The Love of a Mate Read online

  Alfred’s shovel cut deep into the earth. He wasn’t sure who he was imagining tossing into the hole after he’d dug it so deep that they’d never be able to clamber up the steep sides, but he had the horrible feeling that, whatever he did, the only wolf who would end up at the bottom of it was him.

  Hands that weren’t used to being put to work with enthusiasm or for more than a few minutes at a time protested at the sudden onslaught against his palms, but Alfred wasn’t in the mood to listen to them. There wasn’t enough work in the world to allow him to vent all his anger right then.

  * * * *

  If he’d had the energy, Alfred would have sighed. Of all the times for him to actually be proved right about something, it had to be today, it had to be about this. Just as he’d suspected, there was no less fury burning through his veins as he slowly made his way back into the pack’s old farmhouse that evening. The work hadn’t eased his desire to lash out at the whole world one little bit, it had just added a hell of a lot of pain into the mix of feelings swirling through him.

  His whole body ached. His feet were too heavy to lift off the ground. His steps were more a shuffle than a stride as he crossed the courtyard. His hands burned where the handle of the shovel had bitten back in revenge for the rough treatment Alfred had levelled upon both it and the ground that day.

  Apparently, whoever said hard work never killed anyone was right—apparently, it just made you wish you were dead.

  “You’re back!”

  “No shit, Sherlock,” Alfred muttered, not even bothering to look over his shoulder as he made his way across the kitchen to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of cold milk. His hand screamed in protest as he tore the top off it, but the cool liquid soothed his dusty throat as he drank down big mouthfuls. It let him hope that his next words wouldn’t sound so much like a death rattle.

  Apparently as oblivious towards polite hints to piss off as his older brother had ever been, Caden joined him by the fridge. Turning pointedly away from him, Alfred left the half-empty bottle of milk on the counter and attempted a painful retreat towards the living room.

  “I heard that you’ve made much more progress on the river works than Gunnar thought you would,” Caden said, as if it was the most wonderful news he had ever heard in his life. “You guys are almost a day ahead now!”

  “Yay,” Alfred muttered. Another feather in Gunnar’s cap. Bully for him. The idea of needing to go back out there and do another day of the same was almost enough to make him want to cry.

  Without any warning, Caden reached up and stroked his fingers through his dusty hair.

  Alfred waited impatiently for his own arm to swing up and push the other man’s hand aside in annoyance, but somehow it stayed by his side. The energy for that kind of reaction simply wasn’t there. He had little choice but to let the other gamma fuss over him and pet him any way he chose.

  “You must be so sore after working hard all day,” Caden cooed.

  Alfred shrugged, and tried not to flinch as his shoulders promptly reminded him why a noncommittal noise would have been a much better option.

  “Let me make you feel better?” Caden requested, his voice dropping into an intimate, flirtatious tone.

  “And how do you intend to do that?” Alfred snapped.

  He was pretty sure the only thing that was going to make him feel any less like he’d been run over was a whole body transplant, and while there were a hell of a lot of things he’d have been happy to do with Caden’s body, complicated medical procedures weren’t at the top of his list.

  A smooth palm slid against Alfred’s sore hand. Caden stepped back and tugged gently at his arm, encouraging Alfred to follow him up the stairs. Too curious to protest, too knackered to resist, Alfred let the pretty blond have his way, just this once.

  He had no idea how he actually convinced his legs to carry him up the stairs, but within a few minutes he was standing in Caden’s bedroom, facing the other wolf.

  “Take off your clothes and jump in the shower,” the other gamma ordered, with an enticing little smile. “When you’re done, make yourself comfortable on the bed.”

  There was only one part of his body Alfred hadn’t worked to exhaustion that day. Within a fraction of a second, his cock was hard and making an obvious outline in his jeans. Alfred automatically ran his gaze over the other wolf’s frame. Perhaps there was a way Caden could make him feel better after all…

  Peeling off his clothes, Alfred dropped them carelessly on the floor just outside the bathroom door. Stepping under the spray he quickly rinsed the worst of the earth and grit off his body.

