Strength of the Pack (41 page)

“Noah,” he pleaded, voice torn from desperation. “Please, Noah.”

“Your scent is strongest right here,” Noah murmured against Lucas’ ass. “You taste fucking awesome.”

Lucas shivered again.

Noah sat up, and Lucas tensed with anticipation. He was vaguely aware of familiar sounds and Noah’s movements. Lucas gave a strangled cry when Noah’s finger slid into his hole.

This time, Noah’s finger was cool and slick. Lucas’ heart thundered in his chest. He knew what this meant; he knew why Noah was slicking him up.

Lucas panted heavily into the comforter, twisting the fabric in his fists. Noah’s finger pressed deep into him. Noah gave a twist of his wrist as he slid his finger in and out of Lucas’ hole. The single finger slid out, and Lucas made a frustrated sound. He grunted when Noah pushed two fingers inside.

Lucas tried to relax around the intrusion of Noah’s fingers. Noah pushed into him, deep and rough, stretching Lucas’ rim when he pulled out.

When Noah plunged three lubed fingers into his hole, Lucas shouted in surprise. It burned and stung, but Lucas’ cock was growing harder. Noah’s fingers were a tease. They weren’t enough. Lucas needed more.

He nearly sobbed in relief when Noah lined up the head of his erection with Lucas’ hole. Lucas swore into the comforter when Noah sank into him with a single, brutal thrust. Tendrils of sensation worked their way up Lucas’ spine as Noah’s cock stretched him wide and filled him up.

Lucas closed his eyes and moaned in pleasure when Noah’s weight and heat settled over him again, pressing him into the bed. Noah clasped their hands together again, and Lucas gave an answering squeeze of his fingers. Noah’s lips pressed against Lucas’ temple, his breath hot as his chest heaved against Lucas’ back.

“Jesus Christ, Lucas,” Noah whispered jaggedly. “You feel so much better than I dreamed. You’re so fucking tight and hot.”

Lucas was too overwhelmed by sensation, too overwhelmed by emotion to speak. He gripped Noah’s fingers and lay beneath him, aching for him to move. Lucas wished he could see Noah’s face as he moved inside of him. He craved Noah’s kiss.

Noah flexed his hips, and his cock slid in and out of Lucas’ hole. The pace was punishing. Lucas’ ass stung with each slap of Noah’s hips against him. His own grunts and moans matched the rhythm of Noah’s thrusts. Lucas’ hole burned, and his ass felt full each time Noah fell forward, cock sinking deeply into Lucas’ body.

The world tilted beneath Lucas when Noah pulled out hurriedly. Lucas felt bereft and his skin chilled in the absence of Noah’s heat. His disorientation was acute as he was flipped over onto his back. Noah’s hands were rough and bruising as he pushed Lucas into the position he wanted.

Noah shoved into him with a single, powerful thrust. Lucas wrapped his legs around Noah’s hips, spanning Noah’s ribs with his trembling hands. He arched his back, eager for Noah to fuck him vigorously. Instead, Noah lowered himself with a soft clinking of his dog tags, curling his arms beneath Lucas’ shoulders.

Lucas was cradled in Noah’s arms, his face pressed to Noah’s sweaty throat. Noah’s lips were against Lucas’ throat. Hips moving slowly, circling every few thrusts, Noah fucked Lucas with exquisite care. Lucas wrapped his arms around Noah’s chest, digging his fingers into the thick muscles of his back.

“Open up to me,” Noah whispered against Lucas’ throat. “Open yourself all the way for me.”

Lucas’ thighs were spread as Noah fucked him with exquisite slowness. He couldn’t open himself any wider for Noah. The subtle touch of Noah’s mind against his own told Lucas what Noah sought.

Lucas had been so caught up in the sensation of Noah’s body against his own, he hadn’t paid attention to their link. He opened it wide and gasped at the intensity of Noah’s emotions as they washed over him.

Noah gasped against Lucas’ throat. Lucas was helpless against Noah’s strength and power. The feel of Noah above him, filling him, fused with Noah’s thoughts and emotions.

Lucas’ cock was fully hard again, pressed between their bodies. Noah’s belly rubbed against it with every thrust, and Lucas was hurtling toward a second climax. He wanted to reach between them and fist himself. He wanted to get himself off along with Noah, feel himself clenching Noah at the same time Noah shot his hot come deep inside Lucas’ ass.

