Feral Bachelorism (5 page)

He had to have him.
Had to
.

“Oh yeah? Then what did you mean?”

God, Sean wasn’t going to make this easy on him. “I think there’s something between us,” Brad said when he could trust his voice. “Something deeper, more meaningful than sex.”

“And that surprises you.”

“Yes. No.” Brad shook his head, though he knew Sean couldn’t see him. “I don’t know.”

“So what do you want from me?”

Brad ignored the confrontational tone in the man’s voice. “I want to see you.”

For a moment, he thought Sean would say no. He half expected the guy to slam down the phone and end the conversation, as well as whatever might be between them, right then and there.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Brad echoed. “Really?”

“Yes. When?”

“Tonight,” Brad said without another moment’s hesitation. “My cabin. You remember how to find it? If not --”

“I know. Ask at the gate.”

Brad slid his hand over the tip of his bare cock, smearing a drop of pre-cum down the length of his shaft. “Right. See you soon.”

He placed the phone in its cradle, feeling hopeful for the first time in a week. His shaft throbbed as he leisurely stroked it. A smile came unbidden, and he thought about finally doing everything to Sean he should have done that first night they were together.

This time, he’d take it slow. He’d lavish Sean’s body with as much pleasure as a man could handle, and then when his lover begged for mercy, Brad would fuck him until they both screamed their passion into the night air. He turned around, still grinning, his palm wrapped around his dick -- and gazed into a pair of wide, dark eyes.

“Hmm… imagine that. I take off for a little while and you’ve already replaced me,” Ali said, arching an eyebrow. The sight of her crooked grin hit home, like the sharp edge of a knife stabbing straight into Brad’s heart.

Chapter Four

“Why are you here?” Brad asked, his voice painfully raw.

“My big brother’s wedding is sort of a big deal, no?” She laughed, and the sound brought back a slew of memories.

Images slammed into Brad’s gut faster than he could catch his breath. Ali riding her bicycle, struggling to keep up with Brad and J.C. Ali shifting for the first time when she turned sixteen, her lithe body changing into the sleek form of a perfect white wolf. Ali laying in bed beside him, naked, her glorious body his for the taking.

And his pillow, still indented from the shape of her head, lying empty one morning.

“Leave,” he said bluntly. He didn’t care why she’d returned. Just hearing her speak tore at old wounds he’d thought he’d learned to ignore, even if they never quite healed. “Turn around and go back wherever it is you came from. We don’t need you here.”

She licked her lips, slowly, deliberately. “Are you sure? I could stay for a little while… just long enough to take care of that boner you’re nursing all by yourself.”

“I’m not by myself,” Brad shot back. “At least, I won’t be for long.”

“I heard.” She stepped in front of the window, and a silvery beam of moonlight hit her flawless tanned skin.

Brad sucked in a breath at the sight of her. Until that moment, she’d been mostly hidden in shadows, her tall, slender body obscured by the gloom.

She stood before him fully naked except for a pair of thigh-high black leather boots. Instead of looking out of place on her nude form, the boots gave her nakedness a raw sexual quality that sent blood rushing into his cock. Her hands were fixed on her hips, her head titled slightly to the side. A playful smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

Brad heard a groan echo through the room. It took him a full two seconds to realize it has been his own.

He gritted his teeth and thought of the way he’d felt after she left, hurt and confused, and then finally, numb. He gathered those feelings around him like a protective cloak and swept past her out of the cabin.

Stopping in front of the small porch, he breathed in a lungful of damp night air. The fresh scent of the forest helped clear his head, though it did nothing for the raging storm pounding in his groin.

“You’re angry,” Ali said, coming up behind him.

Brad stiffened at the nearness of her. He could smell her feminine scent, potent and arousing. The exotic fragrance was the same as it had been all those years ago. Even after so much time had passed, he’d still recognize it anywhere.

She was horny. The musky aroma of her lust floated through the air like a night-blooming flower, teasing his nostrils, awakening every urge to bury himself in the tight, wet warmth of this woman; a woman whose existence he’d been denying since the day she left.

“I really think you should leave. My…” His paused, scrambling for the right word. What was Sean? His date? His lover? He took a deep breath and tried again. “I have a friend coming over.”

“Some friend. Not every pal would give a guy a hand when he so desperately needs one.”

She walked around him, her smile teasing yet predatory. Her teeth glowed white in the moonlight. The lamp hanging from his door had been set on a timer, and it flicked on as she slid past it.

A wave of long-forgotten desire stiffened Brad’s cock further. Ali’s skin glistened in the silver and gold illumination. His gaze swept over her body, and he couldn’t help but compare her to Eve.

