The sibilant whisper trailed warm air over Holden's spine and he shivered. Already, much of him belonged to Garret. The man's presence filled all the empty spots inside him and brightened all the dark places. Everything he'd ever thought about having a mate had been blown to pieces by Garret. The calm acceptance of what life had handed them showcased the keen intelligence of the man. His wicked sense of humor suited Holden's fun side. His conservative, stuffy British side served to make Holden want to crack his composure, to watch the cool exterior be replaced by a fire storm of l.u.s.t.

Holden rolled over to find Garret sitting on the side of the bed. Their eyes met and then Garret's dropped to take in Holden's partially erect c.o.c.k. With a resigned sigh, Garret said, "Your brother's here. There's trouble in Australia."

"Why didn't you wake me sooner? We could have..." Holden's uneven voice broke off as Garret shook his head.

"I'd only just gotten here when Declan knocked."

The regret in his eyes triggered a flood of emotion inside Holden. Sitting up, he reached out and wrapped a hand around the back of Garret's head, pulling him in for a hot kiss. As their lips parted, Holden groaned. "d.a.m.n it. I'll get dressed. Tell Declan I'll be right there."

Garret got up and went to the door, his eyes on Holden's body as he stretched once more.

Then he was gone. Holden's clan mark still tingled from Garret's touch. If nothing else convinced him who his mate was, the response of his clan mark surely did. The instant Garret touched his mark, his dragon went nuts wanting to mate him.

In Holden's head, the vision of them in their dragon forms, c.o.c.ks unsheathed in mating heat, filled his head. The afternoon in the glade had been so primal that Holden knew one day they probably would have s.e.x in shifted form. Dragon s.e.x was raw and rough, but between males it was a lot easier to accomplish because there was no fear of hurting your partner. With a female, who was much smaller, one snap of your tail could break her bones. Since Holden always liked his s.e.x on the raw and rough side, being with a man certainly made things a lot easier.

When he stepped out of his bedroom, he found Declan and Garret deep in a discussion of the Australian company's finances. Holden grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the wet bar and sat down beside Garret, handing him one automatically. He looked up to find Declan's eyes watching him with a wry expression.

"So tell me what happened," he said coolly.

Declan launched into a litany of the problems that had surfaced in the past twelve hours with their takeover of the Australian funeral home company. An hour later, a knock on the door brought Sean and Emily into their strategy session. Declan kept making calls. Garret kept crunching numbers and Holden kept shaking his head over the other company's demands. By three a.m., Sean poured himself a shot of whiskey and knocked it back. "Look. If they don't want to make this easy, I'll just take their choices from them," he growled angrily. "I don't appreciate their whining and the way they're trying to negotiate as if this were a merger. It's not a f.u.c.king merger. It's a takeover. If they push me anymore, it will be a hostile takeover." Sean's eyes speared Garret. "We are in a position to just take them, aren't we?"

Garret nodded. "You could indeed. It would save you quite a bit of time to go that route as well. Although it does strain relations when you walk in the door as the new owner."

Smoke rolled from Sean's nostrils. His hawk-like expression sharpened and his gaze settled on Declan. "Make it so. I'm tired of their s.h.i.t. They could have had the easy f.u.c.k, but they've p.i.s.sed me off now. Bend them over. The b.a.s.t.a.r.ds."

He stormed from the suite with Emily on his heels and Declan stood up. "You heard the boss.

Seducing didn't work. Time to rape and pillage," he joked tiredly. "I'll put the wheels in motion before I go to bed. I'll see you both at brunch. It's a good thing we start late tomorrow. I'm wiped.

G'night!"

Silence fell when Declan left. Holden heaved a sigh and stretched out his legs, draping his arms along the back of the sofa. "f.u.c.k if that wasn't just a waste of freaking time," he grumbled.

Garret stood up and took his wine gla.s.s over to the bar, pouring the last of the bottle into the gla.s.s. He stood leaning on the bar, sipping his drink. Holden watched him, noting that he still looked as crisp as he had earlier in the day. It made Holden long to muss him up.

"It's unfortunate that they are so stubborn. It's truly not to their advantage," Garret said quietly.

