Skye’s Limits (6 page)

Skye let out a moan of his own as soon as he got a taste of Alden for the first time. It was spicy with a bit of wildness mixed in, just like Alden’s personality. Skye found himself wanting to taste even more and slid his tongue out to explore.

Alden let out a little growl. Maybe to let Skye know that he was the one in charge. Skye found himself loving that trait. He went pliant in Alden’s embrace, letting Alden take the lead. Alden used his free hand to pull at Skye’s hair, so he could get at his mouth better. Skye opened up to give Alden full access to his mouth.

Alden took advantage, plundering Skye’s mouth. Skye grew hard, his erection pressing painfully against his pants. He wanted to rub against Alden for some relief, but the damn padding got in the way. Skye wanted to rip it off, so he could get closer to Alden. Hell, Skye wanted to rip off
all
his clothes. Then he wanted to get down and naked on the mats and have some real fun.

All too soon, Alden pulled away. Skye let out a sound of protest and reached for Alden. Alden put a hand in the center of Skye’s chest and held him at bay.

“One kiss. Remember?” Alden said.

“One more?” Skye asked hopefully.

“You have no idea how tempted I am to say yes, but we already have gone too far.”

“Alden, you have no idea how much I want you,” Skye said.

Skye knew he was coming off as a bit needy, but he was beyond caring. He was hard and horny as hell. At this point, he was willing to do just about anything to get what he wanted. He would even run the obstacle course twenty times if that’s what it took.

“Oh, I think I do. Because I want you just as much,” Alden said hoarsely.

Reaching out, he ran the back of his knuckles down Skye’s cheek. “We just have to wait a little longer. I won’t be your trainer forever.”

“What are you trying to say?” Skye asked, his breath catching.

“Once you start your training as a soldier, you won’t be under me anymore, which means we can be free to start a relationship.”

“Are you saying that you really do want to start something with me?” Skye asked, afraid to believe what he was hearing.

“Yes, I do. I want you, Skye. In every way possible.”

Skye smiled as happiness soared through him. “I want you, too.”

Alden grinned back at him. “I was hoping you would say that. Now let’s get back to work so we can get you ready for Logan. The sooner you can get to him, the sooner we can be together.”

Alden continued to work Skye hard the next few weeks, even though he knew that with each passing day, it would bring their time together to an end. Alden viewed that with mixed emotions. While he wanted to be free to start a real relationship with Skye, he was going to miss this special time with his trainee.

Skye had a way about him that would lighten up Alden’s workday. Be it a smile of delight when Skye learned something new, or the way Skye laughed when he knew he’d messed something up. All of it made Alden’s day pass faster and made him realize why he’d gotten into the role of a mentor in the first place. Gone was the jaded feeling that he’d felt before, and in its place was the love of the job that he used to have.

He was getting the equipment ready for the day when Skye came walking in. Alden did a double take when he noticed that Skye had cut his hair. It was now collar-length.

“You cut your hair,” Alden said, never one not to state the obvious.

Skye halted and touched it. “Do you like it? I figured that Logan would have me chop it once I joined up with him, so I figured I may as well do it now.”

Alden smiled to put Skye at ease. “I love it. I was just surprised is all.”

Skye gave a crooked grin that went straight to Alden’s cock. “I was hoping that you’d like it. I did it last night. Well, I didn’t do it myself, I went to a salon. But you know what I mean.”

“It looks great on you.”

“Great enough for another kiss?” Skye asked hopefully.

Alden tossed the equipment at him. “Don’t push it, brat.”

“Hey, you can’t blame a guy for trying.”

Skye got the equipment on. This time, Alden put some on, too. After the broken nose incident, he wasn’t taking any chances. Skye had a mean left hook now. After they suited up, they squared off and fought.

Alden hated and loved that Skye was getting to be one hell of a fighter. It meant that he was getting closer to being ready for soldier training, but once again, it meant that it was a close to their time together.

There Alden went again, moping about losing his Skye. He was acting like a teenage girl who had a stalker-like crush on a teenage heartthrob. All that was missing was the poster and folder with Skye’s picture on it then the picture would be complete.

