Adrian [Whitedell Pride: 8] Read online

  “My sister was kidnapped nearly thirty years ago.” Joshua told him everything he had already told Casey and Ward. Adrian didn’t say anything, didn’t interrupt, but Joshua felt his arms tightening around him as he went on. When he got to the end, Adrian had wrapped his legs around his waist too, so he was surrounded by his mate. It felt good. Adrian’s scent and his weight against Joshua’s chest kept the ghosts away and grounded Joshua in the present.

  “I’m sorry for what happened to you, but I’m glad you finally understood I’m not like those men. I...I’ll always regret what I did for the company, I’ll always feel guilty, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I just wanted my brother to be safe, and I thought it was worth it, but...it wasn’t.”

  Joshua held Adrian closer. “Of course it was. I would do the same thing if it was to save you, angel. You tried to pull out as soon as you found out those people were not volunteers, and they threatened to kill Gabriel and you. It’s a question of survival, and shifters can understand that even better than humans, thanks to our animal part. I’m sorry I treated you badly, but the fact that Soren wanted you made me open my eyes.”

  Adrian snorted in his chest. “More like jealousy and possessiveness. I bet your leopard went all mine, mine, mine.”

  Joshua laughed. Damn, he didn’t remember a time in which he had laughed so often. “He definitely did.”

  “Don’t take it out on Soren, though. He only wanted me to be happy, and you were treating me like crap. He just wanted to help.”

  Now it was Joshua’s turn to snort. “Yeah, and he wanted to get in your pants.”

  “Hey, I’ll have you know I only sleep with leopards.”

  “Ward is a leopard.”

  Adrian snickered and looked up at Joshua before slapping him on the chest. “I meant one leopard in particular.”

  Joshua didn’t answer, because he couldn’t. He was lost into Adrian’s gray eyes. The time seemed to stop and they were the only men alive, and Joshua just couldn’t not taste those lush lips, so he bent down and kissed Adrian.

  * * * *

  Adrian was lost in the kiss. Joshua’s lips looked hard but they felt so soft under Adrian’s, so good. He tried to get closer to his mate, but he would have had to crawl into the man to achieve that, so he just held on to his mate’s shoulders as Joshua ravished him.

  Joshua used his tongue, his lips and his teeth to devour Adrian, to make him loose himself in pleasure, leaving him panting and aching for more. Right now, he would have given just about anything to be alone with Joshua, preferably in bed. Really, any flat surface would have been fine. Wait, the trunk on which they were sitting was flat—more or less.

  Adrian had never had sex outside the bedroom, much less somewhere they could be discovered, but thinking about it sent a thrill of excitement through him. Could they really...?

  When Joshua finally let Adrian’s lips go, Adrian peeked around. It was getting late and the air was colder. Not exactly the best weather for outdoor sex, but at least it meant that the park was empty apart from them.

  “What are you thinking about so hard, angel?”

  Busted. Adrian blushed and tried to think about a good excuse, but the only thing that he could think about was Joshua’s hands on him, his lips on Adrian’s and clothes miraculously disappearing. Those thoughts led to a deeper blush, of course, and Joshua had no problems understanding the general direction of Adrian’s thoughts. His eyes widened and his nostrils flared as he looked at Adrian.

  Joshua’s hands on Adrian’s back pulled him even closer to his chest as he once again attacked Adrian’s mouth. This time Joshua’s hands moved, and Adrian could feel his mate’s warmth on the small of his back as he tried to get under Adrian’s jacket. Joshua lifted it only enough to slip his hands under it, under Adrian’s shirt, and Adrian shuddered at the first skin-to-skin contact.

  Joshua’s hands were rough from work and warm, the contact highly arousing on Adrian’s soft skin, especially when Joshua slid one of them under the waist of his jeans to cup Adrian’s ass cheek. One finger ghosted over his crack and Adrian wanted more, so much more. He moved his hands between them until he reached Joshua’s jeans.

  He was frantic as he tried to open his mate’s pants, hungry for what he would find under them. When his trembling fingers finally managed to do their job and open the jeans, they found exactly what Adrian had been looking for. Joshua’s length sprang up from a nest of curls, the hard flesh hot and silky but also damp with pre-cum.

