STORY EXCERPT

Malik paused in mid-conversation, sniffing the air. “Someone’s been living here.”

One of Malik’s guys frowned. “Shouldn’t be. This house’s barely habitable although a couple of homeless folks are known to squat around here. Should we call the authorities?”

He gulped at that.

“Not yet. This scent seems familiar. Stay here,” Malik said, then looked right at him.

Thankfully, he ducked his head right on time. Dale quickly lunged for his sleeping bag. He folded it, then began stuffing his belongings inside his duffle bag. After that, he strapped his guitar and made his stealthy escape via the kitchen and back door. There was a hole in one of the fences.

Dale breathed a sigh of relief when he didn’t hear the front door open. He began to make the beeline for the back door when he halted, seeing Malik leaning against it, arms crossed, devious smile on his lips.

“Look what this curious cat found,” Malik said.

He froze, still holding onto his stuff, then regained the use of his tongue. “What are you doing here?”

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking the questions, little human?”

God, that voice, deep and sexy at once. He had masturbated to that voice, that face. Shit. He remembered shifters possessed a great sense of smell. 

“Hey, you and your friends outside are at fault here. I’m just—” he blurted, then was cut off.

“Chilling out here with your guitar and the rest of your belongings?” Malik suggested.

He glowered. Why did Malik have to be such a cocky, crazily attractive bastard? “That’s none of your business.”

“Really? Because my demolition team and I are going to wreck this place soon, and you’re trespassing.”

“This property is yours?” he asked, gulping.

“Newly acquired by Alpha Wreckers. We planned to flip this place. I’m usually in charge of the demo. Nash will take over after we gut this place clean,” Malik explained. A more serious expression crossed the handsome werejaguar’s face. “Do Wren and Henry know you’re homeless?”

“None of your business.”

“I guess not then.”

“Are you going to get out of my way?” he demanded.

“Boss, you in here? Oh,” said a new voice. One of Malik’s crew members. To Dale’s growing shame, all of them were in the kitchen now. “You and this squatter know each other?”

“Dale’s a friend. Can you give us more time? Why don’t you guys start with the bathroom tiles upstairs,” Malik suggested.

“You got it, boss.” After the crew left, he swallowed, realizing Malik actually remembered him and knew his name. 

Don’t get your hopes up, he reminded himself. Malik had a reputation around town for being a playboy, and if anyone wanted to play with the big cat, they followed the rules. Malik didn’t do relationships, and yet Malik had brushed him off that evening. Then again, it wasn’t like Dale stood out.

For one, he was human, broke, and looked ordinary with his brown eyes and hair.

“So, are you going to keep dodging my questions?” Malik asked.

“Fine. I lost my damn job, okay, and since you made it clear this property belongs to your company, I’m leaving. No harm no foul, right? Now move.” Dale would have sounded fierce and all, except he faltered at the door, which Malik used to block with his big body. Then to make things worse, his stomach let out a growl.

He blushed, covered his stomach, but Malik reached out, closed one large and rough hand over his, and gave it a squeeze.

“Relax, Dale. I’m not here to bust your ass or anything like that. How about we talk things through lunch?”

“W-what?” Did Dale hear Malik right and the jaguar shifter just asked him out?

“You heard what I said.” Malik looked him up and down, like he was good enough to eat.

“Wait a second. You can’t do this. You rejected me at that club. Now you’re offering me a free meal because of pity?” he injected.

“My, sassy. I didn’t expect that. The incident at the club was”—Malik hesitated—“unfortunate. I never meant to hurt you. It was for your own good you didn’t tangle with me.”

“Bullshit. Just admit you don’t like me, that you don’t find me attractive at all.”

“I’ll never admit to something that’s false.” For the first time, Malik’s usually amused face turned dead serious and those emerald eyes turned a shade darker. Dale realized that underneath that smug mask, there might be something deeper. “And that’s not true at all.”

Had he misunderstood Malik’s rejection? But Malik always seemed like a good actor. Time he really found out.

“Prove it,” he whispered.

Dale didn’t know what possessed him to say that, only it sounded right. Besides, he’d read books on dating dominant shifter males. One had to be bold, unafraid.

Malik gripped his belt buckle. He gulped and squeaked when the jaguar shifter tugged him close and tipped his chin. 

“You asked for it,” Malik said, then took his lips. 

It was even better than his memory of the club. Now that he was completely sober, his insides melted as Malik nipped on his upper lip, sucked on his lower. Sparks coiled in his belly, went straight to his dick, and when Malik prodded his tongue between his lips, he opened up, sucked down on Malik’s tongue.

When Malik pulled away, he panted, wanting so much more.

“So, lunch?” Malik asked, smiling.

