Luke's Surprise Read online

Chapter Four

  A loud bang woke Luke with a start. He sat bolt upright in bed, clutching the sheets to him as he dazedly looked around his room in confusion.

  “What was that?” Mark asked, himself still groggy from sleep.

  “I don’t know, I think it came from the yard. I’d better go check it out.”

  Luke got out of bed and began pulling on his jeans.

  “Not without me you don’t,” Mark said, leaping from bed and reaching for his own jeans.

  When they finished dressing, Mark followed Luke out of the bedroom. They ran into Kelan in the hall.

  “Did you hear that too?” Luke asked, noting his brother’s fixed shoulders and tightly set lips.

  “It sounded like a gunshot,” Kelan replied, his eyebrows pulling together in a frown. “I’m gonna go check it out.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Luke said, following his brother down the stairs.

  “No way,” Mark said quickly. “I’ll go with Kelan. You can stay inside the house.”

  “What? I’m not staying anywhere. I’m going to go help my brother.”

  “Oh, no you’re not,” Mark insisted. “There’s no way I’m letting you go outside. It could be dangerous.”

  Luke gaped at Mark open-mouthed. He couldn’t believe his mate’s nerve.

  “You’re not letting me? Who in the hell are you to tell me what to do?” Luke glared at Mark.

  “I am your mate!” Mark fumed.

  “Are you two sure you only just met?” Kelan asked, his mouth curled up in a smirk. “You sound like an old married couple.”

  “He started it,” Luke said, petulantly. “Tell him.”

  Kelan rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “What are we, in second grade? I’m telling both of you. Cut it out. And for what it’s worth, Luke, I happen to agree with Mark. We don’t all need to go out there. You stay here and wait for us. We won’t be long. If we need anything we’ll call, okay?”

  Luke stared back and forth between his brother and his mate. He couldn’t believe this. Kelan raised an eyebrow, daring him to argue, and Mark just looked smug.

  “Fine, whatever. I’ll just stay here like the good little wife, shall I?” he said, stomping off into the kitchen.

  Mark tried to hide his smile as he watched Luke walk off in a huff. Seemed as though Luke had quite the temper on him at times. He looked over at Kelan, who looked just as amused by Luke’s tantrum as he was.

  “Is he always like this?”

  “You haven’t seen anything yet,” Kelan chuckled. “Come on, let’s get this over and done with so I can get back to bed.”

  That sounded like a plan Mark would be only too happy to put into action, but he wasn’t sure how easily Luke would accept him back in his bed after their argument. He was almost out the front door when Luke came rushing in from the kitchen. He crossed the room and stood in front of Mark, eyes to the ground.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, bashfully. “I don’t want to argue with you. Be careful, okay?”

  Mark wrapped his arms around Luke’s waist and pulled the smaller man close for a kiss. “I promise.”

  Mark felt all of his tension leave his body. It felt good to have his mate in his arms. He didn’t like Luke being angry with him. Even though he barely knew Luke, his opinion mattered. Mark could easily see it becoming everything to him. He wanted to please his mate any way he could. He wanted to take away Luke’s frown and replace it with his beautiful and radiant smile.

  “I’m sorry too,” Mark said. “It just made me nervous to think of you out there where you could be in danger. I’ve only just found you and I couldn’t stand it if something were to happen to you.”

  “I know,” Luke whispered. “I feel the same.”

  Outside, the yard was quiet and sat in darkness, illuminated only by the light shining out of the kitchen window. Of course, Mark’s and Kelan’s wolf eyesight meant they could see perfectly well in the low light conditions.

  Mark’s senses told him that he and Kelan were currently alone in the yard, but he could smell the lingering scents of wolves.

  “Do you smell that?” he asked, following Kelan to the barn.

  “Yeah, wolves. I’m picking up two scents but I don’t recognise either of them. How about you?”

  Mark shook his head and frowned. “What do you think they were doing here? Nothing seems to be out of place.”

  “I don’t know, but it’s a shame they left in such a hurry. I have a few questions I’d like to ask them.”

  “Do you think it was cubs playing around?”

  “No, the scents are from older wolves, I’m sure of it.”

