Chapter Three
Quinton pushed from the booth and went after his mate, who had simply gotten up and walked out.
Ever since he’d asked Noah what was on his mind, he’d noticed a shift in the human’s behavior. Noah had become a little defensive and somewhat aloof.
No sooner had Quinton walked toward the exit than his phone started ringing in his back pocket. He reached in and hit the side button to silence it.
Nothing was more important right now than catching Noah before his mate drove off. They hadn’t exchanged phone numbers, and Quinton didn’t know where his mate lived.
He didn’t even know Noah’s last name.
When Quinton pushed open the diner door and walked toward the parking lot, he noticed it was lightly sprinkling. The temperature had dropped since they had been inside the diner, enough to where he would have to grab his jacket from his truck.
But first he had to figure out why Noah had up and left without a single word. Was the guy upset Quinton had called him a liar?
Technically, he hadn’t said the word liar, but Quinton was splitting hairs. He was used to being honest with his sons, but not everyone appreciated being called out on a blatant lie.
He slowed his long strides when he spotted Noah standing at the driver’s door of his car. The man’s brows were knitted, and his hand rested loosely on the door handle.
“I was determined to leave, but once I got to my car…”
Noah shook his head, his gaze focused on the side of Quinton’s truck. “Since you walked out of the pool room, I’ve felt this… I don’t know how to explain it.”
“It’s called the pull.”
Quinton approached his mate cautiously. Any sudden movement might snap Noah out of his musing and make him run from Quinton again.
Noah tapped his chest with the pads of his fingers. “Yeah, that’s it. That’s how it feels.”
His mate glanced at him. “I reached for the handle of my car, but it felt like some unseen force was trying to pull me back to you.”
Quinton stepped a little closer as the sprinkles turned into light rain. “ It’s our connection, Noah. You feel it as deeply as I do. An overwhelming need to be near each other.”
He didn’t explain any further. He wanted Noah to acknowledge their connection before he continued. It would make explaining the unexplainable a little easier.
If only Quinton actually believed that. He would have better luck hitting the lottery than Noah calmly accepting what Quinton had to tell him.
Noah rubbed his arms and shivered. The light rain had turned into a steady drizzle. Quinton hit the fob attached to his key ring, remote-starting his truck before he unlocked it, and then opened the passenger door. “Hop in. The interior will heat up quickly. You don’t need to catch a cold.”
For a long moment Noah studied him then turned and climbed inside. Quinton closed the door with a prayer. As soon as he slid into the driver’s seat, he reached into the back and grabbed his jacket, handing it to Noah.
Quinton’s phone rang again. Once again, he silenced it. “There’s a reason you feel drawn to me.”
His phoned chimed, signaling he had a text message.
“Maybe you should see who it is,”
Noah suggested. “At this hour, it could be important.”
“I will, but first—”
Quinton snarled when his phone chimed again. He was ready to throw the damn thing out the window.
Instead, he yanked it from his pocket. The missed call was from Ryker, and so were the two texts.
Toro is in town. Just had an up-close conversation with him.
Quinton’s canines threatened to lengthen. What was he doing in Midnight Falls? He would think Toro had learned his lesson after the last ass-beating Quinton had given the vampire.
He read the next text.
Call me. He’s up to no good.
That was a given. Anywhere Toro went, chaos ensued. It was like the vampire couldn’t help himself. Quinton understood working for a living, even if that work was questionable, but Toro always took it an extra step.
The last town Quinton had lived in, Toro had shown up to “handle”
a problem for some demon or… Heck, he couldn’t even recall. What he did remember was the person Toro had come after was a friend of Quinton’s.
No one hurt the people he cared about, regardless if they had done wrong. Quinton had beaten the vampire senseless, saved Jacob, and hadn’t seen Toro since.
“Is everything okay?”
Noah hugged the jacket around his shoulders. As large as it was, his mate looked as if the fabric was swallowing him.
“Just an old acquaintance in town.”
