Chapter 20
GUNNAR
It took me two days to feel comfortable enough to leave the twins with Lonnie and Amber. Two long, blissful days of sleeping when they slept and grabbing a shower and some food whenever Sebastian insisted.
I needed to stretch my legs. It was time.
Sergei and his wife Tasha, the nurse who had assisted with my labor, offered to show us around their territory, and I accepted. Sebastian seemed desperate to please me, even though he did not want to leave his friends.
"We're fine," Amber insisted. She still looked pale.
From the odds Sergei had offered on someone surviving both the wolf virus and radiation sickness, she and Lonnie were lucky.
Even more miraculous: Sebastian's friends were now an item.
They'd succumbed to their mutual pining after they'd wolfed out together.
Amber's first heat wouldn't be for a few weeks yet, but that gave them time to form a tighter bond.
"Go," Lonnie said. "Even Tasha approved." She had already transformed into a wolf and now prodded the backs of Sergei's human knees with her nose.
"All right, all right. We're going." Sergei removed his lab coat, flashing us before he stepped into the hallway to complete his transformation.
I stifled a chuckle. To hide our nakedness, we, too, wore borrowed white coats with Paskal Industries logos. The Ukrainian wolves prowled the halls either naked or in wolf form, so the only people we protected were their guests, though I doubted Bettina and her grandfather cared.
Amber and Lonnie had probably seen Sebastian naked a million times, but they were still getting used to their own wolfish nature.
For that reason, we waited to shift until we had both kissed our babies' foreheads and left them in our friends' care.
The metal door clicked shut behind us, and we hung the lab coats on hooks by the outside door for our return before we shifted.
Sergei placed his paw on a blue floor tile in front of the door, and it opened. As I walked over it, I placed my foot on the universal symbol for wheelchair, too. It sank beneath my weight. My wolf brain wanted to keep playing with it, but the woods' deep scent was stronger.
Every few hundred feet, Tasha stopped to mark the edges of their territory. Not all wolves in the restricted zone were shifters, and this told the real wolves to keep their distance.
After the first mile, Sergei cut inland onto a game trail.
I smelled it, too, the unmistakable musk of deer.
The doe charged ahead of us but circled back when her fawn couldn't keep up.
I ran up on the scene a little too fast, and Sergei wheeled on me, sending me skidding across the forest floor on my butt.
Sebastian gnashed his teeth at the other wolf, but I shoved him aside, nodding my thanks. I had been a split-second from attacking the still-nursing doe. Now, she would live to raise her fawn.
Sebastian growled low in his throat, but we followed Sergei through the woods.
At the edge of a clearing, we stopped and stared while Sergei slipped through the opening in a chain-link fence.
Inside, a row of abandoned houses nestled with their backs to us, vacant windows staring like eyes.
It was a settlement, a village, maybe even a town.
I'd never seen anything like it. Children's toys sank into the grass.
A lawnmower handle stuck out of a sea of green.
A swing set arm had rusted through, dropping half of it to the earth.
One swing lay on the ground while the other flapped in the wind.
We followed Sergei through the fence. After passing several homes with broken windows, he led us to one with a loose board over a back patio door.
In the dim dining room, Sergei shifted back to human.
It was still weird to see our new friends completely naked all the time, but it no longer made me blush.
"The rooms upstairs are clean," he said. "We use them for privacy during the full moon. Toss the sheets in the hamper when you're done."
Sebastian and I shifted, too. The linoleum was cool beneath my feet.
"Do you have clean sheets somewhere?" I asked. "We can get it ready for next time."
Sergei shook his head. "They're back at base. It's fine. Take your time. Tasha and I will be across the street when you're done."
He walked through the house as though he'd done so a million times, and then we were alone.
A lone cuckoo sounded outside, the first return of birdsong now that we were out of sight.
As we walked upstairs, the cacophony grew louder.
This was nothing like the nuclear winter scientists had threatened after the meltdown.
Sebastian's muscular ass filled my field of vision as I followed him up the carpeted stairs, and all thoughts of nuclear disasters faded into the background.
