Epilogue
TATE
6 Months Later
The world spreads out spectacularly around me. Mountains in the distance and the forest all around me. Among the Sequoia trees, I’m not a giant. They shoot hundreds of feet in the air. Their leaves taste similar to what I remember. This feels like home. As close as it can get, considering my home was over a hundred million years ago and no longer exists. I’m at peace here with my mate.
He calls to me from his perch on a large boulder. The Troodon is tiny compared to me. Millions of years ago, we would have been separated by size and species. And time, since we lived in different periods of the Mesozoic Era. But in this wonderful time and world, we’re together. Mates.
Shifting is less painful now. And quicker. Now, it takes only seconds. Once I’m in my human form, the Troodon jumps from the boulder and shifts, landing on his feet. I pull Austyn into my arms and swing him around until he swats my arms, laughing. “Put me down, Tate.” I do, but not before kissing him.
He sighs, his cheeks flushed. “Good morning, sweetness.”
“Morning, Aus.” I’m normally up before the sun, not wanting to be seen. We live north of Three Rivers, a town in California. I wanted to be close to the Sequoia trees. Unfortunately, so does everyone else. Sequoia National Park is a very popular tourist spot at the southern end of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.
But our home is remote. And secure.
“Breakfast is ready. Are you hungry?”
“Starving.” We’re both naked. Clothes are optional, and we usually opt out in the morning. “Can I have bacon?”
“You’re an herbivore, remember?”
“Yeah, but, Aus, it’s bacon.”
Austyn swings our arms as we walk. I love seeing him happy and carefree. “You can have two pieces. Last time, you ate an entire package. That did not work out well for you.”
Understatement. My stomach hurt for days. “Thanks, babe.” Have I ever felt this treasured? Cared for? “I love you.”
He grins. “It’s my secret weapon. Bacon is the way to a dino’s heart.”
After breakfast, Austyn works in his sewing room, fulfilling orders, and I work on my latest project, making homemade darts. I’ve worked various jobs over the years—too restless to settle—and acquired a variety of skills. I’ve done construction. Electrical work. Plumbing. And gardening.
Now, my skills are being put to good use. The first three months after we moved here, I fixed the house to meet our specific needs, including a sparring room. I’d only fought in my human form. I couldn’t shift inside without taking out part of the ceiling. Lesson learned. Roofing was another skill that came in handy.
My focus now is getting us ready for the upcoming war. Gathering weapons and gadgets and making things we don’t have. Rad is a computer expert. He set up and manages Austyn’s online store—no need for a physical shop anymore—and is designing an advanced GPS system to track specific dinosaurs. He’s scary as hell, so I’m glad he’s on our side. We make a good team.
And as a team, we need a name. While Rad and I brainstormed ideas, Austyn shot each of them down, including The Dino Avengers and the A (for Aus) Team.
We’re still workshopping it.
While Austyn fills an order Rad sent over, I make darts for a blowgun. Things that can be easily hidden in compartments Austyn has sewn into the clothes. Everything I need is set out. Squares of heavy plastic. Nails. Tape. And a hot glue gun.
After pushing the nail through four squares of heavy plastic, I add glue to the head of the nail and twist. Then, I glue the outer layers of plastic together. The small plastic tube that holds it all together is the last part. Making one dart doesn’t take long, but I’m making a bunch. I only have five left in my current stack. Maybe I can convince Austyn to take a break when I’m done.
I’m grabbing another set of plastic squares and a nail when hands wrap around me from behind. I start, almost puncturing my finger with the nail.
“Sorry,” Austyn says against my back. “How’s it going?”
“I’m almost done.” I start to turn, but Austyn hugs me tighter.
“Keep working.”
“Nah. I can take a break.”
“No need,” he says, rubbing his chin along the bumps of my spine. “You work. I’ll take care of everything.”
I laugh. “Everything?”
He nips at my shoulder blade as his hand slips under my sleeveless T-shirt and across my belly. His other hand moves down—way down—lightly teasing the outline of my hardening cock. “Everything.”
I suck in a breath, struggling to think as the oxygen in my brain and my motivation to work both dive south. “Shit, babe…” My hands go still on the worktable and my eyes close. I might whine a bit as I buck against his fingers, trying to get more of his touch.
“You want my hand on your cock, sweetness? My mouth?”
“Please, Aus.” Then I add, “Yes.” In case I wasn’t clear.
He chuckles and says in a less seductive voice, “Then get back to work.”
“Babe, come on.” This time, it’s a full-on whine.
“Nope. Focusing is still an issue for you.”
I lean my head back to rest against his chest. He brushes his fingers along the side of my dick, still not enough, but this time I don’t try to hump his hand. “Is this…part of the…training?”
“Yes. Is that a problem?”
