Protective Mate (3 page)

He'd never been interested in girls. Simon knew who he was attracted to and didn't need to try anything with a girl to confirm his orientation. After all, why should he 'make sure' he didn't like girls, if straight guys didn't have to 'make sure' with another man? The whole thing seemed like a double standard to him.

Simon soon found himself at his turning point and he crossed to the other side of the street and headed back the way he'd come. A half hour later Simon's hair was wet with sweat as it dripped from his face and ran in rivulets down his back, his tank top plastered to his skin, and his leg muscles burning. Simon finally turned onto his street and noticed a Toyota Camry parked out front of his house. He didn't recognise the car and it had out of state plates. Must be the new pack member Alex had told him about.

Simon stopped on the front lawn and took ten minutes to do cool-down stretches. If he didn't, his body would rebel against him. His muscles would cramp and he would barely be able to walk.

Once Simon finished his stretches, he turned his iPod off and pulled his shirt off over his head. Simon hated the feeling of his sweat soaked clothes clinging to his body when he finished exercising. Making his way to the house, Simon pushed open the front door and stopped at the sight before him.

A little girl with bright red curls and the greenest eyes he'd ever seen stood in the passageway clutching a little wolf plush toy to her chest. Simon didn't want to frighten the small child so he quietly closed the door then crouched down with his back against the front door. "Hello there, pretty girl. What's your name?"

Simon watched as the girl's eyes roamed over him. "Hayley," came the soft sweet reply.

"Hello, Hayley. I'm Simon. How old are you?" Hayley seemed to think about it for a minute then held up the arm currently not holding her toy, displaying two fingers.

"Two, oh wow! You're almost a big girl." Hayley's smile broke across her face and she nodded her head in agreement. "And who is this?" Simon asked, pointing to the stuffed wolf in her arms

"Woofie." Hayley thrust her toy out in front of her so Simon could get a good look. Her voice held certainty, she knew exactly who her teddy was. Simon smiled at her and patted the toy wolf.

"Hayley?" The most beautiful voice Simon had ever heard made its way to his brain. Hayley turned her head and squealed in delight as the voice was quickly followed by the most stunning man Simon had ever seen.

Roughly five foot nine with pale skin, freckles dusting his nose, the plumpest pink lips and a shock of red hair that was just long enough to run his fingers through, stood a man who took his breath away. With hair that colour, he would surely have to be this little girl's father. Right? Simon's thoughts were confirmed as the girl ran up and jumped at the man crying out, "Daddy."

Simon heard an 'Umph' as the man caught the young girl. Simon ran his gaze down the stranger's body and came to a halt at his crotch when he noticed a rather impressive bulge behind the jeans' zipper. He sucked in a breath at the sight before his eyes, that's when the scent hit him. It was like being hit between the eyes with a hammer. All his relaxed muscles tensed and his cock, which was already half hard at the sight of the man and his impressive package, hardened completely, draining the rest of the blood from his body and pooling it in his tight running shorts.

The scent was tickling his senses. It smelled like warm summer rain and something else Simon thought might be baby powder but wasn't sure. He couldn't believe it. His mate was in his house… and he had a child.

Simon put his hand on his knees and kept his back against the door as he slowly pushed himself up. He didn't want to scare his mate. He noticed the man's eyes work their way down his body then quickly lift back up when they got as far as his groin. The pink blush that stained his cheeks was sexy as hell and all Simon could think about at that moment was kissing this gorgeous man.

Simon took one step forward before Alex's voice broke through his fog. "Zack, did you find her? Is everything alright?" His brother's larger frame followed his voice from around the corner and he was soon standing behind Zack. "Hey Simon, glad you're home. Good run?"

"What?" Simon shook his head trying to remember what he was doing. Right, run. He had been running. "Ah, yeah, it was okay."

"This is Zack Bennet. He's just moved here from the Blue Mountains. And this little cutie is his daughter, Hayley." Alex grinned as he lightly tickled Hayley. She squealed and squirmed in her father's arms.