Where J.C.’s mate was blonde and perky, Ali was dark and intense. Long, mahogany hair escaped a messy bun hastily gathered behind her head. A few thick strands had fallen out, draping over her shoulder and grazing her breast.

Brad swallowed hard, remembering the way she could always draw every masculine eye when she entered a room. That had been true even before she’d turned into the gorgeous full-grown woman who now stood before him. She’d inherited her striking, exotic bone structure from her father, a man Brad knew little about. Though she and J.C. shared a mother, the similarities between them ended with their dark coloring.

Not that he knew much about the woman Ali had become. He’d heard random pack gossip that implied she worked as a mercenary, but he believed the rumors of her activities had been greatly exaggerated.

He focused on her stomach, flatter and tighter now than it had been in her teens. She’d obviously been working out, as her body made him think of a fighter, sleek and toned in all the right places, ready to pounce at the smallest provocation. Her small, perky breasts called out to him, her dusky areolas and tightly beaded nipples begging for his mouth to clamp around them and suck deeply.

“It’s been a long time, Brad,” she said, running her fingertips down his chest. He held his breath as her touch seared a path over his abdomen and groaned when she wrapped her hand around his straining shaft.

“Too long,” he agreed.

A wolf howled in the distance. Others joined him, their powerful voices raised in celebration.

“Listen to them,” Ali said, tilting her head in the direction of the meadow where the mating ceremony was still going strong. “They’re worshipping their Alpha and the new Queen. The night belongs to them.” She leaned in and placed a kiss on his chest, her tongue sweeping out to tease his nipple. “To us.”

Brad’s cock felt like it was going to explode. He should have taken himself in hand and stroked his dick until he came as he watched J.C. and Eve, but he’d wanted to save everything he had for his encounter with Sean. He’d planned on showing the man the time of his life, a night he’d always remember with a smile on his face and a twitch in his dick. In a heartbeat, Ali had changed that.

What hadn’t changed, though, was the effect she had on him. Even after all these years, the mere nearness of her made him want to spill his seed and watch her lick it off his spent, softening cock.

God, he needed to put some distance between them before his dick began dictating every move he made. He suddenly wished for multiple layers of clothing, a barrier of protection between his lust and her waiting, eager pussy.

Clenching his teeth and willing himself to take a step back, Brad gently dislodged her hand from his hard prick. “Too long,” he repeated, placing emphasis on the first word.

“You don’t mean that.” Her full lower lip jutted out in a frisky pout. Damn, but it would be so easy to close the distance between them again, to sweep his tongue over that lip and draw it between his teeth.

“Why are you
really
here?” he asked, grateful for something else to focus on besides his raging libido and Ali’s sleek curves.

She lifted a slender shoulder. “I already told you. J.C.’s mating was important enough to return.”

“After nine years without a word, how did you even know about the ceremony? J.C. told me he hadn’t heard from you in years.”

Ali grinned. “And you think J.C.’s the only member of the pack I bothered to keep in touch with?”

Darkness clouded Brad’s vision. Fury flooded his brain. “Well, you obviously didn’t keep in touch with me, so what the fuck was I supposed to think?”

She rolled her eyes, the gesture infuriating him further. “Don’t be ridiculous. We were together long ago. As you’re so fond of pointing out,
too long
ago. So why does it even matter?”

Brad swept his hand through his hair, his frustration stiffening his muscles until his shoulders ached. “It doesn’t,” he said through clenched teeth.

“It
is
good to see you,” she said, her gaze softening for an instant. Her dark eyes held him captive, spellbound. He remembered the way he used to tease her about having chocolate eyes, about every darkly tanned inch of her being good enough to eat.

“Did J.C. know you were coming?” Brad asked, closing his eyes for a moment to keep the memories at bay.

“No. He doesn’t know I’m here at all. And by the time you tell him, I’ll be long gone.”

Brad frowned. “So the elders didn’t know either? No one knew?”

Ali scowled. “Victor found out. It seems he takes his new security duties very seriously.”

“That doesn’t make sense. I know Victor. He wouldn’t allow any outsider to witness J.C.’s mating ceremony tonight. Not even someone who used to belong to the pack. Not after the Kölen attack.”

If Ali was surprised at the mention of open aggression between J.C. and Daniel, she didn’t show it. The Kölens and the Zanteans had been fighting for decades. Over the past few years, their strife had turned into a cold war, with neither side taking the offensive toward the other.

That is, until two weeks ago when Daniel Kraus had tried to inject J.C. with a serum he believed would ensure no Zante union would ever again result in a male pup being born. Effectively, Daniel had planned to wipe out the entire pack with one syringe. He just hadn’t counted on Eve Benning standing in his way.

