A Man’s Worth(Brac Pack 31)(9)

He reached up and slid his fingers into Ahm’s long hair, curling his fingers, and pulling the man closer. Ahm bit his lower lip, showing who the dominant male was between them, and then plunged his tongue deep into Bryce’s mouth, damn near making Bryce pass out.

There was a hunger, a savage need, and a raw desire to Ahm’s possession. Bryce could feel it sinking into his very blood. Ahm didn’t let up. He leaned further into Bryce, his thighs tightening around Bryce’s sides as he licked over Bryce’s teeth, his lips, and then gave his bottom lip a hard bite before he shimmered away, leaving Bryce feeling cold and alone.

Cursing, Bryce rolled to his side and then got up, running his hands over his head, berating himself for giving in to Ahm. The only thing Ahm had been doing was showing Bryce who was in charge.

And Bryce had fallen for it.

He felt like a damn fool. If it was the last thing he did, Bryce was going to get Ahm out of his system once and for all.



* * * *



Ahm shimmered home to the marshlands, feeling so hard and needy that he was nearly insane. He knew better than to kiss the bear, but he hadn’t been able to resist. Not when he had his mate beneath him, his eyes begging Ahm to take him.

“Fuck,” he muttered to himself. “What the hell am I doing?”

Ahm used to be a cold, vicious leader, uncaring of what anyone thought, including his tribe’s people. He had dispensed justice and had hunted and killed to protect. Now he was denying his mate because he knew that his people wouldn’t accept Bryce.

Sadly, Ahm knew things were never that easy. As much as he wanted to tell the tribe to shove their old ways up their narrow-minded asses, he knew he wouldn’t. They were his to protect and take care of.

He had ruled them for three hundred years and he couldn’t turn his back on them, not even for Bryce. Ahm knew he was not only condemning himself to a lonely and miserable life, but his mate as well.

Being the ruler of an entire race, choices were never easy, and he knew all too well sacrifices had to be made—even if he was living with only half a soul. His mouth thinned as Nara sauntered into his office, a self-satisfied grin on her face.

Ahm studied her closely. “What have you done?”

Nara’s smile grew as Darla walked into his office, her eyes lighting up when she spotted Ahm standing behind his desk.

God, he did not need this right now. He had told his cousin he wasn’t mating Darla, yet she pulled the same bullshit she always did and acted as if Ahm had said nothing at all.

“Ahm, so good to see you,” Darla nearly purred.

Ahm rounded his desk, heading for his office door. “As always, good to see you, too,” he said curtly as he walked out, leaving the two calculating bitches standing there. Heading to his bedroom, Ahm couldn’t help but remember the kiss he had given Bryce. He had only meant to show the bear who was in charge, but instead, Ahm’s entire body had caught fire.

For years Ahm was able to suppress his need to claim Bryce. But it seemed lately, the only thing Ahm wanted was his mate. Maybe his need was because he was getting older, or because he had lost his blue pigmentation that made his race stand out. Ahm had loved who he was and had mourned the day he had turned five hundred and lost his coloring.

Ahm stripped down and walked into his bathroom, regulating the water for a nice, long, hot shower. To his dismay, he still had an erection after that scorching kiss with Bryce.

Climbing under the spray of the water, Ahm leaned his forehead against the stall and wondered if anything was ever going to go right for him. It seemed no matter what decision he had made in the past few years, it always turned against him.

Giving up the inner fight, Ahm curled his fingers around his erection and thought of how his mate’s body felt when Ahm had straddled Bryce. God, what he wouldn’t have given for them both to be naked at the time.

His wrist twisted as Ahm stroked his painfully erect cock. He knew he could end the torment by just going to Bryce and claiming him, but things were never that easy, not in Ahm’s world.

His imagination took flight and Ahm thought of how Bryce’s lips felt on his, and then wondered if they would be that soft as his mate sucked him to completion.

Ahm sucked in a breath, his hand moving up and down his shaft faster. He pressed the nail of his thumb into the tiny slit and groaned, murmuring Bryce’s name. The shifter was gorgeous, strong, and would be a worthy mate at his side.

Too bad his tribe wouldn’t see Bryce that way.

Ahm switched thoughts, going back to Bryce’s strong body underneath his. He had felt the man’s erection and had been dying to reach down and free the swollen flesh. Ahm’s lips parted as his hand became wet with the shower water, easing the friction and adding pleasure to what he was already doing to himself.