Alden was so distracted that he let Skye get in a good punch. It hit Alden in the side of the head. His skull rang as his brain bounced around a few good times. Skye let out a gasp.

“I am so sorry,” Skye said.

Alden held up a hand. “You never apologize for getting in a good punch. That’s the first thing you need to remember.”

Skye nipped at his bottom lip. “Okay, I just feel bad when I hurt you.”

Alden gave Skye an incredulous look. “After all the bruises I gave you, I’d think you’d be looking for some payback.”

“Yeah, but that was training. I care about you and don’t want to hurt you.”

“Skye, this is part of training, too. You need to learn how to fight if you ever want to make it out in the field. You can’t hold back on your punches. The Ravens sure as hell aren’t going to be.”

Skye nodded. “Okay, I got it. I won’t do it anymore.”

They got back to fighting, and Alden was pleased to see that Skye fought back with all his might. This time when he got a good one in on Alden, there was no apology afterward. Alden gave Skye a quick nod to show that he’d done good as they continued to exchange blows.

Soon they were done for the evening. Just as they had started putting away their equipment, an alarm sounded, followed by a voice that said, “Raven attack, teams Alpha, Beta, and Cheetah scramble.”

“You go ahead, I can finish up here,” Skye said.

Alden gave Skye’s shoulder a quick pat. Then Alden went running off to the armory to get armed up. Since he was already in uniform, he didn’t have to stop to get changed, so he made it to the van in record time.

Even though they rushed to the sight of the Raven attack, it was already too late. It was a single family home this time that had already been burned to the ground. The Ravens were long gone, but they had left plenty of carnage in their wake.

They had laid the bodies of the feline family in the front yard in some kind of macabre display. They went from youngest to oldest and were all dressed in bloodied, tattered clothing. Their eyes had been pecked out, and there were various gouges and rip-like wounds on the bodies.

Alden could hear more than one of the soldiers letting out retching sounds. Not that he blamed them. The bodies weren’t in the best condition. The ones who weren’t puking were letting out various curses. Those were the ones that Alden could connect more with. He felt such anger at the moment that his entire body shook from it.

All the senseless violence made no sense to him. Why were the Ravens suddenly upping the attacks on feline homes? Sure, they had done it the past, but never on this level. It just didn’t compute to him.

“It’s because we’re shutting down their slave operations. It’s their way of retaliating,” Logan said as if reading Alden’s mind.

“The cowards didn’t even wait long enough to fight us,” Alden said, waving an angry hand at the sky.

“Of course not. It’s much easier to pick on a civilian. They wouldn’t want to have to face a soldier. Then they might have a real battle on their hands,” Logan countered.

Shane came up. His usual angelic face was dark with rage. Alden recalled that it wasn’t too long ago that Shane’s own home had been victim to a Raven attack. While Shane and his family had managed to get out alive, both he and his mate had been badly injured.

“I will find out who is responsible for this, and I’ll make them pay,” Shane vowed.

Somehow, Alden didn’t doubt that. While the task might seem impossible for a normal person, Shane had his way of finding out the impossible. Once Shane did find out who had done this, Alden wouldn’t want to be the Raven responsible.

A shiver went down his back as he thought about ever being on the receiving end of Shane’s wrath. While the guy might seem on the small side, he was by far the most dangerous feline in the whole coalition. Deadly and cutthroat to the bone, Shane didn’t have a remorseful part in him. Alden was happy that Shane considered him a friend.

Since there was little that they could do, they left the rest for the cleanup team and loaded back into the vans. After they returned to HQ, they were silent as they unloaded their weapons and went to debriefing.

Afterward, Alden went back to his apartment. As part of the Cheetah team, he was expected to live on base. As he turned on the light, it struck him that he had never decorated. The place had come furnished, and he had left it as it was.

The stark white walls now stood out to him and made him realize just how lonely his life was. He couldn’t help but wonder what Skye would do with the place if he were ever to move in. Would he put up crazy posters? Throw around some outrageous nick-knacks?

