Strength of the Pack (27 page)

“You’re thinking like a human,” Tim said. “You need to know Noah as a man
and
as a werewolf. Let him teach you about his culture. Those are the rules you’re playing by, now. Not ours.”

Lucas had no reply. He wanted to spend more time in Noah’s company, but he dreaded it at the same time. He was already struggling. It would be so much worse if he came to genuinely like Noah more than he already did.

“He has begun to share parts of the werewolf culture with me,” Lucas confessed. “Mostly about the relationships between previous Alphas and Dominants.”

“It’s a start.” Tim took a couple of steps closer. “Earlier, when I handed you the package of supplies, you started to say that you and Noah don’t do…something. Is that his choice, or yours?”

“It’s his.” Lucas knew he’d answered too hastily. “After the first full moon back at the FOB, he said he didn’t want to.”

“That night? Or at all?” Tim pushed.

Lucas struggled to remember Noah’s exact phrasing, even as he grew irritated with Tim’s prying. “He said sex after a run is different. He didn’t want to just stick it in and come.”

Tim lifted a single brow. “And? Did he say what he’d rather do?”

Lucas swallowed hard. “He said he wanted to be in a big bed with clean sheets and lots of time.”

Tim surprised Lucas with his quiet chuckle. “Who would have thought our True Alpha werewolf has a romantic streak?”

Lucas vividly remembered Noah and him jerking each other off against the wall after the last full moon. “I’m not entirely sure about that.”

“Go on, get out of here,” Tim said with a nod of his head. “I think I’ve embarrassed you enough for today.”

Relieved, Lucas gathered up his things once more. “I appreciate your concern, sir.”

“Come find me if you ever need to talk.” Madison held the office door open for him.

Lucas fled the captain’s office as quickly as he could. He was relieved to find Noah still asleep, only his pale hair visible above the blankets. Despite his efforts to move around quietly, Noah woke abruptly.

“Lucas?” he asked thickly, propping himself on an elbow and squinting against the dim morning light.

“Sorry,” Lucas whispered. “Go back to sleep.”

“What the fuck is in your hand?” Noah’s voice was angry.

Lucas glanced at the package of supplies he had been about to hide, and his heart slammed against his ribs. Before he could explain, Noah was out of the bed and pressed up against him.

He hadn’t even seen Noah move. Lucas swallowed against his tight throat and stood his ground against the werewolf’s inexplicable rage.

“We don’t use anything in that bag, so what the fuck do you have it for?” Noah growled. Slowly he circled Lucas, sniffing at his hair, his neck…the small of his back.

Noah was naked except for his dog tags. His hard, muscled body was coiled with tension. His smooth, tanned skin was taut over his bunched muscles. His morning erection brushed against Lucas as Noah moved.

“None of my wolves would be stupid enough to come near my Dominant, so that means it has to be a human.” Noah slowly stepped around in front of him. Lucas was stunned to realize it wasn’t the supplies themselves that had raised Noah’s ire but the belief that he was using them with someone else. Lucas froze when Noah dropped to his knees and nuzzled his crotch. “Who have you been fucking, Lucas?”

When Noah inhaled against his groin, white-hot rage overwhelmed Lucas. All his efforts, all his focus on Noah and the fucker had the balls to sniff around for the scent of another man?

“Get the fuck off of me!” Lucas shouted, shoving hard at Noah’s shoulders and sending him toppling backward onto their rack. Pressing his advantage, Lucas went to his knees between Noah’s splayed legs. He came down on top of Noah’s body, wrapping one hand around his throat. “You don’t talk to me that way, and you don’t touch me that way. Ever. How copy?”

“Solid copy, sir,” Noah answered, voice tight from his constricted throat

He should get up, now. Lucas knew he should let Noah up. He stayed where he was, face inches above Noah’s, feeling Noah’s hard-on pressed against his stomach. Their heavy breathing was loud in the quiet of the room.

Lucas’ cock began to harden. The heat of Noah’s body, the scent of his skin, the press of his erection against Lucas’ belly were arousing. Lucas was acutely aware of the canvas bag he’d tossed onto the blankets and what it contained. The look in Noah’s eyes was hungry and needy. Lucas’ dick throbbed in response.

