Ben (3 page)

Ben's folks had retired to warmer climates several years ago and now lived on the Gold Coast. His mother had wanted to jump on a plane and fly up as soon as Ben had told her about Tommy, but he had been able to restrain her so far. He wondered how much longer she would be put off before she took matters in her own hands and visited unannounced. Ben would have to call his parents again soon and see how they were doing. He knew they would love Tommy as soon as they met him, but the younger man just wasn't ready for that yet and Ben wasn't about to push.

Once his e-mails had loaded, Ben went through them one by one and prioritised them in what he believed to be the most urgent ones. The task took far too much of his time but unfortunately it had to be done; Ben didn't want to accidentally miss one, and as a result, inadvertently cause someone harm.

When Ben noticed an e-mail from Alpha Richards he immediately opened it. Kiel Richards had stepped up and taken the place of his previous Alpha when Ben had arrived and challenged the man. The previous Alpha had killed two of his pack members, Lucas Benton and James Canton, after he had found out James had given birth.

There was no denying the men were victims of a hate crime. Ben had travelled to South Australia and the Barossa Valley and after talking with the Alpha for only five minutes had challenged the man. Kiel Richards was a good man and the pack seemed to be prospering under his rule. Alpha Richards sent him updated e-mails once a month and Ben was pleased with what saw.

Ben kept in touch with Tegan Cross, Lucas Benton's brother and got updated photos once every few months on Lucas and James's son. The small boy had had his third birthday a month ago and Ben had gotten a beautiful photo of a small child covered in chocolate cake. Ben was sad that the boy would grow up to never know the love his biological fathers had for him.

Ben shook his head needing to clear his thoughts, then got back to work.

The fourth e-mail he clicked on was not someone asking for help or wanting his opinion on something, but rather a threat.

You won't get away with what you did. Just you wait.

It wouldn't be the first time that Ben had received a threatening e-mail and he highly doubted it would be the last. You didn't make it to a position as high up as his and not make a few enemies along the way. He just wondered what the person was talking about. Damn, he wished people would be more specific in their threats. Why couldn't people ever just say exactly why they felt the way they did and exactly what they were going to do about it?

Ben wasn't overly worried. Majority of the time, nothing ever eventuated. People just needed to vent sometimes, and once they got it off their chest, they felt better and went on with their lives.

Even still, Ben messaged Corey, who was a whiz with computers and asked if he could look into the e-mail to see if he could track who had sent the damn thing. In the meantime, he put it out of his mind and got back to work.

A little while later, his thoughts drifted to the stunning sight of his mate that morning, all cosy and comfortable as he'd slept. Ben wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed, pull his mate close, and never let the man go.

His daydream was rudely interrupted by the ringing of his phone.

Sighing deeply, Ben steeled himself for yet another long day and answered the phone after checking the incoming number.

"Alpha Taylor," he answered, his voice deepening slightly as he settled back in his chair and got to work.

CHAPTER 3

Another week had flown by since that first night Tommy had asked Ben to stay with him while he'd slept, and Tommy couldn't remember the last time he had felt better. He'd slept in Ben's arms every night since, and Tommy hadn't had a single nightmare all week.

Every night Ben had arrived at Tommy's brother's house, sometimes he arrived in time for dinner and sometimes he got there just before they were turning in for the night. On those nights, Tommy always received a message to let him know that Ben was held up with one pack matter or another but he would get there as soon as he could.

Tommy always felt better after Ben arrived. He knew some of what he was feeling had to do with the mating bond growing between them, but he also knew a lot of it was the pure strength and dominance radiating from the larger man. Tommy had no idea what he had done in a previous life to be gifted with such a stunning specimen of man as his mate, but he was thankful for whatever it had been.

That night was Monday, which meant poker night with the boys. Tommy knew Ben had stopped going after they'd rescued him, but Tommy was starting to think that it was about time that he got back out into the world.

