Being(s) In Love 03 - A Beginner’s Guide to Wooing Your Mate (27 page)

“I should go before your parents get here,” Zeki announced carefully. “Give you time to finish.” But he didn’t move. “They know about me already, don’t they? This town….” He glanced down. “What are you going to say? Zeki’s a human? A magic practitioner buried in student loans? I don’t know how to date. I don’t even have a real job. You’re a firefighter! You’ve fought through everything and you bake, for
free
half the time, and everyone loves you. And your magic, are they going to be upset about your magic? Because you’re so powerful, Theo, and you’d never hurt anyone. They should be proud.”

After a few moments Theo realized there was a funny expression on his face, a frozen kind of embarrassment, but with a wide smile. Zeki didn’t seem pleased by his smile, judging from how he frowned when he darted a look up.

Theo let it stay for another second, then wiped it away. He thought about what Zeki had told him about spells worked aloud, and the abracadabra. So he lowered his voice and spoke. “Zeki, come here.” They were in Theo’s kitchen, Theo’s place of power, according to Zeki. Maybe that was why Zeki immediately drifted over to him, or maybe he wanted to be with Theo anyway. Theo put his arms to the counter on either side of him, and Zeki raised his head to give him a challenging look. Theo would bet that even Zeki’s high school tormentors hadn’t been able to take that look away from him.

Theo thought of magic. “When my parents get here, I’m going to say, ‘This is Zeki. Isn’t he wonderful?’”

Zeki groaned. “Theo, you shouldn’t—”

“He’s smart and he wants to help people,” Theo continued. “He’s trying to put down roots here, and he wants to protect me. He said once that it’s hard work to protect me, but sometimes he feels born to do it.”

“I said that in bed,” Zeki protested, but it was quiet.

The weak denial made Theo feel even more powerful. He bent his head to sniff at Zeki’s hair. His scent had a zing to it Theo didn’t have words for. “I will say that he confuses me, a lot, and I can’t understand why he won’t admit what he feels.” Zeki went utterly still. Theo nosed at his hairline to let him know it was okay, really, because the next thing he said was also true. “But I can sense it in everything he does with me.”

“You can?” Zeki clutched at Theo’s T-shirt. Theo had told him once he smelled like nourishment; he wondered if Zeki was remembering that now.

For his distress, Theo licked lightly across his temple. “This is Zeki. He’s going to be my mate, probably.” When Zeki put his head back to stare at him, Theo grew even bolder and ducked in to kiss his throat. Zeki had lived in Wolf’s Paw long enough to understand the gesture. “He is my mate.”

Zeki grew more and more breathless. He brought his hands up to Theo’s back. Zeki normally took charge in moments like this, which Theo liked, but now Zeki was hesitant and looking to Theo for action. Theo thought he liked that too, at least right now. He kissed Zeki again, at his throat and then by his jaw, and then on his mouth. Zeki let him, all while murmuring, “You’d really say that? Not that I… rejected you and was too clueless to notice? That I can’t… that I can’t say you’re my…? Theo. Theo, please.” He tilted his head farther and closed his eyes.

His surrender was shocking. It also left Theo more aroused than he’d been in his life. He swallowed an urge to bite he’d never felt before and pushed Zeki’s cardigan from his shoulders. Theo’s mouth went dry. He tugged at Zeki’s shirt next, slowly exposing all the tattoos he found fascinating. They stopped without reaching Zeki’s chest, for now. The skin there was bare of anything but Theo’s hands and mouth.

Zeki’s breathing was harsh. “We can’t do this in here. This room and the two of us… the force, oh fuck it.” He pushed at his jeans in a hint for Theo, because Zeki was Zeki and had to direct
something
, and Theo huffed at him and lifted him easily to the counter. The angle was strange, and Zeki made a startled noise, but didn’t protest when Theo exhaled over his soft, sweet belly and lapped at the trail of hair leading into his jeans. He let Theo open his jeans too, and Zeki put his hands anywhere he could get resistance enough to help hold himself up. He didn’t need to, so Theo licked at him and the ticklish spots he’d learned until Zeki snorted an indignant laugh and gave up.

The laugh became a moan when Theo let him slide to his feet, then knelt down in front of him.

Theo had done this before, in The Meadows as a teenager, but if he’d ever had skills, he’d forgotten them in the past five years. But he was already hard from the scent so close to his mouth, so he licked at the skin of Zeki’s hip and then pulled Zeki’s jeans and underwear down to taste his cock. He whined a little and should have been embarrassed, but Zeki’s hand scrambled into his hair, and Zeki spread his legs apart, so Theo tasted him again, full against his tongue. He was almost panting, they both were, and slid in closer, with his fingers around Zeki’s cock and flat against Zeki’s stomach. Zeki tasted good, pure salty desire, savory need, spicy sweat.

