said, as Russ stared at the ring box with wide eyes. “Just wasn’t sure when the time would be right.”
When Russ didn’t move and didn’t say anything, Liam’s anxiety rose. His tongue flicked over his lips nervously. “Ah…Russ?”
That snapped Russ out of his daze, and he cupped both of his larger hands around Liam’s, with the ring box in the center. “How long?” he managed in a voice tight with emotions.
Liam shrugged, a little embarrassed. “About a month after I moved in,” he admitted. “I mean, it seemed like a no-brainer after the whole mate bond thing. I don’t care what kind of ceremony. Whatever you want. Do wolves do something special? Does Fox Hollow even have a Justice of the Peace?”
He knew he was babbling, wondering what was taking Russ so long to just open the damn box. Russ grinned at him fondly and placed a finger to Liam’s lips to stop the nervous torrent of words. Liam promptly sucked Russ’s finger into his mouth with an obscene slurp and began to give it a good approximation of an enthusiastic blow job which had the desired effect, judging from the growing bulge in Russ’s jeans.
“I was afraid that you might not be ready yet,” Russ admitted. “I thought you might turn me down. So I was just surprised you bought me a ring first.”
“Turn you down? Never. And the whole fated mates connection helped a lot with being ready,” Liam replied. “So whaddya say, Wolfie? Gonna make an honest fox out of me?” He knew Russ read his wisecracking for the defense mechanism it was.
Russ’s hands shook as he reached for the box and opened the lid. He stared, dumbfounded, at a ring that was a perfect duplicate of the one he had presented to Liam, only sized larger, and then looked at his mate with puzzled astonishment. “How?”
Liam smiled through his tears, too overwhelmed by emotion to try to hide his feelings. “I don’t know. But when I saw it, I knew it was the right one. I even went all the way up to Saranac Lake to get it so you wouldn’t know.”
Russ managed a wet chuckle, as his own eyes filled. “I went down to Lake George for the same reason.”
“May I?” Liam asked, totally serious now. Russ nodded, swallowing hard.
“Russ Lowe, heart of my heart, peanut butter to my jelly, my perfect match—will you marry me?”
“Yes. Yes. Yes.” Instead of pulling Liam up, Russ sank to his knees to join him, letting Liam slide the ring onto his finger. They reached for each other at the same time, coming together in a fierce kiss. Tongues, lips, and hands claimed and explored as clothing went flying.
“Forever,” Russ growled, lying atop Liam on the floor once they had both gotten completely naked.
Liam flipped them so that he straddled Russ, looking down with an insolent grin. “Always,” he answered, grabbing for the lube they kept in a corner of the junk drawer.
Which is how they woke up the next morning, sated, chilly, and stuck together, entwined on the kitchen floor after a marathon session that pushed the boundaries of even shifter stamina.
“Damn,” Russ said, brushing the hair out of Liam’s eyes. “We should get engaged more often. Although I’m not sure I can walk, between my back and my ass.”
Liam kissed him, unconcerned about morning breath. “I think you wore out my dick.” He threw one leg over Russ’s muscular thigh and started to grind against it, loving the scrape of wiry body hair against his most sensitive skin. “Nope. My bad. Looks like it’s working just fine,” he smirked, knowing Russ could feel his erection growing between them.
Russ got to his feet and scooped Liam into his arms in one move. “First, a shower.” He wrinkled his nose. “I’m crusty.”
Liam gave him a lascivious grin. “Whose fault is that?”
Russ rolled his eyes. “Then, we brush teeth. My mouth tastes like balls. Your balls, to be specific.”
“Didn’t hear any complaints last night,” Liam snarked, lazily kicking his legs up and down from the knees like something out of a 1950s romcom.
“And before we do anything else with my cock, I seriously need to take a leak.”
Liam arched backward, flinging his arms out in mock surrender, knowing Russ wouldn’t let him fall. “Fine,” he said in mock dismay, letting his fox do its diva best. “Interrupt our epic lovemaking. I only hope we can somehow regain our momentum.”
“Oh, I have plenty of momentum for you,” Russ replied, bucking his