Chapter Eight
Jalen sat with his legs folded under him in the window seat, the same spot where he’d braced for Chase’s lecture. That felt like yesterday but was actually weeks ago. The days since then were a total blur.
Unfortunately, not all of them. Chase had seen him at his absolute low. Jalen puking his guts out. Chase having to basically bathe him when he couldn’t even stand up straight. Full-frontal nudity and everything.
If a guy was willing to stick around after that, he was someone with too much heart or too little sanity. Either way, Chase had seen the absolute rock-bottom version of Jalen.
The door creaked open, pulling him from his thoughts. Chase backed into the room, balancing an enormous tray loaded with food. The scent of cinnamon and butter wafted in with him.
“Room service, Mr. Kirk,” Chase said in a bad French accent, nudging the door closed with his heel. He wore nothing but low-hanging sweatpants, his chest bare and ridiculous in the morning light.
If the food didn’t make Jalen drool, the sight of Chase sure would. His gaze slid up the man’s body before he quickly looked away, afraid of getting caught ogling all those beautiful muscles and that lean waist.
“Ooh. We’ve gone fancy.” Jalen’s stomach growled embarrassingly loud as he forced himself to ignore the half-naked body. “And what are you serving for breakfast, Mr. Manson?”
“Only the best for you, monsieur . And that’s about as much French as I know,” he said, his voice rumbling through the quiet room.
He set the tray down on the bed, revealing a feast of French toast, bacon, fresh fruit, and what looked like freshly squeezed orange juice. The rich aroma made Jalen’s mouth water. I’ve gone from one addiction to another.
“You didn’t have to do this for me,” he said, though he was already sliding off the window seat, anxious to sit next to the stud.
“Wanted to.” Chase patted the bed beside him as he sat down. “Come sit by me. You’ve been working hard.”
Working hard was an understatement. Getting clean had been the most brutal experience of Jalen’s life.
Even now, his body occasionally betrayed him with random sweats or tremors that appeared out of nowhere.
But the fog had lifted. He could think clearly again, which was both a blessing and a curse.
“Did you make all this?” Jalen joined him on the bed, not only inhaling the smell of food, but Chase’s woodsy, earthy scent that made saliva pool beneath his tongue.
“Don’t sound so surprised.” Chase cut into the French toast, the knife slicing through with a satisfying crunch of caramelized sugar. “I’ve had a couple centuries to learn my way around a kitchen.”
“Right. Sometimes I forget you’re practically a fossil.”
Chase laughed, the sound warm and genuine. “Watch it, brat.” Spearing a piece of French toast, Chase held it out to him. “Try this.”
For a second, Jalen just stared at the offered fork. The gesture felt strangely intimate, more so than when Chase had literally seen him naked and delirious with withdrawal. Slowly, he leaned forward and took the bite, closing his eyes as the sweet cinnamon-maple flavor exploded on his tongue.
“Holy shit,” he mumbled around the mouthful. “A fossil who makes really good French toast.”
They ate in comfortable silence for a few minutes with Jalen stealing glances at Chase—the way his jaw worked as he chewed, the slight stubble darkening his cheeks, the fullness of his lower lip. Those lips had been the subject of more than a few of Jalen’s daydreams lately.
“What?” Chase asked, catching him staring.
Heat rushed to Jalen’s face. “Nothing. Just… thinking.”
“About?”
“How weird this is.” He gestured between them with his fork. “Two months ago, my life was…not that great. Now I’m living with werewolves—”
“Wolf shifters,” Chase corrected automatically.
“Wolf shifters,” Jalen amended with an eye roll. “And I’m fated to one who makes me breakfast in bed.”
Chase glanced at him. “Is that a bad thing?”
“I don’t know yet.” Jalen dropped his gaze to his plate. “The jury’s still out.”
As much as he wanted to say that he’d grown on the idea of being Chase’s mate, taking that huge step scared Jalen. Over the past few weeks, he’d fallen for the guy, but Jalen had never told anyone he loved them and was being a big chicken when it came to confessing his feelings.
Chase speared a strawberry with his fork and held it out. “Try this. From the farmer’s market Preston goes crazy over.”