I hadn't been alone with my mate since the ski resort.
While it had only been four months, it seemed like an entire lifetime. We'd been young and carefree, then.
We were still young, and horny, but now we had two little lives depending on us for food, shelter, and love.
A year ago, I would have said I wasn't ready for any of this: no mate, no children, and no globetrotting billionaire lifestyle.
Nor would I have believed anyone who told me this was my destiny.
My fated mate was Sebastian Paska, a man I'd hated since I first read about him in a news magazine.
Not only did we launch into space together, but we'd shifted into wolves together, and now we had twins, together.
I still hadn't wrapped my mind around the biology, even after listening to every scientific explanation Bunting and his research assistants had discussed right in front of me.
I'd killed them all without a thought. They threatened Sebastian and our babies. They deserved a fate worse than the one I gave them.
On the upstairs landing, we had our pick of three open bedrooms. Sebastian chose the one on the right, and I followed him inside. When he turned to me, the smoldering heat in his gaze stopped me in my tracks.
"Your thoughts are loud," he said. "It's a huge turn-on."
"What is?"
"You killed them. For us. For me."
"I'd do it again."
He pulled me close, and I braced my hands on his chest, desperate to go slow. After so many months of yearning for him, I worried we would finish too soon.
"We'll take our time," Sebastian promised before kissing the corner of my mouth. He nibbled across my lips, tasting and teasing. Finally, he slipped his tongue out, and I opened with a whimper.
I tangled my fingers in his hair as he lifted me onto the bed. The comforter smelled a little musty beneath the fabric softener, but when Sebastian fell on top of me, all I could smell was him.
My mate smelled like home, even here in this foreign place. I'd never really had a home, but he was it for me.
Our tongues tangled as I became reacquainted with Sebastian's body. Every hitch of breath told me he still wanted me. Every moan into my mouth said he needed this as much as I did.
He stayed calm, while I grew more impatient. I shoved him over onto his back and straddled him, my hole already leaking the slick stuff that made sex with him so wonderful. Except this time, I wanted to be on top.
"Let me fuck you."
"Any time," he said. "Always." He chuckled. "Until we discover how fertile you are—"
"Maybe I can get you pregnant, instead."
His eyes widened, and then a burst of laughter as bright as sunshine filled the room. "Yeah. Maybe. It's my turn, I suppose."
He didn't even flinch at the ridiculous notion, though Bunting and his lab assistants had confirmed he had no womb. "You really wouldn't care?"
He shook his head. "I always wanted a big family. I'm glad Blossom and Chandra have each other, but I wouldn't be opposed to more. If you want." He cleared his throat. "That wasn't the question you asked. I would happily carry your pups, if I could."
"I missed you." I dove down, hiding my face in his neck, leaving a line of kisses from his collarbone to the soft spot behind his ear. When I bit down on his earlobe, he moaned.
"Missed you, too. Seeing you through the glass wasn't enough.
" He crushed me to his chest, and I choked back a sob as I collapsed on top of him.
Through our wolf bond, I felt his overwhelming love for me.
It was far more than I deserved, especially since I'd started out hating him and everything he stood for as head of the entertainment division of his father's company.
He was so much more than that. Yes, he was a billionaire, maybe even more now that his dad was gone.
He had a conscience, which made him the opposite of his dad.
He cared about his customers more than the bottom line.
He put people, such as Lonnie and Amber, over profits.
And he loved me the most, even after I killed his dad to keep our family safe.
He flexed his hips, dragging precome along the crease of my hip until his cock wedged between our bodies. "Need you inside me, babe."
I reached behind me, gathering up the slick dribbling from my hole as I craned up on my knees. He lay beneath me, eyes half-lidded, lips upturned.
How had I nabbed one of the world's most eligible bachelors? Without our wolf connection, I would have doubted his sincerity. Sebastian Paska was a purported playboy, after all, but now, he was all mine.
I circled slick around his hole before sinking inside.
He relaxed for me, riding my fingers until I pressed against his prostate.
He arched his neck and keened, and I lowered onto his chest to swallow the sound with a kiss.
