Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
After a few days with Ryder, Nolan was pretty sure he didn’t want his brother to come home.
That wasn’t true. He loved Race dearly and knew he couldn’t just stay here at Ryder’s house, but he did like it. It was fun. Con was a blast to hang out with. There was tons of cooking and laughing between the three brothers. There was running as bears. There were a ton of things to explore.
Then there was Ryder, of course. Ryder was wildly happy-making.
He loved the way Ryder smiled at him, watched him, and it was hot not creepy. It made him tingle. It made him want to preen.
Totally not creepy.
“Hey, Nolan?” Ryder shot him a smile that seemed more than a little worried and he blinked.
He was standing in the kitchen, staring at nothing, spoon in his hand.
“Are you okay?”
“Uh, yeah. I was making tea, and then I got to thinking…”
“The smell of honey can do that to a bear, I’ve noticed.” Ryder came into the kitchen, and offered him a smile. “No stress. I was a little worried.”
“Oh, don’t be.” He felt really embarrassed now. “It’s all right. I was woolgathering.”
“I don’t mind.” Ryder moved close to put a hand on the back of his neck and drew him in, kissing the top of his head. “I like honey, too.”
Nolan waved the spoon, his cheeks heating up so much that he thought they might just combust. “I have noticed that you like it. Would you like some tea as well?”
“Mmmm.” Ryder’s smile went hot somehow, his gaze holding Nolan’s. And he lifted the honey-covered spoon to his mouth and licked it. “I’ll just have the spoon.”
Oh wow, he was gonna just explode. He really was.
He’d thought he wouldn’t ever be ready for this after what had happened with his last alpha, but Ryder made him feel safe and made him feel wanted.
In such a short time. Nolan hoped he wasn’t reading the signs wrong, but he wasn’t sure how somebody could read something like what Ryder was doing incorrectly.
It was time to act.
Feeling incredibly daring, Nolan dipped his finger in the honey and covered his bottom lip in the sweet sticky mess and lifted his face. “Would you like more?”
He didn’t know what he was going to do if Ryder turned him down flat, because how embarrassing would that be?
Ryder didn’t, though.
Instead, he bent down and slowly licked a long line around Nolan’s bottom lip, lingering. “So yummy.”
“Am I? Was it?”
Ryder nodded. “Can I have another bite?”
“Only if I can, too.” Then he pushed up on tiptoes and brought their lips together, the kiss going immediately deep and wonderful, heat suffusing him and making his body feel heavy, hard, strong.
It felt real and right and heavenly to put his arms around Ryder’s shoulders and hold on, clinging tight.
It didn’t feel scary at all, and he could totally see himself saying, “Yes, Ryder. Please.”
Not like Herschel.
Then, of course, the kettle started to whistle, making them both jump, back away from each other and blink.
“Oh, dear.”
“Is that a bad thing?” Ryder panted, gaze holding his. “Do you want a cup of tea?”
Nolan shook his head. “No, no, that’s not what I want right now.”
That earned him a snort, and then Ryder clicked the off button on the kettle. “So would you like to make out on the sofa, or can I just ask you if you’d like to come see my bed?”
Nolan wasn’t frightened by the question. Not one bit, and he was so glad.
He smiled. “I’d love to see your bedroom, and your bed.” He looked Ryder up and down. “You.”
Ryder beamed at him and simply picked him up as if he weighed nothing before carrying him up the stairs, past the room he thought of as his, and through the door at the end of the hall.
The room was like the best sort of cavern for a bear. Warm wood, dark colors, and a huge fluffy bed with lots of covers and pillows. Kind of a mess, and he could smell the deep musky scent of Ryder in the air, his nose twitching with it.
Ryder laughed, still holding him up in those strong arms. “Do I need to change the sheets?”
“We’re just going to get them all messy,” Nolan said, stroking one hand down Rye’s face.
“If we’re lucky, we are. That’s for sure.” Ryder set him on the bed but then stood there cupping Nolan’s cheeks with his palms. “Nothing you don’t want to do, though. Nothing. Do you understand?”
He reached up to grab Ryder’s wrists, feeling the strong movement of muscle and tendon under his hands. “I want to do everything with you. I don’t want to be afraid, and you make me feel so not afraid.”