  Joshua grumbled in Adrian’s mouth before moving along his jaw. “We’ll just take the edge off.” He bit at Adrian’s neck, hard enough to leave a mark but not to break skin. “I want our first time to be in a bed. I want to be able to undress you slowly and lick every inch of your delectable body. I want you spread on my bed like an offering only I can touch. I’ll make love to you all night, until you won’t be able to walk straight and you’ll feel me for days.”

  Adrian shivered at the dark tone of Joshua’s voice and at the decadent images the man had evoked. He released Joshua’s prick and scrambled to open his own pants, not caring about the cold or the fact that someone, anyone, could see them. He just wanted his mate.

  Adrian cursed when, having finally opened his jeans, he was stopped from getting to his prick by his underwear. He really had to start going commando like most of the shifters did.

  He didn’t even feel the cold air when he freed his dick. Joshua’s hand was still on his ass, his finger sinking a little bit more in the crease with every pass Joshua made on the soft skin. His other hand was high on Arian’s back to keep him stable as he moved on Joshua’s lap.

  That meant Adrian would have to be the one to take matters in—err—hand. Grabbing his shaft, he angled his hips to get it closer to Joshua’s length, enough so that he could grab them both. They both hissed when their erections collided, the jolt of pleasure racing directly to Adrian’s balls. He circled his hands around both cocks. It was a tight fit, a very, very tight one, and his fingers didn’t quite touch, but he managed.

  Stroking his thumb on the heads, he spread the pre-cum as he started moving his fist up and down, enjoying the feeling of his mate’s heavy prick flush against his. They panted and moved together, Joshua pushing up while Adrian grounded down on his pelvis, hard.

  It didn’t take long for Adrian to get on the edge. He hovered there for a while, but the feeling of Joshua’s finger finally touching his fluttering hole didn’t help to prolong their lovemaking, as much as Adrian wanted to.

  He bit down on Joshua’s lower lip to keep in the loud moan that threatened to escape him. “Love, gonna come,” he panted into his mate’s mouth.

  Joshua nodded and pushed his finger harder against Adrian’s entrance. Adrian tightened the hold he had on their cocks, then Joshua’s finger slipped in and Adrian’s world tilted.

  He tightened his hold on their erections and felt Joshua go stiff against him as hot, sticky semen flooded his hand and shot over their stomachs. It was too much. Adrian came, a cry escaping his lips even as he tried to muffle it. His cum joined Joshua’s on their bodies, mixing with it. The combined scents made Adrian’s squirrel squeak in delight and Adrian felt his teeth change in his mouth, becoming longer and sharper. He couldn’t stop himself, couldn’t stop the instinct that made him do what he did next.

  He gripped Joshua’s hair with his clean hand, the one that had been on Joshua’s shoulder, and tilted his mate’s head to the side before striking. His teeth sank easily into Joshua’s neck and the first splash of Joshua’s rich blood invaded Adrian’s mouth. He could get drunk on this, he just knew it.

  Adrian felt Joshua go stiff once again and more warmth erupted between them as Joshua groaned softly. Adrian’s orgasm, which had never completely ebbed, lengthened, each pull he took from Joshua’s blood a new spark to his balls.

  Adrian didn’t know how much time passed until his squirrel finally felt satisfied and allowed Adrian to extract
his teeth from Joshua’s flesh. He lazily licked the swollen wound, feeling sated and happy, even if he felt as if something was still missing.

  Lust cleared from his brain once he was done sealing Joshua’s mating bite, and he finally realized what he had just done. He had let his squirrel control him.

  He had claimed Joshua.

  * * * *

  Joshua watched as understanding dawned into Adrian’s eyes, then horror. His mate jerked his hands away from Joshua’s body, but that didn’t go very well. The one Adrian had used to keep Joshua’s head still when he had bitten him was not a problem—the one he had used to jack them off, though...

  Joshua could see the gleaming white fluid on it as Adrian slapped it on his mouth, his eyes wide as he looked at Joshua’s neck. He frowned a bit at his dirty hand and it made Joshua want to laugh, but Adrian started talking.

  “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to—I didn’t—my squirrel!”

