22. Two knots don’t make a right
22
TWO KNOTS DON’T MAKE A RIGHT
Micah
“Come home with me.” I hated to sound so needy, especially when I was knotted to Archer, but there it was.
“I can’t. I’m not done here.” He held my arm around him, his back to my front as we spooned on his bed. “If I could, I would. You know that, right?”
Running into Liam had not been unusual. I’d known him from when he sold his place and we kind of hit it off. But we weren’t even close to what you’d call friends and yet when he asked how I was doing, I decided it was a good time to spill all the misery that was my lonely heart. It was not my best moment.
“I saw Liam the other day.” And wish I hadn’t because nothing I was about to say sounded anything at all close to non-controlling.
“I always forget you know him. Did he tell you how awesome I’m doing?” he chuckled.
“Sort of.” I kissed his shoulder. “He said that if you wanted to come back early, you could.” His body tensed and I instantly regretted saying anything. This was not my business. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said jack shit.” I kissed his shoulder again. “I just miss you so.”
His voice had a hint of steel as he replied, “It's not your place. He’s my boss and you're my...” His voice trailed away. He wasn’t wrong. “I might not be as old as you or have my work shit together like you, but I’m not a kid.”
Fuck. I hadn’t even thought of it that way. I’d been so freaking worried about my feelings. My feelings… what a joke. I was the one that couldn’t properly bond with his wolf. His feelings should be front and center .
“You shouldn’t have gone to my boss. My private and work life are separate.”
“I didn’t mean to. We both were at the same coffee shop and we chatted about my work and he asked if I was okay and I told him the truth… I wasn’t. I missed you. I hadn’t meant for it to come out or to get in your business.”
My knot started to deflate. I wasn’t ready. As long as we were bound together, it felt like we could talk about all of this and it would be okay, which made no sense, but there it was.
“Let’s just forget about it and enjoy your weekend here.” At least he wasn’t pulling away, which he could do easily enough. My knot was all but gone.
“Just know that even though I’m being needy and pushy, if you say the word—tell me you can’t do this and can’t be with me because of my unicorn—I won’t be a jerk. I’ll understand.” Gods, those words hurt coming out.
He moved my arm and climbed out of bed. “Let’s just forget about it and enjoy the weekend,” he repeated, only this time with his teeth clenched.
“Forget about what?” I shrugged and tried to sound nonchalant but it came across as fake happiness. It must've satisfied him that I was listening because his body visibly relaxed. “You taking a shower?”
“I was thinking about it. Wash my hair and then order me Thai food?”
“I’ll even condition it.” I climbed out of bed and padded over to him.
“You’re the best.” His smile was genuine. Maybe I hadn’t ruined things.
“You’re only saying that for the pad see ew,” I teased as I walked past him and to the bathroom.
“Wrong,” he called behind me. “I’m only saying that because of the head massage.”
If that was where we were, I’d accept it. I’d take what I could get for as long as I could get it.
Ivor
I clambered up the stairs to the roof as I needed fresh air and wished Archer was here. Going to college, working part-time, comforting Neil after some guy at soccer recognized him and then turned up at Sunshine Manor was a lot. And with Archer being away, I had no one to confide in about how exhausted I was.
Neil refused to let me tell Archer what had happened. He didn’t want to worry him and thought if we spilled, Archer might charge back to town and who knew how his boss would react. Not well, I guessed.
I was doing food shopping for Neil as he didn’t want any delivery people knocking on his door or even leaving stuff on the porch. Some nights I stayed at his place. Daire was distracted by Sunshine Manor business and had only just found out about Neil’s maybe stalker. Yeah, maybe stalker ‘cause it turned out, the guy was a friend of Daire’s.
Wanting to kick that grizzly’s butt wasn’t my smartest idea but if he hadn’t had his head somewhere other than on his shoulders, maybe all the crap Neil had gone through could have been avoided.
That’s assuming it was a misunderstanding. If it wasn’t, I’d pay to watch Daire’s bear kick the guy’s ass.
