Pricolici (12 page)

Tucker smiled. “That sounds great. I haven’t had pizza in a while.” He’d avoided being in public as much as possible and took his meals in his room when he was still living at his old haitas. Mostly sandwiches and chips, things he could make quickly and then eat later.

Walking outside was a relief. Tucker felt like he’d been locked in a damp, smelly basement for a month—the fresh air smelled that sweet. He took a deep breath, letting it out with a happy hum. Stelian supported him as he sank down in the middle of the lawn, setting the book safely on his lap.

“You good?” Stelian asked.

Tucker looked up at him, squinting in the light. “Mmhmm.” He spread his legs, stretching carefully. He felt really good.

“I’ll be back in an hour.”

“Sounds good.” Tucker wasn’t paying much attention as Stelian walked away. He felt like a hundred things were clamoring for his notice.

Chapter Eleven

Tucker enjoyed the way the wind tugged at his hair and the sun kissed the skin of his face when he lifted it up, closing his eyes as he soaked in the rays. The grass was cool, soft, and a little prickly as he brushed his hands over it. When he dug down, the dirt was still a little damp from the last rain.

All that was missing was the stream, but it was cool enough that he enjoyed the warm sun on his face without the contrast of the cold water. Tucker sank backward, lying out full on the lawn, grunting a little as the muscles in his shoulder were strained. Once he was flat, he let out a sigh and relaxed completely. The soft ground was almost as comfortable as Stelian’s bed as it cradled his body. He wasn’t tired, but he tried to stop stressing out and worrying about everything. He drifted off in a hazy doze, enjoying himself.

Being outside always put Tucker in the best mood. Whenever he’d needed to get away from his haitas, he’d taken long walks through the city to the public forest. He’d even spent a few nights out there after his twentieth birthday, in his wolf form. It had gotten him in trouble, but he liked his shifted form. Things were simpler. Daydreaming seemed like a waste of his time, but images of his wolf, and then Stelian’s, filled his mind. Even though he’d been fighting, Stelian’s wolf had still been the most majestic beast that Tucker had ever seen.

Thoughts of the fight led to thoughts of his power and the lightning he’d wielded. The sunlight seemed to shift, and Tucker opened his eyes. He gasped, but his mouth didn’t move. Floating in the air, he was looking down at his body. A soft radiance surrounded him in a white glow. 

Tucker looked around, but he didn’t see anyone or anything in the garden. He turned back to study his body. His hair looked like a bright new penny, gleaming in the sun. Power shimmered over his body like a heat wave on a summer day and his pale skin appeared almost iridescent in the light.

Shock filled him when he looked at the book resting on his stomach. The dragon on the cover was moving. The tail began undulating, and the wolf’s head tilted back. A howl rang through Tucker’s mind, echoing. Building. It was almost painful as the sound ripped through barriers he hadn’t known were there until the pool of power he’d felt once before as he channeled the lighting actually shimmered in front of him.

Tucker opened his eyes. He was once more in his body, but it felt different.

More.

Stelian’s voice came from the deck. “Tucker?”

Tucker jumped up from the ground and turned to face Stelian. “I’m still here.”

Stelian came stomping down the steps. “What did you think you were doing? I felt your aura reach out to mine all the way in the office. You’re not supposed to be using any of your power. Your body needs time to heal.”

Tucker slipped the sling off his arm, holding it out and rotating it at the wrist and shoulder. “No, I don’t.”

Stelian stopped dead in his tracks, staring at him. “Tucker?”

“I don’t know what happened. I was outside my body, and I was glowing. Then I felt this huge well up of power inside me. Now my arm doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“You’re still glowing,” Stelian whispered.

Tucker looked down at his uninjured hand. Without thinking about it, he’d cradled the book to his body when he stood up. It wasn’t his whole body like before, but his hand on the book was still glowing. Tucker remembered the way the symbol on the front had moved. He lifted the book, studying it and touching it gently, but it seemed solid once again.

“Tucker?”

“The book was different. I could see the drakon moving, and there was this howl—” He abruptly dropped back to the ground and set the book on the cradle of his lap. Opening the book cover, he turned to the first page and read the first line.

“All men are made from the same paste. Malleable and fluid, the spark that embodies the soul is the origin of their power.” He stopped speaking, but he kept reading. Reaching the end of the page rapidly, he looked up. “Stelian, I can read it! It makes sense.”

