Strength of the Pack (29 page)

When Noah released him, Lucas slowly slid his pants down off his legs. Noah did the same, much more quickly. Kneeling on the blankets, Noah reached for Lucas and tugged him down. Lucas’ body went willingly, letting Noah move him around to his satisfaction. Despite his best intentions, Lucas’ willpower was for shit.

Noah shuffled Lucas under the blankets and climbed in behind him. Tucking the blankets around them both, Noah pulled Lucas’ back to his chest and spooned him. Lucas felt the heat of Noah’s deep, steady breathing against the back of his neck. He was searching for a way to assure Noah that he didn’t want or need anything so badly that he would seek out anyone else to get it. Before Lucas could find a way to express it, he realized Noah was asleep.

Silently, Lucas laughed at himself. He’d been so worried about nothing. As Noah’s heat seeped into him, Lucas relaxed back against him. He didn’t remember falling asleep.

§ § §

Lucas stirred reluctantly. He was warm and comfortable. He pressed closer to the major source of heat that was pressed against his back. Lucas had no desire to wake up.

“Lucas, come on, time to wake up,” a sexy voice whispered into his ear. A rough, warm hand slid up the side of his thigh, his ribs, stopping to span his stomach. “Lucas, hey, wake up.” A hand ran over his hair.

A kiss was pressed to the side of his neck. Lucas took a deep breath, and Noah’s scent flooded his senses. His morning erection pulsed. Opening his eyes, Lucas peered into the still dark room, acutely aware of Noah’s large, naked body pressed against his own.

“What time is it?” he whispered in reply.

“It’s still early. But I can hear the night watch moving around, getting ready to be relieved.” Noah nuzzled the lobe of Lucas’ ear.

Lucas’ cock throbbed as it leaked from the tip. Behind him, Noah shifted and Lucas felt hardness push against the cleft of his ass. Noah’s hand on his chest began a downward trek, and he growled quietly against Lucas’ neck.

When Noah’s hand wrapped around Lucas’ cock, he jumped, sucking a harsh breath in through his teeth. His hips pushed forward into Noah’s hand reflexively.

Grasping Noah’s wrist, Lucas said, “You don’t have to do this, Noah.”

“I
want
to,” Noah answered in a sexy and suggestive manner. He nipped along Lucas’ jaw, stroking him slowly. “This is why I woke you up early.”

“Fuck,” Lucas sighed, closing his eyes in ecstasy.

“Turn over for me.” Noah’s breath was hot against Lucas’ ear.

Slowly, Lucas turned until he was chest to chest with Noah. The scent of Noah’s skin was stronger this way; that and the feel of Noah’s hand on him made Lucas’ cock ache painfully.

He expected a quick and dirty hand job. Noah surprised him by sliding his arm beneath Lucas, wrapping it over his shoulder and cradling his back. In response, Lucas clutched at Noah’s shoulder, pulling him down and close. Their chests pressed together, dog tags clinking against each other as they moved.

Lucas’ cock aligned with Noah’s. He gasped when Noah’s large hand circled around them both and stroked. His grip was firm and sure. He found a fast rhythm that made Lucas’ legs restless, and he rubbed them against Noah’s.

“Come for me, Lucas,” Noah said softly.

Something in his tone made Lucas open his eyes to look. Noah was watching him closely. Lucas was stunned by the wonder he saw in Noah’s expression.

Without warning, Noah opened the link between them. Lucas gasped in surprise at the intensity of Noah’s emotions. He’d had no idea until that moment that Noah found him so attractive, he almost considered him beautiful. Noah’s affection for Lucas, his amazement that he had a Dominant worth dying for, stole Lucas’ breath.

It was overwhelming. Lucas’ climax built quickly. A pool of heat settled low in his gut. His breathing was harsh, echoing loudly in the quiet room. His body betrayed him, his muscles clenching and making him arch into Noah. Lucas’ fingers convulsed, digging into Noah’s shoulders.

Noah pulled Lucas closer, keeping up the rhythm on their cocks. He buried his face in Lucas’ neck which gave Lucas access to the sweaty hair behind Noah’s ear.