"You should never try to dictate to someone stronger than you," Holden agreed.

Garret finished his wine and set the gla.s.s down. "Now what?" he asked.

Holden's brows rose. "Bedtime for all brand new mates," he grunted as he rose to his feet. He started toward his bedroom but stopped when Garret didn't move. "Is something wrong?"

The smile that sent pleasure licking at Holden's veins flashed out. "No. But we've spent a couple of days f.u.c.king. It's late. I think sleep is in order."

Holden snorted and sauntered over to Garret, grasping his chin in one long fingered hand.

He could feel the rasp of Garret's beard against his fingertips. "Did I say anything about f.u.c.king? I can tell that you're tired, Garret. Let's go to bed, okay?"

Tilting his head, Holden kissed Garret squarely on the mouth. Their tongues tangled slowly.

Holden sucked on Garret's tongue then pulled away. "Bed. Let's go to bed."

Garret nodded and they went into Holden's bedroom. Stripping off their clothes, they tumbled into bed, Holden spooning Garret as they had the night before. Contentment seeped into the marrow of Holden's bones. He buried his face in Garret's short hair, breathing in the scent that belonged only to his mate. Every muscle in his body went limp as total relaxation came over him. Curled into Garret's back, he fell asleep.

Waking with his body pressed to hard planes, angles, and muscles still seemed a bit alien to Garret. He'd rarely spent the entire night with anyone, so the past couple of mornings had seemed strange to him. He'd not let on to Holden how odd it was, because every atom in his body was set to soothe his mate's fears and confusion.

Mostly, Garret accepted that he'd found his mate. He accepted those feelings inside himself that grew every time his nostrils caught a whiff of Holden's unique lime scent or his glance filled with Holden's lean muscles or mocking smile. The gnawing ache inside when his dragon demanded to mate Holden had been easy to accept, even if it made him feel desperate at times.

He'd fallen into such an easy camaraderie with his new mate, had been so comfortable with him, and so happy with the sense of contentment he now felt, that he'd not focused on other emotions. In that first frantic night of s.e.x and discovery, he'd said the word that had risen to the top of his brain as soon as he'd known Holden wasn't going to push him away. It was true that he loved Holden. He had almost from the moment he'd met him. A man like Holden was easy to fall for. However, the ground swell of emotion inside him now, after more than two days in his new mate's company, was a far cry from that initial sense of love he'd had.

In his heart, Garret knew that this man was meant to be his, just as he was meant to be Holden's. The love he felt for Holden became larger and more firmly entrenched in his heart with every touch, every glance from those golden eyes. Garret had lost his soul to the black dragon and he didn't know what he would do if Holden didn't feel the same way.

Usually, Garret never let fear dictate to him. He let it advise him to use caution, but he never let fear gain the upper hand inside him. With Holden vacillating and trying to find answers to things that just were, Garret had allowed fear to gnaw at a small core of insecurities within him.

He worried that things had moved too quickly for Holden. He worried about what would happen when they returned to the city and to their regular lives. He worried about fitting into Holden's life. And he worried about Holden never saying, "I love you."

The heat of Holden's body against his, lax in sleep, made Garret's emotions hard to ignore.

Lying in the warmth of their bed, their naked bodies pressed together as if they couldn't bear not to touch, made Garret's heart pound with the force of his love for his mate. When Holden was awake, Garret had to corral and contain those feelings to keep from overwhelming the one person he couldn't afford to alienate. Now, while Holden slept, Garret could give those emotions free reign.

He nuzzled his face into the curve of Holden's hard shoulder as his hands softly stroked the hair roughened skin of his lover's thighs. His palms glided over the smooth hips and lean curves of Holden's glutes. The scent of limes permeated the air, filling Garret with so much love that he didn't think he could bear it if something happened to made this new relationship go sour.

Garret knew statistics, how to work the numbers. He calculated risk daily in his job.

Calculating the risk of Holden never figuring out the whole gay-straight-mates thing scared Garret in part because it wasn't exactly quantifiable. For the first time in his life, he wanted something that he couldn't just plan to accomplish. Literally, from one moment to the next, he was unsure whether Holden would bolt, refusing to accept that his mate was a man, refusing to accept Garret's love, refusing to love Garret back.