“You know how I’m feeling,” Lucas said, lips hovering over Noah’s. “You’re practically inside my fucking head. You’d have known if I’d been with someone in that way.”

“I know that,” Noah replied on a gasp. “I wasn’t fully awake. My wolf saw you with the package of supplies and just reacted.”

Lucas’ heart sank. “You need to get your wolf under control, Sergeant. It showed unjustified aggression toward our company commander twice last night.”

“Don’t do that, Lucas.” Noah pleaded.

The hair on Lucas’ arms stood up. “Do what?”

“Put distance between us.” Noah’s tongue darted out to wet his lower lip. “Please…use my name. Don’t use my rank. I want you to call my wolf ‘he’ instead of ‘it’.
Please
.” He looked as though it had been painful to ask for these things.

Slowly, carefully, Lucas reached out to that place in his head where Noah always waited. He worked so hard to keep himself closed off, telling himself it was for Noah’s sake. Now it seemed that connection was exactly what Noah needed.

Lucas gasped when Noah’s swirling emotions flooded him. Lust and arousal were the strongest. Admiration and affection flavored everything. Confusion pushed its way in as Lucas realized Noah wanted to use the supplies he knew were in the canvas bag. At the same time, Noah rejected the idea of their first time taking place in a strange country, on an uncomfortable bedroll, rushed to completion because of their shared responsibilities.

Drawing a shaky breath, Lucas released Noah’s throat. Again, Noah’s wolf surged to the surface, angry that Lucas didn’t need them as badly as they needed him.

“Turn over, Noah,” Lucas ordered as firmly as he could manage, carefully using Noah’s name. “Get on your hands and knees.”

Noah’s body quivered as he quickly, obediently, turned onto his belly and pressed up onto his hands and knees. Noah’s wolf was silent, appeased by Lucas’ dominance. Lucas could almost taste Noah’s desire and his hope that Lucas knew what it was he needed.

Running his hands over Noah’s firm ass and up his lower back, Lucas was assailed by Noah’s memories from the night before. He was bombarded with visions of the two of them lying naked and entwined. Lucas was feeling Noah’s pleasure at having their bare skin pressed together as they slept.

Without thinking about it, Lucas stripped off his fleece. Keeping one hand on Noah’s naked hip, Lucas worked to unlace one boot then the other. He struggled out of his clothing, carefully keeping physical contact with Noah the entire time.

When he was finally as naked as Noah, Lucas pressed his hard cock to the cleft of Noah’s ass and stretched along his back. Beneath him, Noah shuddered. He made a sound that almost sounded like a sob. Lucas felt Noah’s elation and smiled against the skin of his shoulder.

Slowly kneeling up, Lucas dragged his chest down Noah’s back. He reached for the discarded canvas. Tearing it open, Lucas dumped the contents onto the blankets in front of Noah. He pretended to search through the bottles and foil packets, as if making a selection. Lucas sensed that Noah didn’t care which lube he used, he only wanted Lucas to hurry and make his choice.

Lucas blindly snatched up a bottle. He tore off the wrapping and popped open the lid. Lucas poured the clear slick onto one finger. Noah’s harsh breathing drowned out most other sounds. Lucas felt Noah’s tension, saw his muscles tremble with it. Noah must have sensed his concern. He pushed a thought at Lucas that begged him to hurry.

Firmly gripping Noah’s hip with his free hand, Lucas slowly pushed his lubed finger into Noah’s tightly clenched hole. Noah pushed back into him, groaning loudly. An intense wave of relief and joy swamped them both, but Noah was its source.

Lucas slowly slid his finger out of Noah’s ass. Gently, he pushed back in. Noah’s body was hot around him. His muscles relaxed around Lucas’ finger, eagerly taking it inside.

“Oh, fuck, Lucas,” Noah whispered hoarsely.

Carefully withdrawing his hand, Lucas slathered two fingers with lube. He gripped Noah’s hip hard, intending to leave marks. Roughly, he pushed his fingers into Noah’s puckered asshole.

Noah gave a sharp cry of pleasure and pushed back hard into Lucas. Sweat beaded on his bronzed skin. His muscles rippled as he moved against Lucas. Twisting his wrist, Lucas fucked Noah’s ass with his hand, shoving his fingers in deep and stretching Noah’s rim as he withdrew.

