Love, Always, Promise [Wolf Creek Pack 5] (10 page)

“Do you know how hot you are, sweetness?” Jace whispered against Ethan’s silky skin. “How much you turn me on?” Jace grabbed one of Ethan’s hands and placed it against his hard cock. A deep growl broke from his throat when Ethan gave him a tight squeeze.

“Every damn time I look at you, I want to rip all of your clothes off and fuck you until you never forget who you belong to,” Jace said. He could see the effect his words on Ethan in the darkening of his blue eyes. It was also clearly evident in the hardness that pressed against Jace’s abdomen.

“Jace,” Ethan choked out.

“Yeah, sweetness?” Jace asked against Ethan’s neck.

“Jace, I need—I need—I need something,” Ethan stammered. His chest rose and fell with his rapid breathing. His hands clenched and unclenched in Jace’s hair. His body trembled. Jace knew exactly what he needed.

He reached down and quickly unzipped Ethan’s jeans, spreading the denim material open until Ethan’s cock bounced free. He grinned at Ethan. “And this is why you go commando from now on,” he said right before he leaned down and swallowed Ethan’s cock to the root.

“Ahhh, fuck, Jace!” Ethan cried out.

Jace paused for just a moment to make sure he hadn’t hurt his mate. He would never forgive himself if he hurt Ethan again.

“You stop now and you’re a dead man!” Ethan warned harshly as he yanked on Jace’s hair.

Jace grinned then started moving, his lips surrounding Ethan’s cock even as his tongue licked the heavily veined sides. He licked up the sides until he reached the large mushroomed head. A drop of pre-cum shot across his lips, making him groan.

He loved the taste of Ethan in his mouth. Not having given many blow jobs in his life, that surprised Jace. He thought he would be repulsed by the taste. He wasn’t. Just the opposite, in fact. He wanted more, a lot more, and he knew there was only one way to get it.

Jace picked the pace of his movements, licking faster and harder. He paid special attention to the small slit in the top of Ethan’s cock, which dripped more pre-cum with every passing swipe of Jace’s tongue.

“Jace,” Ethan cried, “I can’t—I can’t—” The rest of Ethan’s words were cut off by his long groan. Jace felt the muscles in Ethan’s legs tighten. He winced when Ethan’s hands clenched in his hair.

When Ethan’s body started to shake, Jace knew he was close. He increased his endeavors, licking more, sucking harder. Ethan cried out above him, then hot liquid filled Jace’s mouth. He swallowed, taking in as much of Ethan’s sweet essence as he could get.

Ethan whimpered. Jace let go of Ethan’s dick to reach up and catch his mate before he collapsed. Ethan burrowed into his chest, his head on Jace’s shoulder. Jace rubbed his mate’s back gently.

“Jace,” Ethan whispered.

Jace rubbed his cheek against the top of Ethan’s head. He felt…peaceful. His cock throbbed behind the zipper of his jeans so much he thought his jeans might burst open at any moment, but he felt strangely peaceful, calm, like all was right in the world.

It reminded him of the tender look he saw on Joe’s face when he cuddled his mate close. Jace imagined he had such a look on his face at that very moment. Something about holding his mate close gave him the most serene feeling in the world.

“It’s called finding your mate and being complete, Jace.”

Jace jumped and swung around, putting his body between Ethan and the voice coming from the far side of the kitchen. He let out a relieved breath when he spotted Nate leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen.

“Hey, Nate,” Jace said. He felt his face burn a little when he remembered that Ethan sat behind him with his dick hanging out of his pants. He quickly turned back around and reached down to put Ethan back in his pants, zipping him back up.

Ethan’s face blazed bright red. Jace caressed the side of his cheek, tilting his head back before leaning in to give him a small kiss. Lifting his head a moment later, he looked deep into Ethan’s bright blue eyes.

“Thank you, sweetness.”

Ethan’s eyes widened. “You’re thanking me?”

Jace grinned. “No one else, sweetness.”

“But, I didn’t—and you didn’t—” Ethan licked his lips, then glanced own at Jace’s crotch. “You never—”

“I don’t need to, either,” Jace replied. “Having you was plenty for me.”

If anything, Ethan’s face got even redder. Jace thought he looked absolutely adorable. Jace tilted Ethan’s face back up to his. “You, sweetness, are wonderful, and I will be forever grateful that you allowed me back into your life.”

