren’s eyelids settled low, giving him a dazed and dreamy expression. “Waiting my whole life for you.”
“You’re everything I’ve ever wanted. Everything I’ve ever needed.” Stone rose over him, lowering his body closer to Loren’s. Kissing him, he whispered, “I never thought I’d ever think of myself as lucky. I do now.”
“It’s not luck.” Loren stroked over Stone’s ear then his neck. “It’s fate.”
“Lucky fate.”
“A stone’s throw.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’ve been thinking about all the coincidences that brought me here, brought me to you. Such a short distance to go from strangers to mates. Literally, a stone’s throw.”
“Any regrets?”
“Only that I didn’t meet you sooner.”
“I wonder if either one of us would have been ready.”
“Probably not.” Loren rolled his hips. “But we are now.”
Stone thrust slowly in and took his time pulling out. All the while he watched as his mate’s eyes turned from dreamy to smoky then to downright fiery.
“You look ready to throw me down and mount me, pup.”
“If I thought I could get away with it, I would.” Loren grasped Stone’s shoulders.
“Aren’t I going fast enough for you?” Stone pulled almost all the way out then held still with only the thick knob of his cock stretching his mate’s hole.
“You know you aren’t.” Loren growled. “Enjoy yourself now.”
“What does that mean?”
“You won’t always be the one on top.”
Stone arched one brow.
“As they say, revenge is a dish best served cold.” Loren slid his hands down to Stone’s chest, teased his fingertips over his nipples, then tightened his hold with his surprisingly strong legs.
“The thought of being at your mercy gives me fucking chills.”
“Of terror?” Loren asked.
“Of lust.” Stone thrust forward, filling his mate all at once. “Hot, hard chills.” He pulled all the way out then filled him again. And again. Stone could have tormented Loren all night, but then his mate clenched around his cock. “Whoa.” Stone pulled out. “Don’t do that.”
“Why?” Loren asked, his tone cocky.
“Because I don’t think I can hold on if you do.”
“Good.” Loren licked his bottom lip while angling his head to the side. He stroked over his own neck and then whimpered.
Stone gritted his teeth.
“I’ve got your number, Valentine.”
“How so, Christopher?” If Loren wanted to use first names, Stone was fine with that.
“You’ve been eyeing my neck since you met me. Licking your lips while looking at this spot right here.” Loren stretched his neck out, making himself utterly vulnerable to Stone. “You’ve nibbled and kissed that spot but we both know what you really want to do.”
“And what’s that?”
“You want to bite me.”
Stone thrust hard and deep into his mate.
Loren startled then smiled at him. “Finish it.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I think I do.” Loren touched Stone’s bottom lip then rose, clenching around his cock while kissing him hard and slutty with plenty of tongue action. When his tongue swiped over the mark he’d made inside Stone’s lip, electricity sparked over his frame, driving his hips forward and seating his cock so deep inside his mate’s ass he didn’t think he’d be able to pull out.
“I think that’s the secret,” Loren whispered between kisses. “Biting and sharing blood.”
“Fuck.” Stone gripped Loren’s hips and tried to keep his cool, but he couldn’t. He knew he couldn’t. He could barely utter two words before he completely lost control. “Hold on.”
Loren clung to him with his arms and legs, moving his head to the side, exposing his neck.
Stone latched on and bit him, the taste of his blood creating a violent frenzy of fucking. He’d wanted to claim his mate with sweet kindness, but when the beast took over, he became a ravenous machine. He might have found the strength to stop, to ease back, but not when Loren urged him on.
“Fuck me. Oh God, Stone, fuck me. Fill me. I need you to mark me. To claim me. To—oh God!” Loren clenched around Stone with his entire body, shaking as his orgasm splashed cum against Stone’s stomach and chest.
Feeling his release sparked a new longing in Stone. He had to get deeper. He had to get as deep as he could and mark him inside and out. Stone thrust and thrust, digging his knees into the sand below the tent then he came so hard he almost passed out. Gushing jet after jet deep inside Loren while drinking the rich crimson lifeblood from his neck finally sated the beast within.
Breathing hard, Stone moved back. When he saw Loren had his eyes closed and his body had gone limp, he panicked. “Loren?”
“I’m so fucking gooooood.” Loren squirmed then his eyes opened. “You have a knot.”
“A knot?”
“Your cock.”
“No, I—” Stone realized his cock had swelled.
“It’s pressing right on my prostate.” Loren rolled his hips, gasped, then spurted again, clenching so hard he made Stone climax a second time too.
“Fuck.” Stone closed his eyes and hung his head. “What the hell have you done to me?”