Resilience (37 page)

“That’s—” Todd cleared his throat and pressed his hands to his cheeks, which were absolutely flaming. “TMI,” he choked out. “Definitely.”

“But you blush so pretty,” Gabe informed him while batting his lashes. He giggled and dropped down to plant a sloppy kiss on Todd’s temple. “Now we will leave you in peace so you can go home to that handsome mate of yours! See you tomorrow!”

And, as quickly as he’d entered, Gabe turned and walked out, only adding a slight exaggeration to his walk as he laughed and waved at the officer.

Todd sighed softly and melted into his seat just a bit. That had gone more smoothly than he’d hoped it would.

“It’s like us add-in shifters are marked, isn’t it?” Gabe draped an arm over Adam’s shoulders. The guy was sweaty and not exactly pleasant-smelling, considering they’d all spent half the night running all over the damn countryside, so really Adam figured he stank as well, but—ew.

“Dude, scoot that way,” Adam said as he nudged Gabe. “Between the two of us, we’re probably toxic.”

Gabe scowled and sniffed then gagged. Adam wasn’t sure he was faking it, either.

“Jesus, you are ripe, buddy. I, on the other hand,” Gabe lifted an arm and inhaled close to his pit. “Mmmm, I just smell like man. ”

Adam snorted and stole Gabe’s eye roll. “Whatever, you reek, like nappy ass and toe jam.”

“Oh yeah?” Gabe glared at him a split second before the sharp edge of his elbow caught Adam’s ribs. “Well, I look better naked.” Then Gabe laughed and slapped Adam on the back as he tried to catch his breath.

“Stop beating up my guy,” Todd growled, a healthy dose of teasing in his voice. “I have plans for him that don’t involve the emergency room.”

Adam cast a glance at Todd, surprised by the bold claim, and he went warm all over

upon seeing the fiery blush on Todd’s cheeks. Unfortunately, Adam’s cock was very pleased with the sight too, and it started to plump right up in front of Gabe and Mika and, yeah, Adam casually tried to drape his hands over his groin.

Which caused a round of laughter from Gabe and Mika while Todd reached down to cover his own cock and balls.

“Y’all are so cute,” Gabe cooed, flapping a hand at each of them. “Seriously, the modesty is adorable.”

“It’s not something I’m familiar with,” Mika added, catching Gabe’s arm before he could deliver another elbow. “What I mean is, being raised in a pack, we often all stripped and shifted, and no one really paid a lot of attention to anyone else.”

“Riiiiight.” Gabe shook his head. “I am sure there was plenty of ogling going on. It’s only natural.”

“Probably. Now, let’s go, I want to ogle you in the privacy of our own home.” Mika

waggled his eyebrows and Gabe giggled, and Adam wondered if he’d fallen through some weird portal that made normally scowly men flirtatious instead. Mika generally wasn’t so…fun.

Gabe grinned and waved. “That’s our cue to leave. Adam, you make a lovely brown and grey wolf, and Todd,” Gabe grinned so wide he looked unstable, “who knew ginger wolves even existed?”

Todd made a choked sound and Adam was pretty sure he was swallowing back a ‘fuck you’ since Todd just didn’t say things like that, even joking, at least not often. And, besides, it was true—Todd in shifted form was gorgeous, a sleek, light orange wolf whose tail and ears were tipped in cream and whose paws were a rusty brown. Adam felt kind of plain, actually, just being brown with the odd black patch on him. Kind of like Gabe’s calico wolf but with only two colours. Definitely not like any kind of wolf Adam had ever seen before.

He and Todd waved Gabe and Mika off then turned to each other. Todd let his hands drop away and Adam was delighted to see that he was still hard, still eager. He took a step forwards then stopped and sniffed. He was kind of funky smelling.

Todd grimaced as he sniffed, too. “Maybe we should shift and hit up the creek?”

Adam nodded. “Yeah, the whole sweaty man thing can be fucking hot, but we smell like wet dog more than anything else. It’s kinda gross.”

“Kinda,” Todd agreed, then there was a lean orange wolf blinking at Adam.

“That just isn’t fair, that you’re quicker at it than me.” Considering he’d been turned by some ancient dead shifter remains, you’d have thought Adam would shift lickety-split. He sighed melodramatically then shifted. He and Todd howled, a joyous song of mates, as they bounded towards the slight creek. Adam wasn’t sure it’d make them smell a whole lot better, but it sure couldn’t hurt.

