Werewolf's Way [Chronicles of the Shifter Directive 1] (Siren Publishing Epic Romance, ManLove) (22 page)

“A child.” Graham pulled away, looking dazed. “When? How?”

Caelyn snickered at the lost expression on Graham’s expression. “I’m pretty sure I don’t have to explain how. Surely you must know men of my people can give birth, too.”

Graham nodded, although he likely didn’t have a full understanding of how it worked. Most mammal-shifters, werewolves included, didn’t have male pregnancy, and given Graham’s sexual orientation, he’d probably not given too much thought to having a child.

Sprites didn’t have those limitations, at least not fully. Granted, not all male sprites could get pregnant. Those who did were generally more delicate-looking, like Caelyn, and some people argued, more powerful.

Either way, Caelyn had been reluctant to say anything about it before it had become an issue. Now, he admitted that he felt a little nervous as to how his mate would react. Would Graham be angry about it? Would he hate the idea of becoming a parent? There was also the obvious consequence that, once the pregnancy started showing, they’d have to find a more secluded place for Caelyn to give birth. Not to mention that being on the run with a newborn wasn’t exactly the perfect position to be in.

As if broken from a trance, Graham reached for him and gently cupped his cheek. “Just when I think that you can’t possibly surprise me or give me any more than you already have, you come up with something like this. You truly are an angel from the gods. Don’t worry about a thing. We’ll handle it all together.”

Caelyn’s breath caught, and he berated himself for even doubting his mate. “You don’t mind?” he heard himself ask, regardless.

“Mind?” Graham repeated, a touch of disbelief in his voice. “If I were any happier, I’d think it was all a dream.”

Caelyn couldn’t take it anymore. He reached out to his mate, whispering, “Come to me, beloved. I need you.”

Graham hesitated, clenching his fists once, then a second time. “Is it safe? I don’t want to hurt you, or the baby.”

Oh, no, Caelyn wasn’t letting him get away with that. Graham looked furiously aroused, but also completely serious about leaving both of them hanging if it meant keeping Caelyn and their unborn child safe.

But that cautiousness wasn’t necessary, and Caelyn had no plans of going ten months without sex. With a growl that could have rivaled one of Graham’s, he pinned the werewolf against the mattress. As Graham’s back hit the bed, Caelyn crawled onto his mate’s lap, rubbing his ass against the werewolf’s crotch. “You’d never hurt me, beloved.”

Graham’s hands landed on Caelyn’s hips again. “My wolf—”

“I love it, like I love every part of you,” Caelyn said, interrupting his lover. “Now, shh… We just got married. Let’s enjoy it, shall we?”

Under normal circumstances, Graham was the one who did all the work. Both of them were always very eager for each other, but Graham overwhelmed Caelyn with his desire, leaving Caelyn unable to do much of anything.

Now, though, it was up to Caelyn to seduce his still-reluctant mate. Remembering one of their older conversations, he grinned down at Graham. “But maybe I haven’t been convincing enough.”

Still holding his mate’s gaze, he reached for the buttons holding his garment in place. He and Caroline had struggled for weeks to get it just right. She had helped him craft it exactly after his indications, which fortunately meant that, unlike with traditional sprite wedding garbs, he could take it off himself.

Undoing the button of his high collar, he then proceeded to focus on his zipper. As he lowered it, he tossed his hair, wiggling out of the top part of the garment. Sadly, to finish the job, he had to leave Graham’s lap. He quickly did so and toed off his sneakers. Getting up next to the bed, he shimmied his hips, which effectively made his robes pool at his feet.

The result was more than satisfactory. Graham clenched his fists into the sheets, looking seconds away from pouncing on Caelyn. Hiding a self-satisfied smile, Caelyn congratulated himself for choosing to forgo underwear. He lowered his fist over his already-insistent erection, brushing his thumb over the leaking tip. His own touch felt good, but more so because of the heat in Graham’s eyes as his mate watched him.

Caelyn crawled back onto the bed and straddled Graham’s face. Since the werewolf was all Alpha and always tended to take control, they’d never done this before, but Caelyn wasn’t averse to trying something new. He brushed his cock over Graham’s lips, teasing his mate with just a taste of him. Graham opened his mouth, lust and need pouring off him and flooding their connection, making Caelyn high on the drug of his mate’s emotions.

