Chapter Seven
Dustin
Don’t Leave Me
Dustin didn’t know why Notalus was staring at him as if he had some juicy gossip he was dying to spill.
A thin, almost unnoticeable hint of a smile curved his full lips as he continued to gaze at the picture of him with the world’s rarest orchid.
One that was believed to be extinct, but not if Dustin had anything to do with it.
Notalus abandoned the photo and continued around the circumference of the cabin, and Dustin began to feel a bit self-conscious at the meager possessions in his home, but he was never a man that cared much for material things.
Fancy furnishings and high-tech gadgets were a waste of money and time to him.
The best place to be was outside in nature, not cooped up in the house with a gadget in his hand, staring at a screen for hours.
Dustin wondered what kind of home Notalus lived in.
He bet it was a far cry bigger than this place.
Did Notalus even reside here in this country, on this earth?
He came down from the sky, erupting through the clouds as if he owned them.
Did he live in heaven? Dustin rolled his eyes.
Of course not. That’s stupid. But he had to come from somewhere up there.
Dustin was done lying down like an invalid and appearing weak in front of a titan. He used every bit of strength he had to get himself upright to a seated position, but not without some considerable moans and grunts of agony.
“I think it’s time for me to shift for a few hours. I can heal faster if I do and maybe cut down on how long I’ll have to deal with this. There’s a lot of work to do and cleanup after the storm. I can’t just sit here.”
“That’s what your help is for, but clearly, they’re not as dedicated as you,” Notalus gritted out. “I have tended to your fields already, Dustin. They should be fine at dawn’s first light.”
Dustin couldn’t believe Notalus had done it again.
He’d saved their crops and prevented the pack from suffering through a very scarce winter.
But Dustin didn’t want Notalus as his savior.
He wanted him to be much, much more than that.
He needed to show that he had something to contribute to Notalus, but even getting to a standing position was proving harder and more embarrassing than he thought.
“Let me help you.” Notalus came to his side and sat on the couch beside him, the worn piece of furniture groaning and dropping dramatically from their combined sizes.
Dustin shook his head, but he didn’t remove Notalus’ palm, where it rested on his shoulder.
“You have done more than enough. I can tend to myself.” Dustin didn’t want to only be on the receiving end of their budding companionship or whatever they were developing at the moment.
There was so much more to him than just being needy.
“Don’t be stubborn, wolf. I am not only doing it for you because you’re hurting, but I am also doing it for me as well because it is affecting me to see you in such discomfort.”
Dustin gazed into Notalus’ sincere eyes, realizing how close they were, their thighs pressed together.
And despite how bad it hurt to move in any direction, Dustin wanted to lean in and close the short distance between their mouths.
What would Notalus’ full, infinitely tempting lips feel like pressed against his own chapped ones?
Dustin almost groaned out loud when his dick jerked and inched further down his pants leg.
And as if he knew just what Dustin was thinking, Notalus cupped his cheek and eased toward him until their foreheads were touching. Please kiss me. Kiss me, Dustin hollered in his mind, his animal agreeing and wanting some of Notalus for himself.
There was a bronze light in Notalus’ green eyes, something more promising than mere words could describe as he helped Dustin to lie back. “Close your eyes.”
But I want to keep looking at you. Dustin did as he was told, his body trembling with anticipation as Notalus drew nearer until they were chest to chest. Notalus’ warm breath caressed his cheek before his strong, masculine voice was in his ear.
“Keep them closed.”
“What are you going to do?” Dustin whispered, turning his head toward Notalus’ breath, blindly seeking him out and needing to somehow get closer.
“I’m going to pray to the goddess of healing that once lived near my land.
She was cast from her home for attacking a dryad and sought sanctuary in Fhomhair for many years.
She will send her light through me if she accepts my praise.
It will mend your broken bones and eliminate your pain.
” Notalus’ mouth tightened when he added, “What I assumed your own healers would do for you.”
Dustin blinked. Did he think shifters were magical?
If they hurt themselves, they had to recover from it like everyone else.
While it took them far less time to do it, time to heal was still necessary.
Before Dustin could defend Ms. Zhang and Lenora, Notalus began to faintly whisper words near his temple that he couldn’t make out.
Dustin thought maybe he was speaking another language, an ancient one that only a deity would hear because it sounded rare and wistful.
Notalus’ chant-like praise grew bolder, and his hands began to shimmer a brilliant white gold where they touched him on his back and thigh.
The light grew bolder, warmer, while Notalus ran his hands over Dustin’s body, muttering over and over, “Praise you, dear goddess, for your compassion and light. Praise you, Vanir.”