“So fucking amazing,” Noah murmured brokenly. “So fucking perfect. Made just for me.”

Noah shifted, pressing his palms to the bed just above Lucas’ shoulders. His pace picked up, and his angle changed to nail Lucas’ gland on every thrust. Lucas clutched at Noah’s arms, his mouth fell open as he cried out with every slam of Noah’s hips against his ass. Noah buried his face against Lucas’ neck and chanted nonsensically in between burning kisses to Lucas’ throat.

“Fit my cock so perfect. Feel so good around me. So tight around my cock. So perfect. Just perfect for me.” Noah’s rhythm changed; his breathing grew harsher.

Through their link, Lucas felt everything Noah did. His chest tightened with the force of the emotion that had also tightened Noah’s. Lucas wasn’t touching his own cock, but his balls began to lift at the same moment as Noah’s. The heat that pooled in Noah’s belly also pooled in Lucas’. Noah was coming, and he was dragging Lucas along with him.

“I’m gonna come,” Noah groaned. “I’m gonna come inside you. Deep inside your ass. Fuck, Lucas, you feel so good.”

With a strangled cry, Noah threw back his head and roared as he started to come. His cock throbbed inside of Lucas’ ass, hot fluid flowing freely and coating the inner walls of Lucas’ body. Without a single touch to his dick, Lucas followed. He painted their skin with his hot, sticky spunk, matching Noah thrust for thrust and shout for shout.

When Noah collapsed on top of him, Lucas held him close, their breathing syncing. Noah dozed, and Lucas didn’t give a fuck that his come was drying tacky between them. He stared at the ceiling, stunned and overwhelmed.

This was a werewolf ritual. Noah had initiated this, which meant Lucas hadn’t taken advantage. Noah had taken everything he’d wanted, the way he’d wanted. Lucas recalled Noah telling him that sex after a run was so much
more
. Now Lucas understood.

His chest ached as he wondered how the hell he could wait for another were ritual. Already, Lucas craved having Noah like this again. He sighed heavily and closed his eyes. Noah’s limp body was pleasantly heavy on top of his own. He’d worry later about just how fucked he was.

Lucas wrapped the towel around his hips and sat down on the foot of the bed. The droplets of water he’d missed after his shower were cool as they dried on his skin. He rested his elbows on his knees and let his head hang between his shoulders. His run had done nothing to ease the constant tightness of his muscles. He was restless and anxious.

Rubbing his thumb and forefinger over his eyes, Lucas sighed. He tried to dispel the images and memories that chased him, invaded his dreams and wouldn’t leave him in peace.

Noah. Always Noah. The sight of his tall, well-muscled body, either naked or clothed. The sound of his voice, his scent, the color of his eyes, all of it haunted Lucas every minute of the day. He awoke each morning, hard and leaking, Noah wrapped tightly around him in sleep. Lucas couldn’t do a fucking thing about it.

He was Noah’s commanding officer, and he would not—could not—take advantage of his authority or of this strange, mystical connection they shared. As badly as he wanted Noah, Lucas would do nothing to pressure or manipulate him.

His cock was arguing the point vehemently.

This hard-on was one that wouldn’t go away on its own. He slid to the center of the large bed and rolled over to retrieve a bottle from the bedside table. Planting his feet flat on the mattress, Lucas unwrapped his towel and poured a small amount of viscous fluid into his palm.

He worked his hand slowly over his cock, spreading the lubricant. He was already so fucking close. Just thinking about Noah and the sounds he made the last time they were together intimately, pushed Lucas toward the edge.

Fuck. It wasn’t just sex with Noah either. Lucas was turned on by his intelligence, his competence, his confidence and his humor. Noah wasn’t intimidated by Lucas. He challenged him, strengthened him; at the same time he brought out the best in him.

Working his hand faster on his dick, Lucas’ back and neck arched sharply, bringing him nearly off the bed. He squeezed his fist and twisted his wrist around the head of his erection. He pictured Noah’s brilliant blue eyes bleeding to molten silver. He pictured Noah’s gorgeous smile and his sensuous laugh.