“I’m close, Lucas,” Noah panted against him. “I want you to come with me. Are you close? Tell me you’re close.”

“Yes. Fuck yes.” Lucas groaned through clenched teeth. The scent of Noah’s skin, the scent of his sweat, hit Lucas like a physical blow. His balls tightened and lifted, a shudder ran the length of his body. “Now, Noah. I’m coming now!”

Noah’s hand stroked them both through their orgasms. Lucas bit his lower lip and groaned quietly against Noah’s neck. Noah panted against Lucas’ shoulder, grunting softly as his body vibrated. Lucas could feel their hot spunk spilling from the ends of their dicks, coating their groins. It was wet and sticky, Noah’s hand smearing it along the lengths of their softening erections. The scent of their mingling come assailed Lucas’ senses and one last, violent shiver rocked him.

He fell boneless against the bed. Lucas greedily sucked in desperate, deep breaths. Noah reached up and retrieved an olive drab skivvy shirt.

With a giddy smile at Lucas, Noah began to clean them both of drying come. “I need to take my laundry into the village anyway,” he said sheepishly, indicating his now soiled shirt.

Lucas could only nod in response. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t speak. Noah was happy. Touching Lucas, getting him off, made Noah happy. Lucas couldn’t believe it.

Noah propped himself on one elbow. He skimmed his other hand over Lucas’ hair, trailing his fingers along Lucas’ throat and down his chest, tangling with the chain of his tags. “You’re so fucking gorgeous when you come. Your cheekbones flush, your mouth gets red and swollen. Your eyes open wide. I even love the smell of your come.”

Lucas laughed, uncomfortable with the intensity of Noah’s emotions, the expression on his face. “It’s so dark in here, how can you even tell my face is flushed?”

Noah smiled, pride obvious. “I’m a werewolf, Lucas. I can see you in the dark. I can hear the slightest change in your breathing or the beat of your heart. That’s why I woke you up early; the smell of your arousal was unusually strong this morning, and I knew you had major morning wood. I wanted to help you out with that.”

“Thank you for the morning hand-job.” Lucas laughed, trying to hide his discomfort with humor.

“My pleasure.” Noah suddenly tossed the blankets off of their naked bodies. He slapped Lucas’ hip sharply. “Now get your cute ass up so we have time to eat before we take over the watch.”

Lucas climbed out of their rack slowly. Now that his hard-on was gone, he desperately needed to piss. He dressed quickly, tucking his watch cap and gloves into a thigh pocket. Smoothing the blankets on the bedroll and straightening up the anteroom took only minutes with the two of them working together.

Lucas pinned back the tarp over the door when they left. They walked to the head in comfortable silence. When they finished, they returned their dopp kits to the anteroom before crossing to the mess hall. As soon as he smelled the food, Lucas’ stomach growled.

He was amazed when Noah began to fill both of their trays without asking so much as a single question. He told the cooks what each of them wanted, getting the specifics of Lucas’ preferences correct. He even prepared Lucas’ coffee exactly how he liked it.

“I had no idea you’d been paying that close attention to me,” Lucas said as they sat down.

Noah looked at him in puzzlement. “I’ve always paid very close attention to you, sir. What in particular are you referring to?”

“You assembled my favorite breakfast without asking me a single question.” Lucas gestured at the tray with his fork.

Noah tilted his head to the side and smiled indulgently. “Lucas.”

“Hmm?”

Lucas was suddenly treated to Noah’s view of him while he’d come earlier that morning. Noah’s pleasure at the memory was stunning. Lucas nearly didn’t recognize himself, seeing as Noah saw him. His skin looked golden, his eyes shone even in the darkened room, the brown appearing gold and sparkling against the green. He’d never noticed how lush and full his mouth was or how sharp his cheekbones were.

Realization that their link had been wide open since he’d awakened and he hadn’t noticed, rendered him speechless. He’d been so unguarded in his thoughts since Noah had woken him, he might have let almost anything slip.

Noah was absolutely nonplussed. He kept the conversation on their duties of the day, to Lucas’ relief.

“What’s your plan for today?” Lucas asked. Noah was the most senior NCO on duty that day. They had the watch of the post, while others came and went on patrol.

