The Alpha's Onyx & Fire (7 page)

When it became paramount to breathe, he pulled back with a jerk, but refused to relinquish his grip on Leontis. Golden feline eyes trapped him. He felt unsure, not in control. As Alpha, Sage was always in control. He didn’t like this feeling.

“We need to talk,” he said lamely.

Leontis grunted, pulling away from Sage and turning to disappear into his house.

“Well this should be fun,” he muttered, entering his own house.

He paused when he saw Leontis and Tessa had taken up his small sofa, leaving the armchair and only empty space for him. He could tell by the way their bodies were turned to one another, the comfortable ease in which they sat so close together, that they obviously had a past. An intimate one. Both pairs of eyes met his, and in that moment, he knew it was useless. By their looks, Leontis and Tessa had already made up their mind about him. Leontis from Sage’s knee jerk reaction in his father’s office, and Tessa from his actions toward Leontis. Was this how it was going to be? He fucks up once, panics, and suddenly it’s them verses him. He slammed the door shut in frustration.

Tessa gave a startled sound, glaring over at Sage. “Was that necessary?”

“Since I’m about to be lectured, blamed, and then practically disregarded as an unworthy mate all in the comfort of my own home...yeah, I fucking think it is,” he snarled.

Their eyes softened, only serving to churn the heavy weight in Sage’s stomach more. Pity. He couldn’t...wouldn’t put up with that.

“You both nee—”

“Now, I know you aren’t about to tell us to leave.” There was a glint of something, possibly a threat or challenge in Tessa’s eyes. “An Alpha like yourself wouldn’t go jumping to conclusions and then take the cowards way out, would he?”

And there it was. The challenge.

His lips pulled back into a snarl. “I’d be careful with the words you use, sweetheart.”

“Oh, I was very careful with my pick,
sweetheart
.”

“Ah, Tessa...are you sure you want to do that,” Leontis asked, amusement lacing his voice. “We do need to talk first.”

Tessa gave their mate a brief look before she turned her big brown blazing eyes back to him. “I’m all for talking, but I’m going to make sure he is listening. You know, Ella warned me of your pigheadedness, told me you would need a certain type of handling.”

Sage bristled at her words. “I don’t need handling.”

“Then listen...and listen well, Alpha boy.” Tessa stood, making her way over to him. His hairs stood on end, tension coiled through him the closer she got. Her scent, so enticing and overpowering, swamped him, causing a growl to slip free. Tessa continued to move, closing the distance, unperturbed by his response. Out the corner of his eye he saw Leontis stand, edging around the room until he stood behind Sage. Feeling boxed in, Sage hissed, eyes darting back and forth between them, unable to work out how he had suddenly become the prey. “We aren’t going to turn on you, we aren’t going to turn you away. Obviously there was a misunderstanding between the two of you, but if what you and Ella have told me is right, then mates get past this. They don’t run. Ever.”

“And you did run, Sage,” Leontis murmured. Sage startled when he realized just how close the other man had gotten. “You ran, and that hurt.” Guilt slashed through him as he spun to face the other man, he went to speak, but was once again cut off by the larger man. “I know. I see it now. The fear, uncertainty. As an Alpha, it’s probably the first time you have ever felt that way.”

“Not the first, but the worst.” He felt the need to be honest. These were his mates. “”But submission? Alpha’s should never feel that.”

Leontis smiled, his hand rising to rest on Sage’s chest. “They should with their mates.”

Sage wrapped an arm around the bigger man’s shoulders, bringing him closer even as he reached blindly behind him for Tessa. He could her a low appreciative moan as his lips pressed lightly against Leontis’s, and he pulled back to look at Tessa.

A blush crept up her cheeks as she stared at them with an impish grin. “I never knew seeing two men kiss would be so damn hot.”

Sage threw his head back and laughed. “Honey, if that gets you going, wait until later.”

She let out a strangled sound and he winked. He groaned when teeth nipped at his ear.
Damn, that shouldn’t feel so hot
.

“I’ll hold you to that promise,” Leontis whispered. “But talk first.”

He sighed. His lion mate was right. “Right. Talk.”

Inside his tiger whined and he agreed. He really wanted to skip this part.

Dammit.

*****

They all sat down, this time Tessa ushering both men to the sofa. Once they sat, she took the coffee table in front of them. The tension was running high and she wondered how she suddenly became mediator. She was the human after all. Shouldn’t they be soothing her ruffled feathers?

