Chapter Four
“It’s cozy,” Raul said, stepping farther into the room.
“You think?”
“Yes.”
Malec smiled. “Wait here, I just need to feed the new arrival and make sure the others have water for the night.”
“Okay .”
Raul was left alone and the stillness wrapped around him. It was warm in the hut and despite being meager the place smelled fresh.
The dogs outside were restless, and clearly pleased to see Malec. His voice rumbled toward Raul as he spoke to the strays he’d been collecting and caring for.
Raul decided to make himself useful and set the kettle on to boil. He then hunted out instant coffee and spooned some into plain black mugs. His thoughts drifted to Flo. He hoped she was still sleeping. He’d guess that she was. She hadn’t seemed to have any energy left in her. He imagined that was the way it would be for a while now. Not that he minded. His instincts to care for her, no matter what she needed, were intense.
As he poured hot water into the mugs, Malec came back into the hut. His skin was damp and his jeans undone. He no longer wore his T-shirt.
“I jumped into the shower,” he said, running his hands through his damp hair. “Been a long day.”
“The natives okay?” Raul nodded toward the dogs.
“Yeah, they’re fine. I get up early, walk them, clean up, feed them, you know. Make sure they have everything they need. Takes me about five hours all in all before I head to the gas station.”
“What they need are new homes.” Raul handed him a drink.
“Tell me about it.” Malec took a sip. “I’ve been taking photographs, pinning them up in local shops, managed to find good new homes for several at the gas station, just by chatting to customers. Trouble is...” He sighed. “It’s one in one out.”
He had such a look of exhaustion and desolation wash over his features that Raul could stand it no more. He took Malec’s mug and set it aside. He then wrapped him in his arms. He held him tight, then tighter still, willing all the stress Malec had been carrying around to seep into his body. He could handle it. He was bigger, stronger. He’d do anything for his mates, carry whatever burden they needed him to.
“Raul,” Malec murmured against his neck as he gripped Raul around the waist. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.” Raul kissed the top of his head then inhaled his scent again. “There’s nothing to be sorry for.”
“There is. I’ve been away for so long and this has spiraled, taken up all my time and some of our money.” He pulled back a fraction and dug into his pocket. “Here, have this. Buy Flo something.”
“You buy her something.
“Please, just take it. There’s more, really there is.”
“Okay.” Raul took the bundle of bucks. “I’m glad this is what it is. Here…you know.”
“What do you mean?” Malec looked up at him.
“Well, can you imagine what was going through our minds?” Raul’s stomach clenched at the memory of his fears.
“What do you mean?” Malec said again and frowned.
“When the letters got shorter, when they dried up, our imagination went into overdrive. I wondered if you’d found another. If our mate bond had broken.” He gritted his teeth and swallowed.
“No, never. It’s too strong for that.” Malec’s eyes glistened. “I’ll always be your mate, Raul, you have to believe that. Nothing could ever break the love between us.” He shook his head frantically.
“I’m glad.” Raul cupped his face and drank in Malec’s handsome features. He dipped his head and kissed him.
Malec opened up and let him in, sagging against him as their tongues tangled. He tasted a little of coffee and as if he’d just brushed his teeth. Raul’s heart sped up and he slanted his head to deepen the kiss. He’d missed the texture of a man’s lips and tongue against his own. Being with Malec and Flo was what made him feel complete.“I’ve missed you,” he murmured.
“I’ve missed you, too.”
Raul pulled back, still holding Malec’s face. “Both of us?”
Malec dragged in a breath and his eyebrows meshed together. “Of course both of you.”
Raul said nothing. Thoughts of Flo’s pretty face twisted with anguish besieged him.
“Raul, please...” Malec’s brow creased further. “She doesn’t…please don’t tell me she’s doubted my love.”
“It’s been hard for her.”
“Oh God, I hate myself.”
“No, no you mustn’t.” Raul kissed the tip of his nose. “Please don’t say that.”
“But Flo. I love her so much. I can’t bear to think I‘ve given her even a moment of pain.”
Raul couldn’t deny the anguish he’d seen in their woman’s eyes. It had been real, raw and true. But he had to balance it with the distress he saw in Malec’s soul. “It’s okay, she’ll understand.”
“Yes, once I’ve seen her.” He started to pull away. “I’ll tell her everything, bring her here. Show her how this has avalanched. We’ll go now…”
Raul stopped him, keeping him close by holding his face. “No, she’s sleeping.”
“But…?”
“She was tired from our journey here. I left her in the motel, tucked up, comfortable. I don’t want her disturbed.” Raul had deepened his voice for those last words. Because it was true. She needed to rest and he’d make sure she did. There was the baby to think of.
“But…?”