  His hands burned under the warm water. The soap ignited a full-blown blaze all along his palms. Alfred winced as he glared at the broken skin, but he didn’t have time to worry about that. Did a little bit of pain really matter when Caden was waiting out there, ready and willing to make him all better?

  Roughly towelling his skin dry, Alfred discarded the damp fabric on the floor and quickly made his way back into the bedroom. Halfway across the threshold, with one foot on the bedroom carpet and the other still lingering on the cold bathroom tiles, he came to an abrupt halt.

  The curtains were closed. Tiny candles flickered on the bedside tables and along the top of the dresser. Alfred gazed at it all with something akin to horror, but as Caden stopped rooting around in a drawer on the far side of the room and glanced towards him, Alfred couldn’t actually think of anything sarcastic to say.

  “Jump on the bed and make yourself comfortable,” Caden invited, that same smile still dancing around his lips.

  He hadn’t wasted all his time alone on silly romanticism. He’d also stripped off. Caden was bare-arse naked and, for once, Alfred found himself more than willing to do as another wolf commanded.

  Shuffling towards the middle of the bed, he leant back against the headboard to watch as Caden finally rose to his feet and turned towards him. For a second Alfred’s hand twitched, but he resisted the sudden wave of shyness and didn’t rush to cover his erection with his hands.

  Caden was stunning. Candle light danced over his skin, highlighting lines of lean muscle. It took Alfred a few seconds to realise the other wolf’s lips were moving and words were coming out of his mouth. He only caught the tail end of the other man’s sentence.

  “…just roll over onto your stomach, and I’ll get started.”

  Alfred frowned. “What?”

  Caden held up a bottle of something. It didn’t look like any brand of lube Alfred had ever set eyes on.

  “Your massage,” Caden reminded him.

  Alfred looked from the other wolf’s face to the bottle of oil and back again. He was serious. He was bloody serious! He’d actually invited him up there for a damn massage.

  Turning hurriedly away, Alfred swung his legs over the side of the bed. He looked wildly around the room, but he couldn’t remember where he’d tossed his clothes. Despite his humiliation, his cock wasn’t the least bit daunted. His erection continued to flourish regardless. A drop of pre-cum slowly slid down his shaft as he leant forward and looked around the corner of the bed.

  There! Finally, Alfred spotted his clothes. He pushed himself forward, but a strong hand landed on his shoulder and stopped him short before he could even stand up.

  “If we try to do anything more than that straight away, it’ll just hurt. You’ve had a hard day. Let me help you relax first?” Caden asked.

  Alfred hesitated. “First?” he asked, suspiciously.

  Caden smiled. Leaning forward, he brushed their lips together. “Massage first. Then…”

  Completely thrown off balance, Alfred didn’t have it in him to fight against the suggestion, or to demand that Caden specify exactly what he was promising in return for his cooperation.

  Alfred gave a mental shrug. He was tired. Just lying there and having Caden rub him all over didn’t sound like too bad an idea, especially not when it seemed likely to at least end with some sort of orgasm.

  Squirming
around, he lay down on his stomach, keeping his legs pointedly together, just in case Caden hadn’t realised who was going to be topping whom afterwards. It was damn near impossible for him to find a position where his cock wasn’t trying to drill a hole in the mattress underneath him.

  The blankets moved slightly beneath him as Caden rearranged himself behind Alfred. Holding his breath, he waited impatiently for the other guy to get on with it so they could move on to more interesting business.

  “I’ve wanted to get my hands on you ever since I first set eyes on you,” Caden whispered, as he finally placed warm, oiled palms on Alfred’s shoulders.

  Unsure what to say, Alfred made a non-committal sound in the back of his throat. There was no way in hell he was going to admit he’d wanted to screw Caden for just as long.

  “You carry so much tension in the muscles,” Caden murmured.

