STORY EXCERPT

“Why did you come back here, Crash?” he finally asked, letting Crash hear the weariness in his voice. 

Crash halted. For a brief moment, an expression of pain crossed his face. It was only for a moment, but it gave Mark a glimpse of the real emotions Crash carefully hid—regret, anger, and sorrow. The Alpha still had feelings for him. Mark was certain of it. He wished he didn’t see the real Crash. It made his task a lot harder to do. 

“I—we came for Larry, to see if Larry’s death had really been an accident.”

Mark suspected as much. How he’d envied Larry for being close to Crash and his friends in the past. It had been Larry who’d introduced them back in high school, and he’d blame Larry for sending him both a gift and a curse. 

Every muscle in his body froze as Crash eliminated the distance between them. 

The Alpha fisted Mark’s shirt and yanked him close enough so he could feel Crash’s body heat. A whimper clawed its way from his throat. The Omega wolf in him persuaded him to make the first move, to stop being a coward. He twitched his fingers, needing so badly to lift up Crash’s shirt and trace those six-pack abs and pectoral muscles.

Once upon a time, Mark had known every inch of his mate. That was the past. He knew nothing about the dangerous stranger in front of him. Omegas with better sense would have backed off, given Crash the warning, and headed home to Luka, his mate, except his rightful soul mate stood right in front of him.

No matter how much he wanted to touch, to experience being under the mercy of Crash’s rough hands and lips, he held himself back. Mark had never quite successfully managed to shut the doors of the past, but he could stop looking over his shoulder and set his eyes forward. Crash wasn’t in his future. Luka was, even though Mark’s heart, his wolf, wept at the thought.

“I smell fear on you, little Omega,” Crash said in a seductive, crooning voice, which never failed to make Mark shiver.

“I’m not afraid of you,” he whispered.

“Now who’s the little liar? It’s not just that I scent, but you’re excited to see me.”

“Are you delusional?” he asked.

Crash’s gaze moved lower. He looked down and, to Mark’s embarrassment, noticed his erection jutting against his jeans. Crash didn’t look ashamed about the bulge in Mark’s pants. That didn’t surprise Mark. They’d always been polar opposites. Mark was the one who always made safe choices, who second-guessed every little decision. Crash had been the daredevil, fearless, so ruthless that sometimes Mark felt as though he was the shadow standing next to the sun. 

The Alpha dragged his hand down the length of Mark’s body. Mark swallowed. Crash’s touch was no lighter than the brush of feather, designed to tease and torment. Finally, Crash gave Mark’s dick a squeeze through the fabric. Unable to help himself, Mark moaned.

“You made your point,” Mark muttered.

“Have I? At least some things haven’t changed.” Crash emphasized his point by unzipping his pants and pulling out Mark’s dick. 

The devious Alpha swiped a thumb over the pre-cum gathered at Mark’s tip. It only occurred to Mark that he could’ve stopped this any time. Crash might be a hard, rough man, but Crash wasn’t like some of the abusive assholes in the Lunar Fire pack. Crash would never take anyone against their will, except Mark silently wished Crash wouldn’t stop.

What would he give to be on the receiving end of Crash’s kisses and touches once more?

In the past, he would have caved, but not anymore.

Mark rested his hand on Crash’s inked wrist. Crash paused, tilting his head like a patient predator assessing the movements of his prey. 

“Stop. You came here to see Larry. Now leave.”

Crash raised an eyebrow. Not a good idea, issuing commands to an Alpha, especially if said Alpha still held his dick captive. Mark groaned when Crash began working his dick, alternating between slow and fast movements, rendering Mark breathless. 

“You dare tell me what to do?” Crash asked in the mildly deceptive voice Mark had known so well since childhood. 

Mark couldn’t help it. After all he’d been through—dealing with Luka’s unwanted attentions and Larry’s death—he cracked. A sob caught in his throat. Crash frowned, withdrew his hand, and zipped Mark back again, as if sensing the change in the atmosphere.

“You and your friends don’t have the right to stroll back here after all you’ve done.” His words came out as a ragged accusation, but he didn’t care. 

He shivered, feeling cold, but Crash extended an arm and pulled him close into a hug. Mark didn’t even think to fight. He melted into the Alpha’s strong and warm embrace. It felt good to be able to rely on someone else after needing to look over his shoulder all the time. 

After Larry’s death, he didn’t have any other friends. The other wolves in the Lunar Fire pack looked at him with suspicion and distrust. In Crash’s arms, he felt as though he was back home again. Home was the past, when life was simple, less complicated. He breathed in Crash’s familiar scent and, in those precious few seconds, imagined what it would be like had he said yes to Crash and leaving town. 

Would they be happy? Would things be different?

He shut his eyes painfully, hating how the tears welled in his eyes and fell down his cheeks.