While the thought of Alden’s personal space being invaded in such a way should have bothered him, instead it sent a warm feeling through him. He took a quick shower, then laid down in bed. While it usually felt nice, now it felt so cold and empty.

He would give anything at that moment to have Skye with him—and not to fuck. He would just love to hold the Lion to him and cuddle with him. They could simply talk about stupid little things. Alden could luxuriate in the sound of Skye’s laugh.

But that wasn’t meant to be. At least not yet. They still had a lot of hurdles to cross. Hurdles that Alden wasn’t for sure that they could make. Only time would tell. Letting out a sigh, he let himself fall asleep. That night, he dreamed of Skye.

A couple of weeks later, the day that Alden had both been looking forward to and dreading finally came. Skye was finally ready to move on. There was no longer any denying it. Now all Alden had to do was break the news to Skye.

While Alden knew Skye was going to be elated at the news…and Alden was too, it was going to be sad to see their daily time together come to an end. Alden only wondered how Skye was going to react to it.

If Skye acted like it was going to be no big deal, Alden knew it was going to hurt him. Maybe that was a bit juvenile on his part, but he couldn’t help it. He had grown to care very deeply for Skye, and while Skye said he cared for him as well, Alden also knew Skye wanted to be a soldier. If, in his excitement, he forgot all about Alden, it was going to sting.

When Alden arrived to the training room, he found Skye already there. Not that he was surprised. Skye had been working so hard lately that it hadn’t been the first time Alden had found the trainee already working out on his own.

At the moment, Skye was running laps around the gym. Ever since he’d heard that running was part of the training that soldiers were required to do, Skye had been adding it to his daily regimen. Alden went off to the side and got the sparring equipment ready while he waited for Skye to finish. He knew Skye wouldn’t want to end until he got his five miles in anyway.

At seven on the dot, Skye was done. He joined Alden and started helping him with the sparring equipment. They worked in silence for a moment before Alden finally got the courage to say the dreaded words.

“Skye, this is going to be your last session with me.”

Skye halted mid-motion, a look of panic crossing his face. “Why? Did I do something wrong? They didn’t find out about us, did they?”

Alden gave him a gentle smile. “No, it’s nothing bad like that. I promise you.”

“Then what is it?”

“You’re ready to move on to Logan.”

Skye paused a moment, and Alden carefully studied his face, but it was hard to read the younger man’s expression. Finally, Skye said, “I guess that should make me happy.”

“Doesn’t it?”

“In a way, yes.”

“Then why aren’t you smiling?”

Skye nipped at his bottom lip. “Well, I’m going to miss you.”

That touched Alden in so many ways that he couldn’t even begin to count them. “I’m going to miss you, too.”

Skye looked up from under his lashes, his blue eyes full of sadness. “How long before I get to see you again?”

“We should probably wait a few weeks. That way people will know for sure that nothing was going on between us while I was your mentor.”

Skye let out a soft laugh. “Come on, Alden, we both know how people are. They’re going to talk either way.”

“I know, but at least Mitchell and the others that matter will know.”

Skye ducked his head. “What am I going to do without you?”

Since they were the only ones in the training room, Alden felt it safe enough to tuck two fingers under Skye’s chin.

Lifting Skye’s face so they were locking gazes, Alden said, “You’re going to do what you have been doing. You’re going to keep your head down and work hard. You can do this, Skye. I have every faith in you. If I didn’t, I never would have recommended you to Logan. No matter my feelings for you. I know how bad you want this.”

Skye’s gaze brightened. “I do. I really want this bad.”

“Then you have to keep fighting for it, even without me by your side.”

“I will. I promise.”

“That’s all I needed to hear. You and I will be back together soon enough. I promise you.”

“I just want you to know something,” Skye said.

“What’s that?”

“I never would have made it this far without you.”

“You did it all on your own, Skye. I just showed you the way.”

“No, you helped me clean up my act. I’ll never forget that.”

“You have no idea how amazing you are. You just needed to believe in yourself,” Alden said.

“Maybe, but you were the first person who ever believed in me, and that meant a lot to me.”