Pricolici (17 page)

“What was in there?” Tucker asked. “What was so important that you’re white as a ghost?”

“A talisman,” Stelian whispered in his ear. “One I was entrusted with many, many years ago. One that could spell the end of everything we know, if he can’t be stopped before he gets the other half. We need to go back to the house, immediately.”

“To call whoever has the other piece,” Tucker guessed.

“Yes.” Stelian pulled back, his hands on Tucker’s hips. “And to get you some clothes, since you’d swim in the ones I have here. What in the
hell
are you doing naked, surrounded by my Hunters?”

Tucker snorted back an inappropriate laugh that threatened to bubble out anyway. “There were more important things to worry about than your possessive nature, don’t you think?”

Stelian grimaced. “Well, we have time to get you dressed. Actually,” he said, stepping over to a box. “Wear this.” He pulled out a t-shirt that was sure to hang down to Tucker’s elbows and fall to mid-thigh. “Please,” he said when Tucker rolled his eyes.

“How about we shift and run back together?” Tucker offered instead. He hadn’t had a chance to run with Stelian, and he wanted that. “Marevin has posted guards all over the property, and he will shut this place up and post four here, just in case.

Stelian’s eyes shifted, glowing yellow. “I’d like that.” He tossed the shirt back at the box, ignoring it when it fell onto the floor.

“Let’s go.”

Stelian shifted, his body shrinking and changing shape almost effortlessly. He shook his whole body when his shift was complete, and then looked up at Tucker expectantly.

“I didn’t get to see how beautiful you are in this form before.” Tucker had been in too much pain, too scared. He stroked Stelian’s dark fur. “So strong.” Stelian nosed at Tucker’s hands until he scratched his ears. Tucker chuckled, but obliged him. Stelian sent Tucker a look and then took a step toward the door.

“Okay. I got it.” Tucker didn’t like shifting much. It wasn’t nearly as smooth and seamless as Stelian’s. He got down on his hands and knees and then called for his wolf. He expected the same long, drawn-out shift that had signaled his status as a submissive without a strong wolf spirit—but he was shocked by how quickly he was standing on four paws, absorbed in the way his senses changed and expanded.

Stelian brushed down the length of his body and back up the other side, his dark fur mingling with Tucker’s pale pelt. He rested his head on Tucker’s shoulder, just breathing for a moment, then he led the way up the stairs and outside where they could run through the quiet night together.

Chapter Sixteen

“Because he took mine, and I know he’s coming for yours. He’s a hultan, Acacius!”

Stelian had insisted Tucker sit right next to him, so he could hear the other alpha’s laugh. “There are no such thing as hultans. They died out long ago.”

“They might have, but they’re back again. Or maybe they never died out, but someone killed them off. They were a secretive group of magicians—no one ever knew much about them. I’m telling you, you need to increase your security and do it now. This guy has powers unlike any I’ve ever seen. He’s strong.”

“And how many hultans did you actually know, Stelian?” The lupe’s derision was clear, even through his heavy accent. “Living in that barbaric little keep in the mountains, hiding from the emperor.”

“He was not my emperor, and I liked my mountains.”

“You were a coward, and you actually expect me to believe you? I was shocked Diurapneus entrusted one half of the jewel to you, much less that you held onto it this long.”

“I am not a coward! I am the man who is trying to warn you. We were never friends, Acacius, but I do not wish to see the power that jewel can unleash if the two halves are brought together. This guy can mess with your mind. He can become fucking invisible. He shot me with a tranq dart—without a gun—and levitated me off a balcony, and my mate couldn’t stop him.

“My hultan mate.”

Silence.

Then Acacius growled. “Your mate is a hultan?”

“Yes. He just found me. He’s only twenty and just now learning his powers. He’s powerful, but this other one… he’s something else.”

“You’re something else if you think I’m swallowing this bullshit. If your mate is a hultan, then you want the other half of the jewel for your own gain. If you’re just trying to leverage my piece from me, I have no idea why, but I will not deal with a coward, liar, or thief.”

Tucker shook his head. This lupe was not an ally. He wasn’t going to listen, and if Stelian was right, the hultan had a head start on them. If he knew were Stelian kept his piece, he could find out where Acacius had his. If he didn’t already know, he would’ve killed Stelian, rather than risk them finding out.

Or he wanted Acacius warned. Or he wanted Stelian to travel to Acacius territory. Or both.

“I don’t care what you think about me. If you don’t warn your men and safeguard your den, you will lose your half like I did mine.”

Acacius started laughing. “Oh, that’s all I needed to know. You, admit you failed at anything? Stay out of my territory, Stelian, or you and your so-called mate will sign your own death warrants.”

