STORY EXCERPT

“You busy tonight?” Kade stood on the doorstep of Demarco’s house.

Demarco hadn’t expected the guy and wished he’d had warning that the bear was going to show up because he looked like crap. He hadn’t showered after work, and his clothes looked as if he’d dug them out of a nuclear waste pile.

Demarco wanted to tell Kade that he had other things to do, but the hopeful look in the bear’s blue eyes got to him. Demarco had always been a sucker for baby blues, and Kade’s body wasn’t anything to sneeze at. As hard as he tried not to look, Demarco’s gaze kept drifting to the swell of the man’s biceps. They weren’t hard to miss considering the red T-shirt looked one size too small. Kade stood there with his arms crossed, which only made his biceps swell even farther.

Most people would think Demarco insane for passing up such a hot guy, but looks weren’t everything, and he still wasn’t sure what he wanted as far as his mate was concerned. They both just stood there staring at each other as Demarco tried to remember what the hell the guy had asked him.

He also felt stupid for making his mate stand in the doorway, but he hadn’t invited the guy over. The only thing he had wanted to do was shower and sleep. That plan wasn’t going to happen. Not if the look on Kade’s face was anything to go by. “So, are you?”

Shrugging, Demarco took a step back and waved a hand for Kade to enter. Cross and Wyatt were usually the two Remus men who came over to visit. Once in a while Hound would show up. Demarco had never seen Kade before all that chaos had chased Brone to Sugar Creek.

After Kade entered, Demarco closed the door. He’d spent some time at Kade’s home, and Demarco’s house paled in comparison. He and Blow had gotten a lot of the furniture at discount stores, and nothing in the living room matched. The couch was a strange salmon color with tiny daisies all over it. The coffee table was wooden and beat to hell because they’d found it on someone’s tree lawn. The curtains were gray, and the walls were a strange green color. Light, but not too light, with a touch of blue, which made the color look sad and mopey.

The recliner was a dark brown and had seen better days. The stuffing hemorrhaged in some spots while other areas were stained. The material on the arms was so thin that it was flat.

“Have a seat.” Demarco grabbed the laundry off the recliner and tossed it on the couch. It wasn’t his laundry. He still had a dirty pile in the center of his bedroom…and on his bed….and in his bathroom. He’d get around to washing eventually. It wasn’t his favorite chore.

Neither was doing the dishes, taking out the trash, or any type of cleaning. When not at work, Demarco was downright lazy. At least he owned up to it.

“You never answered my question.” Kade stood by the recliner, looking so damn delicious that Demarco had to concentrate on what the bear was saying. The intense stare made him fidget. Kade had done that a lot when Demarco had been at the man’s house. Just stared at him for long periods of time. It was unnerving, and Demarco felt as if the guy was staring right into his soul.

“Stop that.”

Kade cocked his head to the side. “Stop what?”

“Staring at me as if I’m a mystery to figure out.” Demarco wandered into the kitchen, not bothering to invite the man along. He needed room to breathe. Kade had a way of making him feel as though all the oxygen in the room was being sucked out whenever they were near each other. Demarco knew that was all him, but the feeling still whirled around him when Kade was near.

“You are.” Kade entered the kitchen and leaned against the counter. His blue eyes scanned the room before his gaze settled back on him. Demarco felt as if the guy was assessing where he lived. His expression remained neutral, telling Demarco nothing as far as what the man was thinking.

“I’m not a mystery,” Demarco said. “Not hard to figure out.” Although he was still trying to figure himself out, it seemed like the right thing to say. “So what did you have in mind when you asked if I was busy?”

Just because Demarco wasn’t sure where things should go, how he felt, what he wanted, or knew the secrets of life didn’t mean he had to be a douche toward Kade. The guy was behaving like any preternatural would when finding his mate. Demarco was the odd ducky that didn’t quack the way everyone expected him to.

“I just wanted to see if you’d eaten yet. We could go grab a bite.” Once again Kade’s gaze flickered around the kitchen, and Demarco got the distinct impression that Kade was looking for evidence of a dinner being made or anything that would tell him if Demarco had eaten yet.

Demarco hadn’t, and he was starving, but he also needed a shower. The idea of going out to grab a bite with Kade interested him, but he refused to smell like a factory.

“You’ll have to give me a minute to wash away my day.” Demarco glanced down at his clothing and waved at an oil stain on his shirt. “Unless you’re into guys who look homeless and haven’t bathed in a week.”

A smile tilted the side of Kade’s mouth, and Demarco liked it. “You don’t look homeless, hon.”

The way the guy was staring at him said he had more than Demarco’s dirty clothes on his mind. The close scrutiny had Demarco’s dick twitching, and if he wasn’t going to follow through, he needed to get out of the kitchen before Kade got the wrong impression. Not that Demarco didn’t find the guy insanely attractive, but any kind of fooling around would lead to the bear wanting to claim him. It was in a shifter’s DNA. Since Demarco wasn’t ready for that, he hurried from the kitchen and damn near broke his neck getting to his bedroom.

