Riley's Downfall [Brac Pack 29] (7 page)

“ Spill,” Riley said as he rounded on Bryce. “I know damn well Pa did not send you all the way out here for milk.”
“Suspicious, are we?” Bryce teased, knowing Riley was probably going to hand him his ass for fucking with him. The man didn’t have one damn humorous bone in his body.
“No. I know my family like the back of my hand,” Riley said as he leaned back casually against Bryce’s truck, his arms folding over his chest. “So, why are you out here?”
Bryce gave a nod, knowing he couldn’t fool his eldest brother. He scanned the village, seeing a few elven men glancing his way curiously, and spotted Chey standing over by the outhouse, talking with Max. “I see the grey wolves made it here.”
“They came in last night. I wasn’t aware they were coming, though. Maverick should have told me he was sending medical help as well as someone to train the sentinels.”
Bryce looked over his shoulder at Riley, his brows furrowing. “Sentinels?”
Riley squatted down, picking up a stick from the ground and tossing it. “They have a few men who are supposed to guard the village. But they aren’t doing a bang-up job. Vampires keep attacking because of the feys’ sweet-smelling blood. Eagle has agreed to train the sentinels so they can defend their people better.”
“Huh, I didn’t know about that. I thought Ahm was supposed to only find a leader and a healer for them.”
Riley shrugged, gazing over to where Sterling was standing. Bryce could see the love gleaming in his oldest brother’s eyes as he studied his mate. It did Bryce’s heart good to know Riley had finally found his mate. But he also knew that Riley wasn’t going to skip down the road to blissful mating happily. The man was going to grouch his way down the entire path.
No matter how much he and the twins had tried to pull the proverbial stick out of Riley’s ass over the years, his brother had squeezed his butt cheeks tightly and kept it lodged deeply. It was a shame, too. The few times Riley did laugh or joke, Bryce found the man witty, and his humor was well timed. He would have made an excellent prankster if he hadn’t been so moody.
“It’s only been one day. Besides”—Riley stood, brushing his hands off—“this place isn’t so bad. It lacks modern conveniences, but I’ve dealt with worse.”
“Pa sent me to ask how bad the attacks are. He wants to know if you need Maverick to send some of his sentries.” Bryce hadn’t been looking forward to giving that bit of news to Riley. The man prided himself on taking care of his family, and Bryce wasn’t sure if Riley would be pissed that help was offered. Sometimes Riley could be too damn proud.
“I’m not sure, Bryce. There was an attack last night, but Max, Eagle, and I handled it. Until I see how bad it really is, tell Maverick to hold off on help. I don’t want shifters crowding the village and making the fey feel as if they are being taken over.”
Bryce blinked at Riley. Had the man just talked calmly to him about having help? Maybe being mated was a good thing for Riley, or maybe the man was a clone. This new Riley was scaring Bryce. He wasn’t used to his oldest brother acting this way.
He was going to have to tell the twins, just as soon as he got over his goddamn heart attack.

Riley couldn ’t help the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth as he watched Bacon follow behind Sterling with a happy bounce. There was a gentleness in Sterling that even the animals could detect, and Riley was starting to see it as clear as day. He had been so busy running from his mate that he had never taken the time to get to know what made Sterling tick.

The man looked at the world with an amused wonder, and he was starting to make Riley do the same. Who would have thought that Riley would have been the one to change? He had sworn that he wouldn’t give his heart to his mate once he found him. He had sworn that he would never fall in love. And Riley had also sworn that his mate was going to do what he said and that was final.

