STORY EXCERPT

“Excuse me.” Dale reached for his trolley and the man took his hand. Dale was so stunned he didn’t react for a moment, just stared at the large hand holding his. There were three tattoos across the top of the man’s hand just before the knuckles. Realizing his hand was still being held, he snatched it away.

“I apologise. My name is Anton Surkov and I would very much like to speak with you.”

Dale looked a long way up. The giant man’s smile was wide and he looked certain Dale would want to hang around and speak with him. Dale decided to be quick in dissuading him of that idea.

“I’ve got to get back to work. The store closes at seven.” He moved around Anton, grabbed his trolley and walked away.

Anton didn’t take the hint and fell into step beside Dale, still smiling. This reminded him of James, a customer he recently found between the shelves having a quiet meltdown. Dale had sent staff to remove customers from the area and had security on standby, but they weren’t needed. James just required a bit of time to get over his panic attack. Apparently, he just received confirmation he’d been scammed and lost a lot of money with no way to get it back. Dale had sat with James until he was ready to face the situation and get up off the floor. Since then, James popped into the store at least once a week and was friendly, initiating conversation. And he was doing much better as the weeks progressed.

 “I am happy to help. The trolley says ‘returns.’ I can join you and we will talk.”

Anton had an accent that was heavy but nice. Attractive, even. A lot of people would get hot and bothered over it. Dale wasn’t, though there was a fluttering in his stomach he ignored. He pushed the trolley and suggested Anton collect what he came to the store for before it closed.

“I came for my brothers and cousins who of course managed to get into a fight while getting movie snacks.”

“Oh, you mean the young paranormals HAP attacked.” Dale nodded. “They didn’t cause it, HAP did.”

“Sasa would not have meekly backed away. This is good and bad.” Anton glanced at the name badge pinned to Dale’s top. “Tell me, Dale, when the store closes, are you free for me to take you to dinner?”

“No. I need to get to work.” Dale quickened his pace but Anton kept up with him easily as Dale walked toward where the return trolleys were stored. Anton cheerfully talked the entire time, disrupting Dale’s flow and concentration. He nearly walked right by where he needed to leave the trolley. There was a message over the store system about cleaning up after an ice cream spill in the freezer section.

Finally, he stopped and took in the two people following them. Wanting to be firm, but reminding himself he needed to be professional, he went for direct but polite. “Thanks for the invitation but I’m not going to accept. I’m really busy and need to work. And honestly, I’m not interested.”

“Ouch.” Anton winced but kept on smiling. “I like direct and will also be. You are my mate, Dale.”

“Ah, crap.” Dale puffed out a sigh. He wasn’t going to dispute Anton’s claim because he knew paranormals never lied about mates. “A mateship for us isn’t going to happen. I have a pass. I hope you get help to stop the mate need from tearing you apart.”

He went to walk away but Anton caught hold of the trolley and held it still. Dale knew it was a losing battle trying to tug it back out of the paranormal’s hand; he’d never win against this giant. Most paranormals possessed supernaturally heightened abilities. They healed and ran faster. Could hear and see better than a human apparently, and were a lot stronger. Anton said he came to the store because of his brothers and cousins, Dale making the assumption that Anton was gargoyle. It wasn’t a difficult conclusion to come to. The man was a giant. Tall, wide shoulders, solid, muscular build. Gargoyles tended to be big. Not all, of course, Sasa wasn’t. But you could generally identify a gargoyle because of their eyes and hair. Sometimes you even caught a glimpse of wing that could be tucked away. Gargoyles’ hair, though, stood out generally, as it nearly always had two or more colors, like Anton’s was light golden brown with a strip of purple through. His eyes were blue with a purple vertical strip. Genetics didn’t really seem to be followed with gargoyles when it came to appearance and eye color.

“Mateship does not work like that, Dale,” Anton said seriously, then smiled again. He had a fairly constant smile. “We will talk about your reservations—”

“Hang on, you don’t seem to understand.” Dale held up the forefinger on his left hand. Anton frowned but stopped speaking. “I have a pass. Do you know what that means?”

“Do tell us what this pass means.” Another man joined them, a gargoyle with unusual eyes and a buzz cut. “I am Bruno, Anton’s brother.”

“Right, okay.” Dale sighed. “I performed a community service and was given a pass. It basically means I can choose whatever I want. Not paying taxes ever. Paid to never work again. Own a football team. It does not cover treason and being a serial killer. You get the picture?”

“It must have been a very important community service.” Bruno stood as tall as Anton and with nearly as much muscle mass. He crossed thick arms over a wide chest. “How many times are you able to use this pass?”

