Rick's Reluctant Mate (5 page)

A moment of sanity had him pulling away, but
the desperate "no" from his mate was all he needed to ignore his
conscience even as it screamed for him to stop.

"Please," Ricky said in between
scorching kisses. "Please, Jordan."

He nodded, unable to deny his lovely mate
anything at that moment.

"Lube?" he asked, trying to
convince himself to slow down, but failing miserably.

Ricky pointed at the drawer beside his bed
and Jordan leaned over to drag it open. He was selfishly glad to realize the
bottle was unopened, but having to stop and deal with the packaging also had
the unwanted side effect of reminding him of all the reasons he shouldn't be
doing this. If Ricky hadn't chosen that moment to push his hand inside the
loose shorts Jordan wore, he might even have found the mental and emotional
strength to move away.

"Don't you dare," Ricky growled in
a voice low enough to belong to a werewolf.

"I should," he said, still kissing
his mate, still holding him underneath him, still hard enough to drive nails.

Ricky didn't say another word. He simply
grabbed the bottle of lube, dragged the shrink wrap packaging from the lid and
poured a generous amount onto Jordan's hand, all the while managing to keep his
legs locked around Jordan's hips.

Jordan told himself he didn't move away
because he wouldn't risk hurting his mate, but that couldn't excuse the way his
hands slid over his mate's ass, pulling the soft material of his sleep pants
out of their way. And it didn't explain how he managed to slide his cock
between his mate's ass cheeks, or how he caressed the head of his dick against
Ricky's tiny opening until they were both panting with need. And he sure as
fuck had no excuse for pushing until he slipped inside Ricky's ass and they
both cried out from the intense sensation.

He knew he would hate himself in the morning,
but nothing could stop him from moving inside his mate, savoring every soft
sigh, every warm touch,
every
kiss that Ricky gave to
him so lovingly.

He thrust and he panted and he marked and he
possessed the one man he'd told himself never to touch again, and when they
both cried out their orgasms, he held Ricky close and prayed for this single
moment to never end.

~*~

Rick had no idea how long he held his mate
to him, but reality intruded when Jordan's softening cock finally slipped out
of his ass.

He desperately wanted to ask Jordan if he
was okay, but he honestly couldn't bear to hear the man again call making love
to him a mistake. If Jordan denied the beauty of what had just happened between
them, Rick wasn't really sure he'd be able to hold himself together. It was the
middle of the night, he had a situation to deal with, and his employers were
waiting for him.

"I need to go," Rick whispered,
caressing his hands all over Jordan and still unable to unlock his legs and let
the man move. "But please stay with me. Don't leave."

And god, could he be any more pathetic?

Jordan shook his head, but Rick pressed his
hand to Jordan's mouth, unwilling to hear the words he knew were coming.

"We're mates. We belong together."

~*~

"I don't deserve you," Jordan
mumbled against his lover's silencing hand. He really shouldn't have stayed
here. He should have taken off the moment he'd realized Ricky was safe.

"So you wouldn't die to protect
me?" Ricky asked, not moving, just watching him closely.

"Of course I would," Jordan
responded, his anger that his mate would assume such an awful thing deflating
the moment he realized how amazing that thought really was. After decades of
doing whatever was needed to keep himself and Aiden alive, putting another
person's needs first was probably out of character for him. It didn't help that
he wanted Ricky so much he couldn't think straight.

"You're a good man, Jordan. I know you
made mistakes, but you've spent the past five years making up for them."

"I told you
Cali's
opinion isn't accurate."

Rick smiled and touched a finger to Jordan's
cheek. "Cali is my best friend and we were roommates for over a year. I
trust her judgment, but I've also asked Dad and Trent about you as well."
He leaned in and kissed Jordan softly. It was barely a touching of lips but it
somehow felt more intimate than anything they'd shared up till now. "I
know we're destined mates, Jordan and I plan to do everything in
my
power to make you happy. Please don't
reject me again."

He had no idea how to respond to that. He
was trying to be a good man, but he'd never really been sure how to go about
it. "I'm not rejecting you," he said sincerely. "I'm trying to
protect you
from
me."

"Why would I need protecting from a man
who loves me enough to die protecting me?"

"That's not what I meant," Jordan
said, desperately trying to piece his thoughts together into some sort of
coherent argument. "You deserve so much better than me."

"No, sweetheart," Ricky said as he
held Jordan tighter. The endearment was so startling that Jordan didn't even
remember he should be moving away. "Fate chose us for each other. Just
give me a chance to show you how good life can be together."

"But, you're young. You haven't had a
chance to really live yet."

"Perhaps," Ricky conceded, taking what
was essentially an insult without being offended, "but I do know my own
mind. I understand what I want to do for a living and what I want for the
future."

Ricky pulled Jordan closer, pressed their
lips together, and then kissed him like the world was going to end. By the time
they came up for air, Jordan had no idea what else he'd wanted to say.

