Chapter Seventeen
Riglan
I’d snapped awake in the middle of the night, sure of two things. Malone was my mate, and he was in danger. My ferret skittered around inside me, demanding we get to him right away.
I wanted to take him down to my lair, to make love to him in that place where sound did not enter or leave, where I did my work and spent nearly all my nights. Where I would feel like he was most safe.
But that wasn’t a good idea or a fair one.
For one thing, I had no bed down there. Padded walls, huge curved monitors.
Tall black desks. The whir of machines a counterpoint to any other sounds.
But not one comfortable flat surface to make love on.
The couch was fine for me to nap on, but not comfortable for the two of us, I didn’t think.
When I was at his place, while he packed, I’d looked all around for signs of…
well, I didn’t know what. Certainly there had been no breaking and entering.
Not unless the burglar had been very tidy, and stolen nothing that Malone could identify.
He’d been very clear that he had a decent job that covered his expenses, but he certainly didn’t have any kind of valuables.
He was valuable. The most valuable person in my world.
Fate certainly had an odd sense of humor to set us up this way, out of the blue.
Not that Fate was the stalker. I couldn’t believe that.
Although the idea did have a certain appeal, since it would mean that now that we were together, it would all end.
But no.
I would protect my mate with my life. I’d already decided to help him, but this lent fresh impetus to the desire to do that. Nobody was going to get past me to harm my mate. They’d have to kill me first.
Until tonight, to our knowledge, the stalker had never attempted to contact Malone in person, but he’d crossed that line now. And it would have to stop. Malone was here, with me, but he couldn’t hide forever.
My ferret wanted to go hunt him down, and I agreed. But we didn’t know where to begin to look.
“Alpha?”
I pulled myself out of my head and my frustration to find my omega watching me. We might not have a lot of time, and I wasn’t willing to waste it by letting that asshole live rent-free in my head too. I was about to evict him from Malone’s with a swift kick to his stalker ass.
“Omega.” I held out my arms to him. “Come here, to me.”
He melted into me, his heat and unique scent curling around me, his tented pants leaving no doubt of his interest.
Unable to wait any longer, I scooped him up and carried him up the stairs.
Ferrets and ferret shifters were generally on the slight side, but my line had more heft than most. And I was glad because it made it possible for me to do this, to follow the steps up, cradling my mate against me and whispering of all the naughty things I wanted to do to him.
He moaned, nuzzling my throat and wriggling until I let him slide down my body to stand on his own feet. Then he pushed free and began to undress.
“I’ve seen you without any clothes,” he said. “I hope you like how I look.”
Like? My mouth watered as he revealed his skin, smooth with only a smattering of hair. I tore my own clothes off, desperate to get skin to skin with him. No sooner did I step out of my boxers than he flung himself at me, wrapping arms and legs around me, spattering my face with kisses.
“Take me, alpha, please. I want you.”
This time, I didn’t try to explain because I already had, and I wanted him more than anyone or anything ever in life.
He was my mate. My ferret knew it from the beginning, and now, so did I.
I cupped his chin and kissed him, deeply, urging his lips apart with the tip of my tongue.
Turning, I felt for the bed with the back of my thighs, easing down to sit and positioning him on my lap.
My cock nestled between his ass cheeks, glided through slick, and prodded his tight hole.
I wanted to take him fast, make him mine, but also make it last. Tingles ran up my spine and my groin tightened.
“Omega, grab your cock and show me how you like it touched,” I ground out against his lips. “And hurry because I can’t wait.”
“How can you see, between us like that?”
Grasping his right hand, I brought it where I wanted it. “Do it. I’ll be able to feel it.”
“Okay.” His fingers curved under mine. “But I can’t wait either.
” Lifting his hips, he let his body drop to be speared by my cock.
I growled, grumbled, and made noises I couldn’t describe, freeing my fingers from his to clamp both hands on his hips.
As his hand jerked between us, I picked up his rhythm, moving faster and faster as he did.
He was tighter than I’d expected, if I had expected anything at all.
But he showed no signs of my hurting him.
Just whimpers and urgent pleas for “more” and “faster,” that went straight to my head.
He flung his head back and howled. A noise more wolflike than human as he spurted his cum onto our bodies.
Standing, I turned around and laid him on the edge of the bed, driving deeper and faster, my heart rate climbing until I couldn’t even think straight, if I had been at all. I emptied my balls into my omega with a grunt and lay over him, braced on forearms, knot swelling in his hot, tight hole.
While we were bound together, I dipped my head and sank my fangs into his skin, piercing his throat and filling my mouth with hot, sweet blood.
He called out, gripped my head, and tried to keep me there, but I couldn’t without causing harm.
Easing back, I licked the wound closed and gazed down at my mate.
Marked. Mine. A lonely hacker like me had been granted this incredible male as my partner in life and beyond.
Gratitude swelled my throat nearly closed as I rolled to the side, bringing him with me.
We woke again and again to make love, napping past sunrise and into the new day. Only dehydration drove me to the kitchen for water before grasping him close again.