He had holed himself up in his brother's place for the last several months, not wanting to leave for any reason. But lately he had started to feel a little caged, like the walls were closing in on him. Tommy hadn't stepped any farther outside than the back porch for the occasional game of pool with his brother or Liam. Hell, he had no idea where his mate even lived. He hadn't even seen the building that Declan and Liam were looking at purchasing so his brother could fulfil his dream of owning his own bakery. No matter how many times Declan had tried to get him to go with him to look at it, Tommy had refused.

Now though, he was starting to think it was time to start living again. Yes, he had been through hell and back, but he was young and really didn't want to be scared for the rest of his life. Tommy hated his old Alpha for what he had done to him and why he had done it. The fact that the man had kidnapped him and beaten him as a means to get his hands on Declan so he could kill his brother only made it worse.

Tommy knew Declan still felt guilty over what had gone down, but he wasn't about to begrudge his brother his life. Declan had done what he could in a bad situation. He couldn't imagine what Declan had gone through witnessing his Alpha murder one of their pack members. Tommy had been hurt, but he'd healed and it was about time he started acting like it.

Picking up the phone—before he could talk himself out of it—he called his mate. Tommy chewed on his nails while he listened to the ringing on the line. Just as he was about to hang up, Ben finally answered.

"Hey, pup, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Ben sounded genuinely happy to receive a call from him.

Smiling at the sound of his mate's voice, Tommy decided to bite the bullet. "I want to attend poker with you tonight." Nothing. Silence greeted his words. He couldn't even hear Ben breathing down the line. Tommy pulled the phone away from his ear to check that the call was still connected. It was.

"Ben?" he asked hesitantly.

"I'm here, pup. Could you repeat what you just said? 'Cause I'm thinking I may have heard you wrong." Ben sounded hopeful and cautious all at the same time.

Tommy knew he could back out and Ben would never call him on it. If he wasn't ready for this step, Ben would understand and things would remain as they were. But Tommy really didn't want them to stay the same. He wanted to meet his mate's friends, he wanted to see where the man lived and worked, he wanted to go back to uni and finish his degree in child care, and most of all he wanted not to be scared to live his life.

Taking a deep breath, Tommy plunged ahead. "I said I would like to go with you to Monday night poker if you'll have me."

"There's no one I would rather have by my side when I wipe the floor with the guys tonight." Tommy chuckled at Ben and how confident the man seemed.

"So whose turn is it to host?" Tommy knew that before he had been kidnapped, every Monday Ben, Liam, and four of their friends used to get together for poker. The location rotated every week through all their houses. Since then, Ben hadn't attended a single game, and Liam's house had been taken out of the rotation.

"You know, I have absolutely no idea. Why don't I call the guys and give you a ring back to let you know."

"I could just ask Declan when he gets back from the shops. He was missing a couple of ingredients for the macadamia caramel slice he was going to make for tonight." Tommy laughed when he heard Ben's loud moan over the phone. He wondered what he could do to pull a noise like that from his mate.

More silence on the phone greeted him, and Tommy once again wondered if they'd been disconnected. "Ben?" he wondered aloud.

"Umm. What did you just say?" the man sounded like he was choking.

Tommy was confused, what had he said? "What did I say when?" he asked.

"About pulling noises from me," Ben answered him, his voice now deep and husky. Tommy gasped. Oh god, had he said that out loud? He felt his face flaming even if no one was around to witness it. He wanted to die.

"Umm. I'll talk to you later," Tommy said quickly and hung up the phone before Ben could finish growling out Tommy's name. Tommy collapsed on his bed and covered his eyes with his arm. Talk about the world's most embarrassing move. Not exactly how he had planned to let his mate know that he maybe wanted to move their relationship forward.

Tommy's wolf had been unsurprisingly docile in the beginning while he was still healing from his injuries. But after daily contact with his mate for several months, his wolf was starting to make himself known and was itching to get to work to claim the man before someone else thought they could.

He growled low in his throat at the mere idea of another man—or woman for that matter—thinking they could lure Ben away from him. The man belonged to him. Tommy just hoped he could back up his thoughts with actions when the big tall striking Alpha was actually within touching distance of him.