Theo didn’t have sex magic techniques, but he had Zeki’s muscles flexing and shaky, and his skin dotted with perspiration, and he could make Zeki cry out softly at him from far above. Zeki could babble about delayed gratification all he wanted, how he had to fight for control with Theo, but Theo wasn’t going to stop sucking the heady flavor into his mouth or pausing to wrap his lips around the rest of him, lay his tongue on tight, velvety skin. Zeki was really trembling now, choking on air when he slid a hand to Theo’s wet jaw.

He could tell from the things Zeki kept starting to say that he was close. He could scent it too, taste it pulsing against his cheek, coating his teeth. He pulled Zeki to him, breathing hard and fast through his nose, and then slowly drew back while his mate gasped and pleaded with him to stay. Theo swallowed and did it again, holding Zeki tight when he let out a garbled warning, and then pulling away to catch most of Zeki’s come in his hand. Some hit his mouth and chin, but he didn’t mind, even if Zeki was going to apologize later.

He liked taking some of Zeki’s control from him, and wiped and licked at his face and hand until he was clean and felt dizzy with so much of Zeki in his senses. Then he buried his nose in Zeki’s hip and breathed in deep to torture himself even more. He didn’t feel bold now. All he could think about was Zeki choosing to leave. He didn’t think he would, but the fear was real.

“Theo.” Zeki was so serious, Theo stopped the whine already forming in his throat. Zeki wheezed a bit. “Theo, you
cannot
serve your parents this pie after
that
,” he pointed out, and collapsed down into Theo’s arms while Theo was snorting with unexpected laughter. He pulled Zeki into his lap, or Zeki pulled himself, he couldn’t be sure, and let Zeki run his hands over him, doing whatever magic he always did when he touched things. He slid both hands under Theo’s shirt and seemed to be considering tearing it away. But then he settled his hands at Theo’s ribs and pressed his thumb against his skin. He traced a symbol or a letter with his fingertips.

Theo shuddered. “I wish you’d mark me,” he admitted, and Zeki’s hands went still.

“I can do that,” Zeki answered, hushed as he looked through his lashes. “I could figure something out.” He pressed his palm over Theo’s heart. “But I don’t want to scar you. That’s one thing I am sure of; I don’t want to hurt you.” As if that decided him, he leaned in and put his mouth to the side of Theo’s neck. He sucked a kiss, soft at first, but when Theo moved his head to give him more room, he grasped at Theo and increased the pressure. Theo slid a touch into his hair and growled in surprised pleasure.

A hickey wouldn’t last more than a few hours, but that was long enough for it to be seen. Zeki stopped to draw a breath and Theo nosed shyly at his ear, daring a little more. “Mate.”

One word, and Zeki kissed him again, his mouth beneath Theo’s ear, harsh and hungry as he deepened the bruise. He pushed a hand down between them, undid Theo’s fly to get his cock in hand. Theo grunted, although like this Zeki couldn’t move much. Zeki brushed his thumb against the head of Theo’s cock and slowly, thoughtfully, scraped his teeth over the skin he’d left sensitive and wet.

Theo made noises like a horny teenager and didn’t care. He held tight to Zeki’s hips and let out a hot breath. “Mate,” he said again, and Zeki spurred into clumsy, desperate action. He climbed closer, which shouldn’t have been possible, trusting Theo to support him.

“You shouldn’t yet,” Zeki reminded him, using his teeth gently on Theo’s skin, flexing his hand again and again along Theo’s side. His scent was… his scent was… spice and comfort and sex. It was Zeki. Mate. “Say it again,” he ordered a few seconds later, and Theo nudged his face up to try a hickey of his own at Zeki’s throat.

“This is Zeki, my mate,” Theo repeated, and Zeki tilted his head toward the ceiling and groaned. Theo was trying to be still, to be good, but seeing that made him growl deliberately. “Zeki.”

“Yes,” Zeki agreed in a high, helpless voice, “mate. And you—” He paused there, trembling in confusion or arousal or panic, or all three, then fell forward to hide his face. He took a breath. “You’re mine,” he tried out, sounding almost completely composed, which he wasn’t. He wasn’t even close. “Is that the right term?” he asked, scholarly and uncertain when Theo’s heart felt like it stopped. “Is that the correct thing for me to say in return?”

