Forever Mate: Mikhail & Jace (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) Page 3

  Mikhail knew as the words came out of his mouth that he was behaving like an asshole. He just couldn’t seem to stop himself once he started. Jace meant too much to him to give the man up after just a few hours.

  He knew if he wanted Jace to stick around he’d have to come clean and tell Jace everything. Hopefully then the man would understand that being with anyone else just wasn’t an option.

  Mikhail felt eternally grateful when Jace reached up and grabbed his hand. Mikhail pulled, drawing the man to his feet. He grimaced when Jace quickly dropped his hand and stepped away from him.

  He’d have to get used to that, he supposed, at least until Jace understood the situation they were both in. A forever mate was, well, forever. Mikhail had claimed Jace, bonded with him. He’d never want another person as long as he lived.

  A daunting thought, being tied to one man for the rest of his life. And his kind lived a very long time. Mikhail needed to make the best of things, to get Jace to understand the situation they were in. The thought of Jace leaving his side made Mikhail’s stomach clench.

  “Where do your clothes go when you shift?”

  Mikhail chuckled. “That’s what you want to know?”

  Jace shrugged. “They get shredded in the movies. Yours seem just fine.”

  “I’m not sure where our clothes go, but they are gone when we shift and back when we become human again. It just kind of happens,” Mikhail said, gesturing toward a vacant table in the corner. “Please, join me for a drink and I’ll explain things to you.”

  Jace seemed to watch the table for a moment, then he frowned. “Is there anything else to drink besides beer? That stuff tastes like toilet water.”

  Mikhail chuckled. “For you, of course.” He turned his head and held up two fingers to the bartender. “One beer, one soda, Sam,” he said to the bartender before turning back to Jace. “Shall we?”

  Jace looked hesitant but followed Mikhail over to the small table and sat down. Mikhail sat down across from him and waited for the bartender to bring their drinks before speaking. He needed a little liquid courage.

  As he waited, Mikhail stared at his forever mate. He wasn’t sure he would have picked Jace out of a crowd to play around with if he hadn’t known the man belonged to him. Now that he looked at him, though, Mikhail realized that Jace might possibly be the sexiest man alive.

  Mikhail didn’t know if his sudden fascination was due to their bond or something more. He just knew he had been lucky enough to get the most beautiful man in the world as his mate. That was enough for him.

  A beer and a soda were set down on the table. Mikhail looked up when Sam, the bartender, didn’t immediately move away. The man leaned toward Jace, sniffing the air round him. Mikhail growled, baring his teeth.

  Sam instantly jumped back and hurried over to stand behind the bar, a red flush filling his face. Mikhail turned back to see Jace staring across the table at him, an exasperated glare in his baby-blue eyes.

  Mikhail shrugged. “Better get used to it because I can’t control it. No one should be sniffing you except me.”

  “You can’t growl at someone because they sniff me.” Jace shuddered. “No matter how weird that is.”

  “You should be happy. My first instinct was to rip his throat out.”

  Jace’s mouth dropped open.

  “I didn’t do it, did I?” Mikhail asked. “The only reason he’s still breathing is because I didn’t want to upset you and he knows it. He had no business sniffing you.”

  “Dude, you seriously need to think about taking some downers or something.” Jace waved his hand in the air in a gesture Mikhail was quickly coming to associate with Jace’s personality. He doubted the man could talk if he sat on his hands. “Definitely stay away from caffeine. That would be just too intense.”

  Mikhail chuckled then took a sip of his beer. He set it back on the table, staring down at the smoky brown glass. His fingers picked nervously at the label as he tried to think of a way to tell Jace everything he needed to say.

  “I’m a cat, a white Siberian tiger to be exact.”

  “Yeah, the fur was kind of a dead giveaway.”

  “I was born this way. I’ve been able to shift since I hit puberty.”

  Jace nodded. “So, you can shift into a cat. So what?”

  Mikhail’s eyebrows shot up to his forehead.

  “Okay, yeah, it’s weird”—Jace’s eyes widened considerably—“really weird, but that still doesn’t give you the right to tell me what to do. I’m an adult, a full-grown man, and the last time I looked, slavery had been outlawed.”

