STORY EXCERPT

Ollie had confessed to his friends that he wasn’t yet feeling Wesley as his mate. He was trying, he believed his other mate, Sebastian, that there was a mate connection, but unfortunately, for Ollie, there was nothing there. His friend Mac reassured him that was natural. Wesley wasn’t feeling it either and they probably just needed a jolt of some kind to experience the mate recognition. Ollie was aiming for that today. Seb had called him earlier and said Wesley had a mate reaction so maybe the situation would change between all of them now.

However, he was feeling a bit put out. He had work, a mate, friends and now there was another mate! And he felt nothing for the man. So, he decided to experiment a bit today and instead of staying at the Sanchez compound, Ollie drove himself and Wesley into Milson City and parked at the Sanchez’s apartment because there was no way he was paying the city’s exuberant parking fees!

“Where are we going?” Wesley asked as they walked from the apartment.

The man was kind of cute, Ollie decided. With his lovely almond shaped brown eyes, straight dark hair that Wesley currently had tucked behind his ears, long face and understated cool clothes of faded black jeans, black boots and a long sleeve shirt with a picture of an eagle on it. Ollie really couldn’t see that he and Wesley had a thing in common.

“There’s a great bookstore that sells new and pre-loved books a few blocks away and after, I thought we could go to a tea house Dene told me about. I haven’t tried it yet but as we both like tea, it may be something we can enjoy.”

Wesley’s gaze was steady on Ollie for a moment before he returned to look where he was going.

“This is uncomfortable, right? You’re not feeling anything for me and I’m not feeling anything for you.”

Ollie liked the honesty. “I’m not and it is a bit uncomfortable. I don’t know how we’re meant to trigger the mate recognition. With Seb it was simple, I felt it fairly quickly.”

“Could be a slow burn.” Wesley shrugged.

“That actually makes sense. With feline shifters everything is go go go! I’m not like that.”

“Nor me. You know Seb chased me, right? The first day we met. He didn’t knock on my door and introduce himself, he chased me for three blocks!”

Ollie found himself laughing and the tension between them dissipated. “Yeah, I can see Seb doing that. He has this liveliness that is boundless and when he wants something, he goes for it. At the same time, he’s smart, compassionate, and friendly to everyone. Plus, a warrior type, yet he doesn’t believe that. He’s a modern man.” Ollie loved that about Seb.

Wesley nodded as they turned onto a busy street and looked into a sushi bar. “He’s a mix of all of that. Can you eat sushi?”

“Sure, but I have to check all the ingredients are organic and fresh. Do you feel like sushi?”

“Not right now, I was just curious. Does it suck not being able to just go somewhere, like a bakery and get a milkshake?”

“Not at all. This is the way I’ve always been. I guess it’s like if you can’t read a book.”

Wesley shuddered. “I get it. This city is huge!”

Ollie decided Wesley needed a tour of a few major precincts in the city. They took the subway, walked through parks, visited the sights and after a few hours, they fell into an easy flow. The pedestrian walkways could get quite busy and often, their arms brushed. The subways were the same and they had to stand close together, their bodies touching. And they talked, non-stop. Initially they were stilted, but that changed and they talked about everything. Books, Wesley’s growing up in England and moving to Canada then the States, how Ollie decided he wanted to an architect which was due to his gift which was being able to date the age of objects. He was also asked to consult on museum items and at auction houses.

“When did you know Seb was your mate?” Wesley asked as they browsed the shelves of the bookstore.

“There was this moment the first night we met. Beneath all his energy and happy optimism, I saw the small considerations he performed and didn’t expect anything in return. That was it for me.” Ollie shrugged. “It may sound strange, but that is what is most important to me.”

“Like him making breakfast.”

“Yes. And for you it was seeing his baser instincts expressing what he needed and wanted.”

Wesley blinked, mouth falling open as he stared at Ollie. “Oh, you’re right. Keeley said it was that Seb went over the top and pushed the boundaries.”

“Both are right. Seb was being himself, open and true. You probably need that to go past your barriers”

“You’re very observant,” Wesley murmured and stroked the book cover in his hand.

“I have to actively listen and pay attention in my work so I meet my client’s needs for their designs. Without that, I’m not a good architect. What’s the book?”

“It’s a French-Canadian poetry book from the ’80s.”

“You speak French?”

“Yes. I spent years in Quebec and the surrounding area and my mother is from there.”

“You’ve had a lot of adventures. I’ve been on a focused career path and remained in the one place for a long time.”

Wesley studied Ollie for a brief time and he wondered what the man saw. He was seeing a lot more of Wesley and at sometime during the day, his feelings had changed. He really liked Wesley, more than liked and not in a platonic way. He was attracted and there was awareness of growing feelings. For paranormals, feelings moved fast and they were intense, but Ollie was still shocked with just how fast it was moving for him, but honestly, Wesley had this way about him. Nothing artificial. He moved out of people’s way out of consideration, he was an individual and they did have things in common. A yearning to be closer, to connect had started deep in Ollie and he was hoping Wesley felt it to, but Ollie was not pushy, he was not one to challenge boundaries.

