Chapter 14

FOURTEEN

Linus had only taken a long train ride one other time in his life, three-and-a-half years ago during a group trip to the territory zoo in Buckman Province. He'd been seventeen and eager for the experience—not just a chance to see so many exotic animals in real life, but also to see new parts of the territory. It had also given him a better idea of just how expansive the Northern Territory really was, since Buckman was just east of center. The farthest province to the west was Rainier Province, and it was a two-day train ride from Sansbury.

The ride north to Ampshire was about six hours, and Linus and Miko shared an eight-person compartment with two other couples, plus one solo traveler. Linus wasn't sure how many compartments were in each car, but they had shared bathrooms and a small refreshment station near the car's entrance. They'd opted out of purchasing tickets that included a meal, so Miko had packed a small cooler of drinks and snacks.

His sweet, adorable Miko, who was vibrating with nervous anticipation as they waited for the train to depart the station. Their window faced opposite the platform, so they couldn't see their parents, who'd all come to see them off on their new adventure. Linus had seen his brothers yesterday at brunch— well, three of the four. Tarius had given him and Miko goofy gifts of ear muffs shaped like donuts, complete with fake icing and sprinkles. Linus loved his and couldn't wait to wear them. They were neatly packed in the large rolling suitcase they'd decided to share. That way Miko didn't have to wrangle a lot of luggage.

Linus had chosen to use only his crutches this trip, rather than try to bring the walker along. After calling his PT for ideas, Linus had bought metal ice grips for the bottoms of his crutches, as well as fleece covers for the handholds. The grips would help him traverse the expected snow without slipping. The very last thing he needed was to sprain his only remaining ankle.

He'd even made that joke to Miko on the drive home from the pharmacy with his new crutch gear. Miko had looked briefly horrified, and then he'd cracked up. "Dude, we are dancing together at the gala, even if you're in a wheelchair again," Miko had said between long cackles.

Yes. Yes, they absolutely were.

The train station had been mildly chaotic, but now in the peaceful car, Linus relaxed into his seat and held Miko's hand as the train itself began moving. It kept a slow, steady rate as the western side of the province passed by outside the wide windows, until civilization gave way to nature. This had been Linus's favorite part of his first train trip: seeing the wilds.

The Northern Territory was a vast land mass, but more than half of it was undeveloped, wild land, with everything from thick forests to mountain ranges to vast stretches of arid desert. They'd learned about all the provinces in primary school—their locations and climate differences, and what their economy contributed to the overall territory. It had made Linus want to visit all of them someday, and that had been part of his long-term soccer goals. To make the Sansbury professional team and travel all over the territory to play for his native city.

Grief reached up and squeezed his throat tight, forcing hot tears into his eyes. He probably gripped Miko's hand too hard, because Miko leaned in and whispered, "What's wrong?"

Linus didn't want to lie, but he also didn't want to talk about it in a car full of strangers, so he obfuscated. "I'm okay, a little nervous, I think."

"You boys ever been up north before?" an elderly beta man asked. He was the solo traveler, and he'd come onboard with a book and a small duffel bag.

"No, sir," Miko replied when it took Linus a moment to find his regular speaking voice. "It's our first time."

"Newly mated?"

"Newly bonded, but we do plan to mate, yes."

Linus wanted to be irritated with the man for being so nosy, but he couldn't. Not with how proudly Miko spoke about their relationship. Excitement and joy shone in his eyes and his wide smile, and in the way he pulled Linus's hand into his own lap.

"Then you boys be careful when you get where you're going," the beta man said. "The snow and ice is treacherous even without the bother of crutches."

"We'll be very careful, sir," Linus said. His prosthetic leg was covered by his jeans and sneaker, so maybe the man assumed he had a sprained knee or something. And even if Linus did slip and fall on the walk to the cottage, he wasn't letting any injury stop him from making love to his boyfriend.

The man smiled, nodded, and cracked open his book.

The train gradually increased speed until the scenery was passing too quickly and too close to the tracks for Linus to really admire the wild forests. Miko opened his own book, a mystery series that Hyatt had turned him onto, and settled in to read. Linus had downloaded a new game on his mobile, and he hoped to master it by the time they arrived in Ampshire.

Four hours later, he hadn't mastered the game, and he now had a personal vendetta against it, but he put that aside as the scenery outside began to change dramatically. They'd left the thick forests behind for wider, rolling countryside dusted in white. The sky above was gray and cloudy with what could be either rain or snow. For as excited as he was to see snow on the ground, he'd love to see a real snow storm in person.

