Bitten By Desire (Regent's Park Pack Book 3) Read online

  The snap of a lid being closed caught his attention, and he opened his eyes to find Alec tossing a bottle of lube on the bed with a small amount already on his fingers.

  “Don’t you want a chance to catch your breath?”

  “No.” Alec spread his legs wide and reached between them.

  Mark’s hand tightened as he glanced down to where Alec’s fingers disappeared to rub over his hole. Fuck, I’m going to be in that soon. Sitting up, Mark grabbed for the lube. “Get on all fours.”

  Alec smirked at him, then got into position, his arse facing Mark. With a quick glance over his shoulder, he said, “Ready when you are.”

  Mark fumbled the lube in his hurry to get it open, dripping some onto the quilt cover. Oh well, it’d need washing anyway by the time they were done. At least he hoped so. If he was getting the chance to fuck Alec Knight, he was going to bloody well make him come while doing it.

  He slicked his cock, then shuffled between Alec’s legs, unable to resist palming one of those solid-looking arsecheeks. They felt as firm as they looked. A deep breath in and Mark’s head spun with how well their scents combined. His wolf preened, recognising the strength Alec represented. Under different circumstances, Alec would be— that was a dangerous thought. The scent of sex filled the room, clouding his judgement.

  This was a one-off, a release of tension they both needed. Nothing more. With their packs’ relationship in tatters, Mark would be lucky to get away with a warning for this. He’d better make it worth it, then.

  Alec glanced back over his shoulder with a huff, reminding Mark what he was supposed to be doing. Slowly dragging his thumb down the crease of Alec’s arse, Mark watched the play of muscle in his back as he arched under the touch. Each bunch and flex made his mouth water.

  If he wanted to, Alec could hurt him with little effort. Yet there he was… legs spread, waiting for Mark to fuck him. The rush of want caught him by surprise, the low growl bubbling up out of his chest and shattering the quiet of the room. Opening his mouth wide, Mark let his teeth fully extend; the long column of Alec’s neck called to him like a beacon, but he ignored it. This wasn’t his first time with a shifter, and thankfully he’d learnt to curb that instinct. Alec would be none too pleased if Mark tried to give him a mating bite.

  Instead he gripped his cock and pushed forward to rub the head over Alec’s hole. Shiny and wet with lube, Mark watched transfixed as he slipped inside on one long thrust. Fuck, it felt amazing.

  Alec’s breath hitched, his hand fisting the sheets, and Mark smiled at the lack of claws. He wasn’t sure he’d have such good control if their positions were reversed. But he didn’t need it. Alec said he needed it rough, wanted to go hard, and Mark wouldn’t disappoint him. With claw-tipped hands he gripped Alec’s hips, the moan of approval encouraging him to pull out and slam back in, again and again until sweat trickled down the middle of his back and dampened his hair.

  Alec writhed under his hands, meeting each thrust with a grunt as the breath was punched out of him. Mark was close, pleasure building low in his belly, but he wanted, needed Alec to come. “Turn over.” The words were more of a throaty grumble, but he withdrew, shuffling back to give Alec room and hoping he got the message.

  Rolling onto his back, Alec put his arms up beside his head and spread his legs, drawing his knees up. “Make me.”

  Confused, it took Mark a second to register what he meant, but a slight wiggle of Alec’s fingers snapped it all into place. He surged forward, positioning his cock and sliding back in rougher than he normally would. Alec closed his eyes and tipped his head back, exposing his throat, a tease that Mark couldn’t resist.

  Grabbing Alec’s wrists, he pinned them to the bed and buried his face in the juncture of his neck and shoulder, shivering at the mix of sex and sweat and Alec. He couldn’t bite him, but he could suck and nip and scrape his teeth over the taut skin beneath his mouth, mark the surface and imagine for just a second that Alec was his.

  Alec’s claws raking down his back were like a splash of cold water, and Mark jerked up, away from temptation. He met Alec’s gaze, brown eyes so dark they looked almost black, and his heart stuttered at the heat aimed back at him. A quick glance at Alec’s mouth showed the tip of fang peeking out and Mark’s breath caught. He wanted those teeth all over him, wanted to feel—

  Like lightning, Alec slipped out of his grip, pulled Mark down to him, and sank his fangs into the top of Mark’s shoulder.

