STORY EXCERPT

“Maxwell is a good man. He’ll take very good care of you. You’re lucky to have him, trust me,” Carlisle said. “You can count on him to help you if you need it.”

Did he mean with any dangerous people out there with creepy, dark powers? Or was he talking about Nathan’s recovery?

Either way, Nathan supposed that in this new and dangerous world he’d found himself in, it really was a good thing for him to have someone out there who would keep him safe.

And Maxwell had promised to keep August safe, as well. Nathan was never going to forget about that.

He found a reason to smile at that. “You’re right, and thanks for your help.” He looked to Alistair. “I really will pay you back for your help.”

Alistair waved his hand, as if the whole thing wasn’t a bother to begin with. “It’s fine. Anyway, we should get our asses up anyway. It’s almost our turn to head out on patrol.”

“Does that mean Maxwell will be coming back?”

Both men gave him that look again, as if they were pleased Nathan was asking about Maxwell.

Nathan didn’t entirely get it. Maybe they were hoping this would end in a love match, but just because Nathan was worried about the other man and wanted him home safely didn’t actually mean that they were going to fall in love with each other.

Nathan might fall for Maxwell, despite his mood, but that was only because Nathan was a pretty shallow guy, and on looks alone, Maxwell was well out of Nathan’s league.

“Yeah, he’ll be coming back. He won’t want to stay away from you for too long.”

Hearing that made a sudden rush of heat climb up into Nathan’s cheeks.

What did that mean? Maxwell actually liked being around Nathan? That didn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense to him, but what the hell did he know? Nathan had only just recently found out about shifters and witches and dark magic.

Still, he couldn’t help but smile shyly at that. Carlisle could just be telling him that Maxwell wanted to be around him to make him feel better about the mating, but he didn’t get the impression that was the case.

And Nathan liked knowing that the wolf shifter wanted to be near him. It made him feel a little less lonely.

Carlisle clapped him on the shoulder, as if he was sharing some private secret knowledge with Nathan. Whatever it was, it sailed right over his head, but that was fine because then Alistair and Carlisle invited Nathan to wait for Maxwell to return out back.

Of course a mansion would have to have the nicest backyard that Nathan had ever seen, and he did enjoy spending his time there.

Part of his therapy was to keep his mind off of spending money and gambling. To do that, Nathan had taken up reading all the science fiction and horror books he could get his hands on.

When his brain was being fucked with by Stephen King and Pierce Brown, it was hard to remember that he was supposed to be addicted to anything else.

This time, however, he was having some difficulty getting into the books he’d borrowed from the library.

Not the public library. There was an actual library in this house.

Mostly, he couldn’t concentrate because of the tension that suddenly popped up around Alistair and Carlisle.

Both men were pacing. Ian, one of Carlisle’s men, had come to join them because apparently he was supposed to go out, too.

But the men couldn’t leave until Maxwell, Burne, and Garrick returned.

“Are they late?” Nathan asked, knowing full well that they were at this point.

Alistair shook his head. “No, they’re not late. We’re just edgy to get this thing going.”

They were totally lying. That tension never left their shoulders, and all three men never stopped glancing out at the tree line at the far end of the yard.

Nathan didn’t like this, and their tension was starting to infect him. Hell, Kevin must have sensed it from wherever he was in the house because he eventually stepped out to ask what the matter was.

Alistair took his mate to stand off in the corner. Nathan watched as the larger man leaned down to whisper something into Kevin’s ear.

Kevin nodded solemnly then went back into the house.

Okay, that did it. If that wasn’t proof that something was wrong, then Nathan didn’t know what was.

Maxwell could be out there, and he could be hurt.

Fuck, he could be dead. The people in this house were constantly talking about how they were in danger from that crazy person named Keaton. He’d killed Nathan’s brother in a previous life by burning him and all his friends alive in a castle.

Nathan didn’t know Maxwell, but it didn’t matter. He was worried. Maxwell had offered to mate with Nathan to keep him safe, even though it was something he clearly hadn’t wanted to do. He’d also offered to protect August if he ever needed it. He wasn’t a bad guy, even though he constantly seemed to be in a bad mood. In fact, all those things made him a pretty good guy.

Nathan didn’t want him getting hurt. He didn’t want the other man to be attacked by a bunch of dark witches who were after the blood of virgins and whatnot.

“Are you guys sure everything is all right?” Nathan asked, and they’d better not lie to him about it this time, or he might just have to throw a complete fit.

Alistair rubbed his jaw, glancing in Nathan’s direction, and the larger man didn’t seem to be even trying to hide his irritation and worry anymore.

“We’ll see,” was all Alistair said.

Holy shit, some of the orange hairs of his mane were starting to come in through the pores around his face.

