Stuff My Stocking: M-M Romance Stories that are Nice and Naughty (30 page)

“Wait.”  Max couldn’t believe that was his voice talking.  “Wait.  We should…shouldn’t we?”  Even if he couldn’t form complete sentences he wasn’t a complete animal, now was he?

Conor groaned. “I know there’s something odd and amazing going on here.  I get that. I trust that you’re going to explain it to me.  But if you make me wait any longer, when I’ve been half-hard since this morning, I might kill you before you ever have a chance to tell me the details.”  He surprised Max by stepping back and kicking off his shoes.  “Get naked. It’s hot in here.”  Conor proceeded to remove the rest of his clothing.

Max had thought that a human would find the mate attraction frightening, but Conor was eager and in the end Max wasn’t going to argue.  Now, with every inch of pale skin that Conor revealed, Max’s excitement climbed.  He started to yank off his own pants, then remembered he had to untie his boots to get them off.  “Damn it.” 

Conor chuckled at Max as he pulled his feet out of the boots and socks and the rest followed, but the laughter fled when Max growled, picked Conor up and sat him on the long wooden counter.  God, the man was built, but he was just a bit smaller than Max, and Max liked that.  He liked being the larger partner but hated feeling like he was overpowering the other man.  He stood between Conor’s legs and circled his arms around him. Conor’s skin was almost cool in comparison to the heat of his lips as Max covered them with his own.

Not that there had been any doubt in Max’s mind, but the way they fit together, the mutual excitement, the taste he couldn’t get enough of, the connection that seemed to hum between them - all confirmed that this man was his true mate.

Max gasped as Conor’s hard cock touched his belly and left a wet drop.  Max reached between them and took both cocks in hand, rubbing them together, their pre-cum easing the way.  Conor moaned into Max’s mouth, the kisses not stopping, and pushed up into his hold.  

“Not gonna last very long,” Conor murmured.

“Me neither.”  Max felt Conor’s hand join his on their pricks, sliding along, squeezing.

Their bodies rubbed together in all the right places as their hips rolled.  Max buried his face in the crook of Conor’s neck.  He wanted so much to bite, to claim, to possess, but he settled for immersing himself in Conor’s scent. Conor pressed his cheek against Max’s head. Their breathing came in stutters and their muscles clenched with the final throes of orgasm overtaking them.  Cum spurted between them, coating Conor’s bare torso and sticking to Max’s coarse hair. 

“God,” Max said as a few shudders made his back twitch.  “That was amazing.”

Conor nodded.  “I’ve never been that out of control, ever.”  

“I liked it.”  Max kissed him before pulling away to look at the mess between them.  “But, ugh.”

Conor laughed.  “There’s a sink in here.” He hopped down off the counter and padded to a corner of the room.  Max heard water running and Conor reappeared with both wet and dry paper towels.  He rubbed the wet ones over Max’s stomach.  “You are so gorgeous,” he told Max as he caressed the indentations of his abs, and ran his hands up over his pecs.  Max had never been one to preen, but right now he wanted to strut like a peacock.

He took the towels out of Conor’s hands and returned the favor.  They both dried off and got dressed.

“So now you can tell me what’s happening,” Conor said.

“Okay.  Is it all right with you if we go somewhere else?  It’s like a hothouse in here.”  

Conor rolled his eyes, but he smiled - a good sign.  “You’re a funny guy.”  He walked toward the door that led back to the store.  “Let’s get our coats.  Where do you want to go?”

Max followed him.  “How about Bode & Son?”

“The little bar on East Street?”

“That’s the one.”

*****

Bode & Son Tavern was friendly and dark, with plenty of tables in quiet nooks.  Max led the way to a spot near the back, tucked along a side wall.  The wooden table had hosted many years of customers leaving etched names or initials on its surface.  It was small enough that Max and Conor could sit across from each other yet knock heads if they leaned in. 

They relaxed until their waitress delivered two winter ales and a bowl of peanuts.  Conor unshelled a nut and popped it in his mouth.  “Okay.  Spill,” he said, resting his elbows on the table.

Max fiddled with his mug.  He was not the smoothest of talkers on his best day.  Now, with something this important, he felt like he wouldn’t be able to talk without sounding like an idiot.  He took a sip of his drink. “Well.  Um.  How much do you know about Pishmuck?  I mean, you’ve only lived here a month or so, right?”

“Yes.  How did you know that?” 

“I’ve been out of town for the last eight weeks.  If you’d been here before that, I would have known.”