“Watch out for a foul stench; it’s the only sign of—” Stelian shouted, as if that would make him listen, but Acacius hung up.  Stelian threw his phone across the room. It shattered, leaving a dent in the wall. “Damn his Roman pigheadedness!”

“We’re going anyway, aren’t we?” Tucker didn’t say anything about the phone. He had a feeling Stelian broke a lot of phones.

“There’s no choice. We have to.” Stelian ran a hand over his hair. “I’d ask you to stay here, but I know you won’t.”

“You’re right; I won’t. You need me, and whatever I can do. But before we go, I want to be mated. I will not go among another haitas at risk from another alpha. He may not have believed you over the phone, Stelian, but he will have to believe his own eyes. I won’t risk being anyone’s pawn.”

Stelian turned toward him. “This isn’t why I wanted to mate you.”

“This isn’t why we are mating. We’re mating because we belong together.”

“I have to make arrangements.”

“I know. I’m going to shower. Come up when you’re ready.” Tucker avoided speaking to anyone as he left Stelian’s study and headed up to their room.

Stelian’s eyes glowed from his place at the foot of the bed where Tucker stretched out naked on top of the soft covers. Tucker ran a hand down his side and then curled it around his erection.

"I’m ready for you, for this. We’re already connected," he insisted. He knew, before Stelian even said a word, that he was going to object again.

"I think you deserve more. Better." Stelian's gaze was locked on Tucker’s hand as it moved lazily up and down.

"I think you should come to bed and claim me so we have as much time together as possible before we have to leave. I'm ready, Stelian."

He watched as his mate's eyes slowly bled to yellow. Tucker licked his lips and moaned as Stelian knelt on the edge of the bed and then paused.

"Are you sure?" Stelian's voice was a low growl, and the sound of it dragged across Tucker's senses.

Tucker knew one thing that would work, the one thing all dominant male lupes craved. He let his head roll back, exposing his throat. His hand kept moving.

"Please," he whispered.

Stelian growled and pounced. He crawled up the bed and crouched over Tucker, pulling his hand away to stop his slow stroking.

"Mine."

"Hmm… only if you're going to do something with me." Tucker raised an eyebrow at him, his show of submission already thinning. What could he say? He was true to his nature.

He gasped when Stelian pinned his hips in a firm grip. Being held by the larger lupe always did it for him, sending a tingle straight to his balls. He’d spent most of the day afraid he’d never see Stelian alive again. Never again. They’d be mated, and he’d know. Their tie would become a cable roping them together.

Tucker watched avidly as Stelian leaned down and engulfed the head of his dick, swirling his tongue around the thick crown.

"Holy shit!" Tucker's eyes rolled back as the warm, wet heat quickly slid down to the base of his dick and then back up again. His hips jerked as he tried to bury himself back inside his mate's mouth, but Stelian’s grip was almost hard enough to bruise. He couldn’t move an inch. He rocked his head side to side on the pillow, his hands clenched in the blanket.

One finger slid into Stelian’s mouth beside his dick, and Tucker whined, knowing where it was going as Stelian got it good and wet. He pulled his finger out, and Tucker tried not to tense in anticipation. Slowly, Stelian slid his slick finger behind Tucker’s balls, and then Stelian showed him no mercy, circling only once before pressing inside.

Nothing had ever felt as good as that finger stabbing inside him and zeroing in on his prostate.

"Please," he whimpered.

Stelian pulled his mouth away with a loud pop; the cool air against his saliva-slick head made Tucker shudder. Stelian’s finger pressed in small circles, nudging Tucker’s gland over and over. The muscles in Tucker’s thighs quivered, and his toes curled as he writhed on the bed.

"What do you want?"

Tucker spoke from his heart. He knew what he wanted, and he would have Stelian for his own. "Claim me. No more teasing. I want to be yours, forever."

Pleasure shined in Stelian's yellow eyes as he smiled. He pulled his finger out. Tucker moaned and shuddered at the loss. He lifted his knees, opening his legs as he watched Stelian crawl across the bed. He opened the bedside table drawer and pulled out a brand new bottle of lube, then piled up a few pillows.

He got a shivery feeling in his stomach when Stelian turned back to him. His eyes were bright yellow, and his voice was a low growl.

"Lie on your stomach on the pillows." Stelian’s voice was so deep and slightly distorted, Tucker knew his wolf was close.

Tucker rolled over, exposing himself to the aroused lupe. A warmth filled Tucker’s heart. His mate wanted him, had been fighting his urge to claim him and had to be desperate. Yet he took time to make Tucker comfortable, to make sure he felt good. Stelian might be the alpha of the most feared haitas, but to Tucker he was anything but scary.

