Man to Man [Wolf Creek Pack 3] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) (5 page)

Joe nodded and pointed to his office. “You can use my office. It’s right over there.” He watched as Chase nodded and walked into the office, shutting the door behind him before turning to look back down at Nate.

“What do you need to meditate, baby?” Joe asked.

“A quiet spot with no interruptions,” Nate replied.

“Will our bedroom work for you?”

Nate nodded. “Yeah, it should work okay.”

“Then why don’t you go upstairs and do whatever it is you do to get in contact with your friend. The rest of us will start preparing things down here. If we have a lot of people coming, we’re gonna need food.”

“I think your mother might be able to help with that, Joseph. I’ll head over to the house and pick her up, grab some groceries, and meet you all back here,” Daniel said as he stood to his feet. “Jim? You want to stay here or go with me?”

Donovan barely swallowed his demand for Jim to stay. As much animosity as there was between them at the moment, he didn’t want to be separated from Jim, not now that he had found him.

“I think I’ll stick around here, Dad, if you don’t mind,” Jim said, his eyes on Donovan, who stared back just as intently.

“Yeah, okay. Then I’ll see you all in a little bit.” Daniel was shaking his head as walked out of the house. Donovan could tell that the alpha knew something was up, but he wasn’t about to fill the man in on exactly what that was. At least, not until he knew. Right now, he was clueless.

“Okay, on that note, I’m going to go upstairs and meditate. I’ll let you know if I’m able to contact Justin. Just remember that I need lots of quiet and no interruptions,” Nate said as he stood to his feet. He leaned over and kissed Joe quickly before heading upstairs.

“He’s quite the man, isn’t he?” Donovan asked as he watched Nate go. He seemed to need Joe as much as Joe needed him. He wondered if it would be that way if he and Jim were mated. Would they hate to be separated even by just a few feet? Donovan was pretty sure they would. They weren’t even mated fully yet, and he couldn’t keep his eyes off of Jim.

“He’s the best. I’ve never met anyone like him. He has more compassion and care in him than anyone I’ve ever met.” His eyes turned to Donovan’s. “I’ll do whatever I have to do to keep him safe.”

Donovan nodded. He could see the hard promise in Joe’s eyes. “Understandable. He’s your mate. We protect what is ours,” he said, looking straight into Jim’s smoky gray eyes, hoping Jim saw the promise in his eyes. The slight nod of Jim’s head made a warm glow flow through Donovan.

Maybe they did have a chance together.

“Hey, Nate, can I talk to you for a moment before you meditate?” Jim asked as he followed Nate up the stairs. He had some questions, and he needed answers. Hell, who was he kidding? He had more than a few questions. He had hundreds of them, millions. He just wasn’t sure which one to ask first.

“Yeah, sure, Jim, what’s up?” Nate asked as he walked into the bedroom to sit down on the side of the bed.

Jim pushed his hands into his pockets and looked down at his feet as he tried to gather his thoughts. He couldn’t believe he was actually here asking Nate how to have sex with his mate. His mate—that was still a scary thought.

“Jim?” Nate asked when he didn’t immediately answer. “What is it?”

Jim raised his head to look at Nate. He could feel his face reddening. “You know that guy downstairs?”

“Donovan, you mean?” Nate asked with a smirk.

“Yeah. He’s—well, he’s—”

“Totally hot?” Nate chuckled.

“Better not let my brother hear you say that.”

“Please.” Nate rolled his eyes and waved a dismissive hand at Jim. “I may be mated, but I’m not dead. Donovan is gorgeous,” he said as he stood to his feet. “You could do worse, you know.”

“He’s my mate, Nate,” Jim explained.

“I know.”

Jim’s jaw dropped. “You know? That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say? You know?” Jim exclaimed.

Nate turned to look at him, a grin on his face. “What would you like me to say? Congratulations? Way to go? Have you seen him naked yet?” Nate laughed.

Jim sat down heavily on the side of the bed, dropping his head into his hands. “You’re not helping, Nate.”

“What do you want me to say, Jim?” Nate asked as he knelt down in front of him.

