Strength of the Pack (42 page)

“What the fuck has this all been about, then?” Noah demanded angrily. “I’ve shared my culture, my Pack, my body with you.” His strong hands gripped the sides of Lucas’ head and forced their eyes to meet. “I am the goddamn True Alpha werewolf of the Marine Corps, and I submitted to you, belly-up and on my fucking back. What the hell did you think that meant?”

“The Pack,” Lucas replied. “Cohesive and effective leadership. Combat effectiveness.” Saying the words out loud sounded ridiculous.

“You and I would have had that anyway!” Noah threw up his hands in exasperation. He let them fall to rest on his thighs as he stared at the carpet and shook his head. “You’re smart and capable, Lucas. You care about the men who serve under you. You respect the enlisted ranks, and they respect you. Everything else was just about you and me.”

“I’m an officer, Noah,” Lucas snapped, angry at Noah for refusing to understand. “You’re an NCO in my command. I refuse to do
anything
that would cause you to feel pressured or obligated.”

Noah came up onto his knees, gripped Lucas’ thighs and leaned in so their faces were a breath away. “When I realized you were my Mate, I gave myself to you willingly. It was my idea and my choice. Your rank, your authority over my job and my life never figured into any of it.”

“Why didn’t you just say those words to me?” Lucas demanded furiously, lamenting unnecessary pain and wasted time. “Why did you keep telling me stories about ancient Alphas and Dominants going to war? Why are there only stories about a man and a woman? Where are the stories about…” Lucas bit his lower lip, unable to finish.

“Two men?” Noah asked quietly. Noah had to be reading him through the link as much as he was reading Noah. “Alexander and Hephaestion.” Noah’s voice was low and rough. He looked Lucas directly in the eyes.

“Alexander and Heph…” Lucas couldn’t parse Noah’s meaning. Then everything slotted into place. Two great male warriors believed to be lovers. Lucas’ eyes widened in surprise. “Alexander the Great and Hephaestion? So, the werewolf was Hephaestion, and Alexander was his Dominant?”

“Yes,” Noah sighed, his defeated expression easing slightly. “The greatest military general and tactician who ever lived and his werewolf Mate. Alexander didn’t die from mysterious circumstances. He wasn’t assassinated. He died of
grief
.” Noah’s voice broke on the last word as his expression crumpled.

Lucas only had one remaining concern. “Are these feelings—your feelings—only because of werewolf rituals?”

Noah drew a shaky breath. “The rituals only reduce my control over my feelings,” he answered solemnly. “They don’t cause them, and they don’t influence them.”

Lucas exhaled like he’d been punched. “So, right now, right this moment, how do you feel? What do you want from me?”

Noah kissed Lucas, soft and slow. It was the gentlest kiss they had ever shared. “Kneel up on the bed for me,” Noah said against his lips.

As Lucas climbed sluggishly onto the bed, sitting back on his heels, Noah stood and removed his jeans. His cock was as hard as Lucas’, standing out rigidly from the nest of dark blond curls. Noah knelt in front of Lucas and picked up the discarded bottle of lube.

Lucas’ heart thundered. He gripped the base of his cock and squeezed, struggling for control. He could already feel Noah’s fingers sliding into his ass. He wondered if Noah wanted him on his back or face down.

He watched eagerly as Noah coated a finger with the clear slick. Lucas stared in confusion, laboring to comprehend what he was viewing, as Noah reached around his own hip with his lubed hand.

“Wait! What are you doing?” Lucas demanded, bewildered.

“No werewolf rituals influencing us, right now,” Noah replied on a sigh. “I’m submitting to you, Lucas, because I want to. Because I want
you
.”

Lucas crawled forward on his knees until he was right in front of Noah. Their hard cocks bounced against each other with Lucas’ motions. He reached out and stilled Noah’s hand. “I appreciate what it means for you to do this; that you
want
to do this, but I don’t want your submission.”

Noah clenched his jaw, swallowed hard and looked away from Lucas, blinking rapidly several times. Lucas felt their link slam shut violently. “That’s fine. I understand.”

Lucas gripped Noah’s chin and forced his face around until he had no choice but to meet Lucas’ eyes. “No, you don’t, Noah. I don’t want you to submit just to prove a point. I only want to do this if you enjoy it. If you enjoy doing this with me.”

