STORY EXCERPT

“Curiosity killed the cat,” Lewis reminded himself. He felt like a character in a fairy tale. He should leave while he still could except his feet took him all the way to the back of the house, to the source of that sound.

He froze. A sexy giant wielded an axe with frightening precision. The male had short, black hair, a day-old beard, a face more rough than handsome, and a fit and muscled body Lewis would kill for. Those muscles, Lewis mused, weren’t the kind one got from the gym but from true physical labor.

Yum yum.

His mouth went dry as he stared at the beads of sweat trailing down the stranger’s massive pectorals and six, no, eight-pack abs. The man didn’t bother with a shirt, only wore a pair of worn-in jeans that hung loosely around his hips and a pair of work boots.

There was another problem. This man wasn’t a stranger. Lewis had a feeling he met him last night at that bar. Hell, Lewis thought he conjured this fantasy in his head. This guy couldn’t be real, because Lewis had a tendency to attract losers, jerks. Maybe Lewis was still dreaming and this was some kind of erotic dream.

Would the axeman see him and proceed to ravish him? Now that hangover was banning to disappear, Lewis began to feel the aches of his body. The bite mark on his neck itched.

For a moment, he did nothing but stare as the man placed a block of wood on a tree stump. His axe made that whistling noise again as the blade sliced through wood cleanly. The man set the pieces on a pile next to him.

The man looked up, and those blazing blue eyes shot with hints of gold made him stumble backward. That had done it for Lewis. The man flashed him a smile that seemed to lit his entire face up. His jogging pants felt a little tighter, and no doubt the stranger could see his rising erection.

What was he supposed to say?

“Good morning, mate,” the man said, setting his axe down.

It took Lewis several seconds to process that word. He might be human, but he was a well-informed one. Lewis knew a little about shifter culture. Shifters mated for life, like some creatures in the animal kingdom. When he first heard that, he envied shifters and other paranormals who were destined to find their soul mates and stay with them forever. Until death do them part. Humans were indecisive and selfish beings. Shifters were better off—at least that was what he used to think.

Hold a second. This guy was absolutely crazy calling him his mate. Maybe Lewis misunderstood or this dream was just moving into a strange direction.

Lewis finally opened his mouth. “What did you call me?”

The man set his axe down. A name floated in his head, flashed like a neon sign. Nate. That was this stranger’s name, and Lewis wondered how he could’ve forgotten. That was the only information they exchanged the night before. Lewis had been too wasted to recall the other details of last night.

Nate’s eyes bled to gold now, and that took his breath away for a few seconds. The shifter’s intense gaze reminded Lewis of a predator assessing its prey.

“Should’ve stolen the truck,” he whispered to himself as Nate approached him.

He froze like a deer caught in the headlights. Oh damn. Nate stood a few inches from him now and he was bigger and taller up close. A behemoth of a man. A shifter. Lewis could smell Nate’s clean sweat. The scent of pine, the forest, clung to him as well as something else. Wolf musk?

“What’s wrong, my mate?” Nate asked, reaching out to touch his cheek. Nate’s hand felt so warm in contrast to the chilly morning, or was it afternoon? He didn’t know why he leaned into that hand like a pet animal seeking its owner’s warmth.

Lewis got a hold of himself a second later and took a step back.

“Don’t call me that,” Lewis said.

Nate frowned and tugged the collar of his shirt down, exposing his neck. Nate only said one word. “Mine.”

“Wait. You bit me?” he asked.

Nate’s frown disappeared, replaced by a dangerous smile which only made Lewis’s cock hard. “You begged me for it.”

“I didn’t.” Denial easily came to this lips, but another memory surfaced in his head, that of him being under Nate and calling out his name. Lewis had pleaded. He’d begged plenty. Lewis could feel color rising to his cheeks and neck.

“Don’t lie. I hate liars,” Nate said. “Last night, you promised there’d only be truths between us.”

A laugh escaped him. Nate narrowed his yellow eyes. What was Lewis doing, arguing with a wild woodsman, a shifter no less? Nate could easily snap him into two if he wanted—although Nate would never do that. In his experience, men chewed him up, used him, and left his heart broken afterwards, but he knew Nate would never fall into that category. Lewis didn’t know where that confidence came from.

“I can’t even remember most of last night,” he said, needing to explain his inappropriate laughter. This was all a misunderstanding. It was that simple. Lewis still didn’t know how he got here, but he needed to clear things up. Leave as soon as possible. Go home.

Nate cornered him until his back hit a tree. He swallowed as Nate pressed a muscled arm right next to his head. The shifter didn’t say anything for a few seconds, merely looked at him.

ADULT EXCERPT

“Damn,” he said under his breath.

“What was that?” Nate asked him as they reached the porch.

“I was hoping to—well. Never mind.”

“Hoping to what?” Nate helped take the backpack off his shoulders.

“Fake a fall or something,” he said lamely.