Oh, how wrong he had been.
He was starting to see what his pa meant when he had told Riley that he would understand when he found his mate. Riley had thought his pa foolish at the time, but now he was seeing that his pa knew what he was talking about.
He was starting to see why his brothers acted like goobers for their mates. Sterling had Riley’s heart in the palm of his hand, and Riley hadn’t even realized his mate had taken it. A grin overtook his features as he watched Sterling talking to Warrior. His horse was probably just as confused as Riley felt, but the damn horse looked like he was listening. The grin on Riley’s face was so wide that his cheeks began to hurt.
“Oh, my god. Is that a smile on your face?” Bryce asked in mock astonishment.
“Shut the fuck up.” Riley glared at Bryce, but couldn’t hold the expression. Sterling was definitely getting to him. He chuckled as he turned his back to his brother. “Go harass an elven.”
Riley started when a tall and elegant fey appeared right in front of him. He hated when the fey or vampires did that. It was creepy as hell.
Before Riley had a chance to ask the elven man what he wanted, he heard a quick intake of breath and glanced over at Bryce to see his brother’s eyes grow wide and then narrow as he growled.
“Whoa!” Riley shouted, but was too late to stop his brother as Bryce punched the fey square on his jaw. The fey flew off of his feet, hitting the dirt hard.
“You bastard!” Bryce shouted as Riley grabbed his brother, pushing him back from the fallen man.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Bryce?” Riley asked as he blocked Bryce from getting another shot in. “Calm the hell down.”
“You fucking knew and you kept it from me!” Bryce stabbed a finger at the man as he took a step back, his eyes becoming flat and as unreadable as stones.
The fey pulled himself up from the ground, his jaw clenching as he raked his eyes over Bryce. It wasn’t a friendly look. “It was better this way.”
“For you!”
Riley watched as Bryce’s grey eyes went from unreadable to pain filled in under a second. They were glowing with hurt as his brother spun around and headed for his truck.
Riley turned toward the fey, totally lost. “Who the hell are you?”
The man’s eyes were fixed on Bryce, but he answered Riley. “Ahm.”
This was Ahm? He wasn’t blue. He was white. Riley could have sworn he was told that the leader of the shadow elves was blue.
“What in the hell is going on?” Riley asked Ahm.
“That is between Bryce and me.” Ahm disappeared, leaving Riley to scratch his head. Bryce’s truck tires spun, the truck leapt forward, and then his brother was hauling ass out of the village.
What in the hell had he missed?
He hadn’t even found out why Ahm had appeared in the first place.
“Is everything all right?” Sterling asked as he neared Riley, a worried expression on his face.
“Hell if I know,” Riley answered honestly. “But it has nothing to do with me.” Even though he didn’t like the hurt he had seen shining in Bryce’s eyes. He would do anything to protect his family, but he had a feeling this was out of his hands.
Riley glanced down at Sterling and almost groaned. His mate’s grey eyes were compelling, magnetic as he gazed up at Riley. His cock jerked and then began to thicken in his pants. He had a lot to accomplish today, but all he could think about was fucking Sterling into the dirt floor of their hut.
Surprise showed deeply in Sterling’s eyes, and then a knowing smile turned his lips up. “I’m going to take a nap.”
Not if I have any say about it
. Riley glanced around and then hurried behind his mate, twisting his lips as he glanced down at Bacon who was trailing behind Sterling. He picked the pig up from the ground and quickly jogged over to Chey.
“Pigsit for me.” He shoved Bacon into Chey’s arms and then raced back across the village, hurrying into his hut. Riley stumbled and his back hit the wall when Sterling leapt at him.
“Hold still.”
“Yes, sir.” Riley wasn’t sure what his mate was about to do, but he was anxious to find out. The heated look in Sterling’s eyes was only promising that Riley was about to have a good time. He was all for that. He would take whatever Sterling had to offer, and more.
Sterling dropped to his knees, quickly freeing Riley’s cock, and then he moved swiftly and engulfed Riley’s straining erection down his throat.
“Oh, fuck!”
Sterling sucked hard and fast as he reached down and cupped Riley’s sac in his hand, rolling his balls around and massaging them at the same time. Riley leaned heavier into the wall as his fingers grabbed Sterling’s dark-blond hair gruffly, feeling his knees begin to shake already. The man knew how to suck cock. He was using his throat muscles to milk Riley’s erection and send him into the stratosphere. Sterling was acting as if he didn’t have a gag reflex.
Fuck yeah!

“ That’s it, hon. Suck my cock.” Riley hissed and moaned, his legs quivering when Sterling began to hum, sending vibrations down his shaft and straight to his nuts.

