Behind the Eight Ball Read online

  Lawson braced his hands on the tile wall, slightly bent over. He threw a look at me over his shoulder and then snorted.

  The sound brought my attention up to those incredible eyes of his. “You know what I mean.”

  “Well, if it’s so great, what are you waiting on?” Lawson wiggled his ass at me. I might have drooled all over myself. “Get your hands on me and in me.”

  I groaned at the suggestion, and my fingers actually tingled. “You’re going to top from the bottom, aren’t you?”

  Lawson winked then faced forward. “Absolutely.”

  My hands trembled as I reached out to him. I wanted this to be good for him, but I was shivering like a virgin. My entire life I’d been fucking guys, but none of them had been my mate. I wanted to blow his mind.

  Tracing his crack, I marveled how soft his skin felt, then grabbed the lube and added more to my hand. I was suddenly desperate to feel the heat inside him. I pulled his cheeks apart and rubbed my thumb over his hole, spreading the slickness.

  He had a little hair here too, and I liked it. My kind of shifter was hairless, and many of the others I fucked were like me, but Lawson’s small amount of hair was sexy. Lawson moaned as I pressed my thumb against that small, quivering hole. I wanted in there.

  My cat suddenly made an appearance in my mind, and it was all I could do to restrain him. He was pacing, a low growl echoing. He wanted to claim Lawson now, but I knew we couldn’t yet. I hadn’t even opened him up, and I sure wasn’t going to ram in and hurt him.

  I eased my finger inside. Not only did his hole tighten, but his entire body did too. I paused to give him time to adjust. Gods, he was so tight. Rubbing my other hand up and down his back, I tried to offer comfort. When he finally relaxed, I slid my finger in deeper.

  The short surprised grunt from him encouraged me to push all the way in, then pull out… and then in again, this time a little faster. Standing behind him, I reached around and fondled his cock. Oh yeah, that got him thrusting back. Since I had him distracted, I added another finger.

  Lawson groaned and spread his legs a little more, as if encouraging me to keep going. I crooked my fingers, searching for his prostate. When I found it, I made sure to nail his hot spot several times in a row as I finger-fucked him. His entire body jerked.

  “Holy fuck!” Lawson lunged up.

  I let his dick go and placed my hand on his back, pushing him back down.

  “Jesus… again.”

  A shiver went through me at that commanding tone.

  “Do that again.” Lawson panted, his voice quivering. “Like… a lot.”

  My cat arched in happiness. My mate wanted more. Water streamed down his back as I worked my fingers in him, opening that ass up.

  “I… I had no idea it could be this good,” Lawson gasped. “I want…. fuck, I want you, and…. Jesus, fuck, sit down so I can ride you.”

  I barely removed my fingers before Lawson turned around and walked me backward to the shower bench. His eyes were hooded and his face was flushed, but the intensity in the look he gave me as he backed me up to where he wanted me left me panting.

  I knew then that it might be my cock inside him, but he was taking me. I thrilled at the knowledge. My ass hit the bench with a smack and Lawson thrust the tube of lube at me. I slicked up my cock with a little help from Lawson.

  Lawson reached behind himself, and I moaned. “Let me see.”

  With a quirky little grin, he turned, and I was treated to the sight of his fingers in his ass. I couldn’t help myself. I reached out and touched where his fingers were buried.

  “In me,” Lawson demanded as I traced his hole.

  I helped him step back toward me and grasped his waist. “Easy, easy,” I said as he lowered himself on my cock. “Take your time.”

  The last thing I wanted was for this to hurt. My toes curled from the heat and the tightness. When he finally sat flush in my lap, we were both breathing hard. I ran baseball stats, bills that were due, grocery lists—anything—to keep from coming immediately.

  “Fuck, you’re big.”

  Not helping. With those words I was right back at the edge, fighting not to come. I wanted to so bad, but I refused to leave Lawson hanging like that.

  “Just… just give me a second.” I closed my eyes and rested my head against the tile wall, my hands still plastered to his sides. “For goddess’ sake, don’t move, or this’ll be over before it starts.”

  Lawson choked on his laughter. “Well, can’t have that.”

