Authors: Lynn Hagen
Hagen, Lynn - Maverick's Mate [Brac Pack 1] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (2 page)
“My office, Caden.” Maverick tucked his thumbs in his front pockets as he turned away.
Entering his office, he slid his leather off, tossing it onto the leather sofa. The warrior walked in behind him.
“Have a seat, pup.”
Caden sat down, looking nervously around the room. Maverick knew he was being secretive. The pup was the youngest of them all. Caden was only ninety. He took his duties seriously at such a young age. Once the warrior fully matured, he would make a fine Sentry. Warriors were born, not made.
“I need you to befriend someone for me.” Maverick stretched his booted feet up onto the desk. He studied Caden as he pulled at his soul patch.
“Can I ask who?”
Maverick chuckled. “It would be hard for you two to become friends if you didn’t know who it was.”
Clearing his throat, Maverick stretched his arms behind his head. He didn’t want to reveal that he had found his mate. Not yet. Maverick forgot for a moment that he wasn’t alone. Images of his mate’s body danced in front of his eyes. That smooth and creamy skin was calling to him. What was his mate’s name? Maverick was dying to find out.
This had to be done right, taken slow. Three centuries was a long time to wait only to turn around and screw things up. There were already a few things not in his favor when trying to claim a human mate.
For one, he was a Timber wolf. What human could wrap their head around that? The second was his height. At six nine, he was pretty damn scary to short people. And his mate was short. Pulling his arms from behind his head, Maverick sat forward. “I’m not sure what his name is yet.”
Caden’s eyebrows pulled in, but the pup didn’t question him. He knew he sounded crazy asking the young one this.
Maverick knew he would be back to that apartment even with Cody guarding his mate. The pull was a powerful force. He could feel the draw to the small human even now. Things needed to be taken care of first before he went back to stalk the guy.
Chapter Two
Why was he headed to Jeremy’s house? His boyfriend called and asked for him to come over, and stupid him said yes. He always said yes. The plan was for Cecil to head over there straight after work, but someone had called off. Lucky him. If Jeremy gave him shit over this…
yeah right, he would take it like he always did.
No sooner had he stepped through Jeremy’s door than he was snatched up and shoved into the wall, Jeremy’s fist punching the drywall inches from Cecil’s head. “Where the hell have you been?”
Cecil couldn’t believe he was going through this again. His heart hammered in his chest, and his mouth went bone dry. He stood there cowering, wishing Jeremy would calm down.
“Fucking answer me!” Spittle flew in Cecil’s face as Jeremy screamed at him. He didn’t want to be in this relationship anymore. There had to be a way out. Jeremy had promised no more violence. He even bought Cecil the gold chain that lay around his neck like a collar, as if he were Jeremy’s property. The chain felt like it was choking him. He didn’t want the roses or the dinners or even the expensive gifts. Cecil wanted out.
“I-I had to work overtime. One of the guys called off, and I had to cover for him till someone else could come in.” Cecil ducked as Jeremy’s fist struck the wall again. He could hear the drywall crumbling by his ear. Fuck! He hated this.
“I better see it on your pay stub, or your ass is mine. Now get dressed so we can go to Lucky’s. I need a damn drink.” Jeremy shoved Cecil’s shoulder back as he turned and grabbed his keys. Cecil dipped down and grabbed his jacket that had fallen to the floor when the jerk pushed him.
“Wear those tight jeans I like so much.”
Cecil mentally rolled his eyes. Not only was his boyfriend a real jerk, but he insisted that Cecil dress the way
he
liked to see him, not what Cecil was comfortable in. He would prefer to put on a pair of slacks and a button-down shirt. Instead, the moron had him painting jeans on and wearing netted shirts. He always felt like a slut when he wore those damn clothes. If it were up to him, he would burn every one of those hideous outfits.
Unfortunately, the clothes at Jeremy’s were things Jeremy had bought. He said Cecil looked too prim and proper in his own choice of clothing.
Jeremy followed Cecil into the bedroom and yanked his collar back. “Where the hell did that bite come from?”
Cecil reached a hand up and rubbed his neck. He had no clue what Jeremy was talking about, but that answer wouldn’t be good enough.
“Answer me, Cecil.” Jeremy knocked him to the floor. “How did you get a bite mark on your neck? Is that why you were late getting here? Cheating on me?” Cecil tried to crawl away, but Jeremy pulled him up by his hair.
“No! I-I don’t know how it got there. Must have cut myself at work.” Cecil tried to pull his head free, but Jeremy yanked it back. This was bad. He hadn’t seen him this pissed, ever. Cecil knew he had to get away, or Jeremy was going to kill him.
“Pull your pants down. I want to see if someone else has been in you.” Jeremy released him and grabbed at Cecil’s slacks. With every survival instinct in him, Cecil pushed Jeremy away then shot out of the bedroom. He slammed into the hallway wall but kept going.
“You bitch.” He heard Jeremy shout out as raced to the front door. If Jeremy caught him, Cecil would suffer greatly. He grabbed the doorknob and turned, feeling panic grip him as the door stayed shut. The lock! Cecil twisted the lock and swung the door open, running through it and down the driveway.
Cecil’s eyes grew round as saucers as he dropped to the pavement. A man the size of a semi truck stalked up the driveway. The truck went past him and into the house. He heard wood breaking and Jeremy scream. Glass shattered, and then it became eerily quiet.
“Are you okay?”