His body tightened, and Riley clenched his jaw, fighting back his release. Sterling’s mouth was so hot and moist that Riley never wanted to leave it. Riley’s cock glided in and out of the moist heat at an alarming rate. As much as he wanted to stretch this out, Riley knew Sterling’s talented lips were going to push him over the edge in no time flat. He was willing to bet that his mate could suck a golf ball through a water hose.

Riley could feel Sterling ’s tongue tracing the veins of his cock, his cheeks hollowed. He was sucking hard, fast, and ferociously. The wet slurping sounds of his mouth gliding up and down Riley’s erection made Riley’s toes curl and his fist tighten in the man’s hair.

Sterling grabbed Riley ’s hips, stopping him from thrusting into the younger man’s mouth. Riley fought to stay still, but the blow job was so fucking amazing. Sterling knew what the hell he was doing as he bobbed his head back and forth, taking Riley down his throat.

Riley gave a low growl when Sterling glanced up at him, a mixture of amusement and heat in his eyes. Riley cupped his mate’s jaw, feeling the muscles under his fingers work as Sterling worked to bring Riley off.

With their eyes focused on each other, Sterling pulled his lips tight over Riley’s shaft. The move was slow, leisurely, as Riley’s cock slowly appeared from between Sterling’s swollen lips. Riley threw his head back, feeling it smack against the hut. If he kept watching his mate, he was going to explode.

Like a moth drawn to a flame, Riley ’s eyes slowly moved back down to what Sterling was doing. His eyes hooded when their eyes locked, and then Sterling grabbed Riley’s cock as his tongue licked a path up one side of his shaft, a moan rumbling in his chest.

The little imp was seducing him!
Sterling swallowed him down, teasing and stroking Riley’s cock to some inaudible beat. He was pushing Riley to a rapid climax, the man’s tongue pressing against Riley’s pulsing length. Riley groaned as he felt his cock swell further inside Sterling’s mouth, pressing against the roof as Sterling opened wider.

Riley shouted and rose up on the balls of his feet when Sterling pulled at his sac and swallowed him down to the root. Riley’s grip tightened in the younger man’s hair to the point Riley was afraid he would rip Sterling’s hair out as his cum splashed down the back of Sterling’s throat. His mate pressed his face into Riley’s groin, drinking down every last drop, and then pulled back, lapping at the head as if he wanted more.

When Sterling leaned back to smile up at Riley, he saw that his mate had his own cock in his hand, his fingers shining from his orgasm.

Riley was boneless as he leaned against the wall, his legs quivering. “Now I’m the one who needs a nap.”
Sterling grinned and then frowned. “Where’s Bacon?”
Riley tucked himself back into his pants. “I’ll go get him.” He left Sterling as he went in search of Chey. He knew that he wasn’t going to get any rest until his mate knew his pet was safe from Iam and his posse of pork eaters.

Riley smacked his cell phone on the palm of his hand, cursing when he still had no bars. He would have to be in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. How was he supposed to call his pa, smoke signals? He walked around the village, holding his hand high up in the air as he tried to catch a signal anywhere.

“ You look like you’re worshiping a cell phone god,” Sterling said with a wide grin on his face as he walked over to Riley. “You better watch out or Iam will try and roast that next.”

“ He might as well. It’s useless.” Riley lowered his arm, smacking the phone with his hand again. “The damn thing has never lost signal before.”

“ I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had one.”
Riley’s brows shot up in surprise. “Never?”
Sterling shook his head. “Nope.”
“How in the hell do you live without one?”
Sterling shrugged. “I can’t miss what I’ve never had. Besides,

God, Riley would go nuts if he couldn ’t use a phone when he needed to. He remembered the time before cell phones were invented. It had been a pain in the ass to try and find a pay phone, and he had to drive all the way back to the house when out and about if he wanted to talk to anyone at home.

