And his actions, his words. Do I really need to read his mind or whatever it is he can do to me? Is it necessary when the man is so open and honest already?
No, it wasn’t.
“You are,” Lyndon said when Levi started to look crestfallen. “You are, and I’m yours. I don’t understand how.”
Mate!
The nagging word would not desist. Levi smiled slyly and Lyndon wondered if the man heard the same word bouncing around his brain. “And you’re sure you’re okay? I wasn’t too rough?”
Levi stood and hooked a hand around the back of Lyndon’s neck, pulling him down the couple of inches necessary for their lips to meet. The kiss was sweet, and Lyndon closed his eyes to enjoy the gift his mate—
there it is again
—was giving him.
“You were perfect,” Levi said a bit sluggishly. “I want that again, and again. I want…” Levi moved closer until he was all but glued to Lyndon. Dark need clouded Levi’s features as he massaged Lyndon’s neck. “More, sometimes. I want to try other things I’ve thought about.”
Fuck!
Lyndon had to close his eyes before he did something isane like pushing Levi down and fucking him raw…which he probably already was, considering the way Lyndon had just pounded away at his ass.
“Shower,” he said in something a hair less embarrassing than a squeak. “Let’s get cleaned up, then maybe…” Lyndon took Levi’s cock in a firm hold, enjoying the way the soft flesh began to harden in his hand. “Maybe I’ll suck this dry.” He added a little twist of his wrist, drawing a delicious moan from Levi. Lyndon let go and tried not to look smug. “Lead the way.” He’d take the opportunity to watch Levi’s tight ass flex.
Which is what he tried to do, but Levi, pride in his voice, pointed out the golden pine floors he’d helped lay, and the matching trim around the doorways and running parallel to the ceiling. A shelf above the fireplace brought a glow of pride to Levi.
Lyndon wanted to devour him right then but turned instead and looked at the detailed carvings on the supporting brackets. Leopards, playing, sleeping, carved with such intricate skill it left him breathless. Gorgeous, but he thought it needed a cougar in the mix now. He’d suggest one later, when he and Levi knew each other better.
“And the kitchen table and chairs, I made those too,” Levi went on, veering into the kitchen. “It took me a couple of months working around other orders, but it’s exactly what I’d wanted. What do you think?”
Levi wasn’t fishing for compliments on his woodworking skills. The man was talented, as much an artist as there ever was. The table was long, claw-footed—leopard paws, of course. The warm honey colour of the wood seemed to welcome one to sit in the high-backed chairs cushioned in colourfully padded material. “It’s gorgeous,” Lyndon murmured, seeing Levi’s touch in the way the counters matched the table, the colour of which in turn blended perfectly with the sills around the windows. The cream-coloured walls offset the wood in a way that would make an interior decorator envious.
“This is what you do? Make these beautiful pieces of furniture for people?”
Levi’s shy smile was priceless. “Yeah, and sometimes, if I feel like it, I make other things too.” Levi gestured behind Lyndon, who turned and only then noticed the large carved leopard beside the hallway. “I don’t sell my cats, though. Those are gifts for family.”
Lyndon walked over to the wooden cat and caressed the smooth skull. “It’s you, isn’t it?”
Levi cleared his throat and Lyndon looked at him, surprised to find the man grimacing.
“Carving an effigy of myself seems vain, right? But it isn’t. I had to practice first, and I figured I’d rather botch myself, you know. Silly, maybe, but it seemed disrespectful to try to make one of my grandma and end up making her look like a deformed house cat or something.”
“I don’t think it’s vain, or silly,” Lyndon said, smiling at his lover. “And I think Marybeth might have gutted you if you made her into a deformed house cat. Do you make each member one in their own likeness now?”
Levi looked relieved as he came closer. “I’m working on it. This one kind of started it.” He ran a finger down the wooden leopard’s nose. “Grandma Marybeth wanted one after she saw it, then Mom wanted one, and Drake and Jenny—maybe we’re a vain lot of leopards,” he said then chuckled as if he were embarrassed at the possibility.
