Things That Go Hump In The Night (51 page)

Matt let out a noise that sounded like a mix of surprise and intrigue.

“Stay here,” I told him, abruptly abandoning my post and releasing my grip on his cock. Then, I walked across the room to a small nightstand, which I opened, retrieving a tube of lube from the drawer. I returned to my position behind Matt, then squeezed out some of the lube into my hand. I oiled up both of my hands, sat the tube on the floor beside me, and reached back around with one hand to grab Matt’s cock with my newly-lubed hand. The moan he let out when my slick hand caressed his thick and bulging member screamed of lust and need.

“Jesus fuck,” Matt stammered, his legs quivering as I teased my hand along his shaft.

“Shhh,” I reminded him. “The view, remember?” As I spoke, I eased the index finger on my free hand against his asshole, gently applying just enough pressure to force an entrance. At first, Matt’s anal muscles clenched up, but after a few moments, they relaxed and I was able to further insert the finger.

“Holy…holy…” Matt continued to stammer as I worked him, my hand still sliding up and down his shaft as my finger fucked his tight little hole.

Another minute passed by and I inserted a second finger, letting his hole open up just wide enough to prepare him for my cock. When I felt like he was ready, I removed my fingers, stroked my own cock with my still-lubed hand, and eased my head into his hole. It took some patience and careful maneuvering, but I was ultimately able to slip a few inches of my shaft into his hole. The tightness surrounding my cock was incredible, and the sensations of it all nearly made me forget that my other hand was still jacking Matt off.

After another few moments, I began thrusting in and out, fucking his ass with my massive cock, while my hand pumped his own cock in time with my thrusts.

“
Shit!”
Matt growled, slamming his fist into the window. Then he backed up into me, beginning to buck against my cock as I drilled into him, forcing the full twelve inches of my shaft into his ass. With my entire length inside him, I began phase two: fucking him
raw
.

I picked up the pace, driving into him while pumping furiously with my hand. The sound of my hips slapping against his ass echoed around the room, accompanied only by the gasps and pleasured grunts of my mate. Suddenly, Matt began to convulse, his muscles clenching up around my cock as his body quivered. With a final roar, Matt climaxed, sending streams of his spunk splashing against the window. The continued tightness of his muscles around my shaft was too much, and my mind exploded in a burst of electricity and colors, and I reached my own climax. Matt continued bucking toward me, fucking me with his ass, as more and more of my own cum shot into his hole.

Finally, exhausted, I pulled out of him and backed away, collapsing in a nearby chair. Matt, still reeling from the experience, turned around and sank to the floor with his back against the glass.

“Oh my God,” he finally managed after a few minutes. “That was…holy shit. Holy fucking shit, Ezra. Just. Wow. I don’t think I’ll be able to walk for a week.”

I smiled at him, stilling my panting. “That’s the plan.”

Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

Damn
, I thought.
The wine.

“Coming,” I shouted. Then I stood up and grabbed my pants, pulling them on as I walked toward the door. Once covered, I opened the door, fully expecting to greet a member of the hotel staff. Only, it wasn’t. Instead, I found myself standing in front of the largest bear I had ever seen.

“What the fuck?” I managed, before the enormous beast grabbed me, heaved me off the floor, and sent me spiraling through the air toward the massive window. My body hit the window with a sickening crunch, shattering the glass instantly. The last thing I saw before the world went black was the Washington Monument in the distance, somehow hanging from the sky.

Matthew

The world seemed to fall apart before I even knew what was happening. One instant, I was stuck in a feeling of rapture my mind utterly blown by the sexual experience I’d just been granted. Ezra had more than gratified me. In fact, if it had gone on any further, I just knew that I would have exploded, both literally and figuratively. Somehow, though, in the course of a few seconds, every positive and pleasurable sensation had been erased, replaced instead by a sudden wash of fear, rage, and hate.

I’d smelled him the moment Ezra opened the door. But before I could shout a warning, the damage had been done. The massive bear had grabbed Ezra and tossed him clear across the suite, sending him crashing into the window, shattering it, and dropping him into the dark abyss below. I didn’t even have time to look outside to see if he was alive before the bear was towering of me.