Simon nodded and stepped forward again and held out his hand. "Nice to finally meet you." Zack's blush seemed to darken as he reached out and shook Simon's hand.

"You too," was the softly spoken reply. Electricity race through Simon's hand and up his arm, all from one small touch. He couldn't wait to see what would happen if he ever got the chance to get his mate naked.

His thoughts about his naked mate were interrupted by his brother's deep voice. "Zack, would you and Hayley like to stay for dinner? It would be a good opportunity to get to know you a little better."

"Umm, okay, if you're sure it's no trouble." Zack stammered without taking his eyes off Simon's body. Simon's cock grew impossibly harder in his running shorts and he felt sure his predicament was quite obvious.

"None whatsoever. Brian cooked up a huge pot of spaghetti Bolognaise so there's plenty of food."

Hayley screamed her enjoyment at hearing what was for dinner. "Yay, basketti bollolaise! Daddy, can I have some? I'm hungry." Simon smiled at the girl's pronouncement of their dinner and watched as she turned imploring eyes up to her father.

Zack seemed to shake himself and finally looked at his daughter. "You can have some when dinner is ready, Pumpkin." Then leaned in and kissed her lightly on the cheek before lowering her once again to the ground.

"How long until dinner, Alex? Do I have enough time to go shower?" Simon caught the sudden flair of heat in Zack's eyes at the mention of him showering.

"Yeah, you've got plenty of time."

With that Simon turned and headed towards his room. If he stayed any longer with Zack looking at him like that, he would jump the man right then and there, no matter who else was in the room.

Closing his bedroom door behind him, he quickly stripped out of the rest of his sweat-soaked clothes and made his way to the bathroom. Turning on the shower, Simon let the water heat before stepping inside and rinsing the sweat and salt from his body.

Simon ached; he was hard enough to pound nails and what we really wanted was to go grab his mate and drag him into the shower with him. He knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, so he reached for the conditioner and poured a generous amount into his hand. Reaching down between his legs, Simon grasped his hard length and stroked from the base right to the tip, stopping to rub his finger through his slit. He groaned at the number of feelings shooting through his body with just that simple touch.

Simon let his imagination run wild as he thought about what it would be like if Zack joined him in the shower, kissing his mate until neither of them could breathe. He set a nice steady rhythm as he imagined himself kissing his way down Zack's neck, stopping every once in a while to lick at the water that ran in little rivulets down his mate's body. Simon would stop when he reached one of Zack's nipples and drive the man wild as he licked, sucked, bit and kissed the little nub before moving on to the other.

Simon's hand sped up, while his other reached down to cup and play with his balls. He could almost hear the moan coming from Zack's mouth before he would pull away from Simon and sink to his knees in front of Simon's hard, straining length.

Zack would lean in and run his tongue around his balls before sucking one, then the other, into his mouth, releasing each with a loud pop. Simon could almost feel his tongue on his shaft as he made his way up to the head and dipped his tongue into the slit to lap at all the pre-cum before opening his mouth and swallowing Simon down to the root.

Simon howled Zack's name as ropes of pearly white cum shot from his cock onto the tiles below to be washed away with the hot water. Leaning his arm against the wall, Simon took deep breaths trying to get his body to calm back down after the most explosive orgasm of his life. Once he was sure he could stand unaided, without the threat of his knees giving way, he washed the rest of his body and turned the shower off.

Quickly running a towel over his wet body, Simon walked to his closet. He wanted to get dressed and get back out to his mate as soon as possible. Grabbing a pair of well worn jeans he knew his ass looked great in, Simon found a shirt and pulled them both on, not bothering with underwear. He was already hard again at the thought of his mate and didn't want the extra layer of fabric constricting his body. Running his fingers through his hair, Simon was as ready as he would ever be.

* * * *

Zack sat at the dining room table surrounded by his mate's family.
His Mate
. Being gay, Zack never thought he would have a mate. Never thought there would be the perfect match for him out there. After everything he'd been through recently, he wasn't sure he could handle the fact he
did
indeed have a mate. Having nearly everyone he loved taken away from him, could he survive if he mated with Simon and then something happened to him as well?

