STORY EXCERPT

Dr. Frost’s Animal Hospital was a modest sunshine-yellow building situated between a mint-green pet supply store and a light-blue animal salon. From the little information Teak had found online, all three businesses were owned by Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Olander Frost.

Teak parked his car behind the building and walked around to the front door. He was sure the staff were supposed to enter via the back entrance, but it was his first day so he’d chosen to enter this way. The waiting room smelled like sick and scared pets. The disinfectant didn’t help any, only added to the sour air.

“Hello. How can I help you?” a pretty young blonde teen girl asked. If he judged her age accurately, Teak would put her at around seventeen.

“I’m Teak Ranta. I’m supposed to start work here today.” He gave her a charming smile. It was one he’d spent years cultivating while working customer service in retail.

“Oh, right. I’m Jessica, Dr. Frost’s niece. I work part-time.” She returned the smile and offered him a hand, which he shook. She had a surprisingly strong handshake for a girl her age. “Come on back, and I’ll get Uncle Olander.” She opened a door and shouted, “Uncle! Your new assistant is here. Try to keep this one!”

“Excuse me?” Teak paused in the doorway, unsure what she meant.

Jessica continued to smile. “No, don’t worry about. My uncle’s just a bit eccentric, so people tend to not stick around working here. He’s an amazing vet, though.”

“Um, right.”

Teak followed her into the back where a tall man was placing a puppy into a kennel. He was whispering to the young animal in a soft cooing voice, much like how a mother would talk to her kids. Teak found himself softening to his new boss with each gentle sound.

“Uncle,” Jessica snapped.

“Yes, yes. I heard you the first time you shouted for me.” Olander Frost closed the kennel door and turned to face them. He was handsome, in a studious kind of way with his disheveled black hair. There was something about him, though, something not entirely human in his gray eyes as he looked at Teak.

“Teak Ranta, I assume.”

“Oh, yes.” Teak snapped himself out of the funky daze he’d drifted into. “Nice to meet you.” He held out his hand to the other man and froze when he grasped it.

“The pleasure’s mine,” Olander purred before kissing Teak’s hand.

Instantly he snatched his hand back and gaped at the man standing cockily before him. That’s when the scent finally registered through the fog of chemicals and sick animals. The smell of an ancient forest. Teak’s heart thudded painfully against his chest as he looked into the eyes of a predatory cat.

“Oh, fuck,” Teak murmured beneath his breath.

Olander grinned as he closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around Teak. “To think my mate would be my new assistant. What an amazing match.”

Teak wasn’t sure what to make of this turn of events. This man was the leopard he’d seen in the forest last night? His boss was his mate? What on earth was going on? All he’d wanted when he’d moved to Spirit Valley was a peaceful life away from drama and men. Now it looked like he had both waiting for him at work.

* * * *

The little fox’s scent was intoxicating, and Olander found himself hard pressed to pay attention during the day as they worked side by side. Every time Teak walked by him or looked his way Olander wanted to press the man against the nearest flat surface and kiss him. Too bad his mate didn’t appear to return his interest.

“Trish and Dozer are here for their three o’clock,” Jessica announced. “Dozer got into a scrap with a raccoon again.”

Sighing, Olander handed Teak a kitten and instructed him to give the little one its last vaccine and then join him in exam room two. Entering the cream-colored room he found the owner, Trish, a single woman who lived alone and had rescued Dozer for both protection and companionship, coddling the large Rottweiler. As for the patient, Dozer, he was licking her hand trying to comfort her.

This kind of scene was all too familiar. Owners, worried about their beloved pet, ended up causing so much stress within themselves the animal usually ended up comforting them.

“Doc, is he going to be okay?” Trish asked, tears in her brown eyes when she spotted him. “He isn’t going to get rabies, right?” Her usually pale cheeks were red and puffy, no doubt from crying.

“I would think not.” Olander shined a light on the scratches on Dozer’s neck and chest. “He’s up-to-date on all his shots, so he’ll be fine on that front. Did you clean these?” He indicated the cuts.

Trish worried her hands as she looked from Dozer to Olander. “Was I not supposed to?”

“No, you did a good job.” Olander needed her to relax before he could hope to treat Dozer. If he couldn’t get her to calm down he’d have to send her out to the waiting room. Olander wasn’t going to risk being bitten over an anxious owner.

A soft knock on the door drew Olander’s attention for a moment while Teak entered. “Hello, I’m Teak, the new assistant.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Teak fumbled with the shirt Olander had put on before leaving the bathroom, silently chastising his mate for getting dressed after showering. Olander leaned back, allowing Teak to strip him of the cotton barrier. Pressing firmly on Olander’s chest, Teak directed him to lie down, which he did without question.

