STORY EXCERPT

“I’ve chosen who I want to mate with,” Chris Stalia said, looking down at the four willing offerings, three females and one male.

Only one of them interested him, and that was the male that continued to glare down at the floor, as if he couldn’t bring himself to look up into Chris’s face. That wasn’t the only thing interesting about him either. Not just the glare, but also the way he clenched his fists, and the way those fists trembled slightly.

Duncan seemed surprised by his announcement. “I said you could speak with them and get to know them. You don’t have to choose anyone right now.”

“I know, but I want to,” Chris said, and he pointed his finger. “That one right there, the blond,” he said.

It could have been blond, or just incredibly light brown hair, but since two of the females were dark in colouring, and one was a redhead, there was no mistaking that Chris was pointing to the male.

The females all looked amongst each other, disappointment in their eyes and jealousy toward the male, who was looking up at Chris, for the first time, with wide, shocked eyes.

He had pale blue eyes. They were kind of nice to look at. He was kind of nice to look at. That was good. If Chris was going to be forced to do this, then he at least wanted to pick a mate who was easy on the eyes. The females were pretty enough, but the male was more beautiful than they were, if that was even the proper word to use for a man.

That, and Chris was insanely curious to know what was putting such a scowl on his face. Obviously it was Chris. Well, Chris was going to play with that. If this dragon was angry with him, then Chris was going to let him take out some of that aggression. Chris shouldn’t be the only one who had to suffer through this.

Had anyone who didn’t understand what was going on walked in right then, they might’ve assumed that the one male and three females were being offered to Chris because they were some sort of reward for him. No. Chris had to mate with one of them. He was an alpha wolf in a castle full of dragons, and he was lucky that these dragons didn’t rip him apart for what he’d nearly done to them. Chris would have. If he’d been the alpha in charge, or the high dragon in this case, he would have ripped the head off of anyone who put his pack in danger.

The fact that he was forced to submit, to have his wolf change leaders from for former leading alpha Clyde, to a high dragon of all people, was merciful. So merciful that he had to wonder about Duncan’s abilities as a leader.

Of course, the man had also tricked Chris into thinking that he would die, that he’d already executed Maddox, and though Chris didn’t want to admit to it, that had very nearly scared the piss out of him.

So maybe Duncan wasn’t so soft or lenient after all.

In fact, the man clearly wanted to make sure that Chris was going to be loyal to him, hence the reason why Chris had to choose a mate. If Chris mated with and fell in love with a dragon, then he would be loyal for the rest of his life. Duncan could be murdered tomorrow, and Chris’s loyalty would still be with the pack.

“Chris? Did you hear what I said?” Duncan asked.

“I heard you,” Chris said, though he barely turned his head to look the dragon in the eyes. “But I made my choice now. That’s the one I want.”

The dragon bristled. “I have a name,” he said, those blue eyes lighting up with anger. True anger, because now that the man was actually looking Chris in the eyes, he could see that what real anger looked like on this man. That scowl from before? That was clearly just a mild irritation compared to this.

But it looked good on him.

Chris couldn’t help but smile a little. Oh, so he was the type that looked even better when he was angry, was he? Chris was going to have to do his best to keep the man angry then, because it was actually kind of sexy, at least on him. The way his eyes were alive, cheeks flushed, and nostrils flaring like he wanted to leap at Chris and…do what? Fight him? The man wasn’t big enough to win a fight. He wasn’t as small as an omega, but he wasn’t as big as the warriors, or as Chris was, for that matter.

Duncan looked between Chris and the dragon. Chris was standing on a platform next to Duncan and Iver, the dragon who’d bested him in the fight and forced him to submit, along with the other dragon warriors, so Chris had the interesting position of being able to look down at everyone in the great hall.

Many eyes on him were distrustful, though some were speculative and hopeful.

None were as angry as the male dragon who was going to be Chris’s mate.

Duncan actually got down on his haunches, which still wasn’t enough to put him at eye level with the man, but even then, Chris had to wonder what the hell he was doing. No leader should lower himself to be so low in front of the people he ruled.

“Logan, if you don’t want to be mated to him, then step back right now. I only want people who are willing.”

So his name was Logan? A nice, strong name. Chris watched him carefully.

“I am willing!” Logan said, shoulder bunching up again, and Chris could hardly believe the man’s bravery to be yelling at his leader like that, his high dragon.

ADULT EXCERPT

He’d come against the man without any stimulation to his dick, and now that he was alone in the dark with him, he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Thank the Gods that Chris was sleeping.

