STORY EXCERPT

Luka let out a small sigh and his eyes slowly fluttered open. The soft, peaceful look he had worn in sleep was gone in the blink of an eye, and replaced by one of panic. The young wolf lay there looking up at Adam, his eyes wide like a rabbit that was caught in the headlights.

“Hey,” Adam began, keeping his voice soft. “You’re okay. You’re soaked through though so you need to change out of these wet clothes.”

Luka just continued to stare at him, his body tense. Slowly, Adam lowered Luka’s feet back down to the bed and got up.

“I got you a towel,” he said as he placed it beside the young man. “If you want to get changed in private you can go into the bathroom. Maybe even take a bath or shower.”

He looked back at Luka, but still there was nothing. No sign of agreement, no movement, only panic.

“Luka, I’m not going to hurt you,” he promised the young man, his voice tinged with desperation. “I’ll do anything you want, but I won’t leave you alone. You need someone to take care of you.”

Adam took in his mate’s appearance. As well as the thin frame, Luka also had dark circles under his eyes, made to look worse by how pale his skin was.

As Adam stared at him, Luka seemed to come back to his senses. He blinked rapidly before breaking their eye contact. His hand reached out tentatively for the towel and he sat up before running it over his curly hair.

Letting out a breath, Adam finally felt himself relax a bit. There was a chair against the wall, beside the bed, and Adam sat himself down in it. He figured that Luka would go into the bathroom to change, wanting some privacy, but he didn’t. Adam watched, mouth hanging open slightly in surprise, as his supposedly timid little mate stood at the foot of the bed and stripped off his damp T-shirt.

The gasp that left Adam’s mouth was entirely involuntary, and instantly he wished he could take it back. Luka spun to face him, his eyes wide again as he realised he had just effectively shown Adam his back.

It had only been a brief look, but Adam had seen long, thin scars marring the beautiful, soft-looking, creamy skin. Luka quickly grabbed a dry and baggy T-shirt from his dresser and pulled it on, his face filled with shame. Luka hurriedly kicked off his jeans, leaving him in just his boxer shorts, his eyes resolutely glued to the floor.

Adam couldn’t bear to see his mate so distressed over something that wasn’t his fault. He got back up from the chair and went to stand in front of him, making the smaller man cower slightly against the dresser.

“Luka, I’m sorry,” Adam said. “You shouldn’t feel you have to hide your scars from me. I was just taken by surprise because werewolves can usually heal from pretty much anything.”

“Oh,” Luka said, speaking for the first time. He swallowed and hesitantly looked up at Adam. “Ray sometimes put silver in the wounds after he hit me with his belt because he liked to look at them.”

Luka spoke so matter-of-factly, as though he were explaining something trivial. It made Adam go cold. It seemed that perhaps his mate had disassociated himself from the experience, from the torture that he had endured.

“I wondered, if someone cut them off my back, if I’d heal normally,” Luka told him, his voice still very quiet. Everything about Luka was small, from his physicality, to his voice and personality. Most people made Adam feel large in comparison, Luka made him feel like a giant.

“Maybe,” Adam told him. “But, I imagine that’d hurt an awful lot.”

Luka nodded, biting the corner of his lower lip. “Do you want me to do it?”

Adam frowned, shocked that he was being asked that question. “No. I don’t want you to ever feel pain again.”

Luka’s eyes widened at Adam’s words, and finally Adam felt as though they had taken the first step on a very long journey.

“Can I ask you a question?” Luka asked hesitantly, still worrying his lower lip with his teeth.

Adam smiled at him reassuringly. “You can ask me anything.”

“Earlier, in the kitchen, you didn’t seem to realise I was your mate until after I said it,” Luka began. “Do you feel it now? I mean, you can tell that you’re my mate, right?”

Adam frowned and took a breath, moving away from Luka and going back to sit in the chair. He knew he was going to have to tell Luka the truth, he owed it to him, even though it was hard for him to talk about.

“No, I don’t know it the way that you do,” Adam told him. Luka, looking adorably confused, came over to sit on the bed, facing Adam.

“Then, maybe you’re not really my mate,” Luka began. Adam was ashamed to note that he felt elated at the way Luka’s face fell at the suggestion. “I’ve got it wrong before. You’d know for sure if we were mates, right?”

“No, Luka. If you believe that we’re mates, then we’re mates,” Adam began. “You didn’t get it wrong before, you were young and didn’t know better and someone took advantage of that and lied to you. You had no way of knowing what it felt like to really find your mate. Does it feel different this time, to how it felt with Ray?”