  Opening my eyes, I tightened my hands on his waist now that I had control. “I think I’m not in danger of exploding now. I’m ready. Ride me, Lawson.”

  Lawson eased up and then came back down. Up and down he went, going slow and killing off my brain cells at that pace. I gritted my teeth, fighting the urge to slam him down.

  “So good,” Lawson moaned.

  Fuck, he was slippery, wet, and gradually driving me insane. “Please go faster.” What I got was him stopping all movement. “Noooo,” I whined. I wanted to beat my head against the wall. “Lawson, please!”

  “My way, remember?”

  I snorted out a desperate laugh. “Fucking toppy bastard.” He rocked slightly in revenge, and I moaned.

  “Yup.” Then Lawson lifted up and slammed back down.

  My eyes rolled back in my head and lights exploded behind my lids. I held on for dear life. The man rode me like he’d been doing this forever. I, on the other hand, was reduced to a quivering mass under him that could do no more than whimper in helpless pleasure. Nothing had ever felt this good, and my cat agreed.

  I opened my eyes again and looked down. “Fuck, that’s hot. Love seeing you bounce on my cock.”

  Tingles raced through me, and I knew I was close to coming.

  “I’m close. I’m going… going to… to come. Lawson? Babe?”

  “A-almost there,” Lawson gasped.

  “Jack off, then. Need you to come with…. Aw, gods.” My canines lengthened.

  Before I had a chance to warn Lawson, my orgasm hit me like a ton of bricks. I reached for him and wrapped my hand around his cock. Both of us jerked him off. Pleasure exploded like a tidal wave, and I struck.

  I bit down where his neck met his shoulder. Blood filled my mouth as I filled him with my seed. As I came, a feeling of completeness flooded me and left my heart pounding harder. I’d done it. I’d mated him.

  Fuck, I had gotten to the point I’d wondered if this day would ever happen, and now it had. He was mine. I couldn’t believe it… he was mine! The perfect man for me. Someone who would understand me and love me… and maybe, just maybe, accept me for how I was. Faults and all. There were many, I knew. Gods… a mate. I’d never felt this sense of belonging before.

  “Holy fuck!” Lawson yelled.

  I groaned as Lawson came and tightened up on me. Heat spread over my hand, but the water washed it away. Finally I lifted my head and licked the bite marks I’d left. Lawson slumped against me.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “Oh yeah. Wow, babe… that might have been the hardest I’ve ever come.”

  “Tell me about it. We’re mated now, you know.” My emotions were all over the place. We’d done it. We were tied together for all eternity. That scared me, but there was no denying I was content. I was finally home. “No getting rid of me now.” I had to joke about it or I might start babbling like an idiot… or bawling like a baby.

  “That’s right. You’re mine now. No getting rid of me either. You’re stuck with me too.”

  “Good. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be stuck with. Speaking of stuck, we better clean up before the water goes cold.” The last thing I wanted to do was move, but the threat of cold water changed my mind.

  Lawson cautiously eased off me. “I’d rather just sit here, but yeah, that would suck.”

  He washed up and got out, and then I washed my hair. I stepped out of the shower to see Lawson had his jeans on again.

  �
�We’re close to the same size. You want to borrow some boxers and a shirt?”

  Lawson stood at the bathroom mirror toweling his hair dry. “That would be great. Thanks.”

  “No problem. I kind of like the idea of you wearing something of mine.”

  “Well, I was going to suggest a quick trip to my house to change, but now I think I’ll keep what I have on.”

  Good. I scrambled around in my closet until I found something for him. I handed them to Lawson and then found something for me. I made a quick phone call to my Alpha and asked permission to stop by later and introduce Lawson. I told him we’d be by in about two and a half hours. I dressed, then dried my hair. Lawson watched TV while I finished getting ready.

  I walked into the living area to find Lawson napping in one of the chairs. I almost hated to wake him. He looked so cute. “Hey.” I shook his shoulder and got a snort for my trouble. I almost busted out laughing. “Come on, sleeping beauty, wake up.”

  “Hey.” Lawson stretched, then yawned. “Wow, guess I didn’t get my nap out. You ready?”

  “Yup.”