Conor studied him, squinting his eyes. “I know a lot about Pishmuck.  You’re right that I haven’t been here very long, but I did my research before I moved.  And besides that, Thandi has been my best friend since the first week of college.  I probably know more than a lot of people do about this place.” 

Max had forgotten that Thandi went out west to school.  Like most of their kind, she’d come back and put roots down near the pack’s settlement.  It was rare for one of them to leave permanently.  On the flip side, Pishmuck had lots of visitors, but seldom did anyone decide to stay. “Why did you move here?”  It wasn’t what Max intended to say, but he wasn’t always good with detouring his thoughts from his mouth.

Conor took a drink of his ale.  “After college, I got a decent job in interior design, and after that I got into set design.  Then I sort of hopped around, relocating, thinking the next gig would be the one I’d be happy with, but instead everything just fell short.  I couldn’t get comfortable, you know?”  

Max nodded.  “Yeah, I’m familiar with that feeling.”  Boy, was he ever.  Except he’d never had the urge to leave home to deal with it.

“One night when Thandi and I were talking on the phone, she mentioned that she was buying yet another storefront, and that she wanted to do the whole place up big time for the Christmas season.”  Conor picked a few peanuts out of the dish and started prying the shells off.  “We started hashing out ideas - we do that a lot and usually get pretty enthused about it - then she got real quiet.  I asked if I’d said something that bothered her.  She asked me if I wanted to move out here and work with her.  And just like that, it felt right.  I hardly gave it a minute’s thought; I just said ‘yes’ and here I am.” 

“Just like that?” Max asked.

Conor snapped his fingers.  “Just like that.”  He brushed aside the mess of shells and leaned close to Max.  “And I know where this is going.  So let’s not drag it out, okay?”

Max wasn’t sure they were on the same page, but he was hopeful.  “Okay.” He pulled in closer to Conor.  “If you know Pishmuck, and you know Thandi as well as you say, then you know there’s a wolf pack here…”

Conor interrupted.  “Wolf shifters.  I know, Max.  And you’re one of them.  And we’re mates.  True mates, right?”

Max blinked a few times.  “Well, shit, just take the wind out of my sails.” 

“If I waited for your wind, we’d be here all night.”  Conor looked at Max from under his long lashes and smiled just enough to make the dimple in his right cheek appear. “I can think of better things to do.”

“I can’t believe you’re so calm about this.”  Max’s own heart was beating wildly, and he fought the urge to drag Conor from the bar and do him in the alley.  

“Thandi and I talked a lot about it after I got here.  She knows things.” He tapped his head.  “She has a sense about people and relationships.  She’d told me about the shifters a long time ago.  When she asked me to move here, it wasn’t just because we’re friends.  She saw us - you and me - together.”  Conor reached out to lace his fingers through Max’s. 

“She saw us?”  He looked at their joined hands.  This whole day had been made up of all sorts of surprises.   

“Yes, she did.  But that little bugger didn’t give me the whole scoop until I was moved in and designing displays for her store. And even then she didn’t tell me your name.”

“And when you saw me, when you were standing on the ladder…?”

“I knew.  I’d never seen you until that moment and as soon as you came into the room I felt like angel wings were caressing me.  And when we touched,” he squeezed Max’s hands, “the last pieces of the puzzle fell into place.”

Max freed one hand to grab his mug and took a gulp of his ale. “So why didn’t you say anything earlier?”  

“Even though Thandi and I talked about it, and I sort of knew what might happen, that still wasn’t enough to make the reality any less surprising.  That and I didn’t want to scare you.”  He smirked, but looked like he was trying not to.

“Scare me?”  

“Yeah.  You looked a little freaked out.”

Max wanted to argue the point.  He was a wolf, for crying out loud.  But… “Finding your true mate is a big deal.  It’s legendary and there aren’t a lot of wolves who get to have that.  When we’re young, we dream about it, like humans dream about meeting their handsome prince and riding off on a white horse.  When we get older, we come to terms with it being just a fantasy.  So maybe I did freak.  A little.  But I’m over it.”

“Good.”  Conor swallowed the rest of his drink.  “Take me home.”

*****

Max was glad he’d managed to put up a few of his decorations and his tree, even if it was still bare.  It made the place seem more homey and welcoming.  It was more a cabin than a house, really, but it provided all the creature comforts.  After he tossed his coat on a hook and his boots on the mat, he threw a couple of logs in the fireplace, along with some kindling. 