  Mikhail sighed. “It’s not about slavery, Jace.”

  “Then what is it about?” Jace asked. “I have a few ex-boyfriends that wanted me under their thumb. They were very controlling, expecting me to follow their every command. When I didn’t do as they wanted, they beat the shit out of me.” Jace waved his hand once again. “Hence them being ex-boyfriends.”

  Jace paused, taking a drink of his soda before looking back up at Mikhail. “You really do seem like a nice guy, but I’m just not willing to go through that again, not for anyone or anything.”

  “I understand, believe me,” Mikhail said. “And I’m sorry for the way I went off. I opened my mouth and all this shit started coming out and I just couldn’t seem to close my mouth. I didn’t mean to say what I did.”

  “Even if you didn’t mean to say it, you still meant the idea behind the words,” Jace said. “The thoughts had to be in your head or they never would have come out of your mouth.”

  Mikhail couldn’t fault Jace’s logic. He had been thinking those things when he said them. Jace said something about them not being in a relationship, and uncontrollable rage had filled Mikhail.

  “I’ll admit I went overboard,” Mikhail said.

  “That’s mighty big of you.” Jace smirked.

  Oh, Jace was a hoot. Mikhail had no doubt that the man would give him a good run for his money in the coming years. He might be just as stubborn as Mikhail.

  “I’d just got done having sex with you and you started going on about us not being in a relationship like you weren’t even going to consider the possibility. How did you expect me to respond?”

  “You fucked me without a condom,” Jace snapped, slapping his hands down on the table as he glared at Mikhail.

  “I’m a shifter,” Mikhail snapped right back. “I can’t give you anything.”

  “Well, I didn’t know that at the time, now did I?”

  Mikhail blinked then he started laughing, shaking his head. He shook his finger at Jace. “You’re going to drive me crazy. I can see that now.”

  “Maybe not,” Jace replied. “I still haven’t decided if I’m sticking around.”

  That sobered Mikhail up fast. The laughter died from his voice. He dropped his eyes down to watch as he started picking at the label on his beer bottle again. “I know.”

  Jace sighed, bringing Mikhail’s eyes back up to him. “Look, Mikhail, you need to understand something. I know nothing about you except that you’re great in the sack, you have a really long name, and you can shift into the biggest damn cat I’ve ever seen. That’s not enough to base a relationship on.”

  Mikhail folded his hands together and looked up at Jace. “What do you want to know? Ask me anything.”

  “Why me?”

  Jace asked so fast that Mikhail knew the question had been playing on his mind. He smiled. He had the perfect answer for that question. “Because you’re the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”

  Jace snorted. “Oh, now I know you’re full of shit.”

  “No, I’m perfectly serious,” Mikhail said quickly, afraid that Jace would get up and leave. “For my kind, we have a destined mate. We call them forever mates because we bond with this person for life. We spend years looking for this special person. Many of us don’t even find him or her.” Mikhail took a deep breath. Now came the tricky part. “I knew the minute you walked into the bar that you were my f
orever mate.”

  Jace started plucking at his fingernails much like Mikhail had plucked at the label on his beer. He looked anxious but not quite ready to run for the hills. Mikhail saw that as progress. “And this means what exactly?”

  “Well, for one,” Mikhail replied. “I can never hurt you like your ex-boyfriends did. I’d chew off my arm first.”

  The thought of anyone laying their hands on Jace made Mikhail see red. How could anyone want to hurt this wonderful man? Jace could be a pain in the ass, but that was no reason to hurt him. Mikhail wished he could get the address of everyone that ever hurt Jace so he could track them down and pay them a little visit.

  “That sounds nauseating.”

  “But true,” Mikhail said. “I’m incapable of hurting my forever mate. And I’d be more than likely kill anyone that does try to hurt you. I take having a forever mate very seriously and your safety, even from me, is very important.”

  “So, okay, you won’t hurt me.” Mikhail barely suppressed his grin when Jace waved his hand around again. Mikhail was certain now that it was a natural gesture for the man. It was cute. “What else? I want to hear it all.”