He was the other half of his soul, and Tucker didn't want to be missing that half anymore. His teasing, playful mood evaporated as his need built.

He didn't have to beg again as Stelian slid between his legs, caressing his thighs. Slick fingers spread his hole as Stelian bent over his back and whispered how hot and soft he was inside and how hard he was going to take Tucker. Anticipation had him rocking, pressing his weeping erection against the pillows.

"Oh no, none of that. You don't get to come yet." Stelian pulled him back a little so that his hips could thrust, but his dick met only empty air. Tucker whined, but the sound cut off in a sudden grunt when Stelian pulled his fingers out and then filled him a moment later, sliding inside in one movement, his balls slapping against Tucker’s.

"Oh yeah," Stelian groaned. "So hot and tight." He froze, his hips pressed against Tucker's ass.

Tucker shifted impatiently. He was tired of waiting. He flexed his muscles, clenching down on Stelian’s dick. "Move. Please. Move."

Stelian slid back an inch and then thrust forward. Tucker couldn't stand the short thrusts; he wanted more. He braced his hands against the headboard and thrust back, trying to get that thick crown just where he needed it. Stelian's hands once again held tight to his hips, holding him still and making him accept the pace the alpha set. His moans filled the charged air. When Tucker couldn't take it any longer, his muscles twitching, Stelian pulled back until he almost slipped out and then rammed forward, pulling Tucker back to meet his thrust.

Tucker shouted, arching his back and trying to get Stelian deeper, as deep as he could go.

Stelian did it again. And again. And again.

Sobbing with the intense pleasure, Tucker tried to tell Stelian how close he was. His head dropped forward and he shoved his hips back. He reached for his cock. Stelian didn't miss a beat, pushing him back down and laying his chest over Tucker’s back, grabbing his arm and twining their fingers together.

It was controlling, and sweet, and Tucker relished every inch of skin-to-skin as Stelian surrounded him and filled him, taking him higher than ever before.
"Are you ready for me to claim you? Ready for my mark?" Stelian gasped as his hips continued to push Tucker closer to the edge. He waited until Tucker realized he expected an answer.

Tucker opened his mouth to answer as he tried to remember how to do anything more than moan in pleasure. A harsh thrust forced the words from his throat.
"Fuck yes, please,
now
!"

Stelian wrapped their joined hands together around Tucker’s cock, making a sweat-slick tunnel for him to thrust into. He slid his teeth, his canines enlarged into sharp fangs, along Tucker’s shoulder. The sting of the shallow scrapes pushed Tucker to the very edge; he hovered on the precipice. His muscles burned as his balls drew up, needing the pain he knew was coming from the claiming bite to mix with the constant barrage of pleasure from Stelian grinding his cock against Tucker’s ass, milking his prostate with each short thrust.

“
Please
!” Tucker shot the second Stelian's teeth clamped down on his shoulder and his fangs pressed deep. Tucker felt Stelian growl as he emptied into him, holding Tucker immobile. The bite was deep. Tucker knew he was ensuring his mating mark would leave a scar so that no one would ever fail to know who Tucker belonged to. Tucker didn't struggle, lost in the pleasure of the best orgasm of his life, the sheer relief of being able to come made sweeter by the feeling of his mate taking what was his.

Screw being equals in bed.
He liked being held down when Stelian was doing it, locking their naked bodies together. And, as long as Stelian made him come like that, he’d present his ass whenever he could to get the big lupe to take him to the heights of pleasure again and again.

Exhausted, both struggling to draw ragged breaths, they fell on to their sides and snuggled up together. Tucker liked the smell of their combined pleasure on his skin so when Stelian suggested they shower, he wiggled closer and closed his eyes.

“Later.”

“Sleep then,” the bossy alpha ordered. “We have to leave in three hours, but we can rest first.” Tucker was going to have to do something to remind him to mind his manners, but he was way too fucked out to worry about it right then.

“Stelian?”

“Hmm?” His chest rumbled against Tucker’s back?”

“I love you.”

Stelian pulled Tucker close, gently kissing the raw bite on his shoulder. “I love you, too.”

Tucker woke early. Stelian’s mark on his shoulder burned. He slid out of bed carefully. It took two shifts from his lupe to human form before the wound sealed into a shiny pink scar against the pale skin of his shoulder. It exhausted him. He could’ve tried to use his magic, but he didn’t want to risk healing the mark completely.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Stelian was on his side, watching Tucker finger the bite mark.

“Making sure I’m ready to go through checks at the airport. Don’t need anyone asking questions.”

“We’re going on a private plane, so no security.”

“Well then you just might have to bite me again. Ready for that shower?”