  Mark raised an eyebrow at Kelan’s response. He had no idea how old the wolves were or how many there were, but maybe alphas had a better sense of smell than ordinary wolves like himself.

  The barn was empty when they reached it and nothing looked as though it had been disturbed. It took them ten minutes to check the horses and the other outbuildings. When Kelan was satisfied nothing had been taken, they made their way back to the house.

  The scent of wolves grew stronger as they neared the front of the property once again. Mark didn’t like it. Not this close to his mate. Kelan walked around the side of his truck and stopped short, cursing loudly.

  “Son of a bitch!”

  “What’s wrong?” Mark asked, joining Kelan by the truck.

  “Guess that explains what the noise was. They shot out a tyre on my truck.” Kelan crouched down to inspect the damage.

  “Why would anyone do that?”

  “I don’t know, but I intend to find out.”

  “You don’t think this has anything to do with Joe, do you? He was pretty angry when we left today.”

  “The man’s an ass, all right, but he’s too much of a coward to do something like this. His new hands I can’t vouch for, though. They’ve only just joined the pack.”

  “Do you mean Dan and Lyle?”

  “Yeah, they moved here a couple of weeks ago from a pack in Ohio. Haven’t really had the chance to get to know them.”

  “I didn’t really talk to them much, but one thing’s for sure—they are definitely homophobic. You should have seen the look on their faces when you told Joe you were gay… Disgusted doesn’t even cover it.”

  “Hmm. Maybe I’ll have a little chat with them.”

  “Do you think someone is deliberately challenging your authority?”

  Even though it was the dead of night, Mark could tell that Kelan’s eyes had darkened. He could smell the anger pouring off Kelan in waves. In Mark’s own pack, an act like this against the alpha wolf would have been seen as a direct challenge to his position. Maybe someone wanted Kelan’s pack for themselves.

  “I don’t know, doesn’t seem all that likely. If they wanted to challenge me they’d have stuck around, not skulked off like cowards.”

  Mark wasn’t so sure but he didn’t argue. His only thought was for his mate. He didn’t like the fact that wolves with guns had been anywhere near Luke. He shuffled his feet, looking back nervously at the kitchen window. Kelan looked up at him and grinned.

  “Man, you’ve got it bad, haven’t you?” Kelan chuckled. “Come on, let’s get you back to your mate. We can deal with this in the morning.”

  “Thanks.”

  Mark called out for Luke as soon as he entered the house. Luke appeared in the doorway, his face breaking into a wide smile as soon as his eyes met Mark’s. He crossed the room quickly and practically fell into Mark’s arms.

  “Thank god you’re alright. I was worried.”

  Mark wrapped his arms around Luke and kissed the top of his head. He could relax now that he knew his mate was safe.

  “I’m all right too,” Kelan muttered, as he passed. “In case you were wondering.”

  Luke grinned, the heat rising in his cheeks.

  “Uh yeah, sorry, I’m glad you’re okay too, bro.”

  “Right,” Kelan said dryly.

/>   “What happened out there? Did you find anything?”

  “Yeah, the tire of my damn truck has been shot out. It was wolves, two of them, but I didn’t recognise the scents. They were long gone by the time Mark and I got there.”

  “Who do you think it could have been?”

  “I don’t know, Luke. But the mood I’m in tonight, they’re lucky I didn’t catch them. Anyway, I’m going back to bed. Could you please try to keep the noise down?” Kelan raised an amused eyebrow at his brother.

  Luke groaned and hid his face against Mark’s chest. Mark could only laugh at the embarrassment his mate was trying to hide. Luke was so cute. It was rare to find a wolf that embarrassed so easily. After all, wolves were used to walking around naked together before and after they shifted into their wolf form.

  “It’s not funny,” Luke huffed, slapping Mark on the arm.

  “It is, actually. You are adorable.”

  Luke couldn’t help but smile at his mate. He hated being teased but he liked the fact that Mark found him adorable.

  “I made pot roast earlier,” Luke said. “I’ve just reheated it. You hungry?”

  “Mmm. Starved.”