“Nah.” Lyndon wouldn’t mind having one of himself in cougar form to sit across from Levi’s.
“I could make you one,” Levi offered.
Lyndon pulled his hand back and tipped his head to the side to look at Levi. “How the hell do you know what I’m thinking?”
Levi blinked then rubbed at his forehead. “I don’t know. I’m sorry if it bugs you. I don’t try to, I just, I get these impressions. It’s not consistent and it’s probably invasive anyway, but I don’t do it on purpose.”
Lyndon considered it and shrugged. It had to be weird for Levi. “Ever done it to anyone else?”
“No,” Levi answered immediately. “I don’t want to, either. I can’t imagine picking up on other people’s emotions or whatever. I’d never leave the cabin again. Or at least I wouldn’t go around other people, I guess. Does it—does it bother you?”
He looked so distressed Lyndon couldn’t keep from pulling him in for a hug. “No, it doesn’t. Not like I have anything to hide. I can’t do it to you, but I realised earlier I can read you probably just as effectively. You have a very expressive face, and your eyes, well, they give everything away.” At least for him they did.
“Makes it kind of fair then, isn’t it?”
“It is,” Lyndon agreed. “Now, let’s get the spunk and blood washed off and see if we can—”
“Ah, damn it!” Levi groaned. “Hurry up, hurry! My parents are on their way, and they’ll barge right in!”
“How—” Lyndon started to ask as Levi dragged him down the hall.
“I guess my senses are really sharper than yours, at least when we’re human.” He opened a door and pushed Lyndon into the bathroom. “Quick, turn the water on, I have to run back for our clothes!”
Lyndon didn’t need his shifter senses to hear the front door open then slam followed by two voices calling out for Levi. He could even hear them over the shower running.
“Shit shit shit!” Levi looked as panicked as he sounded. “Get in,” he gritted out. “Showering, be out in a few minutes,” he bellowed towards the door.
“Did you lock it?” Lyndon asked.
“Fuck. No.” Levi did so then while Lyndon got in the shower. It was nice sized, dual showerheads. Too bad they weren’t going to get to really enjoy those this time around.
“Levi, I expect you and your
friend
out in ten minutes!” The deep, masculine voice sounded almost as sexy as Levi’s, yet Lyndon couldn’t quite stop a little shiver from racing down his back.
“Your father, I take it?”
Levi’s cheeks were flaming and his mouth was pinched into a thin line. “Yeah. You’d think I was thirteen not twenty-three.”
“I heard that,” the man boomed through the door. “And I don’t care how old you are, you’re always going to be our son! Now hurry up!”
“No wonder I’ve never brought anyone home.”
Levi might have meant to tease, but Lyndon couldn’t stop the growl those words caused. “That’s not why, is it, Levi?” he asked. He took Levi’s cock in hand and squeezed.
Levi shivered despite the warm temperature of the water. His cock filled and Lyndon pumped it mercilessly. “Is it?” Lyndon prodded again.
“No, it’s not,” Levi stuttered, bracing himself on the wall by leaning back until his shoulders pressed to the blue tiles. “Oh fuck, Lyndon, keep doing on and I’m gonna—”
“I know,” Lyndon said with a feral twist of his lips. “You’re going to come, which is exactly what I intend to happen.”
Levi wasn’t a child, and his parents’ concern was all well and good, but this was Levi’s house, and he was Levi’s lover, and Lyndon wasn’t going to let this quick shower be a total waste. And he doubted Levi would be able to be quiet.
“God, Lyndon, please,” Levi rasped, and Lyndon rewarded him by catching his nail in Levi’s slit. “Ah!” Levi’s eyes shot wide open and he slapped a hand over his mouth. “Mmmph!” Levi grunted through his climax.