Brad narrowed his eyes. Ali’s gaze matched his in its intensity, almost daring him to accuse her of being in league with the enemy.

“So, tell me, then,” Brad said, “why would Victor do this for you?”

For a heartbeat, silence spun out around them. Then Ali extended her arms languidly over her head, drawing Brad’s attention to her luscious breasts. She parted her legs as she stretched. Moonlight glinted off the supple leather boots and the beads of moisture gathered in the silken patch of dark hair at the apex of her thighs.

“Because,” she said slowly. “I think he used to be in love with me.”

Brad growled low under his breath, the anger and accusations draining out of him in an instant. Incessant, pounding lust sent another jolt of awareness to his cock.

“Damn it, Ali! He wasn’t the only one.”

* * *

The world tilted precariously on its axis as Brad’s words reached Sean’s ears. Clenching his teeth, Sean dug his fingernails into the jagged bark of a white pine tree. He’d been such a fool. One night with the guy, and he was ready to believe in happy-ever-after.

He knew better than to believe in June-moon fairy tales of true love and soul mates. Twice in his life, he’d been ready to propose to a woman. He’d even bought the ring, fully prepared to commit to spending the rest of his life with her, forsaking all others. And then, inevitably, she left him. They both did.

For a brief moment after he hung up the phone tonight, he’d felt that same euphoria he’d experienced when pocketing the black velvet box holding the engagement ring. A feeling of finding his place in the word, of
belonging
.

To Brad.

Stupid, stupid, stupid
.

Absolutely insane. Despite what Hollywood wanted people to believe, that kind of love didn’t exist. He’d had that harsh reality proven to him again and again. Every time he let his guard down and began to think he might actually spend the rest of his life in his lover’s arms, something always happened to quickly relieve him of that notion.

Splinters dug into his palms and he pulled his hands away, shaking his head. It was obvious from the look on Brad’s face he wasn’t kidding when he told the woman he loved her. Sean could see it in the glimmer in his blue eyes, in the way he stood close enough to touch her, his fists bunched at his sides to keep from doing just that.

Silently, Sean turned around. He wanted to disappear into the deep green woods, walk back to civilization and forget how close he’d come to making a colossal fool of himself.

“Well, well. And who might you be?”

Sean started, guilt slamming into his gut. He swallowed hard, anger flooding his veins. He had nothing to feel guilty about. Brad had invited him here. He just hadn’t said anything about Sean being a third wheel to a party that had obviously already started without him.

“No one,” he murmured, stalking deeper into the forest. “I’m no one.”

“Don’t go.” The woman’s voice was silky and melodious, rich and dripping with sex appeal. A hand touched his shoulder. His muscles tightened, and he jerked himself out of her grasp.

“I’m not wanted here.” He’d meant to sound convincing and absolute. Instead, he suspected he sounded defeated.

“Yes, you are.”

His body hardened in instant response.
Brad
.

The one man who could convince him to stay. The same man who only a moment ago, Sean had hoped never to see again. So much for making a fast, quiet getaway.

Lust scalded his groin, stiffening his cock into a state of impossible hardness. His dick had been twitching eagerly since Brad’s phone call, and seeing Brad and Ali naked together had only served to ignite his desire to the point of no return. He had to come soon, or the pain throbbing in his sac would quickly become unbearable.

“You don’t fool me,” Ali said, pressing her breasts against his back. He felt the stiff peaks of her nipples through his cotton T-shirt. His stomach clenched and his erection raged, tenting his jeans.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Sean said.

“Of course you do.” She slid her hands down his body. “You want this. You want Brad.”

A groan escaped his throat. When Brad moved to stand in front of him, Sean squeezed his eyes tightly shut. It was no use. He could still see the man in his mind’s eye. His finely muscled body burned through Sean’s eyelids, imprinting his form permanently on Sean’s mind.

He hadn’t gotten far from Brad’s cottage when Ali found him, but they were far enough away that the old-fashioned lamp hanging over the doorway didn’t penetrate the thick foliage. Here, only the bright silvery moon sent its beams dancing through the leaves to illuminate the long blades of grass carpeting the ground. It also shone on Brad, highlighting his broad chest, his lean abs, the line of hair that laid out a path from his navel to his erect shaft.

Sean closed his eyes. His corded muscles flexed of their own accord, signaling to his limbs to prepare to strike. Or flee, he thought desperately when he felt Brad’s hands on his shoulders, moving down the front of his body.

Lips touched his. Ali’s? Or Brad’s? He didn’t know and couldn’t risk looking. The pressure felt firm, masculine, and he opened his mouth beneath it. A tongue swept between his lips, brushing against his, sending a jolt of burning heat into his groin.