  Luke led the way into the kitchen and fixed them both large helpings of the hearty meal. They sat down and started to eat in silence.

  “Wow,” Mark said, after a few mouthfuls. “This is incredible, Luke. You made this?”

  “Yeah, my mom taught me how to cook. She tried to teach Kelan and Cody but they never took to it.”

  “Cody?”

  “Cody’s my older brother, younger than Kelan. He’s an artist, lives in New York now. He’s the one I told you about earlier who’s gay.”

  “I thought you were talking about Kelan.”

  “No, that came as a complete surprise. Gonna have to talk to him about it in the morning.”

  “Wow, so the three of you are gay,” Mark commented, breaking off a large piece of crusty bread and using it to mop up the juice in his bowl. “What are the odds on that?”

  “I’m not gay,” Luke said indignantly before he had a chance to really think about what he was saying.

  Mark raised an amused eyebrow. “You could have fooled me. I didn’t see you complaining when my lips were wrapped around your cock earlier.”

  Luke flushed ten shades of scarlet.

  “That’s different. You’re my mate,” he said, quietly.

  “I know, I was only teasing you. You know, this really is good, Luke. I can’t cook worth a damn. The only thing my mom ever taught me was how to finish a bottle of Jack in one sitting.”

  “She drank?”

  “A lot.”

  “That must have been tough growing up.”

  “Yeah, but I had my sister there. She’s five years older than me and she practically raised me herself. Wasn’t too bad. My dad was okay too, when he was around.”

  “Our dad was our pack alpha. He was pretty hard on us most of the time, but he was still our dad, you know?”

  Mark nodded his agreement. They finished the rest of their meal in a companionable silence. When they were done, Luke washed up their dishes while Mark dried. Luke smiled to himself thinking about how well they worked together. He was growing more fond of Mark by the minute. When all the dishes were dried and put away, Mark grabbed Luke by the waist and pulled him close to his body.

  “Come on, it’s been too long since I saw that hot, naked body of yours.”

  Luke gulped but let Mark pull him upstairs to his bedroom. When they were inside, they quickly stripped off their clothing and got into bed. Luke lay on his side and rested his head in his hand.

  “So. You think I’m hot,” Luke teased.

  Mark chuckled. “Fuck yeah, I do. Hotter than hell. Come here, let me show you.”

  Mark wrapped his arm around Luke’s waist and pulled him closer until their bodies were touching. He wasn’t sure who groaned the loudest when their hard cocks came into contact with one another.

  Luke shivered when Mark trailed his fingers over the mating mark on his neck.

  “Did you like me biting you here, baby?” he asked, replacing his fingers with his tongue.

  “Oh Mark,” Luke groaned. “Please?”

  “Please what, Luke?” Mark asked, his voice full of innocence.

  Luke didn’t get the chance to answer. Mark took his mouth in a hot, sizzling kiss he felt all the way down to his toes. Mark’s tongue pushed in without preamble and just when Luke’s own tongue came out to play, Mark flipped them on the bed so Luke was lying on top, straddling his mate.

  Mark grabbed hold of Luke’s ass and they ground their cocks together. Luke went wild above him. They kept moving together, increasing the tempo until they were both gasping for air and desperate for release.

  “I want you to fuck me,” Luke blurted out.

  Luke couldn’t believe he’d spoken the words out loud but he was relieved to tell Mark what was on his mind, what he wanted. It felt liberating. He only hoped his mate felt the same way. Mark had gone still beneath him and deathly quiet.

  “Luke, look at me,” Mark said, filling the silence between them.

  “I can’t.”

  Mark sighed and put his finger under Luke’s chin, lifting it until Luke was looking him the eyes.

  “Say that again.”

  “I…I want you to fuck me.” Luke’s answer was barely more than a whisper.

  “Are you sure?”

  Luke nodded. “Yes. I want to feel you inside me.”

  Mark sucked in a shaky breath. He wanted the same thing but he had been afraid to vocalise his desires to Luke in case he scared the younger man off. They had agreed to take things slowly, after all. This was anything but.

  “You don’t have to,” Luke said. “It’s okay, I understand if you think it’s too soon for that.”