Lucas’s mouth fell open in a silent scream of ecstasy. Every muscle in his body tensed as he edged nearer and nearer the precipice. He lifted his free hand over his head and fisted it in the comforter. Fuck he was close. His hand was slick and felt good on his cock, but it didn’t compare to the way Noah’s mouth had felt on him that last morning.

The bedroom door crashed open and slammed hard against the wall. Lucas leaped from the bed, scrambling to get his towel back around his naked hips. His face flamed with humiliation. There could be no doubt what he’d just been doing.

Noah filled the doorway. He stood with his hands clenched at his sides, chest heaving with every breath. His eyes were hard, sharp silver. He wore nothing but his dog tags and a faded pair of jeans, unfastened and hanging low on his narrow hips. It wasn’t fair. Even enraged, Noah was sexy enough to make Lucas’ mouth go dry.

“Lucas,” Noah said. Instead of sounding angry, he sounded wounded.

“What the fuck, Noah?” Lucas demanded, reaching for his own righteous anger. He was a grown man, he had the right to jerk off in the privacy of his own bedroom.

“That’s what I’m asking you!” Noah shouted. “You shut me down. You lock me out. You force me to sneak into your bed to be near you. Then you leave our fucking link wide fucking open while you jerk off, thinking about
me
.”

Lucas’ mouth fell open in astonishment. He swallowed against the lump of apprehension in his throat. He reached out subtly, and, sure enough, there it was. He’d grown so used to feeling Noah in his head, he’d forgotten to lock out what he’d been doing.

“I’m sorry,” he said sincerely. “You shouldn’t have to be subjected to that.”

Noah was across the room in an instant. Instead of skirting the bed, he walked right over it. Lucas held his towel over his surprisingly still-hard cock, immobilized in shock, as Noah tried to pry it from his fingers.

“I’ve seen you naked,” Noah growled savagely. “I’ve had you naked in my bed, spread out and wanting. You don’t need the fucking towel.”

Lucas uncurled his numb fingers. Noah had the strength to take the towel from him at any time, but instead he had asked for Lucas’ cooperation, his consent.

Noah gripped Lucas’ ass with one hand. He brought their hips together and the hardness of Noah’s cock was unmistakable through his jeans. Noah’s other hand came up to cradle Lucas’ head, holding him still as Noah nuzzled his ear and along the length of his throat.

“What do I have to do, Lucas?” Noah whispered his plea. “What do I have to do for you to let me in? Just tell me, and I’ll do it, I swear.”

Noah’s words twisted painfully in Lucas’ chest, and he clutched desperately at Noah’s broad shoulders. “I don’t understand.”

“I’ve given you everything.” Noah’s voice broke. “I’ve laid my Pack at your feet. You have my respect, my admiration and my submission.” He swallowed audibly. “But unless it has to do with a werewolf ritual, you don’t want anything to do with me.”

Lucas choked on Noah’s pain. “That’s not true,” he said adamantly.

“You’d rather jerk off and fantasize than actually be
with
me.” Noah continued as if Lucas hadn’t spoken, tears lacing his voice. “You’re my Mate, and I can’t make you love me the way that I love you.”

Lucas stood paralyzed, his blood turning to ice. He almost couldn’t hear over the rush of it in his ears. Noah still held him, kissing along his neck and grinding their hips together like he needed to be
inside
of Lucas.

“M-m-mate?” Jesus Christ. How had he missed that? “We’re…I thought…” Fuck. Lucas needed to sit down.

The earth tilted, and he was sitting on the edge of the bed, Noah kneeling in front of him looking pale and alarmed. Noah’s hands running over his hair and his bare skin were warm and amazing.

“Lucas, what’s wrong?” Noah’s question was panic-filled.

Lucas’ memory raced back over all the legends Noah had shared with him, struggling to remember details about the pairings, the werewolf culture and the rituals. Not once had Noah ever declared them to be Mates. He’d fed Lucas all of his history and myths about men and women bonded together for purposes of combat, as if the two of them were no more than battle buddies.

“You never said we were Mates,” he snarled accusingly. Fuck. Would they even be allowed to serve together anymore? Then again, wasn’t that their primary function as True Alpha and Dominant? Wasn’t that what had hindered Lucas all this time?