“Sooooo… Talk time.” Silence met her and she felt the sudden need to thump them both. “You know, this really shouldn’t be up to me. I mean, I’m the human, and you guys,” she waved a hand between them, “you know what’s going on. I’m the one who has had her whole world turned upside down. First, I meet this really great guy, who I could really see things happening with, only for my parents to be murdered, then I have five children who suddenly depend on me. Then, I move to this strange town after my friend, who I just discovered was a tiger shifter, suggested I move here for support. I meet her sexy-as-sin brother. And now is so not the time to peacock, Sage. Turns out we’re mates, Leontis shows up and wham...we’re mates, but you two are at odds. Leontis is hurting, Sage, you seriously looked like you were gonna tear his jugular out.”

Tessa paused fighting for control. Now that she was finally letting it all out, it was like she couldn’t stop. Her breath came quickly and her heart beat so hard she could feel it in her throat. Suddenly her ability to breathe at all felt like it was cut off. She struggled, the hands that landed on her just making things worse. Fighting to get away, she was pinned to the ground as she thrashed. Hard hands forced her up slightly, warmth suddenly enveloping her front and back.

The hands began to traverse up and down her body, gentle lips trailing along her neck on either side. Air filled her lungs and the hands softened. She lay there, soaking up the attention, her body releasing all the tension it had carried, not just for the last twenty-four hours, but since she had been informed of her parents’ death.

“Sorry, sweetheart. It’s sometimes easy for our kind to forget how difficult all this must be,” Sage whispered, his words rumbling through his chest, which was plastered to her back.

Leontis sat in front of her, large hands soothing their way up and down her thighs as he stared at her. “And with everything you have faced lately, we should have handled this better. Forgive us?”

Tessa fought not to laugh. “If you had asked me a few days ago, what my greatest issue was, it wouldn’t have been dealing with a tiger and lion who wanted to claim me as theirs.”

“Is that how you see this...us? As an issue?” Doubt clouded Leontis’s golden eyes.

Reaching up, she cupped the side of his face. “No. That was a poor choice of words. I’m sorry.”

“You and your word choice,” Sage grumbled, nipping at her ear. “We’re gonna have to work on that.”

A knock had them pulling a part, startling Tessa.

“Dammit,” Sage growled, getting up and stomping over, pulling the door open. “What?”

Chase barely blinked at his brother’s gruffness. “Ummm…we have a little problem.”

That snapped the Alpha out of his mood, Tessa could see his entire body tensing. “What happened? Is it Aidan?”

“I actually wish it was,” Chase grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s, ah...Dominic.”

Sage frowned. “Dominic?”

“Yeah, and...ah...,” Chase’s eyes darted to her, and it was Tessa’s turn to tense. “And Oliver.”

Panic swelled in her. “Is Oliver, okay? What happened?” she said, rushing forward.

Chase avoided her gaze. “Um, more or less. We’re just, kind of, keeping the two apart.”

“What? Why would you do that?” Sage asked.

“Oh, God,” Leontis snickered. “Oh, this is priceless.”

Tessa’s head swung from Sage, to Leontis, and then back to Chase. If someone didn’t tell her what was going on soon, and why it involved her brother, she was going to blow.

“Oh shit,” Sage murmured, understanding dawned on his features. “They aren’t?”

Chase shrugged. “They are.”

“Are what?”

Sage turned to her warily, which did nothing to calm her. “Oliver is Dominic’s mate, sweetheart.”

Chapter Six

“Oh hell no,” Tessa shouted.

Leontis winced at the frantic tone in his mate’s voice. Dammit, they had just calmed her down. “Tessa. I thi—”

“No.” She whirled on him. “Don’t tell me to calm down. Oliver is too damn young. I’m not letting Dominic claim him.”

Leontis gathered her in his arms, thankful when Sage moved to cover her from behind. Tessa’s body melted into them, and he tried to hide his grin. At least they knew how to sooth her.

“Sweetheart. Dominic won’t touch Oliver like that. We have rules. It is forbidden for one of us to claim someone under the age of consent. It’s okay,” Sage crooned.

From the doorway, Chase cleared his throat. “Oh, I wouldn’t be worried about Dom, so much as Oliver. Damn kid has been giving off a serious scent of lust since we introduced ourselves. Moment Dom let slip the mate word, Oliver’s eyes lit up and he practically tried to jump Dom right there.”