  Mark leaned up and touched his lips to Luke’s.

  “Look, we already said we’d try to make a go of this and that means you and me together for the long run. That doesn’t mean I feel forced to be here or that I’m not attracted to you because I am. I want to do everything with you, Luke. Right now, I can’t think of anything I’d like better than to make love to you.”

  “Really?”

  “Most definitely.”

  “Okay. So how do we do this?”

  “I take it you haven’t done this before with women.”

  Luke shook his head.

  “Well, we’ll have to stretch you first so that it won’t hurt. Do you have any lube around here?”

  “No.”

  “That’s okay. We can improvise.”

  Mark looked around the room and his eyes fell upon a tube of hand cream on the nightstand. He reached for it and inspected the label.

  “Peach scented hand lotion?” Mark said, raising his eyebrows in amusement.

  “I like my hands to smell nice,” Luke mumbled.

  Mark chuckled. “Okay, this will do for now. Lie on your back for me, babe.”

  Luke rolled over at once. He lifted his arms above his head and splayed his legs open, his face eager, needy. Mark groaned. He didn’t think he’d ever seen anyone look so wanton.

  “Oh God, Luke, you are seriously sexy.”

  “So are you,” Luke replied. “What do I do now?”

  “Just lie back and enjoy, I’ll do the rest.”

  Mark leant down and licked a path up Luke’s hard cock, smiling to himself when he heard Luke’s sharp intake of breath. When he reached the head, he dipped his tongue into the slit, capturing a drop of pre cum before swirling his tongue around the sensitive nerve endings just below the head. He loved the way Luke’s smooth cock felt against his tongue. He couldn’t believe how quickly he had got used to this. He didn’t just want Luke now, he craved him.

  He licked his way down until he reached Luke’s balls and captured one in his mouth, soliciting another groan from Luke. He released it and did the same with the other, sucking first and then soothing the heated skin with his tongue. Lu
ke had already started shaking beneath him. His moans were becoming louder and interspersed with nonsense words and grunts.

  Mark used his shoulders to open Luke’s legs further while he continued licking his way down to Luke’s entrance. Luke scent was strongest here. Incredible. He trailed his tongue leisurely around the tight ring of muscle, sweeping it over the hole, pushing inside a little as he passed over it.

  “Oh my God!” Luke shouted. “More.”

  Mark grinned and reached for the tube of hand lotion. He popped open the lid and applied a generous helping on his finger.

  “You like that, baby?” he asked.

  “Yes! More, please.”

  “Patience,” Mark chuckled, lightly nipping Luke’s thigh with his teeth.

  Mark licked his way back up to Luke’s cock, his fingers teasing around Luke’s entrance at the same time. Without hesitation, he engulfed Luke’s cock in his mouth, sucking it down to the base while at the same time he slipped the tip of his index finger inside Luke’s hot channel.

  “Mark!”

  Mark knew Luke was close to coming but he wanted Luke to come when his cock was buried deep inside him, so he backed off a little, slowing down the tempo. He released Luke’s cock but continued to lick around the head as he pushed his finger further inside Luke. He felt Luke tense a little so he stilled his movements and used his other hand to rub soothing circles on Luke’s stomach.

  “Easy, baby, just relax for me,” he soothed.

  Mark’s words seemed to calm Luke. When his finger slipped all of the way inside Luke’s body, Mark felt Luke relax, and the pressure around his finger lessened.

  “Yes.” Luke groaned. “More, Mark, please.”

  Mark moved his finger in and out of Luke’s ass slowly, using Luke’s moans and whimpers as a guide to tell him when to increase his speed. Luke was practically vibrating beneath him. When he was certain Luke was used to the sensation and comfortable with it, he sucked hard on Luke’s cock and added another finger.

  “Yes!”

  Luke’s eyes were wide and his breathing was becoming shallow. Mark scissored his fingers, gently stretching Luke to prepare him. Mark’s own cock was aching now and he knew he was leaking pre cum onto the sheets. He ground into the bed, trying to get some friction. He didn’t know how much longer he could hold out. He was desperate to be inside his mate. He had to know how Luke felt wrapped around his cock.