And that was it in a nutsh.e.l.l for Garret. He could lay his heart and soul at Holden's feet, but would he ever receive Holden's in return? Would Holden ever love him?

His arms tightened convulsively around his lover as his chest tightened painfully, an ache forming behind his breast bone. I just want you to love me back, he thought fiercely. You don't even have to love me as much as I love you. Just a little would be okay. It would be enough... But really, Garret knew it wouldn't be enough. He wanted all of Holden. And he knew there was a very good chance that it would never happen.

Holden stirred and Garret fought to get his emotions under control before Holden's brain awoke enough to hear and feel them. Heat fired Garret's veins as Holden's hips pressed into his, unconsciously humping him. His c.o.c.k swelled as he felt Holden's slide against it.

"Mmmn. A hard man is good to find," Holden joked sleepily as he rotated his hips, his erection grinding deliberately against Garret's growing one.

"You're a quick study," Garret teased with a soft laugh.

Holden's eyes opened. The amber irises were dark, the pupils elongated. Amus.e.m.e.nt, contentment and an indefinable emotion swirled in their depths. Garret's heart thundered.

Holden felt something for him. It was there in his eyes. Whether he could capitalize on that and make it grow...well, it was like tending stock...volatile, exciting, and filled with promise.

"One of the things I always hated about spending the night with someone is that in the morning, when I wanted to f.u.c.k, I'd have to race to the bathroom to brush my teeth," Holden complained.

"Are you trying to tell me you want to get up and brush your teeth so we can f.u.c.k?"

A laugh escaped Holden as his hands began to caress Garret's chest and shoulders. "Isn't it obvious?" His stiff p.e.n.i.s pushed against Garret's boldly.

Pushing Holden onto his back, Garret sat up in the bed. "You're a dragon. You don't need to brush your teeth. You have built in mechanisms for ridding your mouth of germs and smelly bacteria," he said with a grin. "I'm surprised you didn't think of it."

Drawing a breath, smoke pouring from his nostrils, Garret opened his mouth and a lick of flame came out, but was immediately sucked back into his mouth. A black puff of smoke came out his nose as he swallowed hard, feeling the fire burn its way through his mouth and down his throat.

Holden gazed at him with an astonished, impressed expression on his face. "Did you just swallow a fireball?"

Garret nodded and grinned. He blew out a stream of air into Holden's face. It smelled slightly like burned toast, but definitely was not morning breath. Holden's brows rose as he sat up, the sheet falling to his hips.

"I gotta try this," he said with a grin.

Garret smiled, watching Holden swallow the fireball, black smoke coming from his nostrils in a burst. His mate's grin was wider than the Mississippi and he looked thoroughly pleased with himself. Holden blew out a breath that had only a hint of fire and brimstone to it and nothing of morning breath.

Holden laughed and s.e.xual flames lit his eyes as he reached down to shove the sheet back.

Garret sucked in a breath as his mate's hand closed around his c.o.c.k, stroking it with a twisting motion.

"You're pretty bold for a man who'd never given a b.l.o.w. .j.o.b until yesterday," Garret said, his breath hitching a little as Holden's hand fired his groin with heat-laden l.u.s.t. Holden shifted toward him, leaning in until their mouths were only inches apart. "Yeah, well, maybe you need to teach me something new today since I'm such a quick study. How about we take this into the bathroom? To the tub?"

Garret shook his head. "I don't think so. A lesson in soixante neuf is always best given on a firm mattress."

"Sixty-nine? d.a.m.n. A man after my own libido," Holden replied, a grin breaking out on his handsome face.

"That is more true than you know, Holden," Garret murmured and closed the distance between them.

Taking Holden's mouth in a hot kiss, Garret sucked his lover's tongue as his dragon again clawed at him, reminding him of the need to mate Holden. The taste of Holden's lips and tongue inflamed him. With a growl, Garret pressed Holden down onto the bed, covering his body and kissing him with fierce pleasure. Ignoring the rasp of their beard roughened cheeks and jaws they kissed with a pa.s.sion that had grown exponentially since that first angry kiss. Now they knew each other's taste and texture, what made them moan and twist frantically with l.u.s.t.

