Haven 4: Back Roads (5 page)

There was something vacant and hollow in Bannon’s voice, and while it cooled some of Galen’s ardor, it made his chest constrict uncomfortably. “Please tell me what happened. Why are you so upset?”

“Shh.” Bannon pressed his thumb against the seam of Galen’s lips to silence him. “Just let me have this for now.” His head dipped closer, and he replaced his thumb with his mouth in a sensual kiss that curled Galen’s toes.

Relaxing into Bannon’s embrace and leaning against his chest, Galen allowed him to take what he needed. He’d never seen the Irishman like this before, and he didn’t like it. Normally self-confident and assured, Bannon now seemed almost as uncertain and fumbling as Galen felt.

Ending the kiss with gentle pecks and nibbles at the man’s lips, he smoothed his hands down the sides of Bannon’s neck and over his chest. “This is about The Council, isn’t it?”

“Aye,” Bannon breathed, bending so that he could rest their foreheads together. “I’m guessin’ Jory has told ya by now. You’ll not be goin’.”

“That’s not your decision to make.” Galen kept his voice soft and even. “Jory says I can help you.”

“Is he tellin’ ya that Torren Braddock is wantin’ me to claim ya before we leave?” Bannon leaned away and arched one dark eyebrow.

Sucking his bottom lip between his teeth, Galen chewed it until he thought it would bleed, deliberately ignoring Bannon’s question. He wanted to help, to be useful for once in his miserable life, but if that meant he had to tie himself to Bannon forever…

“What do you think?”

“Ah,
moi chroí
, ya know the answer already. I’ll not force ya, though.”

His head was spinning in confusion, and Galen had no idea what to say or do. On one hand, he adored the big, gorgeous shifter and couldn’t imagine ever being happy with anyone else. On the other hand, just the thought of letting Bannon claim him made his palms sweat and his legs shake in anxiety.

“Tell me what to do.” He was just so damn tired of worrying about everything. If he let someone else make the decisions from now on, maybe he’d be able to maintain a bit of his sanity. “Fighting you is exhausting. I’m so tired, Bannon. Just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” Bannon brushed the hair back from Galen’s forehead and smiled sadly. “It’s not for me to tell. I’ll wait forever, but I can’t decide for ya.”

“I can’t be your mate.” Good grief, he was beginning to sound like a broken record. Over and over, he’d been using the same excuse until he’d actually convinced himself that it was true. Now…well, he wasn’t so sure. Bannon wouldn’t pursue him with such determination if there wasn’t a connection. Right? “Can I ask you something?” The corners of Bannon’s lips twitched, and his eyes sparkled for the first time since he’d dragged Galen out of Jory’s room. “Ask away.”

“How do I know? I believe you think that we’re mates, but how do
I know?
If we are, that means I have some kind of shifter blood in me.” It was possible considering he’d never met his father, and his mother had been pretty scarce on details about him. “How did you know I was the one for you?”

“C’mere, darlin’.” Bannon walked backward, pulling Galen. Then he eased down on the foot of the bed and patted the space next to him.

Once Galen was seated, Bannon turned a little and linked their hands together. “Ya have a scent that makes my mouth water. The most amazin’ thing I’m ever smellin’.”

He liked the way Bannon smelled, too, and while it made him want to strip off his clothes and pant, he needed something more to go on. “Continue.”

“My stomach flutters.”

So did his. He chalked that up to nerves, though. “What else?”

“My brain goes a bit fuzzy when ya get near.” Well, that happened to Galen every damn time Bannon walked in a room. Not only did he associate it with nervousness, but also with the fact that all the blood rushed south of the border each time he saw the man. Basal attraction to someone as gorgeous as Bannon was only to be expected. It didn’t prove they were destined for one another.

“My gums itch a bit, I suppose.”

Well, that one stumped him. Galen had felt the same itching and tingling in his gums, particularly around his canines. He couldn’t explain that one away by attributing it to attraction or anxiety. “Do I smell like an animal?” And why the hell hadn’t he thought to ask all of these questions months ago? Oh, right, because he’d been too busy running like a fucking pussy.

