Available [Marked 3] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (5 page)

“Here you go. If you have questions, just let me know.”

“So what is your favorite position?” Bradley asked, dead pan.

Ryan snorted, but the corners of his mouth tilted upward in a smile. “Any questions about the book, smartass.”

Bradley liked making him smile. Without preamble, he flipped the binder open and started thumbing through the odd script inside. Three pages in he found the symbol in his mind. He turned the book around and pointed to it. “I need this one.”

Ryan frowned. “Why that one?”

“I don’t know.” Bradley shrugged. “I see it in my head now. What does it mean?”

“Did your little metaphysical buddy tell you that that one was what you needed?” Ryan asked, his voice a bit mocking.

Sometimes Ryan could be a dick. Now was one of those times. “Screw you. It’s what I feel drawn to. What does it mean?”

Ryan didn’t answer for a minute. Instead, he seemed to be examining Bradley’s face in hopes of discovering the answer written on his visage. “It means ‘wolf son.’ It’s one of the only symbols availables are allowed to use in that book. I’m choosing to look at it as a creepy coincidence. Let’s go.”

“Wait, that doesn’t really tell me what it means,” Bradley protested as Ryan went down the hall into one of the closets and pulled out another jacket before tossing it to Bradley.

“Wear that so I won’t freeze to death on the way back over to twenty-third street.”

“You know I live over on twenty-third street?” Bradley asked.

Ryan snorted. “Don’t get excited. I just entered in your address on the computer, remember?”

“So what does ‘wolf son’ mean?”

“It means I need to get you home and I need to go find my Alpha. Now drop it.”

Bradley felt like stomping his foot like a little kid and throwing one hell of a tantrum. If Ryan thought for one minute that he would be bossed around without any information, he was sorely mistak—

Ryan grabbed his face between his two large hands and tilted his head up for a kiss. An electric jolt went through Bradley’s body as their lips met. How long had he waited for this?
He’s trying to shut me up
. A part of him just snickered. It was effective. He’d give him that. He opened his mouth to admit the bold thrust of Ryan’s tongue. The man seemed to pour every ounce of frustration and lust into the kiss as their mouths mated in a blatant imitation of sex. The hard ridge of Ryan’s cock dug into the skin of Bradley’s stomach, and his own arousal was mashed against Ryan’s thick thigh.

Ryan broke the kiss abruptly, leaving Bradley panting and dizzy. “The first thing to learn about being a submissive is to trust your Dominant. I need you to trust me to deal with things, Bradley, or else this is never going to work.”

“Another kiss?” Bradley asked. If he got more of those glorious mind-fucks he would not need to think about anything ever again. He felt floaty, like he was in a wonderful dream or something. It made perfect sense to obey Ryan’s directive, to trust him with everything.

“God, you hit sub space just from that?” Ryan rumbled, his hands going to Bradley’s hips and pulling him back flush against his body.

“What’s that?” Bradley asked, nuzzling the other man’s firm chest.
Fuck yes
. This was where he belonged. Right here with Ryan, at the wolf’s feet.

“Your eyes are dilated. Your breathing is almost to the point where it would be if you were meditating. Absolutely calm. Are you feeling euphoria? Are you drifting?” Ryan asked. So many questions. Answering them seemed like so much effort but Bradley would if it would make Ryan happy.

“Yeah. I feel like I’m floating.”

“From a kiss?” Ryan muttered, hugging him tight. “Damn boy, you are a treasure.” The praise wrapped Bradley in pure cotton warmth. “I’ve never seen a sub sink into headspace that quickly.” He swallowed hard as a rumbled growl vibrated through his chest. It felt fantastic against Bradley’s skin.

He wrapped his arms around Ryan’s waist. “Touch me?”

Seemingly reluctant, Ryan shook his head. “I can’t. It’s not fair. This can’t—I can’t take you home while you’re still in space. Come back to me, Bradley.”

“No.”

Ryan’s hands wandered over his arms, back, and chest. “Be a good boy, Bradley. Come back to me.”

“No.”