Of course, back then, he hadn ’t lived in a rural community like this. But he still had a signal on the ranch.
“Eagle, Max, and Chey have a fire going. They’ve invited us to sit with them. Maybe one of them has a phone that works.” Sterling offered Riley a small, shy smile, and then he walked across the village to the spot where a fire was brightly crackling.
Riley swallowed hard.
He’d had sex with Sterling. He had claimed his mate. He even received some damn good head. But now was the time to put up or shut up. He was either going to openly cuddle his mate with witnesses or run and hide in their hut.
He was sweating bullets.
Riley shoved his cell phone into his pocket and glanced around. He saw a few fey mingling with each other, talking quietly, and a few laughing at what the other said. He glanced over at the fire and saw how Eagle held Chey in the apex of his legs as Max leaned close and whispered in his ear.
He also saw Sterling sitting across the fire by himself, looking a bit nervous and so damn breathtaking that Riley’s chest hurt. Sterling was trying to smile as he replied to something Chey said, putting all of his attention on the small piglet cradled in his arms as if that was all he needed in the world.
Riley shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked across the village to the roaring fire. He saw Sterling’s eyes flicker up to him and then dart away, and he wished more than anything that he hadn’t put that hesitant look on his mate’s face. Sterling didn’t know what to expect from him, and it seemed that the gorgeous little man was too afraid to ask.
Riley sighed. He had done this. His standoffish ways had made his mate hesitant to ask for what he wanted. Sterling wasn’t asking for the world. He wasn’t even asking Riley to run around the village professing his love. He just wanted to be shown a little kindness and affection from his mate outside the bedroom.
You can do this, Riley told himself as he walked past the fire to sit on the log next to Sterling. He just had to figure out
how
to do it. Open displays of affection were not something Riley was used to, despite having grown up with his father and his brothers. He didn’t mind the occasional slap on the back, but he knew nothing about cuddling with his mate.
And that kind of sucked now that he needed that knowledge the most.
Especially since Sterling kept shooting him little looks under the fall of his hair as if waiting for something. As the minutes passed, Riley could see Sterling’s shoulders start to slump as if he realized that Riley wasn’t going to cuddle with him. Sterling drew in a deep breath and straightened his shoulders, hugging Bacon closer to his chest like a lifeline.
And then he smiled as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.
Riley glanced across the fire to where Eagle sat with Chey cradled between his legs. Chey was talking to Sterling, and Sterling was even replying. Eagle and Max just kept looking at Riley strangely.
Riley couldn’t stand it anymore. The inch or two between him and Sterling seemed a mile wide. He scooted over just a little and nudged Sterling’s shoulder with his thigh. Sterling glanced at him, his face flushing furiously before he looked away.
Riley grinned and scooted closer until their bodies were pressed together. Riley could feel every breath that Sterling took and they were increasing in speed. He even felt the hitch in Sterling’s breathing when he looped his arm around Sterling’s shoulder.
And then he tugged.
The air rushed out of Sterling’s lungs in a loud whoosh, and he almost dropped Bacon as he lost his balance. Riley quickly reached down and put his hand under Bacon’s rump and pushed him back up against Sterling’s chest.
“Careful, baby,” he murmured into Sterling’s ear. “Bacon could get hurt if you drop her.”
Sterling’s light-grey eyes were huge on his face as he tilted his head back and looked up at Riley. He seemed to have lost the ability to speak, which was stranger than shit. He just nodded. Riley liked that he could make his mate speechless. It felt kind of like winning the lottery.
He wanted to experience it again.
Riley scooped Sterling and Bacon up in his arms and placed them between his legs. He wrapped an arm around both of them and then slid down the log to sit on the ground, leaning back against the log. Sterling’s body was stiff when Riley pulled the man back against his body, but after a few moments, he slowly began to relax.
When Riley looked up, Eagle, Max, and Chey were all grinning at him. Riley kind of felt like the world’s biggest goober, but he wasn’t doing anything that they weren’t doing. And Sterling was smiling.
Did anything else matter?
Riley let his right arm dangle over Sterling’s shoulder, as he bent his right leg up, sitting back casually, letting his mate get as comfortable as needed. It felt good no longer being“the guy without a mate” when everyone else had theirs right next to them.