“Uh-uh.” Yup. But my need to please him keeps me quiet. I widen my stance to give him better access—who am I kidding? It’s so I don’t stumble from lack of oxygen and crush him.
He lets out an appreciative noise that goes right to my dick. “Get back to work, Tate.”
Blinking, I focus on the partially made dart in my hand. As soon as I glue the plastic pieces together, Austyn increases the pressure, using his fingers and thumb to stroke the sides of my dick. Fuuuck. That feels so good, but it’s not enough. Blood pounds in my ears and my fingers still as I try to focus. When his fingers slow, I grab another nail. No, wait. I need the plastic cone. I add the part, gluing and taping it on as Austyn speeds up. I’m going to have to do all of these over, but I don’t care. I set the dart aside.
“You’re doing so well, sweetness,” Austyn says against my back. “Grab another one.”
“Babe…” But I do as he asks.
“It’s time to increase the difficulty.”
That’s the only warning I get before he rakes his fingers through my chest hair and pinches my nipple. My hands shake as I put the nail into the squares, not even caring if it’s centered. Austyn slides his other hand under the waistband of my joggers and grabs my cock. It jumps to attention, throbbing in his hand. I take quick breaths. I don’t want him to stop, so I focus on—what? Right—gluing the plastic together. Hot liquid drops on my thumb, and I suck on it, quickly spitting out the glue on my tongue.
Austyn chuckles. “Focus, sweetness,” he says, and then makes that impossible when he presses his hard cock against my thigh.
The assault on my senses is too much. I want to lean into his hands and push back against his cock. And the only thing I don’t want is to finish making darts. “Aus, please.”
His hands still, and I almost scream in frustration. “Finish your job, Tate.” His cock rubs against my ass as he reaches to kiss the back of my neck. “And I’ll finish my job.”
My body begs me to grab him and take him to bed, where we can both finish. But I can’t disappoint him. I focus on my task. Put the nail through here… Austyn rakes his nails through my chest hair and over my hard nub. I add glue and twist. He strokes my cock twisting his fingers at the head. I bite back gasps of pleasure and focus. My legs are full of jelly as he grinds his cock into my ass while using his hands to stroke and twist and tweak. My ragged panting sounds loud. I’m breathing too fast. I suck in air and let it out in a shuddering breath. Oh holy-mother-of-god. My legs wobble as my cock begs for release. My fingers fumble the next step, and I drop the nail on the table. It falls to the floor with a clink. And I can’t bring myself to care.
“I’ll get that.”
“No—”
But it’s too late. His hands release me as he scrambles to the floor. He holds the nail up to me. Once I grab it, I expect him to resume his torture, but instead, he taps on my leg. “Step back.”
When I do as he asks, he slips between me and the workbench. His fingers curl around the edge of my joggers and his eyes meet mine. “Ready?”
I open and close my mouth, but words are impossible. He’s going to blow me while I work? I nod, blinking back my lust and doubt.
As he pulls down my pants and frees my cock, I let out a sigh of relief. The air is cool against my skin, and I resist the urge to touch myself. Austyn stares at my cock and licks his lips. Lust shoots through me, making it hard to think. My cock throbs as precum beads on the tip. Austyn swallows a desperate sound and catches my eye. “Finish your work.”
I nod again because words are still hard, and I want his mouth on me. I go through the motions of gluing the dart together, but I’m not sure how successful I am. I keep my eyes on my task and feel Austyn’s hot mouth on my cockhead. I almost lose it. Focus, Tate .
My body shakes as pleasure zings through it. I glue the cone to the dart and start my last one. I shove the nail in at a crooked angle—it might not even work, but at this point, I don’t care. Austyn can’t fit all of me, but he tries. He strokes my cock near the base and rolls my balls. And his mouth—gah, that glorious mouth—sucks and licks and takes me in.
I risk a peek and realize my mistake almost at once. Austyn’s lips are stretched beyond reason around my cock. I squeeze my eyes shut, panting desperately, as I try to glue with shaky hands. All I want is to come. But I also want to prove I can do this. I take ragged breaths as Austyn strokes me faster and sucks on the tip—nuuuugh. I add the last cone, slap on glue and tape, and throw it in the pile. “Aus, I’m done—please.”
My words turn into pleading moans as he bobs and slurps obscenely on my cock. I thread my fingers through his silky blond hair and hold him there as my balls tighten and my orgasm crashes over me. Austyn sputters but doesn’t stop as he swallows as much of my release as possible. The rest drips out the side of his mouth. Once I recover my ability to think, I pull him up and kiss him hard.
“So proud of you, Tate,” he says between kisses. Lifting him, I hold him with one arm and swipe my work to the side with the other before depositing him on my workbench. “My turn.”
“Do I get a task?”
I grin at him. He’s so cute. “Nope. The thing you need to work on is taking care of yourself and not worrying about everything being perfect. Just…let go, Aus.”
