Rise to Submit [Rise of the Changelings, Book 4] (Siren Publishing Epic Romance, ManLove) (30 page)

But who was going to help Mason heal? It was true that Ian gave him something precious, his trust, but Mason still felt—god, why was he even entertaining these thoughts? He shouldn’t pity himself right before a battle. He should be mentally preparing himself for the fight.

There was only room for one screwed-up individual in this relationship, and it wasn’t going to be Mason. He’d dealt with his problems for too many years to question anything that he did now.

To hell with it.

Tomorrow he fought, afterward, if he had survived, he would—Mason ran his hands over his face, frustrated as hell. Here he thought getting away from his father and attending college would make his life easier. But fate had other plans.

He just wished the bitch would have let him know about them.

Feeling weary, Mason stood. That was enough thinking for one night. What he needed right now was Ian, his mate.

Undressing, Mason crawled into bed and pulled the small human into his arms, curling his body around Ian’s, soaking in his warmth. He held tight to the one man who had come to mean so much to him. Mason may have not gone through what Ian had experienced, but on a deeper level, they were kindred souls, both searching for…something.

He wanted to be loved just as desperately as Ian. Mason wanted to know he belonged just as much as his mate did.

Ian’s eyes fluttered open, and the dark-blue irises seemed to hold an intelligence that could see right into his very soul.

“I’m here for you,” Ian softly said.

Mason felt cut off at the knees. Ian was slowly pulling the bricks down from around his defenses and working his way in. Bending his head, Mason flicked his tongue and tasted his mate just above the ragged pulse in his neck.

His small fingernails dug into Mason’s chest as Ian tilted his head to the side, giving off a small moan. For changelings, it was the purest sign of trust to expose one’s neck.

“I love those moans. I love when you let me know what I’m doing to you.” Mason paused and then completely opened his heart to his mate. “But most of all, I love you, Ian.”

Ian swallowed, chest heaving. “Is this a dream?” he whispered, the fear clear in his small voice.

“No, Ian. This is very real, and tonight, I’m going to show you just how much I truly do love you.” Mason reached up and ran his hand through Ian’s hair. “Never cut your hair. I love how the long strands feel gliding through my fingers.”

Mason settled on his back and then pulled Ian over his chest, gliding his hand from Ian’s nape, down the expanse of his back, and then over the sweet curves of his flared bottom.

Ian’s pupils dilated as he arched his back into Mason’s touch like a lazy cat being petted.

Mason purred.

Ian glanced down at him. “Do that again, Sir.”

The rumble became louder. Ian blew out a shuddering breath. “I’ve never heard anything like that before. Is it because you are a changeling?”

“It is. My cat is pleased by your approval.”

Ian’s eyes locked with his, his hands flat against Mason’s chest. “You like
my
approval?”

Mason’s fingers began to play at Ian’s cheeks, pulling them apart, and then circling the small hole that was pulsing. “Everyone wants approval, Ian. It’s in our nature to want someone to want us, to be loved and accepted.”

“Even you, Sir?” Ian asked in surprise.

“Even me.”

“But you are this…this man who seems to be in control all the time, like nothing ever bothers you.”

Mason knew he couldn’t keep up his façade. Ian needed a strong man, but he also needed to see that even the strongest were weak at times. His mate needed to realize that everyone was vulnerable to a point. If he could see this, then maybe it would help in his healing. “I grew up in a house where there was no love. My father was as cold as the winds that blow in deep winter. I crave for someone to love me, to make me feel like I matter.”

“But you do matter,” Ian said softly, “to me.”

Mason cupped Ian’s face and brought it down to his, giving Ian a heartfelt kiss. He could feel the possessiveness take hold, his jaguar yowling at the thought of anyone ever trying to take Ian from him. This man was his mate.
His.
His to have, his to love, his to guide through his nightmares and help him come out on the other side a healed man. Not even Ian’s brother was going to stand between them.

