STORY EXCERPT

“Have a good day, and Ran, try to stay out of trouble.”

Smirking, Ran Markson slipped the strap of his bag over his shoulder. “Hey now, I wasn’t the one who got in the landlord’s face at our last place and had us run out of town, babe.”

Conceding that point, ungraciously, Deakin Myers rolled his eyes. “This is a good city. We both got jobs, and you were accepted by the pack Alpha to hang around, so abide the rules…and if you can’t, make sure you don’t leave evidence.”

Leaning forward, Ran gave Deak a quick kiss, still grinning, then ambled off down the cobbled road.

Yeah, Deak just knew his long-term boyfriend was going to go ahead and do whatever the hell he wanted, just like he always did. With a smile at that thought, Deak wouldn’t change anything about his boyfriend… Well, okay, he may change the fact that somehow, every freaking time, Ran missed the laundry basket, and the fact he couldn’t seem to clean the bathtub without needing to drink a gallon of beer beforehand, but those were minor things.

Ran was smart, hot, and fun. He was also the only one to ever really get Deakin so hot he couldn’t think. So messing up jobs, being kicked out of towns, and learning to accept the other side of his boyfriend were just some of the things he’d had to live with in order to be with Ran.

It wasn’t like Deak was faultless.

Watching Ran amble down the footpath with headphones on, Deak couldn’t help the smile that spread across his mouth. He recalled the first time he’d met the man, the instant attraction, their first few dates, the way Ran had Deak laughing, how hard and fast he fell for the sexy, gorgeous man. And that, despite Deak’s numerous faults, Ran wasn’t bothered, even seemed amused, and enjoyed all the weird things he did.

Okay, possibly not all, Ran wasn’t a saint, though. He was a wolf shifter. 

With a last look, and puffing out a sigh at seeing his boyfriend being chatted up by an attractive woman—Ha! She was so wasting her time!—Deakin headed into Milson City Council Offices where he worked as a Records Officer, a job he thoroughly enjoyed and was extremely good at.

Ran often said Deakin should try being quietly good at it. Deak was still mulling over what that meant. Knowing Ran, Deak probably didn’t want to think too hard about it.

As usual, he arrived ten minutes, precisely, early. He removed his autumn coat, made sure it hung just right on the hook, then took the following nine and a half minutes to set up his work station and get himself settled. He wasn’t particularly anal, and he wasn’t too OCD. Deak just liked to have things in their place. Having grown up in a large family, he knew chaos. Now he got to choose what type of chaos he wanted to be surrounded with, and discovered fairly quickly— that was none. 

Okay, he wasn’t that bad. After all, he did live with Ran, who missed the hook when hanging up his bath towel. And that peeling the labels off containers in the pantry thing his boyfriend did, didn’t mean Deakin would forget where things were supposed to go. He had a system, and one little, missing label wasn’t going to mess it up.

After four hours of work and deep into scanning old, archived documents into the new document retrieval system, Deakin had the uncanny feeling he wasn’t alone anymore. Careful to save his work and stack the folder, he looked up to find Ran sitting on the counter that separated the records office from the hallway. Usually, staff would arrive at the counter, and if no one in the office was there, they would ring the bell for attention. Rather than do that, Ran was seated on the counter itself, flicking through a magazine with his head-phones on.

Funny how Deakin had never been one to stare at people—or creatures—before meeting Ran. Now he found himself staring at the wolf shifter, often trying to memorize every feature, and sometimes wondering why Ran had picked Deak.

He knew the why, of course. They were mates. Fate picked them. They were the other half of each other. Deakin felt he was extremely fortunate. Ran, though he had declared Deakin was the best thing to ever happen to him and treated Deak extremely well, there were times Deak wasn’t so sure he was exactly what Ran would have personally picked out himself.

Ran wasn’t a big, macho wolf shifter, nor was he dominant and possessive. In fact, at times, Ran was so laid back, if Deak didn’t make a decision, they probably wouldn’t have gotten very far in their personal lives, and definitely work-wise. Ran was good at what he did. He worked in a café, flashed that cheeky, innocent smile with dimples and batted his big, unusual, sapphire-blue eyes. Planning for the future and making a bigger decision than what top he was going to wear or what snack he was going to grab were usually met with a sigh and stalling tactics.

Not that Deak was much better, so they tended to drift along until something caught either of their attention and they settled on that. It worked for them.

“I take it work let you go early,” Deakin said dryly.

“Sure, we can go with that.” Ran slipped the headphones down to his shoulders. “Or, we could say I decided to review my options.”

Tossing out that careless, dimpled grin had Deakin smiling in return and shaking his head.

ADULT EXCERPT

He groaned when the Avenger’s lips touched his. He wrapped his arms around the big creature’s neck when he was pressed tight against that long, hard body, and cried out as he was lifted and a hard, big cock rubbed against his through his jeans.

Holy jinn, he was going to blow just from this.

A squeaking noise had Deakin blinking. Vicus gave him a soft kiss and a smile, then lowered Deakin to his feet, helping him find his balance as Deakin’s legs were wobbly from that mind-blowing kiss.

Then he saw Ran. His wolf shifter was looking cautious and confused, worrying his bottom lip, his stunning, sapphire eyes darting around the room and locking on the living room window.

“Oh, fudge. Ran, calm down. Deep breath, honey.”

“It’s cool. I’m cool. I’m just gonna get some pizza.”