Quinton tucked his phone back into his pocket. “I wanted to explain to you why you feel the pull.”
His phone chimed again. Quinton clenched his jaw and pulled it out again.
Did you get my texts?
Toro was a pain in the ass, but Ryker was acting as if the vampire was running around town draining humans. As sadistic and unhinged as the vampire was, he always kept a low profile.
Quinton texted him back.
I’m kinda in the middle of something. Stop blowing up my phone!
Ryker’s response was almost immediate. That hot little number from the bar? We have more pressing issues.
“I should go.”
Noah shrugged off the jacket and set it aside. “It seems your old friend really wants to see you.”
“But you’re the one I’m interested in spending time with.”
Quinton slid his jacket back around his mate’s shoulders. He liked seeing Noah wrapped up in it. The sight made his bear softly growl.
Noah’s gaze flicked to the windshield when the now-steady rain tapped against the glass. He seemed lost in his own head as Quinton studied his side profile. Something was still weighing heavy on his mind.
Then he turned his head and gazed at Quinton. “I’m sorry we didn’t have breakfast together.”
That couldn’t have been what the man was deep in thought about.
“Would you...”
Noah cleared his throat, and Quinton wondered why his mate was blushing so hard. “Would you like to go to my place for some coffee?”
Was that code for “wanna have sex,”
or was Quinton just a little too hopeful? “I could use a cup.”
Noah’s cat-green eyes rounded slightly as his blush reached the tips of his ears. “Okay. Um, you can follow behind me.”
He started to slip the jacket off.
“Keep it on,”
Quinton insisted. The longer he wore it, the more his scent would permeate the fabric. “Your car is going to be cold. You can give it back later.”
Noah stared at him a moment longer. Quinton could see the wheels turning in the guy’s head. He just didn’t know what they were turning for.
Then Noah grabbed the handle and slipped out, hurriedly opening his car door. The rain was coming down harder now.
The sedan came to life, headlights shining against the brick wall in front of it before the wipers swished back and forth. Quinton could see his mate shivering a little in the oversized jacket.
Going to Noah’s was better. Quinton would rather find out where the guy lived before he told him everything. It would also give him time to think of a way to break the news to Noah that he was a bear shifter and they were mates.
Noah reversed from his parking spot and headed onto the street, Quinton right on his tail.
His phone erupted in the quite interior of his truck. Of course it was Ryker.
“What?”
he growled when he answered.
“Why are you not hitting the roof that Toro is in town?”
his eldest demanded. “Am I the only one who recognizes the danger? You’re acting just like Killian.”
Quinton connected the call to his truck then mounted the phone, keeping a close eye on Noah’s car. “Did I not tell you I was in the middle of something?”
“Since you answered your phone, I’m assuming you wrapped that up. Are you heading home?”
Was it Quinton’s imagination, or had Noah sped up to get through the amber light, leaving Quinton with a red one?
Thankfully, it was still too early for a lot of traffic. He ran the red light, wondering why his mate sped up.
Had he changed his mind and was now trying to lose him? Quinton wasn’t sure, but his mate had tried to ditch him once already.
Quinton was beginning to feel like he was pushing himself on Noah, and that was a feeling he didn’t like. If the human hadn’t been his mate, Quinton wouldn’t have bothered to go after Noah when he walked out of the diner.
He didn’t chase men. Not the ones who didn’t want to be chased. Quinton didn’t have a problem landing a guy in bed.
But this was entirely different and a whole new level for him. Noah was his mate, and no matter how frustrated he felt, Noah was one man Quinton couldn’t wash his hands of.
“Dad?”
Shit. He’d forgotten Ryker was on the phone. “Yeah?”
“Jesus. Where’s your mind? We have a psychotic threat in town, and you’re acting like this isn’t important.”
“Look…”
Quinton blew out a breath. “That hot little number is my mate. And by the way, don’t ever fucking call him that again. I’m busy pulling a Hyett right now, so, no, Toro isn’t at the forefront of my mind.”