Leaning forward, Jalen took the strawberry from Chase’s fork. The fruit burst with sweetness in his mouth, ripe and perfect. Chase watched him chew, his eyes darkening slightly.
“Good, right?” he asked, voice husky.
Jalen nodded, once again aware of how intimate this felt, sitting on a bed, sharing food, Chase feeding him fruit like they were in some romantic movie.
Except this wasn’t a movie and Chase wasn’t just some hot guy.
He was the man Jalen had fallen in love with.
It wasn’t just physical attraction. Chase had pulled Jalen out of hell, had gotten him clean, and treated him better than anyone had in his entire life.
The guy was sweet, kind, caring, and selfless.
How could Jalen not fall in love with him?
That thought was both terrifying and exhilarating.
“So,” Jalen said, desperate to break the tension, “you never told me how you ended up in Crimson Hollow. Two hundred and forty years is a long time to wander before settling down in the middle of nowhere.”
Chase cut a piece of French toast, considering. “Needed somewhere quiet. Somewhere with mountains and forests.” He lifted the piece toward Jalen’s mouth. “Somewhere I could run free.”
Jalen accepted the offered bite. Chase’s eyes tracked the movement, lingering on Jalen’s lips as he chewed.
“And the pack?” he asked after swallowing.
“Zeppelin and Vaughn found me, then we found the rest of them along the way. Or they found us.” Chase brushed away a crumb from the corner of Jalen’s mouth with his thumb. The casual touch sent heat blooming across Jalen’s skin. “Pack is family. Once you find that, you hold on.”
One of the nights Jalen had been fighting a fever, he’d thought about his mom.
Her precious baby brother could do no wrong, and she wouldn’t have believed Jalen if he’d told her.
But the more he’d thought about it, the more he was convinced she had to have known something was going on.
Jalen had been withdrawn whenever he was at her house and Derek showed up. Or was she really that damn blind?
“Must be nice,” Jalen murmured. “Having people who actually give a damn.”
Chase’s expression softened. “They give a damn about you too, you know. Preston asks about you every day.”
“Why?” Jalen couldn’t keep the genuine confusion from his voice. “I’ve been nothing but a burden since I got here.”
“That’s not how family works.” Chase set his plate aside and took Jalen’s, placing it on the nightstand. The loss of that buffer between them made Jalen’s heart beat faster. “You’re not a burden. You’re my mate.”
There it was again. That word. Mate. So simple yet loaded with meaning Jalen couldn’t fully grasp.
“How are you feeling today? Really.”
Jalen grabbed a strawberry, biting into it. “Better. Clearer. Like I can actually think straight for the first time in years.”
“Good.” Chase’s smile did something weird to Jalen’s heart rate. “That’s really good.”
“Still can’t believe you put up with all that.” Jalen gestured vaguely at himself. “Not exactly my finest moment.”
“Getting clean never is.” Chase fed him another piece of French toast. “But you did it. That’s what matters.”
The pride in his voice made Jalen’s chest tighten. “Yeah, well, having a supernatural nursemaid helps.”
“Nursemaid?” Chase raised an eyebrow, looking more amused than offended. “Is that what I am?”
“You’ve been…” Jalen searched for the right word. “Patient.”
“Patient,” Chase echoed, his voice dropping lower. “Is that your way of saying you’re ready for me to be less patient?”
“We haven’t even kissed,” Jalen blurted out, immediately wanting to smack himself as heat crawled up his neck. Way to state the obvious, genius.
Chase set the tray aside, careful not to spill anything. The bed dipped as he moved closer until their knees touched. “What exactly do you want, Jalen?”
The sound of his name in that deep voice made Jalen’s stomach flip. “I want…” He trailed off, gaze dropping to Chase’s mouth. “I want you to kiss me. If you want to.”
“If I want to,” Chase repeated, a hint of a smile playing at his lips. “Baby, I’ve wanted to since the moment you called the cops on me.”
Chase moved even closer, the mattress dipping under his weight. He leaned in slowly, one hand coming up to cup Jalen’s jaw, thumb tracing the curve of his cheekbone.
“Last chance to change your mind,” Chase murmured, close enough now that his breath warmed Jalen’s lips.
“Do I look like I’m changing my mind?” he sassed.