"I want you, Jordan.
As
my friend, my lover, and my mate.
Please let me love you the way you
deserve."

Jordan finally found the strength to
untangle their limbs and took a tiny step away. He stared at Ricky, a little
overwhelmed by how much the human had changed and grown more confident in the
past four years.

"I need to go back to Lupinville…for a
few days. You're obviously safe here."

Rick sighed softly. "Are you coming
back?"

Jordan wanted to lie and make this
conversation easier on both of them, but it would only hurt Rick more in the
long run. "I don't know, Rick," he confessed without looking at his
mate. "I have to report to the alpha."

"I've got work to do right now, but can
you at least stay and hold me for the rest of tonight?"

Against his better judgment Jordan nodded
and, once they were dressed, escorted his mate to the office in this huge house
and waited patiently while Rick dealt with a distraught vampire with a
stolen-identity issue. The strange stone-like creature was nowhere to be seen
and Lilly and Troy didn't seem inclined to explain, but to Jordan the Alateeka
sibling's attitudes seemed to indicate this sort of thing would be fairly
routine
in Rick's life from now on.

They'd even gone as far as to assure him
that if they'd known the vampire had been dealing directly with their previous
computer whiz—a man who'd lived in this home with far less security than Rick
needed—there probably wouldn't even have been a security issue at all. The
vampire had promised to phone next time before dropping by.

As usual Rick was able to deal with the situation
quickly and efficiently, and then accepted the man's thanks with a slightly
embarrassed smile.

When he was done working, and Lilly and Troy
had gone back to whatever they'd been doing before the security breach, Jordan
climbed into the bed beside Rick, and held his mate in his arms.

"Is it okay to give you your birthday
present now?" Rick asked as he moved away slightly, grabbed a small box
out of the drawer, and handed it to Jordan.

Jordan stared at the small package and tried
to remember what day it was. He'd never particularly celebrated his birthday,
but he was a little surprised to realize that this year it had come and gone
without him noticing.

"Jordan?"

"Oh, sorry," he said, sitting up
slightly so that he could open the box. Inside was a chain with a pendant that
sort of resembled a crescent moon.

"I spoke to Adrian. He said that this
would stay on when you changed forms. It's…um…stainless steel. Not silver or
white gold, so it…um…doesn't matter if you accidentally lose it."

Jordan shook his head. "I won't lose
it," he said, meaning that more than anything else he'd ever said in his
life. No matter how the future unfolded, Jordan would always treasure this gift
from his mate

"Happy birthday,
Jordan."

Jordan pulled the chain over his head,
pleased to realize that it was big enough to fit comfortably and be hidden in
his fur when he changed forms.

"Thank you, Rick," he said, moving
to lie down again and pull his mate more firmly into his arms. Rick snuggled
closer and despite his earlier protestations about not being tired was soon
snoring softly.

Yet, no matter how much he wanted to protect
this human from himself, Jordan couldn't deny how deeply in love he truly was.
Rick was everything he'd ever wanted, even before he'd understood what that
might be.

Jordan didn't sleep, unable to let something
as annoying as his need to rest intrude on these stolen moments. But as the sun
rose and the rest of the world began to wake up, Jordan pressed a soft kiss to
his sleepy mate's lips, whispered good-bye, and then slipped from the warmth of
his mate's arms and stepped back into the cold where he belonged.

~*~

Rick woke alone, but he did remember his
mate leaving, and he did remember the nearly silent promise his mate had made
as he'd whispered good-bye when he'd believed Rick was sleeping. If the alpha
approved—and Rick had no doubt the man would give his consent, even if that
took a little bit of persuading from Rick himself—Jordan would come back to
him.

It was like a bright light in the middle of
an otherwise stormy day.

And it was almost enough to make him feel
guilty for slipping a GPS transponder into the pendant he'd given Jordan for
his birthday.

Chapter Six

"Jordan?" the alpha asked
curiously as he moved onto the front porch of the man's home. Noah and Liam
were having coffee and watching the sun rise. They both looked happy and
relaxed and Jordan felt a little guilty for interrupting what was likely
precious together time for the couple.

"My apologies, alpha," Jordan
said. "I just wanted to let you know that Ricky is settled into his new
home and his new job and is now officially under the protection of Alateeka
Protection Services."

Noah nodded.

"I'll just get you a coffee," Liam
said, practically leaping out of his chair and heading into the house, not
giving Jordan a chance to refuse the offer.

"Take a seat," Noah said. It was
very clearly an order from his alpha, not a request, so Jordan did as he was
told. Noah watched him closely while Jordan tried not to twitch like a bug
under a microscope. "What happened between you and Ricky?"

He really didn't know how to answer that.
Hell, after decades of thinking on his feet and bending the truth when it
suited him, he had no words to explain or excuse his behavior.