Miko excused himself for a bathroom break, and when he returned, Linus did the same. He was stiff and sore after sitting for so long, and he was a bit wobbly on the moving train, but he managed the task with no problems. It felt good to move around, too. He'd done so much sitting since the accident, and he'd never been a sedentary person. Linus had lived for physical activity, especially running, and now—nope.

Linus was on a brief vacation with his bondmate, in a brand-new location, with thickening snow on the ground outside. He was not allowed to get morose or feel sorry for himself while he was in Ampshire. These two days were about him and Miko and their future. About building on their love for each other and finally physically expressing it. Joy only.

All that other crap would be waiting for him when they got home.

Something chimed and an overhead speaker crackled to life, letting them know they were thirty minutes from the station in Ampshire. Miko began bouncing in his seat. They both stared out the window as the train slowed and they entered the outskirts of the province. The rolling hills gave way to snow-covered houses and mostly residential areas. The architecture was similar to Sansbury so it didn't feel like a completely foreign land.

Other than the thick layers of snow blanketing homes, cars and trees, and the piles of it left behind by snowplows. Linus only got snippets of the roads but they seemed well-maintained and clear. He'd seen plenty of photographs, news clips and movies with blanketing snow, but seeing it in person for the first time was surreal. And a little awe-inspiring.

Once the train pulled into the station and they were given the signal to begin departure, Linus and Miko hung back for a few minutes, allowing the passengers in a hurry to exit first so Linus didn't have to worry about being jostled. As confident as he was in his ability to manage walking with the crutches, he really did not want to accidentally sprain something before they even got to the cottage.

The crisp bite to the air made his eyes sting, and the sparkle of white on the tops of bench awnings and ticket kiosks hurt his eyes a little, and Linus kind of wished he had sunglasses. But they weren't outside very long before entering the main building and heading toward the taxi rental counter adorned with the unfamiliar colors of blue and white. More peaceful, less harsh than the yellow/black of home. They waited in queue about fifteen minutes before their turn. Miko hesitated briefly before climbing inside. Linus gave the driver the address, and after a long drive out of the major part of the province, they were on a country road surrounded by nature and more snow.

So much snow. Linus couldn't stop looking at it, and he couldn't wait to fall into a drift and roll around like a kid in freshly cut spring grass. Papa had hated it when Linus did that, because he'd get green stains all over his clothes, but Linus persisted whenever Dad mowed the lawn. He still loved that smell.

The cottage was as quaint and cute as Frey had described, with its own snowy frosting on the roof and eaves, giving it an air of mystery that Linus loved immediately. Their nearest neighbors were several hundred yards down the shoreline of the frozen lake. The caretaker was waiting in an idling car with their key, and he gave them a brief tour of the cottage's interior, pointing out the freshly stocked linens and towels, as well as extra cold weather equipment like snowshoes and waterproof boots.

A roaring fire crackled in the stone fireplace, and it cast a golden glow and wonderful warmth that added to the perfection of it all. For as much as Linus wanted to go straight outside and explore the snowy countryside, he also wanted to stretch out on the thick blue rug in front of the fire and cuddle with his boyfriend.

After a quick warning from the caretaker not to walk on the lake—"It's frozen but not solid enough to skate on yet, probably won't be for another month."—he wished them a joyful visit and left.

Miko put their suitcase in their bedroom and explored the main rooms like a kid on a new playground. "I can't believe this is a vacation house," he said while fawning over the massive refrigerator and its state-of-the-art water/ice dispensers. "This is spectacular. I'd love a house like this just to live in. It's the perfect size to start a family."

"It is charming." Linus also appreciated that it was all single-story. While he knew in his heart he'd be able to ascend and descend a full staircase one day, he still had a long journey to travel before he reached that destination. He gazed out one of the front windows. "I'm sure the lake is a lot of fun in summer, but I love how it looks right now, frozen over with ice and snow. It's like a scene from a movie."

"It really is." Miko joined him by the window, so Linus raised his arm and tucked Miko close to his side. His warmth reminded Linus why they were here, and a strong waft of Miko's scent curled around him like a warm hug. Stronger than ever before, and his mind understood as surely as his healing nose: the mating bond.

Maybe it had taken getting out of Sansbury, getting out of his own head and fears and disappointments, for his senses to wake up. To tell Linus what brain understood, and what his heart had felt all along: Miko was his mate. His omega.