Bannon leaned in and skimmed his nose up the column of Galen’s throat, inhaling deeply as he went. “Aye, but just a hint, and I can only catch it when I’m this near to ya.” He bent farther, inching across the mattress to close the minimal distance between them. Warm, wet, and moan inducing, his tongue slithered from collarbone to jawline, and he ended by scraping his incisors over the sensitive flesh just below Galen’s ear.

“Bannon,” he whispered and sucked in a shuddering breath. It was a plea, but for what, he couldn’t say. Did he want Bannon to continue or stop? He craved more, but was it a wise decision?

“Why do ya fight me so, Galen?” One hand came up to rest on the side of Galen’s neck, and Bannon’s lips stretched wide against the other side. “So fast,” he murmured. “Your heart beats so fast for me.

Deny ya want me, and I’ll leave now.” He couldn’t. Well, he
could,
but it would be a lie. Every nerve ending in his body sparked and sizzled, screaming for more of Bannon’s touch. His dick throbbed painfully, tenting the front of his sleep pants and vying for freedom.

“Say yes,” Bannon rasped into his ear before sucking the lobe between his teeth and nipping at it lightly.

Galen groaned, his body quaking from the onslaught of sensations. It would be so easy to give in to his body’s demands. He could just turn off his brain and accept what Bannon was offering.
So
easy.

But where would that leave him tomorrow, next week, or a month from now? Had he seriously asked Bannon to make the decision for him? Every minute detail in his life had been orchestrated and carried out by someone else. First his mother, then the man who’d claimed to love him, and finally ending with his enslavement—never had one choice been his.

Finally, he was in charge. He called the shots. If he said no—and he could—Bannon would stop everything, and they’d go back to tap-dancing around each other. Bannon said the choice was his, and he believed the man meant it.

How ironic that this was the first real, the first life-altering decision of his life that he could finally make for himself, and he still had no choice in the matter. “You suck.”

“Aye, and ya can scream it from the rooftops.” Chuckling under his breath, Galen leaned away and cradled Bannon’s face in both hands, staring deep into his eyes. “I have two things I want to tell you. First, if I let you in and you break my heart, I’m going to kick your ass.”

“Not to worry, darlin’. I’ll be takin’ good care of your heart.” Galen nodded curtly to show that he meant business. “The other thing could take a while, so you might as well get comfortable.”

“Are ya trying to seduce me out of my clothes then, Galen?” Bannon smiled adorably, and Galen couldn’t help but mirror it.

He kissed the tip of Bannon’s nose and sighed. “We’ll get to that part.”

With a mock sigh, Bannon looked down at the prominent bulge trapped behind his zipper. “Can I hope your story is a short one?”

“Absolutely.” He smirked as he released Bannon’s face and crawled up the bed to snuggle under the blankets. “Then you can spit in the other hand. You’ll let me know which fills up faster.”

After kicking off his boots and tugging his shirt over his head, Bannon stood and reached for the button of his jeans. Galen cleared his throat, though it sounded more like a mixture between a sigh and yelp.

Pausing with his fingers still on his zipper, Bannon glanced up and grinned. “Ya said I should be makin’ myself comfortable. My cock bent up like a switchback is a might unpleasant.” He didn’t want to make Galen uncomfortable, but he wasn’t lying. His cock throbbed painfully inside the denim. If he didn’t get a little relief, he was looking at permanent damage to his favorite body part.

Galen looked him up and down, and his pink tongue darted out to lick his lips and make them glisten in the amber light from the bedside lamp. “Fine, but the boxers stay on.”

“What if I told ya that I’m not wearin’ any?” He was, of course, but he couldn’t help but tease the little man a bit. It had been a long time since he’d seen this more playful side of Galen. From the minute the
M
word cropped into their conversation, he had become reserved and twitchy. Not a good look for him as far as Bannon was concerned.

As expected, Galen rolled his eyes and snorted while lifting the corner of the blanket. “Just get your ass in here.” Mostly naked and in bed with his mate—it was probably the easiest decision ever. Shedding his jeans, Bannon sighed in relief, and swore he heard his erection do the same as it uncurled and sprang forward to leak pre-cum against the front of his dark blue boxers.

Glancing between the growing stain and Galen, he finally shrugged and hurried to slide under the covers. He didn’t want to rock the boat when it appeared the guy was finally starting to loosen up, but there wasn’t much he could do about his body’s reaction to his mate.