“No. She’s tired.” Raul didn’t want to tell him about the baby, not yet, not now. Not when they weren’t all together. That was disloyal to Flo. It was her exciting news as well, plus she was the one carrying the child. Cheating her out of seeing Malec’s face when he learned he was going to be a father wasn’t fair.
Malec opened his mouth as though to speak but closed it again. Raul guessed he’d seen something unsaid in his eyes, and sensed his hesitation.
“She’s okay, don’t worry.”
“Sure?”
“Yeah.” Raul pulled him close for another kiss. “I’m sure.” Though he’d want to return to her before long. It would be ideal if she hadn’t even noticed his absence and he could return to the motel with news of Malec’s situation when she awoke. Which, although it wasn’t what they’d expected or particularly great, at least it wasn’t what they’d feared the most.
That he’d found someone else.
The kiss deepened and Raul was aware of his cock stirring. A tug in his belly reminded him how much he adored sex with Malec—how this man made his world fill with pleasure, took him to great heights of ecstasy the way no other guy ever could or would. Sure, it was best when all three of them were together and naked, but they had no rules, no jealousies, about indulging in couple sex whenever the mood grabbed any of them.
“I want you,” he said, kissing over Malec’s cheek. “I’ll never stop wanting you.”
“I feel the same.” Malec was a little breathless, his body tense.
Raul smiled against his temple. “Lie on the bed. I’ll give you a back rub. You’ve been working crazy hours on top of looking after these dogs.”
“That sounds nice. My shoulders ache.”
Raul knew his mate’s neck and shoulders knotted up when he was stressed. He never turned down a back rub. So he steered Malec to the bed, stopping when they stood at the side of it. “Lose the jeans, you won’t be needing them.”
“I guessed not.” He smiled. His eyes were heavy, his pupils wide with arousal.
Raul would soon get Malec hard and ready for action, but there was no crazy rush. He’d take it slow and linger over Malec’s body, remind himself of every dip and rise of his flesh and the taste of his skin.
Malec shoved at his jeans then kicked them away along with his sneakers. His cock rose from his wiry pubic hair, beside which was a tattoo set on his lower abdomen of a wolf howling at the moon.
Raul stroked his fingertip over the wolf, enjoying the way Malec trembled at his touch. His belly contracted, outlining his abdominal muscles. He was leaner than when Raul had last seen him naked and he suspected Malec hadn’t been eating as well as he would at home when feasting on Flo’s delicious meals.
“More,” Malec whispered. “Touch me more.”
“Not yet. On the bed, facedown. I’ll sort out those knots in your shoulders.”
Malec groaned but did as instructed.
Raul admired his taut ass, a fraction paler than the rest of his skin, and his long back.
Malec folded his arms and rested his cheek on his hands. He fluttered his eyes shut and sighed.
Raul smiled as he removed his own clothes. His cock was hard and tapped against his belly, and his balls tingled. As he moved over Malec, straddling his butt, he enjoyed the anticipation of becoming intimate with his lover again.
He reached for a tub of white cream on the bedside table, which appeared to be for dry skin and smelled of very little. He filled his palms and spread it around before setting them on Malec’s shoulders.
His skin was warm and smooth and Raul smeared the cream up his neck then to his biceps. He worked it in slowly, pressing his thumbs into the soft flesh around his shoulder blades and massaging the knots of muscle he found there.
Malec moaned quietly as Raul deepened his touch. It was a good moan, though, and he was relaxing, sinking deeper into the bed and allowing Raul to really work his muscles.
Raul became absorbed in the task, but with his cock settled in the cleft of Malec’s buttocks and his balls tickling against the curve of his ass, it was impossible not to remain aware of his arousal and the need growing in him.
“Feeling better?” he asked.
“Yeah, you’re so damn good with your hands.”
Raul smiled and began to work his way downward, tapping his fingers over Malec’s spine and kneading outward as he went. Eventually he came to his ass and slithered lower so he had full access. He then spent several minutes working more cream into his buttocks. He adored the way the flesh filled his palms, how his crack stretched when he pushed the orbs outward and deepened when pressed together.
His mouth was watering to taste his mate, so he leaned forward and began to pepper kisses in the hollow of Malec’s back.
Malec shifted his head to face the other way. “You’re such a tease. My cock is gonna burst.”
“Yeah, I know the feeling.” Raul smiled as he continued to kiss, enjoying the taste of Malec’s skin on his tongue. It was a little marred by the cream, but not much now it had been absorbed. Mainly it was just soap and the fresh, open water taste that was unique to Malec.
He shuffled lower, slotting between Malec’s spread legs. Sliding his tongue down his cleft, he gently stroked his fingers over Malec’s balls.
“Oh God…” Malec squirmed.
“No, keep still.” Raul set a hand on his right buttock and tugged. The action exposed Malec’s asshole.
Malec stopped squirming, as if feeling the air wash over his hole had frozen him.
