“Yeah.”
“But that means . . .”
“Yeah,” Cain said softly. This was worse than an out-of-control roller coaster—too fast, too many twists and turns and he wasn’t sure if he could handle the trip down. But he was balanced at the top and all it would take was one little push. . . .
Angus moved next to him, took his face in his hands. “Good.”
And then the man kissed him and Cain roared down the tracks at a hundred miles an hour. He forced himself to tamp it all down, to wait for the mating instead of doing this now and possibly scaring Angus more. Because the human still
Which was why Cain would. Slowly, reluctantly, he pulled away from the kiss, kept his hand on Angus’s thigh.
“Is that why . . . the smell, the shower?” Angus said, his sentences as jerky as his breathing.
“It’s the wolf. He’s really possessive. He’s been that way since the beginning. He knew before I did, I think.”
“And that’s why you locked me in here.”
“That’s one explanation. I want you safe, Angus. If you can’t figure that out by now . . .”
“I can.”
“Good. Ask your questions.”
“What makes you think I have any?”
“Okay, FBI.”
Angus shoved him. “Fine. With this mate thing . . . even if I didn’t like you—”
“You liked me from day one.”
“You were a murder suspect.”
“Maybe that turned you on,” Cain said with a smirk. “You said yourself that you’re addicted to danger.”
Angus grew serious. “Are you only with me because we’re mates?”
“That’s not how it works. There has to be an attraction there for fated mates to even be an option,” Cain explained.
“There definitely was.”
“You were letting that guy touch you on purpose?” Cain demanded and Angus shrugged. “You’ll pay for that.”
“That’s kind of what I was hoping.”
Cain led him to the bedroom, where he chained himself to the bedposts again. He wanted Angus comfortable and the man had already received enough information tonight to make his head spin. And when he rutted against Cain, making the men come nearly at the same time by jerking them off together, his palm hot and sure against Cain’s cock, Cain did howl, a low, harsh sound.
And that made Angus come again immediately, his body jackknifing, the look of surprise on his face making Cain flush with pride. It took several minutes before he got his breathing under control and Cain wanted to rip the damned cuffs off and hold the man.
As if Angus knew, he finally pushed himself up on his elbows and used the key. Cain brought his hands down around the man’s shoulders. “Is this okay?”
“Holy mother of God,” Angus muttered in response.
“I’ll take that as a yes. But what would the nuns you grew up with say?”
“Probably that I was going to hell,” Angus admitted. “And right now, I could give two shits. I mean, what was that?”
Cain nuzzled his neck. “The wolf’s pull is strong. Just means your body’s accepting it. Submitting to it.”
“I’ve never considered myself submissive.”
“You’re not going to have a choice with this.”
Angus stared up at him. “Somehow, I don’t think I’m going to mind much. Are you doing that protection thing again?”
“For now, I have to do it every time we’re together.” His mate was protected, but still so damned vulnerable until the true mating happened. “I don’t want to rush you, but I can’t have the normal human courtship, Angus. There’s too much at stake. Too much danger,” he explained. “Wolves work fast. When an omega finds his mate, he usually claims him within twenty-four hours. That’s why my wolf’s getting controlling and impatient. I can’t hold it off much longer.”
“How does it all work?”
“I mark you as mine. It protects you, but it also could make you a target.”
“What happens when . . .” Angus shook his head like he didn’t want to go there.
“When you die?” Cain asked and Angus nodded. “I only get one mate. I mate for life.”
“But you’ll live longer than me. How is that fair to you?”
“Already trying to hook me up with someone else?”
“No,” Angus said so quietly the word almost didn’t register.
“What happened tonight?”
“The blood was another hunter. He got into it with a trapper at a bar. No big battle or anything. I just played medic.”
Cain nodded. “You’re marked as a hunter now, but you know, that will have to end.”
“I never said I was giving that up. You can’t ask me to do that.”
“The fuck I can’t,” Cain roared, pinning Angus to the bed. The ex-fed struggled, put up a better fight than most, but he was no match for the wolf.
“Is this how every fight between us is going to end?” Angus asked as he looked into Cain’s lupine eyes.
“You are fucking lucky you’re cute.”
“Cute?” Angus huffed. Tried to ignore his raging hard-on as Cain traced the scars that ran along his neck to his shoulder, then along the bite marks on his chest made by a wolf named Jamie, who’d risked his life to help Angus and the Dires. Not a bad reminder of where they’d been.
Cain had a feeling Angus had brushed over this marking thing too quickly, and although he was reluctant to bring it up, he figured he’d put all his cards on the table and see how badly Angus reacted. “There’s a little more to this mating thing.”
“I’m not wearing a dress but I’d consider running around naked under the moon.”
“I’ll take you up on the second one,” Cain said.
“Look, I know,” Angus said.
“What do you mean?”
“After Shimmin told me, I explored the lore a bit.” He swallowed a little harder than normal.
“And you’re freaked the fuck out.”
“Some. But I trust you.”
“You still have nightmares about what happened. Every night,” Cain said. “Don’t lie.”
Angus remained silent and Cain touched his arm. “I try to stop them before they start—that’s why I wake you.”
“I thought that was for sex.”
“Well, that’s kind of a bonus.”
“Thanks.” Angus paused. “When you bite me, you link your life span to mine, right?”
“Or in this case, yours to mine.” Cain said somberly. “But I’m hard to kill. And you won’t age. You’ll heal faster.”
“But I won’t turn into a wolf.”
“No. But I’ll still love you.”
Angus grinned. “Where do you have to bite me?”