“Yes,” Luka said right away, his tone filled with certainty. “I didn’t feel anything with him. With you I feel like I…” he cut himself off, clearly embarrassed by what he was going to say, but seemingly determined nonetheless. “I feel like I never want you to leave my side. I feel like I want to rub my face on yours so that you smell like me, and I smell like you. I feel like I belong somewhere, for the first time in my life,” he confessed, his beautiful green eyes locked onto his.

ADULT EXCERPT

“Stop holding back,” Luka said to him. At Adam’s confused expression, Luka continued talking. “You don’t need to do that anymore. I trust you, but I also trust myself now. I want you to do whatever you want to me. You don’t need to be afraid of going too far because I trust myself to tell you now if I want you to stop, or if I don’t like something.”

Adam smiled at him lovingly and slowly nodded his head in understanding. “I love you so much, and I am so proud of you.”

Luka beamed at him and let out a surprised, but happy squeal when Adam grabbed hold of him and pulled him flush against his firm chest. Adam kissed him with such intensity that it made Luka feel dizzy. He heard himself moan into the kiss and he wound his arms around Adam’s thick neck. Adam devoured his mouth, leaving his lips wet, red, and swollen. He could only imagine how debauched he looked, he certainly felt it. When Adam broke their kiss he didn’t pull back to cheek if it was okay, like he usually did when they made out, he went straight for Luka’s throat, nipping, sucking, and kissing the pale column of flesh.

His beard was rough against Luka’s skin but it felt good. He went loose in Adam’s hold, giving himself over to the sensation and trusting that Adam had him. His mate’s large hands were everywhere, stroking and lightly scratching. Luka felt as though all of his senses were in hyperdrive and he gasped as he felt his hard dick twitching, dangerously close to coming already.

“Adam,” Luka breathed. “Stop, I’m going to come.”

Adam kissed his way up over Luka’s chin, biting it playfully before gently rubbing their noses together. “I want to make you come.”

Luka whimpered as his mate walked him backward to the bed. When the back of his legs hit the bed, Adam lowered him down onto it gently. Luka pushed himself backward until he was settled back on the bed and watched as his gorgeous mate crawled over him. Adam was hard and flushed as he lowered his head and peppered kisses all over Luka’s chest.

“Roll over,” Adam told him, his voice rough with desire. Luka did as he was told, not hesitating for even a second. He knew that Adam had seen his scars before, he had even touched them when they hugged with their shirts off, but this felt different, it felt even more intimate.

The cool sheets under him felt good as his cock rubbed against them. He held his breath as Adam rubbed his bristled cheek over the sensitive skin of his scars before tenderly kissing every single one of them. As the rain started to fall harder outside, hitting the windows loudly, Luka relaxed.

“You’re perfect,” Adam breathed against his skin, making Luka shiver.

Luka couldn’t help but smile at that. Only Adam could look at the ugly mess that was his back and think something like that about him. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to enjoy the sensation of his mate kissing and nuzzling his back before slowly trailing his way down.

When Adam finally reached his backside he nipped at the tender flesh there before slowly sliding his finger down into the cleft and stroking it over Lukas entrance. The young wolf gasped and felt his body relax, eagerly opening up for his mate.

“There’s lube in my bag,” Luka told Adam almost hesitantly. He still felt a little shy about talking to Adam about this stuff. “Sam gave it to me a while ago.”

Adam snorted and placed a kiss on the small of Luka’s back. “There’s some in my bag, too. I figured after last night, we should be prepared.”

Luka smiled and relaxed further as Adam got off the bed to retrieve their supplies. He didn’t know whose bag he had gone to and it didn’t matter. All Luka cared about was the fact that soon he would have Adam, his mate, inside him, claiming him.

“Okay?” Adam asked as Luka felt the bed dip again under his mate’s weight.

“Yes,” Luka promised him. “I’m ready.”

Luka flinched at the feeling of Adam’s cold, wet finger as it slid back over his opening. Adam was a big man with big hands. His fingers were thick and long and as the first one breached him Luka gasped. Luka had gotten used to willing his body to go slack. He had learned the hard way how much it hurt when he didn’t. He didn’t want to be thinking about Ray, but it was impossible not to. Ray had taken pleasure in hurting him, so Luka was pretty sure that no matter how big Adam was, Luka could take it.