Chapter Three
Rusty sat on the seat of his Goldwing, his right foot on the foot peg and his left on the ground of his mechanic shop behind his home. The space was one area Korvyn rarely came unless Rusty asked him to. For his first conversation with his mate, he really wanted his privacy.
Just the man's tone had sounded like liquid sex, firing the blood in his veins. It'd caused his tongue to tie, and his mind blanked. He reached down and adjusted himself, then had to press the heel of his palm against the base of his prick to maintain control.
Did Acheron do that on purpose?
Hearing Acheron's next question spoken in a more serious tone, Rusty tried to get words out of his throat. "D-Different worlds?" His voice sounded rough even to his own ears, so he cleared his throat and tried again. "Yeah, I guess we should talk about that. What do you mean?"
Acheron hummed softly a moment. The sound of fabric rustling came through the line, making Rusty wonder what the man was doing.
"Well, I mean I am a one-hundred-thirty-two-year-old emperor scorpion shifter," Acheron told him, his voice taking on a quiet, musing quality. Wherever he was, it seemed he'd gotten comfortable. "I left my nest when I was forty, and I've been traveling ever since. Not all of those times were easy, since I look like a small black male, and I know I have a big personality. It matches my deep voice."
Acheron chuckled, and the husky sound went straight to Rusty's balls, making them tingle.
"Anyway, I've been as far south as Buenos Aires, and I even spent around fifteen years living mostly in my scorpion form in the Amazon. That was an interesting time. I spent a few years in various locations in Canada, too, but I prefer heat to the cold, so I came back south. I was heading toward Texas when I was kidnapped by the biker gang." His tone darkened, and he growled softly. "I'd just woken when the gang came to move us, otherwise I would have found a way to escape. Kontra's people solved that problem for me, which I suppose is good." He sounded as if he were grumbling when he admitted, "I suppose they did a better job of helping all the humans than I could have, seeing as I am just one man."
With his mind reeling, Rusty didn't even know where to begin with all that information. His mate was older than him, which wasn't a surprise. Rusty was damn young for a shifter, only twenty-eight. He'd never traveled anywhere. He'd been too busy caring for his family, since his mother and brother's injuries.
Should he admit those things?
Guess I better.
"Rusty?" Acheron murmured softly. "Did I overload you?" A deep sigh came through the line. "I admit I'm not good at this. Please say something."
Getting his head out of his ass, Rusty did just that. "Yeah, a little bit," he answered honestly. His mate was obviously trying in some awkward way to share things about himself. Rusty needed to do the same. "Uh, so... guess I should warn you that you're definitely right. Totally different worlds." Rubbing his free hand over his thigh, he told the man, "I'm twenty-eight, so I actually look my age. I have a human mother and a shifter father. My brother, uh, half-brother, Korvyn, he's human."
When Rusty paused, Acheron commented, "Wow, twenty-eight." He chuckled softly before saying, "Guess that makes sense. Sam told me Korvyn lives with you and you care for him."
Rusty racked his mind, then it clicked. "Sam. Kontra's beta?"
"Yeah."
Having met the Texas longhorn bull shifter a couple of times, had even gone with the group on a motorcycle ride where he'd taken Korvyn, he couldn't help but smile. "Kontra's group are busybodies. Did you notice?"
Acheron rumbled a low snicker. "Yeah. Yeah, I have. They mean well."
"True, although not always on the up and up," Rusty countered. "I've heard how they've done some underhanded things to keep their people safe or remove a danger from their pack."
"Uh, I don't actually have a problem with that," Acheron told him. "I mean, I'm one of the people they helped by doing something underhanded. Did you know that while they stopped the head buyer's right-hand man, the guy he answered to is still at large? They know his name is Wayland Davidson, and that he runs a bunch of shady business dealings out of Chicago, but his actual address is unlisted. He's a danger to me, and if I see him, I don't have any issue with turning into my scorpion and stinging him."
The revelation of the danger that Acheron was bringing to not only Rusty, but his family, caused his gut to clench and his arousal to wane--and it wasn't just from the shifter's choice of wheels. At least his cock no longer throbbed. Still, it was definitely something that he needed to consider.
"You're my mate, though," Rusty whispered. "I--" He brought his free hand to his face and rubbed it over his eyes. "Shit."
"Rusty, what--Ah, I see." Acheron's tone took on a soothing quality. "You just realized mating with me comes with a certain measure of danger."
Acheron paused for a second, but it wasn't long enough for Rusty to do much more than grunt in confirmation.
"Life is risk, my young mate." Acheron once more crooned, his voice turning husky. "We have no guarantee of tomorrow. While we can plan for the future, we must seize each day and recognize it for the gift that it is. My sweet kitty, I'd very much like to start doing that with you sooner rather than later."
Rusty had to acknowledge the truth of Acheron's words. His cat yowled softly in the back of his mind, wanting to do as the man on the other end of the line encouraged. Knowing his mate was a more dominant shifter than himself, even though he was much smaller, would take some getting used to.
"I know," Rusty whispered. "I agree, too." After a second of hesitation, he explained, "My mother and my brother were hit by a drunk driver twelve years ago. Korvyn is two years my senior. I was sixteen at the time. He was eighteen." Scoffing softly, he recalled the anger and fear his brother had worked through. "My mother physically came out of it fairly well, but still harbors guilt, even though the accident was in no way her fault. The other guy ran a red light and t-boned my mother's vehicle on Korvyn's side."