Lyndon dropped to his knees and sucked the last spurt down, holding Levi’s legs wide open by gripping the insides of his strong thighs. Lyndon lapped the tip of Levi’s cock then licked down the underside. He buried his face in Levi’s balls, drawing the scent there deep into his lungs. Levi whimpered and Lyndon hummed, pressing his lips to Levi’s nuts for a quick kiss before standing.
He rubbed against Levi and peered into his slumberous eyes. “When they leave…” That was all he had to say.
Levi was nodding his head eagerly. “Whatever you want, when they leave.”
What Lyndon wanted was to be alone with Levi for several hours, long enough for him to taste every inch of his skin and learn all the contours of Levi’s body, the curves of muscle and the hard ridges too. He wanted to know what drove Levi crazy with passion, what he couldn’t stand so Lyndon would never cross a line he shouldn’t.
Instead he was fixing to meet Levi’s parents, and frankly, he was scared. Nervous sounded better, but so much rested on Levi’s family accepting him. Oh, not right away, certainly, but if they hated him right off the bat and wanted him gone, what then? He’d talked big to Marybeth, saying it was up to Levi whether or not he stayed here—and that was the truth—but what if Levi’s parents wanted him gone? Would Levi cave in to family pressure? Lyndon feared he would. After all, Levi loved his family, and they obviously loved him.
Lyndon was, for all anyone knew, just a flash in the pan, a quick fuck Levi might easily tire of. Except, Lyndon didn’t believe any such thing. Levi wouldn’t have brought him here, into this very personal space, wouldn’t have exposed his family to Lyndon, if Levi hadn’t already had some strong feelings for him. And maybe those feelings were just lust, but Lyndon had to think something more could grow from them. Something stronger, more enduring. Hopefully, Levi’s family would believe it, too.
“Don’t be nervous.” Levi caressed Lyndon’s shoulder. “They’re going to like you, just as Grandma does. She wouldn’t have left me alone with you otherwise.”
It unnerved Lyndon a little, the way Levi picked up on what he was thinking so easily—but not it didn’t unnerve him as much as it should, a fact he was aware of. Yet he liked having such a close bond with Levi already. It felt…good, safe. Right.
“I just don’t want to blow it, you know,” Lyndon confessed. “I mean, I know you love them, and I don’t want you to be in an awkward position.”
Levi leered at him and turned off the water. “Oh, but I like awkward positions! Or at least, I think I’ll like them. There’s a few—”
Lyndon laughed and popped Levi on the butt just because they’d both enjoy it. “All right, all right, let’s get out there and do this before I lose my nerve.”
“You won’t lose your nerve,” Levi said with a certainty Lyndon wished he could feel. And maybe he could, if he started to believe in himself again. Lyndon thought he could do it, for himself, and for Levi.
“We’d better hurry and get out there.” Levi tossed a towel at Lyndon. “I wouldn’t put it past my dad to just pick the lock or something. When he said ten minutes, he meant it, I’m sure.”
Lyndon would have liked more time, and he really wished he had an idea of what to expect with this meeting. Although, maybe he did. He knew Levi was a good man, respectful of his elders and loving his family. He had most likely been taught those qualities, or encouraged to express them, whatever parenting term was correct for raising up a good kid. Anyway, he had to have learned those things from his parents, Lyndon figured. Which meant, he hoped, they’d be just incredible as Levi, and even Marybeth.
He told himself over and over to relax, but he was still a bundle of nerves when he stepped out of the bathroom.
Chapter Thirteen
Levi loved his parents—all of his family, for that matter—but sometimes he wished he lived far, far away from them. Like when he was still a puddle of gelatinous goo on the inside from Lyndon’s touch. He just wanted to snuggle up in bed with his lover and revel in the warm buzz of happiness being near Lyndon gave him.
Instead he was going to be hanging with the parents and introducing them to his—well, to Lyndon. Levi wasn’t a hundred percent clear just what Lyndon was to him. Hell, he wasn’t even fifty percent clear on the terminology he should use when describing their budding relationship. But he was positive what was building between him and Lyndon was something very unique and strong.