Fat-Free Alpha (3 page)

Shoving one hand up the golden
wolf’s impressive jaws about to close in on him, Reed recovered his voice.

“Carlos, wait. Damn it. Hear me out
before you tear my throat out.”

Carlos wasn’t just heavy, Reed
could uncomfortably feel his razor sharp claws resting on his chest and belly,
but he didn’t feel pain.

How
is he capable of controlling his bestial instincts like that? Any other wolf,
especially an Alpha who was closer to his beast than other wolves, would’ve
lost control.

What he’d mistaken for an attack,
was it only Carlos trying to make a point?

“I get it. Even if you agree to a
one-on-one duel, you can kill me in an instant.”

With his heart pounding, Reed
didn’t dare look away from the intelligent amber eyes peering down at him. The
golden wolf peeled its jaws open, just wide enough for Reed to see his deadly
teeth.

Swallowing nervously, Reed
eventually conceded and bared his throat to acknowledge the Alpha’s
superiority.

“I know you didn’t kill me because
you know if you do, Jax has a legitimate reason for the Starr Mountain Pack to
attack your pack. Do you have other reasons for not wanting to kill me?” Reed
felt himself whisper.

He knew damn well a wolf who
abandoned his mate didn’t have any right to ask such a question, but he had to
know. Jax expected him to refuse his order. The Alpha even expected he needed
some convincing and a little roughing up to take up the job, but Reed willingly
volunteered.

“Carlos, Jax doesn’t know about us.
He knows we have a history, but I never told him we used to be mates.”

No response. Carlos continued to
watch him in the same unnerving matter. His amber eyes were hard and unmoving.

“Carlos, I came here of my own
violation, and I’m going to prove it to you.”

Trusting his former mate wouldn’t
attack, Reed relaxed his hands by his sides, but the movement elicited an angry
growl from Carlos. Reed gulped, realizing Carlos wasn’t kidding around

The outline of the wolf began to
become indistinct, smoothening into the lines of a man. The claws retracted,
golden fur began to recede, and bones re-shifted. There were no popping sounds,
no grunt of pain. Carlos welcomed the change.

Carlos bared his still slightly
inhuman canines at him.

“Reed, don’t you know how much I
fucking hate it when you do that?”

The sensation of Carlos’s hard
golden skin rubbing against his thin shirt made Reed utter a barely
recognizable response. There was more muscle there than he’d remembered, and
more scars he hadn’t licked or explored.

“Do what?” Reed managed.

This wasn’t good at all. Between
his legs, his cock felt strained against his jeans. He had to get his emotions
under control and not let the other man affect him like this.

When they first met a long time
ago, during military service, Reed always marveled how his body instantly
reacted in embarrassing ways when Carlos was around. Ten years later, his body
felt like it belonged to a horny teenager, not the hard-eyed second of the
Starr Mountain Pack.

“You offered your life to me when
Bonnie died, and you’re throwing it away now. Don’t you remember? You always
want the easy way out,” Carlos practically snarled at him.

The accusation stung, but Reed
couldn’t deny the truth in Carlos’s words.

“It was equal exchange.
My life for Bonnie’s life.”

“You don’t have the fucking right
to say her name, bastard.”

From the corner of his eye, Reed
saw Carlos’s fist sailing in the air. Pain exploded in his left cheek, making
his head ring. When his head cleared, he spat out a wad of blood. This time,
Reed glared at him.

“She was my daughter too, Carlos.
You know I loved her too.”

“You loved her enough to kill her.
I know.”

Reed flinched at those words. He
was about to look away, but Carlos gripped his chin and forced him to look into
his eyes. It was awful, letting the other man see the vulnerability and
weakness he’d kept hidden for years.

Reed may be capable of effortlessly
keeping his emotionless mask as Jax’s right-hand man in front of his pack, but
he wasn’t able to hide anything from Carlos. Not then, and not now.

“That was harsh.”

Reed expected more accusations, not
the obvious regret in Carlos’s voice. That was as close to an apology he’d ever
get, but he’d take it anyway. Pregnant silence followed, and he could taste the
tension in the air. Reed didn’t speak, he was afraid to.

“We’re werewolves, but we couldn’t
even protect one little girl. It’s shameful and it’s a fact, but it was a long
time ago. If Bonnie told me she wanted to see you, I would’ve taken her to the
bar without hesitation.”

