Chapter 9

A guttural moan came from the man behind me. He was awake. The stiffie might have told me so, but I didn’t want to mistake morning wood occurring late at night for a deliberate attempt to fuck me.

So, I gave another squeeze, the tip grazing my ready hole. “Feel good, Jessica ?”

“Yes. It feels pretty great.”

“Understatement of the year from my position. Any idea how this happened?”

“No.” He nipped the spot where my neck met my shoulder. “But it’s about time, isn’t it?”

I didn’t want to believe it. We’d been friends forever, business partners in our gardens that had ended so disastrously. We’d had such an incredible life together so far, sharing everything, all but the one thing I’d craved deep within my soul. I licked my lips, prayed for the right answer to the question I was about to ask. “About time for what?”

“To mate.”

My eyes flooded with tears, but this was not the time to cry or discuss something so right. Why now? That was a question for another time or one that perhaps might never be answered. And I didn’t care. Now was not a why, it was a fact, a call for celebration. I let my head fall to the side, giving him space to mark me. If not now, then never.

His teeth sank into my neck at the same time his cock entered my body. No pain at the intrusion, no need for lubrication. Not in a mate. Our bodies knew what to do and as a trickle of blood ran down my neck, I welcomed the one I’d yearned for always. He lifted his head and licked away the blood from the wound. Driving deep into me and pulling back, he set a rhythm that was absolutely perfect. He wrapped his arms around me and pinched my nipples, nibbled at my shoulder, fucked me until he poured his cum into my body and then pulled back and helped me roll to face him.

“Your turn, mate.”

I’d never have seen any of this coming when we left Carson Valley. The darkest day of my life had become something else entirely. When we’d made love to each other more than once and were lying on our backs side by side panting, the tent fabric was glowing with the light of dawn. At this time of year and in this area, it was probably after seven, close to eight, and we needed to get moving to get as far as we could before it got dark again.

The very thought of being in this tent again made my heart hammer and my cock hard.

“So what do we do now?” We were facing each other, foreheads pressed together and skin to skin from collarbones to toes, and everything felt up in the air.

“What does anyone do after they mate?” He stroked my cheek with a forefinger. “I just hope we’ll do a lot of it.”

“We were already playing house. Did you want me before…whatever happened that led to last night?” I shouldn’t ask because I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.

“Liam, every single time you went out with someone else, I wanted to drag you back into the house and send the guy packing.”

My grin stretched my lips, an unfamiliar expression lately. “Why didn’t you?”

“Because you wanted to go out with them. You were playing the field hard.” He bumped noses with me. “And I figured you had to get it out of your system. If I’d made a move and ruined our friendship in the process?” He swallowed hard. “I couldn’t have stood it.”

“Your friendship is very important to me as well, and that’s why I held back. I dated a lot of people, hoping to get you out of my system.”

“Not to get me jealous?”

If I grinned any wider, my face was going to crack. “I don’t know if I thought that way, but there was probably an element there. I suppose I’ll have to stop that now?”

“Probably be best.”

We’d always laughed together more than most people I knew, but this time, we clung together until laughter melded into one more carnal celebration of our mating.

Mia

Were they never going to leave? My wolf had been chantingmate, mate, mateall night, and I’d never known her to be so interested in someone else’s life. Maybe she was just as confused as I was by our voyeurism. Not that we could see what went on in that tent, but we sure as heck could hear it.

Whoever these guys were, they were for sure into one another. The walls of that tent had ballooned and swayed all night long, and their moans and cries and other sounds had rarely ceased. They had very impressive stamina. Or so I assumed, since my own experience in that department was nil. When everyone your age moves away…the dating pool is pretty small to nonexistent.

But even my wolf was getting chilled and pacing to keep warm. If these guys decided to continue their tent booty call much longer, I’d have to hike the rest of the way around the lake and try to get back to the trail that way. The lake wasn’t huge, but it would involve some scrambling over ice-coated boulders I’d rather not have to do.

The sun rose over the peaks to the east of me, of us, and shone down on the tent, silhouetting moving figures inside. Since I hadn’t heard any sex noises for a bit, I crossed my fingers that they were dressing to either pack and leave or at least leave the tent and go hiking or something.

Few people camped this high in the mountains so close to winter, so whoever these men were, they were definitely badass. Or maybe hiding their love from someone? Maybe one of them had another mate?

No. I was sticking with badass because what they had could not be faked. My wolf would have caught it for sure. A person might be faked out, but the animals never. But badass or not…they needed to get moving so I could as well. I hadn’t come prepared to linger endlessly in the forest.

Thezzzof a tent opening preceded a dark head poking out. Scruff covered his jaw, and I wished I could see his eye color but we were just too far away. He faced my direction, and I stayed very still, hoping he wouldn’t notice me. There was no reason, really, for me to hide. They wouldn’t know I’d been there most of the night anyway. I was just one more traveler along the trail, and a wave and smile would be a normal response from a normal person.