"I'm sorry that happened to your family." Acheron actually sounded as if he meant it, too. "I haven't seen or spoken to my family since I left. We weren't exactly what you'd call... loving."
"That's too bad." Rusty couldn't imagine living without his family, even when times had been tough. They'd all supported each other. "Family is important."
"That is... something I hope to learn about."
Rusty opened his mouth, then closed it again. He had no clue how to respond to Acheron's comment. The man's implication was clear, though--he wanted to learn about it from Rusty.
"You mentioned going for a meal."
Appreciating the subject change, Rusty latched onto the new topic. "Yes. Yes, I did. Uh--" He thought quickly. "What kind of food do you like? There are a few really good choices in town."
"Actually, I was hoping for something a little more secluded," Acheron told him. "You may have noticed I'm a dominant shifter. Keeping my hands off of you..." He ended on a hum. "When I see something I want, I'm not a patient man, Rusty." A soft growling sound came through the line, the sound one of discontent. "I'll try to give you time, but--gods, Rusty. You're my mate. You're a shifter, too. Surely you understand?"
Rusty did understand. His cat had been grumbling unhappily in his mind all afternoon.
"Yeah." Whispering the word, Rusty rubbed at his temples. "What, uh, what did you have in mind?"
"May I come over tomorrow evening and grill for you?" Acheron hesitated, then added, "For both you and Korvyn?"
Rusty's knee-jerk reaction was to accept. He took a few heartbeats to think about that, however. "You want to meet Korvyn right away?"
"I do." Acheron sounded adamant. "Korvyn is your brother. He is a big part of your life. I think we need to meet immediately. Wait. Does Korvyn know about shifters?"
"Yeah," Rusty assured, waylaying that concern. "He knows about us. That's not an issue."
"And does he know about fated mates and our swift need to bond?"
At the very mention of bonding, Rusty's breath caught in his throat. He felt a shiver of need travel down his spine. His blood heated, and his nipples pebbled.
Rusty must have let out some noise betraying his arousal, for Acheron moaned roughly. "Oh, my sexy kitty. The sounds I want to ring from your body." He growled through the line, possessive and low. "We will have such bliss together."
A groan ripped from Rusty before he could stifle the noise.
"Yessss," Acheron hissed. "You do like the sound of that."
Pressing the heel of his hand to the base of his prick again, Rusty blurted, "I-I've never been with a man."
Of course, he'd only been with a few women, too, but he didn't reveal that.
"Rusty." Acheron seemed to speak his name as if it was a prayer. "That knowledge." He grunted, and the sound of clothes rustling came through the line. "Do you have any idea how close I am to getting off right now?"
Gasping upon hearing Acheron's confession, Rusty palmed himself through his jeans. His balls tingled and rolled. Pre-cum dampened the inside of his fly. Even his cat purred in his head.
"What about you, Rusty?" Acheron growled his name. "Are you close, too? Does talking to me, hearing my voice turn you on as much as yours does to me?" Chuckling huskily, he asked, "If I tell you how I want to straddle your lap and grind my dick against yours, how I want to wrap my hands around us both as I writhe on your lap, spreading our scents all over each other, does that make your balls ache?"
Rusty whimpered, yanking open his fly. "Yes," he responded breathlessly. He wrapped his fingers around his throbbing erection, desperate for stimulation. "Oh fuck!"
"Oh, we will." Acheron's moan sounded in Rusty's ear. "Damn, that feels better. So fucking hard for you, Rusty. I'm stroking myself for you, babe. Are you gonna rub one out for me, too?"
Leaning back, Rusty rested his head against the passenger seat's backrest. He planted his second foot on the floor and began rocking into his touch. Moans and whimpers escaped him as heat suffused his body.
Rusty felt his balls tighten as an image of Acheron lying on a bed touching himself entered his mind.
"Gods, those are sexy sounds," Acheron mumbled. "Gonna come from listening to you pleasure yourself, Rusty."
Unable to form a thought in his head, Rusty mindlessly jacked himself as he listened to Acheron's sexy croonings. He didn't know how the man could still talk, but he sounded so good, telling him what he was doing, jacking his dick, playing with his foreskin, and teasing his frenulum. He interspersed that with the huskiest of rumbles, grunts, and growls.
"I might be dominant, but I'm a switch, babe," Acheron continued. "But I'll still be in charge. I can't wait to tie your hands to the bedposts and ride your dick. My ass will squeeze you so good while I'm bouncing on you, taking you nice and slow, then fast and hard. Maybe I'll sit on your groin and play with myself, not letting you come until I've sprayed my seed all over your chest, coating you in my scent."
Rusty could no longer fight his body's need. As the image of Acheron's lithe black body sitting on him, spraying him, filled his mind, he imaged that the squeeze of his fist was his mate's rectum. His balls pulled tight, and he roared as his cock pulsed.
As Rusty flew on the endorphin release, hard trembles racking his body, he vaguely felt the warmth of his seed soaking his shirt. He recognized Acheron's rough shout of completion and grinned at the ceiling.
"Wow," Rusty croaked, still trying to catch his breath.
That was unexpected.
Acheron hummed, the sound one of sated contentment. "Is that a yes?" he asked, his own voice husky. "Can I come see you tomorrow? Feed you?"
"Yeah." The word was out of Rusty's mouth before he could think better of it. Even if his brain had been on-line, he wouldn't have been able to deny his mate. Not now. "Tomorrow."
"Yes, Rusty. Tomorrow. I look forward to it."
As they confirmed a time then said their goodbyes--Rusty promising to text his address--he didn't think the next eighteen hours could go by fast enough.