The Power of Persuasion (17 page)

He pushed aside some high grass and came out onto the bank of the river directly above where Willow and Bran had been washing out utensils and other camping stuff and had spread it on the rocks to dry. Now both men were swimming in the crystal clear water and messing around. Mac grinned as Bran suddenly disappeared under the surface only to splutter back up thumping Willow who’d come up underneath him and pulled him down.

In the sunlight, the greenish tinge of Willow’s skin seemed to get darker as he smacked the water hard and swam away, Bran in hot pursuit. Reluctant to disturb the men, Mac sat on the bank and waited as they slowly swam back toward him. As they came toward the shore the water level reduced displaying more of Willow’s muscular chest, the flare of his hips and the…

“Holy God,” Mac whispered. “He’s hung like a horse.”

Bran ran up behind Willow and wrapped an arm around his waist, his hand slipping down to caress the other male’s cock. Willow stopped moving and allowed the touch, his hand coming up to caress Bran’s dark hair. After a moment, he gently disengaged Bran’s fingers from the rising swell of his cock and shook his head.

Mac realized he’d been holding his breath as Bran laughed and moved away to pick up his clothes and attend to the packing up of the items on the rocks.

Willow angled his head to one side and stared straight up at Mac, who couldn’t move. He needed to look away, to break the silence, to…

“
Do the males on your planet not kiss each other Ian Mac?”

“
Some of them do.”

“Does it offend you?”

“Not at all.”
Mac swallowed hard as Willow came up the bank toward him, his movements graceful and sure. Water gleamed on his green skin making him look like some kind of Gaelic nymph from Mac’s mother’s stories of the Fae. It was hard to keep his gaze on Willow’s face when his enormous cock was more at his eye level. Mac scrambled to his feet.

“
Do you kiss men, Ian Mac?”

“Personally? No, I’ve never felt the need.”

Willow’s smile was slow. “That is a pity, I think.” He glanced back at Bran. “I must help Bran gather the supplies. Did you want something in particular?”

“To tell you that breakfast is ready.”

“Then tell Ungar that we shall be right there.”

Mac gestured awkwardly at the rocks. “Do you need any help?”

“No, we can manage.” Willow pushed a strand of escaping silver hair behind his ear. “Go back and make sure you eat plenty of food. You will need your energy today.”

By the time the Pavlovan sun was overhead, Mac was sweating like a pig and had a headache from the increasingly high altitude. Ungar shouted something and they all came to a halt in the shade of some large trees. Mac sank down to his knees and stayed there until someone thrust a water bottle under his nose.

“Drink this.” Willow squatted down beside him, his silver gaze concerned. “You should rest for a while.”

“I’m okay. It’s just taking my biotech a while to catch up with this new environment.”

A bedroll appeared behind him and Willow urged him to sit on it and used both their packs as a back and headrest. For once in his life, Mac didn’t argue as he struggled to breathe and adapt.

“Do you need a healer?” Willow asked.

“No, if I rest for a while, I’ll be good. Let me contact Kaiden and see if he has any way of monitoring what’s going on inside me.”

“Kaiden is a telepath?”

“Yes and my commanding officer.”

“Your mate, too?”

“No.” An image of him and Kaiden in bed with Neeve flooded his senses. Willow’s breath hissed out and he rose to his feet.

“I’ll speak to the others.”

Mac closed his eyes and gathered his energy, aware that he’d been too tired to shield properly and that Willow had probably got an eyeful, or worse, a mindful of Mac’s recent sex life that he probably didn’t need. But then Willow was a Pavlovan so it was unlikely that he’d be shocked.

“
Kaiden?”

“Mac. Where are you? You’re very faint.”

“My biotech is acting up. Can you do a diagnostic from there?”

“Yes, if you give me the necessary access.”

“Go ahead.”
Mac focused down again, dropped his shields and opened his mind to Kaiden completely. Around the peripheral of his consciousness, he felt Neeve’s start of surprise and the quickly blocked reactions of his bodyguards.

“
I need more from you.”
Kaiden said. “
Can you amp it up
?”