Raul continued to kiss, over his ass cheeks then back to his cleft. He drew the tip of his tongue downward, lower and lower still. His heart was racing, his belly tight. Damn, he was sure he’d have pre-cum sitting in his slit.
When he reached Malec’s hole he stilled with his tongue pressing against the tight pucker.
“Ah, fuck…Raul…” Malec gasped and a full-body tremble held him hostage.
When he’d calmed, Raul licked over his asshole, then circled it, before heading lower and caressing his balls.
Malec was moaning into the pillow now, the sounds muffled.
He tugged the right testicle into his mouth and sucked gently.
“Ah, yeah...” Malec groaned.
Raul switched to the other testicle, rubbing his fingers over Malec’s asshole at the same time.
“I’m gonna come if you keep doing that,” Malec said breathlessly, his voice tight and strained. “Right onto the damn bed sheet.”
Raul smiled and released the testicle. His need to fuck was becoming impossible to ignore. Having Malec writhing in a combination of ecstasy and want beneath him was more than he could handle.
He sat. “Turn over,” he said, his voice deep and hoarse.
Malec flipped onto his back His engorged cock stuck straight upright and he was breathing fast. His cheeks were flushed and the right one had a crease on it, were it had been pressed into a fold on the pillow. “Jesus, you know when you do that I just wanna come.”
“Of course I know.” Raul took hold of his own cock and moved upward so he was again straddling Malec’s hips. “I know everything that makes you wanna come. All the tricks in the book.”
Malec set his hands on Raul’s thighs.
“No, hold your cock upright. I’m gonna sit on it.”
“Yeah, oh yeah.” Malec gripped his shaft and stared down at it. “Do that.”
“Can you reach the cream?”
“Yep.” Without watching what he was doing, Malec scooped his fingers into the pot that was at an angle on the bed next to him, then slathered his cock with it. The concentration on his face thrilled Raul. He couldn’t wait to sit down and fill himself up with hard dick. It had been too long.
“There, done…” Malec looked up at him. “Make us both come.”
“I intend to.” It took Raul a second to position himself, but when he felt the tip of Malec’s slippery cock touching his asshole, he relaxed and eased downward.
“Ah fuck...” Malec groaned. He was bent forward, his abs a row of bricks and his small patch of chest hair damp with sweat. His eyes were wide and his jaw tight. “That’s it.”
Raul couldn’t speak. The sensation of being stretched around Malec’s cock had stolen his breath. His chest was puffed full of air as he concentrated on relaxing and sank lower.
When Malec’s cock tip popped inside, he blew out the breath only to rapidly suck in another one.
“It’s been too long since I was inside you,” Malec said, releasing his cock and gripping Raul’s thighs again.
“Tell me about it.”
“I wish Flo was here.” Malec grinned. “Sitting on my face as I sank into you.”
“Yeah, that would be perfect.”
“But this is pretty damn close…” His breath stuttered as Raul sat down completely.
Raul kept going until his butt cheeks were on Malec’s upper legs and their balls pressed together.
“Ah, yeah, so hot and tight.” Malec moaned, closing his eyes.
“I’m not going to last long.” Raul looked at his own cock, full and dark with bulging veins.
“No, I’m not either.” Malec gripped Raul, his fingers pincers. “More, give me more.”
Raul pulled up then sank back down, his hole comfortable with the stretch now. What he was craving was pressure on his prostate—that was what would throw him into ecstasy.
He moved up again then down, seating himself over and over onto Malec and loving the way his internal hotspot was getting a good, intense massage.
Malec was moaning and thrashing his head from side to side. A bead of sweat ran from his temple into his hair. “I’m coming.”
“Yes, yes, come now.” Raul gave in to his own orgasm. The sounds of their flesh slapping and their frantic breaths faded as his wild pulse filled his ears. His balls retracted and pressure surged up his shaft in a glorious release.
“Ahh,” he cried as the first shot of cum spurted from his dick and landed on Malec’s belly.
Malec arched his spine, the tendons in his neck strained and he pulled back his lips. “It’s here.” He came inside Raul, his cock surging and his hips thrusting.
Raul kept his eyes wide open, enjoying the sight of another rush of cum landing on Malec. Then another.
Malec was wild beneath him.
His asshole was scorched, clamping and releasing around Malec’s dick. His breaths were hard to catch and he’d curled his toes and clamped his hands around Malec’s wrists.
Finally, both sated, they stilled. Raul tipped forward, his belly landing in cum and his chest pressing against Malec’s. He kissed him, and as he did so Malec’s cock slipped from his ass.
“That was so good,” Malec gasped.
“And overdue.”
“Yeah, being sex starved doesn’t suit me.”
“Being without you doesn’t suit us.” Raul stroked Malec’s slim stomach, rubbing in the cum. “But we’ll figure it out. With the dogs and the money, this place.” He paused and thought of the baby. “We have to.”