STORY EXCERPT

Wade Bolsey had never seen a more fascinating sight than that of a pregnant male. The man wasn’t hugely pregnant, not yet, but the swelling of his belly on such a tiny frame brought out the most curious set of feelings in Wade. Just looking at him made Wade’s fingers itch to pick up his fiddle and play something slow and sweet. Better that than do the other thing his hands wished to do, which was stroke all over that familiar yet foreign body. Wade longed to find all the sensitive spots and then touch them until he had the man he swore was his mate making breathless cries of bliss. Once he had him in that state, Wade would love him, binding their bodies and then their souls.

But that was not to be.

Tybalt Black, newly come to the Rough River Ranch, was rubbing the small of his back as he struggled to stretch the kinks out of his neck. Since he’d slept on the couch, it wasn’t any wonder to Wade that Tybalt’s whole body was protesting. Everyone had tried to get him to take one of the beds, but he insisted on sleeping in the living room. So far, no one knew why. As much as Wade wanted to ask, he was reluctant to suffer Tybalt’s wrathful gaze. Wade had a hard enough time talking when the person welcomed him, but Tybalt didn’t. He wasn’t mean or cruel, more sort of snippy. Given his current condition, his attitude wasn’t much wonder to Wade. If he were pregnant against his will, he’d be pretty snotty, too. Still, as understanding as Wade was toward Tybalt’s dark moods, that didn’t give him any more confidence in talking. So he did what he always did. He watched. Wade stood in the farmhouse looking at the man he’d wanted since the moment he saw him.

“I know you’re there.” Tybalt turned, his intense blue eyes pinning Wade where he stood. He’d thought he’d be less noticeable if he hid his bulk in the doorway that led to the kitchen, but apparently not. “Why do you keep staring at me? It’s rude.”

“I keep staring because you’re beautiful.” Wade was stunned that the words had flowed right from his heart without his brain getting in the way and fumbling them up.

Tybalt stopped and stood very still, as if he were suddenly terrified and trying to figure out the best way to retreat. How could a kindness spark such dread? Wade wished he knew what to say to make the man relax. It seemed everything anyone said or did either pissed off Tybalt or terrified him. Wade had the lone honor of frightening him more than angering him. This wasn’t the first time he’d looked afraid, but it would quickly turn to fury. There were no more answers about that attitude of his than there were about all his other curious peculiarities. Given where the man had come from and what had probably been done to him there, Wade wasn’t about to pry.

“I’m not anything that concerns you.” Tybalt shook off his fear, turning it into annoyance almost as if he’d flipped a switch. He then turned and attended to his bedding. Tybalt took the flat sheet and folded into a small square, which he slipped inside his pillowcase. He then settled the whole bundle in his basket. Each man who came to the ranch had gotten one of the brightly-colored plastic bins to store his things. Out of all of them, Tybalt was the most fastidious about his. From what Wade could tell, he never went anywhere without it. As soon as he had his bedding on top, he picked it up.

“Let me carry that for you.”

“I’m not an invalid.” Tybalt tightened his grip on the basket as if he expected Wade to try to take it from him by force.

“Why are you so angry?”

“Because I don’t need your help.”

Wade had gone with several other cowboys from the ranch to rescue men from what they were calling dark compounds. Tybalt had been held in cage not much bigger than a bathroom. Unlike a lot of the other men held captive there, Tybalt had been kept scrupulously clean and apparently well fed. But there wasn’t much happiness in being a well-tended captive. Being caged was still an unpleasant place regardless of the circumstances. But Tybalt wasn’t talking about what had been done to him. No one could really help him overcome that trauma unless he did. The only reason Wade knew he’d been forced to become pregnant was through a book that Doc found and translated. Doc hadn’t told this to Wade. He’d been talking to someone else, and Wade had overheard the conversation. Beyond that sick tidbit, Wade knew nothing about Tybalt. But he wanted to. He wished there was a way he could wipe the ugliness away and give him something shiny and new. He didn’t ask Doc for more information because Doc had his hands full when another man, one much farther along in his pregnancy, had to be rushed to the ranch so Doc could perform a C-section on him.