“Stubborn sub, come down and let me take you home before I do something stupid!” Ryan snapped. The anger and frustration in his voice killed a little of the buzz Bradley was feeling.

“Take me home with you,” Bradley said, clinging to Ryan’s firm body. “You don’t have to fuck me, but I want to stay with you.”

Ryan sighed. “That is not a good idea.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t trust myself not to strip you down and fuck you. My wolf is very keen on the idea right now, and if you’re in my bed, I’ll be inside you.” The admission seemed to cost Ryan some of that control he’d been clinging to, and it only made Bradley hungrier.

“Take me home, Ryan,” Bradley said, closing his eyes and leaning into the other man. They both needed this, had been dancing around their attraction for months. Denying it even one more second seemed unbearable.

“I’ll take you to
your
home, Bradley. But if you’re good and stop being so stubborn, I will tuck you in when we get there.”

It wasn’t much of a compromise, but Bradley would take it. Now that he as an available, there was plenty of time to teach his Dom that Bradley was the only man he needed in his life.

* * * *

The hardest thing Ryan had ever done was walk away from the satisfied human who had become his responsibility to train as a submissive. As promised, he’d tucked Bradley in and given him a chaste kiss good night in exchange for Bradley’s cooperation. It wasn’t usually his bag to negotiate with subs, but Bradley was all instinct and Ryan wouldn’t put it past him to stalk after Ryan if he left him alone. There
was
a pull despite Ryan’s adamant refusal to acknowledge it. The question was, how had the human recognized it before Ryan had?

He flipped open his cell phone and dialed his brother. A quick glance at his watch said it was well after three a.m., but he knew Regan as well as he knew himself. The other man was still awake. Their connection was uncanny and was even tighter than the one he shared with Alpha. They could talk mind to mind over long distances, but it took a lot of effort to concentrate, so it was better to just use the telephone. Unlike Regan, he didn’t need to show off. He was still pissed that Regan hadn’t stopped the scene when they’d come in. He bristled as he recalled the fascinated expression painted over Bradley’s face. He sighed. These instincts were going to be the death of him. His wolf was screaming at him to walk back up the steps to Bradley’s apartment and claim him. Unwilling to listen, he stood by his motorbike in the parking lot and glared up at his window.

“How’d your date go?” Regan asked by way of greeting.

“Fuck. You. You are a prick for doing that to me.”

A brief chuckle sounded. “Come on. I know you. Your wolf was salivating at the prospect. He went above and beyond to get your attention.”

“A normal brotherly reaction would’ve been to be concerned that one of our clients stalked me, tattooed himself to get my attention, and inserted himself into the pack on a mission to become my mate,” Ryan rumbled, annoyance flickering through him for the millionth time tonight. His brother just laughed again.

“He’s harmless, and you know it. He wants to be a part of the pack. Have fun with him, train him, and then let him go. Let another Dom take the adoration if you can’t handle it,” Regan said, a smirk in his voice. Most people couldn’t hear the smile Regan was sporting, but Ryan knew that tone.

He snorted. “I could just assign him a trainer and be done with it.”

“But you didn’t. You assigned yourself, prick. I already looked at his info. You and your wolf are jonesing for the boy. So take him. It’s not against pack law anymore to mate a human. And he is your mate by the way. I can feel it through our bond.” Now that was news. Could Regan really feel their mate connection?

“You’re lying.”

“Am not. You’re in my head, Ryan. You know better. I wouldn’t lie. Not about something like this. He’s yours. He must be a pretty aware human, too. He seemed to sense your connection before you pulled your head out of your ass,” Regan said. “Of course, if you’re still denying the pull, you have your head farther up your own ass than I thought you did.”

Ryan frowned. “That’s the thing, Re. He talks like he’s got a wolf. When we were at the shop, he picked out the symbol for ‘wolf son,’ too.”

“You think he might be an unregistered mixed breed?” Regan asked, the amusement gone from his voice. “If he’s a latent wolf, then he’s probably getting close to an awakening.”