Happy, Teak licked his lips as he hovered over Olander. His mate was gorgeous in so many ways. He couldn’t believe this amazing man was his. Teak also wanted to confirm that Olander was, in fact, healed, so he trailed kisses down his smooth, freshly shaven jaw; licked along his neck; and nibbled at Olander’s collarbone before kissing his bloodline crest on his chest.

All preternaturals had a bloodline crest, or a family mark. It was a natural birthmark that told where they came from. It looked like an old tattoo to those that didn’t know what it truly was.

Moving from the crest, Teak bit and sucked Olander’s right nipple into his mouth, earning him a sharp intake of breath from his mate. Reaching up, Teak toyed with his left one as he continued assaulting the small tan disk.

Olander’s hips hitched slightly, and Teak could feel Olander’s growing erection pressed against Teak’s ass. Releasing Olander’s nipples, Teak sat up and rubbed his ass back and forth over Olander’s cock. His mate groaned right before a purr vibrated in his chest. Now that was a sexy sound.

Wanting more, and wanting to give more, Teak stood and stripped Olander of his jeans and boxers. His mate’s cock, hard and already dripping, had Teak’s arousal spiking at the sight of it. He wanted to taste his mate, feel his heavy length against his tongue and between his lips.

Kneeling, Teak nuzzled against Olander’s balls, inhaling his heady scent. Even when he was clean, Olander smelled like an ancient cedar forest right before a rainstorm, with added hints of something darker, something that was all male. Teak licked up Olander’s shaft and sucked his cockhead between his lips much like a lollipop.

“Teak.”

Olander purred his name. The sound was wicked, and Teak’s cock jerked in response. Despite his own desires, Teak ignored them and concentrated on bringing pleasure to his mate. He lapped the precum flowing from the slit and savored the salty tang of Olander’s essence before he worked his cock farther into his mouth. Olander wasn’t small, so Teak took his time. He went down an inch and then backed up, only to go down another inch. He repeated the process over and over until he had all eleven thick, delicious inches of cock in his mouth. His mouth was spread wide, and Olander’s cock head was pressed down his throat, but Teak managed.

Breathing through his nose and trying not to choke, Teak sealed his lips around Olander’s cock and slowly pulled up the length. Olander hissed, bunching his hands in the sheets below him. Teak could feel the tension in his mate’s legs as he held himself back from thrusting up into Teak’s mouth, an act Teak was grateful for. Back at his cockhead, when Teak nipped at it, Olander’s hips thrusting slightly at the new sensation.

Satisfied that he had Olander where he wanted him and that his mate was, in fact, okay, Teak took him back into his mouth and sucked him. Up and down, lips sealed tightly around his cock, cheeks hollowed, Teak worked Olander’s entire length with enthusiasm.

“Fuck,” Olander growled, his hips jerking every now and again as he lost the fight with himself not to move.

It didn’t matter at this point, Teak had adjusted to Olander’s size and could handle the small spasms.

“Teak, shit, you’re killing me,” Olander called, one of his hands finding their way to the back of Teak’s head and tangling in his hair.

Taking his words as a compliment, Teak didn’t let up. He continued to suck him, pulling Olander right to the edge and throwing him over. His mate came with a shout of Teak’s name. Olander’s hot seed filled Teak’s mouth, poured down his throat, and even drippled passed his lips.

“Oh, fuck,” Olander sighed, petting a hand through Teak’s hair. “That was…fuck.”

Teak wiped his mouth with his shirt, tossing it into a corner, as he crawled on top of Olander. “I’ll take that as praise.”

Olander, his eyes filled with both satisfaction and want, gazed up to Teak. “High praise.”

* * * *

Even calling it high praise wasn’t appropriate. That was the best damned head he’d ever received! Teak’s mouth was far too talented.

When Teak leaned in, trailing his lips along Olander’s, he moaned and flipped their positions. Now, with Teak beneath him, Olander took the liberty of regaining control and claiming his mate’s lips in a fiery and needy kiss. Teak responded instantly, arching against him, wrapping his arms around Olander, and pulling him closer.

As he kissed his mate, Olander worked to take Teak’s boxers off. Tossing the thin soft material aside, Olander trailed his hands back up Teak’s legs and slid one beneath his ass while wrapping the other around his cock. Pressing his finger between Teak’s cheeks, Olander teased his mate’s entrance, feeling it twitch at his touch.

“What do you want?” Olander asked Teak, stroking Teak’s cock with a feathery touch.