“What?” Tessa gaped. “Oliver? Are you sure?”

“Oh yeah,” Chase chuckled. “It was pretty damn hard to miss. Poor Dom has been hiding, he has been locked up in your garage for the past fifteen minutes.”

“Why the hell did you wait so long to come and get us?” Sage grumbled before holding up his hand. “Let me guess, you were finding it far too amusing.”

“Something like that.” Chase’s grin said it was exactly like that, leaving Leontis wondering what kind of families he was mating into here.

“I have to speak to him,” Tessa announced, slipping past him and heading for the door.

Leontis shared a look with Sage. Oh, this could not end well. No young man wanted to have
the talk
in general, let alone with his big sister.

“Um, maybe we could talk to him,” he offered as they all trailed behind her.

She threw a look over her shoulder. “He hasn’t even met you yet, not really. And Sage he has only met once. I think I can handle this.”

Not giving them a chance to respond, Tessa entered the granny flat, turning to give them a small smile...before slamming the door on them.

“Well, that went...well.”

Sage growled at his brother. “Not now, Chase.”

The younger man wisely backed off, hands raised in the universal sign for
please don’t tear my throat out
. “And on that note…I’m out of here.”

“Dammit.” Sage threw a punch at the side of the brick home, wincing when he unsurprisingly came off second best.

Leontis sighed, realizing his mate was definitely a hothead. “Not the smartest move.”

Sage grunted.

“Everything will be fine. I think we all just need to take a moment and breathe,” he suggested, moving in close to the Alpha. He allowed an arm to wrap around the smaller man and pressed his lips to Sage’s cheek. “Just stop and take a minute to realize that you found both your mates, Sage. Aren’t you happy about that?”

Sage blinked, eyes pinning him where he stood. In slow movements, Sage turned, bringing his arms up to engulf Leontis. They were so close Leontis could feel his mate’s breathe, hot and delicious against his skin. “I’m very happy. More than. And I am so damn sorry that I let you think for a minute I didn’t want you. I swear, I will never forgive myself.”

Leontis’s breath caught in his throat. He doubted the Alpha apologized very often, yet for Sage to do it so freely for him, let Leontis know exactly how he felt. “You need to forgive yourself, because I already do,” he whispered, nuzzling into Sage’s neck.

A nudge at his hip made him frown, until he realized the Alpha was attempting to drag him away from the front door. He allowed his mate to tug him along, chuckling when they reached the side of the granny flat which covered them with bushes and trees, giving them enough privacy that everything suddenly felt a lot more intimate.

He swallowed loudly when Sage moved his hand that had remained on Leontis’s hip, down further. The lower it dipped, the quicker his pulse beat, their breaths mingling. Paralyzed, all he could do was accept his mate’s touch, groaning when the Alpha firmly cupped him behind his denim.

Unable to hold back, Leontis twisted and dropped to his knees. Sage let out a startled gasp when Leontis went for his buckle but otherwise said nothing, his heated gaze searing into him.

Leontis licked his lips, his gaze flicking down to Sage’s cock that he had just pulled out. Sage remained silent as Leontis lowered his head and took the head of his mate’s cock into his mouth. Suckling on the head, Leontis flattened his tongue pushing himself to slide his lips down further, taking more of Sage’s shaft. He could feel Sage watching him as his lips stretched around Sage’s dick. He continued to bob his head, taking a little more each time, swallowing around the thick cock. The groans and whimpers coming from Sage let him know his Alpha’s release was imminent. A sense of pride filled him that he could bring his mate so close to the edge with such little effort.

He let out a startled noise when Sage suddenly pushed at Leontis’s shoulders. Pulling him off his cock.

“What the hell?”

Instead of explaining Sage tugged Leontis up, spinning him and pressing him into the side of the house. Leontis whimpered when Sage inserted his thigh between Leontis’s spread legs, to bring them closer, his hands clamping down on Leontis’s arse as he thrust forward, rutting against his mate. Sage slid a hand between them, undoing Leontis’s jeans and freeing his cock. Leontis was leaking heavily as their lengths collided. It was painful, yet so sweet.

“Oh, fuck. Yeah, babe. So good,” he babbled. Leontis bucked harder when Sage bit down on his neck, forcing him to cry out. “Ahhh. Fuck.”