One lone finger sunk into Ian’s body as Mason continued to stoke the fires between them, kissing Ian deeper, using his tongue to sweep into his mate’s wet, moist mouth. Ian ground his erection against Mason’s stomach, moaning and groaning into Mason’s mouth. He would kill anyone who took those sweet, sweet noises from him.

They were for him, his ears only, for his very own pleasure.

Without breaking the kiss, Mason reached over and snagged the lube from the nightstand, dribbling the silken gel over his mate’s entrance. Tossing the bottle aside, Mason slid a second finger in, playing, stretching, and just enjoying the feel of his mate’s body.

God, Mason wanted to bite down on Ian’s flesh, to strengthen their bond so badly that his teeth actually hurt. He cupped the back of Ian’s head with his free hand, bring the man closer, inhaling the intoxicating scent of wildness in the man.

The jaguar spread inside of him in a languorous wave of sexual need. Mason’s cock was ramrod hard, ready to take his mate, but he pushed the urges back, taking his time with the man he loved, needed, craved.

He wanted to touch, to stroke, to let Ian know he was the most cherished man in Mason’s life. His hand smoothed through Ian’s hair, giving a light, playful tug at the strands.

Another moan.

As Mason’s fingers played inside Ian, he used his hand to press Ian’s groin closer, hitching his hips at the same time, enjoying the pleasure-filled friction. He wanted to fuck, to roll his mate and pound into his giving body, to find release.

But he took his time, taking pleasure in just holding Ian, touching him.

“Sir,” Ian moaned into Mason’s mouth. The plea was desperate, as if Ian was feeling the same fevered pitch building inside of him as Mason felt in his own body. He added a third finger, giving Ian more pleasure while he sought out the man’s prostate.

Ian bucked, crying out into Mason’s mouth as Mason stroked his fingers over the walnut-sized gland. He spread his legs, settling Ian as he drove his tongue deep into the man’s mouth, sucking his mate’s tongue, licking over Ian’s teeth, and then finally nipping at his bottom lip.

He was losing himself in Ian, and that was what Mason needed tonight. He wanted to forget there was a battle in the morning. He needed to forget his father wanted him dead. Mason craved to just take Ian and run, never looking back.

But he couldn’t.

He had to help. But tonight, in the quietness of the night, Mason was going to find his solace inside his mate’s tender body.

“I want things I’ve never wanted before,” Ian confessed against Mason’s mouth.

Mason was panting, the softly spoken words setting his blood on fire. “Like what?”

Ian pushed down, and then down some more. Mason pulled his fingers from his mate’s body, watching in awed wonder as Ian licked a path down Mason’s body and then engulfed his cock. Mason hissed, stopping himself from bucking and lodging his cock deep into Ian’s throat.

Mason’s knees fell apart, his eyes locking onto Ian’s lips. Tendrils of sensation pulsed through Mason as Ian’s hand wrapped around his straining cock, his tongue playing with the veins that ran alongside his shaft.

Mason threw his head back and gritted his teeth as his body began to quake with pleasure so extreme, it caused his hands to curl into fists. He should be more in control. He should be guiding Ian. Mason should be doing a hell of a lot of things right now, but the only thing he was capable of doing was letting Ian give him so much pleasure that Mason was close to exploding in the man’s mouth.

Ian seemed to catch on that Mason was holding back because he doubled his efforts, taking Mason deeper, his other hand grabbing Mason’s balls and swirling them around in the palm of his hand. When Ian gave his sac a light pull, Mason growled as his release shot down his mate’s throat in a pulsating force that damn near shadowed the edges of Mason’s vision.

Mason didn’t take the time to relish the postorgasmic sensations. He grabbed Ian under his arms and hauled the man back onto his chest, taking Ian’s lips with his own, tasting his own seed, and sinking into his mouth with feral savagery.

Mason was hot and hard all over again, nudging at Ian’s entrance. Ian cried out into the kiss as Mason began to enter him. Everything faded around Mason and his sole focus was Ian.

His mate.

He grabbed Ian’s hips, angling his mate for deeper penetration. Mason was blindsided when Ian used his blunt teeth to bite into Mason’s shoulder. He knew the man was averse to biting, so it shocked him to his core when Ian clamped down on his flesh.