Mac jumped as someone touched his shoulder and he opened his eyes to find Willow kneeling beside him again.

“Let me help you. Give me your hand.”

He didn’t even think about saying no, but accepted Willow’s strong-fingered grip and the rush of his telepathic power streaming outward to join with Mac’s and project onward to Kaiden.

Damn…it was like a blast of adrenaline, or the finest shot of malt whisky he’d ever tasted.

“Got it. Who’s that with you? It’s not Neeve. Did you find your third after all?”
Kaiden sounded amused.

“
It’s Willow.”

He felt Willow’s mind separate a little from his and engage with Kaiden’s more deeply.

“
A pleasure to meet you, Kaiden. Do not worry about your male. I will keep him safe
.”

Kaiden chuckled. “
Not my male, Willow. Talk to Neeve about that one
.” He paused for a second. “
Mac
,
your readings are off. You need to allow the biotech time to regenerate properly
.”

“
That’s what I thought. There’s no other damage, though
?”

“
None that I can see. You’re just pushing too hard. Sleep in for a day or two and you should be fine. Your levels are already rising and adapting.”

“Good to know, thanks for checking.”

“You’re welcome. Give my best to Neeve. Over and out.”

Mac let out his breath and realized he was still holding Willow’s hand. “Thanks for your help.”

“You are welcome, Ian Mac. I have spoken to my companions. They will move ahead as planned and set up camp at the hot springs further into the valley. You and I will rest here for a while, and then take an easier route to meet up with them this evening.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Mac’s eyes were already closing and he didn’t hear Willow stand up or all the others leave.

Chapter Twelve

Willow felt rather than heard Ian Mac wake up behind him.

“Coffee, Ian Mac? I have more water for you, too.”

“That would be great.”

Willow waited as Ian Mac struggled to sit up against his pack and threw off the blanket placed over him. His black hair was damp with sweat and his clothes stuck to his body.

“God, it’s hot.”

“Are you hungry?”

“Not really.”

“You should still eat.” Willow came over and gave Ian Mac the mug of coffee and an energy bar.

“Not dried
kivin
?”

Willow chuckled. “We don’t have to do everything the old way. This is a far better way to get nutrients into you fast.”

“And it tastes about the same.” He ate the bar and sipped the scalding hot coffee.

Around them the jungle slumbered in the simmering heat. When he’d finished Willow handed Ian Mac his water bottle.

“Drink this. When you’re done, we’ll walk down to the river and replenish our supply.”

He rose to his feet, locked his hands and raised them over his head stretching out his limbs. Ian Mac’s gaze followed the motions of his body, but when Willow tried to catch his eye, he looked away as if he was embarrassed to be caught staring. It was hard to understand the other male sometimes.

“How long was I out?”

“Not very long. We still have plenty of time to reach camp before it gets dark.”

“Good.” Ian Mac sighed. “I’m used to being the super soldier, not the one lagging behind.”

“There is nothing to be ashamed of. You will soon become accustomed to our world.” Willow held out his hand to pull Ian Mac to his feet. “Let’s go down to the river.”

Ian Mac still wore a black T-shirt that now stuck to his skin, green camouflage pants and thick military boots. He was taller than Willow by half a head but not as wide shouldered. His eyes were a dark blue color that reminded Willow of the Pavlovan night sky.

“Come.”

Willow picked up the half-dozen empty water bottles and slung them over his shoulder. He’d already abandoned his coat, his shirt and his footwear. If it stayed this hot, he was contemplating taking off his pants and reverting to his native dress of nothing but a few strategic leather straps for the remainder of the journey. He wondered what Ian Mac would make of that.

They reached the riverbank and Willow set the bottles down and started to unlace his pants.

“What are you doing?”

He glanced back at Ian Mac and hid a smile. “I’m going to wash off in the river after I fill these bottles.” He allowed his gaze to sweep over his companion. “If you’re hot, you should join me.”

An image from Ian Mac’s head escaped and Willow saw himself and Bran messing around in the river the previous day. Bran’s hand was on Willow’s cock.