Now to show him.

Linus nuzzled Miko's earlobe. "Are you tired from the long trip?"

"A little." Miko's hand slid down to rest over Linus's ass. "Wanna go inspect the bed with me?"

"Goddess, yes." He made sure the front door was locked, and then followed Miko into the bedroom. It had a king-sized bed centered on the far wall, a small table on either side, and what looked like closet doors opposite a chest of drawers. Above the headboard was a blown-up photograph of what he guessed to be the lake during summer, sunlight glinting off water, and someone paddling in a small boat. The floor was covered in a thick, ivory rug he kind of wanted to roll around on. The room wasn't very personal, but he had no idea how frequently the Porter family used to vacation here.

Miko dug into the suitcase and produced the bottle of artificial slick he'd purchased for this trip. And, obviously, for future use, but it was brand-new and just for them. The first and only man Linus ever wanted to have sex with. No, to make love with.

"I love you," Linus said, the words slipping out with no forethought. Miko's eyes rounded in surprise, and Linus's entire body flushed. "I've loved you as my friend for our entire lives, and I am falling in love with you as both my boyfriend and my bondmate, Miko."

Miko's surprise softened into a tender smile. "I love you, too. And I am so ready to show you that, Linus. For us to love each other in every way possible, until we're able to mate and begin that future together."

"Thank you for loving me. Thank you for being by my side through all of this, even though it would be easier to find an alpha who isn't broken."

"Hey, stop." Miko directed Linus to sit on the edge of the bed, and then took his crutches away. Knelt in front of Linus and slowly pushed the leg of Linus's jeans up to show off the prosthetic. "I know you feel broken sometimes, but I don't see you as broken. I don't see you as incapable or disabled or less than. I see the best friend who noticed I was showing heat symptoms and did everything in his power to get me to a safe place. I see someone who happened to sit on my right instead of my left the night we were in a crash that neither of us caused. I see someone I want to spend the rest of my life with, to raise children with, and to be happy with."

For the briefest instant, Linus's eyes burned and he thought he might cry tears of joy. But as he gazed into his bondmate's eyes, Linus saw love and lust and desire, and those tears evaporated. A new, powerful blast of lust and desire scorched from the top of his head right to his dick. Linus grasped Miko's forearms and tugged him up so they were at the same height. "I want that same future with you. No one else."

"Good."

The sassy response sparked Linus's desire, and he pulled Miko forward and into a hard, sensual kiss.

Miko had spent the entire six-hour train ride in a state of near-constant sexual frustration, knowing exactly what would happen when they finally got to the Porter cottage. He'd been annoyed by the caretaker's need to give them a tour of the home, when everything in him wanted to shove the older beta out the door so he could have sex with his bondmate. But he'd behaved, and now they were finally in the bedroom, slick at the ready, expressing their love verbally in ways that only amped up Miko's desire.

Linus was his true match, and soon they'd share it in every way possible.

They'd kissed more times than he could count, kissed in so many different ways than he imagined possible—until now. Linus's kiss this time was forceful and demanding, but somehow also curious and questing. Similar to all the kisses they'd already shared but also unique to now. Unique because tonight they didn't have to stop. They didn't have to restrain their emotions and desires. No one was coming home. No one else was sleeping on the other side of a shared wall.

Tonight, they could let go and make love.

Pleasure shot from all directions like a sparkler, hitting his head, his heart, his groin, all the way to his toes. His entire body hummed with energy, and Miko was making some sort of sounds, he knew he was, but Linus greedily swallowed them with his forceful kisses. Miko was so drunk on those kisses that he wasn't sure when Linus pulled him up, or turned them so Miko was on his back on the bed, Linus pressing him down. Their groins thrust together while their mouths and tongues continued their aggressive dance. Miko could easily get off like this but that wasn't what he wanted. He wanted—no, he needed for his future mate to come inside him. To claim what Miko freely wished to give.

"Get these clothes off," Linus growled. Miko didn't know whose clothes he meant, and he didn't care. He yanked at his own pants, sweater, and undershirt, and did his best to devolve Linus of his own layers. They'd dressed for cold weather, goddess-dammit, and that precaution was annoying the crap out of him right now. He needed to feel Linus's skin, to taste the salt and sweat. To know what it felt like to press his body, naked, against his bondmate's.