Stelian was sitting on the bottom step of the deck’s stairs, his hands clenched on his knees. “You spoke in another language.”

Tucker’s felt his eyes widened as his mouth dropped open. “I did?”

Stelian nodded. 

“That is so weird.” He looked back at the book, turning the page. “I can read it though.” He flicked through several more, scanning them. “All of it.”

He snapped the book shut and jumped to his feet. He felt really good, as though he was energized, but he felt floaty—not quite grounded. He closed his eyes, turning in a circle. He could feel everything, like little tingles of energy he could sense from every living object. Facing forward again, he saw a huge pillar of color and light. Before, he’d thought Stelian’s aura was dark, but now that he could see clearly it was not so simple a description. It was velvety and full of swirling purple shadows so deep and rich they could be mistaken for black, but weren’t.

He opened his eyes, knowing Stelian watched him. Tucker could feel the pull of his magic reaching for his mate’s aura. It hummed inside him, alive and fierce, creating a desire for the alpha that rippled through Tucker. But it didn’t overwhelm him—Tucker still had a choice. He could see Stelian more clearly, and his power was attractive and heady. In many ways, their auras were already bound together.

So Stelian’s story of his friend having a hultan as a counselor, and not a lover, was true. If Tucker didn’t want Stelian, it wouldn’t go any farther. But he did. His erection tented his pants as he stepped closer and closer to the lupe who rose to his feet and stood waiting for him.

“I think I found my magic,” Tucker said in a husky voice, “and it wants you.”

“What about you? Do you want me?” Stelian pulled Tucker into his arms, licking at the corner of his mouth and tasting his lower lip. Tucker pressed closer, his hands clutching at the back of Stelian’s crisp dress shirt.

“I always have—I just hate that it seemed like we had no choice.” He pulled the shirt up and then slid his hands under it, caressing the small of Stelian’s back. “But my power isn’t in control of what I feel for you—it just made it easier to sense that you were the right lupe for me.”

Stelian’s grip turned painfully tight but Tucker merely groaned in pleasure. He did that. Tucker made the ancient lupe who could have his choice of males want him that much.

“I was prepared to wait.” Stelian’s eyes shone yellow as he stared down at Tucker.

“I don’t want to.”

“I can’t fully claim you until the full moon. The clan must be present.”

Tucker licked his bottom lip, following the path Stelian’s tongue had taken. “That doesn’t mean we can’t still… have fun right now.”

A grin grew across Stelian’s face. “Fun, huh?” He thrust his hips forward, grinding them in a circle against Tucker’s stomach. The iron bar of his erection was hot through the fabric of his pants, and Tucker wanted it. He wanted to lick and suck it, to bury the thick length in his throat as he made Stelian lose all control. He hadn’t hooked up with anyone since just after his birthday, and he was young—and horny!

He licked his lips again. “Let’s go upstairs.”

Stelian’s expression grew a little wicked, as if he could read Tucker’s thoughts. “I have a better idea.” He led the way to a small thicket of bushes that concealed a small fountain and bench in the east corner of the garden. “How about you get on your knees, right here?”

Tucker shivered. “Oh yeah.”

The lupe pressed on his shoulders, and Tucker sank down. He could smell Stelian’s need, see it in the bulge in his jeans. His hands shook a little as he reached forward to undo the button. Teasing them both, he pulled the zipper down one tooth at a time.

Stelian was growling by the time he was done. Tucker was glad he’d gone slowly because as soon as he tugged the jeans down, Stelian’s cock popped out. Apparently he didn’t like to wear underwear either.

He swallowed hard. He’d felt it, but never seen Stelian’s cock before. Tucker ran his hands along the hot skin, loving how soft the skin was over the hard shaft against his palms. He glanced up. Stelian was staring down at him, his eyes half shut and gleaming.

“Your mouth, Tucker. I want your mouth.” Tucker shivered at the dark need in Stelian’s voice as he said his name.

Tucker leaned forward, sliding his tongue out of his mouth. He caressed the head, feeling the tiny fissures and lapping up the salty pre-cum practically dripping from the slit. Then he opened his mouth as wide as it would go and sank down, pulling back slowly, sucking in his cheeks.

“Oh gods.”