  Joshua slipped his finger out of his mate’s tight, hot channel, loving the shudder that passed through Adrian’s body when he did and the pout that appeared on his lips. Adrian wasn’t even aware he was doing it, and it made everything cuter and more real.

  Grabbing Adrian’s hand, Joshua brought it to his mouth and gave him a wicked smile before licking their mixed semen clean. “Don’t be sorry, angel. If I hadn’t wanted this, I would have stopped you.”

  Adrian’s eyes were huge, and when he started biting on his lower lip, Joshua knew he was a goner. He knew Adrian hadn’t meant to claim him, but being a new, very new shifter, he hadn’t been able to resist his animal half. The squirrel had wanted to claim Joshua and being an animal he hadn’t seen that there could be problems, so he had just acted. “You’re sure? I mean, we didn’t even talk about this, and we don’t know each other so well, so maybe we would have ended up with someone else in the end, but now—”

  Joshua growled, effectively interrupting the flow of words. He might have tolerated the idea of Adrian with Soren—barely—but now he and Adrian were together and he would let no one touch his mate, ever. “I want to mate with you.”

  Adrian just looked at him, probably trying to read Joshua’s expression. It wasn’t easy in the dark night, but he tried anyway. “I...I think that maybe I wanted to mate with you too. It’s just that everything is going so fast and changing before I manage to get a grip on it. I lost my job, my house, possibly my brother, and I moved hundreds of miles away from the city I’ve lived in all my life.”

  Fear slithered around Joshua’s heart. “Do you want to slow down?” He sure didn’t want to, but he would give Adrian what he needed. It would be hard, since he’d just now realized what could be between them, but he would do it, even if he had to go away for a while. He just might have to do it anyway, since he wanted to look for Gabriel.

  Adrian sighed and moved closer to Joshua, snuggling in his chest as his arms circled around Joshua’s waist. Joshua kissed his mate’s hair before leaning his chin on Adrian’s head. “Not really. I’m just scared you’ll realize you don’t really want me and you’ll run, and since I just mated with you, I’ll be the one to be stuck. Honestly, you could have so much better than a geeky scientist who experimented on people and even killed some. I’m actually impressed that you could put it behind you and go out with me.”

  “Adrian...I’m not sure anything I can say will convince you I want you. I’m sorry for the way I behaved before and I can promise you it won’t happen again. Now that I saw the beautiful person you are, I can honestly say that there’s no way I’ll ever leave you again.” Joshua chuckled. “I’m not crazy. Where would I find a man as perfect for me as you are? Besides, I’m sure that if I even think of leaving you, Soren would be there to pick up the pieces and I would have to hurt him.” He hoped Adrian saw this for what it was—not so much jealousy as an attempt to lighten the mood.

  “I wouldn’t let him, you know. I think you ruined any other men for me. Even when you hated me, I was still comparing everyone to you, how they didn’t have your dark eyes or how your hair was prettier.”

  Joshua smiled into Adrian’s hair. They stayed silent for a while, both mulling over their problems and trying to find a solution. It was only when the night grew even colder that Joshua moved. He regretted having to do it, since Adrian felt so perfect in his arms, but their cocks were still hanging out, and while they had been protected by their body heat, he didn’t want to them to freeze off, and that would definitely happen if they stayed in the park much longer. “Angel, want to go back to the mansion?” Adrian hesitated before nodding, but Joshua could see he wanted to say something. “What’s wrong?”

  “Do you really want to mate with me? You can still change your mind.”

  Joshua shook his head. “I won’t, and not only because you already bit me and it would hurt you. Sure, I don’t want you to be hurt, but I want you. Now, tomorrow, in a month, I don’t care. When you’re ready, you’ll tell me, and I’ll bite you.”

  “Can you...can you sleep with me tonight? I mean, just sleep?”

  “Anything you want, angel.” Joshua moved his hands between them and carefully tucked Adrian’s shaft in before doing the same with his own. Once they were dressed again, Adrian moved away and Joshua immediately felt the loss of his mate’s warmth and weight. Luckily for him, he was looking forward to spending the night with Adrian. He would hold him while he slept, and even if his leopard was going to give him hell for having Adrian so close and not claiming him, Joshua was going to do everything in his power to make Adrian be at ease. He didn’t want to rush him, not even if he had already claimed Joshua.

