STORY EXCERPT

“Cassius!” Kendall’s heart pounded so hard he could barely hear his own voice as he sprinted behind Jory to the battle near the gate. They’d rounded up everyone they could find who was willing to fight. He was a little surprised at how many people had risen to the challenge.

There were shape-shifters of all species, vampires, demons, and Jory had even convinced the werewolves living at the coven to support their plight.

Jory’s bloodcurdling scream jerked him out of his thoughts, and he looked up just in time to see Jory’s mate, Stavion, go down and three enemy werewolves begin biting and clawing at him. His heart broke for his best friend, it really did, but he was desperate to find his own mate.

Incorporating the four Ds—dipping, ducking, diving, and dodging—Kendall made his way through flying bodies, snapping teeth, and razor-sharp claws. He screamed his mate’s name over the cacophony of noise. Still, he couldn’t find him.

A massive furry arm came out of nowhere, wrapping around his waist and snatching him off his feet. Kendall didn’t have time for this shit. Steeling himself against the pain he knew would come, he threw his head back, connecting a solid head-butt to the asshole’s face. Fuck, that hurt!

The werewolf must have thought so as well, because he dropped Kendall to the ground as he grabbed at his face and howled in pain. Kendall wasn’t really paying attention, though. He’d finally found the man he’d been searching for.

Cassius was magnificent. Kendall had never seen anyone move so swiftly or with such fluidity. Spinning, arching, and contorting his body, one movement flowed into another in a deadly dance as Cassius battled against two of the invading werewolves. His raven hair whipped around his face, blowing out behind him when the wind picked up. The moonlight glimmered over the blade of his dagger as he sliced through the air.

It was beautiful and terrifying all at once.

One of the werewolves Raven was fighting broke away and launched himself at Cassius’s back. Before Kendall could even call out a warning, Cassius dropped to one knee, spinning in a tight circle and kicking his other foot out to knock his attacker to the ground. It all happened so quickly that Kendall was still trying to force words through the constriction in his throat by the time it was all over.

Some of their enemies were sprawled unconscious on the ground. Some were on their knees with their heads bent. None of them were fighting back any longer, though. Rising gracefully to his feet, Cassius sheathed his dagger and dusted his hands on his pants. The act was so casual he could have been doing nothing more than trimming the hedges.

Kendall didn’t stop to think about it. He took off at a run, leaping over falling bodies as he sprinted toward his mate. Cassius must have heard him coming because he turned just as Kendall jumped and caught him in his arms.

“You could have been hurt!” Cassius’s hands roamed over Kendall’s face and down his arm, obviously checking for signs of injury. “What are you doing here?”

Kendall smiled as he looked into Cassius’s deep blue eyes. “Saving your ass.” Then he leaned in and pressed their lips together in a chaste kiss. With Cassius covered in blood and a crowd of people gathered around them, it wasn’t the most romantic first kiss.

Apparently, Cassius was of the same mind, because he grabbed the back of Kendall’s neck and jerked him closer when he tried to move away. “I think we can do better than that.”

Then his mouth was on Kendall’s, rough and demanding, needy and passionate. His tongue didn’t coax but forced Kendall’s lips apart before thrusting inside his mouth and exploring every inch of it.

Kendall clutched at his mate’s shoulders, holding on for dear life when the kiss went deeper still and his head began to spin from lack of oxygen. It was so damn good, he didn’t even think about pulling away. Who really needed to breathe anyway?

Despite their current location, his dick swelled inside his jeans, hardening to the point of pain as he rocked against Cassius’s midsection, desperately seeking that sweet friction he needed.

“Easy,” Cassius panted as he pulled away from Kendall’s mouth and trailed kisses along his jawline. “Now is not the time or the place.”

Kendall whimpered in protest. Here and now seemed like an excellent idea to him. They’d been dancing around each other for almost six months—each afraid to do anything to make the other uncomfortable. Now that they’d finally taken the next step—or dove into the deep end without floaties—Kendall wanted more, and he wanted it right fucking now.

Cassius nose skimmed up the side of Kendall’s throat, pulling a full-body shiver from him. “God, you smell so good.”

Reason returned, and it was like being submerged in a pool of shark-infested ice water. Every reason he couldn’t be with Cassius came crashing down on him, smothering him until he couldn’t breathe.

When Cassius’s hand moved over his lower back and started an upward trek along his spine, Kendall started to squirm as panic settled in. “No, no, you’re right. We can’t do this here.” He looked around frantically, searching for a distraction. “Stavion! Stavion needs your help.” It wasn’t a lie. The man’s eyes were open, but he looked in bad shape.