  Lawson stood. “Let’s get this done.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Lawson

  I MIGHT’VE sounded confident, but truth was I was scared. While I didn’t think Heller’s Alpha would cause us trouble, there was no avoiding some in his clowder didn’t like human mates. The fact we had their DNA floating around in our systems didn’t seem to matter.

  I followed Heller to his truck. So, fine, then. I made up my mind if anyone gave me shit once they met me, I’d give it right back. Start off as I meant to go on and all that. I’d dealt with people who disliked me because I was gay, but never because I was human. That was just… weird.

  We arrived at his Alpha’s house, and the first thing I noticed was all the vehicles. “Um, are we interrupting something?”

  “No, why?”

  “What’s with all the cars? And on a Sunday too.”

  “Oh.” Heller looked around. “Huh, I guess it does look like a used car lot. The other betas are here, along with Dolf, Tal, and Kirk.”

  “Wait. I thought I was meeting your Alpha?”

  “We are. But he always has at least one beta with him for protection.”

  “He’s at home. Why would he need…? Hold up. Are you telling me he has all this protection here because he’s meeting me?”

  “Don’t get all freaked out. It’s just standard procedure. You’re my mate, yes, but we haven’t had the joining ceremony yet. That’ll be your induction as my mate.” Heller shrugged. “It’s nothing fancy.”

  I stopped. “Joining ceremony? But… I’m confused now. We mated. Isn’t that enough?”

  Heller stopped next to me. “Mating isn’t joining.”

  I was going to kill him. This was like pulling hen’s teeth. “I’m hearing this now while standing in your Alpha’s front yard? Did you not stop to think this might be something I needed to hear about at—oh, I don’t know—at home and in private? Dammit, Heller.”

  “I swear it’s not that big of a deal. Alpha Armonty will be there, our betas, and the elders. All you do is swear fealty to our Alpha, which is nothing more than you promising your loyalty to our clowder and promising to keep paranormal society a secret from humans—”

  I threw my hands in the air and fought not to yell at him. “What the hell do you think I’ve been doing for the last—”

  “I know you’ve kept the secret for ten years. But it’s part of the ceremony. Yes, I know you know you aren’t fully human now.” Heller’s voice rose too. “This is just… pomp and circumstance. You ‘join’ us, become one of us. That’s all.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at Heller. “I have a feeling that isn’t all. Good God, Heller.” Uncrossing my arms, I massaged my temples then went back to glaring at my clueless mate. “We’ll discuss that later. Now is there anything else I might need to know before going in there?”

  “Only that we normally wait to get inside before we start yelling at Heller.”

  I jerked around to see Dolf standing in the yard behind us.

  “It’s a good thing Dad has no neighbors too close since the two of you are out here practically yelling at each other about things best talked about inside,” Dolf added.

  He was right. “God, I’m so sorry,” I said. “That was just stupid.”

  Heller draped his arm around me. “No, no, this was my fault, Dolf. I should’ve told him before now.”

  “No problem, but let’s take this inside. There are some people anxious to meet you.”

  Great. No stress there. I followed Dolf up the walkway and into the two-story brick house.

  “Everyone is in Dad’s office.”

  From what little I saw on the way back to wherever this office was, the house looked well kept and homey. Dolf opened the door and we walked in. Jeez, there were a lot of people. Straight away I noticed the one whom I assumed was their Alpha.

  Heller immediately stepped forward. “Alpha Armonty Hoyer, may I present my mate, Lawson Dupre. Lawson? This is our Alpha and Dolf’s dad.”

  “Greetings, Lawson. Welcome,” Alpha Armonty said.

  “Thank you. It’s nice to meet you.”

  Alpha Armonty was a middle-aged man with short black hair touched with white highlights around the temples. His bright blue eyes were sharp, and I bet they didn’t miss much. Laugh lines edged his mouth and eyes.

  Standing a couple of inches over six feet, his body carried ropey muscle on a lean frame. Power radiated off the Alpha, a feeling that blanketed the room. There was no doubt who the boss was. I could see the resemblance between him and Dolf too.

  Heller led me to a table where other men were waiting. Then my mate made his way around the table, introducing me to all the betas. I noticed they all had the same shoulder-length dark hair and lean build.