"I'm sorry, alpha," Jordan
whispered.

"Why are you sorry?" Noah asked in
a voice that held no censure.

"I should have been stronger. I should
have been able to resist."

"Was it consensual?"

"Of course," Jordan answered
quickly. "It was his…" He let the words trail away. It had been
Ricky's idea both times, but that still didn't give Jordan the right to act on
what he'd been feeling. "It was what we both wanted at the time."

"Then why are you feeling so
guilty?"

Jordan was surprised at Noah's tone. He
sounded amused, and that really didn't sit well with Jordan.

"I took advantage of the situation.
Ricky's young."

"Last I checked Ricky was twenty-two.
That makes him a consenting adult in both werewolf and human terms. I don't
understand why you're beating yourself up over this." He narrowed his eyes
and gave him a speculative look. "Are you the reason Ricky dropped out of
college?"

"No, alpha.
I don't believe so. He…he'd already made that decision before he
came to me."

Noah grinned, leaned over, and pulled Jordan
into his embrace. Again Jordan was left feeling discombobulated. It sort of
felt like someone had changed the rules of the universe and he hadn't been
informed. Yeah, Jordan understood that most werewolves craved affectionate
touching, especially from their alpha, but Jordan wasn't most werewolves, and
he'd never expected to be offered such a thing. Hell, the last time he'd been
this close to the man he'd been trying to kill him.

"Why
did you forgive me?" Jordan asked, unable to not know any longer.

"Because
you were trying to do what you thought was right by the pack. You had no way of
knowing that Derek was manipulating you all for his own gain."

Jordan
winced. "I should have known Derek wasn't a good choice."

"But
after Jared Junior, Derek likely looked like a savior," Noah said, still
holding Jordan close. "I refuse to punish you for doing what you thought
was right."

Jordan shook
his head, denying that what he'd done was the right thing. Sure, he'd changed
his attitude in the past five years, but he refused to forget that he'd enjoyed
the power of being a beta for cruel men. He'd terrorized a lot of pack members
on his alpha's orders, but the fact that it hadn't really bothered him until
years later, still stung his conscience.

He really
didn't deserve this man's forgiveness.

"You're
a good man, Jordan, and as your alpha I'm going to hug you until you agree with
me."

Jordan had
no idea how to respond to that.

His alpha laughed softly, and then let him
go, apparently interpreting his discomfort correctly. Liam stepped out of the
house with Jordan's coffee almost at the same time.

"Thanks, Liam," Jordan said.

The man's name felt strange on his tongue
and it took a moment to realize it was because he'd never used it before. It
had been years and still all Jordan saw was the pack accountant who'd handled
the previous alphas with deference and tact. Of course that memory brought
others and he winced involuntarily when he remembered the incident outside
Liam's office shortly after Noah had become
alpha
. He
wouldn't deny that he'd been confused and angry back then, but he really
couldn't forgive himself for allowing his thinking to be swayed by the arguments
of werewolves who'd really only been thinking of
themselves
.

"I'm sorry," he blurted, before he
could get the thoughts clear in his head, "for that day…and for the ones
before…and…and the days after."

Liam gave him a concerned look, but just
like the alpha had done, Liam leaned in and hugged Jordan rather than throwing
him off the porch and banishing him from Lupinville.

"I don't understand," Jordan
whispered as an ache spread through his entire body. "Why the hell would
either of you forgive me?"

"Because you deserve it, Jordan,"
the alpha said as Liam let Jordan go and moved to sit beside his mate.
"Right now you are the person you were always meant to be, the person you
would have been if you hadn't needed to protect yourself and Aiden from such
cruel alphas. Given the choice, Jordan, you've always put others first."
Noah gave him a sad smile. "But it wasn't often that you were given a
choice."

Jordan rubbed a hand over his chest, the
empty feeling easing just a little as a man he admired gave him the sense of
belonging he'd always craved.

"I'm not going to interfere in your
private life," Noah said with a soft smile, "but you need to know
that you and Ricky have people who care about you. You're mates and you both
deserve a chance to be happy."

Jordan nodded his understanding, and his
gratitude. Never in a million years had he expected anyone to suggest that he
was worthy of a mate like Ricky. But as much as he wanted to run to Ricky and
claim the man immediately, there was one other pack member he needed to talk to
first.

"If you hurry," Noah said looking
at his watch, "you might catch Cody before he opens the workshop."

That comment surprised a laugh out of
Jordan. "How did you—" He cut off the words and shook his head. He
didn't really need to ask out loud if Noah could read minds. That sounded kooky
even to him, but there was definitely something unusual in the way the ex-human
always seemed to understand what his packmates were thinking and feeling.
"Thank you, alpha," Jordan said instead. "I promise to try my
best to live up to the faith you have in me."

"I know," the alpha said with a
decisive nod. "Make sure you and Ricky come home to visit now and
then."