Chase smiled—a slow, dangerous curve of his lips—before closing the final distance between them.
The first press of Chase’s mouth against his was gentle, almost questioning. Jalen answered by leaning into it, his hands finding purchase on Chase’s shoulders. The kiss deepened, Chase’s tongue tracing the seam of his lips, seeking entrance, which Jalen eagerly granted.
Heat pooled low in Jalen’s belly as Chase’s tongue slid against his, tasting of syrup and sweetness. Chase kissed with the confidence of someone who knew exactly what he was doing, and Jalen found himself melting into it, all his walls crumbling under the assault.
When they finally broke apart, Jalen was panting slightly, his lips tingling. “Okay,” he said, trying for casual and missing by a mile. “That was... god yeah.”
Chase’s laugh was warm against his skin. “Eloquent.”
“Shut up. You’ve had centuries of practice.” Jalen’s fingers traced the hard line of Chase’s jaw, fascinated by the contrast between soft skin and rough stubble. “Some of us are working with a limited dataset here.”
“Happy to help you expand your research.” Chase’s hand slid to the nape of Jalen’s neck, pulling him in for another kiss, this one deeper and more demanding from the start.
“We should have done that weeks ago.” Jalen’s was dying for another kiss. It wasn’t his first one, but it was the best one he’d ever had.
Chase’s thumb traced Jalen’s lower lip, sending sparks of sensation down his spine. “You weren’t ready weeks ago.”
The simple truth of it struck Jalen silent. Chase had been waiting for him, not physically but emotionally. Waiting for Jalen to find his footing, to trust, to want this for himself rather than as an escape or distraction.
He found himself being gently pressed backward until he was lying on the bed, Chase’s larger body half covering his.
The weight of him felt impossibly good, grounding Jalen in the moment when his mind wanted to spin off into disbelief.
Chase’s hand slipped under the hem of Jalen’s T-shirt, warm palm against bare skin making him gasp into the kiss.
“We okay?” Chase eased back slightly to search Jalen’s eyes.
“Yes,” Jalen confirmed, already missing the pressure of Chase’s mouth. “More than okay.”
Chase’s smile turned predatory, sending a fresh wave of heat through Jalen’s body. Slowly, deliberately, he lowered his head to press kisses along Jalen’s jaw, down the column of his throat. Each touch of lips to skin felt like a brand, marking Jalen in ways that went beyond physical.
“Also been wanting to do this since I first saw you,” Chase murmured against his collarbone. “You have no idea.”
“I think I’m getting the picture.” Jalen panted as Chase’s teeth grazed the sensitive spot where his neck met his shoulder.
He worked his way down Jalen’s body with agonizing slowness, pushing up Jalen’s T-shirt to expose his stomach.
Compared to Chase’s sculpted physique, Jalen had always felt scrawny, but the way Chase looked at him, like he was a feast laid out for the taking, made him feel powerful in his own skin for the first time in memory.
“You’re beautiful.” Chase pressed a kiss just below Jalen’s navel.
Jalen’s cock twitched in his pajama pants, already hard and aching. “You need glasses, old man.”
“Perfect eyesight,” Chase countered, his fingers hooking into the waistband of Jalen’s pants.
Chase slowly pulled the pants down Jalen’s hips, taking his boxers with them. The cool air hit his exposed cock, making him hiss. He resisted the urge to cover himself, instead watching Chase’s face as his gaze raked over Jalen’s naked lower half.
“Definitely perfect eyesight,” Chase murmured, his hand wrapping around Jalen’s cock with confident pressure.
Jalen’s hips bucked involuntarily at the contact, a groan escaping his lips. Chase stroked him slowly, his grip firm but gentle, thumb swiping over the sensitive head where pre-cum had already gathered.
After everything that had happened in his life, having someone touch him with reverence… There were no words to describe how good it felt to freely give. Because Jalen wanted to. Because he wanted Chase.
“Jesus,” he breathed, head falling back against the pillows. “That feels—”
His words cut off abruptly as Chase leaned down and took his prick into his mouth. Wet heat enveloped his cock, Chase’s tongue flat against the underside of his erection as he slid down, taking him deep.
“Holy shit,” Jalen gasped, fingers tangling in Chase’s dark hair. “Oh my god!”