Looking at his daughter sitting quietly in the chair next to him, Zack had another thought. What did Simon think about kids? Did he like them? Did he want one? Would he help Zack to raise Hayley? God this was such a mess.

"So Zack, what brings you to our small town?" Alex asked him. Their meeting earlier had been cut short when Zack realised Hayley wandered off, then with the invitation for dinner they never got back to it. It seemed Alex was going to continue the questions with the rest of the family present now.

"I got a job at the local High School while the current teacher is out on maternity leave. I'll be teaching math and social studies." Zack stopped and took a breath. His body stilled as the most glorious scent permeated his senses. The smell was rich, musky and all man with a hint of soap. Zack turned in his seat to see the drop dead gorgeous figure of his mate standing in the doorway. Simon had his arms crossed over his chest and his hip resting against the door jamb.

With his mate looking right at him, Zack smiled shyly and couldn't help but notice how sexy Simon looked in his faded jeans and tight black t-shirt, his hair still wet from his shower. A smile broke out across Simon's face as he pushed off the door jamb and stalked towards Zack. Zack's breath caught in his throat at the predatory look in Simon's eye.

Everything else faded into the background when Simon stopped in front of him. Simon raised a hand and cupped Zack's cheek and tingles started under his skin from the contact with his mate, making their way through his body straight to his cock. Simon's thumb brushed gently across his bottom lip before the hand cupping his cheek tipped his head backwards.

Zack's focus narrowed down to the lips in front of him, when Simon seductively leaned in for a kiss. Nothing else mattered at the moment except what it would feel like to have those lips pressed against his. He watched as a pink tongue darted out and licked the lips he so desperately wanted to taste before Simon finally closed the small distance still remaining between them.

A moan escaped from his throat as soft lips finally met his. The kiss was gentle and searching, not hard and demanding like he was expecting. Either way was fine by him. Zack opened his mouth when he felt Simon's tongue gently swipe against his bottom lip, right where his thumb had caressed earlier.

Simon's tongue invaded his mouth as the kiss deepened. The sound of a throat clearing cut through the fog created by the kiss; Simon broke away and rested his head against Zack's. They were both breathing fairly heavily; Simon kissed his lips once more before straightening and looking at the other people surrounding the table.

Zack could feel the heat rush to his cheeks at the realisation he had just shared his first kiss with his mate in front of Simon's entire family. Zack's heartbeat quickened at the thought his daughter had witnessed his kiss; he quickly turned to see her reaction only to find his daughter looking at him with a huge grin on her face.

"Daddy kissed a man." Hayley sang then broke into giggles. Everyone else at the table laughed at the stunned look on his face.

Simon pulled out the chair on the other side of Zack and took a seat at the table. Another throat cleared and Zack glanced up to see Alex staring at Simon with one eyebrow raised. "Umm Simon, is there something you want to tell me?"

Zack's mate leaned back in his chair with hands linked behind his head and sporting a cocky grin. "Nope."

The small chuckle from across the table pulled Zack's attention away from his mate and had him looking instead at Jason, Alex's mate. Jason winked at him and his smile lit up his face.

"Simon!" The name was practically a growl from the big Alpha.

Simon's grin never faded. "It's not like you haven't already guessed."

"I want to hear you say it."

"Fine then, Zack is my mate. Happy now?"

"Yep."

"It's yes not yep. Right, Daddy?" Hayley asked so innocently Zack was hard pressed not to burst into laughter. Alex turned towards the little girl with an expression of complete and utter shock. Zack doubted anyone had ever dared correct the Alpha's speech before.

"Yes, Pumpkin, that's right."

Alex's attention was diverted away from Hayley and focused on Zack with his response and Zack swallowed the lump in his throat before straightening his shoulders and looking the man in the eyes.

"You got anything to add?"

"No." What more was there? Simon was his mate. They had a lot of things to talk about, but now wasn't the time.

"Well then, I suppose, welcome to the family. Mum will love you as you're going to make her dream of being a grandmother come true."