Interrogation Techniques by Charlie Richards

Chapter Seven

Del felt his sweet little mate’s body go limp, and smug satisfaction flooded him.

Gods, that was intense.

Keeping his arm tight around Miggs’s body, Del carefully eased them to the left. He slid that arm up and grabbed a pillow, positioning it under their heads. Then he eased his left arm under Miggs so he could continue to clutch him close.

Del grabbed the edge of the bathrobe with his right hand and began rubbing away the drying cum from their first round at the dining room table from Miggs’s chest. He knew he needed to pull out, so he could clean them up properly, but he wasn’t ready to leave the hot cocoon of his mate’s body just yet. His dick remained hard, and he knew, given a few minutes, he would be ready to rut to completion once more.

While Del knew Miggs had been a virgin, which meant it was probably a bad idea to continue fucking, his instinct to continue to claim his mate rode him hard. He didn’t know if it was because his mate was in danger or if it was because of his dominance. Hell, maybe it was because he really was an asshole.

All Del knew was that he couldn’t pull out just yet.

After clearing away as much of the dried cum as possible, Del relaxed on the bed. He wrapped his big body around his much smaller lover as much as possible, doing his best to keep him warm. Rubbing his hands gently over Miggs’s too-slender frame, he mapped every contour of his body that he could reach.

Never in his life had Del felt more content.

Smiling, Del buried his face in the crook of Miggs’s neck. He smelled the way their combined scents heralded his claiming. His heart thudded with happiness. He knew every paranormal they came in contact with would know that Del had claimed his little guinea pig shifter.

Del couldn’t believe what a difference a few hours could make. Less than four hours before, he’d been having lunch with his brother. His biggest concern had been extracting as much information from Pedro as he could manage.

Now, Del cared little for that. Instead, he only wanted to keep his mate safe. He would figure out what was going on with his lover’s muddle and clear up the riff-raff.

I can ask Lachlan for aid. I bet he and his mate would love the chance to remove another bigoted asshole from command.

Hearing Miggs’s soft moan and feeling him shift a little in his arms pulled Del away from his thoughts of the feline ex-investigator and his tom turkey mate. He lifted his head a little so he could stare at his mate’s face. His lover’s eyelashes fluttered a little, and Del knew the man was seconds away from waking.

Del rubbed his palm across Miggs’s stomach gently, coaxing him back to the land of the living.

Miggs hummed, a smile curving his lips even before his eyes slowly opened. Turning his head, he peered at him. Then his eyes widened. In the same instant, Miggs’s chute muscles clenched on Del’s imbedded prick, drawing a soft groan from him.

Seeing Miggs’s cheeks turning pink as the room was flooded with concern was the only reason Del didn’t immediately start rutting.

“Easy, Miggs,” Del murmured, nuzzling his neck. “It’s okay. It’s just us here.” Rubbing his palm over Miggs’s stomach, he added, “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

Surprised and confused at Miggs’s words, Del paused in his movements. “You have nothing to be sorry for,” he told him, guessing at what had upset him. “I’m damn proud to have given you so much pleasure that you passed out from bliss.”

For a second, Miggs didn’t respond. “B-But... I left you, um, hanging.”

“Hanging?” Del repeated, struggling to comprehend in his aroused state. Then it hit him—aroused. “Oh, my mate.” He pecked a kiss to Miggs’s nape as he tightened his arm around his waist. “You didn’t. I just didn’t soften right away after I came and”—Del paused, fighting his embarrassment, then finished—”I love the way your silky passage feels, so I didn’t pull out.” For an instant, Del thought he should do just that, but he couldn’t help but ask, “Is this okay, Miggs?”

Yep, thinkin’ with my dick. Haven’t done that in over a century.

Miggs peered over his shoulder at him with wide eyes. “Y-You came, but... didn’t want to, um, pull out of me?”

Del nodded. “Yeah. Sorry.” He felt his face flush, and he couldn’t remember the last time he blushed. “I’ll just—”

Except, when Del began to rock his hips backward, intending to withdraw, Miggs grabbed his hip.

