Interrogation Techniques by Charlie Richards
Chapter Five
Touching his mate was better than anything Del had ever imagined—so freeing. The sensation of Miggs’s skin beneath his fingers—exquisite.
Del couldn’t wait to feel more, to feel everything.
First, however, he needed to finish helping his mate eat.
To do that, Del needed a distraction from the smooth skin beneath his touch. He knew just what would do it, too. As much as he hated thinking about his birth pack, he decided to share the rest of his story.
Better it comes from me than some warped version from someone else.
“I had a couple of friends in the herd, and one of them let me know of Enforcer Bandin’s plans for Dakota,” Del told Miggs. When he saw his mate’s eyes widen, he met his gaze with a serious one of his own. “It didn’t take a genius to figure out where Bandin planned to corner my brother. When he walked home from his part-time job, he always went through a secluded bit of the forest.” Smiling wryly, Del explained, “Even at eighteen, a komodo dragon shifter is still the baddest thing in the forest, so we never feared that animals would mess with us.”
Having just swallowed, Miggs murmured, “Is that what you are? A komodo dragon?”
Realizing he’d forgotten to share something so elemental, he nodded. “I am. My brothers and I are all komodo dragon shifters. My pack alpha didn’t believe in inter-species matings.”
Miggs nodded as he allowed Del to feed him the last bite of sausage link.
Del watched him chew the food he’d provided for a few seconds while skimming his fingertips along the soft skin of his inner thigh. When Miggs moaned softly and moved his legs wider, he felt his control slipping. He desperately wanted to untie the robe’s belt, spread the fabric, and bare his mate to his gaze.
Only knowing that would be the end of question and answer time, not to mention Miggs getting to eat his meal, kept Del in control.
“Anyway,” Del pressed on, sliding his thumb into the crease where Miggs’s hip met his groin. “I convinced Beta Simms that I overheard a couple of pack-members threatening Dakota, but I didn’t recognize their voices.”
“Why would he believe that, since it was a lie?” Miggs asked curiously.
Del put down the fork and waggled his hand in a so-so gesture. “It was half-and-half. True if you looked at it from a certain way,” he explained. “I did hear that someone was threatening harm to Dakota. I couldn’t confirm their voices because I was hearing the news second hand.” Seeing Miggs’s brows furrow as he nodded thoughtfully, Del admitted, “And I covered the smell of any falsehood with the scent of the rage coursing through my system just at the idea of Bandin taking advantage of my brother. Hell, I didn’t even know if Dakota was gay, at that point.”
“Is he?”
Enjoying Miggs’s curiosity, and the breathy quality of his voice, Del shrugged. “Bi. We all ended up admitting that to each other a couple of decades later.” Picking up the last of the English muffin, he swiped it across the plate, soaking up the last of the egg yolk that had spilled onto the plate. “Anyway, I took Beta Simms to the most remote area of Dakota’s walk, and we hid downwind. Imagine the beta’s surprise when Bandin was the one to intercept my brother. He nearly blew it by interrupting, but the way Bandin pushed into Dakota’s space must have halted him.”
Recalling that day, Del felt a fresh wave of anger and injustice. “When it became apparent that Bandin was trying to force himself on Dakota, the beta did put a stop to it,” he stated gruffly, feeding his mate the last of the food, allowing the simple act of caring for his other half to soothe him. “But not because Dakota wasn’t interested.”
“It was because he was a guy, right?” Miggs asked softly around his bite of food before swallowing.
Del nodded once. “Exactly right.”
“Asshole,” Miggs grumbled.
Nodding again, Del reached for his long-forgotten coffee cup. He lifted it and swigged back the remaining liquid, not caring that it was no longer hot. After finishing the drink, he returned the mug to the table and picked up Miggs’s wine.
Handing it to Miggs, Del asked, “Do you need more food? I can make more of anything.”
Miggs took a long sip of the wine as he peered at him from over the rim. After swallowing, he murmured, “No.” Then he took a longer, deeper drink, finishing the glass.
Del immediately took it. The heat flushing Miggs’s cheeks could be a mixture of the food, the wine, sitting on his lap, or the fact that his arousal perfumed the air. He struggled with how to ask what he wanted without sounding as if he were pressuring his forever mate.
Saving him the trouble, Miggs whispered, “Do you have any idea how difficult it was to just sit and eat?” He reached for the cloth tie that held the robe together. “You touching me? Exploring my body?”
With his hand still beneath the fabric, Del slid his thumb into Miggs’s pubic hair. His callouses caught on the crinkly hair, and he knew the move would cause the hair to tug at the sensitive skin of Miggs’s groin. The move also caused the hairs on his arm to stand on end, and he struggled to catch his own breath.