“Maybe.” It was really too little information to speculate on, but it was a possibility. A human and wolf mix was an unpredictable combination. There were no guarantees that the wolf would ever fully form and attach to the soul of the human body. But just as often a latent would spontaneously manifest and go from human to wolf in a blink of an eye. Shifters called it an awakening because it was just like that. One minute the wolf was dormant, and the next it was fully formed and wide awake. Latents usually had the most control issues because unlike born wolves, they weren’t used to compromising with their instincts. A lot of accidents happened with them for that very reason. They were as bad as weres.

“Your mate bond could’ve triggered it. He’s the one you saved in that car crash right?” Regan asked.

“Yeah.” It had been Ryan’s fault. He’d swerved in front of Bradley to avoid a pothole in the pavement and caused the younger man to hit the curb and send his car careening into the tree beyond. He’d ditched his bike and gone to see what he could do to help out. Bradley had been unconscious with his face pressed against the airbag when he’d gotten to the driver’s side door. Ryan had all but ripped the door off to get him out of there. He’d dialed 911 and had waited for the cops and ambulance to come, keeping Bradley company until then. The boy had a concussion and had talked out of his head so much that Ryan had been ninety percent sure he wouldn’t remember him when he got back straight. Ryan had paid all the damages, the hospital bills, and the cost of a replacement car but had pretty much forgotten about it until Bradley walked into the shop a month later.

“Well, that explains a bit. Wolves know their mates by sight and scent alone. He probably started the process then, which would explain why he can’t seem to stay away from you and why the full awakening keeps getting put off.”

Ryan frowned. “How the hell does that explain why he hasn’t shifted yet?”

“Duh, bro. Think. Every time he comes into the shop, you mark him. You claim him in a way. That probably kept his wolf content for the time being.”

“No,” Ryan denied. “We don’t even know if he’s a latent yet. I have to talk to Alpha.”

“I’ll leave a message for Dean to start a background check on your boy and start the process.” Dean was a private investigator who was a member of the pack. He helped out a lot when it came to criminal and personal problems. To say he was an invaluable employee was pretty accurate.

“He’s not my boy.”

“Whatever you say, Ry.”

“Fuck you, Re.” Their childhood nicknames didn’t invoke the same amusement it usually did. “I start his training Friday.”

Regan snorted. “If he leaves you alone till then, I will eat my fucking tattoo gun. If he’s a latent, he won’t be able to resist the impulse, and the more you’re around him, the less you’ll be able to as well. Why don’t you just bite the bullet and get it over with?”

“He’s clean, Re. I mean, he’s like almost virgin clean. I can’t.” Raw panic rose up and clawed at his gut and chest. He stared a hole through the glass in Bradley’s bedroom window.

“Easy, bro. Breathe.” Regan cursed on the other end of the phone. “So it isn’t just that he’s vanilla, huh?”

“No, Re. He’s pure like a goddamn angel sent to punish me.” He trembled, and it wasn’t from the freezing temperatures outside. “I can’t touch him.”

“When are you going to stop punishing yourself for something that happened when we were sixteen?” Regan asked softly. “David is long mated and moved on from the incident. Why can’t you?”

“I can’t be trusted with someone like him again, Re. You don’t understand. The things I did, the things I wanted to do…”

Regan made a noise of comfort, and Ryan could practically feel his brother’s arms around him. “He was just as much at fault as you were, Ryan. He wanted those things and knew how to safeword. You gave him his fantasy. Granted, you both went too far, but you are a better and more experienced Dom now. The punishment that you endured was unjust, and Alpha will tell you that.”

“He begged me to stop, and I ignored him. I knew it felt wrong, and I did it anyway.”

“Only because he would get pissed at you for stopping any other time,” Ryan interrupted. “Jesus, Ryan. That boy is notorious for topping from the bottom, and you were young enough to let him. He manipulated the situation so that you went further and further down into his fantasy land, and by the time you both realized it was too much, you both were too far into it. You haven’t played hard since, and I know it’s not because you don’t have it in you or don’t have a half a dozen availables begging you for it. He’s still controlling your life, and he doesn’t even live here anymore. He wasn’t as innocent as you seem to remember him. He played the part, but he was never an innocent that you preyed upon.”