Chapter Seven
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CRAEG EXITED HIS ENSUITE bathroom, his boxers secure around his hips.
For so many decades, he’d slept in the nude, but with his inexperienced, young mate beside him in bed, he’d rustled up a few pairs to sleep in.
He wouldn’t say it was the most comfortable, but he figured it made Silas feel better.
After all, I saw the way my mate stared in shock at my shaft when we were naked in the cave.
Anythin’ for my Silas.
Even with clothes on, Craeg knew he wasn’t hiding his erection, what with the way it jutted from his body, tenting his boxers. He couldn’t help it. Seeing Silas waiting in bed for him was just too provocative a sight.
Patience. I can have patience.
Craeg kept repeating that to himself as he crawled into bed beside Silas. His mate was sitting up, his back against the headboard, with the blanket pulled around his waist. He wore a thin gray tank top, and Craeg saw the top of his shorts peeking above the edge of the covers.
So fuckin’ sexy.
Wait. No. Patience.
Even though waiting was the last thing Craeg wanted to do, and his minke whale encouraged him to forge their bond asap, Craeg resisted.
He smiled at Silas as he slipped his arm around his shoulders.
Cuddling his mate close—loving how his much smaller mate practically sank into his embrace—Craeg stared down at him.
“Hey, sweets,” Craeg crooned, pressing a kiss to where his hair met his forehead. “How are ya doin’?”
Craeg knew they’d had a good, but tough day. Forcing his mate to meet his alpha and beta had been a difficult choice. Seri had been the one to suggest combining the meet-and-greet with the fun of the shows.
I’m so glad Silas enjoyed it.
“I’m okay,” Silas answered softly.
Except, there was a note of something in Silas’s voice that had Craeg wondering.
“Are ya sure, Silas?” Craeg asked softly. Once Silas tipped his face up to meet his gaze, he entreated, “Ya can talk to me about anythin’.”
After a slow breath, Silas rested his head on Craeg’s shoulder. He tilted his head a little so he could peer up at him. His brows were furrowed, as if he was having some kind of internal debate with himself.
Craeg had seen him do that often enough. He’d realized early on that his mate had to decide if he wanted to share. It seemed that taking that leap of faith to try to express himself was difficult.
Maybe someday he’ll trust me enough that it’ll become second nature.
I sure hope so.
“You said that...Grisham is...one of us,” Silas stated slowly, quietly, obviously choosing his words carefully. Craeg didn’t interrupt as his mate continued, “As in, Grisham is one of your pod, even though he’s a human and not a...a shifter.”
Craeg nodded once. “Aye,” he agreed, recalling his words.
“But I’m a shifter, but I’m not part of your pod.” Silas’s brows furrowed even as he continued speaking, as if sorting it out in his mind. “Which means, I’m not one of you.” Before Craeg could counter that, Silas snapped his gaze up to his face. “Not until I’m bonded with you. Right?”
“No,” Craeg immediately refuted. Then he realized that probably wasn’t totally accurate.
“Not in that sense.” After a second, Craeg explained, “You’re a shifter, so you’re one of us by default.
Even if ya weren’t my mate, as soon as we learned ya were alone and unknowin’, we woulda helped ya.
” Seeing Silas’s disbelieving, incredulous look, Craeg assured, “We really would have.” Then he sighed and admitted, “Although without the link between us, ya woulda been assigned a mentor to teach ya how to navigate the world instead of me bein’ so.
..hands on.” Craeg needed to be completely truthful.
“It woulda been for not only your own good, but the good of all paranormal kind.”
Silas nodded slowly, his gaze sweeping the room as he obviously processed that. “So, to keep the secret of paranormals safe.” His voice was soft and quiet as he stated, “That anonymity thing you all talked about.”
“Aye.” Craeg couldn’t lie to his mate.
Peering up at him with wide brown eyes, Silas asked, “What if I wanted to be part of your one of us for real?”
Craeg’s brain stalled, and his thoughts froze. A second later, what his mate was asking slammed into him. Silas wanted to be claimed. Craeg met Silas’s gaze, seeing nothing but warmth and interest within his brown eyes.
“A-Are ya serious?” Craeg asked, barely keeping his voice steady as he spoke the words. “Ya want me ta claim ya?”
Craeg could barely get the words past his suddenly too-dry throat as he verbalized his understanding.
Gods, please let me be right.
Silas smiled at him, his brown eyes warm and even filled with a little hunger.
Gods, so fuckin’ sexy.
“Yes, please,” Silas whispered.