Del stared at where Miggs was oh-so-slowly untying the knot. For the first time in his life, his brain short-circuited, and he couldn’t get words past his lips, so he just shook his head. All his focus remained riveted on Miggs’s nimble fingers.
“Well, it’s making me think selfish thoughts,” Miggs admitted on a whisper. “I want more of your hands on me, but I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
The uncertainty bleeding into Miggs’s tone and scent punctured Del’s haze of lust. He snapped his focus to his mate’s face and noticed the way his brows were furrowed in concern. How Miggs nibbled his bottom lip caused a desire to replace his mate’s teeth with his own.
Jerking his attention upward, Del met Miggs’s worried brown eyes. “What could possibly be selfish about your mate exploring your body?” he asked, finally finding his tongue.
“We probably shouldn’t bond until my name is cleared,” Miggs told him, obviously trying to be the voice of reason. “What if somehow my alpha makes the charges about me killing Kenny stick? What if I’m put to death for being rogue? I can’t handle the idea of something happening to you because of my past, my muddle. I—”
“Enough,” Del snarled, possessive anger and desire swimming through his veins in equal measure. “Nothing will ever happen to you,” he declared. Cupping Miggs’s jaw, Del tipped his head, forcing him to meet his gaze squarely. “I won’t allow it. I will kill Alpha Shaun myself before I allow him and his lies to take you away from me.”
Miggs’s eyes widened, and he gasped. “Y-You shouldn’t say such things,” he mumbled. “What if someone hears?”
Del snorted as he shook his head. “Who gives a fuck?” he replied bluntly. “We know he’s lying, and we’ll prove it.” Dipping his head, he angled his lips toward Miggs’s. “Tell me now if you don’t want to bond with me, Miggs.” Then Del warned, “If you have a reason other than fear for my safety, that is, because I want you.” To emphasize his point, he shifted his hips, allowing his erection to press against Miggs’s delectable bottom more firmly. “You’re mine, and I’m yours. I’ve been waiting for you for almost two centuries, and now, Fate has brought you to me. I don’t want to wait a second longer.”
So much for not pressuring my mate. Oh well. I’ll make it up to him.
With that thought in mind, Del sealed his mouth over Miggs’s. He dipped his tongue into his unsuspecting mate’s mouth, taking advantage. Delving deep, he relished the flavors that burst across his tongue—wine, food, and something all Miggs’s own.
Delicious.
Del lapped at Miggs’s tongue, entreating him to join in the kiss. Sliding the hand on his mate’s jaw back a little, he threaded his fingers into his still-damp hair. He teased at the nape of his neck as he tipped his head back a little, allowing him more access.
To Del’s pleasure, he felt Miggs’s tongue slide against his own. He gripped Del’s wrist, digging in his nails. He used the hold to press harder against Del’s lips, lapping and joining in the kiss.
Reveling in the tongue-play, Del allowed Miggs to lead for several seconds. He welcomed his mate’s appendage into his mouth. Sealing his lips around it, he suckled gently, hoping to soon do the same thing to his little shifter’s cock.
The fresh flood of Miggs’s arousal perfumed the air, and Miggs fed Del a moan.
Growling in response, Del took over the kiss. He ravished his mate’s mouth. Mapping him, teasing over his teeth and tongue, he learned what made him whimper and what made him moan.
Capturing those sounds, Del felt his body’s thrum of need intensify. He cupped Miggs’s erection beneath the robe and swiped his thumb over his crown. Pleasure filled him upon finding the flared head wet from pre-cum.
When Miggs’s dick twitched in his hand, he broke the kiss. Peering into his mate’s lust-glazed eyes, he began a smooth jacking. He relished the pink glow of his little shifter’s cheeks, delighting in how that same color flowed down his neck to his chest, revealed by the gaping bathrobe.
Wanting to see more, to see everything, Del no longer saw a reason to deny his need. He moved his hand to the ties that Miggs’s own fingers had abandoned in favor of gripping his arm. After making quick work of the cloth, Del opened the flaps, baring his small gorgeous mate to his gaze.
“Exquisite,” Del rumbled, taking in the perfect view—his needy aroused mate sprawled across his lap. Resting his hand on Miggs’s slender hip, he began rocking his hips in counterpoint of each downward stroke to his mate’s dick. The pressure sent delicious tingles to his balls, and he knew it wouldn’t be long before he was unloading in his jeans like an untried youth.
Still, Del didn’t stop.