Although Riley wasn’t sure about all the kissy-face things he had seen his brothers do with their mates when they were out in the public eye. He wasn’t sure he was up for that yet.
One step at a time.
“Zeus tells me you’re the oldest of seven boys,” Max said conversationally. “That’s a lot of siblings. I would have gone nuts with so many brothers.”
“He’s an only child.” Chey supplied the information about his mate.
Riley waved the dangling hand slightly. “It has its moments.”
Sterling snorted and waved a hand up at Riley. “His brothers drive him nuts. They are comical as hell and like to play practical jokes pretty much all of the time. Riley is the serious one. His face goes seven shades of red when the twins mess with him. I only have one brother, but from the way the Lakeland men act, I would love to have them as brothers as well.”
Riley’s heart skipped a sudden beat. Didn’t Sterling know that he was family now? They may not be his brothers, but he did have fifteen brothers-in-law to keep him happy. In the Lakeland household, that was pretty much the same thing.
Max and Eagle must have been thinking along the same lines because they stared at Sterling strangely, and then their eyes flickered over to Riley. He realized in that moment how piss-poor of a job he had been doing with his mate. The guy didn’t know the first thing about what it meant to be mated.
“Sterling,” Riley began and then cleared his throat, feeling uncomfortable as hell saying anything in front of their company. “You have fifteen brothers-in-law and two fathers-in-law.” He made sure to include Oscar and Cole.
Sterling’s head snapped up at Riley, his eyes wide, as if he hadn’t thought about that fact. Riley saw the sheer joy bounce in his mate’s light-grey eyes as he laughed. “I do, don’t I?”
Riley licked his dry lips, staring down Sterling’s smile and feeling a need rise in him to taste that bit of sunshine. Oh, gods, he was actually going to kiss his mate in public.
The skinny little chatty human had become Riley’s downfall.
And he couldn’t find it in him to care at the moment.
The hairs on the back of Riley’s neck stood on end when a loud scream suddenly tore through the darkness. Riley stiffened as anxiety filled him. He tightened his hold around Sterling and then lifted his head into the air, waiting for another one—something, anything, that would tell him which direction the scream had come from.
When the gut-wrenching sound came again, Riley jumped to his feet, dragging Sterling up with him. “Max, can you and Chey go with Sterling back to our hut? I’m going to feel a lot better if you all stay together.”
“On it,” Max said as he jumped to his feet and reached back for Chey.
“Riley—”
Riley grabbed Sterling’s face between his hands, leaning down to claim a small kiss before staring into his mate’s terror-filled eyes. “I need you to stay here, Sterling. I need you to be safe. Can you do that for me?”
Sterling swallowed, but nodded, clutching Bacon to his chest. Riley smiled and reached down to ruffle Bacon’s head. “Take good care of Bacon. We’ll be back soon.”
Riley had a very hard time concentrating on anything as he watched Max and Chey walk away with his mate. He knew Sterling needed to be somewhere safe. The man was not a fighter. But not having Sterling under his watchful eyes was agonizing.
“Come.”
Riley tore his eyes away from the doorway Sterling had disappeared through and turned to face Eagle. The man was already hurrying away into the darkness, his moves stealthy and quiet. Riley hurried to catch up. They were headed to the south end of the village, the direction the screams came from.
But, now, it was eerily quiet, almost too quiet. Granted, it was dark out, but there had been people out and about just moments before. Now, the path that wove between dwellings was totally vacant. Riley found it rather strange that no one ran in the direction of the screams or even peeked out of the doorways in curiosity.
Everyone was curious, weren’t they?
Who didn’t look when chaos could be heard?
He thought it was a normal reaction, but apparently these elves didn’t think so.
Unless the fey here knew more about what was going on than they were telling, which Riley was strongly beginning to think was the case. He had been met only with resistance since the moment he arrived. Maybe there was just a bit more going on here than anyone really knew.
Riley stepped everywhere that Eagle stepped, ensuring his moves were just as quiet. He wasn’t sure who or what was out there, but he wasn’t going to announce their arrival by snapping any twigs or rustling any leaves.