  He couldn’t resist touching the bite on his neck. It was a little tender, but it felt so right on his neck. “Do you want me to keep the bite hidden?” Joshua knew that if someone in the pride saw it, everyone would know about it after only a few hours, and questions would begin, questions Adrian might not be ready to answer.

  Adrian shook his head. “No. I know I kind of forced you into this, but if you’re okay with it, then I don’t see why we should hide it. Besides, I plan on having one just like that on my neck soon enough.” Adrian peeked at Joshua when he said that, probably trying to judge Joshua’s reaction, so he grinned at his mate.

  “You just tell me when you’re ready and I’ll be more than happy to do it.”

  The soft smile Adrian gave him went straight to Joshua’s heart. How was it possible for him to fall for the guy after so little time? Yeah, they had known each other for a while, but they hadn’t really talked until tonight, yet Joshua could literally feel something growing in him at the sight of his mate.

  They held hands until they reached the car, then Joshua had to reluctantly let Adrian go. The ride was just as silent as the walk, but it wasn’t uncomfortable, and when Adrian put his hand on Joshua’s thigh, it felt as if they were even closer. It had taken only a few hours of talking, and Joshua felt as if he had known Adrian for most of his life.

  It got a little awkward when they got home. Joshua walked Adrian to his room and hesitated. “So, do you want to sleep in your room?”

  Adrian nodded. “If it’s not a problem.”

  “Of course not. I’ll go shower and change and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  Joshua hadn’t expected the soft kiss Adrian gave him, but it made his heart soar to see how comfortable Adrian was getting with him.

  He had never taken a faster shower, and soon he was back in front of Adrian’s room. He couldn’t help but wonder if something was going to happen between them, and he got worried when Adrian didn’t answer his knock. Was he still in the shower?

  Joshua opened the door and peeked in, then smiled when he saw that Adrian had fallen asleep fully dressed. The stress from the past days had gotten to him. He hesitated between going back to his room and staying there, and finally decided that since Adrian had asked him to, he would sleep in the same bed, so he grabbed Adrian’s sleeping pants from the dresser and undressed his mat
e. They had just been intimate, so he didn’t think it would have been a problem for Adrian, but he still resisted the urge to look at his mate’s gorgeous body as much as he could.

  Still, he couldn’t help but notice the long legs and flat stomach, the pale skin and the few freckles scattered on it. It made him ache and made his leopard yowl, but he just continued until Adrian was finally dressed, then he manhandled him until he was lying under the comforter and in Joshua’s arms. He spooned Adrian and drifted off to sleep, finally at peace after so many years.

  Chapter Five

  Adrian was regretting not having access to the database. He was trying to find out what exactly the company had done to Troy, a human the pride had rescued from one of the labs, but the only thing he had been able to determine was that while his DNA had been sliced, it wasn’t with animal DNA. He was sure it was paranormal DNA, but apart from knowing it wasn’t shifter, he couldn’t say what it was without comparing it, and the only way to compare it was to have other samples. And he had destroyed his samples instead of bringing them with him.

  Adrian leaned back and scrubbed his eyes, wondering what to do next. He couldn’t get DNA samples from every type of paranormal creature, but maybe he could ask some of them if they wanted to donate samples. Jared had told him that apart from shifters the pride, had friends that were Nix and Krsniks, and that he could find some werewolves too. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

  “Did you find something?”

  Adrian hated to tell Troy he hadn’t. The man was scared to death because he could feel something lurking inside him, and he was sure it wasn’t an animal. “I have the DNA they used on you, but without anything to compare it with...”

  “You can’t know what it is.”

  “Exactly.” Adrian turned to face the man. He was glad to see he was getting better with every day. He had started to put on more weight, and his green eyes were gleaming again. His red hair was strong and the brightest red he had ever seen, and his pale skin was dotted with freckles. But he was scared, and Adrian didn’t know what more he could do. Maybe he could try to ask exactly what Troy was feeling so they could at least make a guess. It was a long shot, but it wasn’t like they had other options.