“You’ve changed,” Reed choked out,
unable to conceal his surprise.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about
me, Reed.” Carlos let out a disgusted sound. “I’m not going to kill you. Maybe
it’s because I know Jax is taunting me, maybe it’s because some twisted part of
me doesn’t want to see you dead. Whatever it is, you’re just here for business,
right? Well, so am I.”

Those were the last words Reed
wanted to hear. The logical part of him agreed with Carlos wholeheartedly. This
was just pack business, but Reed knew Jax too well, and he’d sooner stab Carlos
in the back than honor his agreement. Jax’s word and promises were worthless,
just like the awful state in which he ran his pack.

This was why Reed came to New
Haven. He’d be a coward to back out now and Reed was no coward. Tentatively at
first, his hand crept up Carlos’s forearm. Before the Alpha misunderstood the
situation, his touches grew confident and heavy with need.

Reed’s incredibly horny wolf
writhed and leaped inside him with every inch of Carlos’s golden skin his
fingers covered.

Closing his eyes, Reed raised his
head and licked at the salty skin on the side of Carlos’s neck. His entire body
shuddered will ill-surpassed need. His former mate tasted so damn good, like
sun, sweat, and musk.

Not wanting Carlos to push him
away, Reed snaked his fingers to the back of the Alpha’s neck and brought him
to his face for a kiss.

His kiss was rough and clumsy,
reflecting the ravenous hunger he’d held back for years. After Carlos, all Reed
had
were
short flings and one-nights. He had his share
of willing wolves, but none of them could so much as mimic or imitate the
inferno that existed between him and Carlos.

Reed felt Carlos resist, but he
didn’t resist long. Carlos impatiently mashed his lips against his, and his
hunger was a haunting reflection of his own. When he abruptly withdrew, Reed
felt like a dying man cheated of death’s final kiss.

Reed wanted. He yearned, and he was
going insane each second Carlos was away from his grasp.

“Carlos, please.” The words rolled
off him like water. Shame and guilt didn’t touch him. Only passion moved him.
“Please.”

He knew Carlos had every right to
be cruel. Carlos could deny him just so he could have a taste of the hell he’d
been through.

“Carlos, please. Forget pack
business for a moment. I didn’t come here because I was forced to. I came here
because I wanted to.”

“I know.” Carlos’s words were
harsh, but they weren’t laced with cruelty.

“Use me as you want, Carlos. I just
want to feel your hands on me again.”

Carlos’s silence was damning, but
Reed just wanted to sate the awful hunger inside him. Without its other half,
without its mate, his wolf had been a broken mess. Like him, the beast was
guilt-racked and miserable. Years couldn’t ease the pain of what he’d done, but
he couldn’t contain the overwhelming need inside a second longer.

“Carlos…”

“Hush, Reed.”

Reed could feel his large, rough
hands finding their way to the hem of his shirt. Tasting the cool air and dirt
beneath, his skin seemed to sigh with relief.

“Tell me how fucking horny you are
for me, Reed,” Carlos whispered against his ear. Reed shuddered as the Alpha’s
hand left a teasing trail down his chest and down his ribs and abdomen. “Tell
me!”

Reed nearly came at the confident
authority in Carlos’s voice.
Shit.

“I’m hot as hell for you, Carlos.”

Carlos’s hand lingered on the bulge
of his jeans, applying just enough pressure to make him squirm.

“How many lesser wolves have you
allowed to touch your body, Reed?” Carlos lowered his head to lick at the
leaping pulse on his neck.

Reed could feel Carlos’s long, hard
cock pressed against his belly. Gods, he wanted to feel that glorious shaft
moving inside him so badly just thinking about it made him whimper.

When the Alpha’s lips settled on a
patch of skin and sucked, Reed buckled beneath him. Carlos used only his legs
to restrain him, and Reed was suddenly aware of the strong and powerful muscles
of Carlos’s thighs and calves pressed against his jeans.

Reed wanted to feel his own bare
skin, rubbing and grinding against the golden rock-hard body of the man he
fantasized about even after he’d fucked his way through the Starr Mountain
Pack’s rack of faceless and nameless whores.

“How many, Reed?”
Carlos’s harsh voice dragged him back to reality.

“It doesn’t matter,” Reed
whispered.

