Chapter 14: The Claim
The celebration was a wall of noise, a dozen voices laughing and cursing over the scrape of chairs and the wet pop of beer bottles opening. Someone had found a speaker and was blasting old rock through the clubhouse hall, the bass thudding in the floorboards. Duncan stood at the edge of it all, watching the pack he had helped save, and he was still buzzing, still vibrating in his skin like a struck wire.
Then Jared's hand closed around his.
No words, no warning. Just the alpha's grip, warm and unrelenting, pulling him through the press of bodies. A couple of the riders glanced up as they passed, but no one spoke. Jared's face was stone, his jaw tight, and Duncan let himself be towed like a leaf on a current.
The door to Jared's room closed behind them with a solid click of the lock, and the noise of the hall cut to a dull rumble through the wall. The single amber lamp glowed low, painting the shadows in gold and black. The room smelled like motor oil, leather, and Jared. Duncan let out a breath that came out as a laugh, shaky and wild.
"Fuck, that was a night," he started, but the words died in his throat.
Jared had him against the wall before he could finish, one arm braced on either side of Duncan's head, that huge body crowding in with heat and muscle and the sharp, piney bite of alpha scent. The mate mark on Duncan's neck throbbed in response, hot and alive.
"I heard you on that radio," Jared growled, his voice low and rough, barely more than a rumble in his chest. "Heard my omega tell me to pull back. Issued orders like you rode this territory your whole life."
The growl vibrated through the wall, through Duncan's spine. He swallowed, heart hammering.
"You were going to get yourself killed, playing decoy with that whole damn war pack on your ass," Duncan said, half a laugh, half a snarl. "Someone had to think straight."
Jared's eyes flashed, wolf-bright in the dim light. "I have never been so hard in my life. There I was, mounted on my bike with the Coyotl howling at my heels, and all I could think about was dragging you into a bush and bending you over the saddle."
The words hit Duncan like a punch to the gut, heat flooding low and sharp. His mouth went dry. "Then why the hell are you still talking?"
Jared didn't answer with words. He surged forward and claimed Duncan's mouth, hard and demanding, one hand fisting in the back of Duncan's shirt and yanking. The fabric tore at the shoulder seam. Duncan didn't care. He arched into the kiss, biting at Jared's lower lip, tasting salt and beer and copper from a split lip Jared must have gotten in the fight.
They tore at each other like starving things. Duncan's fingers found the buttons of Jared's shirt and ripped, sending the little plastic discs scattering across the floor. Jared grunted against his mouth and shoved a hand down the back of Duncan's jeans, palm hot on the curve of his ass, gripping hard enough to bruise.
"Fuck, Jared, now," Duncan gasped, bucking against him. He was already half hard, pulsing and thick behind his jeans. The scent of his own slick was starting to bleed through, slick and sweet, the omega's body answering the alpha's call whether Duncan's head agreed or not.
Jared dropped to his knees in one fluid motion, hands shoving Duncan's jeans down his hips. The denim caught on his boots; Jared growled in frustration and pulled harder, tearing one of the belt loops clean off. Duncan laughed, breathless and wild.
"Ruin them," he said, gasping. "I don't give a shit."
Jared looked up at him from between his thighs, wolf-bright eyes raking up his body, and there was something molten in that gaze. "You've got a mouth on you, omega."
"You like it."
"I do." Jared leaned forward and pressed his mouth to the straining bulge of Duncan's briefs, hot breath soaking through the cotton. "I like everything about you. Even when you're giving me orders on a dead frequency while I'm running for my life."
Duncan's knees buckled. Jared caught him, hands gripping his hips, and pulled the briefs down in one sharp yank. Duncan's cock sprang free, hard and flushed, and Jared took it into his mouth without preamble.
The heat was blinding. Duncan threw his head back against the wall, breath tearing out of him in a ragged groan. Jared worked him fast and filthy, tongue curling, one hand cupping his balls, the other gripping his ass hard enough to make him whine. The pleasure coiled hot in Duncan's gut, and for a second he thought he was going to come right there, spilling down Jared's throat without any finesse at all.
But Jared pulled off, a strand of spit connecting the head of Duncan's cock to his lower lip. "No," he growled. "Not like that. I want you on the bed."
Duncan didn't argue. He stumbled across the room, shedding boots and jeans as he went, and fell back onto the rumpled sheets. The mess of the night was still all over him, sand and sweat and the faint copper of someone else's blood, but he didn't care. He held his arms out.
Jared stood at the foot of the bed, chest bare, skin streaked with dust and a fresh red scratch across one pec. His jeans hung open at the waist, his cock thick and straining against his fly. He looked savage. He looked like a wolf.
"Come here," Duncan said, softer now.
Jared came.
The mattress dipped under his weight, and then he was over Duncan, caging him in with muscle and heat. He kissed him slow this time, deep, taking his time, one hand cupping the back of Duncan's skull. The mate bite on Duncan's neck throbbed with every beat of his heart, a bright pulse connecting them.
"Thought I'd lose you tonight," Jared murmured against his lips. "Thought I'd get back here and find the clubhouse burned to the ground."
"I'm here," Duncan said. "I'm not going anywhere."
Jared's jaw tightened. Then he reached down, pushed his jeans and briefs off his hips, and settled between Duncan's legs. His cock slid along the crease of Duncan's ass, slick with Duncan's own leaking slick, hot and heavy and thick.
"Tell me," Jared said, voice rough as gravel. "Tell me you want this."
"I want it. I want you. Fuck me, Jared."
Jared didn't waste another second. He lined up and pushed inside.
The stretch was slow and deep, inch by burning inch, and Duncan's breath caught in his throat. He was slick enough that it didn't hurt, but the fullness was overwhelming, the way Jared's cock opened him up and filled the emptiness he hadn't known he was carrying. He dug his nails into Jared's shoulders and clung.
Jared was breathing hard, forehead pressed to Duncan's, jaw tight with the effort of control. "You alright?"
"Never better," Duncan managed. "Now move."
Jared moved.
Slow at first, a long, grinding pull that almost slid all the way out before pressing back in, deep enough to hit that spot that made Duncan's eyes roll back. Then faster, harder, the bed slamming against the wall with a rhythmic thump. Jared's knot began to swell at the base of his shaft, catching and tugging on each stroke, and Duncan groaned, head thrown back, neck exposed.
Jared ducked his head and bit down on the mate mark.
The shock of it raced down Duncan's spine, pleasure and possession tangled into one white-hot thread. He came hard, crying out, his cock jerking between their bodies and spilling hot across his own stomach and Jared's. His inner walls clenched and rippled around Jared's shaft, and Jared followed with a broken growl, buried to the hilt, his knot swelling thick and locking them together.
The room went quiet. Only the sound of their ragged breathing and the muffled bass of the party down the hall.
Jared collapsed on top of him, heavy and warm, and Duncan wrapped his arms around him, holding on. The knot pulsed inside him, full and thick, and he could feel the alpha's heart hammering against his ribs.
"There," Duncan whispered. "Still here."
Jared turned his face into Duncan's neck, pressing a kiss to the brand of his own teeth. "I know," he said, the words muffled against skin. "I can feel you. All through me."