Theo should have told him it was whatever he wanted to say, but he couldn’t seem to speak. He nudged Zeki’s head up once again, then nuzzled the side of his face. Zeki spread his hands out over Theo and curled his fingers in like a pleased, flexing cat. “Oh” was all he said for at least a minute. “Mine,” he tried again after that. He was pressed so close he could feel Theo’s heart beating for him.

“This is Theodore.” Zeki seemed calm, but Theo heard his quick breath. He moved a hand to Theo’s back and grabbed a fistful of his shirt. Zeki could sound relaxed and sure even when he was gripping Theo as tightly as he was able. “This is Theo. He spent years unhappy because of me.” He grabbed Theo harder when Theo tried to deny it. Zeki’s voice was quiet, ashamed for a moment. “Theo didn’t live, for a while. Now he’s figuring out who he is the way he should have done then. I like who he is, and I think I’ll like who he will be. I hope… I hope he wants to be that person with me, and that I can be who he thinks I am, because the last thing I ever want to do is hurt him again.”

Theo was very still, for what felt like a very long time. He wanted to look at Zeki but didn’t want to scare him away. Finally he gave Zeki another nudge. “And what did your dad say to that?”

“He said, ‘You sound mated, Zeki, get your feet off the coffee table.’” Zeki sighed. Theo tried not to smile, but he couldn’t help it. Zeki didn’t seem to notice. “Mated,” Zeki repeated himself, trying the word out. He kept his face turned away. “My mate,” he whispered, after clearing his throat, and then moved so fast Theo didn’t have a chance to defend himself. One second Theo was kneeling on the floor, Zeki in his lap, the next he was on his back, with Zeki settling over his legs.

Zeki gave Theo a level, intense look, then licked his hand and reached down to stroke Theo’s cock a few times. Theo thunked his head against the floor but didn’t take his eyes off him. Zeki hummed. “When this is… when I don’t feel so crazed, I’m going to show you what I’ve learned. I’m going to take you apart, Theo.” He seemed collected when he wasn’t, not even a little bit, with his wild heartbeat and bursting scent. Theo shivered and nodded. He flexed his hands against the floor. Zeki made a move, then checked himself and gave Theo a measuring stare. “When are your parents supposed to be here? Should we open a window or something?”

Theo very politely thrust up into Zeki’s hand to remind him of what he was doing. His parents were going to smell all this anyway, but weres were different about those kinds of things than what Theo could tell about humans. He groaned when Zeki teased him with his thumb, then lightly caressed the shaft of his cock. “It’ll reassure them,” he explained instead. His voice was strained. “Your scent here with mine will help them worry less about you”—he braved through the words—“about you leaving. If you’re going to leave.”

He tried not to make it a question, but he
wanted
, and Zeki’s hand was on his dick.

Zeki focused his liquid eyes on him and dragged in a long breath. “I sleep better here,” he answered softly.

Theo drew in a breath too, and recognized what was now in the air.

He pulled Zeki down on top of him and didn’t care about elbows or knees or anything else but closing his eyes and inhaling his mate’s scent. His mate who wanted to stay. Zeki might have been uncomfortable, but he only eased himself higher on Theo’s chest to put his face against Theo’s shoulder. Theo ran his hands up and down his back and then wrapped his arms around him. “Mate.”

A whispery, shuddery breath left Zeki. He turned his face so that his mouth was against Theo’s shoulder, nearly at his neck. “But your parents.” His preoccupation with the subject must be a human thing. Theo just hummed and breathed him in. Zeki’s every word was a kiss to his skin. “Really, Theo, what are you going to tell them?”

The mark and their scents—
this
scent, shared between them—and Zeki being here when they arrived would tell them everything. Zeki was worrying over nothing now. Zeki, who had tried to run away, then put on his best clothes and come back. Theo was almost sorry he had ruined Zeki’s attempt at dressing up. But he didn’t say that. He held Zeki tight and smiled. He smiled so much his face hurt. “I will tell them, ‘My mate loves me, but has a problem with delayed gratification.’”

Zeki’s small human growl of a response was nearly as perfect as the hot press of his teeth, there on Theo’s neck for the world, and his parents, to see.

About the Author

R. C
OOPER
has been making up stories since she was a wee R. Cooper. She has a weakness for strong-minded characters doing unspeakably hot things to each other and thinks margaritas are perfectly lovely. If she listed all of her turn-ons, it would take up this whole bio, but they include smart people, tailored suits with serious ties, shoulder holsters, funny people, sacrifices made for love, power struggles, the walking wounded, bravery, and good old-fashioned shameless sluts.