  Alfred only just resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. The guy was on about his bloody massages again. If the other man’s hands hadn’t felt quite so amazing, as they quickly found the first of a great many sore spots across Alfred’s shoulders, he was quite sure he’d have shaken the other gamma off, pulled himself off the bed and stormed out of the room.

  As it was, Alfred was quite prepared to put off his grand exit until after the other man had finished what he was doing, and until after Caden had let him screw him. Hell, he was pretty sure he could even put it off until after they’d both had a nice little nap, too. Even as the thought made its way sluggishly through his brain, Alfred’s eyes slowly drifted closed.

  So much tension…

  Caden worked his fingers carefully into the muscles along Alfred’s shoulders again and again, quietly cherishing each caress he was permitted to offer the other wolf. He hadn’t been lying about seeing all that stress lodged in his body. His only falsehood had been one of omission. He’d completely failed to mention how difficult it had been for him to hold back and not try to ease Alfred’s pain before.

  Caden shook his head. His lover was as hard as a rock, and not just in those places he should be while getting naked with his future mate for the first time.

  As he gradually coaxed the younger wolf to relax under his touch, Caden felt himself relax, too. The world was a better place when he was allowed to ease Alfred’s way in it. Dipping his head, he pressed a gentle kiss between the other man’s shoulder blades.

  “What’re you doing?” Alfred immediately demanded, peering over his shoulder at him.

  “I couldn’t resist,” Caden admitted softly. There was no hint of an honest apology in his words and he didn’t try to fake one. “You’re perfect.”

  Alfred tensed all over again, undoing every scrap of good Caden’s massage had done over the previous hour. He obviously thought Caden was making fun of him. Caden’s heart broke a little as he realised Alfred had good reason to feel that way.

  No doubt there had been far too few comments and compliments offered in his direction over the years—heavens knew there hadn’t been a single one Caden could remember hearing since he’d joined the pack.

  Not for the first time, Caden struggled to push down the almost overpowering urge to throttle the whole damn lot of them, and their buggered-up hierarchy, too.

  Pouring a little more oil onto his palms, Caden forced himself to relax his hands and let them glide across Alfred’s skin with faultless technique. Very slowly, taking care not to miss a single knot of muscle, he made his way down the other man’s back, across his arse and along his legs.

  So much tension, so much pain, and if only the other wolves had enough sense to really look at the man in front of them, it could all have been avoided so easily…

  A bitter taste filled the back of Caden’s mouth. He had to clear his throat before he could even attempt to speak.

  “If you’ll roll over, I’ll do your front now,” he said, very softly.

  Alfred sluggishly did as he was told. His movements were already starting to become slow and sleepy as the massage seeped into his frame and maybe even, Caden barely dared to hope, because the kind touches from another wolf were beginning to soothe his soul a little.

  Caden sat back on his heels with his hands clenched into fists at his sides as he watched the other man struggle to move a body exhausted by work far harder that it was used to doing. Alfred wasn’t ready to see any effort to help him as anything other than an accusation of weakness yet. But soon, Caden promised himself, soon Alfred wouldn’t be able to look at him and see anything other than love—Caden would see to that.

  His gaze roved over Alfred’s body, taking in every detail until, finally, they came to rest on the other wolf’s erection. The younger wolf’s cock was harder than ever, his shaft curving back towards his stomach. Unless Caden was very much mistaken, there would be a wet patch on the blanket beneath him when he rose, where his pre-cum had seeped into the fabric.

  “Let’s get one thing straight,” Alfred suddenly said, sitting up with obvious effort.

  “You prefer to top?” Caden guessed, pulling his gaze away from the other wolf’s cock with some difficulty. His mouth was watering just from the sight of it. It would be so easy to just lean over, wrap his lips around the tip and lap up another taste of him.

  “Yes,” Alfred said. “And—”

  “Good.”

  Alfred frowned. “What?”

  “I’m glad,” Caden said. “Everything always runs so much more smoothly when there’s one wolf who much prefers to top and another that much prefers to be topped.”