Conor looked around as he peeled off his coat and kicked off his boots.  “This is nice.  Very comfy.”  He turned to Max.  “I feel right at home.”

Max lit the fire and made sure it got a good start.  “You look like you belong here.” He stalked toward Conor, stopping when they stood chest to chest.  He rested his hands on the other man’s shoulders.  “This is your home now too.  We’ll move your stuff tomorrow.”  Having Conor here in his territory made Max all kinds of possessive.

“Is it odd that hearing that doesn’t bother me in the least?”  Conor gripped Max’s waist.  He tilted his head up a bit to place little kisses on Max’s jaw.   In between kisses he said, “That I’m ready to follow you anywhere?”

“No,” Max said.  “It’s perfect.”  He sniffed Conor’s neck, taking in the scent he would never tire of.  “You’re perfect.”  He nipped lightly, and licked at Conor’s skin, making his way under his chin to the other side of his neck.  “I want to mark you.”

Conor canted his head, opening himself to Max’s ministrations.  “Do it.”  His grip on Max tightened.  “Make sure anyone who sees me will know I’m yours.”

That was the absolutely best thing Conor could have said, and Max almost came in his pants right there.  He looked into Conor’s eyes, knew the truth of his words and felt a growl start deep in his chest.  “Get naked. I’ll be right back.” He started to turn away, but stopped and said, “You know we don’t need condoms, right?” 

“Because of the wolfy thing?” Conor asked.  Max nodded. “Good.  I don’t want anything between us.” 

Max kissed him, then ran to his bedroom and grabbed a blanket and the bottle of lube.  

When he returned, Conor was just dropping his pants and underwear.  Max spread the blanket over the rug in front of the fireplace.  The tinsel strung across the mantle glittered in the firelight, and in front of that backdrop, Conor looked like an angel.  When he dropped to his knees and opened Max’s jeans, a feeling of rightness settled on Max, a sense that he and Conor were two halves that together made one whole.  It both humbled and excited him.  

Conor drew Max’s jeans and underwear down, with long caresses to his thighs and calves, pulling socks and all off one leg and then the other.  Max yanked his own shirt off and tossed it over his back.  Conor ran his hands up Max’s legs, from the tops of his feet, over his shins and knees, around the backs of his legs, and then grasped his leaking cock.  He looked at Max with a hooded gaze, and slid his lips just over the tip.  

Max’s hands went to Conor’s head, but his hair wasn’t long enough to grab onto.  Max let loose another growl.  “I want you to grow your hair.”  With every minute, every motion, every touch, Max felt his dominance assert itself.  “I want to be able to yank on it, pull you away or hold you still while I fuck your mouth.”

Conor nodded and shuddered, reached for his own cock.

“Don’t touch that.  It’s mine.  Put your hands on my hips.”  

A moan from Conor vibrated around him, telling Max how much Conor liked that idea, as did the increased sucking and licking.   Conor’s tongue circled and stroked as he moved up and down.  Max had to pull away; he had other plans for his cock.  Even though he let out a frustrated sound, Conor stayed on his knees.  Max looked down at him, and felt the wolf rising, pleased with their mate.  They so very much wanted to throw him down, to brutally claim him.

Max fought against the animal instinct.  Conor was his mate, but he was human and while Max wanted to be rough, he didn’t want to truly hurt him.  A few deep breaths brought his control back and he was able to drop to his knees in front of Conor, so they were face to face.  He loved the other man’s puffy lips, the red in his cheeks, and the way his blue eyes were mostly black.  

“You like submitting.”  Max grasped Conor’s prick and rubbed his thumb over the slit, spreading the pre-cum on the head.  With his other hand he tweaked a nipple, squeezing it then tracing gentle circles around it.  

Conor arched into his touch.  “Yes.” It came out on a breath.  “To you.  I haven’t been…Ah!” He bucked when Max bent down and bit the other nipple.  “Haven’t been inclined before.” 

Max let go of Conor’s cock and reached lower to play with his balls.  He bit at Conor’s ear.  “I want to fuck you.” 

“God, yes.” 

“And mark you.”

“Please.  I want you to.”

Max leaned away.  “Turn around.”  He slapped Conor’s ass to help him along, then pushed down between his shoulder blades so he ended up ass high, head low.   He ran his hands over Conor’s smooth butt, squeezed his cheeks and pressed his thumbs in toward the little hole.   “I could eat you up.” He licked up and down, over the pucker and the crease, wanting all those little nerve endings to be alive and jumping when he went in.