“Well said, Jace.”

Jace turned to grin over at Joe, noting that the man’s mate once again pressed as close to him as he could possibly get. Whenever they were in the same room that was how they seemed to be. Jace decided he liked that idea.

He turned around and lifted Ethan to his feet, then scooted between him and the counter. Wrapping his arms around Ethan’s waist, he pulled the man back against him. Ethan’s body stiffed for a moment before leaning into his.

“So, tell me about this ranch you found for us, Nate,” Jace said. “Does it have room for a puppy?”

“Two or three, even,” Nate replied. “It’s a couple of miles from here, down by the lake. You’ll love it, fifty acres, a barn and stable. The house itself was built in 1856, but the previous owners modernized it as much as they could.”

“Why is it for sale?”

Nate glanced over at Joe, looking a little green around the gills.

“The last owners were members of our pack. Their son, a man named Roger Drummond, betrayed Nate to that man I told you about. Nate almost died. Roger was killed by that very same man. His parents decided to move away to someplace warmer.”

“They weren’t forced out of the pack, were they?” Ethan asked.

His words told Jace silently that his mate possessed a very large heart. Most people wouldn’t have cared. Jace would forever be grateful for that big heart. It made Ethan take him back and give him a second chance. He just hoped he had a chance of winning that heart for himself.

“No,” Nate said. “They were more than welcome to stay. I just think it was too hard for them knowing what their son did. Of course they didn’t do anything, and we tried to talk them into staying, but they just wanted to get away from the bad memories.”

Ethan snorted. “I can understand that.”

Jace stiffened. Was Ethan talking about them?

“No, Jace, he’s not,” Nate said softly.

Ethan tilted his head back to look up at him questioningly. Jace grimaced. Having Nate around would take some getting used to.

“I’m not what?” Ethan asked.

Jace shrugged, feeling completely stupid. “I just wondered if you were talking about us and what happened.”

“God, no,” Ethan exclaimed. “I was talking about my birth pack.”

“Your birth pack?” Jace asked, his forehead crinkling in confusion. “Weren’t you born here?”

“No, I’ve only been in Wolf Creek for a few months. My entire pack moved here.” Ethan frowned. “Well, what was left of my pack, anyway. There weren’t many of us left by the time we got here. Most of us were killed.”

“Killed!” Jace exclaimed, his arms tightening around Ethan’s waist. “What do you mean, killed? Are you still in danger? And who tried to kill you?”

“It’s a long story, but the short version is that several members of our pack made a deal with a vampire princess to barter wolf blood in exchange for money and territory. Our alpha found out and killed the vampire. He then moved us here to join up with the Wolf Creek Pack.”

“Fuck!” Jace exclaimed, horrified by how close he came to losing his mate before he even met him.

Ethan nodded. “It’s not so bad. We lost a lot of members of our pack, but we moved here and this place is much nicer. Our old alpha, Reece, became an enforcer for Daniel. I think he’s much happier here.”

“He is,” Nate said. “He wasn’t happy being an alpha, but he did what he needed to do. He likes being able to come home to his mate every night instead of running a pack.”

“And you should meet Prince Zacarius,” Ethan said. “His sister was the vampire princess that tried to kill us, but he wasn’t involved in that. He’s a really nice guy.”

“Prince Zacarius?” Jace asked.

“He’s mated to Devlin, the enforcer of my old pack,” Ethan replied. “I met him a few weeks ago when he came to get Devlin.”

“And his sister tried to kill you?”

Ethan nodded. “He wasn’t involved with that, though. I know Prince Zacarius would have stopped her if he’d known. He wants peace between the werewolves and vampires. He’s not into all the killing that his sister and my pack members did.”

“Sounds like some of the people in your pack and the ones in mine should get together and throw a party,” Jace said. “They all seem to think hurting people is the way to get what they want. I’m sure they’d get along famously.”

“Really?” Ethan asked. “You’re pack is that bad?”

“Ethan, I told you what my brother did to me just to get further up in rank,” Jace explained. “I wouldn’t put it past him or my father to do absolutely anything to get what they want.”

“They won’t come after you, will they?” Ethan asked.

Jace could hear the concern in Ethan’s voice, the worry. He wasn’t quite sure how to answer him. He felt pretty sure that his father and brother washed their hands of him, but there was always that one chance.

