STORY EXCERPT

Heaven help me. He quickly scrambled for a shirt and I got a full view of his small, compact body. Sealy was a little too thin and there were definitely too many bruises on him. One was too many. I saw them when he turned away and guessed Dor hadn’t caught them.

“No, not at all. Talking to Aldis’s brother would never be a waste,” I stuttered, bemoaning the loss of him mostly naked when he pulled the shirt on. At least I could still see his thin, creamy legs since he was only wearing boy shorts. “You should come visit. Florida in spring is gorgeous and you’d want to come before it got too hot. Your first trip out shouldn’t be during the time when the natives get a little uncomfortable.”

“I’ll be right back,” Dor mumbled and darted off.

“So they roped you into trying to convince me to come and visit?” Sealey asked a few moments after Dor was gone and out of earshot. “Dor didn’t seem depressed to me as Aldis was saying and now Dor’s telling me Aldis needs me. It sounds like they’re trying to trick me and why am I telling you all of this? You’re not going to be honest with me.”

“Yes I will.” I pulled the stool closer and got comfortable. “They didn’t tell me about any scheme and I don’t know what’s going on really.”

That wasn’t a total lie. I pretty much knew, mostly, sort of, or basically that they needed to get Sealey out of his current relationship and living situation. I thought about how to phrase what I wanted to say to make sure I was honest but still got across that they did need Sealey here. Plus, I wanted him to visit for selfish reasons now that I’d laid eyes on him.

“Dor has gone through more than anyone I’ve ever even heard of in the first few years of their mating and it’s been less than a month,” I finally decided on. “It’s been really rough but your cousin is strong.” I saw Sealey’s face soften and his expression turned relieved. “However, that doesn’t mean he can handle this all alone. Gawain has been a big help and he’s mated to your brother now and the list of issues there is endless. Honestly, I could use the help.”

“What do you mean? You’re massive,” he blurted out in an adorable way that had my cock filling. “You could lift that whole kitchen if you wanted to.”

“Not really,” I chuckled, fighting against the urge to blush. “There’s issues with Wyatt and killing his mother, Dor and Wyatt barely know each other, though they’re in love, same with Gawain and Aldis, add in that everything we learned about Gawain last night, your brother’s self-esteem issues, and now Wyatt and Gawain are fighting and I’ve got to mediate that.”

“Wow, that is a lot,” he agreed with a whistle. “I still don’t understand how Aldis ended up mated. Dor was trying to fill me in when you walked in and suddenly he had to go.”

I flinched at that one. I really shouldn’t be the person to explain it to him. “Didn’t your father tell you about UPAC looking for you guys?”

“No,” he whispered, his large eyes getting even bigger. “Josh smashed, um, I mean, my phone’s not working. It got dropped. I didn’t even think of Skype before because he checks my, no, well, yeah, e-mail isn’t working well either.”

“You asked me not to lie to you, Sealey, you could do me the same courtesy,” I rumbled, pissed more at the fact this sweet man was being hurt than him lying to me.

“It’s complicated,” he whispered. “Please don’t tell Dor and Aldis. You just said how much they have on their plates. Please?”

I made a snap decision, deciding giving him someone to talk to when he needed it and one of us knowing the truth was better than nothing… Even if it hurt my budding friendships with Dor and Aldis.

“I won’t tell them anything and try to keep them from storming the castle to rescue you from—” I started to say.

“No!” Sealey wailed. “No! They can’t do that. Shit. This is a mess of my making. They’ll be killed if they do that. Please. I know you have no reason to want to help a loser like me but I beg you not to let my brother and cousin come get me.”

“Okay, but you’re going to tell me everything, angel, and I mean everything,” I said firmly, putting all the authority in my voice. “That’s the deal. I’ll help if you tell me the truth.”

“I–I don’t know,” he stuttered, looking down at his hands, his shoulder-length hair falling into his face.

“Sealey, is Josh abusing you?” I tried to make my tone gentle, as if coaxing the scared lamb closer to eat from my hand. “You can trust me.” He gave me a quick nod. “Do you want to still be with him? Do you love him?”

“No, but if I try to get help, he threatened my family,” Sealey whispered, tears forming in those big eyes. “That’s why I was a jerk to Dor and Aldis and even my father. I wanted them to hate me, to push them away so they didn’t try to help. Josh isn’t just a member of the coven here. He’s the coven leader. He could kill them all.”

“We could help—”

“Oh no, he’s coming,” Sealey gasped, quickly pulling back off the shirt. Odd he did that first before closing the laptop.

“Sealey, promise me you’ll Skype again,” I called out when he reached to close it.