The darkness felt like a black veil of evil had settled over them, and the only thing lighting their way was the sliver of a moon that illuminated parts of the forest around them. It was so quiet that Riley couldn’t even hear the crickets. There was something out there. He could feel the chill deep in his bones. A twinge, a twang, a niggle, whatever it was, settled in the back of Riley’s neck, making him ultraaware that he and Eagle were not the only ones in the woods.
Riley had roamed around in his bear form at night, but he had never been a soldier and wasn’t used to creeping up on the bad guy. The Lakelands had their fair share of fighting, but he had never gone covert like this before.
Eagle raised his hand, signaling Riley to stop.
Riley stilled, holding his breath as he looked past Eagle’s shoulder and felt ice fill his veins. There were two men standing by an oak tree, and they had a fey pinned to it. The fey’s eyes were rolled to the back of his head as one of the men leaned forward and bit into the fey’s shoulder.
Riley’s lip pulled back into a growl. He was not going to stand by and watch the fey be drained by two vampires. Not while he still held air in his lungs. He rushed forward, taking the men by surprise and knocking the one drinking from the fey on his ass.
And then things went south.
“Riley, no!” Eagle shouted from behind him. “They’re not vampires!”
Riley glanced over his shoulder and thought better of taking his eyes off of the men a little too late. He was backhanded so hard that he flew off of his feet and landed a good five feet away. His head hit the ground and his saw a burst of stars before his eyes.
Riley rolled to his hands and knees, shaking it off, and then he was kicked in the gut. His breath whooshed from his body as he rolled through the forest, his hands scraping against rocks and twigs. Just what in the fuck were these things?
“Stay down, bear!” the intruder warned in a lecherous tone that made Riley want to obey. But, he was Riley. That wasn’t going to happen. He was stubborn if nothing else.
Riley chuckled and it was dry and cynical as he pushed to his feet. He could see Eagle fighting the other man, and the grey wolf wasn’t winning. He was pinned to the tree, fighting to get the other man off of him.
“Behind their ear!” Eagle shouted as he head-butted the guy. “Stab them in the mark behind their ear, Riley.”
“Yeah, Riley,” the creature said mockingly as his fingers waved toward the palm of his hand in a challenge.“Come stab me behind my ear…if you can.”
“They’re hellhounds. Don’t let them bite you,” Eagle shouted before shoving his elbow into the creature’s face. Riley could hear the crack from where he was standing. Eagle had broken the man’s nose.
Riley thought quickly as the man in front of him started to circle around Riley. He didn’t have anything on him to stab the man with. As he crouched and circled, a feeling of total misery washed over him. He felt like he would never be happy again.
Why was Sterling even wasting his time on someone like Riley? He was boring, aloof, and a moody bastard. If he was Sterling, Riley would have left his ass from the beginning. Sterling deserved better. He deserved a mate like Bryce or Chauncey, someone fun loving, not grouchy and moody like Riley. Sterling was too young for him, too innocent. Riley should just walk away from the slim human and let him find real happiness.
Wait, that wasn’t right. Riley knew that it wasn’t him who was making all of his insecurities and doubts surface. Someone else was pushing his worst fears to the light. Everyone had worries when it came to the most important person in their life. But there was no way in hell Riley was giving Sterling up.
He pushed the thoughts deep down inside, crushing them under the weight of how he truly felt about Sterling. He wasn’t going to second-guess his feelings. He wasn’t going to allow any negative thoughts to ruin what he was just discovering.
It had to be the hound making him feel this way.
Riley fell to his back and rolled when the man lunged forward. He saw the lethal claws the man had swiped at him scratch the air his head only moments before had occupied. He quickly rose to his feet and took a boxing stance. Hell, he didn’t have any other choice. Even if he shifted, he wasn’t sure he could win.
The man threw his head back and laughed.“Are you fucking serious?”
Riley shrugged and then feigned left, catching the man on the jaw with a right hook. He shuffled his feet around, taunting the man. “Stick and move, asshole, stick and move.”
The guy growled and shifted, turning into the biggest fucking rottweiler Riley had ever seen. Taking a step back, Riley shifted as well. He had no choice.
Either shift or get mauled
. Besides his father, Riley was the biggest of his brothers in bear form, but he wasn’t too sure even with his added weight that he could take this dog down.
Riley roared when he saw Eagle fall on his ass, and then the wolf kicked his foot into the man’s gut, effectively flipping the guy over Eagle’s head. Damn, the man was good. He would be an excellent trainer for the elves.