“You left me, then Larry. I’m alone now. Why did you come back here, Crash?” he demanded, voice hoarse.

Crash fell silent for the next few moments. The Alpha began stroking Mark’s back. Mark wanted to scream at Crash, ask for answers, but instead he enjoyed the sensation of Crash’s big hands unknotting every tense muscle. It wouldn’t be long now before this tender moment ended and they would go back to fighting, bickering.

“Ask me that question again,” Crash said.

“Why are you back here?”

Nothing would have changed, except Crash’s next answer made his head spin and his heart race with anticipation, with dreaded hope.

“To see you.”

ADULT EXCERPT

“You and I are alike. There was no one else but you,” Mark confessed out loud.

Crash didn’t look surprised, like he’d known it all along. “I know.”

Mark smiled shyly. “How do you want me?”

“On your back. I want to see the expression on your face again when you orgasm.”

Mark swallowed. The position was Crash’s favorite, he recalled. He might not have sex with Luka, but he’d seen the way Luka rutted with other submissive wolves doing mating season—with the submissive being on all fours. Luka changed partners the way a guy changed ice cream flavors. Mark often wondered if Luka would do the same to him and consoled himself that if Luka got sick of him, it wouldn’t be too bad.

Why should he settle when his real mate stood right in front of him? Enough thoughts about Luka. Mark kicked away his jeans and underwear and was about to take off the shirt, but Crash grabbed his hand.

“Keep that on.”

“What if it gets ruined?”

Crash shrugged. “I want you to smell of me.”

Sounded fine to Mark. He scrambled to the edge of the bed. Crash took off the rest of his clothes and walked over to his bag, procuring a condom from one of the bag’s pockets.

Did Crash carry those around often?

Jealousy rammed into him for a moment, but Mark recalled that those one-night stands didn’t mean a thing to Crash. Crash positioned himself between Mark’s legs. Mark swallowed and stared. Was Crash always that enormous?

“You want my dick so badly, pet? Beg me.”

Mark could already imagine Crash buried in him, claiming him once more. 

“Please,” he uttered.

He blushed, but Crash was the one man he’d give his submission to. No one else. Crash already owned his heart, although he would never tell Crash that, not until later.

* * * *

Crash placed Mark’s legs over his shoulders, exposing the Omega completely to him. 

“I see you’re getting hard again,” he said with a grin.

Part of him still couldn’t believe this was all happening. Never in a million years did he imagine having Mark with his legs splayed for him again, dick growing harder even right after Crash had given Mark a blowjob. His wolf urged him to finish the dance, mount Mark, and finally mate mark him so assholes like Luka could never get their hands on what rightfully belonged to Crash in the first place. 

Crash thought going back home was all business, that after finding out how Larry died and avenging him, it was back to the city.

There was no going back for him, no more playing the role of good guest, not after he saw the bruises on Mark. The one on Mark’s cheek was fresh, but there were older ones. 

One thing was clear to Crash.

Luka was a walking dead man.

Screw the consequences. Crash wanted nothing than to put his teeth to Luka’s throat and rip it out. For now, though, he’d keep those plans to himself. For now, he wanted to make Mark fly.

“What are you thinking about?” Mark asked.

Crash realized he’d fallen silent and had started stroking Mark’s thigh.

“Nothing you want to know.”

“Maybe you’re right. Crash, I want you to know I didn’t come here for sex. I never wanted to use you.”

Crash chuckled. “Use me? We’re two consenting adults who want to lose ourselves in each other.”

What a beautiful fucking lie. This wasn’t a mistake to Crash or a one-time fling. This was just the beginning. Crash would right all his wrongs to Mark. He planned on winning his Omega and keeping Mark for real this time.

“Okay, good,” Mark whispered.

Crash blanketed his body over Mark’s and took Mark’s lips again. The Omega wrapped his hands around Crash’s neck and responded, all heat and bite. He rubbed his dick against Mark’s and withdrew his lips so he could plant more kisses. Crash moved down the line of Mark’s body, kissed all the bruises, and made a silent promise to himself. If Luka ever laid a hand on Mark again, the Beta was going to regret it. 

A simple ripping of the neck wouldn’t do. Crash would make Luka hurt so badly the Beta would be screaming for mercy by the time he was done.

Crash closed his mouth over Mark’s nipple and sucked, making Mark moan. He licked the bud then bit down. Mark squirmed, but Crash could tell Mark was turned on. Crash nipped at Mark’s other nipple before seeing Mark’s reaction.

“Please,” the Omega said again. 

Crash grabbed the condom from where he’d left it on the bed.

“No condoms.”

Crash blinked. “Mark, are you sure?”

There was no telling if his seed would catch. He could get Mark pregnant, but the Omega seemed so sure.

“I want your baby, Crash.”