I rose up, then, preparing to shift in order to defend myself, but the bear transformed back into a human before I could draw my focus. Much to my surprise, my own father stood before me, anger and disgust clearly outlined on his face.

“You pathetic piece of shit,” he spat at me, grabbing me by the throat and forcing me backward toward a nearby wall. “You’re disgusting. Vile. Retched. If my own reputation didn’t depend on you, I’d destroy you right now.”

I gasped against my father’s grip, his bear obviously still ending him its strength.

“Did you not think I would find you? Did you not think I would drag your ass back home when I did? Stupid, retched, boy.” He spat in my face, then threw me to the floor. “Put your clothes on. We’re leaving.”

I lay on the floor for a long moment, bent over and gasping for breath. My mind was racing. My heart, more so, was breaking. He’d killed him. He’d shown up and just…killed him. Out of nowhere. With no warning. My father had taken from me the one thing that I knew I wanted, that I knew I
needed
. My mate was gone, dead, done. Just like that. I cried. At first, it was a single tear, but it rapidly evolved into an uncontrollable sob.

It was too much, too painful. And, somehow, I would have to live with it.

I stood up, rising to my full height and glared into my father’s eyes. Not surprisingly, he met my glare with one of his own, the intensity behind his laced with a desire for cold blooded murder.

“Did I stutter,
boy
?” my father roared. “I am not giving you a choice.”

My bear was furious, threatening to emerge at any moment. My blood boiled with hatred and defiance. I wasn’t going anywhere with him.

“You killed him,” I hissed. “You just…fucking
killed
him.”

My father laughed, startling me for a moment. “He’s not dead. I can still smell him, that rank cat stench.”

“You’re lying,” I snarled. “There’s no way he survived that.” I gestured angrily at the window.

“Nonsense,” he waved a hand dismissively. “If I wanted him dead, he’d be dead. But then I wouldn’t have anything to make you come home. I can promise you that he’s alive, but that he won’t’ stay that way if you don’t come willingly and come
now
.”

I stood my ground, still defiant. As little sense as it made, something told me that he was telling the truth. Despite my human side immediately accepting Ezra’s apparent death, my bear still seemed to understand that he was still alive, even if only barely.

“Do you doubt the reach of my resources,
boy
?” my father roared again. “I tracked you here via your car’s GPS. And if you’re wondering how I even got
in
here, it’s because I
own
this hotel. It’s part of the vast fortune that
my
clan holds onto.” He stepped toward me and snarled. “Do not defy me,
boy
. Or I will bring hell down upon you and your alley cat tramp.”

I stared up at him, taking in his words, accepting them. His bear dominating mine, despite my best efforts. I should have known that he’d find me. My brother had warned me as much. My father was a man of significant wealth and power, and it had been foolish of me to defy him…

And besides, he said that Ezra was alive. And that he’d change that if I defied him again. Even if he was lying, I couldn’t risk that. I couldn’t risk having the other half of my soul utterly destroyed. I didn’t have a
choice
.

“Fine,” I conceded, leveling my eyes at the floor. “I’ll come with you.”

“Get dressed then,” my father growled, still towering over me. “You’ve got a mating ceremony to attend.”

Ezra

Something prickly and more than a little obnoxious stabbed into my back, forcing me to roll to one side. Which was, it turns out, a poor move to make because I found myself abruptly dropping a few feet and onto the cold, hard asphalt of the hotel’s rear parking lot. I looked up from where I was, trying to remember what in the world had just happened. The memory of it all crashed into my mind right around the same time the pain from my injured ribs did.

A massive bear had assaulted and thrown me from - no,
through
- the window of my suite. I’d gotten lucky and landed on some landscaped bushes around the rear of the hotel, but the force of the fall itself had knocked me out cold, and I had no idea how long I’d been unconscious. All I knew is that I had to get back to my suite and check on Matt. I knew that he was a bear himself, but there didn’t seem to be any way that he could compete with
that
monstrosity. Especially when caught off guard.

First things first
, I thought.
Assess the damage
.