The only reason to not be seen would be if they were a threat, and they weren’t. My wolf knew how to protect me, and especially while wearing my fur, if they saw me standing here, by the time they shifted to follow—they were wolves, certainly—I’d have a big head start. My wolf was like the wind, and nobody in my former pack had been able to run faster, male or female.

But, unlike the man peeking out of the tent, I was still in shadow, where I stood, and he didn’t seem to notice me. Instead, he turned and looked behind him, speaking to his lover in a voice that, while I couldn’t hear the words, carried a tone that made me shiver in my fur.

Love like that was rare. At least where I came from.

Then he pushed out through the doorway and stood in the early sunshine. His hair was even darker than I’d first thought, nearly that comic-book hero blue-black, his skin tanned like someone who worked outside all year round. He wore a long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans that fit him like a second skin, and once again, I had to remind myself that he had a mate already and my interest was just because I hadn’t seen a hot guy or any guy of my generation in a while.

Yes, he was hot.

And yes, he was taken.

And if I didn’t stop with these unworthy thoughts like wishing he’d come out undressed so I could admire even more of him, I was going to have to slap myself in the head. I really needed to get a life.

But wasn’t that what this journey was all about?

Shifting deeper into the shadows as the sun lit more of the lake valley, I watched the other man emerge into the light. He was dark haired as well, but had less scruff and as soon as he stood up straight, he flung himself into his lover’s arms and they kissed. A heart-melting kiss that said so much more than words could. I was happy just to see the two of them.

But I was not sad to see them begin to strike their camp because I was anxious to get moving. I was “burning daylight” as my father used to say, and the fewer nights I spent out in the cold, the better. Sure, I could be a fierce wolf, but there were lots of other animals in the forest up here. Bears, mountain lions, coyotes who hunted together…and I was spending a lot of time in human form in order to carry my gear. It wasn’t much, but it was all I’d salvaged from my old life, and valuable to me for sentiment as well as practicality.

And while I’d had lots of experience in the wilds around my former home, I had none here, and it was much higher and wilder. Antsy, I fought my need to move, not wanting to capture the attention of the men who were folding their tent and stuffing it into one of their packs. They had much larger packs than me, and I marveled that they were able to carry them at all because when they shouldered them, they appeared quite heavy.

They hadn’t made anything to eat or drink, so they were probably also in a hurry to go wherever they intended. A good thing.

As soon as they disappeared up the hillside toward the trails, I shifted and dressed. If my information was correct, I had one more night before I’d arrive at the Triple L. Weather cooperating.

Jessica

We rushed out of our campsite as if a wildebeest was on our heels, without even making anything to eat. I think we were both overwhelmed by the events of the previous night. It was good to know we’d both been interested in each other for a long time, but I was troubled by the fact that I had no idea why it had had happened the way it did.

The sleep-shifting…how? I struggled to find a memory of anyone mentioning something like that happening but could not. Not that I regretted it. No, of course not. I’d have spoken up long ago if I’d suspected he shared my feelings. But I sort of felt as if we were pushed into the moment where we had to say what we thought.

It had been quite dramatic. One moment, we were friends, sleeping as wolves, and the next…well, the next moment, we were having sex. And not just that. The mark on my shoulder where he’d bitten me stung still. He’d really gone deep, but that was all right. I was proud for anyone to see that I had a mate like Liam. That he’d allowed me to mark him as well.

We were mates, something which my years’ long crush on Liam had not revealed. Yet another piece of the puzzle. Left to our own devices, we’d been well on the way to avoiding ruining our friendship for the rest of our lives. Never stepping into a mating that already brought me more joy and passion than I could ever recall experiencing. Had our wolves had something to do with it?

“Jessica ?” Liam stopped. “Do you hear something?”

I cocked my head, listening. “The wind, some birds…anything specific you’re picking up?”

“I thought I heard footsteps, breathing.” He shrugged. “Must just be me. After last night, I feel different. Think that’s what mating does?”

“Maybe. That could be part of it, but I feel like there’s something going on that I don’t understand. We both had feelings for each other but never said a word.”

“True.” He looked around. “I could have sworn I heard someone. But I don’t now. Anyway, it’s a public trail. And sound really carries here. So, anyway, we didn’t tell each other how we felt, and then we woke up in what I can only describe as a compromising position.”

“That’s one way to put it.” We’d begun to walk again, and our footfalls on the leaf-strewn path were noisy enough that I felt confident anyone within ten miles could hear us. So if Liam had heard someone, it made sense. The trails were hardly crowded, but the High Sierras were never completely without hikers. Some people were actually out here because they liked camping in the cold.

We could have driven at least part of the way, but there were no paved roads directly into Triple L Ranch.

“You sure you don’t regret what happened?” I couldn’t let the subject go. But then mating was the most significant event in most shifters’ lives, so of course it was on my mind.

He grabbed my arm and spun me around toward him then kissed me until my doubts about how he might feel were lost, and all I wanted to do was what we’d done all night. But we were on our way to the ranch, and we were expected, so we behaved like the adults we were and continued on our way. The beauty of the mountains, the clear air, catching sight of distant lakes and peaks, and all that being here entailed lifted my spirits even higher than they already were.