“ Why didn’t you tell me he was your mate?”
Ryker sounded even more pissed than he had about Quinton’s disinterest concerning the vampire.
“Keep using that tone with me and I’ll teach you some manners when I get home,”
Quinton growled. “Now, if it won’t cause your head to explode, I’m going to hang up.”
Noah pulled behind an apartment building and parked in the dimly lit parking lot.
The place needed better security lights. The ones at the far end weren’t even on, causing the back half of the lot to become a predator’s playing ground.
As soon as he parked, Quinton got out, going straight to the driver’s door of Noah’s car. The human was throwing too many mixed signals.
Quinton waited until Noah exited the car then shut the door for him. “Were you trying to lose me at the light? When you have someone following you, it’s courtesy to either wait at the traffic light with them or pull over if the follower gets stuck at it.”
“Can you chew me out when we get inside? I don’t want to turn into a drowned rat.”
Noah took off toward the back door of the building. Once again Quinton was right behind him. He felt as if that was all he’d been doing since they’d left the bar.
Dogging his mate’s heels.
Quinton caught the door before it closed. Was Noah always so rude?
They climbed to the second floor in silence. His mate fumbled with the lock at his door, dropping his keys twice. The second time, Quinton swiped them off the floor and unlocked the door then held up the keys. Noah took them before hurrying inside, leaving Quinton standing in the hallway.
With a shake of his head, he walked into the apartment and closed the door behind him. He would have said something to Noah about his rudeness if he knew where in the hell the man had gone.
The unit wasn’t very big. The living room consisted of a couch, side table, and an area rug, leaving little room for anything else. The small flat-screen television was mounted on the wall with a few framed pictures on either side.
None of them were personal photos, just pictures of flowers and beaches and an old, covered bridge.
The rest of the walls were bare.
Nothing in the room gave off a cozy, lived-in vibe.
Looking to his left, Quinton spotted a fridge past the doorway. The kitchen. He wandered to the room and peered inside. It was the size of a large closet. Only a few cupboards above a sink with maybe twelve inches of counter space on each side of it.
The room wasn’t even big enough for a table.
Quinton pulled back when his mate stepped out a door to the right of a tiny hallway, if you could call it that.
With his massive size, Quinton felt like his presence shrank the apartment to an even smaller space.
“I’ll get the coffee started.”
Noah whizzed past him, hurrying into the closet-kitchen.
Quinton had seen cats at bath time less nervous than his mate. The guy had a frantic energy that caused him to act edgy.
After Noah started a pot of coffee then tried to hurry past him again, Quinton gently gripped his slim upper arm.
“Why do I get the impression you don’t want me here?”
He pulled his hand away but was ready to grab it again if necessary.
“I’m just exhausted.”
He covered a yawn with his hand. A toddler could’ve given a better performance.
A soft, irritated growl rolled up his throat. “Please do not insult my intelligence, Noah.”
His mate looked him over. Quinton took a step back, realizing his height was intimidating to a person Noah’s size.
“I just want the truth, cub.”
Quinton softened his voice, dropping the growl from his tone.
Noah glanced nervously around. “I know this sounds cliche, but it’s not you.”
And now Quinton felt like his mate was moments from sending him on his way. “Then what is it?”
His mate’s shoulders slumped as he let out a deep sigh. “You’re the first man, aside from my brother and best friend, who’s ever been in my apartment.”
Call him thick-headed, but Quinton still didn’t understand. “And that somehow makes you nervous?”
Plenty of people went to the other person’s house for a hookup. Quinton never brought anyone home. Made things less complicated that way.
When the fun was over, you didn’t have to find a polite way of asking your bed partner to leave. You just dipped out from their house and made your way home.
“Yes,”
Noah admitted, still refusing to look at him.
“Can I ask why?”
“I think the coffee is ready.”
Noah shot past him and nearly ran into the wall. Wincing, Quinton quickly reached for his mate, but Noah moved lightning-fast into the kitchen.