And that thought sent his mind racing in a completely different direction. All that toned muscle felt incredible under his fingers and cheek as Tommy had cuddled up next to him for the last week. Tommy had wanted so badly to reach out with his tongue and taste the man. Just to flick the tip of his tongue over the dark brown nipple and watch as it hardened and pebbled before his eyes.

Tommy wasn't the most experienced guy around. Hell, he was only twenty. He had wanted to save himself for his mate. That didn't mean he hadn't experimented with friends in the past though. Blowjobs, hand jobs and rubbing off together he was well familiar with, but he refused to allow actual intercourse. That's not to say Tommy had never played with his ass, as he had been exploring that area of his body since he had figured out he was gay when he was fifteen.

Thoughts of Ben and licking the man from head to toe while he played with Tommy's ass had his cock harder than he could remember in a long time. It was the middle of the afternoon and no one else was home so Tommy decided to enjoy himself a little.

Tommy ran his hand down his abdomen and pulled his shirt up until it was tucked under his chin. He lightly trailed his fingers back down his hairless body until he encountered the waistband of his shorts. Shoving them and his underwear roughly down his legs, Tommy's hard cock bobbed up and slapped against his stomach.

He could already see a glistening drop of pre-cum beading at the tip of his cock. Tommy reached out and just as he was about to wrap his hand around his hard aching length his phone rang from where he had dropped it on the bed next to him.

Tommy thought about ignoring the call in favour of what he was doing, as it was the first time in months that he had even thought of giving himself a little pleasure. But the second he saw Ben's name flash across his screen, he knew there was no way he could ignore the man's call. Not only because he desperately wanted to hear his mate's voice but also because Ben would worry if he didn't answer.

He ran his thumb across the screen connecting the call and placed it against his ear at the same time that he reached down and finally wrapped his hand around his throbbing cock.

Tommy couldn't have stopped the pure moan of pleasure from passing his lips if his life had depended on it. Once again silence greeted him over the line. "Ben"—Tommy sighed—"say something please." Tommy barely recognised his own voice. At the moment, it sounded so raw and needy.

"Tommy, what exactly are you doing?" Ben's voice had lowered to almost a guttural growl and Tommy whimpered with need. His fingers tightened around his member as his strokes sped up.

"Ben." Tommy couldn't think, all he knew was that he wanted his mate desperately.

"Are you stroking yourself, pup?"

"Ah huh." Tommy had lost the ability to form words. His ring fluttered, wanting desperately to be filled but he didn't want to let go of his cock. Tommy moaned in frustration as he didn't know what to do.

"Put the phone on speaker, pup," Ben said, as if he could read Tommy's mind. Tommy fumbled to comply, and after several failed attempts, finally managed to successfully complete his mission. He laid the phone down on the pillow next to his head so he could still easily hear his mate.

"Now, I want you to take two fingers, put them in your mouth, and suck them. Get them good and wet, pup, as they're going in your ass soon." Tommy whimpered with need even as he sucked and licked two of his digits, getting them coated with saliva as Ben had instructed. "Now imagine it's me there with you, holding you down, as I trail one of my large fingers over your hole. Gently rubbing and caressing the puckered muscle, applying light pressure but not yet breaching your entrance." Tommy moaned as he carried out Ben's instructions.

"Your pretty pink star is practically begging me to fill it up, first with my fingers and then with my nice fat cock. Would you like that, Tommy? Would you like to feel my hard shaft stretching you wider than you've even been stretched before?"

Panting heavily, Tommy nodded, completely forgetting the fact that Ben wasn't there in the room with him and wouldn't be able to see him.

"I want to run my tongue the entire way down your back until I reach your entrance. Then I plan on stopping there and tongue-fucking you until you're loose enough for me to take you and you come for me from the sheer intensity of me penetrating you for the first time. And while you're in the throes of a mind melting orgasm, I'll slam my cock home, making your body erupt yet again due to the pleasure only I can give you."