And, weirdly enough, his cock was still hard in shifted form. Adam eyed Todd in his peripheral vision. They could fuck like this, right?

“No!” Todd’s thought slammed at him. “Well, probably, but I want the man fucking me senseless, not the wolf.”

“But maybe, sometime…” After all, they were part wolf now, so why shouldn’t they?

Todd’s wolfy snort was much louder than his human one. “Yes, but not tonight. I need you.”

Adam wasn’t an idiot, and he thought he’d best do a little research on shifter mating, which would be really embarrassing, but, if there was any chance of Todd being hurt, they’d never have sex in their shifted forms. God, that was going to be a fun conversation to have with Marcus.

The scent of water was tickling his nose and Adam yipped happily. As humid as it was, it’d be sheer pleasure to play in the creek. Owing to the drought, it was a pitiful stream of water that barely covered the rocks beneath it in some places, but, hey, he wasn’t a picky guy.

Adam stopped at the creek’s edge, Todd right beside him. He nuzzled his mate then rank the cool water, occasionally licking Todd’s tongue just because he could. Todd shifted and stood up, fondling his still-erect dick, and Adam’s mouth watered. He shifted just as Todd stepped into the water. It only reached his ankles there, but Todd shuffled a dozen or so feet down and sat when the water was about knee-height.

Adam shifted as well then and joined Todd. The water was not cold, but it was a shock to his heated skin. Didn’t affect his arousal at all. Adam straddled Todd’s lap in the water, easing down so as not to put his knee on a sharp rock. With his hands braced on Todd’s shoulders, Adam leaned in and kissed Todd, sealing his mouth firmly over his mate’s and laving every bit of the sweet interior he could reach.

Then he scooped up a double handful of the water and dumped it on Todd’s head, and the playing was on. Adam was laughing too hard to have enough sense to close his mouth so, when Todd dunked him in that shallow water, Adam sucked in half of it, he’d have sworn. He came up coughing and sputtering, and Todd snickered, his eyes gleaming under the moonlight. He looked so…happy. Adam thought he didn’t see Todd like this enough, filled with joy, glowing with it, really. It was worth a little water in his lungs to see it.

Of course, he couldn’t let Todd get away with nearly drowning him. Adam surged up

and promptly stumbled, stubbing his toe on what had to be a damned boulder in that shallow creek. He flailed and Todd reached for him and together they went down.

Adam was determined to take the fall but so was Todd, it seemed, because he couldn’t roll Todd on top of him when Todd was struggling so. They landed in the water on their sides, the loud slap of the impact sounding much more painful than the actual event was.

This time they both came up gasping and hacking. And Adam pressed his advantage, surprised he even had one. He had his hands beneath Todd’s arms and was pulling him to the bank before Todd had finished spluttering.

“Clean enough,” Adam muttered. Why had he been going on about a little sweat and

dog scent when he had a man like Todd naked and eager for him? Adam stretched out on top of Todd on the grassy bank. Todd looked up at him, expression open and loving and so much more than Adam had ever thought to have. “I love you.”

Todd opened his mouth to answer and Adam bent, capturing the words, the taste of

them on his tongue. He felt Todd shiver beneath him, felt the vibration of a moan as it worked its way past Todd’s lips. Adam held his torso up on his elbows and buried his hands as thoroughly as he could in Todd’s short hair. He gripped the silky wet strands and tugged, and Todd arched for him, want rising harder and faster between them.

Adam rutted against Todd, the burn of Todd’s cock beside his almost maddening in its perfection. Adam growled and shuddered as he struggled for restraint, too close to coming all over Todd’s firm belly.

Todd rocked up, whimpering as he canted his head slightly. Adam met Todd’s need, kissing him with more force, claiming every centimetre of his mouth. He nipped at Todd’s tongue, at his lips, sucking the swollen flesh there as Todd continued to make soft keening sounds with each thrust of his hips.

Adam licked his way down from Todd’s lips to the sweet spot at the base of his neck. A scrape of his teeth over there, and Todd gasped, his cock pulsing between them, cum slicking them both. Adam held back, barely, his intent to be inside Todd when he finally came. He didn’t doubt he could be hard again in minutes—his libido and therefore recovery time being one of the awesome things that had increased when he’d become a shifter—but holding on until the spunk all but burst from him would be a mind-melting experience.

Plus, he got to drive Todd over the edge again.