“Yeah,” he answered, voice slightly breathy. He knew dancing with a powerful jaguar shifter like Malik was dangerous, but after that kiss, he didn’t think he wanted to resist. Plus, he also wanted to find out why exactly Malik had refused him that night.

ADULT EXCERPT

He stepped out of his bottoms and kicked his clothes out of the way.

“Okay, what next?” he asked. 

The jaguar Alpha flicked the pre-cum gathered on his tip, thumbed his cock head, and gave his dick a squeeze, large fingers rough, lined with calluses and warm. He moaned, tossed shame out of the window, and thrust his hips into Malik’s hand. 

“Eager, little human. That’s it, relax. It’s my job to make you feel good tonight.” 

“You say that to all the men you’ve dated.” Shit. Why did he say that? 

Unaffected, Malik clasped the back of his neck, put his mouth to his ear, and nipped at his earlobe. The shifter still held his dick captive and started to stroke it.

“But only you managed to get under my skin, past my shields, and carve a path right to my heart.”

Those words instantly warmed his heart. Dale understood Malik revealing the secrets he’d kept so long from most people was a huge deal, that the other man was finally opening up to him, trusting him. Dale would make sure to never break that trust. He wanted to show this gorgeous male that he was in this a hundred percent. 

“W-wait,” he blurted. Malik paused, and he tugged at Malik’s shirt. “Why do I have to be the only one naked? I want to see the goods.”

“Goods? Is that all you think of me?” The jaguar Alpha was teasing him, he realized. 

Malik tugged his shirt off, and Dale took several long appreciative moments, before hesitantly reaching out, running his fingers over those six-pack abs, up Malik’s torso to rest his hand on Malik’s left pectoral, right over the heart.

“Nice,” he whispered. 

“You’re very nice, too, little human.” Then Malik blinked when Dale dropped to his knees and looked up at Malik. Malik recovered quickly, smiled seductively at him, and speared his fingers through his hair, pulling his face close to his groin.

Dale fumbled for the button of Malik’s jeans, took out Malik’s cock, amazed at the thick, massive, and tempting engorged length, the veins standing out. A challenge. “You’re bigger than I thought.”

He could already imagine Malik sliding that huge prick inside his ass. The thought made his own dick thicken. Down boy. Dale had to focus on his task. He pressed his lips to Malik’s cock head, tonguing the slit, tasting Malik’s pre-cum. 

Malik hissed above him. Encouraged by the sound, he continued his exploration. Using his tongue, he explored every bump and ridge and sucked Malik’s balls into his mouth. At Malik’s snarl, he opened his mouth wide and took Malik’s prick inch by inch. He gagged at first, but hollowed out his cheeks and did better. Dale couldn’t take all of Malik’s prick yet, but Malik gripped his hair.

“Let me take over,” Malik instructed.

He held his mouth open as Malik thrust in and out, slow and steady. The jaguar Alpha must have been close, because Malik began to pull away, but he sucked on Malik’s prick. Malik let out a growl, spilling his seed down his throat. Dale struggled to swallow all of it, but a few drops dripped on the side of his mouth. Malik flicked them away then licked at them lazily, reminding Dale of a very big and sexy cat.

Malik pulled his prick away from his lips and chucked off the rest of his jeans and underwear, which joined the mound of clothes on the floor. Those green eyes burned with an intensity Dale hadn’t seen before. 

“Come,” Malik ordered, offered him a hand up, which he accepted. 

They didn’t get any further than the living room. Malik shoved him until he lay on the couch. The Alpha gave his chest a gentle push, urging him to lay on his back, then Malik rolled on top of him, wrenching his hands above his head, caging his body, preventing escape.

A thrill went down his spine. Malik took his lips again and used one hand to capture his wrists while the other squeezed and fondled his cock. His mind scattered at the contact of Malik’s mouth with his. Heat traveled from his insides to his prick. Malik left a trail of kisses down his neck, his chest, took one nipple into his mouth, and bit, leaving a mark. He groaned as Malik looked at him. 

“I’m going to burst,” he confessed. 

“Then come for me, little human.” Malik worked his prick faster, until the pressure inside him grew too much to bear. He exploded, spilling his load all over Malik’s hand and stomach. Dale expelled a sigh, shutting his eyes in contentment. When he opened them, he could feel the press of Malik’s thick prick, already at half-mast, against his belly. If possible, passion spiked inside him again.

“So soon?” he whispered.

“Don’t you know, little human? We Alphas are kind of like those batteries that never stop.”

“Never?”

Malik laughed. “It was a joke, but we do recover fast. So don’t sleep yet, because I plan on sinking my dick in you.”

“I want you inside me, too,” he answered.