He scooted as close as he dared, stopping just before his raging hard-on could poke Galen in the belly, and levered himself up on one elbow, resting his head in his palm. It wasn’t easy, but he managed to control his breathing so that his words came out a hell of a lot steadier than he felt. “We’re here. Now, tell me what needs tellin’.” Galen ducked his head and chewed on his bottom lip. “Can you move closer?”

Shit!
“Uh, I’m not thinkin’ that’s a good idea.” His mate peeked up at him through those impossibly long lashes.

“Please?”

How was he supposed to say no to that, especially when it was exactly what he wanted as well? Rolling to his back, he curled his arm around Galen’s shoulders and urged him toward his chest. A deep, contented sigh fell from his plump lips as his head nestled on Bannon’s shoulder, and a sweeter sound had never been heard.

“It’s so exhausting to pretend that I don’t want you.”

“Then why do it?” Whatever Galen had to tell him, he was nervous about how Bannon would receive it. That much was clear by the tense set of his shoulders and the way his muscles quivered under Bannon’s fingertips as he traced them up and down Galen’s back.

“I told you a little about my mom, right?”

“Aye.” That would be the loony bird who’d made Galen’s life a living hell for sixteen years while she poisoned his mind to believe he was little more than the spawn of Satan. As far as Bannon could tell from Galen’s stories, she’d never had a logical reason for it, either.

That led him to the only conclusion possible—the bitch was fucking crazy.

“She thought I was possessed, or a demon, or something. It changed all the time. She tried for years to beat the evil out of me, and when that didn’t work, she took me outside of town and dropped me on the side of a dirt road like a dog you don’t want anymore.” Bannon swallowed back the growl he felt building in his chest and kept up the gentle stroking on Galen’s back. He’d very much like to meet Galen’s mother someday—in the dark—with no witnesses.

“I was sixteen, and my mother had dictated every aspect of my life. So, there I am on the side of the road in the middle of God knows where with absolutely no clue of how to take care of myself.” Galen paused and rubbed his cheek against Bannon’s chest, right below his collarbone. “She wouldn’t even let me wear shoes with laces because she thought I’d try to strangle her with them when she wasn’t looking.”

Bannon adored his parents. He’d led a rather normal life, well, normal for a paranormal. His childhood had been happy. His adult life was exciting and adventurous. Never had he wanted for anything—not food, shelter, or even affection. Not even things he’d seen as an Enforcer, first in Ireland and now America, could give him any understanding of the awfulness Galen had lived through.

“Anyway,” Galen continued after a long, pregnant pause. “So, I’m just standing there. I swear I didn’t move from that spot for hours. I think part of me kept hoping that my mom would come back for me, but instead, along comes this beat-up Chevy pickup.” From the way Galen’s voice vibrated and cracked, Bannon had a feeling they were coming up to the climax of this horrific tale. He wanted to offer comfort, to tell him that everything would be fine, and he’d be right there. Afraid of breaking whatever spell that was allowing Galen to finally share his painful secrets, Bannon said none of those things. Instead, he simply held the man tighter and rubbed his cheek over the top of his head.

“His name was Dallas Zeppler, and he was the most gorgeous thing I’d ever seen. He stopped and picked me up, took me back to his place, and…”

“And?” Bannon gently prodded when Galen had been silent for several seconds.

“He told me about shifters.” Galen snorted and wiggled closer, molding himself to Bannon’s side. “I thought he was completely off his rocker, crazier than even my mom. That is, until he showed me.

Right there in his living room, he shifted into this huge, black wolf.” Being a shifter himself, Bannon had always known about the paranormal world. He could only imagine how terrified Galen must have been to have his entire world turned on its ear—while facing down a snarling wolf nonetheless.

“I completely freaked.”

“Understandable,” Bannon assured him with a chaste kiss to the top of his head.

“Well, I ran like hell, hid out in the woods for a while. I have no idea where I was going to go. On the third night, it started snowing.

I’m pretty sure I would have died if Dallas hadn’t found me and took me back to his place.”

“And a fact I’m grateful for, let me assure ya.” Bannon had an idea where this story was going, and it didn’t endear him at all to Dallas Zeppler. He was still thankful that his mate was alive, though.

“Well, while I was getting better, we talked some more about the whole shifter thing. That’s when he told me that I was his mate.