Interesting that Ian Mac had noticed that… Willow continued to strip, his keen hearing picking up the whisper of laces being untied and the soft hiss of a zipper being lowered. He stepped into the water and waded out into the center of the stream enjoying the coolness against his skin. Keeping his back to the bank, he went deeper until he was able to duck his head under completely.

When he surfaced, Ian Mac was also in the river. His skin was pale and his chest was dusted with black hair that arrowed downward below the surface line. With a groan he sank into the water and disappeared.

“
Does that feel better, Ian Mac
?”

“
Damn right it does.”

Willow rolled onto his back and floated on the water, closing his eyes against the insistent glare of the sun. He was aware of Ian Mac floating beside him, but content to enjoy the moment.

“
Kaiden isn’t my mate
.”

Willow kept his eyes closed and his body relaxed. “
So he said.”

“I wouldn’t wish for you to get the wrong impression.”

“About what?”

“About what I might have inadvertently shared with you when I was too tired to shield earlier.”

“That you and Kaiden share a bed?”

“
There are very few telepaths on Earth. Neeve needed two males to see her through her mating cycle. Kaiden and I were volunteered
.”

“But you do not consider him your mate even though you fuck him?”

“I haven’t fucked him, I’ve—”

The image Willow received from Ian Mac’s mind this time made his cock jerk to attention. He swallowed hard.

“Did you like doing that to him
?”

For a long moment Ian Mac didn’t communicate and then he sighed. “
Yeah, I did
.”

“
But you told me you don’t kiss males. So you didn’t kiss him while you did that? You didn’t kiss his cock as well?”

“No. I don’t…do that.”

“Or let a man do it to you.”
Willow flipped over onto his stomach and swam away from Ian Mac. It didn’t make any difference. He could swim to the other side of the Pavlovan Ocean and he’d still be aware of this male. “
In my society, it is permissible for anyone to touch anyone who welcomes such contact
.”

“So I noticed.”

“You saw Bran touch me?”

“Yes.”

Willow stopped swimming and started to tread water. “
You were offended by that.”

“I…don’t know. You have to understand that on Earth, we tend to bond with one other person, that’s it. I’m not used to the Pavlovian idea of threesomes or the Hakron idea of casual sex.”

“Yet you allowed Neeve, your mate, to sleep with Kaiden.”

“That was different. The choice was hers. She needed another male, and Kaiden was available.”

“And you shared him, too.”

“I did not, I—”

“
I saw what you did, Ian Mac
.” Willow resurfaced right next to the other man and placed his palm flat on his chest.
“And what about me? What if I offered myself to you as Kaiden did? Would you touch me? Would you make me come for you?”

He slid his hand lower, down over Ian Mac’s tight stomach and wrapped his fist around the swell of his thick cock.

“
Well?”

Ian Mac groaned and surged forward in Willow’s tight grip. “
God
…”

Willow drew a slow breath and allowed his mind to envelop Ian Mac’s. It was like stroking down the raised spines of an
Arkarda
. He didn’t do anything except hold his companion’s throbbing cock and wait for the frantic beat of his heart to slow down under his palm. The first touch of Ian Mac’s mind against his was like the hesitant lick of a man tasting another male for the first time and just as potent.

Willow continued to breathe and simply experience the sense of Ian Mac allowing him inside. A skilled hunter knew that patience was the most important quality needed to lure his prey and he’d waited a long time for this moment.

A very long time.

He could wait awhile longer. Keeping his mind locked with Ian Mac’s, he slowly released the other man’s cock and pushed gently away from his side.

“
Don’t…”

Willow shoved his wet hair out of his eyes and smiled. “When you’re ready, Ian Mac you know where I am. Now let us continue our journey. If we don’t move on soon it will be too dark to travel.”

The sun was setting below the canopy of the jungle-like forest and all the light was being sucked out of the sky. Mac glanced over at his silent companion who walked easily, his pack and Mac’s on his shoulder. The unbelievable, unwanted connection he’d formed with Willow in the stream continued to stretch between them like a spider’s web glistening with possibilities and fraught with danger.

“We’ll be there soon.”

As if he’d noticed Mac’s sudden attention, Willow finally spoke.

“Good.” Mac replied.