“What’ll it be?” Keata asked as he walked over to Baker, a friendly smile on his smooth face.
“I’ll just take a smoothie today, Keata. Make it strawberry and kiwi.”
Baker tried his hardest to suppress the grin that seemed like it couldn’t be contained. His foot was tapping, and all he wanted to do was get back out there so Reno could continue his little game.
Their game.
“The bathroom is in the back.”
Baker frowned at Keata. “I don’t have to go.”
Keata’s dark eyes held Baker in place. “But you’re bouncing all around.”
Was he? Now that Keata had pointed it out, Baker realized his feet seemed not to be able to stay still. He paid for his smoothie and thanked Keata before damn near bursting back outside. Scanning the area, Baker still couldn’t spot Reno.
The man was good. Checking both ways for traffic, Baker crossed the street and headed toward the gazebo. He tried to calm his racing heartbeat as his nerves felt like they were being stretched. Baker wanted to shout for Reno to show himself, to kiss him once more.
But he just took a seat on the natural wood of the bench and sipped at his drink, his eyes sweeping over the town streets. Baker had been born and raised here. He remembered at one time when this place seemed almost like a ghost town. It was good to see how much it was prospering. He knew a lot of the families who called this place home, and it would do them a world of good to find jobs and make a better life for themselves.
His ears perked up when he heard a twig snap somewhere behind him. Baker remained casual, pretending he hadn’t heard it. He turned, giving the woods his back. A tingle shot down his spine when he felt heat scorching his backside.
“Someone so innocent shouldn’t be out here all by himself. There are predators waiting for foolish ones to prey on.”
The sound of Reno’s baritone voice sank into Baker. His body wasn’t unaffected. His cock began to fill with the arousal that coursed through him. “Who says I’m by myself?” Baker asked without turning around.
He felt warmth at his neck, a slow breath tickling across his skin. “I don’t see anyone else here but you.”
God, he was going to pass out from the excitement alone. If Reno had been a true stalker, someone with ill intent, Baker would have been long gone by now. But it was his mate, teasing him, playing a game that was turning them both on. “My mate is close by. You better watch out. He will eat you if you don’t stop bothering me.”
A finger traced the nape of Baker’s neck, making Baker’s breath stutter as he closed his eyes to let the feeling of pure sensuality wash over him. His drink was forgotten, and so was the world around him. Nothing registered in his mind except the man behind him.
“He sounds deadly.”
“He is.”
Baker’s back arched when he felt Reno’s hot lips touching his skin. A pulse of longing shot through him. His appetite was renewed, and all Baker wanted was for Reno to take him right here under the stars.
“Maybe I’ll do away with him and keep you for my own.” Teeth, long and sharp, scraped down his shoulder. Baker’s body swayed as he tilted his neck to the side, wanting more and inviting Reno to go further.
The man had awakened something inside Baker, a sexuality that demanded to be sated, a promise of unhindered passion that he now craved like a drug. He was no longer blasé about sex. He wanted to explore, to touch, to surrender himself to the strong power of Reno Davis, firefighter, coyote shifter, his mate.
Tossing the game to the wind, Baker reached behind him to grab Reno behind the neck, pulling the man closer, wanting to feel his mate bite him and show the world that Baker was his once more.
Strong hands skimmed up his stomach as Reno pressed his capacious chest into Baker’s back. His fingers curled into his jeans as one of Reno’s hands moved upward and then ran up his throat, his mouth so close to Baker’s face that he could smell cinnamon on his mate’s breath. He saw Reno’s canine teeth right before he sank them into Baker’s shoulder.
Pure liquid pleasure spread through his body like a fire out of control, making his cock explode in the fabric of his jeans as Baker shuddered and slumped into Reno.
“Now you belong to me, my innocent little human.”
A wobbly smile pulled at Baker’s mouth as he enjoyed the pleasure still coursing through him. “I’ll let my coyote know that.”
“What the hell are you doing?”
Baker shot up so fast that the top of his head slammed under Reno’s jaw. Pain exploded in his skull as he glanced at his father who was standing on the sidewalk, looking at Baker with such anger that he felt like he was sixteen all over again. Seeing his father standing there killed any lingering orgasmic feelings Baker had tingling through him.
Reno gave a low snarl behind him. His mate didn’t know this stranger was Baker’s dad. He advanced, taking lethal strides in his father’s direction.
“Reno, no.” Baker grabbed his mate’s arm, pulling him back. “It’s my dad.”
“Answer me,” his father said as he began to head Baker’s way. “I thought I taught you better than to act this way in public.”
Baker wanted to crawl under a rock as he watched his father approach. This was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life. He could just feel it. The expression on his dad’s face was murderous. “Explain yourself.”
Baker was grasping for words that were quickly eluding him. He was drawing a blank. What could he say? His father knew nothing about shifters, so he couldn’t tell him Reno was his mate. As far as his dad was concerned, it looked like