ADULT EXCERPT

The sweet smell of Demarco drove Kade crazy. The feel of the slim man in his arms was even better. He wanted to demand that Demarco move in with him but knew of the wolf’s fear of having his freedom taken away. That was downright ridiculous, but Kade didn’t want to spoil the moment by making demands.

He didn’t like Demarco living under another roof. What if something happened? Kade wasn’t there to protect his mate, and that didn’t sit well with him. But if he pushed the matter, Demarco would back away. He also didn’t like the idea of his mate living with Blow. The human was okay, but Kade didn’t really know the guy, and from what he’d heard from Cross and his other brothers who hung out over there, Blow didn’t have the best judgment when it came to friends.

Kade had seen that firsthand at the bar. Ryan was damn lucky he was still able to breathe and walk on his own. Kade had been seconds away from tearing the human apart for touching his mate.

“Can’t a guy just stop by?” Demarco asked. The wavering in his mate’s voice made Kade pull back and stare into his eyes.

Frowning, Kade asked, “What’s wrong?”

Demarco hadn’t just stopped by because he wanted to see Kade. Not like that, anyway. The man had come by because of something else, and Kade knew it. There was a strange look in Demarco’s eyes. Kade wanted to know what in the hell was going on.

“Nothing.” Demarco gazed up at Kade under the thick fall of lashes, and Kade groaned. He trapped his mate against the counter and pressed his covered erection into Demarco stomach. His mate gasped and then moaned, and Kade took that as a green light.

He reached between them and ran the back of his hand over Demarco’s hard cock and then gave the denim-covered shaft a squeeze. His mate hissed, and his hips punched forward. Kade’s bear snarled at the contact.

Glancing out the kitchen window to make sure Hound wasn’t heading their way, Kade unfastened Demarco’s jeans and slid his hand between the man’s boxers and soft skin.

“K-Kade.” Demarco’s head fell against Kade’s shoulder as the little wolf shuddered.

“Just tryin’ to relieve some of the tension.” Kade wrapped his fingers around the heated skin and squeezed, pulled, and slid his hand up and down, scraping his thumbnail over the sensitive crown.

Demarco made a noise in the back of his throat as he rocked back and forth, fucking Kade’s hand. Kade placed his other hand at Demarco’s nape, holding him in place. His hand moved slowly, teasing Demarco’s cock. He didn’t want to get the man off in the kitchen. He wanted Demarco coming as Kade fucked his mate into next week.

“K-Kade.”

He loved the way Demarco stuttered his name, as if he couldn’t string two thoughts together. “Yeah, hon?”

“N-need more.”

Kade no longer watched out the kitchen window. He was slipping under Demarco’s helpless noises and the spell that seemed to wind around them. It was as if they were the only people in the world as Kade dropped to his knees and pulled Demarco’s jeans all the way down his legs. The material gathered at his mate’s ankles as Kade took the thick cock into his mouth.

Demarco cried out, and the sound threatened Kade’s resolve to take things as slow as his mate needed. His control was slipping, and if he didn’t reel it back in, he’d yank Demarco to the floor and claim the wolf.

Kade squeezed Demarco’s ass before slipping a wet finger inside him, teasing Demarco’s cock as he ran the flat of his tongue over the heavy vein and then licked the sensitive head.

He felt Demarco’s legs shake as his mate’s hands clamped down on Kade’s shoulders. “Close.”

Demarco’s hips bucked while Kade pumped his finger in and out of his mate’s ass. He took the cock down his throat, using his throat muscles to milk the hardened shaft.

His mate howled seconds later as strand after strand of his seed splashed the back of Kade’s throat. Kade licked the shaft clean before rising to his feet. Before he could ask, Demarco was struggling to release Kade’s cock.

Kade helped and then hissed when his mate started to stroke him. It was Demarco who dropped to his knees this time, and the sight of his mate kneeling before him had Kade’s canines punching free. He gripped a handful of Demarco’s sandy-blond hair and began to fuck the man’s mouth in short bursts, his head falling back as the pleasure sang through his body.

“Suck it, babe. That’s right. Don’t stop.” His head dropped back down, and Kade watched as his dick disappeared between Demarco’s swollen lips. The sight was enough to make the pressure build quickly. Just that fast, Kade was close to the edge.

Demarco squeezed Kade’s cock harder, tugging at the base as he swallowed Kade down his throat. Kade cupped Demarco’s jaw and then traced Demarco’s lips with his finger, groaning as he felt his mate’s saliva wet his cock.

“Bring me off, hon.” Kade couldn’t take it any longer. He needed the release as badly as he needed his next breath. His legs shook as the pleasure wound up his spine. He threw his head back and cried out when his cock began to pulse between Demarco’s lips.