His hands began to eagerly creep to
the firm lines of Carlos’s back, but the Alpha easily took both his wandering
hands with one large golden hand and restrained them above his head.

“It matters to me, Reed.”

Carlos sniffed the side of his
neck. Reed felt the press of his nose, followed by the heat of his mouth and
the slight edge of his need. God, yes, he wanted Carlos to mark him, and to
wear his teeth marks openly on his skin. He wanted to remember what it was like
to be wholly and completely claimed by the only man he had ever loved.

“A long time ago, this sweet little
body of yours belonged only to me.”

Carlos bit into the side of his
neck, making him cry out. Keeping his hands restrained with one hand, Carlos’s
other hand found one of his nipples. He pinched the sensitive
bud,
only heightening the desire in Reed’s tormented body.

“It was always yours,” Reed
murmured. Every part of him twitched and trembled with need. “I was always
yours.”

“Not anymore.” There was a hint of
old grief and old hurts in the Alpha’s voice. “But I’m going to remedy that,
Reed. I’m going to claim every inch of you again.
Your lips,
your body, your cock, and your tight little ass.”

Carlos tweaked his nipple again
while he kissed him long and deep, deliciously bruising his lips. His fervent
and hungry lips moved downward, and Reed felt him release his arms.

“I…” Reed wasn’t sure what to say.

He let his body dictate his needs
and
he
let himself enjoy the attentions of the man he’d dreamed and
fantasized of during his most lonely and miserable moments. Moments he’d
doubted himself and looked back at his life and only saw regret.

Reed regretted a number of things,
but he’d regretted leaving Carlos the most. He didn’t care if this was a
one-time fling, or how much it would hurt later on. The only thing Reed cared
about was being claimed by Carlos. He wanted to pretend for a moment everything
was just like before.

His fingers sunk into the black
curls of Carlos's hair, sighing when he felt the callused and rough pads of the
Alpha’s fingers skim and clutch at his sides.

Carlos licked lazy circles around
his nipples, teasing them before closing his mouth over them.
The sensation of his heated mouth made Reed groan with need.
Before Reed could catch his breath, Carlos moved to his other nipple. One hand
jerked the button of his jeans apart and frustratingly pulled down the zipper.

“Fuck.” Carlos paused from his task
and fell on his knees to yank off Reed’s jeans and underwear.

“I want to see all of you from this
angle, please.”

Carlos only smirked at his request.
He stood, naked, hard, and golden for Reed’s eyes to devour. The planes and
lines of his body were harder and firmer than Reed remembered, but the sight of
Carlos still made his mouth dry and his cock swollen with need.

“Tell me how badly you want to be
fucked by me, Reed.”

“Fuck me, Carlos. Please,” Reed
managed to utter.

His traitorous skin seemed to sigh
when Carlos knelt in front of him and nudged his legs apart.

“Carlos,” Reed gasped when Carlos’s
fingers curled around the base of his upright cock.

“I’m going to have you, Reed, but
first I want to remember the taste of you.”

Carlos began to work the base and
length of him, his hand movements gaining speed.

“Does your sensitive cock want to
feel my mouth again, Reed?”

“Oh yes, please.”

Carlos smiled at him with obvious
approval.

“You’ve always been a slut, Reed.”

“Only for you, Carlos,” Reed
murmured.

Carlos seemed taken back by his
answer, but he swiftly recovered. He lowered his head, and his tongue lashed
out to lick the pre-cum gathering on his cock head.

“Ah.”

“You haven’t answered my question
before, Reed.”

Carlos’s fingers kept working his
base, applying just the right amount of pressure to his balls, leaving him
panting. It occurred to Reed the man knew his body even now, and it was
familiar to him as his own skin. The knowledge made his entire body throb with
excruciating need.

“I haven’t been with anyone else,
Carlos,” Reed whispered. He wanted to make sure Carlos heard the truth in his
words.

“You’re not lying,” Carlos stated.

Reed couldn’t read him. Suspicion
mingled with distrust and relief. At that moment, he didn’t care.

“Please, Carlos.”

His mouth opened and began to take
Reed inch by inch. Slowly, Carlos worked his way inside, and the heat from his
mouth flooded Reed’s throbbing cock. Reed fisted his hair tightly, trying to
contain the explosion building within his body.