“I can do that.”
I stare at Austyn’s tight skinny jeans. Why didn’t I take them off first? Smooth, Tate . And then the other self-doubts creep in. Why would someone so amazing want someone like me? But I push those thoughts away. Austyn loves me. As I peel his pants down, he grips my shoulders and lifts. We get them down, and I pull them off. His cock is already hard. “What do you want, Aus?”
He lets out a quick breath. “Your hand.”
Not a surprise. Austyn has a thing about my large hands. He leans back on his arms and spreads his legs. I stare for a second. So hot. I shift him to the edge of the table—thankfully, the wood is treated. Splinters would not be good—so I can jack him with one hand and touch his hole with the other. I should grab some lube so I can finger him, but I don’t want to give him time to think. My hand wraps around his cock, and he releases a breathy sigh as I stroke him.
I tease him more, brushing my thumb over his taint, eliciting a gasp from him. Then I rub circles over his hole, increasing the pressure as his breathing takes on a desperate need-it-now sound. I press my thumb barely past the rim as I stroke his cock faster. A sharp, keening wail escapes as he moves helplessly against my onslaught.
“So beautiful. So freaking sexy.” I ruck up his shirt to expose his sexy abs and push his legs farther apart. “All spread out for me. Do you like my big hands on you?” He responds with whimpers. I stretch my fingers so my hand completely covers the inside of this thigh.
Austyn starts to shake, and I place a kiss on his mark, so tiny compared to mine. Once I start, I don’t want to stop until I taste all of him. Spreading his cheeks, I lick a swipe over his hole.
He falls back on the workbench. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuuuuck.”
His needy sounds spur me on, and I lick and suck at his hole, poking my tongue in and out. Letting his needy sounds guide me. “Tate, please. Fuck me.”
My eyes dart to his face. “I don’t want to hurt you.” We’ve done it a few times, and I always worry I’m too big for him.
“Please, Tate. Please? Lube in my jeans.”
I hold him in place with one hand as I grab his pants and fish out the packets of lube. “Are you sure?” I know the answer, but I have to ask.
“Need you now, Tate.”
It doesn’t take long to prepare him, and after three fingers and a bunch of lube, I ease my way in. His gasps sound pained. “Aus?”
“I’m…good. Full.”
He begs, but I take my time, letting his body adjust. When I’m fully seated and his ass is stretched around my cock, my body trembles with the need to move. The need to claim my mate. “Now?”
“Now. Move.”
Relief surges through me as I move, pulling out to slam back into him. He’s so tight. As we get a rhythm going, I fight to control my primal instincts. Austyn catches my gaze and I see his answering need. He wants this.
That’s all it takes. I let go with a growl, pounding into my mate and claiming him as mine. Austyn arches his back, his fingers digging into the wood as his ass tightens around me, pushing me over the edge. “Fuuuuck.”
As I release inside his body, Austyn comes all over his beautiful abs. After catching my breath, I pull out of him. But before he can move, I swipe my tongue through the pool of cum on his stomach. “Tasty.”
He laughs and pushes my face away. “Move. This bench is not comfortable.”
After we clean up and dress, I kiss his sweet face. “Babe, that was fantastic.”
“Really?” He searches my face. “I didn’t take it too far?”
“Nope. And for the record, I like this much better than meditation.”
He shakes his head. “That’s not?—”
Our phones ping with alerts at the same time. Austyn grabs his off the workbench and his eyes widen.
“What is it?”
“Our security system’s been triggered. We have visitors.”
We hurry to the living room to find a visitor pacing back and forth in the room.
Austyn glares at his assistant. “What the fuck, Rad?”
This isn’t the first time Rad has shown up unannounced, although he doesn’t usually break in. Rad works remotely, but his property butts up against ours on the south side. We can’t see his place from ours. Neighbors are few and far between. Purposefully.
Rad likes to test our system. Is that the only reason? Or is he worried I’m not prepared? It could also be his way of annoying his boss.
Honestly? Probably all of the above.
But this isn’t that.
“Wait, Aus,” I say, grabbing his arm and then rubbing circles on his back to soothe his ruffled feathers. The anger shifts to worry as he finally notices what caught my attention. Rad is dressed in black. Completely. No sparkles in sight. But it’s the frantic energy and fear in his eyes that has my heart racing. “Are you okay?”
“What did you do?” Austyn asks, putting his hands on his hips. “I asked you not to start anything with the sheriff. We can’t?—”
“For fuck’s sake, stop talking.” Rad doesn’t exactly shout, but it has the same effect. He drags his hands through his hair, messing up his normally perfect style. Austyn’s jaw drops open.
I grab his hand, preparing for the worst. “Rad, what’s wrong?”
“Victor Jacobs has Walter. And he wants to trade.”