“Stop,” Miggs whispered. A shy smile toyed around his lips. “I like that.”

Relaxing again, Del pulled Miggs flush to his chest. “Do you?” he murmured, nuzzling at his mate’s neck again, licking over his fresh claiming scar. “Like knowing I needed you so much?”

“Yeah,” Miggs whispered. “I, um, I don’t think I can get off again, but”—he paused, rubbing over Del’s hip, clearly thinking about his words before finishing—”I’d like to feel you spill in me again. I like how that feels.”

Del groaned, his arousal surging. “Oh, Miggs,” he muttered. Unable to help himself, he began a slow rutting. “You are so fucking perfect for me.” The feel of Miggs’s silky walls caressing his sensitive length quickly loosened any restraint on his tongue, and Del admitted, “Gonna slide right in here so often, my mate. Love pleasuring us both.”

Miggs sighed deeply as he once again gripped Del’s forearms, using them as leverage. “Love how this feels, too.”

“My mate,” Del muttered, mouthing at his mating mark. Hearing the way Miggs moaned at his ministrations, he slowly began adjusting his thrusts at each pass. When Miggs shuddered in his arms and his whimpers filled the air, Del grinned. “Yeah, right there. Love hearing those noises.”

Keeping his movements slow and steady, Del relished the hums of pleasure that filled the air. His little mate was so damn vocal. The soft moans followed by throaty grunts caused Del’s own arousal to heat hotter than he’d ever experienced.

It didn’t take long for Del to feel the familiar, tell-tale tingle in his balls. His stomach clenched pleasantly, and warmth trailed through his veins. He didn’t try to stop his orgasm from swelling through him, the ecstasy blanketing his senses as he poured his release into his mate.

That didn’t mean Del didn’t plan to take his mate with him.

Elongating his canines, Del eased them into his claiming mark. He felt the skin pop just as he heard Miggs gasp. Sucking on the wound, reveling in the exquisite flavor of his mate’s live-giving fluid, Del smiled around the flesh in his mouth as he felt his mate tremble in his arms.

A second later, to Del’s satisfaction, he scented the aromatic perfume of his mate’s cum fill the air.

Delicious.

Easing his teeth from Miggs’s skin, Del swallowed one last time. Then he licked the mark clean, sealing it again. He kissed the scar before nuzzling his cheek against Miggs’s temple.

“W-Wow,” Miggs whispered breathily. “Didn’t think I’d be able to come again.”

Del kissed the back of Miggs’s neck before telling him, “My bite will always get you off.”

“Really?”

Upon hearing the surprise in Miggs’s tone and scenting it in the air, Del finally eased his semi-soft prick from his mate’s body. He urged his little shifter onto his back, then half-sprawled over him. Careful to keep most of his weight off the much smaller male, Del roved his gaze over Miggs’s gorgeous features.

“Did your parents not tell you about fated mates, my little guinea pig?” Even in Del’s dysfunctional pack, there had still been explanations of mates, fated or otherwise.

“Not really,” Miggs told him. “There were some things whispered by some of the older members. I overheard how the scent of someone will smell better than anything you’ve smelled before, and it would almost be a compulsion to bond with her.” His brows furrowed as he told him, “That was how I knew you were my Fate-given mate, although no one ever said anything about Fate paring those of the same sex.” Miggs’s cheeks took on a pinkish hue as he admitted, “I was a little surprised when those other guys offered their congratulations.”

Del fought down his desire to growl. Instead, he shook his head and vowed, “We’ll make that controlling, homophobic alpha pay.”

Cocking his head, Miggs rubbed up and down Del’s arms. “But how? He’s the alpha. His word in the muddle is law.”

“That doesn’t give him the authority to subjugate members, kill members, or steal from members,” Del countered, even though he knew so very many alphas did all those things. “Alphas are supposed to be caring for, helping, aiding, and guiding their members.”

From Miggs’s obvious disbelief, Del knew that hadn’t been his sweet little mate’s experience. That was okay. He would make certain Miggs’s life contained nothing but happiness from this day forward.