  “You know that whole monogamous thing?”

  Jace frowned but nodded anyway.

  “It works both ways.” Mikhail moved his hand, gesturing between the two of them. “Now that we’ve bonded, I can never be unfaithful to you. In fact, I won’t even desire another person. It’s part of the whole—”

  “Wait!” Jace snapped as he held up a hand to stop Mikhail. “Back up a minute. What do you mean now that we’ve bonded? When did we bond?”

  Oops!

  Chapter Five

  The flush creeping up Mikhail’s cheeks didn’t reassure Jace one damn bit. A shiver of apprehension began to edge its way up Jace’s back as he remembered Mikhail biting him on the neck when they had sex. He rubbed his hand over the spot even though he couldn’t feel anything.

  “You bit me,” he snapped.

  Mikhail nodded, looking slightly sheepish, but he also looked thoroughly satisfied. “Yes, I did, and I hope to bite you a lot more over the next several decades. Besides the fact that it makes our bond stronger each time I bite you, it sexier than hell seeing my bite mark on your neck, and it lets everyone else know that you’ve been claimed.”

  “You bit me,” Jace repeated, ignoring Mikhail’s words as if he’d never spoken, although Jace did hear them. He was just too outraged right now to deal with how much those words affected him. “You bit me and bonded with me or whatever it is you call this damn thing, and you didn’t give me the choice.” Jace’s voice thickened with anger. “You didn’t even ask.”

  “Ah, now, there’s where you’re wrong,” Mikhail said vehemently as he jabbed his finger into the wooden table top. “I asked you if you were mine and you said yes. I got your agreement before I claimed you.”

  “Bullshit!” Jace shouted. He watched as Mikhail’s head snapped back in astonishment. He seriously doubted anyone had ever talked to the big man the way Jace did. Most people would be too intimidated to argue with Mikhail. Jace was too pissed to care.

  Well, too damn bad. I’ll say what I think, and if Mikhail doesn’t like, it he could take a long walk off a short pier.

  “You told me to say it while we were having sex,” Jace argued.

  “Are you saying I forced you?”

  Jace heaved a heavy sigh. Frustrated beyond words, he pushed his hand through his hair. Every time he thought he was getting through to Mikhail, something else came up. How were they supposed to find a common ground when Mikhail kept taking all his choices away from him?

  “No, you didn’t force me,” Jace finally replied. He wouldn’t lie about something like that. “I wanted you to take me. I just didn’t understand what you were asking, and you didn’t explain it to me. I thought it was just sex, and you know that.”

  “Yeah, I guess I did.”

  Ah, common ground.

  “I just couldn’t let you get away from me.”

  Or not!

  “Mikhail, whether you can shift into a cat, a bird, or the man on the moon doesn’t matter. This ability of yours doesn’t make you any better than me, and it certainly doesn’t give you the right to make decisions for me.”

  “Please understand,” Mikhail said as he reached across the table and grasped one of Jace’s hands between his. “It’s not about wanting to give you a choice or not. It’s instinctual. I wish I could have given you a choice. I hope you would have chosen me but—”

  “I would have.” Jace could at least give the man that.

  “Thank you, baby. It means a lot to me that you’re willing to say that.”

  Jace nodded and waved his hand. “Finish what you were saying.”

  Mikhail nodded. “I’m a cat and you’re my mate. Claiming you was purely instinctual. I didn’t go into that utility closet with the plan to claim you. It just happened.”

  “Why did you go into that closet?”

  Mikhail’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you serious? Don’t you remember me telling you that you are the hottest damn thing I’ve ever seen? I went into that closet with the intention of getting my hands on your sexy little body. The claiming thing just happened.” Mikhail grimaced. “I’m sorry that you weren’t given a choice, but I’m not sorry it happened. And honestly, I’d probably do it again if given the chance.”

  “Well, at least you’re being honest.”

  Jace could feel his anger clawing its way to the surface again. He was trying to control his temper, but Mikhail didn’t make it easy. The man didn’t seem repentant at all. Of course, when he saw the sad, resigned look on Mikhail’s face, Jace wondered if he could be wrong.