Jim lifted his head to stare down at Nate. “He’s a guy, Nate.”

“I kind of noticed that, Jim. So what? You are, too.”

“That’s just it. We’re both guys. I’ve never—I mean, before—oh man, my parents are going to shit!” Jim groaned.

“Let me ask you something, Jim. Do you think any less of Joe because he loves me or because I love him? Because we’re two men?”

“No, of course not, but it’s not the same thing, Nate. It’s—” Jim began.

“It
is
the same thing, Jim. Being mated is a wonderful thing. And if you are as lucky as I am, then your mate will make you the happiest person on earth. I’ve only known Joe for a few weeks, but I couldn’t ever imagine being with anyone else or not having him in my life.”

Jim stared down at Nate, suddenly understanding that his brother, Joe, had hit the jackpot with Nate. Over the last few weeks, he had seen how happy Nate made Joe. He never realized that Nate felt the same way. Joe couldn’t be happier for both of them, or more jealous. He wanted that with Donovan.

“Do you think—” Jim swallowed past the lump forming in his throat. “Is it possible for two men to be together who have never…” Jim said, shrugging his shoulders. He just couldn’t say it out loud. “Well, you know.”

Nate laughed as he got to his feet and sat beside Jim on the bed. “Well, I think it’s easier if at least one of you know what you’re doing, but it doesn’t always happen that way. Until Joe, I’d never been with anyone. Didn’t stop us.”

“Donovan wanted to talk to you about that. He wanted to make sure that he didn’t do anything that might hurt or make us uncomfortable,” Joe said, chuckling a little. “This whole thing makes me uncomfortable.”

“Enough to give him up?” Nate asked quietly.

Jim widened his eyes in exasperation as he looked over at Nate. “Would I be here embarrassing myself like this if I had decided to give him up?”

Seriously? Jim could think of a lot of other things he’d rather be doing than discussing his sex life with Nate, like maybe
having
a sex life. Which, unfortunately meant he had to talk to Nate about his sex life.

Damn catch-22.

“No.” Nate laughed. “I guess not. So, what do you want to know?”

“It’s the whole sex thing.”
Oh my gods,
Jim just knew he was going to die of embarrassment.

“Got you a little confused, has it?”

“You have no idea.” Jim laughed roughly. “I mean, I’ve imagined things in my head, but I have no practical experience.” Boy, had he imagined. He couldn’t seem to stop imaging either. Mutual masturbation with Donovan. Blow jobs with Donovan. Donovan fucking him. Him fucking Donovan. The list went on and on.

“Okay, I think it’s safe to say that you’re both attracted to each other, right?”

“If you mean do I want to touch him constantly and can’t stop thinking about what he looks like naked?” Jim nodded his head vigorously. “Then, yeah, we’re attracted to each other.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure that the mechanics are pretty much the same as they would be with a woman. There are just a few variations. You’ll want to use plenty of this,” Nate said as he reached into the nightstand and pulled out a bottle of lube, handing it to Joe.

“Lube?”

“A gay man’s best friend.” Nate laughed before turning serious again. “I’m sure in your experience, you’ve had anal sex with a woman, right?”

“Sure, why?” Jim asked in confusion.

“Did you like it?”

Jim could feel his face heat up again as he nodded. Yeah, he had liked it. In fact, he preferred it. It also seemed to be the easiest way he could get off when having sex with a woman. He just hadn’t found a woman that liked it as much as he did.

“When you’re with a woman, you don’t just stick your dick in her, do you? You make sure she’s ready, right?”

“Of course! It would hurt if I—Oh!” Jim felt like an idiot for not thinking about why he would need the lube with a man. He’d seen videos and everything.

Nate patted Jim on the leg. “You’ll get it. Men and women have pretty much the same erogenous zones, I think. Nipples are nipples. A kiss on the lips is a kiss on the lips. Get my drift? The actual intercourse is a little different but not that much. When you go down on Donovan, you’re not going to find a vagina. You’re going to find a dick. Just do to him what feels good to you, and you can’t go wrong.”