Adam suckled on Todd’s neck until he stopped undulating beneath him, then Adam began kissing and nipping a path to Todd’s nipples. With fingers and mouth, he worked the little nubs into hardened peaks in seconds. Todd’s cock didn’t soften completely, didn’t get the chance before Adam ratcheted up the arousal in his mate all over again.

“Adam, please,” Todd rasped as Adam teethed one tip and pinched the other. Todd grabbed his biceps, squeezing hard. Adam applied more pressure in return and Todd sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes going wide before closing on a broken groan.

Being what he—what they—were now made everything so much more intense. Adam could feel Todd’s need throbbing in him like a living thing, could smell it, hear it in his shaky breaths and the sounds spilling from him, see it, taste it. Adam’s control was unravelling quick as a ball of yarn tossed down a steep hill. He pushed himself down, his cock dragging the length of one of Todd’s thighs, his balls tight and ready for release. Adam slicked his fingers with Todd’s cum and Todd, as attuned to Adam as he was to him, raised his other leg, offering Adam his ass.

Adam rubbed the cooling spunk over Todd’s clenched hole, then eased a finger into Todd’s heat. His eyes nearly crossed as Todd’s inner walls rippled around his digit. Adam stretched Todd quickly, pausing only to pull out and swipe more jizz onto his fingers. When Todd was all but sobbing, his need tearing at Adam until he ached from it, Adam surged up, catching the backs of Todd’s knees with his arms, rolling Todd up onto his shoulders. Adam knew a moment of utter frustration when he had to release one of Todd’s legs to line his cock up right, but then he was sinking into Todd’s ass, his cock massaged and pulled deeper as Todd moaned and thrashed his head from side to side.

“Beautiful,” Adam managed, then his balls slapped Todd’s ass as he sank to the root.

Adam choked on whatever words had been trying to escape, and his vision blurred, his mind hazed as the wolf inside him howled with the perfection of Todd’s gripping ass.

Adam pulled back only enough to slam back in. It felt so good, so exquisite, he roared and repeated the movements over and over, driving into Todd fiercely as Todd gripped him with a strength that fired Adam’s need even higher. He needed more, and Todd did as well.

Adam let go of Todd’s legs and Todd snarled at him, reaching for him. “Roll over,”

Adam ground out, trying to focus when he couldn’t see straight, couldn’t hardly refrain from diving right back into Todd’s ass.

But Adam had barely got the order out when Todd was on his knees, his ass high and

inviting, his chest down as he presented himself to his mate. Adam was on him in an instant, pushing back into the heat and softness as Todd howled, clawing at the ground. He slammed back, meeting Adam’s thrust, driving hard. Adam gripped one hip and one shoulder and ploughed Todd’s hole. His canines elongated and his wolf demanded, and Adam obeyed, leaning over Todd, finding the tender join of shoulder and neck.

Now, he knew he wouldn’t hurt Todd, not more than either of them wanted. The

mating bite was painful, but in a pleasurable way they both needed. Todd had left a deep one on Adam just the night before, and Adam had actually passed out from the pleasure of it when he came.

Tonight, he was going to drive Todd to that same point.

Adam’s balls were so tight he knew he wasn’t going to last much longer, not with the way Todd was keening and cursing, something he rarely did so fluently. Todd’s back was wet, slicked with sweat, and their bodies made stirringly lewd sounds as Adam fucked him.

It was too much, Todd’s need, his perfection as Adam drilled into him, his love and the emotions flowing between them. Adam tossed his head back as he thrust deep, the shout ripping painfully from his throat right before he dropped forward and bit.

Todd’s throaty yell sent goose bumps over Adam even as the coppery taste of Todd’s

blood coated his tongue. Adam froze, his cock clenched by Todd’s inner muscles, which rippled and caressed his length as Todd came. Adam’s own climax was pulled right out of him, pouring into Todd’s body, marking him inside. He let up on the bite, lapping at it sloppily instead as he came.

Dizziness hit him then, too much pleasure to process. Todd’s yell cut off suddenly, and he collapsed beneath Adam. Adam was attuned enough, even in the throes of release, to know Todd was fine, more than fine, actually. As Adam had the night before, Todd had given in and let consciousness slip away. Adam could feel him, floating peacefully, sated, and it made Adam’s orgasm that much better.

Once he stopped shuddering, stopped coming, Adam eased out of Todd’s body and lay

down beside him. He pulled Todd into his arms. Todd snuggled to him, already watching him with a sappy smile on his handsome face. Adam knew he had to be grinning just as sappily, because how could he not with such a perfect mate?