This time, when Lucas pulled his fingers free, he coated three of them with the cool slick. Awkwardly, he managed to squeeze a puddle of lube into the palm of his other hand. Noah’s grunt became a low growl when Lucas shoved three fingers deep into his ass.

“Don’t you ever accuse me of being with anyone else, Noah,” Lucas ordered harshly. “It’s disrespectful. Mostly, it pisses me off.”

“I won’t, Lucas,” Noah gasped.

Lucas stretched Noah’s asshole with his fingers. He plunged them in deep, feeling the slick inner walls clench around him. When Noah fell into a rhythm pushing back against him, Lucas reached around his hip and grasped his bouncing erection.

“Ah, Jesus, fuck,” Noah cried as his arms nearly gave out on him.

Lucas stroked Noah’s cock, spreading the lube and squeezing hard at the head. “I know just what you need,” he hissed against the slick skin of Noah’s back. “I know what your body wants, don’t I?”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Noah chanted.

Lucas curled his fingers downward, and he found the firm gland he sought. Noah shouted wordlessly. As Lucas fucked his fingers in and out of Noah’s ass, he bumped his fingertips against that gland. At the same time, he stroked Noah’s cock quickly.

He was relentless. Lucas worked Noah’s hole and jerked his cock. A violent shudder rocked Noah’s large frame. He didn’t seem to know whether he needed to fuck back into Lucas’ body or forward into his hand.

Noah’s arms finally gave out and he fell forward onto the blankets. “Lucas,” he cried desperately.

Noah’s cock swelled and pulsed in Lucas’ hand. He slowed his movements on Noah’s dick. Lucas kept up the stretch on Noah’s hole and the pressure on his prostate. “Do you need to come?” Lucas asked.

“Yes, I’m gonna come,” Noah answered.

“Not until I tell you to,” Lucas ordered, rubbing unrelentingly at Noah’s gland. “Do you want to come?”

“Yes, Lucas.”

“Are you close?”

“Fuck yes.”

“Beg me to let you come.”

“Please, Lucas, I need to come. Please. Fuck I’m close. Lucas, please.”

Pressing his lips to Noah’s spine, Lucas sped up his hand on Noah’s cock. “You can come now, Noah.”

Noah keened, high in his throat. It sounded almost like a howl. His cock twitched violently, his body vibrated. His ass clenched tight around Lucas’ fingers. Lucas could smell Noah’s come, and he closed his eyes and pictured it coating the rough blankets beneath them.

He was caught off guard when Noah’s entire body collapsed. Lucas tried to be careful when he pulled his fingers free of Noah’s ass. Noah’s hiss told him he’d been unsuccessful. Lucas skimmed his hands over Noah’s heaving sides, soothing and comforting him as he struggled to catch his breath.

The scent of come was heavy in the air, and Lucas’ cock ached. He wanted to bury himself in Noah’s ass. Noah’s wishes were clear, though. He wanted to wait. Lucas had another idea.

Snatching up the lube bottle, Lucas drizzled a generous amount into the cleft of Noah’s ass. Satisfied with the slickness, Lucas tossed the bottle aside. He eased his shaft between Noah’s ass cheeks, using it to spread the slick.

“Come against me,” Noah asked, his words sluggish. “I want to feel you. I want to smell you.”

Lucas flexed his hips. He slid his cock along the hot flesh of Noah’s ass. His balls slapped loudly against the backs of Noah’s thighs. Looking down, Lucas watched the swollen, red head of his erection disappear between Noah’s ass cheeks, then emerge, shiny and slick.

The base of his spine tingled. Heat rolled through his hips and into his belly. Lucas’ balls lifted and swelled. His body clenched and ceased all motion as the first rope of come shot from the end of his dick and landed on Noah’s back.

“Fuck, Noah,” he breathed as his body convulsed, and he coated Noah’s sweaty skin in pearlescent come. He struggled to breathe, and the top of his head felt like it was about to come off.

As the final tremor rolled through him, Lucas collapsed on top of Noah’s slick body. They both breathed heavy and within moments, their breathing had synced up.

A small tendril of anxiety dulled Lucas’ high. It took him several moments to realize it wasn’t his own.