My first blowjob and I’m going to lose my ever-loving mind!
Chase hummed around him, the vibration sending shockwaves of pleasure up Jalen’s spine. His mouth worked steadily, tongue swirling around the head before taking him deep again, cheeks hollowing with suction that made Jalen’s toes curl and his eyes roll back.
Holy shit! He watched as Chase’s head bobbed between his thighs, those full lips stretched around his cock.
The sight alone was almost enough to push him over the edge.
Combined with the wet heat of Chase’s mouth, the pressure of his tongue, and the occasional gentle scrape of teeth, it was overwhelming.
“Chase,” he gasped, “if you keep that up, this is going to be over embarrassingly fast!”
Instead of pulling away, Chase swallowed him to the root, throat muscles contracting around Jalen's swollen cockhead as pre-cum leaked onto his tongue. Chase’s fingers dug into the tender flesh where thigh met ass, spreading him wider as his other hand rolled and tugged at Jalen’s heavy balls.
White-hot pleasure shot up Jalen's spine like lightning, his hole clenching on nothing as his cock throbbed, ready to explode.
“Almost-—” Jalen’s warning dissolved into a gasp as his entire body tensed. The pressure built rapidly at the base of his spine, coiling tighter with each slide of that relentless mouth. His thighs trembled as he tried desperately to hold back, to make this last just a little longer.
Chase looked up at him through dark lashes, never breaking rhythm, and that visual connection was all it took.
Jalen came with a strangled cry, hips jerking upward as pleasure crashed through him in pulsing waves.
His fingers tightened in Chase’s hair, probably painfully, but the man didn’t pull away.
Instead, Chase swallowed around him, throat working as he took everything Jalen had to give.
When the last aftershock faded, Jalen collapsed back against the mattress, chest heaving. His limbs, heavy and languid, felt like they’d been replaced with warm honey. “Holy…” he panted, throwing an arm across his eyes. “That…”
A soft chuckle reached his ears as Chase moved up his body, pressing kisses along his hip, his stomach, the hollow of his throat. “Glad my cooking isn’t the only thing you enjoy.”
Jalen lowered his arm to find Chase hovering above him, lips wet and eyes dark with hunger. The sight of this powerful, dangerous creature looking at Jalen like he was something precious made his heart stutter.
Heat flared through Jalen again at the taste of himself on Chase’s tongue when their mouths met. His hands slid down Chase’s bare back, feeling the play of muscles beneath warm skin.
“I want to taste you,” Jalen whispered against his lips.
Chase’s eyes darkened. “Yeah?”
“Oh yeah.” He pushed against Chase’s shoulder, and the larger man allowed himself to be rolled onto his back, a look of amused interest on his face.
“You sure you’re up for it?” Chase raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth quirking up. “Maybe you need a nap before—”
“You’re the fossil, not me,” Jalen interrupted, sliding down Chase’s body. “You don’t get to have all the fun.”
“Who am I to stop you from playing?” he teased.
“Exactly. With the way I feel, you’ll be lucky to survive this.” Jalen hooked his fingers into the waistband of Chase’s sweatpants, tugging them down his thighs. His fat cock sprang free, thick and hard against his stomach.
“Holy shit,” Jalen breathed, wrapping his hand around the base. His erection was hot and heavy in his palm, the skin silky over steel. “You’re… proportional.”
Total cliché, but true.
Chase laughed, the sound cutting off into a groan as Jalen stroked him experimentally. The sexy beast. “Is that a problem?”
“More of a challenge.” Jalen shrugged. “Seems I’ve become an expert at challenges lately.” He looked at Chase. “If I don’t come up for air in five minutes, send in a rescue team.”
Chase’s hand came to rest on the back of his head, not pushing, just a gentle weight. “You don’t have to take it all.”
Jalen looked up at him through his lashes. “Watch me try.”
He wrapped his lips around the head, tongue swirling over the sensitive tip, savoring the way Chase’s breath hitched. Slowly, he took more into his mouth, saliva making everything slick and easy.
Taking his time, Jalen explored with lips and tongue, learning what made Chase’s breath hitch, what made his thighs tense.
“Fuck…your mouth…” Chase groaned, hips twitching slightly.