“If you don’t stop that, I’m going to climb up onto that bed, and I won’t be held responsible for what I do to you.”

Logan jumped on the spot, and then he glared down at Chris, who still had his arm over his eyes, who Logan had thought was sleeping soundly by now.

“I’m not doing anything,” Logan said. “This is all your fault anyway.”

“My fault?” Chris asked, lowering his arm so that Logan could see the man’s golden eyes. The wolf gold made him shiver with a touch of fear, but even that wasn’t enough to make his stupid dick obey him.

“How is it my fault that I can smell your lust for me? If anything, I’d say that would be entirely on you.”

Logan took in a deep breath, and then he let it out in a long sigh. “Gods, I hate you,” he said.

“Yeah, I know,” Chris replied, shifting from his spot and sitting up so he could look at Logan.

Logan leaned away from him, but he was too scared to move any more than that. “What? What are you looking at?”

“You,” Chris said.

Was that a growl Logan heard in his voice? Please don’t let that be a growl. He really didn’t want to see the man’s wolf. He so didn’t want to see it.

But then Chris did something that had Logan completely frozen on the spot. He climbed onto his bed.

Logan was so damned terrified that he was completely and utterly frozen. He couldn’t move, and he tried to. He screamed at his limbs to do something, to get him out of there, but then it was way too late as Chris hooked one leg over Logan’s waist and straddled him.

The blanket was still separating them, and even though Logan was wearing a T-shirt and shorts, despite the clothes, Chris still looked mostly naked. The only thing he had on him were black, tight-fitting underwear that really clung to his thighs and his ass, and they looked really damned good, too.

In fact, the sliver of moonlight that spilled through Logan’s windows seemed to expand and highlight every inch of Chris’s body. Every curve of muscle and every scar.

Logan hadn’t though Chris to be very good looking when he first saw him, but in this light, he was absolutely gorgeous. Even with those scarred golden eyes that he had.

Logan swallowed hard, not so much afraid, just a little on the worried side as Chris’s hands took hold of the blankets and started pulling them down. “You said you weren’t going to force me,” he said.

Fuck, was there a drum beating somewhere in the castle, or was that his stupid heart? He needed to get some control, here.

“I’m not going to force you to do anything,” Chris said, flicking his eyes from Logan’s chest to his face. “But you clearly need this. Let me take care of you. There doesn’t need to be any actual sex, but you do need this.”

“No, I want it. There’s a difference,” Logan said, and he wasn’t even embarrassed for having admitted that much out loud.

Yeah, he was too far gone at this point to really care about that.

Chris’s lips turned up in a smile that showed off his white fangs. Yeah, he was definitely handsome in this light. Not even that scar on his cheek or the square jaw that made him look too brutish diminished his new moonlit beauty.

Wait a minute. Did that thought actually go through his head? Did he really think something as lame and cheesy as moonlit beauty?

He was going to stop with the romance novels. No more for Logan. Nope.

“You’re looking at me like you want me,” Chris said. “But you also need me. There is a difference, but it might as well not exist when you’re clearly so in need of this.”

“Oh yeah?” Logan asked, and his breath hitched as Chris’s rough fingers slid under the hem of his T-shirt, and they slowly moved up, up, up, until his entire chest was exposed, but he didn’t remove the T-shirt. It was like he just wanted to see Logan’s nipples or something.

When Chris’s thumbs brushed over them, Logan opened his mouth and sighed, pushing his chest closer to that electric pleasurable feeling.

Oh yeah, Chris wanted to see them all right. Clearly, he also wanted to touch them.

“Let me do this. You don’t even have to touch me, but let me do this for you.”

“Wh–Why should I?” Logan asked, but it was a stupid question because he was clearly already lost to the pleasure. He wanted more of it. His dick was hard and the blankets just seemed to be overly hot and in the way now.

“Because you need it,” Chris said.

“D–Don’t you? Don’t you need it, I mean?” Logan asked.

That wry smile returned to Chris’s mouth as he stared down at Logan. “This is one of the few times in my life where I’ve ever put anyone else first. You should probably just sit back and enjoy it for what it is,” he said.

Chris moved one of his hands away from Logan’s nipples, but his fingers never left Logan’s skin as they slid down, down, down, until those digits were no longer touching flesh, but moving over the blanket that covered Logan’s waist, and even then, he could still feel the hot sizzle of the man’s touch through the fabric.

Especially when Chris’s entire palm settled over Logan’s hard cock and then pressed against it with just enough pressure to make him thrust forward and moan.

Chris was right. He needed this. He really did.