Holden held the back of Garret's head as if he couldn't bear for him to move away. The gesture made Garret's already thundering heart ache with love for his mate. Beneath him, Holden writhed, his lean hips arcing up so that their c.o.c.ks rubbed in delicious friction. It took all of Garret's considerable self-control not to tear his mouth from Holden's and tell the man how much he loved him. Instead, he channeled that emotion into his kiss and prayed to the G.o.ds that Holden would eventually feel the same.

Feeling the wetness of their pre-c.u.m lubricating each thrust of their hips, Garret broke the kiss. "If we keep this up, I won't last to show you how to do a sixty-nine," he groaned breathlessly.

"By all means, professor. Show me what I need to do," Holden replied, his breath coming just as quickly and unevenly as Garret's.

"As you know, the person on top has all the control," Garret began, trying to gather his scattered wits as Holden peppered his jaw, throat, neck and shoulders with hard, biting kisses.

"Since you're new to this with a man, you'll need to be on top so that you're not forced to take more than you can handle."

With an impressive flex of muscle, Holden rolled them so that Garret was pressed into the mattress. Pinning Garret down with knees, hands and weight, Holden deliberately stroked his c.o.c.k against Garret's, then pressed it against his a.s.s. Garret shuddered with bliss. Another moment and he'd forget all about the sixty-nine lesson and beg Holden to f.u.c.k him. He loved the feel of his lover's c.o.c.k in his a.s.s, loved the feel of belonging to Holden.

"Since I'm on top, I can make you take all of me. If I'm pinning you down, you can't get away.

You have to suck me. All of me," Holden stated, smoke coming from his nostrils.

Obviously, the thought of being in control heightened his arousal. Garret decided to play to that. "Yes. The person on top doesn't even have to suck the c.o.c.k of the person beneath him. He can tease him, lick him, stroke him, and not actually ever get to the sucking."

Holden groaned loudly, his eyes filled with amber fire. "I want you," he breathed. "Suck me, Garret." Knowing that the position wasn't the easiest thing to accomplish the first time, Garret pushed the pillows beneath his head and shoulders as Holden turned his body, his knees straddling Garret's head. His engorged p.e.n.i.s brushed across Garret's face and a delirious groan escaped him, making Garret smile.

As Holden's body stretched above him, Garret tilted his head back slightly and guided the long, thick length of his mate's c.o.c.k toward his mouth. His tongue flicked out, catching the latest surge of pre-c.u.m drops from the slit in the head. Parting his lips as Holden pressed down toward his face, Garret felt the smooth hard flesh slide into his mouth. His hands slid up the back of Holden's thighs to tease his b.a.l.l.s.

"Oh, f.u.c.k, Garret!" Holden's voice cracked on a moan.

Feeling inspired, Garret sucked avidly on Holden's c.o.c.k as his fingers went to work teasing his lover's a.s.s, rubbing and stroking his sensitive a.n.u.s.

"Holy f.u.c.k! How am I supposed to suck you when you do that to me?" Now, Holden's voice trembled with l.u.s.t and despite the d.i.c.k in his mouth, Garret grinned in triumph.

He wound his tongue around Holden's stiff c.o.c.k, teasing every inch of it as he sucked.

Meanwhile, his fingers and thumbs stroked the sensitive area from Holden's b.a.l.l.s to his a.n.u.s. He was so into driving Holden crazy with desire that he'd forgotten it was supposed to be a sixty- nine. Just as Garret was about to press a finger into Holden's a.s.s, his mate sucked the head of Garret's c.o.c.k into his mouth.

The most delicious heat flooded the lower half of his body as Holden began to suck his c.o.c.k.

His fingers dug into the muscles of Holden's thighs as he tried to suck in concert with his lover.

Long minutes pa.s.sed, the sound of sucking and m.u.f.fled moans soft in the morning stillness.

Garret's b.a.l.l.s drew tight to his body, the ache in them telling him that his o.r.g.a.s.m wasn't far off.