I cleared my head and began checking the condition of my body. Nothing was broken, that much was good. But my ribs were heavily bruised and I was pretty sure I’d have a headache for the next few weeks. There was something about golf ball sized knots on the rear of the skull that made things like that a possibility.

Once I’d ensured that my body was at least functional, I set out toward the rear entrance of the hotel. I slipped inside, using the ID that - fortunately - was still in my pocket, and raced toward the elevator. Before I could get across the lobby, though, Cherise called out to me from the front desk.

“Mr. Tier! I didn’t realize that you were friends with Mr. Bruner. How has that not come up before?”

I stopped dead in my tracks. Mr. Bruner? I knew that Matt was a Bruner, but I didn’t understand how that was relevant.

“What’s that?” I asked, walking over to where Cherise was stationed.

“He just left with your guest. I assumed you knew?” Cherise cocked an eye at me.

Holy shit
. It dawned on me. The bear, Mr. Bruner. It was Matt’s father. He’d somehow found us, and he’d gotten rid of me in the process. Then, somehow, he must have convinced Matt to leave with him. I checked the wall clock behind Cherise’s desk. It had already been several hours since I’d lost consciousness.

The thought of that broke something inside me. For the first time in my life, I suddenly felt abandoned. Alone. Defeated. It was as though half of who I am had been torn away and scattered. That’s when I knew. That’s when I understood, really and truly, what being a mate meant. It was more than just unbelievable sex and reluctant companionship.

No, it was deeper. It was ingrained, inscribed on the essence of my very being, and there was no escaping it. The more I thought about it, the more I thought about Matt willingly abandoning me, leaving me, the more my heart ached. The more my tiger
yearned
to be in Matt’s arms, to be with him, to take him and claim him and to be claimed
by
him. I needed him.

I shook my head, trying to shake off the thought that Matt would desert me. There had to be a reason. He either thought I was dead or his father had forced him to leave. Probably both.

I had to get to him then, had to find him, had to
save
him. He was mine, and I couldn’t let
anyone
hurt him or harm him in any way.

“Say,” Cherise started. “How did you get outside anyways?”

But I was already on my way out the door, racing to where I hoped Matt’s Mustang would still be parked. Unfortunately, the car was gone.

Shit
, I thought, scanning the area. And then I saw it, sitting there and waiting as though it were meant for me to find. A fiery red crotch rocket with the key still in the ignition. Without so much as a second thought, I climbed onto the bike, revved the engine, and abandoned the hotel. I had a long way to travel and, I reckoned, not much time to get where I needed to be.

Matthew

Tears streamed down my face as I stared into the mirror, doing my best to knot the tie around my throat despite my shaky hands. My world was coming to an end, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

I examined my appearance, trying to find something worth smiling over despite the situation. The tuxedo fit me well enough, though, to be honest, it felt a little snug around the belly. I’d either put on a few pounds since the last time I’d been to the local tailor, or he’d somehow screwed up my dimensions. Not that it mattered, really. I’d only be wearing the tuxedo for a short while, before shifting into my bear during the ceremony and publicly mating with Malia in our bestial forms. It was an old and tired custom, but for some reason, bear clans from colonies all over the nation still practiced it.

At least they don’t make us publicly mate in human form
, I thought, trying to find some humor in the situation. Despite my best efforts, though, my mood never lifted. And, I suspected, it wouldn’t.

We’d left the hotel and arrived home several days ago now. Apparently, the cycle of life within Black Canyon had continued to turn without me. In fact, my father had managed to keep the details of my sudden departure secret. As far as I knew, my mother and brother were the only two people besides myself and my father who knew. To everyone else, the world kept turning and the arrangements for my mating had continued unfolding unabated.

My father had had one of his private helicopters waiting on the roof of the hotel, so the travel from Washington to Black Canyon taken relatively little time. He’d even called a tow company and had my Mustang taken to a nearby shop, where it still sat for all I knew. I seriously doubted that I’d be getting it back anytime soon. After all, I couldn’t be trusted with freedom.

