Lincoln would have to tell the Ultionem about the chat group. Only because of what liquid wrath did to nonhumans. Vampires succumbed to bloodlust, killing anyone they attacked. The drug masked a shifter’s scent, gave them a high, and made them extremely aggressive.
The list went on, and none of it was pretty.
“You know shifters exist. Is that the extent of your knowledge?” Lincoln placed his hands on Red’s hips. His mate’s cock was erect and so damn inviting.
“That about sums it up.” Red nodded.
“Most nonhumans are just like everyone else. All we want is a home, a normal life, and a family. We coexist in peace, but you have your bad apples in every species. That’s why we have leaders who police preternatural. They’re called the Ultionem.”
“Just shifters exist?” Red slid his hand up Lincoln’s chest then leaned forward and rested on his forearms.
“No.” Lincoln was finding it hard to concentrate with Red wiggling his ass. “Vampires, demons, fae, and a lot more.”
Red looked as if he was mulling that over. He wasn’t freaking out, which most humans did. It was as if he was using his genius brain to break things down and analyze them.
“We also have something called mates.” This was important for Red to know since he was Lincoln’s. He’d planned on claiming Red, but Lincoln had a feeling his mate liked to be informed of things, and Lincoln didn’t want to bind Red to him without the guy fully knowing what was going on.
“And what is that?” Red twisted his lips to the side. “Is that kind of like soul mates?”
The guy was very intuitive. “Sort of. We feel something called the pull. It attracts us to our mates. An unseen force that pulls at our very core. Mates are handpicked by fate for a certain nonhuman, and when they have sex, they solder their souls together.”
It took all of five seconds for Red to narrow his eyes. The guy was too fucking smart. “I’m your mate, aren’t I?”
Lincoln’s heart kicked up a notch when he nodded.
“And we’re about to do the nasty and bind ourselves to each other, aren’t we?”
His mate was stretched out over him, their bodies aligned. Lincoln brushed a hand down Red’s back. “Tell me about your scars.”
Red tried to roll away, but Lincoln hooked an arm around him and pulled him back. “Don’t run from me. Trust me, Red. Please.”
Lincoln wasn’t sure if Red was conscious of the fact that he’d touched the two bullet wounds. “Did a favor for a friend and nearly died.”
“How long ago?”
“Several months ago.”
When his mate first arrived on the ranch, he’d been quiet, reserved, and jumpy. Now Lincoln understood why.
“Got stabbed in the thigh and shot twice in the chest. I crawled out, and some guy found me, took me home, and saved my life. I was fucked up in the head, still am, and took off without even thanking him.”
Lincoln curled his arms around Red and crushed his mate to his chest. If that stranger hadn’t found Red, fuck, Lincoln would’ve lost him without even knowing he existed.
Now he also knew why Red had reacted the way he had when Lincoln had shot that coyote. The sound of gunfire must have triggered those memories.
“I’m keeping a low profile so no one knows I’m alive,” Red said. “Just in case the men who did this come after me. I’ve disappeared without a trace, no body, no proof that I’m still living and breathing.”
“Do you know who the guys were?”
“No clue,” Red said. “Thugs who wanted the thumb drive I was trying to crack. I never caught a name.”
Pressing his palms into Lincoln’s chest, Red reared back. His eyes were bright and sparkling as he slid his ass over Lincoln’s cock. “Enough talk, handsome. Fuck me and make me yours.”
Lincoln furrowed his brows. “Are you sure? You’ve been running from me at every turn. Why the change of heart?”
Not that Lincoln was trying to talk his mate out of being claimed. He just wanted to see where Red’s head was.
Red shrugged. “That hand job with you and the fight with Jason. I’ve just been thinking lately that I want my old self back. Not that I want to announce to the world that Redford Cohen still walks the earth, but it’s time I started enjoying life.”
“Cohen?”
“I faked my last name. It’s not Wailing.”
Lincoln chuckled. “You suck at fictitious names.”
“Hey.” Red slapped Lincoln’s chest. “I couldn’t part with Red. It was my father’s name.”
Lincoln rolled them, placing Red on his back. He rested his arms on either side of Red’s head and cupped his face. If any of those “thugs” came after his mate, Lincoln would tear them apart.
He distracted himself from those dark thoughts by reaching between them and fisting Red’s cock. His mate’s eyelids fluttered closed as he shivered.
Lincoln couldn’t ever remember feeling this needy before, this turned on. The desire in him surged as he leaned sideways and rummaged through his nightstand drawer, snagging the used bottle of lube.
He wet his fingers and pressed them between Red’s cheeks. His mate sucked in a breath and spread his legs wider as Lincoln inched two fingers into his mate’s ass.
“Oh fuck,” Red moaned. “I haven’t had my ass played with in forever.”
Red made him feel raw, wild things. Lincoln didn’t want this moment to end. It was Red he wanted to wake up to every morning and go to bed with every night. The thought of spending a lazy Sunday in bed as they cuddled and watched a movie or made slow, sweet love made Lincoln’s chest hurt.
A rumbling purr escaped Lincoln. “You like that, sweetheart?”
“Fuck yeah.” Red’s eyes fluttered closed as he'd begun to thrust his ass downward onto Lincoln’s fingers.
He scissored his fingers and crooked them, grazing Red’s prostate. His mate whimpered and writhed, clutching Lincoln’s biceps.
Lincoln pulled back, removing his fingers before he lubed his cock. He locked gazes with Red as he slowly entered the man.
Red’s eyes rolled to the back of his head as he cupped his hands behind his knees and pulled his legs back. His lips parted, and Lincoln wanted to kiss them again. He wanted to kiss every part of the man’s body.
As he inched inside, Lincoln grabbed Red’s ankles, spreading the man’s legs apart as he watched his body joining with his mate’s.
The skin hugged him so tightly that his teeth ached from gritting them. He wanted to make this last all night but knew he couldn’t. Red was too much of a temptation, and Lincoln wasn’t going to last that damn long.
“So fucking good,” Red breathed out.
Lincoln groaned. “So damn good.”
He pulled back and then slid inside, slowly at first and then faster. He couldn’t stop himself. His hips began to thrust his cock harder inside Red, the pleasure so damn good he wanted to growl with it.
His mate was eager, matching Lincoln thrust for thrust. Lincoln took Red’s lips in a blazing kiss.
Red was so hot, so tight around Lincoln’s cock, the muscles gripping Lincoln like a slick, velvety glove.
“You kiss like a dream,” Red murmured when their lips parted.