Those dark brown eyes peered right into his soul, he thought, the little flecks of gold shining in the light. “I want to make you feel safe.”
“You do. So get down here with me. I have more honey for you.” Was that cheesy?
Oh God, that was probably the cheesiest thing he’d ever said in his whole life.
But it was true, both in the literal sense because there was still honey on his lips, and in the figurative sense because he was getting really, really wet and ready for Ryder to take him in every way.
Ryder huffed and pulled off his T-shirt and shoved down his sweats before pushing Nolan back on the bed so he lay on the pillows. He stripped Nolan’s clothes off too, and Nolan had a moment of waiting, cringing a bit at the idea of what Rye would say.
Because he was used to this being the part where someone told him he just wasn’t hot enough, that he wasn’t ripped enough, or skinny enough, that he was too soft.
“Look at you; aren’t you pretty?”
The words shocked him, and he searched Ryder’s eyes again, hunting for the signs that the big grizzly was telling the truth.
“I mean it. You’re perfect. My perfect little bear. I love it.” Ryder’s cock seemed to prove what he said was true. It was hard and full, flushed deep red and damp at the tip, obviously excited.
He smiled, so pleased with the response, and then Nolan leaned up and reached out, wrapped his fingers around the thick shaft, and stroked base to hip, his toes curling as he did it.
The shaft felt thick and hard, delicious, and the scent of them together made Nolan more than a little dizzy.
Ryder growled for him, tossing his head, the heavy mass of golden streaked hair swayed side-to-side.
“Was that a good sound?” Nolan asked, even though he knew it had been. He’d felt it, bone-deep, and down in his soul. That had been hunger. Pure, animal hunger, and he was here for it. He rumbled softly, in answer, and reached for Ryder, needing to touch, to be touched himself.
Ryder came easily, covering him, making a soft hum that he felt vibrate all the way through his body.
“That was good, my sweet little bear. Very, very good.” Ryder kissed him then.
A long, slow meeting of lips and tongues that left him panting, that left him clinging to Ryder, his hands in that shaggy hair, his legs wrapped around the backs of Ryder’s thighs to hold them together.
He dug his heels in and then humped up, already so excited by this, so ready for Ryder’s touch.
Ryder pulled back to look into his eyes. “Shhhh, it’s okay. You don’t have to rush. We’ve got all the time in the world.”
He wiggled, his skin too tight, his cock trapped between Ryder and his own body. “But I want to hurry. I need you.”
“I need you, too, little one. You’re perfect for me. Have I mentioned that?” Ryder kissed his nose, and his chin, and then his mouth again.
“Once or twice, yeah.”
Jesus, he needed to calm the fuck down. He was not some untried virgin. He was not an idiot. He needed to just breathe and let them do this at Ryder’s pace.
He was not going to act like a fool.
Nolan took a deep breath and then eased the way he was clinging with his legs. He focused on petting the heavy, strong body, carding his fingers through Ryder’s hair.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered, the silk strands catching on his skin.
Ryder rubbed their noses together. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
Ryder eased off to one side, and he almost protested when the big grizzly settled, still keeping them close. He began to stroke up and down Nolan’s belly, his chest, his thighs, the big hand covering swaths of his skin.
Nolan was trying to do the same, to make Ryder as wild as Ryder was making him, but he kept getting distracted by the way Ryder’s hands rubbed, tapped, and stroked him.
“It feels so good,” he murmured, his eyes crossing with pleasure, with the lightning shooting up and down his spine.
“It does. I’ve waited for you, little bear. So long. When I saw you in the bar, I knew.”
Nolan wasn’t sure he believed it, but he wasn’t sure he didn’t either. And right now, it didn’t matter. It sounded just right.
He arched up into Ryder’s touch, begging soundlessly for more.
And without question, Ryder gave it to him. He stroked Nolan’s dick with one hand, cupping his ass with the other, one huge finger slipping into his wet hole.
He groaned and nodded, hands sliding up along Ryder’s arms.
“How wet you are for me? That’s so fucking hot, Nolan.” Ryder put a finger inside, the stretch enough to make him gasp but not really be uncomfortable. Ryder had great big hands, and it was amazing to feel them on his body. And inside his body, too.