A sudden wave of nausea washed over me and I dove toward the toilet, spilling the contents of my stomach into the porcelain bowl. I must have come down with a bug sometime over the past couple days because I’d spent more than a few desperate moments leaning over the toilet since I’d gotten home. Then again, maybe it was just nerves?

Ever since arriving back at my ancestral home, I’d been essentially locked in the house and held under the watchful eye of my younger brother. It didn’t matter, though. I didn’t want to go anywhere. I didn’t want to
be
anywhere, besides in Ezra’s firm and muscular arms.

I sighed, making my way over to the sink where I proceeded to brush my teeth. With a final check of my appearance, I shook my head, wiped away the still-streaming tears, and started out of the bathroom. I headed down the hallway toward the house’s entrance where I found my mother and brother waiting for me.

“You look absolutely handsome,” my mother affirmed upon seeing me. She moved to embrace me in a hug, and I reluctantly accepted it. Of everyone in the house, she had treated me the best upon arriving home. In fact, she’d continued on as if nothing ever happened, happy to play the role of an oblivious and doting mother while my father took to me like a violent overlord.

“Thanks,” I managed, hugging her back. Then I turned to my brother, “I guess it’s time?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go, everyone is waiting.”

I frowned and walked behind him as he guided me out of the residence and onto the sidewalk. We made our way through the small mountain town, my mother in tow behind us, as we headed toward the mountain sanctuary. The sanctuary itself was seated in Black Canyon proper, an enormous and foreboding cavern that had long ago been carved out as a hallowed ground and refuge for the early bear clans. Within the cavern sat a large garden, complete with various fruit trees and vines and a bubbling brook that had once been a mighty river, if the tales were true.

Several bears had already gathered when we reached the site of the ceremony and I had to fight back another wave of nausea once I saw them. They stood there, six enormous bears, on either side of the cavern, each one an alpha representing one of the six most powerful bear clans in the region. They all dipped their head in respect as I passed by them, and I acknowledged them with a forced grin. My father stood at the end of the line, the last bear to my right. His eyes pierced mine as I passed, reminding me of his words from the night before:
Play along, or I’ll find and destroy your man-whore
.

I didn’t have a choice. I had to go through with this.

Malia and her father stood in the center of circular outcropping of small boulders, hand-in-hand as they stood in human form. Malia was wearing a short white dress, her curvy figure hugging the fabric in a way that would have had any of the other men in the canyon groveling at her feet. My brother, in fact, stopped short upon seeing her, glanced once at me, then stepped off to the side with my mother where they then shifted into their own bear forms. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that my brother was jealous of me. Which, to be honest, was a pity. He could have the woman for all I cared. All I wanted was the sexy and exotic tiger who had stolen more than just my heart.

With a sigh, I strode toward Malia and her father, crossing into the circular outcropping that represented unhindered unity. In a few more minutes, I’d be mated and my life as I knew it would be over. And, I suspected, so would Malia’s. She certainly hadn’t signed up to be mated to the only gay alpha in Black Canyon. Giving her cubs, I imagined, would be more than a little difficult.

“Is this Matthew Bruner?” Malia’s father boomed, citing the ceremonial introduction.

I nodded to him, dipping my head in a show of respect. It was customary during the mating ritual for the father of the female to officiate and hand over his daughter. It was also customary for the male to feign the offering of dominance to the female’s father, no matter what their social station actually was. Yet another confusing bear ritual. “I am,” I said to the man, my voice wavering. “And I am here to mate with your daughter. To claim her as my own.” I quoted the lines from memory, meaning none of them.

“Are you worthy?”

“I am,” I lied.

“Are you vigilant?”

“I am.”

“Are you mighty?”

Again, “I am.”

“So says who?” Malia’s father questioned, turning to the bears gathered outside the ring of stone.

“So says I,” six alpha bears roared in unison.

“Then so be it -” Malia’s father’s voice trailed off, his eyes turning to saucers as his jaw dropped. Something outside the ring had clearly startled him, and I turned to follow his gaze.

Just beyond the mouth of the canyon, a massive tiger crouched, its fangs extended and fury glinting in its eyes.

My heart skipped a beat.

Ezra
.