just like that, his nerves eased. Toby grabbed his hand and led him up to the guest room. They still hadn’t gotten around to moving all of Toby’s things over from the cottage, but Brooks planned on getting a lot of it done over the next few days.
His thoughts of lugging boxes vanished once they reached the bedroom, though. Toby turned and slipped his arms around Brooks’s waist.
“The way I see it, we can do this one of two ways.”
Brooks gulped.
“One, we can be slow and romantic. Or two, I can rip your clothes off and do all the things I’ve been thinking about but have been too scared to try. Thoughts?”
Brooks nodded.
Toby grinned and pushed his hands under Brooks’s shirt. He ran them up the skin of his back, sending a shiver of want down Brooks’s spine.
“That wasn’t an answer.” Toby slid his hands down his back and rested them on the waist of his jeans. Then he dipped his hand beneath the band, touching above the swell of Brooks’s ass.
Teasing. Taunting. Waiting.
“You’re killin’ me.”
Toby beamed. “Still not an answer.”
It took him a second to realize Toby needed him to take control. Toby had given his permission and now needed Brooks to meet him the rest of the way.
“Then I pick ripping clothes off. Starting now.”
Toby gasped as Brooks grabbed his shirt and pulled it up and over his head. His own he literally tore open, buttons flying around the room, pinging as they hit the floor.
“Oh shit.” Toby wobbled and clung to Brooks’s bare arms. “That is the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Brooks pulled them together, and their bare chests brushed each other. Toby grabbed Brooks’s shoulders and jumped, wrapping his legs around Brooks’s waist once he was high enough to do so.
In return, Brooks grabbed him under the ass and supported his weight as he moved the few remaining steps to the bed. “You know the best part about being mated to a wolf?”
Toby’s eyes widened as Brooks lowered him to the bed. He nudged Toby’s thighs apart and settled between them.
“N-no?”
“Great refractory period.”
“Refrac—” Toby paused, then gasped a second later. “Oh.”
“Yeah. What’d you think I was going to say?” Brooks tried not to laugh as his mate tried to form words. He got busy, teasing the soft skin of Toby’s belly, tracing over the firm bulge beneath his jeans.
“P-pack or something,” Toby managed.
“Nah. Pack’s in the top five, for sure, but not the best.”
He managed to get Toby’s pants unbuttoned and unzipped, then gave them a not so gentle tug so they bunched around his thighs.
Toby shuddered and grabbed his wrist. “Hold on a sec.”
Brooks couldn’t help his smile. “Problem?”
Toby scowled at him. “Yes, problem. You’re being ridiculously hot right now, and I’m about to come in my pants.”
“No refractory, huh?”
Toby’s mouth fell open, so Brooks swooped in for a kiss. He broke away once Toby was panting for breath and clutching desperately at his back.
“Also, your pants aren’t on anymore.”
Toby smacked him on the shoulder. “I see what you’re doing, you know?”
“What? I’m not doing anything. You know, another great thing about being a shifter is enhanced senses.” Brooks tucked his nose against Toby’s neck and inhaled.
His mate’s heart pounded in his chest. He could feel the pulse bubbling away beneath his nose.
“Uh-huh. Ollie told me.”
“Hmph. What does he know?”
Toby laughed, exactly as Brooks had hoped he would.
“Brooks?”
“Yes, love?”
“You can quit distracting me now. But thank you.”
Brooks grinned down at Toby before touching their foreheads together. “Your heart was racing.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad. I hate to break it to you, but you kinda make my heart race just by breathing.”
Brooks raised his head. “Yeah?”
“Oh yeah. And when you do that sexy smirking grin thing, wow. Yeah. We gotta make sure you do that more often.”
“Anything for you.”
He meant it.
And Toby knew it.
Brooks returned his attention to making Toby a pile of liquid mush in his hands. He touched, tasted, and teased every inch of him until Toby quivered with need.
When he finally snuck his hand under the pillow to grab the Vaughn-approved brand of lube, Toby barely even noticed. He did, however, hear the snick of the cap opening.
He opened his eyes and stared up at Brooks as he coated his fingers, then teased them over Toby’s opening. “Ready?”
“Yeah,” Toby gasped.
Brooks took his time, gently using his fingers to get Toby slicked up and open. He tried not to hear Vaughn’s lecture in his head, but he did at