Tucker’s vision sharpened and went black and white, and he knew his eyes had shifted to yellow. Stelian hissed. “Fangs.”

Tucker pulled off. “Sorry.” He pushed his animal form back, feeling his eyes return to normal. He leaned in again, pushing Stelian’s shaft up against his stomach with one hand. He cradled Stelian’s balls, licking and sucking each orb into his mouth, before running his tongue back up the vein running along Stelian’s shaft. He nipped at the sensitive spot just below the head, and Stelian growled.

Stelian buried one hand in Tucker’s hair, pulling him forward. “Suck. Now.” Tucker groaned as his cock pulsed in his pants. He let go of Stelian’s balls so he could push down his sweats. He could stroke his shaft slowly, squeezing the head on each upstroke, gathering the weeping pre-come to ease the friction to a smooth glide. Relaxing his throat, Tucker let Stelian use his hair to pull him up and down the alpha’s shaft. 

His other hand slipped to Stelian’s hip, caressing the sharp muscles, and then just holding on.

Stelian’s breathing grew louder, and his knees began to shake. Tucker groaned, loving how his mate began pushing forward with his hips, holding his head still. The way Stelian took control and used his mouth sent a tingle to Tucker’s balls, and he moaned again. He wanted to be an equal with Stelian, but he couldn’t deny how hot it made him when the alpha got a little aggressive.

“Close,” Stelian gasped.

“Mmm.” Tucker began sucking hard, hollowing his cheeks. Stelian’s hips snapped once, twice more, and then he howled, his cock pulsing as he came. Tucker choked as the first shot hit the back of his throat, but he controlled it and swallowed again and again, taking all Stelian had to give.

His hand began to move faster. He was so close; he just needed a little more.

Stelian pushed him backward. Tucker’s hand came off his cock as he fell into the cool grass. Dropping to his knees, Stelian leaned down and swallowed Tucker’s cock down in one smooth motion, burying his nose in Tucker’s pubes.

“Oh God. Oh shit. Stelian!” Tucker didn’t last more than thirty seconds before his orgasm roared out of control. Stelian held his hips down, not letting him thrust as he kept sucking while Tucker howled as he felt his balls empty.

Tucker sprawled on the ground, feeling his energy swirling from the pleasure. He ran fingers through Stelian’s hair. The alpha crawled up his body, collapsing on his side next to Tucker. Turning on his side, Tucker looked up at Stelian’s eyes, back to their normal human color.

The tingling wasn’t gone completely, but it was muted. They kissed slowly, tongues twisting together languidly. Tucker was enjoying the closeness as they both recovered, letting his hands stroke his mate’s side. After a few minutes, Stelian tugged up his jeans and Tucker’s pants, then began to pull back. Tucker grabbed for him.

“Wait.”

Stelian paused, a question in his eyes. “Tucker?”

The way Stelian said his name was completely different from every other lupe he’d ever known. It wasn’t derisive or dismissive. Tucker could hear how Stelian felt, just by that one small word. He may not have known the ancient lupe for very long but every instinct he possessed told Tucker that his place was at this alpha's side as his mate.

"Promise me you won't ever leave me," Tucker said. "Tell me that I won't be left to live without you."

"Never," Stelian growled. "You're mine, but I am yours as well. I would never leave you. You will be mine forever."

Tucker reached up and sank his hand into Stelian's soft hair. He lifted his head off the ground and Tucker kissed him with all the pent-up passion he’d been trying to hide from the lupe in fear of losing him, the fear that Stelian was playing some elaborate game with his emotions because he didn’t have the instincts of a lupe.

He’d been so raw, felt so close to Stelian when he’d been sucking his cock, even more when Stelian had surprised him and sucked his. The lust they shared was strong. Finally releasing some of the tension felt amazing, but it was the tender kiss they’d shared afterward that finally crumbled the last wall he’d been hiding behind.

Feeling Stelian return all those emotions in the kiss, Tucker let go, allowing his trust and love to fill him. Their auras blended as they kissed; the twitchy energy coursing through Tucker spilled from his mouth and into Stelian before it returned to him. They were connected, their entire bodies joined by the power and passion they’d spent. Lost in the sensation, cradled and safe in the alpha’s arms, it surpassed anything Tucker had felt in his dreams.

It took his breath away.

Tucker pulled away, panting. He pressed their foreheads together. "Forever then, my mate."