The huskiness in Silas’s tone yanked Craeg out of his thoughts and back into the room...with his mate.
Where it should be.
As Craeg slid his hand down Silas’s shoulder, along his arm, and over his hip, he rumbled, “Nothin’ would please me more than to claim ya, my sweets.
” He squeezed his sexy bat shifter’s thin hip, reminding him, “But I’ve seen the way you’ve looked at my cock.
I’ve seen the trepidation in your eyes.” As much as Craeg didn’t like it, he had to point out the elephant between them.
“I know ya have...reservations about anal sex...about tryin’ to take my dick. ”
“True,” Silas whispered, giving him the truth and not denying his concerns. While his smile was just a little tremulous, he still managed, “But Solomon told me that—”
When Silas hesitated, Craeg squeezed his hip while crooning, “Told ya what?” He then bussed a kiss to his temple and reminded, “Anythin’.”
Even as Silas cleared his throat, his cheeks bloomed with a rosy blush. Then his mate rushed his words so fast that Craeg almost couldn’t make them out. “Solomon told me that I was made for you and that you’d make certain it wouldn’t hurt.”
“Aye,” Craeg declared after a few seconds, finding his tongue.
“Aye, I’ll do my damnedest to make certain it doesn’t hurt.
” He barely managed to get moisture into his throat as he swallowed just thinking about bonding with his mate.
..about what he would need to do to keep that promise. “I never wanta hurt ya.”
So many ideas.
“P-Please.” Silas slowly eased forward—not pulling away but half-turning to face him while keeping them still pressed together. “I...I want—”
When he hesitated again, Craeg waited to see what his mate would say.
Holding Craeg’s gaze, Silas clearly, softly, declared, “I want to be bonded with you, Craeg.” He smiled. “You’re my mate.”
“Oh, Silas,” Craeg moaned. Never had any words been sweeter to his ears. “Me, too, Silas. Me, too.”
With Silas’s encouragement ringing in his ears, Craeg reached over and opened the top nightstand drawer. He pulled out his tube of lube. Turning back, Craeg placed it beside their hips so he could ease his mate down to lie flat beside him on the mattress.
Silas looked up at him with such trust...such anticipation...it nearly took Craeg’s breath away.
Craeg had known that Solomon and Silas had become good friends.
The big human often swung over and kept his mate company while Craeg was working in his office, following up on information Ovram sent him on not just Silas’s past, but also on Tilda and Katie.
Craeg appreciated that Silas had made such a good friend in the patient, friendly human.
And I’m gonna have to send him a gift basket for his aid in this...maybe filled with flavored lubes and edible sex toys and treats.
Pushing that thought aside, Craeg focused on the business at hand—distracting Silas with pleasure while he opened him up.
Having learned over the last few days what drove Silas wild during a blowjob, Craeg put that knowledge to good use.
He slid his fingers under his mate’s tank top, then lightly scraped his fingernails down his abdominals.
The shiver his mate offered caused Craeg to grin.
Then he gripped the hem and helped his sexy lover out of the fabric.
Craeg made quick work of not only Silas’s shorts, but his own.
He rested beside his slender young mate and blew a wave of hot breath over his man’s straining erection, enjoying the way it twitched, betraying Silas’s eagerness.
When Craeg leaned forward and swiped the flat of his tongue slowly up the length from base to tip, he was rewarded with a bead of pre-cum oozing from the slit.
“You’re so fuckin’ sexy, my mate,” Craeg crooned as he rubbed his bearded cheek against Silas’s shaft, knowing how sensitive his lover was, how much he enjoyed the sensations. “Love how ya respond to me.”
Then Craeg wrapped his lips around Silas’s crown again and sank deep, taking his shaft to the root.
To Craeg’s delight, Silas cried out his name and buried his hands in his hair.
His mate always held onto him while he sucked him, and Craeg used the tightness of the hold to gauge his lover’s enjoyment.
The first couple of times Silas had gripped his locks and tugged so hard it actually hurt, Craeg had been worried his mate had been trying to pull him off.
Then he’d realized it was a perfect barometer for how much he was driving his little lover out of his mind.
And I sure as hell will never tell him of the bit of pain, because then I know he would try to censor himself.
Craeg never wanted that to happen.
Using his left hand, Craeg continued to rub Silas’s torso, teasing and scratching lightly.
His mate loved the stimulation on his skin, telling him how touch-starved he’d become after so many years living as a bat.
He’d also learned that Silas loved it far more than nipple play, as his mate’s buds weren’t exceptionally sensitive.