But right now, I needed to be alone. Daire was slumped in front of the TV watching a gardening program, Neil was working at home, Micah was away, Archer wasn’t back for another week or so, and I didn’t see Ryder’s car. Didn’t want to run into my boss. The same boss who’d asked me out and I’d been all squirrelly and said it wasn’t a good idea. “You’re my boss,” I’d said.
I reached the roof and discovered I wasn’t alone. “You’re my boss,” I repeated as Ryder glanced up while he was sniffing the flowers on Daire’s jasmine bushes.
“Do you want me to be?” he asked.
If I didn’t work for him, we could date without any weird shit, but I’d have no money and be forced to look for another job. One where I’d be underpaid probably, like other work I’d had.
“Yes and no.” He grinned at that. That was bad. That smile went straight to my heart and made it beat faster. And my cock reacted too.
“Clear as mud.”
I stayed where I was near the stairs ‘cause this was awkward as fuck. “I-I can…” I gulped. “I can leave.”
“Don’t go.” He plucked a jasmine flower and offered it to me.
But instead of accepting it, I was horrified and I peered down the stairs hoping my roommate wasn’t charging up ready to challenge Ryder to a duel. “You’re not supposed to pick them. Only Daire does that. And when he does, he talks to them because…”
Ryder finished my sentence. “They’re his babies.”
I nodded and giggled.
“If I get put in plant prison, will you visit me? Bring me food. Maybe put a chisel in a cake so I can escape.”
A sharp outburst of laughter had me bending over. I’d never seen Ryder like this. All silly and cute. “Can’t. Daire would give my room away to someone else.”
“I’ll be in jail so you could stay in my place.”
My laughter faded as I thought about being in Ryder’s apartment. If I’d said yes to a date, that might have led to sex in his place. “I could.”
“I’d like you to.” He strolled toward me, the flower clutched in his fingers. “While I lay awake at night in my cell, I could think of you in my bed.”
I froze while his eyes were glued on me. Was he gauging my reaction to his mentioning me in his bed? My knees wobbled and my eyes darted around the roof garden .
“Does this count as a date?” he asked as he offered me an unopened beer from a small cooler on the bench.
“Not sure of the dictionary definition.”
“If being here with me makes you uncomfortable, I can go.”
No , my wolf yelled. He’d been as wary of Ryder as I had but somehow seeing the stag shifter away from work, not with the dreaded ex and not with any of our friends, had me loosening the grip on my refusal to see him as anything other than a boss and a friend.
“No!” I shouted as his hand clutching the cold beer brushed over mine. “I don’t want you to leave,” I whispered. His distinct and very pleasurable aroma washed over me, taking with it my objections.
He traced over my hand and then peered at me. “If this makes you uncomfortable, tell me and I’ll stop.”
“Don’t stop.”
Don’t stop , my wolf agreed.
“I’m not very good at this,” he mumbled as he put the beer down.
“Me neither.” His scent along with the overpowering jasmine perfume would have me recalling this moment every time I went past a nursery or another stag shifter.
His lips brushed over mine. So soft, not what I expected from Ryder. “That's nice.”
“Mmmm.”
The flower fell from his fingers when he raked them through my hair and pecked along my jaw. My head fell back as desire crept over my body. I draped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer when his hands clutched my ass. His lips found mine again and he nibbled the lower one, which had me moaning.
His tongue darted into my mouth and flicked my tongue. My cock stiffened and he must have felt it as his crotch was pressed on mine. But my dick wasn’t the only one aroused. “You’re hard,” I mumbled into his mouth.
“So are you.” We drew apart. “Maybe we should take this downstairs.” His hesitant voice had me reaching up and stroking his jaw. “Yeah. Can’t let Daire’s babies see us kissing.”
“I was thinking we’d be doing more than kissing.”
A flush crept over my cheeks and he brushed his hand over my face. “I love your freckles, Ivor.”