His mate was definitely an enigma. Quinton couldn’t figure him out. At the bar, Noah had been engaging and smiling, even a little flirtatious. At the diner, he had started to cool off.
Now? Quinton couldn’t make heads or tails of the guy.
“How do you take your coffee?”
Noah asked after poking his head out.
“Black is fine.”
He wasn’t so sure his mate needed to drink the caffeinated coffee. He was already jittery enough.
Noah walked out with a mug in each hand than offered one to Quinton before leading him to the couch. More like walked to it and left Quinton to invite his own self to sit down.
“I can’t believe how tired I am.”
The next yawn seemed more genuine. Quinton was used to very little sleep. He’d been that way for at least six decades.
He could function with no problem with as little as four hours of sleep.
“Noah.”
Quinton set his cup on the rug and turn to face his mate. “Please tell me what’s really going on. I’m a good listener, and it takes a lot to upset or shock me.”
His mate nibbled on his lower lip, drawing Quinton’s attention to their plumpness, and he had to fight not to kiss them.
“You make me want things,”
Noah finally said like he’d had to muster all of his courage just to say that.
Want things ? Preternatural couldn’t get drunk off of human alcohol—though he’d learned that fey could—but Quinton began to wonder if those beers had gone to his head.
“Can you be a little more specific?”
Although Quinton was ninety percent sure his mate was referring to sex, he didn’t want to assume anything.
But he sure as hell was hoping that was what Noah wanted. His mate was extremely handsome, his chestnut-brown hair purposely styled to look as if he’d just rolled out of bed. He had expressive green eyes and a long, slim neck Quinton wanted to run his lips over. His features were a combination of boyish and masculine, creating the perfect blend of beauty.
“Specific?”
That red-hot, burning-as-hot-as-hellfire blush returned, setting his face ablaze.
Now there wasn’t a question in Quinton’s mind what his mate was talking about.
If Noah didn’t know how to ask, Quinton had no problem taking the reins. He cupped Noah’s jaw and leaned forward, taking his mate’s mouth in a searing kiss.
Noah clutched at Quinton’s arms, like he was holding on for dear life. He yanked the man closer, Noah’s coffee sloshing, spilling some on them, and then Quinton heard the cup hit the floor.
The intensity of the kiss heightened until Quinton’s mind was empty of everything except Noah. He explored the inside of his mate’s mouth then gently bit his lower lip.
Quinton sprinkled kisses down his mate’s throat, smiling when he felt the vibration of Noah’s moan.
Fuck. He was so damn hard it was almost painful. Leaning back, Quinton pulled his mate with him, draping Noah over his chest.
Cupping the back of his mate’s neck, Quinton lowered the man’s head until his lips brushed over the shell of his ear. “I want to suck your cock, sweetheart.”
He palmed Noah’s ass and pressed their bodies together, grinding against the guy to show Noah just how hard he was. “I’m dying to feel your soft lips sucking me off.”
Noah went rigid.
Quinton at once pulled his hands away, holding them out at his sides. He wasn’t sure why his mate had reacted that way, but he wanted to make it clear that Noah was free to get up if that was what he wanted to do.
“Did I say something wrong?”
Noah lifted his head and gazed at him. “Why would you ask that?”
He seemed genuinely confused. Quinton stared at his kiss-swollen lips, his mussed hair, and the shine in his eyes. “You…”
Fuck. His mate wasn’t the only one confused. “Are we good?”
The man’s blush was out to kill him. “Yes.”
That was all Quinton wanted to hear. He reared up and placed his mate on his back. Quinton’s foot kicked his own mug, adding to the soaked mess on the rug as he unfastened his mate’s pants and tried to work them down.
“Lift your hips, hon.”
Noah complied, his hands fisting the cushions. Quinton could hear how quickly his mate was breathing as his hard cock slapped his stomach.
“So goddamn pretty,”
Quinton murmured. Despite Noah’s cock being a bit shorter in length, his girth more than made up for it.
Quinton scooted back and then dipped his head, licking around the mushroomed head.