Ran bolted for the window, an obvious exit point since Deakin and Vicus were standing in front of the door. Deakin called out, and Vicus moved faster than anyone Deakin had ever seen. In fact, Deak couldn’t even track the creature. One moment he was in front of Deakin, the next he was across the room and had caught Ran in his arms.

Instantly Deak felt a myriad of emotions. “Oh, ah, he doesn’t like to be caged in—”

“Mine,” Vicus snarled, lifting Ran up as wicked, sharp teeth slid down.

Ran stilled, eyes wide. “N-o.”

“Yes, my mate.”

Deakin raced across the room, jumping on the sofa, and threw himself at the big creature that only a moment ago he was ready to be devoured by and devour himself. Somehow, Vicus caught him while still keeping hold of Ran, and brought them all to the ground, both smaller mates landing on top of him. Catching hold of Deakin, he rolled them both under him.

Deakin cried out as sharp fangs pierced his skin. There was a touch of pain before mind-blowing pleasure overtook his entire body, his cock rock hard and shooting off in his jeans, hands grabbing weakly onto the Avenger, desperately needing to touch and feel as his mind took flight.

As he was coming down, body still zinging, he heard a muffled cry and reached out automatically for Ran, knowing his mate’s voice. His boyfriend’s body was taut and jerking. Deakin opened his eyes to see Vicus’s mouth latched onto Ran’s neck, fangs embedded deep. Wrapping his arms around Ran, he snuggled them close, body still zinging, cock still hard and now rubbing against Ran’s ass as Vicus pressed against their wolf from the front, the big creature’s hands on both of them and stripping off clothes.

It was overpowering, the need he felt. It had been so long since he’d had sex, nearly two years, and now he had his Ran’s body in his arms and Vicus touching him, stimulation and sensations zinging through him. He wanted in his mate, and Vicus, in him now.

“Mine. Now. Need.” Deak panted, helping to tear off some of Ran’s clothes, then his own, eyes locked with Vicus. “I have Ran.”

“As you wish.” Vicus licked his mating bite on Ran’s neck, then leant back and pulled off Ran’s jeans and the little, boy-short underwear. “Nice. Lube?”

“Bedroom bedside table. Check the expiration date. If it’s expired, there’s a new one in the bathroom cabinet.” Deakin moved. “Let’s go into the bedroom, honey.”

Ran was dazed, letting Vicus and Deakin help him up and into the bedroom where Deakin removed the rest of his own clothes while Ran lay down, watching Deakin quietly, those gorgeous, sapphire-blue eyes bright. Vicus located the lube, then tossed it into the waste bin in the corner.

Ran held out a hand. Deakin breathed a sigh of relief and went to his mate, lying beside the gorgeous man. It had been so long since Ran had gotten hard. At first, when it began happening, the lack of libido, Ran still tried to please Deakin, but he caught on pretty quickly to what was happening, and they just ended up holding each other. Now Ran was hard and leaking, his cock, a good size for a small man, red and thick. Deak grasped it in one hand and kissed Ran at the same time, pumping slowly, loving the feel of Ran pressing against him as he kissed Deakin back, always so open and sweet.

Ran was very lean with sinewy muscles, his complexion fair with a few freckles here and there that Deakin used to love to follow around his mate’s body with his lips.

A hand stroking down Deakin’s back had him shivering, eyes drooping a little. The Avenger’s touch was electrifying. It just did things to Deakin’s body, lighting it up and leaving him aching for more, needing more. It was the same with Ran.

The hand on his back stroked and became two hands, gliding, feeling every part of him, from his head to his feet and everything in between before moving around to his front and doing the same, now tweaking his nipples and playing with his cock and balls.

“Get our wolf ready for you, mate.” Vicus spoke softly in Deakin’s ear, his breath fanning across him, making him shiver. “Touch him, open him up while I do the same to you.”

Not ever having been with two guys at once before, Deakin found it difficult to concentrate on what he was doing at first, but with Vicus guiding him, taking Deakin’s hands and running them over their wolf, seeing Ran flush with desire and quivering beneath them, legs falling open, Deakin let instinct take over.

How he’d missed being intimate with his boyfriend. Ran was unlike anyone he had ever come across before. Sweet, so laid back, he was just so relaxing and calm to be around, but he also had a mischievous side, one that teased and stirred Deakin up, and he was caring and just gave of himself. Sure, he very rarely felt any territorial urges, usually only when feeling threatened, and he had absolutely no territorial instincts or urges. He never really got angry, and words could hurt him, but it was all part of Ran, and Deakin had fallen for him so hard and fast so quickly.

Sinking a lube-covered finger into his boyfriend’s tight, little ass, they both sighed in pleasure. Leaning down, Deakin took Ran’s thick, red cock into his mouth and tongued him, playing the way Ran liked, loving the sweet-as-candy taste of his wolf.

A finger going into his own ass had Deakin groaning and wiggling. A big hand soothed over his back, and lips brushed over his sac. As that soothing hand pressed between his shoulder blades, Deakin automatically lowered his top half completely, keeping a hold of Ran’s throbbing dick and sliding another finger in and scissoring to stretch his mate. Behind him, Vicus did the same with his fingers, stroking inside and scissoring, the hand on his back rubbing up and down, touching his spine, then snaking under and grabbing Deakin’s balls that had drawn up close to his body. A quick tug had him panting, but not so close to shooting off.

By the time he had three fingers inside Ran and there were four in him, Ran was thrusting upwards and ready to come. Deakin eased off his man and moved into position by lifting Ran’s legs up as he lay down and took Ran’s mouth.