Not knowing what to say to that, I picked up the flower. “Gotta remove the evidence.” I crushed it, the intoxicating fragrance mingled with that of Ryder’s scent and the slick coating my ass.
Somehow we made it to Ryder’s apartment. Him shutting the door was a reminder that we were safe from prying eyes and hopefully ears. Shirts, jeans, shoes and underwear were flung on the floor and we left the clothing puddle where it lay as Ryder picked me up, his tongue in my mouth as it fenced with my own tongue .
But instead of putting me on a soft mattress, my ass hit something cold and hard, and I yelped. We were in the kitchen and my butt was on the vinyl countertop.
“Were you planning on cooking first or during sex?” I panted as I took in the stove, wondering if he’d was going to stir and fuck me at the same time.
Placing his hands on either side of my face, he wriggled between my legs. “I want to see your face as I thrust into you.” He jerked his head toward the kitchen bench. “Feet up.”
Glad I’d had a shower earlier but assuming Ryder would be sanitizing the kitchen afterward, I raised my knees, exposing my hole as slick streamed out. But my gaze wasn’t directed at my ass but rather Ryder’s cock. Stag shifters were known to be well endowed but wowza.
With one hand on his length and the other behind my back, he brushed the tip over my slippery hole. “You’re so wet.” He pulled me closer to the edge, and with his eyes fixed on mine, he entered me.
My head fell back and I panted, in and out, as Ryder’s huge cock took possession of my ass.
“Okay?” he gasped.
I nodded, and he pushed in further, his arousal stretching my passage until he was sheathed within me. He paused, which allowed me to get used to his length buried in my depths.
I wriggled my butt, and Ryder scrunched up his face and gulped in mouthfuls of oxygen. “You feel so good, Ivor. Snug and warm and so tight.” He wrapped his arms around my legs and pounded into my ass.
I was desperate to feel, hear, see and smell everything. Our grunting and panting, the slick slippery sounds as his cock plunged into my channel, the earthy aroma of slick and sweat, the streetlight shining onto the floor, traffic on the road outside, a sweet aroma of the last thing he’d cooked, and beads of sweat on his upper lip. But overwhelmingly Ryder being in me had desire pulsing through my veins, and a gripping sensation in my belly.
My gaze dropped from his face to between my legs. Watching his cock thrust into me, and the slick streaming from my ass had me sliding back and forth over the countertop. Slick dripped over the kitchen bench onto Ryder and the musky aroma tickled my nostrils.
I flung my hands back and my nails raked over the wall. Would that leave a permanent reminder of our fucking?
“You were made for my cock,” Ryder panted. “It’s a perfect fit.”
“Harder,” I croaked as my energy sapped.
“You want me to fuck you more, wolf?” I caught a glimpse of his stag in Ryder’s eyes and my beast was also close to the surface.
Not now , I told him.
Ryder lunged into me, sweat dripping over his chest. I wanted him deeper, so I wrapped my legs around him. “You feel so good, Ivor.” With his jaw clenched, his dick claimed my ass, over and over, and the prickling that had been crawling over my skin made my body tingle.
One hand crept to my length, and I tugged it. The overwhelming sensations swarming over me had my limbs shaking. As Ryder’s cock pounded me, and with my hand pumping my dick along with his moans and my grunts, lust consumed me, clouding my thoughts and vision.
“Ryder,” I shouted.
“Me too,” he yelled.
With my orgasm approaching, I gritted my teeth as cum spurted out of my cock.
“I want your cum on me,” Ryder cried as he pumped into me one final time and his own cum poured into my channel. Our panting was the only sound in the apartment as his knot swelled, joining us together.
We eventually made it to the bed and hours later, a loud car on the street woke me up. I was in bed, Ryder’s bed, snuggled up to him. But he was mumbling and he shifted away from me as the word, “Kellan,” fell from his lips.
And everything we’d been through together in the past few hours came crashing down around my ears. Picking up my clothes, I stalked out of the apartment without a backward glance.