Holden's c.o.c.k swelled in his mouth, a sure sign he wasn't far from coming either. Garret brushed his fingers over Holden's perineum, feeling how his mate's body shook and trembled. He probed Holden's a.n.u.s carefully, teasing it over and over until he felt the ring of muscles relax. He slid the tip of a finger into Holden's a.s.s and his lover jerked and stiffened. With a m.u.f.fled cry that vibrated against Garret's c.o.c.k, Holden came.

Garret thrust his finger further into Holden, causing him to shudder. Sucking and swallowing Holden's c.u.m while his lover sucked and licked him and gently pulled his b.a.l.l.s, sent Garret careening over the edge. Thrusting his hips up and pressing more of his c.o.c.k into the wet suction of Holden's mouth, Garret came with a fierceness he had only ever experienced with his mate. He didn't think about whether Holden could handle it or whether it choked him. The only thought in his mind was how much he loved Holden.

The aftermath of the soixante neuf lesson was a soak in the huge Jacuzzi tub. Trying to fit two muscular men over six feet tall into the tub took a little maneuvering, but Garret was content to sit in the cradle of Holden's thighs, resting against his mate's body.

"You know, I think I've had more s.e.x the past few days than I intended to have had I gone to that spa," Holden joked.

Garret barely kept himself from stiffening. He didn't want to think about Holden's life and how things would work when they returned to the city. He wished he could be more self-a.s.sured, but that core inside him, the place he had yet to let Holden see, was riddled with doubt. "The s.e.x is awesome. After we're done today, I think we should reward ourselves with more s.e.x," he replied in a teasing tone.

"That reminds me. I've got something to show you tonight. I think it will be our foreplay."

Holden's laugh held a note of mocking amus.e.m.e.nt and Garret wondered what it was that he had to show. However, he lacked the confidence to just ask. Besides, if they didn't hurry, they'd be late for brunch. When he said that to Holden, a string of curses left his mate's mouth.

As they dried off, Garret asked, "Do you have a thing about being late or something?"

Holden sighed. "Yes. It irks me when others are late and I really hate it when I am. Besides, Sean's stare is lethal if you walk into one of his meetings late. He totally shreds you with a glance,"

he confessed.

"Then we better hurry." Garret pointed to his watch.

Holden's eyes widened and then he became a flurry of activity, rushing into his bedroom and grabbing briefs and socks. With a grin, Garret followed more slowly and reached out to stroke his palm over Holden's firm b.u.t.tock as he pa.s.sed by. Holden growled but he couldn't very well do anything about Garret's teasing caress while hopping on one foot to pull on his socks.

Laughing, Garret retreated to his room. A glance at the day's itinerary showed brunch with a scheduled seminar followed by another seminar that split them into two groups. Holden and Garret were not in the same group for the second seminar. Deciding to take a leaf from Holden's book, Garret dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, but instead of leaving his shirt loose like Holden he neatly tucked it in and smoothed it down inside his jeans. He knew Holden thought he was rather prissy about clothes, and perhaps he was, but he didn't consider it a bad habit.

With his organizer in hand, he went to meet Holden and they hurried down to the dining room together. Today it was set up with a podium for the speaker. They grabbed plates of food from the buffet and sat down just as the seminar began. Garret noticed immediately that both Sean and Declan were missing from the group. As he speared a strawberry, he wondered how the takeover was going.

Before his thoughts could get very far, Sean and Declan slipped into the room, taking the empty seats on the other side of Garret. Declan reached for the pot of coffee on the table in front of them and poured for himself and Sean. Holden looked around Garret at his brothers and his expression tightened. Sean's face had a hawk-like, enigmatic expression that heralded trouble.

Declan just looked wiped out and p.i.s.sed off. Garret's stomach sank. He had a feeling the rest of the day would be spent trying to get the takeover of the Australian funeral home corporation accomplished.

Sure enough, as soon as the seminar was over, everyone left to go to the next one, but Emily, Sean, Declan, and Vahid stayed behind. A waiter set two plates of steaming food in front of Sean and Declan.