His desire was so fucking beautiful. Thanks to our bond, I knew it was real, and that made it addicting.
I worked him open while we kissed. Once three fingers glided in and out, I turned my attention to my cock, slathering it with the excess still dribbling from my ass. I wrapped my fingers around my cock and thrust, showing him how much I wanted him, too.
With a grunt, he lifted his legs up and to the sides, giving me the perfect view of his loosened pucker. I guided my cock until it brushed against him, and he shivered.
"That's it, baby," he said. "Fuck me."
With gravity's help, he enveloped me with his warmth.
My balls slapped against his ass when I bottomed out, and he pulled me down, cradling me against his chest while his body attuned to the intrusion.
His muscles clenched around me, and I saw stars.
Already, I was close, but it was too soon. I wanted this moment to last forever.
Sebastian kissed my temple. "I need you to move," he whispered. "Want to feel it before I explode."
"I can't—"
"Yes, you can."
Belief pulsed between us through our bond. If he trusted my stamina, I could at least try. Sebastian didn't trust easily, so it was my duty to prove my worthiness.
I hiked his knees higher and used them for leverage as I drew back, almost leaving his body before slamming back inside. He gasped for breath as I raised up again. Our bodies slapped together, our sweat mingling as I fucked my alpha mate.
He took it like a champ, arching his back with each thrust, impaling himself further on my flesh until I couldn't tell where I ended and he began.
Our wolf bond stretched, jumbling our thoughts together into one giant ball of, "More." "Yes." "There." "Close, so close." "Fuck that feels good."
"I'm coming," we said at the same time. Sebastian's cock spurted between us, and mine answered inside him. His channel squeezed in time with his spurts, milking my release. When it felt like I had poured my entire life's essence into him, I collapsed onto his chest.
"I love you so much," he whispered in my ear.
"Love you, too." The words seemed trite after feeling his emotions through our bond. They would never be enough to express how much I would cherish the rest of my days with this man, my mate, the other half of my soul.
Sebastian hissed, and I felt his physical discomfort in my own softening dick. "Fucking knot," he whined.
I'd been waiting for this. I wriggled down his body, leaving a trail of wet kisses along his sternum and abs, loving the taste of his cum mixed with our sweat.
Dipping my tongue into his belly button, I licked it clean before following the thin line of downy hair to his soft pubes and still hard cock.
His knot throbbed when I wrapped the fingers of both hands around it and squeezed.
"Stop teasing," he groaned.
"I'm measuring." I couldn't fit his girth in my human mouth, but I had more room as a wolf, and I'd been practicing the partial shift so the girls wouldn't fear my wolf form. Now, I pushed my wolf's face to the surface, my snout growing to fit Sebastian's knot.
I licked the head of his cock, and he shivered. When I closed my mouth around his flesh, careful of my teeth, he moaned so prettily. I responded with a growl, and he shook beneath me.
"Fuck, Gunnar, you're going to make me come again, if you keep doing that."
I growled in response, hoping it sounded enthusiastic instead of threatening. Carefully, he fucked into my mouth, and I tightened my grip on his hips to prevent him from cutting himself on my sharp teeth.
He wrapped his legs around my shoulders and howled my name as he came again, his eyes glowing and arms bristling with hair as he shot his load down my throat. His wolf and human forms fought for dominance as he came undone. He was so gorgeous like that, my primal, feral mate.
"That was so fucking hot," he said between pants. "New secret level unlocked. Partially shifted orgasms."
At one time, the way he thought of it as a game would have pissed me off. Now, it was endearing.
"I'm gonna rim you with my wolf tongue," he said. "Make you come so hard you rupture your spleen. You'll have to shift to stop the internal bleeding."
"How romantic." He was so fucking ridiculous.
I ghosted my fingers across his ribs, and he guffawed from the first ticklish shock.
He squirmed and shook, and I held on, tickling him until we both collapsed in a tangled heap of limbs and breathless laughter.
Sebastian Paska was a giant nerd, a ticklish one at that, and he was all mine.