“Harder,” he growled, powering his hips, driving his cock deeper.

The raw sensation of his mate trying to claim him drove all rational thoughts from his mind. His canines elongated, growing until they touched his bottom lip. Ian glanced up at him, and there was hesitancy in his eyes. He released Mason’s shoulder, leaned back, staring at Mason’s teeth.

“Will it hurt, Sir?”

Mason knew the first time he had bitten Ian, it had been painful. It was the initial mating bite. If they had been having sex at the time, the pain would have morphed into pleasure. “Only for a few seconds,” he said as he drove his cock repeatedly into Ian’s ass. He wanted to make his mate become so unglued that he begged Mason to claim him once more, to strengthen their bond.

Giving a hard thrust, Ian bowed his back and dug his fingernails deep into Mason’s chest again. He could scent that Ian had drawn blood this time. Mason growled and pulled Ian down for a firestorm kiss. His mate sank into the kiss, his tongue licking around Mason’s canines.

Ian wasn’t afraid of his teeth, Mason thought, but he was still hesitant of the bite. Mason released Ian’s head and grabbed his mate’s ass, spreading his twin globes, his fingers feeling his cock driving into Ian’s hole.

Mason reached up and grabbed one of Ian’s hands, guiding it behind him. “Feel what I’m doing to you.” He growled the words into Ian’s mouth. “Feel my cock taking you.”

Ian’s fingers danced around Mason’s shaft, and then his hands smoothed over the skin where they were joined. Mason slowed his thrusts, letting Ian explore their combined bodies. His lithe fingers separated, resting on either side of Mason’s cock, giving him added friction.

Mason withdrew and then slowly reentered his mate’s ass, his body shuddering at the feel of Ian’s fingers on his cock as it slid into the man’s hole.

An erotic haze of sexual need surrounded Mason. His head ground on the pillow when Ian squeezed his internal muscles, making his body tighter around Mason’s shaft. “Do that again.”

Ian’s face suffused with pleasure, and then he moved his hand away. “Go faster, Sir.”

Mason grabbed his hips, careful of his strength as he thrust deep into Ian’s body and then set a rhythm that made them both moan. He slowed.

“Please…Sir.”

“This is your lesson in mates, Ian. Feel what you do to me, what I’m doing to you. Feel our bond grow between us.”

Ian nodded as if he understood. “Please, Mason.”

Mason continued his oh-so-slow movements. “I want to savor the feel of you for as long as I can.”
Because I might not make it back to you.

His hands skimmed up Ian’s sides, playing with his soft skin, his thumbs circling around the man’s hard nipples. He began to wonder if the lives of the changelings in the detention center were worth leaving Ian alone in this world if he did die.

Mason quickly pushed the thought aside as he pulled at the two brown hues. Ian groaned, arching into Mason’s touch. Wrapping one arm around Ian’s waist, Mason sat up and scooted back until his back was against the wall. He pressed the heels of his feet into the mattress as Ian sat in his lap. His cock was deeply embedded, and his hands caressed through Ian’s hair.

It was Ian who cupped Mason’s face this time, his eyes penetrating. “You look so lost.”

Mason pushed harder into the tight sheath, gritting his teeth now at the pleasure. He didn’t want to analyze his emotions with Ian. He didn’t want to tell his mate that he may die in the fight tomorrow. He just wanted this one respite, this stolen moment.

Mason wrapped his arms around Ian, burying his face in the man’s neck.

“Bite me.”

Mason scraped his teeth along the soft skin, but didn’t sink in. “Why?” he asked as he licked along the salty skin.

Ian slid his hands up the back of Mason’s head, holding on. He could scent the man’s fear and was about to ask his mate what was wrong when Ian swallowed hard. “Because I love you.”

Mason bit down into Ian’s shoulder, the words forming a warm cocoon around his aching heart. The soft leather at Ian’s neck scraped at Mason’s cheek, but he ignored it as he thrust harder, strengthening their bond and glorying in the cry his mate shouted as his cock pulsed between them.