Nate frowned at him, clearly not getting it. “Why the hell would you do that?”

“Because I wanted—” he began, halted. He couldn’t continue because it all seemed ridiculous. Lewis had never been good at flirting or convincing guys to stick around. “He’s only sticking with me because he bit me by accident.”

He didn’t realize he’d uttered those words until Nate grabbed his shoulders, forcing Lewis to look up at him.

“I thought that hike would clear your head,” Nate said, eyes bright yellow under the afternoon sun. “Maybe I’ll need to fuck all the negativity out of you.”

Lewis swallowed, forgetting how crass Nate could be. Blunt, but he preferred that over someone who lied their asses off.

“Maybe you should,” he said, feeling a little braver. Daring. He reached for the hem of Nate’s shirt, but the werewolf beat him to the punch. Nate tore at his clothes, practically shredded them with his partially shifted claws.

Cool wind blew at their faces, making him remember they weren’t even inside the cabin yet. They were still standing on Nate’s porch, but what did it matter? Who was going to see them? Some lost hiker?

His heart thumped hard as Nate undid the button of his jeans.

“Wait,” he blurted, reaching for Nate’s shirt.

His fingers only got in the way. Nate peeled it off with ease. They took off the rest of their clothes, kicked their hiking boots to one side. Nate stood there, naked as the day he was born. Sweat gleamed on Nate’s skin, his tight abdominal muscles. His gaze lingered the longest on Nate’s long and meaty cock.

Sexy man and all his.

“Very nice,” he said, licking his lips.

“You’ve seen me naked before.” Nate looked him up and down and looked downright hungry for him.

“Yeah, but I want to carve this image in my memory forever.” A second later, he said, “I’m done.”

“Come here.” Nate’s words sounded inhuman, harsh. Before Lewis could comply, Nate grabbed his arm and took his mouth. Logic flew out the window. Nate crushed his body with his. Their chests touched. Their groins rubbed against each other, creating sparks. Nate ran his rough hands down his body, touch proprietary.

Lewis felt warm all over, but it wasn’t the fever. He gave Nate’s chest a push after Nate released his mouth. His wolf blinked, waited for his next move.

He knelt in front of Nate. The werewolf looked surprised for a moment, then speared his fingers through Lewis’s hair, tugging him close so Lewis’s lips touched Nate’s cock head. Lewis had been dreaming of this, giving Nate head. In his own way, he wanted to thank Nate for everything. For biting him, for saving his life. For opening his eyes to a whole new world. One where he wasn’t invisible but the center of Nate’s universe.

Mostly, Lewis wanted to hear his man growl for him.

He didn’t do this often, but he’d make up for his inexperience with eagerness. Lewis pushed his tongue out and licked Nate from root to tip. He sucked hard on Nate’s cock head, flicked his tongue at the sensitive slit. Nate groaned above him, growled when he opened his mouth wider to take Nate’s cock down his throat.

Lewis gagged, unused to Nate’s girth, but he hollowed out his cheeks and tried again. He got to work, bobbing his head up and down. Every moan and grunt of pleasure that came from Nate’s mouth hardened his own cock.

Nate gave his hair a tug, making him pause from his task.

“I want to finish in your ass,” Nate said, pulling his cock away from his mouth.

Lewis’s heart raced as Nate guided him to his hands and knees. Of course. Nate was going to take him like this, like an animal, and that excited him. Nate grabbed something from the pocket of his cargo pants. Lube.

“Did you expect something like this would happen?” Lewis asked. He felt foolish for having doubts about Nate, about them earlier, and told himself he’d do better.

“I know it would.” Nate gave his ass cheeks a slap, making him groan. “Lower your chest into the ground. Ass up. I want to fuck you deep.”

He dropped his lower body to the wooden surface, pushed his knees closer to his chest. His cheeks and neck burned. Lewis should feel shame, but that emotion flew out the window a long time ago. Nate told him to be always honest, and he’d fantasized about this moment back when he was still sick and lying in bed.

The werewolf positioned himself behind Lewis, used his foot to pry Lewis’s legs further apart. He was all too aware that like this, Nate had a good view of his pink hole, his balls, and his heavy cock.

Nate gave his balls a squeeze, then his cock. Lewis nearly came right there and then, but Nate gave his ass a smart swat.

“Not yet,” Nate told him. “Don’t come.”

“I’ll try,” he murmured. It was getting hard to control himself as Nate drizzled lube inside his ass and worked two, three fingers in him. Nate began to widen him for access. He moaned and wiggled.

“Stay still,” Nate ordered.

“Hurry up. I want you inside me already.”

Nate pulled his digits away. Finally, Lewis thought. Nate dug his fingers into his waist and guided his cock into his entrance. The werewolf didn’t push in right away. Nate left smears of pre-cum over his ass cheeks, around his puckered entrance, marking him, Lewis realized, the way an animal marked its territory.