Unable to hold it in another second, Dustin released a satisfied moan, his limbs feeling heavy and his body melting into the couch cushions with Notalus leaning over him. He craved the feeling of his body against Notalus’, delighting in the intensity of the goodness coursing through him.
“Yes,” Dustin exhaled. The room seemed to spin as the most incredible pleasure imaginable overcame him.
He’d never had a need for westernized pain medicine, but he assumed this was what a double dose of morphine felt like.
He unconsciously lifted his arms and wrapped them around Notalus’ waist, holding him too tight for him to get away.
He was so drunk on pleasure that his tongue felt thick in his mouth. “You feel s’good.”
“Such a handsome mortal. What in the heavens shall I do with you?” Notalus touched his lips to Dustin’s forehead. “I swore to never take another human lover. The pain of the loss is too unbearable, in which it would take years to recover. But you, my dear mortal, are not so human after all.”
Dustin’s eyes remained closed, basking in the euphoria and Notalus’ words. It sounded as if he wanted Dustin to be his lover, maybe even more, but he thought him too weak, too vulnerable, and looking at his predicament right now, he understood the concern.
Dustin decided to confess something about himself to Notalus that he’d never told anyone.
It was a secret he kept so that he’d be able to live within a pack in peace.
“I am not only human. I’m a wolf… an alpha with the strength of a Zenith.
If I wasn’t one… I would’ve been dead from that storm long before I could call out to you, Notalus.
I may be part human, but I am far from fragile.
” I would make a good mate for you. I know I would.
“An alpha of a very coveted tribe.” Notalus hummed with admiration gracing his tone.
He didn’t stop touching Dustin everywhere until the light in his hands slowly dimmed.
“It’s why you isolate yourself back here all alone, isn’t it?
So the Volkovs don’t feel threatened with another such powerful alpha within their pack. ”
Dustin felt ninety percent better, and the excruciating pain in his lower back was all but gone.
Dustin opened his eyes, and by god, there he was, only inches away.
They gazed on each for a long, pregnant moment before determination settled over Notalus’ face, and he closed the distance between them.
“Mmm.” Dustin would’ve been embarrassed by how loud he groaned, but it felt too damn good. He wanted the man in his arms with frightening desperation as his heart rate shot to the roof.
Notalus kissed him harder, slanting his head and licking his tongue against Dustin’s bottom lip as if asking for permission to go deeper.
It’d been so long since Dustin had done this he forgot he had to participate in the kiss as well.
He returned a slow, saturated kiss with every ounce of longing he had in his body.
Dustin didn’t know how long they’d been at it before they finally stopped, but by the time they did, he was hard, an aching in his overalls, his cock stretching down the inside of his thigh.
He tried to discreetly shove it down, but the bulge was far too noticeable, and just like any time a love interest felt his cock, the embarrassment was soon to follow.
It was why it’d been almost five years since he’d had a man in his arms, and even then, that was so short-lived he barely remembered it.
Sex for him had been even longer. If his partner for the night was feeling generous, maybe they’d suck him off, but even that was oftentimes demeaning and out of pity.
Notalus was breathing heavily, and Dustin was glad that he wasn’t the only one so affected by their kiss.
The heat surrounding them intensified as a gust of wind blew the door open hard to slam against the wall.
They panted into each other’s mouths as wind whipped around them like an erotic cyclone, intensifying their contact.
“You have no idea just how special you are, do you?” Notalus stared at Dustin the same way that all of the shifters stared Orion, the fairy omega that was Taleb’s mate.
No one had seen one in centuries, with them being all but extinct.
Notalus touched his cheek and worshipped him as if he was the lord of an element and not the other way around.
“I’m no one. Just a man who loves being outdoors with his hands in the dirt rather than around a bunch of people talking and doing nothing productive.”
Notalus smirked that knowing grin again. “Come outside, handsome. Let me show you your fields so that you can be at ease.”
Dustin nodded and got to his feet with little assistance or discomfort, save for the hard cock in his pants. He was glad his coveralls were so large, or else he’d have to excuse himself for a moment.
“Do you feel better?” Notalus asked.
Dustin was wowed that the titan stood only a few inches over Dustin’s six foot five, which was something he wasn’t used to, but Notalus was too gorgeous to worry about who was bigger.
“I feel amazing… alive.” Dustin went to the one dresser in the area designated as his bedroom and removed some fresh clothing and underwear. He told Notalus he’d just be a minute before he slipped inside his bathroom to wash off the crud and gunk he’d been lying in.