He spread, giving Ryder more access because he needed more if he was going to take the cock that he could feel against his thigh. It was huge, and he wanted it. He needed it. Maybe he could get Ryder to knot him and that would be fucking amazing.
Nolan had never wanted to take somebody’s knot before, but now he did.
“I can almost hear what you’re thinking, sweet. I want to give you my knot too. I’ve never really wanted to do that with anybody else. In fact, it’s never fully engaged with anybody else. I know it will with you.”
The very idea made his mouth dry. That he would be the first time Ryder ever knotted someone, like really knotted them.
Ryder slipped another finger inside him, stretching him. This time, Nolan felt it deep; the burn was almost too much. But he sighed because Ryder worked him open gently and thoroughly, not letting him tense up hardly at all.
“I’ve got you, baby. I’ve got you. You’re safe. I’m not going to do anything you don’t want. All you have to do is relax.”
He laughed a little, his breath huffing out. “I don’t think I’m capable of relaxing while you’re doing that to me.”
Ryder gave him a wild grin. “No, but you can breathe and open up to me. Come on, baby. Let me in.”
He nodded, bearing down, trying to open his muscles so Ryder could have him. And it worked. A third finger slipped in, and wetness gushed out of him, and he was so ready.
“Take me now, mate. I need you inside me,” Nolan begged.
Ryder stared at him, those dark eyes, so deep and rich. “You called me mate.”
“I did.” He stiffened and searched Ryder’s eyes. “Please don’t be angry.” He didn’t want this to become a huge problem, and goddess knew he needed to just keep his damn mouth shut.
“Oh, love. I’m not angry. I’ve been thinking the same thing since I first laid eyes on you.” Ryder kissed him so hard he could barely breathe.
Nolan was lost. He knew now what he hadn’t known the whole time he’d been with any other bear. This wasn’t the same. It wasn’t close. This was magic; this was meant to be, and he wanted it.
He tangled his fingers in Ryder’s hair, pulling them closer together, holding on tight.
One kiss became another and another, and Ryder slid inside him, filling him with that heavy cock. It was like a lock and a key. So perfect. So deep.
All he could do was moan into Ryder’s lips and hold on as Ryder stroked deep inside him.
A deep fire built in the pit of his belly, pushing down into his thighs and up into his ribcage.
It was sweet as honey, yet it was damn near unbearable at the same time.
Nolan wanted it to be over, because he wanted to come, but then he also wanted it to last forever, and he was caught there in the middle between these two amazing desires.
Ryder seemed to understand his need, slipping inside him deeper and deeper with each thrust. He could feel it as Ryder’s knot began to swell, stretching him further than he’d ever been stretched before.
He panted, clinging to Ryder, letting him know he was in this the whole way. He didn’t want his mate to think he was scared, because he wasn’t.
Ryder started talking, whispered words that were a little filthy and a lot loving, and he could only marvel at how much his life had changed in such a short amount of time.
He wrapped his legs around Ryder again, humping up, begging for more, and Ryder pushed so deep, his knot swelling and swelling, until they were lodged together. That knot was fully engaged, and he could hardly contain how full he felt.
“Please.” He knew he was begging, but it didn’t matter. “Please, Ryder, I need to—”
“I know, I know, baby. Soon.” Ryder thrust as hard as he could against him, and they rocked together.
He was so full, so perfectly hot and amazing. All he could do was cry out wildly, almost roaring.
Ryder pushed a hand down between them and grabbed his cock, finally, squeezing. Those big, rough, callused fingers stroking his dick was enough to make him shoot like a cannon, every particle of his being caught up in his orgasm.
Ryder groaned, the sound huge and echoing in the room. Then, he thrust into Nolan a couple more times before slamming in deep, his wet seed filling Nolan until he felt as if he was going to explode. He kissed whatever he could reach—Ryder’s chin and his cheek, his neck and his collarbone.
“Mmm…sweet bear.” Ryder covered him, seeming to surround him with need.
They lay there, Ryder rolling slightly to one side so he didn’t get crushed, kind of stuck together, but it didn’t matter. This was the perfect way to doze off.
“Sleep, little bear; I’ll protect you,” It was the last thing he heard before he fell asleep, and he believed it with his whole heart.