Noah visibly relaxed, hesitantly opening their link once again. Relief and want and
love
surged through him, leaving Lucas feeling gut punched.

“I want you inside of me,” Noah breathed. “I want to know what it feels like to have you inside me.”

Lucas clasped Noah’s face between both of his hands and pressed a kiss to his lips. Noah’s hands gripped Lucas’ biceps hard, as if he feared Lucas would flee. Lucas opened to Noah’s seeking tongue, letting his mouth be assaulted by an eager and needy Noah.

Breaking the kiss with a wet smacking sound, Lucas pushed Noah backward with a hand at the center of his chest. “Lie back.” He wanted to take care of Noah, the way Noah had cared for him the morning after the full moon.

Noah’s breath caught; he slowly lowered himself onto the bed, never looking away from Lucas’ eyes. Lucas eased himself over Noah’s body. He pressed their hips together, letting Noah feel his hardness, the evidence of Lucas’ need for him. Resting on his elbows, Lucas kissed Noah’s puffy mouth. Of all the things they had ever done with and to each other, this had always been the most intimate. Noah’s arms came around his shoulders, and he ran his palms over Lucas’ back.

Lucas kissed the length of Noah’s jaw. He nipped lightly at Noah’s earlobe, giving him the feel of teeth that always calmed him. Beneath him, Noah’s chest heaved as he sucked in harsh breaths through his parted lips. Lucas dragged his tongue down Noah’s neck and licked at the beaded chain of his dog tags.

Noah groaned loudly, arching his neck as he tightened his fingers in the muscles of Lucas’ back. Lucas pushed up onto his hands and slid his body down Noah’s. Noah’s hard cock was silky against his belly. The hair on Noah’s legs was coarse and was a pleasant contrast.

He slid his lips over Noah’s nipple, and it hardened. Lucas flicked the tip of his tongue over the firm bud, blowing a puff of air across the moist skin. He watched Noah’s nipple peak and tighten.

Noah’s hands were restless on Lucas’ back. When Lucas drew Noah’s nipple into his mouth, sucking on it lightly, Noah gasped. He moaned softly when Lucas licked the pink bud with the flat of his tongue.

Lucas dragged his tongue across the hard, defined muscles of Noah’s chest. He licked at the dog tags nestled against Noah’s sternum, nipping sharply at both the chain and the tender skin beneath it. Moving on, Lucas found Noah’s other nipple and drew it into his mouth, sucking and flicking it with the tip of his tongue. Noah’s mouth hung open, his neck still arched and hands restless on Lucas’ back.

Easing down onto his elbows again, Lucas slowly rocked against Noah. He slid his stomach over Noah’s cock as it lay weeping. Noah flexed his hips upward, and Lucas pushed back, giving him more pressure and friction.

Noah looked up at Lucas, wonder and need infusing his expression. His eyes searched Lucas’ face, as if searching for something he feared he wouldn’t find. Lucas smiled down at Noah, flooding their link with all the emotions he’d kept locked away these past months. With his lips hovering just above Noah’s, Lucas whispered, “I’m going to get you ready for me, now.”

Noah nodded his emphatic agreement, relief and heart-stopping affection coming back down their link. As Lucas slid down the length of his body, Noah spread his legs. Lucas settled on his knees between them.

He quickly located the lube bottle. Noah bent his knees, opening himself for Lucas. Placing his hands on Noah’s knees, Lucas spread them wider. Noah complied eagerly. Lucas ran his palms down the insides of Noah’s thighs. His hands trembled, knowing what it meant that a shifter of Noah’s power willingly left himself so vulnerable.

“Keep yourself open for me,” Lucas said, asserting the dominance Noah craved.

Noah let his knees fall open a little more.

Lucas poured slick onto one finger. He took Noah’s cock in his other hand and stroked it lightly. He teased Noah’s hole with his fingertip, urging the muscles to relax as he spread the lube. When the fissure unclenched slightly, Lucas pushed his finger inside. Noah moaned, his hips pulsing slightly as Lucas stroked his cock. His body tightened around Lucas’ finger for a moment before relaxing.

Lucas pulled his finger out and coated two of them with lube. He circled Noah’s hole briefly before pressing inward past the ringed muscles. Noah groaned, his legs shifting and his hands fisting the comforter. Lucas slid his fingers out to the tips before pushing inward to his last knuckles.