“I don’t think so, Ethan,” Jace finally said. “I pretty much burned my bridges with them when I left, but I can’t promise they won’t try something. I can, however, promise that I won’t be going back, ever. My place is here now, with you.”

Ethan seemed to just melt in Jace’s arms. He leaned back against Jace and buried his face in Jace’s neck. That was enough for Jace.

* * * *

“It’s just over here on the left,” Nate said, pointing out the front window, “the driveway with the white fence. Mr. Drummond replaced the fencing about three years ago at the same time he fixed the roof on the barn.”

Jace leaned forward to see where Nate pointed. He could see the driveway just ahead, and as Nate said, new white fencing lined the property. There were a lot of trees around the driveway, but beyond that fenced in fields just begged to be occupied.

“Look at that, Jace,” Ethan whispered, his voice filled with awe as they turned into the driveway. “Have you ever seen anything so perfect?”

Jace glanced down at Ethan’s animated face. Without even seeing more of the property, he knew just by the excited look on his mate’s face that they would be purchasing the place. His little mate looked mesmerized.

Jace couldn’t blame him. The place looked spectacular. Joe drove them down a long driveway, fenced in fields on either side. There were a few trees here and there in the fields, but other than that, they were bare except for rich green grass.

They came to a large open area at the end of the driveway. A white, two story house sat directly in front of them. It looked to be a typical old fashion farm house, but that was all that was typical about it.

Multipaned windows sat between matching green shutters. A large front door sat in the middle of a wooden porch that ran the length of the front of the house. A small flowerbed lined the ground in front of the porch except for the area where two steps led up to the porch. And a river rock chimney could be seen on the side of the house.

To the left of the house sat a huge barn and stable area. Jace could just imagine putting his two horses there and adding to them as the years went by. Given a few years, he could build up a sizeable herd of horses.

“Look at this place, Jace,” Ethan said, breaking into Jace’s fascination with the stable area. “Can you imagine anyone wanting to leave here? Ever?”

Jace smiled, patting Ethan’s leg. “No, sweetness, I can’t.”

Joe brought his truck to a stop and climbed out. He flipped the seat forward. “Coming?”

Jace climbed out then took Ethan’s crutches from him. He leaned them up against the side of the truck and reached back to help Ethan from the vehicle. He went to set Ethan on his feet then paused.

“I could just carry you, you know?” he whispered into Ethan’s ear.

“Maybe later?” Ethan replied, a small sparkle in his eyes.

Jace grinned and set Ethan on his feet. He handed the man the crutches and waited for him to get them situated before moving toward the house. He kept his hand on Ethan’s back the entire time.

“The place is selling for a dream,” Nate said from the top of the steps. “If you need financing, I’m sure we can work something out. Mr. and Mrs. Drummond just want to get out from under the place. I think they’re trying to buy a condo in Florida.”

Jace glanced up, waiting for Ethan to make his way up the steps. “How long have the Drummonds lived here?”

“The Drummonds have been here forever,” Joe said. “I don’t know exactly how long, but they’ve been here since I was born, I know that much. Mr. Drummond’s grandfather was born here, so I imagine it’s been in their family for several years.”

“And they just left?” Ethan asked.

Jace frowned. He could hear Ethan breathing hard. He didn’t like how much energy it took for the man to get up the stairs. As they moved into the house, Jace decided that if they needed to travel up and down anymore stairs, Ethan would be carried.

“Oh my,” Ethan whispered, coming to a halt as he looked around the large open area inside the house.

Jace felt a little stunned himself. The outside of the house had a very farmhouse type of look. The inside had been fully redesigned and redecorated. The colors seemed simple, white walls, oak hardwood floors.

Everything else changed. It seemed to Jace that what was once a few different rooms had been opened up into one large room. The living room sat on one side of the large room, the kitchen and dining area on the other.

Beyond the living room sat a few doors. A large river rock fireplace sat in the middle. The ceiling over the living room looked as if it had been raised and vaulted. Jace imagined whatever rooms used to be above it no longer existed.

A set of stairs sat against one wall by the dining room. Jace didn’t like the idea of Ethan having to use the stairs to come and go. He’d be exhausted after just a few trips. As much as he liked the place, and he did, it might not turn out to be the place for them.