Unable to hold back, Caelyn thrust his cock into Graham’s mouth. Graham released a groan, sucking Caelyn in, all the way into his throat. Caelyn tried to continue his plan of seduction, he did, but the delicious suction short-circuited every synapse of his brain. He completely lost control, moving almost mindlessly in and out of his mate’s wet cavern.

He never had much resilience when Graham was involved, and soon, he was on the brink of coming, so close to climax it seemed ridiculous. In fact, he was practically on the edge of falling into the abyss of rapture when, out of the blue, Graham pushed him off.

Eyes widening, Caelyn fell back on the pillows. His cock protested being denied the volcanic heat of Graham’s mouth, but he didn’t have the chance to protest. Any words he might have said died in his throat as Graham slid off the bed and started to take his clothes off.

The werewolf’s fierce intensity might have been scary for anyone else, but it just aroused Caelyn. A man on a mission, Graham got rid of his clothing. Surprisingly enough, he was more careful than usual, perhaps wanting to preserve the memory of their wedding day just like Caelyn had. In spite of this, though, he managed to discard his shirt, slacks, and shoes on the floor. He found a tube of lubricant, which they had prepared beforehand, and returned to the bed.

Already burning with lust, Caelyn lifted his legs, exposing his hole to his mate’s inspection. In response, Graham opened the bottle of lube and poured a generous amount on his fingers. Reaching behind Caelyn, Graham rubbed one slick digit against Caelyn’s opening. Caelyn arched his back, his anus clenching and begging for more. “Hurry,” he gasped out. “Please, beloved. Inside me.”

“Patience, angel,” Graham answered huskily. “All in due time.”

No matter how much their lust for each other was urging them on, Graham seemed to have no plans to rush things. He slid a finger inside Caelyn with excruciating, almost exasperating gentleness. When Caelyn would have impaled himself on those fingers, Graham held onto his hip, preventing him from moving.

Caelyn could do nothing but allow his mate to decide how this was going to go. With an expression of complete concentration, Graham moved his digit in and out of Caelyn’s passage. As Graham’s fingertip brushed against Caelyn’s prostate, though, Caelyn couldn’t prevent a gasp. Graham hesitated briefly, driving Caelyn into sheer despair. Thankfully, the mate bond saved him from having to endure pointless but adoring questions like, “Are you all right?” Yes, he was perfectly fine. He just needed to be fucked.

Graham chuckled, having probably intercepted his thoughts. He didn’t speak, but he did add another finger into Caelyn’s ass. He started to scissor them inside Caelyn, stretching him, preparing him for what was to come. The light touch provided teasing sensations that only encouraged the lust building up to unbearable proportions inside Caelyn.

It was, again, fortunate that Graham felt what he did. As dedicated as the werewolf was to Caelyn’s safety and comfort, he couldn’t withstand the heat of their own need. The savagery of his beast roared just beneath the surface. Caelyn could hear it, almost see the wolf pacing. One more time, he called out,
“Beloved, please… Graham!”

This time, he couldn’t even say the words out loud, but he did convey it through their bond. It might have been better this way, because the intimacy of it finally cracked Graham’s precious control. Snarling, Graham removed his fingers from Caelyn’s ass and used more lube, this time applying on his dick. Supporting Caelyn’s legs on his muscular shoulders, the werewolf positioned his dick at Caelyn’s opening and pushed.

Caelyn screamed as his mate’s erection pierced his body. This, this was what he’d craved. Nothing could make him complete except the feeling of Graham’s prick inside him. Unfortunately, his shout caused Graham to still inside him. Mindful of Caelyn’s safety, Graham was nevertheless close to exploding out of sheer sexual need. His thoughts were a whirlwind in Caelyn’s brain.
“Ah, shit, so tight… No, wait. Need to keep him safe. Gods above, angel. Oh, fuck, please.”

“Yes, fuck, please,”
Caelyn echoed.
“Now.”