“I’m going to rotate through the four bunkers, throughout the day,” Noah replied. “That way, no one team feels like I’m looking over their shoulders. Also, whenever I’m around, I’ve noticed the men start looking to see if you’re going to suddenly appear. They don’t need that kind of constant tension.”

Lucas looked up in surprise. “Why would they be afraid of me showing up?”

“These days,” Noah said languidly, “where one of us is, the other usually is, too. The men like you, Lucas. It’s just that you’re an officer. And their boss,” he added.

“Jesus, do I seem that clingy?” Lucas asked, keeping his voice low.

Noah chuckled. “No one thinks you’re clingy, Lucas. They think
we
have formed a very close partnership.”

Lucas was dubious, but he accepted Noah’s explanation for now. “We both have a lot of work to do, today.” He glanced around to see if anyone was paying them undo attention. “I’m sure we won’t be shadowing one another the entire day.”

“I’m sure we won’t.” Noah sounded as though he was humoring Lucas. The slight lift of the corner of his mouth added to the impression.

Once Noah disappeared into the first bunker, Lucas didn’t have time to give him much thought. He felt the occasional brush of Noah’s mind against his own, as if Noah was checking in, but they had no other contact.

Noah fielded the radio traffic from the teams that were on patrol. Lucas supervised the shoring of a wall to the combat post that had taken some damage the last time they’d fought off an attack.

He was just crossing the compound, deciding it was probably time to grab lunch when he felt Noah’s awareness. Lucas turned to see him descending from one of the camouflaged bunkers. He was about to call out when the radio came alive in his ear, the sound of a raging battle distinct in the background.

“Combat Post Toscano, this is Fox-three-one. How copy?” The loud firefight was heard clearly in the background of the transmission. Lucas still didn’t know all the men in Fox three so he didn’t recognize the Marine’s voice.

“Fox-three-one, this is Toscano. You’re loud and clear. What’s the sitrep?” Noah responded to the transmission.

“Toscano, we’re seven-point-four-oh klicks north of your location, taking heavy enemy fire. Be advised, they have werewolves. Say again, the enemy has utilized werewolves in the ambush.”

Lucas turned toward Noah, even as Noah keyed his mic. “Fox-three-one, roger that. We’re en route as backup, ETA ten mikes.”

As Noah spoke, the combat post erupted into controlled chaos. Marines gathered up their weapons and ran for their victors. Lucas’ attention was riveted on Noah. Adrenaline coursed through both of their systems. He sensed Noah’s confidence that Lucas would get armed Marines on the road without issue. It left Noah free to focus on managing the Pack’s role as backup.

“Copy that,” Fox-three-one responded. “We’ve already got wounded, and we’re pinned down on the main road.”

As Lucas listened, he watched in astonishment as Noah shoved his watch cap and headset off onto the ground. He took off running across the compound toward the main gate. As he ran, Noah pulled his fleece and his tags over his head and tossed them aside.

“Three-one-actual, how many wounded do you have?” Lucas asked. “Can you advise the number of hostiles you’ve engaged, as well as the size of the werewolf pack?”

He almost didn’t believe his eyes when Noah stopped being Noah in mid-stride. The white wolf’s front paws came down onto the sand. His hind quarters ran free of Noah’s uniform as he headed for the gate.

“I’m guessing, sir,” the Marine answered, “but it’s approximately ten humans. They’ve got at least that many werewolves, too, but we’ve only got three.”

“Fuck,” Lucas swore before he keyed his mic. “Roger that. Hang in there, we’re on our way. Toscano out.”

By the time Noah reached the gate, he was at his full size. The massive white wolf stood before the gate, lifted his head and let loose a powerful, bone-chilling howl. Around the compound, the werewolves had already removed their caps and fleece shirts. At the sound of Noah’s call, each of them shifted and stepped out of their uniforms. All five gigantic wolves raced across the compound to join Noah. They had nine wolves total to combat the ten hostile ones. Lucas wasn’t worried, though. They had Noah on their side.

“Sergeant Hammond,” Lucas shouted. Noah ran to him immediately. The intensity in his silver eyes was unnerving at the same time it was arousing. He dropped the gate of the gun truck. “Up and in.”