ADULT EXCERPT

Each time Wade slid his fingers into Tybalt’s ass, he was rewarded with a sigh that expressed his mate’s pleasure. As if that wasn’t enough confirmation, Tybalt’s cock was hard, his balls high and tight. He was so aroused he was struggling to reach down and stroke his own cock.

“Not yet.” Wade blocked Tybalt’s seeking hand.

“But I want—”

“I know what you want.” Wade situated himself a little better so that while he fingered Tybalt’s tight ass, he was also stroking along the shaft of his cock. Wade was careful not to stimulate him too much. He didn’t want him to climax until much later.

“You’re making me crazy!”

“I know. But I want you to climax with me.” Wade grasped Tybalt’s cock with the palm of his hand then lazily flicked the rough pad of his thumb over the sensitive spot where the shaft met the head. Tybalt erupted into nonsense pleadings that made Wade struggle to hold himself back. As much as he wanted to be inside Tybalt’s hot, tight ass, he refused to rush. Both of them would have only one first time.

“Please. I’m going mad with lust.”

“Tell me what you want.” Wade had never been one for dirty talk, but suddenly, he wanted to know just how crazy he was making his mate. He wasn’t certain if it was ego so much as he simply wanted to know in no uncertain terms what Tybalt wanted.

“I want to…feel…you…” Tybalt trailed off between words as he sighed and squirmed against Wade’s busy hands. The fact that he couldn’t even form a complete sentence stroked Wade’s ego.

“Do you want my cock inside you?” Taking pity on him, Wade decided it might be easier if all Tybalt had to do was answer questions.

“Yes.” Tybalt’s voice was breathless.

“Are you sure you want me to slip my cock into you?” Wade followed up his question by rubbing his cock against Tybalt’s buttock.

“Oh, God, yes.” This time, Tybalt’s voice was more forceful. “Why are you torturing me?”

“Torturing you?” Wade stopped the movement of both his hands. He knew that Tybalt was just being dramatic, but he felt his ego take another big burst. Withholding the final release from Tybalt was causing a chemical reaction to reach a peak in his own body. “I want to make sure you’re ready for me.”

“I’m ready.” Tybalt squirmed in earnest. His high, tight buttocks seemed to part eagerly around Wade’s hand as his ass clutched at his probing fingers. “If I don’t have you soon—”

“Have me?”

“Oh.” Tybalt laughed lightly. “I get it now. You want to hear those words.”

“What words?” Wade asked coyly.

“Those wicked words.”

“Like what?” Wade prompted. When Tybalt hesitated, he moved his head near to his mate’s ear and whispered, “Be very clear, Tybalt. Use words that leave no doubt. You can whisper them if you want.”

“Like cock.” Tybalt’s voice was barely above a whisper, but since they were so close, there was no doubt about what he’d said.

When he said cock, Wade plunged two fingers deep into his ass. “What else?”

“Like fuck.”

When Tybalt said fuck, Wade tightened his fist around Tybalt’s cock and gave him a good, solid stroke.

Over and over, with an almost singsong litany, Tybalt whispered the words cock and fuck. Each time he did, Wade stroked Tybalt’s prick with his hand or slipped his fingers deep into his ass.

“I’m close. So close.” Tybalt turned his head enough so that he could look over his shoulder at Wade. “Please. Now. I’m ready.”

And Wade believed he finally was.

Holding him and kissing his neck, Wade eased his cock inside Tybalt’s tight ass. When Tibby gasped, Wade almost retreated, but Tybalt reached around and grasped Wade’s hip, pulling him closer.

“Oh, no you don’t. You’re not backing away now. Not after all that teasing.”

With almost agonizing slowness, Wade penetrated his mate. Each fraction of an inch his cock went deeper felt like another twist of their binding souls. Wade couldn’t have described the sensation even if he swallowed a thesaurus. There were no words for the way he felt bound to Tybalt. The act of claiming him in this way was what fused their souls where nothing else could. Intimacy of their emotions had brought them close, but this intimacy of the bodies was like the cherry on top.