Cecil snapped his head around when he heard a deep, masculine voice. It was the man from the coffee shop. What the hell?
Cecil nodded and the man took off into the house as well. Cecil didn’t know what to think, so he crept back in to see that the semi truck with multi-colored hair and the coffee shop man had Jeremy cornered. The man resembling the truck glanced over at Cecil, winking with a smile, and then turned back to Jeremy.
“He is no longer your boyfriend. Come near him again, and I will tear you into so many pieces, identification will be impossible.” The coffee shop dude growled.
“Fuck you,” Jeremy shouted, but Cecil could hear the tremor in his voice. He knew Jeremy was all bravado with him and only him.
“Not even on a good day.” The semi truck guy laughed.
The coffeehouse man backed away from Jeremy then turned his sights on Cecil.
Oh, man. He didn’t like that look. Why did he feel like his life was about to tip upside down? The guy sauntered over to him and grabbed Cecil around the waist.
“Mine.”
“Yeah, whatever you say. Just, uh…yeah.” Cecil was at a loss. He peered around the broad body to see Jeremy staring daggers at him.
“Follow me,” The coffeehouse man commanded.
What the hell, he wasn’t staying here with Jeremy anyway. Cecil’s neck throbbed as he walked behind the stranger to the front of the house. He ran his hand over the area, wondering what his ex had seen and why it was making his skin burn just under the surface.
“We need to talk.” The coffeehouse man sat on a motorcycle sideways, his legs extended and his ankles crossed. Man, why did Cecil have an urge to crawl into his lap and lick him from head to toe? His body vibrated at the thought.
“I need you to trust me. I know that’s asking a lot since you don’t even know me, but I can tell you that you are safer with me than any other place on earth.”
Cecil had been lured into a false comfort before by Jeremy. He didn’t want another macho man running his life, but somehow he knew the guy was telling him the truth. Somehow, he could feel it deep in his bones. He felt drawn to him.
“Who are you?” Cecil tilted his head, fascinated by the commanding aura that seemed to just flow around the guy. The man had to be at least six eight or six nine. He was the largest man Cecil had ever seen.
“Maverick, and you are my mate.” The giant watched Cecil closely, his hands crossed over his lap. “What is your name?”
Man, things just kept getting more and more bizarre. Cecil looked around to see if his perception of reality was distorted. Nope, everything
looked
normal.
“My name’s Cecil. Uh, right. Next you’re going to tell me you’re a wolf or something.” Cecil snorted. The guy didn’t laugh, not even a hint of a smile.
No way.
“Very perceptive.” He chuckled.
“Look, I really do thank you for helping me with jerk wad in there.” Cecil tossed his thumb over his shoulder. “But I need to get back to earth, and you need to go back to whatever place you escaped from.” His head hurt, and he really didn’t feel like indulging this guy’s delusions.
Cecil fell on his backside when the guy’s gray eye’s shifted to a crimson color and fangs grew from his mouth. He wasn’t lying. Crap. Now what? Should he run? Wait a minute, if Maverick was a wolf, then running would be useless. Fine, he would give into his hallucinations. Maybe he would have a bit of fun with it.
“I’ll take you home.” Maverick stood, and Cecil got to his feet. There went that funky feeling again, the need to wrap himself around this giant.
“Fine.” Whatever. How did he keep getting into these situations? Cecil scrubbed his forehead with his hand. Maybe he had
idiot
written there to attract these domineering men.
He dusted his bottom off as Maverick handed him a helmet, cursing inwardly as he climbed on. His stomach knotted when Maverick rode directly to his house without directions. What did that mean?
He showed Maverick into his apartment, clearing the couch of yesterday’s laundry. He quickly stuffed the underwear into the basket that had been sitting on the floor and threw the rest of the laundry on top.
“You can have a seat.” Cecil waved at the now cleared couch. The guy did save him after all. The least he could do was be hospitable. Deciding to see where his hallucinations led, Cecil sat next to him.
They were sitting there silently when Maverick pulled Cecil toward him. He stared into Maverick’s beautiful gray eyes. They sparkled like diamonds.
“Will you
bind
yourself to me?” He took Cecil’s lips in a slow, burning kiss, kneading his hip and clasping the back of his head. The look of arousal in Maverick’s eyes was turning Cecil’s head in a three-sixty hyper-horny direction.
Cecil’s blood was on fire just from one kiss. Wrapping his hands around Maverick’s neck, he opened for him. Cecil pulled at the long, black hair, wanting more, needing to be closer. He pulled his leg up, readjusting himself to straddle Maverick’s lap. His hands played in the long, silken strands as they flowed through his fingers. He felt a strange familiarity with this guy, like he had been with him before. Comfort and contentment washed over him.
Breaking the kiss, Maverick leaned his forehead against Cecil’s. “What does it mean to bind with you?” Cecil asked quietly.
“You will be tied to me. Forever. It’s stronger and deeper than marriage between humans. It can’t be broken. It will be my responsibility to see to your health and happiness. You will want for nothing,” Maverick answered in a husky voice.
Where
was the down side in this? Cecil mentally slapped himself. He had to think rationally. He didn’t even know the guy. The man could be worse than Jeremy. And he couldn’t get out of this. Maverick said it was forever. But somehow he
felt
it was right. He
felt
something different. Cecil looked in to his eyes and saw home.
“Yes. I’ll bind with you, Maverick. How does it work?”