Okay. So I’ll do my damnedest, anyway.

Del would be the first to confirm that life wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns all the time.

“Not all packs are like the ones we grew up in,” Del told his mate. “I’ll have to introduce you to some of the good alphas sometime.”

As a council interrogator, Del had access to just about every Shifter Council file save the most classified. He could easily find good alpha packs in the area. Del would have to show his mate that not all alphas were like Alpha Shaun.

Just too many of them.

While Miggs’s expression appeared a little hesitant, he still nodded.

Del heard the chime of his phone and frowned. Turning his head, he swept his gaze over the floor. He spotted his jeans not too far away, just far enough where he had to roll off his mate to be able to reach them.

Grumbling under his breath, Del eased sideways. He leaned off the bed and snagged his belt. Lifting them, he fished his phone from his pocket before dropping the soiled fabric back to the floor.

Rolling back to face Miggs, Del flopped his leg over his mate’s thighs. He rested on his side, facing the small shifter, as he unlocked the device. Opening the message, he snorted and rolled his eyes.

“Is everything okay?”

Del heard the uncertainty in Miggs’s tone and felt the way he snuggled against him, clearly seeking comfort—or maybe warmth. Easing his arm under his man, he turned his body. Then he used the hold to roll them, urging Miggs to drape over his larger body.

That also allowed Del to hold his phone’s screen in Miggs’s line of sight. “Just my brother reminding me that even finding my mate is not an excuse for missing his Christmas party.”

Miggs glanced from the phone, to Del’s face, back to the phone, and back again. With wide eyes, the scent of his shock filling the air, Miggs whispered, “You told your brother about me?”

“Of course,” Del replied. It was his turn to feel confused. “Dakota and Dane are my only family. They’ll be happy for us.”

Miggs opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Once more, Del found himself waiting for his mate to put his thoughts in order.

Finally, Miggs whispered, “What if I get you in trouble or injured?”

Del fought back his urge to sigh. “My mate,” he murmured softly, putting down his phone so he could thread those fingers through his lover’s hair. “I love that you are so worried about my welfare. Really, but”—Del waggled his eyebrows—”if you haven’t noticed, I’m a big, badass enforcer for the council. There’s no way I could be hurt, even if the alpha attacked me with his entire muddle.”

Just the idea of a couple of dozen guinea pigs attacking him caused a snort to erupt from Del’s lips.

Miggs shook his head, his eyes widening. “But that’s not how he would come at you,” he warned. “He’d try to blackmail you or shoot you or make up something about you.” Before nibbling his bottom lip, Miggs finished, “Like he’s doing to me.”

Cradling Miggs’s jaw, Del used his thumb to gently tug his mate’s abused lip from between his teeth. “I take your warning seriously,” he told his mate. “That’s why Head Enforcer Mycroft is putting an investigator to discreetly look into your ex-alpha’s activities.” Gently massaging Miggs’s nape in an effort to soothe, Del told him, “He won’t be able to bring trouble to us without causing even more for himself.”

Miggs cocked his head. “Ex-alpha?”

Del nodded, smiling. “Caught that? Good.”

“But why ex?”

“Because you’re mated with a representative of the Shifter Council,” Del explained. “That means you’re under the council’s jurisdiction now... and their protection.”

“Wow!”

Before Del could say anything else, his phone chimed again. Looking at the device, he scoffed. Then Del returned his attention to Miggs.

“Guess it’s time to clean up. We have a party to get to.”

Miggs gaped. “A party?”

“Yep.” Del eased his hold so he could swing from the bed. Then he helped his more-than-a-little uncoordinated mate from the bed. “Here’s something else that would happen if I ended up hurt or in trouble.”

As Miggs allowed him to be guided back into the shower, he asked, “What’s that?”

Del grinned as he picked up a fresh washcloth. “My brothers would totally try to kick my ass if I got into trouble and hadn’t asked for their help in the first place.”

Miggs stared at him wide-eyed, clearly not getting it.

As Del cleaned his mate, he knew that was okay.

Once Miggs meets my brothers, he’ll understand.