Cassius sighed as he set Kendall on his feet. “We’ll talk later.”

Later was good. Later would give him time to think. Later could wait forever.

ADULT EXCERPT

“Off,” he growled. He sounded more animal than man, even to himself, but he couldn’t think past the throbbing of his cock and the overwhelming need to finally claim Kendall as his own.

Luckily, Kendall appeared to be on the same page. Squirming and contorting his body on the bed, Kendall shucked his clothing in record time, sending them flying all over the room. Cassius grunted when one of his lover’s shoes caught him in the chest but ignored it just as quickly.

When his clothes were basically shreds of fabric at his feet, Cassius dove onto the bed, attacking his lover’s mouth with a savage intensity. “Please, don’t say no. You can’t say no.”

“Fuck me, Cass. Claim me and make me yours.”

Needing no more encouragement, Cassius kept one arm securely around Kendall’s waist as he rolled them across the mattress until he could reach the drawer of his nightstand. There was no fumbling or searching. He’d used the bottle of lube enough times in the last several months to know exactly where it was located.

Once he had the plastic treasure in his hand, he rolled them again until he hovered over his mate. Their lips met in another passion-fueled duel, their tongues twining, twisting, and gliding together. Without breaking the kiss, Cassius popped the lid on the bottle with one hand and flipped the end up to pour a generous amount into his palm.

Letting the lube fall to the mattress, he reached between their flushed bodies and slicked his aching cock, groaning into Kendall’s mouth as he stroked his hard length. Using the excess, he skimmed his index finger along Kendall’s crease, pushed between the muscled hills, and zeroed in on the tight, fluttering muscles of his entrance.

Kendall moaned and whimpered, arching his hips and snaking his legs around Cassius’s hips. Using every bit of self-control he could grab on to, Cassius slowly worked the tip of his digit past the guarding ring and pumped gently, inserting a little more with each inward glide.

He used his other hand to brace himself above his mate, staring into Kendall’s eyes, searching for any sign of discomfort. Kendall’s eyes were squeezed tight, his head whipped back and forth against the sheets, and the cords in his neck strained. “More, Cass. Please!”

Though he felt like he’d implode, Cassius took his time, stretching and loosening his mate until he had three fingers sawing in and out of Kendall’s velvet-lined tunnel. His lover’s fingers dug into the muscles of his shoulders hard enough to leave bruises, and Cassius knew he’d cherish every one of them.

“Now!” Kendall’s eyes snapped open, and he growled vehemently as he began rocking his hips, fucking himself on Cassius’s fingers. “Fuck me!”

His body on fire, his cock pulsing, and his entire world zeroed in on the fiery heat surrounding his fingers, Cassius had no choice but to obey. Extracting his fingers, he lined up the weeping tip of his cock, took a deep breath, and pushed in slowly, inch by torturous inch. When he finally bottomed out and was buried balls deep in the tightest, most perfect warmth he’d ever felt, he blinked open his eyes and just stared at the gorgeous creature beneath him.

Suddenly, all urgency melted from his body. Looking into those hazel depths, Cassius saw his entire future laid out before him like an offering. And he wanted it. He wanted it like nothing else on earth. He’d worked hard, pushed his body past its breaking point because of his intense desire to become an Enforcer.

It was nothing compared to how much he wanted the man writhing beneath him. He’d do anything—be anything—for Kendall. All the months of tiptoeing around each other, of walking on eggshells, terrified he’d scare his mate—it was all worth it. He’d do it again in a heartbeat if it led him to this moment.

Slipping his arm beneath Kendall’s back, Cassius lifted him gently, pressing their chests together as he began a slow, sensual rhythm. Again and again, he sank and retreated into Kendall’s welcoming heat, groaning as his lover’s inner walls convulsed around him, massaging his cock and sucking him in further with each thrust.

Kendall’s continuous cries of ecstasy were music to his ears, and they settled into his heart and soul, warming him from the inside out. As the tempo increased, so did the intensity of his emotions. Using his body as a conduit, Cassius poured every ounce of himself into their mating until he wasn’t sure where he ended and Kendall began.

In the ultimate act of sweet surrender, Kendall tilted his head to the side, baring his neck and palming the back of Cassius’s head. “Make me yours.”

Dipping his head as he continued to surge into his lover’s body, Cassius licked at the pulsing vein that snaked up the soft, smooth column of Kendall’s throat. “You always were,” he whispered before sinking his teeth through Kendall’s flesh.