“A one-time pass. I’ve not used it. Now I am. No mating,” Dale said empathically. “No disrespect intended, I’m just not interested. Free pass, man.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Hunger roared through Anton, pushing his control to its limits and the need to claim and bond became a throbbing demand. Lifting Dale up into his arms, he walked around the sofa and dropped onto it, careful not to jolt him. Shifting around on Anton’s lap, Dale pressed quick kisses to his lips and expertly flicked open the button of his jeans and slid down the zip. When he reached in and freed Anton’s cock, the breath was knocked right out of him and he found himself gasping with pleasure and need.

“Lube…lots of lube.” Dale leaned back, eyes wide on Anton’s lap. He licked his lips.

Anton leaned forward and kissed Dale briefly. “Bedroom. I’ll get it.”

Dale climbed off Anton’s lap and stood. Anton hurried to the bedroom and retrieved the bottle of lube from his bedside drawers. By the time he returned, Dale was wonderfully naked. Grinning, Anton tossed the lube onto the sofa and took his mate into his arms, delighting in running his hands over Dale’s beautiful, soft dark skin and breathing in his man’s individual mossy scent.

“That’s a lot of lube,” Dale commented, glancing at the bottle.

“Wanna see if we can use it all tonight?” Anton asked, slipping his middle finger between Dale’s very nicely rounded ass cheeks. “I think we can get through at least half.”

“Ambition is good.” Dale slipped from Anton’s arms and picked up the lube. “Reality is better for my ass. Use a lot of it.”

“’Kay, babe.” Anton laughed and took the lube, then picked up Dale, startling the man who yelped and held on as Anton flopped onto the sofa with his mate on his lap.

“You’re still wearing your jeans.”

“I’m happy to get rid of them.” Anton lifted Dale off his lap and deposited him on the sofa then kicked off his boots, wiggled out of his jeans and shoved off his socks.

Dale moved closer and stroked Anton’s chest as they kissed, tongues touching, hands moving over each other’s bodies. There was an overwhelming need to rush and have, yet they took time fondling and touching, enjoying the mate passion that flowed and rose between them. He loved when Dale kissed a particularly sensitive spot on his throat, and his mate’s hands seemed to take great interest in his treasure trail, brushing over the hair down to his groin and lightly brushing over Anton’s very keen for attention cock.

Anton was slowly running a hand from Dale’s knee up the side of his leg to thigh and cupping the curve of his firm, rounded ass. He gave a squeeze then continued up, each sweep of his hand revealing spots that brought pleasure and caused moans and gasps.

The sofa was soft and large, giving ample space to lie and roll in their endeavors to touch and explore one another, their naked bodies pressed together, hands caressing and cupping, tongues tasting. Anton played with Dale’s erect nipples, teasing and sucking while brushing their cocks together. Once Dale’s dark brown nipples were hard, he moved downward on his mate’s body, his large hands sliding over ribs with his mouth following down to the right hip. He slid one hand beneath Dale’s body, over his ass which he took a moment to caress, then slipped between his thighs and spread them apart.

Moving into a position level with Dale’s groin, Anton wrapped a hand around the erect, leaking cock. Dale gasped and jolted, thrusting into Anton’s grip. Realizing he needed lube, he reached out with his other hand and fumbled around for it.

“Dammit.” Anton flicked a tongue over the top of Dale’s cock, the taste of his mate exploding in his mouth. “So good. Babe, pass me the lube by your head.”

“Hmm…” Dale looked to the left, then right. Spotting the bottle, he snagged it and passed it down. “Lots of lube.”

Chuckling, Anton followed his mate’s instructions well and after managing to flick the bottle’s lid with one hand, drizzled a large amount on the lovely cock he held and along the groove between ass cheeks. Securing the lube lid, he dropped the bottle off the side of the sofa. Dale groaned and shifted beneath Anton, one arm dropped over the sofa, the other holding on to a fistful of cushion. His pretty hazel eyes watched Anton from beneath delicate lashes. With his firm hold, he stroked from root to tip, repeating the action as he lowered his head and pressed kisses across Dale’s thighs then dipped lower and brushed his lips over his mate’s balls, loving the taste and scent of the man. He battled not to rush, instead slowing his movements and caressing a ball with his mouth as he slid the tip of a liberally coated finger between Dale’s spread ass cheeks and gently pressed it to the entrance, then dipped the tip inside and wiggled.

At the same time, he continued firmly, but slowly, stroking Dale’s cock, occasionally flicking a thumb over the soft, sensitive head and playing with the little slit. He loved the way Dale groaned and shifted his body, responding and demanding more.

He moved his finger deeper and took a ball into his mouth, flicking his tongue over the wrinkly ball sac. He took his time playing and stretching. Anton loved to play. Finding and brushing over the small bud of nerves deep in Dale’s channel, he felt his mate’s cock jerk in his hand and leak. He swept his tongue over the squishy, engorged head and pressed another finger inside beside the first and stretched. Soon, he had a third finger buried deep and the head of his mate’s cock in his mouth, Dale bucking beneath him.

“I’m ready.” Dale urged Anton up, pulling on his arms.