  “Jace, I’m sorry. That’s the only thing I can give you. Claiming you was—”

  “That’s all I wanted.”

  Mikhail’s deep emerald-green eyes flashed briefly with confusion. “What?”

  “Mikhail, you did something against my will. Granted, according to you it was instinctual, and I’m willing to give that due consideration under the circumstances. But if you don’t feel it was wrong, then we have nothing more to discuss.”

  “I told you I was sorry.”

  “Which is why we’re still talking.”

  Jace dragged his hand down his face when Mikhail just stared at him. He felt like he and Mikhail were just running around in circles. He understood what Mikhail tried to tell him, but the man claimed him without his permission. Jace didn’t know if there was a way to fix that.

  “What do you want me to say, Jace?” Mikhail asked after a moment.

  “I’m not sure there is anything you can say, Mikhail,” Jace replied sadly. “There are some definite differences in how we think, and I’m not sure we’re going to be able to get past them.”

  “You do remember me telling you this was for life, right?” Mikhail asked.

  Jace glanced up in surprised at the barely suppressed growl in Mikhail’s voice. He felt even more shocked when he took in Mikhail’s clenched jaw and fisted hands. He could feel the barely controlled rage just under the surface.

  Jace teetered on his chair, his body tensing as he readied himself for flight. He didn’t know Mikhail beyond the fact that the man could shift forms and he fucked like nobody Jace ever met before. He didn’t know how much of the anger in Mikhail would turn to violence.

  “Look, I think we both need to take a step back here,” Jace said. “Hell, we just met like an hour ago. That is not a lifetime relationship. It’s barely even a beginning. I don’t know shit about you. I don’t even know anything about you.”

  “You know me,” Mikhail said.

  “No, Mikhail, I don’t.”

  “You know what you need to know,” Mikhail insisted.

  “What?” Jace asked. “That you can shift into a cat? That you’re great in the sack? That you’re prone to violence? You have three brothers and you hang out in a bar?” Jace spread his hands out. “What else do I know, Mikhail?”


  Mikhail frowned, his brows drawing together. Jace stared at the man until Mikhail’s eyes dropped down to stare at his hands. “Would you consider getting to know me? I promise not to do anything—”

  “Yes.”

  “—that you don’t want—” Mikhail’s head shot up. “Yes?”

  Jace nodded. “Yes, I’d like to get to know you.” He sighed deeply when Mikhail started to smile. “I’m not stupid, Mikhail. I understand everything you’ve been trying to tell me about this forever mate thing. I’d like to find out where this goes, but it needs to be on equal terms. No lying, no holding things back from me. I need to know everything.”

  “Then there’s some things you need to know,” Mikhail said, and he didn’t look happy about whatever it was he was about to say. “I won’t be able to control myself if you become intimate with someone else. I won’t hurt you, but I’m not sure I’d be able to keep myself from killing them.”

  Jace swallowed hard. “Okay, what else?”

  “Cats are very tactile creatures. I’m going to want to touch you a lot, rub my scent on you to keep others away.”

  “Others?” Jace glanced quickly around the bar. There were still a few people in the place, but it was pretty empty. “What others?”

  “Anyone, everyone.” Mikhail shook his head slightly. “It won’t matter who. I will need to cover you in my scent.”

  Jace leaned back a little and watched Mikhail intently. “You’re not going to pee all over me are you?”

  Mikhail chuckled. “No, but I might want to come all over your body. That’s the quickest way to spread my scent over you.”

  Jace inhaled, the visual of Mikhail jerking off all over him clouding his mind and suddenly arousing him, making his cock achingly hard. He’d like to see that in action, not just envision it.

  A low growl from Mikhail made him look at the man in concern. “What?”

  “You’re aroused,” Mikhail spoke harshly through gritted teeth.

  Jace’s eyes widened when he heard a scraping sound and looked down to see Mikhail’s fingernails digging deep scratches into the tabletop. “Uh, Mikhail?”