He added lubricant and slid back into Noah’s body. Noah’s hips flexed, his head tossing back and forth. His face and chest flushed with his arousal, and he moaned rhythmically through his parted lips. Lucas twisted his wrist, spreading the lube along the walls of Noah’s channel.

Sliding his fingers free, Lucas lubed three of them. Noah arched off the bed when Lucas pushed into his body once more. He fucked Noah’s ass with his fingers, tugging and stretching his rim. Pleasure and arousal flowed freely down their link, and Lucas was euphoric.

As he stroked Noah’s dick with his other hand, Lucas crooked a finger and sought Noah’s sensitive gland. Noah gave a strangled cry, and his inner muscles clenched tightly around Lucas’ fingers.

“Lucas,” Noah gasped. “You’re gonna make me come.”

Lucas released Noah’s erection. He kept fucking Noah’s ass, nudging his prostate every few thrusts of his fingers. “Not yet. I want to be inside you when you come. I want to feel you around me.” Lucas wondered if he could replicate what had happened the other morning and use the link to make them come at the same time.

“You’re fucking killing me,” Noah groaned in frustration.

Lucas smiled at Noah’s desperation. He slid his fingers from Noah’s body and slicked his own cock. He lined himself up with Noah’s opening, and Noah obliged him by spreading his legs wider and lifting his knees. Something in Lucas’ brain nearly shorted out at the sight.

Noah gave a soft cry as Lucas pushed into his body. Lucas laid himself over Noah’s body and pushed steadily until his cock was fully seated in Noah’s ass. He sought Noah’s lips and was met half way by Noah’s hot and desperate mouth.

“Wrap yourself around me,” Lucas whispered hoarsely against Noah’s lips.

Noah’s legs came around Lucas’ hips and held tight. Lucas began to move. He found a punishing rhythm, slamming his hips against Noah’s ass with every thrust. He buried his face in Noah’s neck, breathed in the scent of his sweat and listened to Noah shout and swear as Lucas fucked him.

Lucas reached for their link, hoping to drag Noah over with him. He picked up a subtle thought from Noah. Lucas wondered if Noah himself was aware of this particular need. What Noah needed was easy to provide and Lucas was eager to oblige him.

He gripped Noah’s jaw and turned his head roughly to the side. Lucas sank his teeth into the straining tendon of Noah’s neck. He bit hard. Noah swore loudly, bucking upward into Lucas. Lucas sucked a large patch of skin into his mouth, drawing blood to the surface. He sucked up a large, purple bruise that the entire world would see.

Noah needed Lucas to mark him, and Lucas needed Noah happy.

He sent these thoughts to Noah, even as he bit and sucked another mark into Noah’s skin. Noah’s body clenched around Lucas’ cock, his legs tightening convulsively and locking Lucas against him. Lucas’ orgasm built, and he shared the sensations he was experiencing with Noah. He did everything he could to force Noah’s climax out of him, so they would come at the same time.

Noah’s strong arms wrapped around Lucas’ shoulders. An image flashed briefly through his mind, but Lucas understood. He curled his arms beneath Noah’s shoulders and held their bodies pressed close together. Lucas buried his face in the other side of Noah’s throat and sucked at the unmarked flesh.

His balls began to lift and tighten, and Lucas knew he was close. He sucked hard at Noah’s neck, slammed vigorously into his ass and shared his feelings with Noah.

To Lucas’ amazement, Noah came first. With a loud, primal shout, he rocked and shuddered against Lucas. Hot come splashed between them, spilling over Noah’s sides and running down onto the comforter.

Noah’s body spasmed around Lucas’ cock, his cries and the emotions they shared tightened Lucas’ chest. It was all he needed to follow Noah over the edge. With a final, hard thrust, Lucas buried his cock in Noah’s ass and his teeth in Noah’s neck.

He rode out the storm with his body pressed tightly to Noah’s. He emptied his balls deep into Noah’s ass. He thought, with dark satisfaction, that Noah was marked as his, both inside and out.

They lay collapsed against each other, struggling to catch their breath. Lucas was utterly at peace, brimming with contentment. Noah felt the same, and their serenity merged until one was indistinguishable from the other. Lucas really should get up and clean them both before all the come dried.