STORY EXCERPT

His skin felt too tight and tingled with electrical currents like a thousand tiny ants crawling across his body. It was impossible to stand so close to Spiro and not feel intimidated. The guy exuded a level of power and sophistication that Zuriel could never hope to imitate.

Flirting with the other men that roamed the grounds of Haven was easy. He wanted nothing more from them than attention, and they expected nothing from him in return. It was unclear exactly what the resident shrink wanted from him, but Zuriel doubted he’d be able to provide it.

“So…” He clapped his hands together in front of him as he rocked back on his heels. He had no idea what to say next, and he was going to freaking kill Jacobi for putting him in this position.

“How are you?” Spiro asked with genuine concern in his dazzling green eyes. “Were you hurt?”

“No.” He’d been scared out of his mind when those goblins had come crashing into the house, but neither of them had touched him. “I’m not hurt.”

Watching Spiro lean back against the railing of the porch, Zuriel was momentarily stunned speechless, rendered immobile by the mere sight of the man before him. Pale beams from the moon illuminated his ivory skin, casting the angles of his cheeks and jawline into shadows.

Silvery-blond strands cascaded over Spiro’s broad shoulders, ending just below his pectorals, and Zuriel wondered silently if the locks were as silky as they looked. His body ached, his chest felt too tight, and some buried instinct inside him screamed for him to cross the short distance and rub against Spiro until he was drenched in Zuriel’s scent.

He did none of those things of course, didn’t even understand where the urge came from. A voice in his head chanted, growing more agitated the longer Zuriel ignored it. “Mine, mine, mine.” That was ridiculous, though. Spiro didn’t belong to him, and he never would.

Normally, he tried like hell to keep out of other people’s heads. It was a never-ending battle, and oftentimes he cursed his gift. It would be so easy to slip into Spiro’s mind and ferret out his secrets, but Zuriel wasn’t sure that he really wanted to know.

When they’d first met, he’d been overwhelmed by Spiro’s thoughts. Never had he heard someone think so loudly. There had been something about a “chosen,” and while he didn’t know what that meant, it sounded rather ominous to him. So when Spiro had attempted to strike up a conversation, Zuriel had flipped his hair, batted his lashes, and informed the good doctor that he was not his type.

Then he’d run like hell.

“I think I understand now.” Pushing away from the railing, Spiro took a step closer, tilting his head to the side when Zuriel retreated. “You don’t know, do you?”

“Don’t know what?”

“Who you are. Who I am.”

“You’re not making any sense.” Gods, he was no good at this stuff, and Spiro’s cryptic statement was beginning to make his head hurt. “I know who you are.”

“Your heart is beating so fast, pounding so hard,” Spiro whispered. “Tell me something. Is it driving you insane that I don’t carry your scent right now?”

“How? I…don’t…” He took another step back when Spiro came closer.

“You feel like you’re about to crawl out of your skin. Am I right? There might be a bit of tightness in your chest and stomach. Do your gums itch? Do they ache around your canines, Zuriel?”

Running his tongue over his teeth, Zuriel frowned. His gums didn’t hurt really, but there was an uncomfortable sensation around his canines, just as Spiro described. It was almost like when he shifted, but not quite. “How do you know this?”

Spiro came even closer, and Zuriel tried to retreat again, but he’d backed himself into the corner, trapped by the side of the house and the wood railing. “I’m not going to hurt you,” Spiro vowed, but he didn’t stop his forward progress until he was mere inches away. “I want to help you.”

Zuriel didn’t think the guy was doing it on purpose, but the deep, smooth cadence of his voice held a sensual quality that sent a shiver from Zuriel’s nape, clear down to his calves. His dick swelled instantly, straining against his zipper and embarrassing him.

“Easy,” Spiro whispered. “Take a deep breath, Zuriel. Everything is going to be fine.”

Unthinking of his actions, Zuriel did as instructed, sucking in a huge breath through his nose. The scent that hit him nearly dropped him to his knees, and he moaned loudly when his dick jerked in interest. “What is that?” he panted. He’d never smelled anything like it, and he wanted to fucking bathe in that scent.

“It’s me,” Spiro answered, shuffling just a little closer. “Well, it’s what my scent is to you.”

Zuriel opened his mouth to argue, but a startled gasp was all that escaped when his canines punched through his gums. Slapping a hand over his lips, he stared up at Spiro and shook his head frantically.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened.” Maybe he didn’t know much about life outside of The Hive, but common sense told him it wasn’t good manners to bare his fangs at someone during civilized conversation.

“It’s okay. It’s natural.” Tilting his head back, Spiro opened his mouth to reveal his own lengthened canines. “See?”

ADULT EXCERPT

“Oh, thank fuck,” Zuriel groaned as he rolled to his stomach and dove for the small table beside the bed.

