CHAPTER 11 THE PRIDE CALLS #2
Hours passed. They made love again and again—sometimes slow and tender, sometimes desperate and intense. They shifted positions, tried different angles, pushed each other to the edge and pulled back, building waves of pleasure that crashed over them repeatedly.
At one point, Eli had Jace on his stomach, entering him from behind. The angle was deeper, and he set a faster pace, driven by the fear that was building underneath everything.
"I need you," Eli said, and Jace pushed back to meet him.
"You have me," Jace said breathlessly. "Always."
Eli's hands gripped Jace's hips, and he fucked him with more intensity, the fear driving him now. "Jace—" he said, and his voice broke. "Don't leave me."
"I'm not leaving you," Jace said, turning his head so he could see Eli. "My body's leaving this location. My heart stays with you."
The distinction mattered.
Eli slowed down, pulling Jace up so his back was against Eli's chest, his arms wrapped around him. He was still inside him, moving slowly now, and he turned Jace's head to kiss him.
It was tender but desperate.
"Come back to me," Eli whispered against his lips.
Jace turned more fully, and they shifted positions so he was straddling Eli again. He rode him slowly, his hands on Eli's chest, and when he leaned down to kiss him, it was like he was pouring every promise into it.
Eli's hands moved over Jace's body—his chest, his ribs, his hips—and he said his name over and over like it was an incantation.
They were building toward climax but resisting it, trying to stretch this out.
When Jace's breathing became ragged again, Eli flipped him onto his back and entered him once more, this time finding his cock with his hand.
"Come for me," Eli said. "Let me feel you come one more time before you leave."
Jace came hard, his body clenching around Eli, and Eli followed him over the edge—both of them crying out, both of them holding on.
They didn't stop moving though. Eli stayed inside him, and after a moment, his cock was hardening again.
"Again," Eli said, and Jace nodded, pulling him close.
They moved in tandem again, slower this time, building another wave. When they reached climax the second time, it was less urgent and more emotional—both of them letting tears slip down their cheeks, both of them holding on like they could keep each other through sheer force of will.
Finally, exhausted and wrung out, they collapsed together in a tangle of limbs and furs.
They stayed like that, breathing hard, neither wanting to move.
Eli pressed the words into the darkness. "I love you."
"You know I do," Jace replied. "So much it terrifies me."
They didn't sleep. They just held on as the night slowly gave way to dawn.
Morning came too quickly.
They lay together as the sun rose, and neither had slept. They'd just held on, made love multiple times throughout the night, talked about mundane things to avoid thinking about the separation.
Finally, as dawn broke, Jace had to move.
"I need to wash," he said. "I can't go back to the pride smelling like you."
The words were practical, but they felt like a betrayal to both of them.
Eli nodded stiffly and watched as Jace gathered his clothes and headed toward the stream.
When Jace returned, his hair was wet and his skin was clean—scrubbed free of Eli's scent, of the cave, of everything that marked him as bonded. He looked like himself again, but also like a stranger.
Eli was already in wolf form, pacing near the cave entrance. He shifted back to human as Jace approached.
"Five days," Eli said. It wasn't a question.
"Five days," Jace confirmed. "I'll send word every night through the bond. You'll know I'm safe."
They stood at the cave entrance, and Eli pulled Jace close one final time. He buried his face in Jace's hair—still damp, but already starting to smell like himself again instead of them.
"Come back to me," Eli said.
"Always," Jace responded. "I'll come back. I promise."
Eli released him and stepped back, and Jace shifted to cougar form.
Briefly, they just looked at each other—massive gray wolf and elegant golden cougar, two predators who shouldn't fit together but somehow did.
Then Jace turned and ran toward the western territory, toward his pride, toward the duty that called him.
Eli watched until he disappeared into the tree line, then let out a long, mournful howl that echoed through both territories.
It was a sound of loss, of longing, of a bond stretched but not broken.
And somewhere in the western territory, Jace heard it and ran faster—not away from Eli, but toward the obligation that would let him return with a clear conscience.
That night, as Eli lay alone in his cave—the furs still smelling faintly of Jace, the space feeling impossibly empty—he felt the familiar presence of their bond activate.
Jace's voice was soft and reassuring in his mind: I'm safe. The pride is preparing defenses. My mother's pleased I came back, even if I'm 'other' now. I miss you already.
Eli closed his eyes and responded through their bond: Five days. I'm counting.
Five days, Jace confirmed. And then I'm all yours.
The connection faded, but Eli fell asleep with the knowledge that Jace was alive, he was safe, and he'd promised to come back.
It was enough for now.
It had to be.