  Heller pointed to a man with an angular face and sky-blue eyes, dressed in a simple dark blue Henley and jeans. There was a bit of hair on his chin, and he had a mustache. “Lawson, this is Brier Fendon, one of our betas. Brier, meet Lawson.”

  “How do you do?” Brier asked

  “Good. Thanks,” I replied.

  “This is Remi Ginn, another of the betas and an expert in wacky T-shirts,” Heller said.

  Remi had dark sapphire-blue eyes and high cheekbones I’d kill for. He had on jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt that said It’s All Shits & Giggles Until Someone Giggles & Shits.

  “Hey, Remi. Cool name. And by the way, awesome T-shirt.”

  “What do you know? Someone with refined tastes. Nice to meet you, Lawson.”

  Heller pointed at a brunet with lapis-blue eyes sitting next to Remi. “That’s Aidric LeClair, also a beta.”

  “Hey, man, nice to meet you,” Aidric said. He grinned, showing off a cute dimple buried under the scruff of going a few days without shaving. He wiped his palm on his plaid shirt and held out his hand. “So you mated Heller, huh?”

  “Nice to meet you too, and yeah, I sure did,” I said.

  “Now I’d like to introduce you to Tal, one of Dolf’s mates,” Heller said. “Tal is an Omega, which is why he’s blond when the rest of us have darker hair.”

  Was the long and lean a cat-shifter thing? Why did every one of them look as if they should be walking down a catwalk in Paris? Jesus, I felt… boring.

  “Finally that’s Kirk, Dolf’s other mate.”

  Finally! Someone who didn’t look like a damn model. Not that Kirk was unattractive. He wasn’t. He looked normal… like me.

  Kirk walked up and held his hand out to me. “Welcome. I’m the one who can’t shift, by the way. And yeah, they all look like Greek gods, but trust me, they aren’t perfect. They just look like it.”

  “Thank you.” I shook his hand, meaning it. “It seems we have something in common, then. Nice to meet you.”

  “Don’t feel too bad about what happened outside. Dolf basically did the same thing to me. It was only after I tore a
strip off him about it I noticed his dad standing there.”

  “You would have to bring that up.” Dolf laughed. “So Lawson, have a seat and tell us about yourself.”

  THREE HOURS later we left.

  “Stick a fork in me, I’m done.” I sat next to Heller in his truck, more than a little thankful we were out of there. I’d never met any of my boyfriends’ parents, but that grilling I just went through had to be similar.

  “Sorry, I know that was a little intense, but they mean well.”

  “I know.” I reached out and took his hand. “I was expecting no less. It wasn’t bad.”

  They’d asked questions about where I grew up, where I went to college, how I met Marshell. By the time we were done, they knew my favorite sport teams, favorite colors, and that I donated to charities when I could.

  I was pretty sure they knew most of this anyway. Marshell had done a background check on me, so I assumed Heller’s clowder had too. But to be fair, they also talked about themselves. Their Alpha’s warm attitude toward me helped settle me down even as they explored my life. Out of all of them, though, I liked Kirk and Remi the best of the bunch.

  Since it was so late in the evening, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then drove out to where I lived. We parked and sat looking at the house.

  “Well, time for round two,” I said.

  “Yeah, except Marshell’s not going to be as nice.”

  “Hey.” I tugged his sleeve until he looked at me. “You’re my mate. He doesn’t have to like it, but he will show you respect, or we’ll leave. I won’t let him give you a hard time, and I’ll make that plain to him.”

  Relief rushed across Heller’s face. “Thanks.”

  “No, don’t you thank me like I’m doing you a favor.” I cupped his chin. “My defending you is your right. You’re my mate, and you come first. No one, and I mean no one, comes before you. Understand?”

  A smile lit Heller’s face. “Yeah, I understand. I guess…. We don’t really know each other, you know?”

  “No, we really don’t.” I rubbed my thumb over his bottom lip. “But I know what I feel for you isn’t like anything I’ve ever felt before. I like you, Heller. Like you as a person, you get me? I enjoy your company. You make me laugh. We might have jumped into this, but I don’t regret that. There’s attraction here, and I already care for you. We’ll make it work.”