Noah gave a sharp cry, his hips bucking. Quinton’s lips sank onto his mate’s prick, taking the shaft down his throat.
Using his throat muscles, he created a suction on his way back up, stunned when Noah orgasmed, his semen flooding Quinton’s mouth.
Without missing a beat, he swallowed, licking his mate’s cock clean. Quinton suckled the head for a few seconds before he let the softening flesh slip from his mouth.
“Sorry!”
Noah covered his face and groaned. “I can’t believe I only lasted five seconds,”
he grumbled behind his hands.
Quinton couldn’t believe it either. He tugged at his mate’s hands. “ There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, hon. I just wished I’d known you had an easy trigger. I would’ve gone slower to draw out the pleasure for you.”
“Stop trying to remove my hands,”
Noah whined. “They are now permanently attached to my face.”
Quinton chuckled. “Honestly, it happens to the best of us from time to time, especially when we’re with someone new.”
He leaned over Noah and whispered, “Suck my cock and all will be forgotten.”
His mate’s hands slowly lowered. He eyed Quinton, and then his gaze slid down to his crotch.
Quinton worked his jeans and underwear down his thighs before he lay back, palming his throbbing cock. “Come here, Noah.”
He thrust his hips playfully. “Show me how soft those lips are.”
His mate sat up. He looked sexy as hell all disheveled, his eyes glazed from his orgasm. Noah crawled languidly toward him, heightening Quinton’s arousal.
Lips parted, Noah stopped then stared down at Quinton’s erection with curious eyes.
“You’re killing me, sweetheart,”
Quinton moaned. With his free hand, he massaged the back of Noah’s neck, encouraging him to lower his head.
Tentatively, Noah descended toward Quinton’s throbbing erection. If this was how his mate approached giving head, teasingly deliberate, Quinton loved it. It only added to the anticipation.
He hissed when Noah’s lips slid across the tip, his touch exploring. Quinton watched Noah lapping the pre-cum, smacking his lips as if he were trying to decide if he liked the taste.
His mate took a few inches of hard length into his mouth but pulled back and coughed, his eyes watering. He tried again, still unable to handle just a few inches, and then his teeth scraped Quinton’s sensitive flesh. “Teeth, baby! Watch the teeth.”
Noah eased back slightly, but Quinton saw the grimace. A thought was dawning on him. Either Noah was flat-out horrible at blowjobs, or… “Extend your lips just a little and that’ll create a buffer between your teeth and my poor dick,”
Quinton said teasingly. He ran the side of his finger down his mate’s soft neck. “Try to relax your throat.”
Quinton fisted his cock, detracting inches from the length. He groaned when Noah heeded his advice. No teeth. No choking. Fucking perfect.
Bad blowjobs were worse than not getting one at all. But Noah was an exception. He was not only Quinton’s mate, but clearly, Quinton was Noah’s first.
Only a selfish bastard wouldn’t show gentle guidance. “Shit. That’s it, Noah.”
Quinton tilted his head back and groaned. Noah’s inexperience only skyrocketed Quinton’s arousal. A hard groan was yanked out of him. It was pure nirvana to watch his mate savor his cock, his greedy mouth sucking and licking, a look of pure ecstasy dominating his face.
The need to orgasm intensified. Noah’s hot mouth made Quinton tremble.
“Close, Noah.”
He gripped a fistful of his mate’s hair while stroking his cock faster and harder. Quinton gritted his teeth. “About to come, Noah.”
His mate suckled the head harder. Quinton exploded, shouting his mate’s name. Hot jets of cum pulsed inside Noah’s mouth.
Although his mate appeared determined to return the favor, he gagged and pulled back.
Quinton pulled his mate up his chest and kissed him, sucking on Noah’s tongue. “So good,”
he murmured, tucking his mate into his side. Noah wasn’t the only one exhausted.
Quinton didn’t even have the energy to pull his jeans and underwear into place. He dozed off with them down his thighs, his mate curled into his side.