Jim wasn’t so sure. He could think of a lot of ways it could go wrong. “You make it sounds so easy.”

“It is easy once you get past the fact that he’s a man. That’s going to be your biggest hurdle. But the nice thing about being mated to a man? You don’t always have to be gentle.”

“What do you mean?” Jim asked in curiosity.

“Sometimes Joe can be very gentle and loving. Other times, he just tosses me over the side of the bed and fucks me. We don’t have to worry about him hurting me during those times. I think women prefer gentle to rough. Course, having never been with a woman, I could be wrong.”

“Not by much. It depends on the woman, I think,” Joe replied.

“So, what are you going to do?” Nate asked after a moment.

Joe looked down at the bottle of lube in his hand, turning it over as he thought about what he was going to do. “I don’t know if I’m ready to be with a man, but I can’t give him up. He’s my mate. I’m never going to have another one, and I guess I’m hoping to have what you and Joe have.” He just hoped Donovan wanted the same thing.

After Donovan had left him in the study, he had been positive that wasn’t what the man wanted, but during the conversation downstairs, Jim began to have his doubts. Donovan looked at him a little too long, made comments that Jim knew were aimed at him. Besides, Jim just couldn’t give up, not when true happiness was just downstairs.

Nate smiled over at him when he looked up. “As long as you remember that you have been granted a very special gift and never take Donovan for granted, I don’t see why you can’t. Finding your mate is the easy part. Learning to love the one you’ve been given is not so easy.”

“You don’t love Joe?”

“Of course I do. I love him very much, but things aren’t always perfect. Look at the shit I’ve brought into his life. It’s horrible. And him being a sheriff? He could be taken from me every time he goes to work. It’s not perfect, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. When I’m with him, time stops. He’s it, all I think about, all I want, but it’s not always easy.”

“I guess I see what you mean,” Jim replied, trying to think what life would be like if he had never met Donovan. And now that he had found him, what would life be like if he let Donovan go? None of it looked good.

“Uh, where can I get a bottle of this stuff?” Jim asked as he held up the bottle of lube. If he got his wish, he was going to need lots of it. Maybe a truckload. He should think about buying stock in the lube company.

“You can have that one. It’s new, and we have more.” Nate snickered. “Joe always makes sure we have plenty on hand. I swear we need to buy stock in the damn company. We’d make millions.”

Jim laughed as Nate voiced the words that had just gone through his own head. He stood and headed for the door, pausing to turn back and look at Nate. “Thanks, Nate, for talking to me. If I have more questions, would you—”

Nate laughed. “You can ask me anything you want, Jim.”

Jim nodded, opening the door. “I’m glad Joe found you, Nate.”

“Me, too.”

Closing the door behind him, Jim shoved the bottle of lube in his pocket and headed downstairs. He needed to locate his mate and find out if he was still interested in being mated to another man.

Walking into the living room, he found Donovan talking with Chase and Joe. He waited a moment then cleared his throat. “Donovan? Can I speak with you for a moment?”

Donovan, already looking in his direction, nodded his head. Before anyone could see the blush filling his face, Jim turned and went back up the stairs. He could hear Donovan behind him as he went to the guest room on the far side of the house from Nate. He really didn’t need anyone hearing them, especially since he didn’t know if it was going to be sex or a fight.

Jim walked into the middle of the room, turning to face Donovan as he followed him in. “Please, shut the door,” he said. He watched Donovan shut the door and then turn back to him, a dark-brown eyebrow raised in query.

As Donovan stared at him, Jim suddenly couldn’t think of anything to say. His mouth felt dry, his palms sweaty. Rubbing them on his pants, he felt the bottle of lube in his pocket. Pulling it out, he handed it to Donovan.

“What’s this?”

“My answer,” Jim said with quiet emphasis.

“To what?”

“Whether I’m going to keep you or not,” Jim muttered hastily. He suddenly felt like the world’s biggest fool as Donovan just stared at him, astonishment written all over his face. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Maybe Donovan hadn’t been thinking along the same lines.