To illustrate what he had in mind, Caelyn tightened his muscles around Graham’s dick. At last, Graham succumbed to the passion between them. He pulled out of Caelyn’s ass and thrust back inside. His testicles slapped against Caelyn’s cheeks as he started fucking Caelyn in earnest.

Caelyn clutched Graham’s shoulders to anchor himself in a world that was quickly started to blur. Molten lava coursed through Caelyn’s veins as his mate’s dick pounded inside him, stretching him so beautifully. Graham might have said that Caelyn was the perfect one, but no. The reality was that the two of them, individually, had flaws, but when they came together, they completed each other, like yin and yang.

Caelyn pushed back against his mate, feeling like he was going to explode. The sexual tension gathering all throughout the day consumed him, so much so that he couldn’t even remember anything beyond,
“Yes, yes, please, make me come. Claim me.”
His cock ached with painful, unfulfilled desire, and his orgasm seemed so close it was burning in his spine, in his balls.

And then, Graham finally gave him the last thing he needed. He buried his fangs in Caelyn’s flesh, groaning as their connection flared to brilliant life. Screaming his mate’s name, Caelyn exploded, sending streams of hot white cum all over his own chest and Graham’s.

Still holding onto Caelyn’s throat, Graham found his peak as well, filling Caelyn’s ass with his spunk. Their shared orgasm flowed through both of them like a powerful river, carrying them to a place where only the absolute truth of their connection remained.

There, in that special world, they found the spark Caelyn had instinctively felt. Only from a spark, it exploded into a light so bright that it nearly blinded Caelyn, or would have if he’d been bound by physical limitations. Instead, he was filled by a cascade of love, his love for Graham and his unborn child, Graham’s near-worshipful adoration of Caelyn and his genuine joy at the prospect of becoming a parent, and the shy, tentative touch of that new life. For a few beautiful moments, or perhaps for eternity, there were simply no boundaries between Caelyn and the two souls so dear to him.

Sexual pleasure melded and mixed with emotions so strong they seemed impossible. When the high of the climax finally began to fade, those feelings followed him into the real world. And as Graham finally released his hold on Caelyn’s neck and looked at him, Caelyn met his gaze, his vision blurry with tears.

“Thank you, beloved. Thank you.”

He didn’t even know what, in specific, he was thanking his mate for, but Graham understood him regardless. Even as he slid out of Caelyn’s body, he smiled brightly and replied, “No, angel. Thank
you
.”

As a werewolf and a member of the ninth caste, Graham had never had time to slow down and relax while just holding a lover in his arms. The knowledge that the draechen pursued him had always been at the forefront of his mind, keeping him on the alert.

It was this instinct he had cultivated during all those years as an Alpha that woke him. One moment, he lay slumbering on the bed next to Caelyn, and the next, he felt something was very wrong.

His eyes shot open, and he scanned the room, instantly on the alert. It didn’t take him long to realize how much he had failed his mate.

Prince Shtamakarein Tersain sat on the armchair, cross-legged and reading through a leaflet advertising the resort. “Nice little place they have here,” he commented as he looked toward Graham. “Very…quaint.”

Panic rose within Graham. His first instinct was to cover Caelyn with the sheets. While that gave his naked mate some modesty, it wouldn’t protect him from the hatred of the draechen. And their child… Oh, sweet gods.

Damn it. Damn it all to hell. He’d been so sure they were safe. He’d taken all the precautions necessary. Staying in Youngsville had been a calculated risk, although he had planned to leave shortly after the wedding, especially given the news he’d just received. But there had been no sign, nothing to indicate that the draechen were on to them.

It hadn’t been the first time he’d been on the run from the Dog-Catcher, and he had always managed to avoid capture before. Caelyn might not have realized it, but Youngsville had been the perfect hiding place. Then again, perhaps it had been too perfect.

As if guessing Graham’s thoughts, Shtamakarein hummed thoughtfully. “Don’t beat yourself up,” he said. “It did take me quite a long time to find you here. Do you have any idea how many towns just like Youngsville exist in the whole of the United States?”

Just as the draechen prince finished asking this, Caelyn stirred, Graham’s panic waking him from his sexually-induced exhaustion. “Beloved, what…”