STORY EXCERPT

Jake guessed that it was too much wishful thinking to assume that his mother would drop the issue of a mate for a while. It was only that evening, when he got home from a long day at work to find that his two youngest children were already in bed, that he saw a strange man sitting in his living room along with his mother and eldest son.

“What’s going on?” he asked suspiciously as he sat his briefcase down in the doorway.

“We’re finding you a new mate,” Michael informed him. The man beside him was clearly the matchmaker. Money and power got you far in life, and it was clear that in order to not only get a same-day appointment but to also have the matchmaker come to his house, his mother had used a considerable amount of both.

“Really?” he asked his mother as he shrugged off his suit jacket. “You’ve even turned my first born against me?”

Michael smirked at his dad. “I’ve already told the matchmaker that your new mate must be good at video games for me, must know how to do complicated hairstyles for Alia, and must be good at telling bedtime stories for Toby.”

Despite the fact that there was nothing he wouldn’t rather do than sit down with the matchmaker right now, his son’s response managed to make him smile.

“Well, as long as you’ve got all the important things covered,” he joked as he took a seat opposite the matchmaker.

“David Cross,” the man introduced himself. The name wasn’t familiar to Jake but he smiled and nodded at him.

“Carla?” he called out just loud enough to be heard but not so loud as to wake the children. If he was going to do this then he was going to need a scotch.

The lioness appeared with the drink already in her hand. Carla was oftentimes surly and liked to talk back to him. He kept her around because he secretly liked that about her and her ability to know when he was in a situation where scotch was required.

“Thank you,” he said with a happy sigh as he took the ice-cold glass. “Maybe I should just mate with you.”

Carla looked completely disgusted by the suggestion. “But then I’d have to have sex with you and the very thought makes my stomach turn.”

He grinned at her. If she weren’t fonder of women than she was men then maybe Jake would have been offended.

Agatha rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “If we can get back to the matter at hand.”

Knowing that there was no way to put this off any longer, Jake took a large gulp of his scotch and nodded at the matchmaker to begin.

“Your mother said that you aren’t interested in mating with anyone inside the pride,” David began. “I’ve narrowed it down to other prides in the country to start with, but we can later widen the search to other countries if you don’t find anyone to your liking.”

“No,” Jake said with a shake of his head. “No lions.”

Agatha turned to look at him so sharply that Jake was surprised she didn’t get whiplash.

“Jacob. This woman will be the alpha female of our pride. She has to be a lion,” Agatha tried to reason.

“No women either,” Jake said simply. His mother was good at getting her own way but Jake had spent years building up a tolerance to her. If his mind was set on something then not even his mother, the formidable force that she was, could talk him out of it.

“If you mate with a man you won’t have any more children,” his mother said. She was looking at him like he had two heads. His son, on the other hand, didn’t seem to care.

“I have three children, mother,” Jake pointed out. “I think that’s plenty. I already told you, I don’t want anyone that reminds me of Aby. I’d be constantly comparing the two and that wouldn’t be right.”

At the mention of his mom’s name Michael lowered his gaze. “So no one that’s good at gardening. Mom was always gardening.”

Jake nodded once. “Right. And maybe someone who can actually cook.”

That comment made Michael smile and meet his gaze. “Mom was a really bad baker. She tried to make us birthday cakes every year.”

Jake smiled back at his son. “And every year we had to pretend to like them.”

The two of them held each other’s gaze for a moment, both of them sharing in their grief and love of the woman they had lost.

“Okay,” his mother finally said with a sigh. She turned to look at David. “No women and no lions.”

“So you’re looking for a non-lion male who can bake, play video games, braid hair, and read bedtime stories?” David asked as he looked down at the laptop on his lap. “I’m not exactly sure how to go about starting that search.”

ADULT EXCERPT

“Fuck it,” he said. “I’ll have them drain the pool tomorrow.”

“What?” Jordan asked, confused by the sudden about-turn the conversation had taken. Without another word Jake moved closer, his hands going to Jordan’s hips before he swooped in and placed a kiss to the side of his neck. Jordan’s whole body shivered and he tilted his head, silently giving Jake his permission. The pale column of flesh felt cold under his lips. He sucked on the tender skin there knowing that in just a few days he would be biting down, sinking his teeth into Jordan and claiming him for the rest of their lives.

So far he had been mostly trying not to think about that, but it was impossible to bury his head in the sand for too long. He could hear Jordan’s breathing getting harder and the young man started unconsciously pushing forward, poking Jake’s hip with his erection, seeking out some kind of friction.

With a wicked smirk on his face, he released Jordan’s throat and slid his hand from his hip to his crotch, cupping the impressive bulge that he found there. The silky skin of his cock felt hot even in the cool water, and Jake heard himself moan. He squeezed gently and Jordan looked at him like he was something special, like he was someone important. In bed with Aby they had always been very equal. She had been a pretty forceful woman who wasn’t afraid to take the lead when the mood struck. Jordan’s innocent, wide-eyed thing did something to Jake that he hadn’t known he would like. It made him feel like a predator.

Sliding one hand up and down Jordan’s cock he slid the other round to cup his ass. He squeezed the fleshy mound hard before slipping into the crack and stroking a finger over the hole.

“Fuck,” Jordan moaned as he let his head tip back. “Please.”

“What do you want me to do, Jordan?” Jake asked as he leaned in and nipped Jordan’s chin with his teeth. “You’ve got to tell me.”

“I want your finger,” Jordan told him unashamedly.

Jake wanted to devour him, to wreck him and leave him a shaking mess on the ground. There was something about Jordan that made Jake want to dominate.

“Touch me,” Jake told him, making the younger man lick his lips.

Jordan wasted no time in doing as he was told. He took hold of Jake’s cock, moaning as he felt it for the first time, and started stroking him at a nice leisurely pace.

Giving Jordan what he wanted, Jake pushed against the ring of muscles in his ass and breached it. With no lube, and water being no use, Jordan’s body felt tight around his finger and he could only get the tip inside. He wiggled and rocked it in and out a little until Jordan’s body started to naturally relax and he was able to go a little deeper.

“That feels good,” Jordan whispered to him, his big blue eyes locked onto Jake’s mouth.

He knew that Jordan wanted him to kiss him but it felt too intimate, like he would be crossing a line he shouldn’t cross until after they were mated. This was just about sex, about the two of them letting off some steam. The last thing he wanted to do was confuse Jordan.

Jake nipped at Jordan’s jaw before slowly trailing kisses down over his chest. He wanted to get down on his knees and suck Jordan’s cock but he figured that it wasn’t a good idea what with the drowning and all. He could count on one hand the number of men he had slept with. He had always preferred women but there was something about Jordan that really worked for him. Despite all that Jordan had gone through, he was still full of optimism and always upbeat. Jake hadn't thought it possible, but Jordan's attitude was starting to rub off on him. There was a sweetness to him, a softness that Jake had encountered in a man before. He also had full, pink lips that Jake couldn’t wait to feel wrapped around his cock.

It was pretty dirty and desperate, getting each other off in the pool like that, but Jake didn’t care. With the cool water lapping at their naked bodies and the firm hand stroking his cock, Jake’s body felt overly sensitive. He shivered and pushed his finger deeper into Jordan’s hole, loving the way the fox shifter whined. Jordan bucked his hips and wound his free arm around Jake’s shoulders as he leaned in and pushed his face into Jake’s neck. The feeling of Jordan’s breath on his skin and the wetness of his open mouth pushed him close to the edge. Still jerking each other off, Jake tilted his head and kissed the side of Jordan’s face.