  “Fuck.” Mark’s orgasm rushed through him, pleasure and pain colliding in wave after wave, making his whole body shudder. He barely registered Alec’s cock pulsing against his belly, come covering his skin.

  For several long seconds, they remained like that: Alec’s fangs embedded in his shoulder while they both rode out the aftershocks. Then reality settled back around them.

  Mark winced as Alec withdrew his teeth, the wound stinging for a moment before starting to close. It wouldn’t leave a mark, and the thought sent a stab of disappointment through his chest. He’d have liked at least one reminder that this happened.

  Rolling onto his back, Mark stared up at the ceiling as Alec got out of bed. He traced his fingers through the mess on his stomach.

  “After we’ve both showered, I’ll give you a lift back into town to get a taxi.”

  Of course. As things stood between their two packs, neither one was welcome in the other’s territory, not close to the main pack buildings anyway. Especially not without prior permission. “Thank you.”

  Alec nodded, then headed to the bathroom and closed the door.

  Mark shut his eyes and tried not to let panic set in.

  What the fuck have I done?

  Alec pulled into the R-pack car park that he’d parked in earlier. The last vestiges of darkness clung to the sky, sunrise still over an hour away, but Mark glanced around warily. “Is this wise?”

  “No-one’ll be in for another twenty minutes, at the earliest.” He turned in his seat to face Mark. “Not that it really matters. We weren’t exactly discreet when we left the club, and unless you plan on avoiding everyone today, someone from your pack will recognise my scent. Or at least that of my pack.”

  Avoiding everyone sounded like an excellent plan. Mark wasn’t due in to work until tomorrow. Maybe he could hole up in his flat until then. Alec cleared his throat, and Mark’s face heated. Right, he needed to get out of the car. “Thanks for the lift.” He reached for the door handle, but Alec’s hand on his arm stopped him.

  “Be careful.”

  Mark should’ve protested that he had nothing to worry about, but the words wouldn’t come. Newell said Alpha Harley had lied, but…. “I will.” He opened the car door and got out without looking back. Only when he heard Alec drive away did he glance over his shoulder to see him disappear around the corner.

  The taxi ride home didn’t last nearly as long as Mark wanted it to. Even after a thorough scrub in Alec’s shower, he could still smell him everywhere. And sex. What he needed was another day and a few more showers.

  His building was in darkness when he arrived. No patrol kept guard like in the R-pack buildings. The buildings were secure enough as it was, according to Newell, and he didn’t believe in wasting resources on it. Usually Mark vehemently disagreed with this notion, even if only to Will, but not today. Today he was grateful that no one waited to meet him at the door.

  Or anywhere else in the building.

  He made it all the way to his flat without encountering a soul, the building remaining quiet apart from his footsteps. With most of his unit on nightclub duty, they’d all be asleep for a few more hours yet. Quietly letting himself into his flat and closing the door, Mark finally breathed a sigh of relief.

  And abruptly groaned.

  Why had he thought it a good idea to give him a bloody spare key?

  Soft snores sounded from the living room, and Mark walked through to find Will, still fully-clothed, curled up asleep on his sofa with his phone loosely clutched in his fin
gers. When Mark plucked it out of them, it came to life, showing his texts. How many times had Mark told him to lock the bloody thing?

  His name stood out on Will’s screen, and Mark cursed as he realised the last three messages had been to him. He pulled his own phone out of his pocket, only to be greeted with a black screen. Arse. When did that run out of charge?

  After plugging it in, he picked up Will’s feet and sat down on the end of the sofa, settling them back in his lap. As expected, Will stirred with the movement and yawned, blinking a couple of times before focusing on Mark.

  “Good. You’re not dead, then.”

  Mark scoffed. “Obviously. Why would you even say that?”

  Will sat up and scowled at him. “Oh, I don’t know… maybe because you left with a beta from another pack who has a reputation for being a cold-hearted arsehole. A pack, that rumour has it, brought in the fucking alpha council to investigate us.” His voice dropped to a whisper on the last few words.