Del was too focused on Miggs’s need. His breathy whimpers were music to his ears. The way his hands dug into his forearms and his feet were locked around his calves, allowing him to rock his hips, was a heady sight to behold. His new and forever lover taking pleasure from Del’s ministrations drove him onward.
With his goal of seeing the lovely erection in his hand spray pearly-white seed all over Miggs’s chest, Del began teasing over his ball sack with each down-stroke. On the up-stroke, he swiped his thumb over his mate’s crown. The shaft in his hand twitched pleasantly, and the balls he fondled visually tightened.
“Yesss,” Del hissed. Lowering his head, he pressed a kiss to Miggs’s flesh where his neck met his shoulder, the place where he longed to bite. “Do it,” he urged. “Show me how much you love my touch.”
Then Del wrapped his lips around the flesh and sucked... hard.
Miggs cried out his pleasure, bucking in his hold. His body shuddered in Del’s arms, and his nails bit into his flesh.
As Del watched, satisfaction flooding him, the cock in his grip pulsed. Cum spurted from the gaping slit. As the seed splattered over Miggs’s slender torso, the scent of his spend flooded Del’s nostrils.
Del’s teeth elongated, his komodo dragon urging him to bite. While he wanted to do just that, he planned to do it with his dick in Miggs’s beautiful ass. Lifting his head, he arched his neck and released his control on his own balls.
Groaning with pleasure, Del relished the waves of endorphins as his orgasm washed over him. He moaned Miggs’s name as his aching shaft poured burst after burst of seed into his crotch. Returning his face to the crook of Miggs’s neck, Del inhaled the scent of his mate, his seed, and contentment.
So damn good.
After several minutes, where the sounds of their heavy breaths were the only noise in the room, Del pressed another kiss to Miggs’s neck. When he lifted his head, he smiled. While he hadn’t bitten his mate, he had definitely worked up a mark.
“The way you respond to me,” Del murmured, finally releasing the semi-soft prick in his hand. “Perfect.”
“Not perfect,” Miggs mumbled, his words just a little thick.
“Perfect for me,” Del countered, sliding his left arm under Miggs’s legs as he rocked forward. As he rose to his feet, he added, “And that means, yes, you’re perfect.”
Enjoying the way Miggs clung to him, Del carried his mate through the doorway and into the bedroom.
Dishes can wait.
“I guess that means you’re perfect for me, too,” Miggs murmured.
Placing Miggs in the center of his bed, Del grinned down at him. “I’ll certainly strive to be,” he promised as he grabbed the hem of his shirt. Yanking it over his head and tossing it to the floor, he could barely tear his gaze from the sight of his mate sprawled on his bed. His cock ached anew, having only softened a smidge after his release. As Del unbuttoned and removed his jeans, he offered, “My mate, tell me now if you don’t want to be claimed. Otherwise...”
Gripping his shaft in one hand, Del fished the lube from his nightstand with the other. He tossed it on the bed, following that up by crawling onto it. Resting back on his calves between his little shifter’s spread legs, Del waited.
Miggs’s silence tested Del’s patience, but he refused to push his mate any more than he already was. He needed the words. He needed his mate to tell him this was okay.
Slowly, Miggs removed his arms from the bathrobe. Then he lifted them, reaching for Del.
Del levered forward, taking each of Miggs’s hands with his own. Sprawling forward, he moved their coupled hands above his mate’s head. He rested his weight on his forearms, unwilling to crush his much smaller mate.
After pecking a kiss to Miggs’s lips, Del stared into his sweetheart’s deep brown eyes. He saw the searching look on his mate’s face as the other shifter swept his gaze over him over and over. Del made certain his surety filled his features, letting Miggs know without words that he had complete faith in their pairing.
They would handle anything thrown at them—one way or another.
Finally, Miggs nodded once.
To Del’s relief, he also spoke.
“I want to be yours, Del,” Miggs whispered. “More than anything.”
Hearing a hitch in Miggs’s voice, Del waited, and his patience was rewarded.
“If you’re sure, too.”
Del smiled down at his mate. With a squeeze of his hands, he told him, “I have never been surer of anything, Miggs. You are my mate, my heart and soul, my forever.” While Del had never considered himself a very eloquent man to use flowery words, he wouldn’t deny his mate the truth. “With us standing side by side, we will prevail over any odds.”
After watching the problems beaten by some of his fellow enforcers and the councilmen, Del believed that with all his heart.
“Claim me.”
His mate’s simple words filled Del with a joy that he’d never before felt.
“With pleasure.” Then Del lowered his head and captured Miggs’s lips once more.