While he rummaged around for the small plastic bottle, Spiro stood, undressing quickly as he watched Zuriel’s wiggling ass in appreciation. Gods, it really was a great ass—small, round, and firm with a single freckle just above the swell of his left cheek. Spinning around before he pounced on his mate like a wild animal, Spiro finished undressing, keeping his back to the bed until he’d dropped the last stitch of clothing to the floor.

Apparently, Zuriel had wasted no time procuring the lube and coating his fingers with the slick gel. Spiro nearly came right there in his hand when he turned back to find his mate sprawled in the center of the mattress with his knees pulled to his chest and two fingers pumping into his clenching hole.

The pink starburst stretched tight around his digits, sucking them in deeper. His free hand wrapped around his weeping cock, stroking temptingly while his skin flushed with arousal. Both hands paused in their tasks when Zuriel blinked open his eyes to find him watching.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I just didn’t want to be sore on the plane tomorrow.”

He released his engorged erection and began easing his fingers from his entrance, but Spiro held a hand up and advanced toward the bed. “Don’t stop.” He’d every intention of stretching Zuriel himself, but he’d be a fool to pass on this.

The ambiguity vanished from Zuriel’s expression, replaced by a sly, knowing smirk. “You want to watch.”

Oh, he planned to do much more than watch, but it was a good place to start. “Touch yourself.” Kneeling at the foot of the mattress, Spiro skimmed his hands up the insides of Zuriel’s thighs, chuckling when the action pulled a sexy little shiver from his mate.

“Feels good.”

Spiro caressed the taut muscles of Zuriel’s entrance, coating his finger with the excess lube. “Faster,” he coached, watching Zuriel’s hand fly over his cock from root to tip. When his partner was moaning, writhing, and shaking, rolling from side to side with need, Spiro pushed a single digit into his channel alongside the other fingers.

Spiro moaned at the slick heat, and Zuriel’s hips arched up off the mattress as he cried out to the ceiling. “Please!”

His own cock rested heavily against his thigh, the swollen length throbbing angrily with his rapid pulse, but Spiro wouldn’t be rushed. He’d waited a long damn time to share this experience with someone he actually cared about, and he planned to savor it.

“Keep going,” he ordered, turning his wrist and pumping in tandem to Zuriel’s fingers.

“I can’t,” Zuriel whined. “Please, Spiro!”

“Then come. I’m not stopping you.”

“No.” He shook his head firmly, rolling it against the pillow. “Not without you.”

“Shh, easy, Zuri.” There was a note of desperation to Zuriel’s voice that Spiro couldn’t ignore. “Okay, okay.”

He eased his finger from Zuriel’s entrance and reached for the lube where it had been discarded near the corner of the bed. In turn, Zuriel flipped over to his stomach so fast that Spiro nearly missed the movement. Then he tucked his knees under him and pushed his ass into the air, displaying the rounded globes to perfection.

“What are you doing?”

“What?” Zuriel asked, lifting his head to peek over his shoulder. “I thought you wanted…”

He wanted, but not like this. “Roll over, baby.”

“But.” His eyebrows drew together, and the look of anxiety from earlier returned. “I don’t understand. Isn’t this what you want?”

Placing a hand on his mate’s hip, Spiro urged him to his back and crawled up his body until they were eye to eye. “I want to see you. This first time, I want to look into your eyes and know that you see me.”

“But,” Zuriel repeated, his bottom lip trembling, “I’ve never.”

Spiro didn’t think anything could surprise him, but he’d been wrong. Instead of commenting, however, he decided that actions spoke louder than words. “Then let me show you.”

Sliding one arm beneath his mate, Spiro lifted him close, pressing their chests together and positioning the head of his lubed cock at Zuriel’s entrance. Then he surged forward, flexing his hips to encase himself to the base inside his lover’s heated channel.

Their moans mingled and bounced around the room, and Spiro clutched more tightly to Zuriel when the sensations threatened to overwhelm him. His balls ached, drawing closer to his body and reminding him exactly how long it had been since he’d had a warm willing body beneath him.

Zuriel’s slender fingers dug into his shoulder blades, and his heated breath panted against the side of Spiro’s neck while his inner walls contracted in waves. “Oh, gods, please. Please, please, please.”

He didn’t know what his mate begged for, and he wasn’t completely sure that Zuriel knew, either. Every cell in body buzzed, and Spiro’s brain short-circuited. Growling and groaning, he increased his pace, rocking more forcefully into Zuriel’s lithe body. Electricity zipped up his spine, his skin tingled, and his stomach began to clench, signaling his impending climax.

Zuriel’s thick cock rubbed against his abs, painting his skin with increasing amounts of pre-cum. Releasing his mate, he braced himself with one hand on the mattress, and insinuated the other between their sweat-dampened bodies to fist Zuriel’s pulsing length.