  “Where did you hear that?

  “If you’d charge your fucking phone, you’d see the message. Alpha Newell sent out a unit-wide text late last night.” He reached for his phone and scrolled through to find it. “‘Please be advised, over the next week, we will be visited by members of the alpha council. Please answer their questions honestly and courteously.’”

  “Oh.” Mark was surprised the message had gone out already. He’d thought it’d be awhile before the council paid them a visit. “That doesn’t sound like a guy who’s got something to hide, does it?” Shit. He glanced quickly at Will.

  Will said, “Has he got something to hide?”

  Alpha Harley’s accusations rang in his mind, and Mark answered as honestly as he could. “I don’t know. I hope not.”

  Seeming to accept that as the truth rather than a brush off, Will nodded, then leaned his head back on the sofa. He turned to face Mark and took a deep breath in. “Judging from the smell of you, a good time was had by all, I take it.”

  “Yep.” The smile was immediate. Mark didn’t even try to stop it.

  Will rolled his eyes. “You’re fucking insane.”

  “You’re the one who pointed out how hot he is and that he’s exactly my type.”

  “Because he is, but I didn’t expect you to take him home and fuck him.” His expression turned sly. “Where did the two of you go? I know you didn’t come back here—you’re not that stupid.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  Will ignored him. “Not the club toilets. I checked in there. And Alec would never have taken you back to his pack building. Did you fuck in his car?”

  A laugh burst out of him as he pictured Alec and him trying to do anything in the back of Alec’s car. “He’s about six feet four. Like there’d be room to do anything.”

  “Good point.” Will leaned forward, elbows on his knees, eager. “Come on then, spill. Where did you go? You can’t tell me the other shit, so you can at least tell me this.”

  What could it hurt? “He has a flat.”

  “I know that.”

  “No, another one. Outside of the unit buildings. One he uses for….”

  “Sex?”

  Mark nodded.

  “Wow. He must do this a lot then.”

  Mark bristled. “He shares it with the other betas.” Which didn’t sound a whole lot better.

  “Well, whatever. Did he try and get any information out of you?”

  “No.”

  “Did you—”

  “No.” Mark sighed. “Look. We didn’t talk about pack business. We didn’t talk about anything much really.” He ignored Will’s smirk. “I got the feeling he’d had a shit day, and mine wasn’t exactly a barrel of laughs either. We just wanted to relieve a bit of tension, that’s all.”

  “Fine, but next time you want to do that, try and pick someone who won’t cause your alpha to lose his shit. Probably anyone else would be preferable. Apart from Alpha Harley. Or Nathan Kohl. Those two would piss him off more.”

  Mark leaned back against the sofa cushions. “Fine. You made me go out, remember.”

  “Oh, so it’s my fault now?”

  “Yep.” Mark turned and grinned at him. “That’s what I’m going to say if anyone finds out.”

  “When.” Will pointed a finger at him. “When they find out. Because there were plenty of our pack in there last night.” He paused and bit at his bottom lip. “Maybe you should tell Newell before someone else does.”

  Mark arched an eyebrow. “Now who’s insane? I’m going to stay here until Alec’s scent fades, and then no one can prove a thing.”

  “At least tell Jason, then.”

  Mark mulled it over. Jason always had his back; Mark believed that. He should do the same for his beta. “Yeah, okay.” Will nodded, satisfied. “Later though. I’m knackered. I need some sleep first.”

  “I wonder why.”

  Mark stood and threw a sofa cushion at Will’s head. “Piss off.” He walked towards his bedroom, stopping before going inside. “You staying here or….”

  Stretching back out on the sofa, Will offered him a half-hearted wave. “Yeah, can’t be arsed to walk upstairs.”

  “Lazy bastard.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Some of us worked half the night.”

  Good point.

  Mark left him to it, closed his bedroom door, and began to undress. As he took his shirt off, he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror and ran his fingers along the top of his shoulder. The skin was unmarked, no sign that any damage had ever been done to it. Alec’s teeth marks might have long since faded, but Mark felt an ache. Probably his imagination. He pressed down a little harder, wanting it to hurt.