  Alfred blinked at Caden as if he couldn’t actually believe that any man in the world was capable of calmly stating such a preference.

  “Most of your previous lovers preferred to top too?” Caden asked as he placed a hand on Alfred’s chest and gently pushed him back until his head rested once more upon the pillow.

  Alfred shrugged.

  Caden looked up and met his eyes. “I can understand why.”

  “Tops don’t always look like Gunnar, or like Marsdon and Bennett,” Alfred snapped.

  “True—you’ve got a much better arse than any of them, for one thing,” Caden said, with a smile.

  Alfred glared at him. “Yeah, well, just you remember that you’re not going to get a piece of it and we’ll get along fine.”

  Caden murmured contentedly as he stroked his palms down the other wolf’s chest. As his hands slid over Alfred’s stomach, he shuffled backwards and nudged his lover’s thighs until he was able to kneel between the other man’s spread legs in the perfect position for stage two of his plan for the night.

  Leaning forward, he pressed a light, almost chaste, kiss to the base of Alfred’s shaft, then another slightly lower down over his ball sac.

  “But, I thought…” Alfred protested. He lifted his head. His hand left the mattress and moved halfway to Caden’s shoulder, but the other wolf seemed too relaxed, too sleepy, to even complete the gesture. He might have thought he was going to get to mate with him properly, but he didn’t seem to be in any condition to push the issue right then.

  “Let me make you feel better?” Caden asked once more.

  The simple fact that he had the sense to know Alfred would react far more kindly towards a request than an order or a demand seemed to be enough to swing the other wolf’s decision in his favour. Alfred nodded once and let his head fall back onto the deep, fluffy pillow.

  Keeping his movements slow and almost as lethargic as Alfred’s, Caden bowed his head over the other man’s cock and gently took the shaft between his lips.

  The taste of him immediately filled Caden’s mouth and there was no way he could hide his pleasure at that. He murmured around Alfred’s cock as his eyes dropped closed to better savour the taste. It was just as glorious as it had been out by the woodpile, salty and more-ish. He was already addicted.

  For several long moments Caden forgot all about his carefully laid-out plans. There wasn’t a single part of him capable of remembering the blow job was supposed to be praise for
working hard and acting like a good wolf all day. All Caden knew as he lowered his head and took more and more of Alfred’s hard shaft into his mouth was that he was going down on the wolf he loved. He didn’t need an excuse to want to do that.

  Alfred let out a little growl as he rocked his hips up, trying to get more. Caden didn’t even hesitate. It wasn’t in him to deny his future mate anything in that moment. The desire to submit sang out inside him so loudly he couldn’t even hear his pounding heartbeat past it. Pleasing his lover was the only thought inside his head.

  Suckling tenderly around him, Caden finally managed to remember he was experienced enough to have developed a bloody good technique over the years. Dipping his head over the other man’s crotch again, he took him all the way to the base and made good use of his throat as well as his mouth. Caressing the length with his tongue on each descent and lapping at the tip each time he pulled back, he began to put all his experience to good use.

  A frustrated moan escaped from the back of Alfred’s throat as Caden pushed him to the edge and held him there, but the younger wolf didn’t say anything. He didn’t try to reach out and force Caden into hurrying up, either.

  Alfred merely lay back and accepted what Caden was offering as if he instinctively understood that when someone gave another wolf permission to please him, he gave up a certain amount of control over what would happen next.

  Caden glanced up at his lover through his lashes. Alfred was relaxed back in perfect comfort, the way any dominant wolf might once he’d realised that the man who loved him would never be happier than when he was serving and servicing his mate.

  A flurry of success rushed through Caden. Somehow, most of it decided his cock was a suitable final destination. His self-control wasn’t quite sufficient to stop his hips rocking forward as he instinctively sought for something to hump against. There was nothing within reach. Caden’s frustration doubled over and over again, but he was helpless to relieve it.