ADULT EXCERPT

Their mouths fused and bodies pressed against each other. The kiss was fierce. He hadn’t been expecting that but loved the passion simmering between them from Seb’s first sniff of him that began bubbling up. Sex was now the only thing on Ollie’s mind. His hands gravitated to the shifter’s wide chest and searched for buttons.

“No buttons,” Seb said, pulling his mouth away and body back from Ollie’s. “Are you sure?”

“Definitely.”

Ollie unwound his scarf and placed it beside them on the sofa, then grasped the bottom of his long sleeved dark mauve top and removed it. Seb’s hands ran over Ollie’s torso as he trailed kisses from his jaw, down his throat to his collar bone. He felt hot and excitement shivered through him.

Now he was recognizing Sebastian as his mate and his usual getting to know a potential romantic partner was tossed aside. Loving Seb’s hands ever so lightly brushing over his bare back and front, Ollie pressed kisses to his mate’s lips that turned fierce and deep.

He managed to slide Seb’s coat from his shoulders then worked on taking off the light weight sweater. As soon as it was dispensed with, Seb lifted Ollie off his lap and laid him back on the sofa, then stood up and removed his remaining clothes so fast Ollie barely registered each piece being dropped on the ground. But he did see every bit of flesh exposed.

Ollie kicked off his shoes before undoing the button on his pressed pants, lowering the zip and tugging the pants and his underwear down his legs and off. He didn’t have time to remove his socks before Seb was on him.

Ollie welcomed his mate’s weight on top of him, loving the feel of Seb’s muscles, the coarse hair on his legs rubbing against Ollie’s, and his dick pressed against Ollie’s thigh. He wrapped his arms around Seb’s shoulders as they kissed, their legs tangling, bodies moving together. He was alive with electric sensations, his dick leaking. Ollie didn’t know where the lube came from, or when Sebastian applied it, but he felt it on the finger that slid between his ass cheeks and rubbed over the tight entrance.

Ollie immediately accommodated, untangling his legs from Seb’s and spreading, then wrapped one across Seb’s hips. Their tongues met and played, and Seb sucked on Ollie’s when he gasped as the tip of Seb’s finger penetrated his ass.

There was an imperative need to feel as much of Seb as he could, Ollie sweeping his hands over every part of the sexy man he could reach. His fingers traced wide shoulders as a thick finger wiggled through the first muscle and slid inside. Ollie’s fingers dug into the top of Seb’s arms as he groaned. It was the best feeling ever. He loved the feel of being filled and liked that Seb didn’t jam his way in, but wiggled and slid.

There was no time to explore each other, not this time anyway. Maybe next time, though Ollie couldn’t guarantee then either. A second finger pressed inside. It may be a dozen more times before he felt like this tidal wave of need and sensation would allow him to think past wanting instant gratification and connection.

Their lips hardly parted, Ollie not able to get enough of Seb’s kisses and it was an intimacy he loved. Seb seemed to feel the same. He kissed Ollie and stretched him quickly, which was perfect. A third finger sunk into him and one of Seb’s fingers brushed over the nub of nerves, Ollie thrusting down and crying out. It felt like their bodies were heating up, Seb almost hot to the touch. Ollie was too.

“Claim me,” Ollie gasped.

“Yes,” Seb murmured, nipping Ollie’s throat then returned to kissing him.

Ollie was lost in the feel of their bodies pressed together, their mouths, and the long fingers stretching him. Seb’s cock was pressed against Ollie’s thigh, long and thick and felt just as hot as the rest of the man. When Seb removed his fingers, leaving an unsettling empty feeling, his protest and disappointment was brief.

The head of Seb’s cock pressed in, their mouths finding each other once more and covered his groan. He tightened his leg around Seb’s thigh and lifted his hips as he was stretched to what felt beyond capacity. Each slide and thrust felt so good, Ollie didn’t notice when his fingers dug in, or that he’d pulled his mouth away as his head fell back and eyes closed. Every nerve ending was alive, sensations flooded him and sex with Seb was unlike anything he’d felt before.

His long, thick cock stretched and filled Ollie, each thrust deep, filling him completely, planting himself to the hilt inside Ollie before he withdrew slowly, sliding over the little nerves that triggered a multitude of tingles and electric jolts throughout Ollie’s entire body. Seb withdrew until only the tip of his cock was in Ollie’s ass before he thrust back in, sinking all the way till he hit bottom, Ollie gasping with each thrust and withdrawal, Seb’s breathing becoming heavy, his groans a mix of growls and heavy breaths.