He stared into my eyes a moment, nibbling on his lower lip as he leaned in. “Yes, okay, as soon as I can, I swear.” Then he closed the laptop and was gone. I ran my fingers over the screen, wishing he was back already.

ADULT EXCERPT

“Thank you, Elder Gros. Have a good night and again, thank you so much. I won’t ever forget this.” I would need to think about why the elder had been so evasive instead of just asking if Sealey had arrived… Later when the blood returned to my brain instead of being in my cock.

“Not at all. Glad he’s safe. Take good care of him.”

“I plan to,” I growled, ending the call before tossing my phone on the table. “You imp!” I moved both hands to his scrubs and tore them from his body. He let out a surprised squeal and then blinked at me in shock.

“That’s all the clothes I had. What will I wear now?”

“Nothing.” I rolled us to the floor, making sure I was the one who landed on the tile while Sealey was on top of me. “You will always be naked and in my arms for here on out.”

“Okay,” he breathed. “Whatever you want, Emiel. I’m yours.”

“Damn right you are,” I huffed, my elephant riding me hard. Yes, I was a bastard for jumping him like this but after a week and a half of basically hours and hours of video dates and talking about how we had feelings for each other, I couldn’t take it anymore. Even if the video dates weren’t always about the best topics, I knew Sealey better than I knew the fiancée I had and I’d been with her technically for over a year.

“Even if that means being naked around other men sometimes.” I growled at that and a wide grin spread on Sealey’s lips. “I guess you can’t ever take me out or show me off like we talked about. They’d throw me out if I was naked.”

“Fine, I’ll find something for you to wear and we’ll go shopping tomorrow,” I grumbled. We’d talked for a while about the nature of our animals and how that influenced our human sides. I told him how passive I could be except when it came to the mate I would take one day. But ever since I’d seen Gawain strutting around with Aldis on his arm, showing him off, I found I wanted to do that same. Maybe I was a bragger at heart if I had a hottie on my arm?

“Thank you,” he whispered against my lips. I kissed him gently as I moved his body over mine, our groins rubbing together. It was awkward with the height difference, but I made it work, mostly by curling up to reach him and my cock was really long so, yeah, it worked. “Oh gods, Emiel. It’s better than I dreamed.”

“Me too,” I gasped as he latched onto my neck, sucking up a bruise. Fuck, that was hot. I went wild, moving us together faster. “Angel, I can’t hold back. I hope you had coming on those plans of making out.”

“Yes, ugh, yes, lots of coming. So strong! Gonna—” he started and then screamed as his dick twitched and then I felt warm cum on my stomach. I waited until he was spent, holding off my orgasm for a reason. He stared at me as he gasped for air, sadness filling his eyes. “You didn’t come. Didn’t you want me?”

“More than I can ever say,” I whimpered. “I still need to come.”

“Why aren’t you?” Then it was like the lightbulb went off over his head. “What do you need, Emiel? I give myself to you freely. I accept what you need.”

“Thank you, angel,” I sighed with relief. I kissed him quickly before rolling us over. Then I straddled his hips and started jacking off as fast as I could. “I have to mark you.”

“So hot,” he moaned as he ran his hands up my thighs. “Cover me with your scent, Emiel.” I felt my nostrils flare with desire at his words and saw Sealey’s eyes widen as his cheeks heated up. “Possessive much?” I nodded, not trusting what I’d say right then. “Elephants have pheromones that come out when they mate, right?” Again I nodded. “And then after that when they feel territorial?”

“Yes, when we need to mark our mate for all to know that they belong to us.” I moved his hand to my sac, the idea of covering him in my pheromones pushing me that much closer. “It’s not just elephant scent, but a specific blend that only I could produce.”

“If we were mated, I’d have a cologne made up of those pheromones and wear it always to let all shifters know I was yours,” he admitted shyly.

And that threw me into a whirlwind orgasm. I roared out his name as the first splatter of my cum landed on his chest. I made sure to cover as much of him as I could, my elephant riding me to mark him… And make him submit, which was weird because I’d never ever felt dominant before in my life.

“Who do you belong to now?” I grunted as I kept stroking myself, emptying everything I had onto his slim body.

“You, Emiel,” he whispered, his eyes going wider. I saw desire but then I saw a flash of something I never wanted to see in him. Fear. Of course that would scare him after what he’d been through.

“Covering you with my scent shows I belong to you too,” I said quickly and instantly he smiled. When I was spent, I leaned over him, bracing my weight on my hands. Then I moved his body up so I could reach his lips and we kissed until my knees hurt. We were up to using tongue now, but it was still so gentle, exploring, and thrilling. I knew we had the chemistry for hot and heavy, we’d more than shown that.