ADULT EXCERPT

Maxwell leaned in and smelled at Nathan’s thighs, taking it in, enjoying it, loving it, needing so much more of it.

“God, is that a wolf thing?”

Maxwell growled up at the man. “Shut up.” He wasn’t up for being made fun of for the wolf inside him, and not by the man who was supposed to love and adore him the way all mates should have.

Nathan wore black underwear. Maxwell ripped that away, too, leaving the man completely naked from the waist down, his erection exposed.

Nathan grumbled about Maxwell’s treatment of the clothes that didn’t even belong to him, but that was his own damned fault as far as Maxwell was concerned.

He paid no attention to the other man’s complaints. There was no reason to when he was so transfixed on the sight before him.

His mate was cut. Maxwell was never going to understand humans and their need to do that to themselves or their young. He briefly wondered if the same had been done to August, but then decided that it neither mattered nor did he care when he leaned in and let his mouth sink down and around the length of that thick, curved cock.

Nathan’s entire body seemed to tense, and the sudden way he sucked back that deep breath was a reward in and of itself. So sweet, so perfect, especially the silent way Nathan seemed to take in this sudden action.

He raised his trembling hands, as if to reach out and touch Maxwell’s shaved head, but then pulled back, his head falling back onto the mattress, a choked noise escaping his throat.

“Oh God,” he moaned.

Maxwell sucked hard and deep once, twice, and then three times before pulling back. Nathan’s cock was sufficiently hard and teased.

Nathan’s eyes also bulged wide as he suddenly looked up at Maxwell as Maxwell stood over him.

“W-what are you doing? Don’t stop? Are you kidding me? You can’t just give a man half a blow job!”

Maxwell undid his belt and pulled down his zipper. He shoved his jeans down, kicking his legs out of them before he lifted his shirt over his head. He wore no underwear, so he was completely, blessedly naked in front of his mate when he crawled over him.

Nathan pressed his lips together in a fine, nervous line, his body tensing when Maxwell settled himself on top of the man.

“The point of that was to get you ready for me, to make sure you were properly in lust before I put my cock inside you, stretch you wide, and fuck you until everyone in this house can hear your screams of pleasure.”

Nathan shivered at that, but Maxwell could still smell the man’s desire, smell how much his mate wanted him, even if he was being completely stubborn about it.

Maxwell wasn’t in much of a position to fuck him right now. He had yet to stretch Nathan’s hole to take what Maxwell would be giving him, but he needed to kiss the man at least one more time. It had to be done. There was no way Maxwell could hold back, so that was exactly what he did.

He pressed his mouth to Nathan’s, noting the lack of an initial resistance this time. Nathan’s eyes closed just before their lips met, his mouth pliant and welcoming, which was a good sign and a proper invitation as far as the wolf inside him was concerned.

In fact, now that his mate was finally accepting him, the wolf within finally seemed…not entirely at peace but as close to it as Maxwell could ever remember in recent, or far, history.

He kissed his mate deeply, holding him close, reveling in his heat. Maxwell eased his knee between Nathan’s legs simply because he could and because he enjoyed the feeling of his mate’s hard-on against his skin.

Nathan sucked in a breath, tensing, as though afraid of what Maxwell would do to him.

Ridiculous. Maxwell had explained again and again that he was his mate. Everyone knew that a mate would never harm the one he was connected to.

Maxwell simply allowed Nathan to adjust to him and to enjoy the sensation of Maxwell’s thigh thrusting against his cock, giving him the friction he was no doubt desperately craving, and soon, just as Maxwell had thought it would happen, Nathan gave in and accepted that, too. Then he was tensing up for an entirely different reason, moaning and shivering through the pleasure that Maxwell brought to him.

Maxwell thrust his cock against Nathan’s hip, needing some of that sweet friction, as well, and it almost felt as if they really were making love this time around, and it was glorious.

* * * *

Nathan thought he would hate this, but it swept him away. The anger, the sheer fucking rage he’d felt when he realized that Maxwell hadn’t been hurt, that he’d just been irresponsible and was running late, causing him to worry for the man for no reason, all but melted away.

Of course, not before Maxwell scared the shit out of him by barging into his room and making those demands, but now that Nathan was here, his mouth being claimed, his cock being teased, and all the while the large wolf shifter on top of him humped against his hip…well, it was kind of hot.

The thigh against his dick and balls almost made him lose his erection immediately, however. Nathan had felt Maxwell’s leg there, and immediately his mind had rushed back to those times Bobby had kneed him between the legs between beatings, a punishment within a punishment. Nathan would almost rather have been beaten up without having his balls squashed, but Bobby had been a childish prick, laughing over Nathan’s body every time Nathan doubled over when it had happened.