  Nothing but the pressure of his fingers.

  Forget it.

  It’s done.

  Over.

  His wolf wasn’t happy at that thought; he liked Alec. Mark ignored him.

  If only it was that simple.

  He shrugged off the rest of his clothes and climbed under his quilt.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  By the time Alec got home after dropping off Mark, there were only a few hours until his meeting with Cam and the other betas. He managed about two hours sleep before his alarm woke him.

  Better than nothing.

  Another shower would dull Mark’s scent, but Alec was under no illusion that he could get through the meeting without anyone noticing. Better to get it out of the way first.

  By 8.35am he was outside the meeting room, not surprised to find Cam’s scent coming from inside when he pulled on the door handle.

  “Something on your mind, Alec?” Cam asked the question before Alec had even fully opened the door.

  “You could say that.” He walked into the room and over to where Cam stood looking out the window. His lean frame was outlined against the sky, and the early morning sun added a shine to his jet-black hair.

  Cam turned, inhaled, and raised an eyebrow. His lips twitched with what Alec hoped was amusement. “I see.”

  Perching on the table next to him, Alec clasped his hands and rested them on his thighs. “I had to get out, let off some steam.” He didn’t need to tell Cam what day was coming up. He was as aware as Alec.

  “And you couldn’t find anyone else to let off steam with?” Definitely amusement.

  Alec shrugged, his own smile wry. “You know me. Never one for the easy option.”

  Cam laughed. “God forbid.” He sobered a little and met Alec’s gaze. “I trust your judgement. I take it you believe Mark Appleton has no involvement with Newell’s plans?”

  “I do.”

  “Newell will think we were after information.”

  “I know.” Which was why Alec had insisted on no pack business. “We didn’t discuss anything.”

  “No, I imagine you didn’t.” Cam turned to the window again. “Do you plan on seeing him again?”

  Alec shook his head. “No. Will it cause problems with the alpha council?” From what he knew of them and how their investigations worke
d, he didn’t think so, but he wanted to be sure. Even if it was too late now.

  Cam glanced over to the door, and a second later, Alec heard footsteps approaching. “The council are interested only in the accusations I levelled at Newell and whoever else is involved. Who you sleep with will be of no concern to them. It has no bearing on past actions.”

  The door swung open, and Cam’s other three betas entered the room, followed by Tim Walters—the pack doctor and Alec’s closest friend—and Nathan Kohl. Alec immediately looked to Cam. He’d thought this was betas only.

  “I thought it prudent to have Tim and Nathan present, as they are heavily involved with this too.”

  Alec smiled in greeting to Tim and offered a curt nod to Nathan. “Why not Sebastian and Jared also?”

  “Jared’s working,” Cam supplied, when Nathan didn’t offer a response.

  Tim coughed, two spots of colour appearing on his cheeks. “Seb’s still adjusting to the change.”

  Ahh. Alec grinned. “We better get this meeting underway. I’m sure you’re eager to get back to him.”

  Tim glared at Alec and took a seat around the oval table in the centre of the room.

  Nathan, unusually quiet for once, took the seat next to him. Alec didn’t need to ask what was wrong. However shit he felt at this time of year was probably nothing compared to how it affected Nathan. It was his parents who’d died, among others. Today Alec would do his best to go easier on him. Although that wasn’t always possible with Nathan.

  Unsurprisingly, Gareth sat by Nathan, his hand brushing Nathan’s back as he sat down, and Nathan’s shoulders relaxed a little.

  “Did you hear our conversation?” Cam addressed his question to Daryl and Mike as they joined the others at the table.

  “Enough of it.” Daryl shot a quick glance to Alec. “And I saw the security tape a minute ago.” He shook his head and let out a harsh breath. “You couldn’t have found anyone else to fuck?”

  Alec shrugged. “He caught my eye.”

  “I guess saving someone’s life will do that.”

  Tim flinched. No one expected him to apologise for attacking Mark—protecting your mate was instinctual—but Alec knew he didn’t like to be reminded of it.