Clothes landed on the floor around the bed, and when Linus paused their activities to remove his prosthetic, Miko took a moment to stare at the naked length of his alpha's body. He'd lost weight since the accident, so his ribs stood out more, and his belly was a bit concave, but those lean, wiry muscles on his arms and thighs from years of running remained. Miko, on the other hand, had gained some weight from inactivity, thanks to his sore ribs, and he had a bit of a pooch around his middle, but Linus didn't seem to notice or care.

Their imperfections didn't matter, not now, not ever.

Linus was beautiful, and his erect cock seemed bigger in the open, rather than hidden behind layers of cotton. Miko grinned. Goddess, yes, he wanted that inside him.

First, he wanted to taste it. With a soft, needy growl, Miko shoved Linus onto his back and knelt over him, his own hard cock pointing right toward Linus. Linus gazed up at him with hunger in his eyes, burning there alongside trust and love, and Miko drank it in. Then he bent and took the head of Linus's cock into his mouth. Linus released a long, deep moan.

Miko savored the taste of his bondmate. The musk and sweat and the hint of Linus's own sandalwood flavor. The flavor of his alpha. He'd heard stories about how during heat, an omega's slick was supposed to be irresistible to their alpha. No one ever talked about how wonderful their alpha's essence tasted for the omega. Or maybe it was just him. Just them. Miko didn't care which.

He licked and sucked Linus's dick, desperate to know every inch of skin, every small tickle of pubic hair and twitch of muscle. He explored Linus's balls, licking each in turn, as drunk on the sounds Linus made as any fine liquor. Instinct tugged him lower, to explore Linus's hole, but they hadn't talked about that, and Miko didn't want to cross a line while Linus was so high on endorphins.

So he savored Linus for as long as he could, until Linus yelled, "Stop! Too close."

Miko rose onto his hands and knees, looming over Linus, whose skin was flushed, his mouth open as he panted. "You sure you don't want some early relief," Miko purred. "If you come now, you'll be inside me a lot longer later."

Linus's expression went briefly feral before he collected himself. "Okay. You don't have to swallow if you don't want."

"Oh, I want." He resumed making love to his bondmate's cock, taking him as deeply as possible, then mixing it up with short bobs of his head. Strokes with his hand. Linus's left foot dug into the mattress near Miko's knees, trying furiously to find purchase in the soft material while Miko coaxed an orgasm out of his mate.

"Fuck!" Linus's entire body thrashed when he came, and Miko did his best to hold on and ride it out, swallowing everything Linus offered. His scent and taste flooded Miko's senses, and he savored every drop. Miko snuggled up close to Linus's trembling body and slung an arm across his chest. Kissed his neck and cheek, thrilled at how blissed out Linus was. As close to completely calm and joyful as he'd been in weeks. Maybe months.

Since long before the accident, when the soccer season had become Linus's entire life's goal. His entire sense of self-worth. Now, Linus was almost at peace.

"I loved that," Miko whispered. "Doing that for us."

"It was amazing." Linus blinked lust-filled eyes at him. "My turn."

Miko didn't have time to prepare for the whirlwind of motion. Linus didn't have the same grip or balance to manhandle him the way Miko was sure he wanted, but Linus got Miko onto his back. Instead of over him, Linus lay perpendicular, his upper body resting on Miko's upper thighs. Braced on one elbow, he licked around the crown of Miko's dick.

"Shit!" Miko nearly sat upright at the shock of a tongue against his skin for the first time, but he'd lost control of his muscles at some point. All he could do was lightly thrash while Linus sucked him with the same intense, focused energy Miko had given him. Discovering every small bit of skin, every nook and crevice with his lips and his tongue.

But Linus didn't stop behind his balls. He rolled Miko onto his stomach, stretched out between his spread legs, and pulled Miko's cheeks apart. Before Miko could comprehend what was about to happen, a hot tongue dragged over his hole. Miko cried out, unable to censor the noises of sheer pleasure ripping from his vocal chords. If he thought having his dick sucked felt good, that was downright painful compared to a tongue licking and stabbing at his asshole.

He flew on the endorphins, flew on the utter rightness of it, not quite computing when a tongue became a finger. It didn't matter, because he trusted Linus, and he knew whatever happened next would be amazing for them both.

Linus could have savored Miko's hole for the rest of the evening and gone to bed a happy man, he loved it so much. Miko's toasted coconut scent was so much stronger there, so strong he couldn't imagine what it would be like during heat. But those were thoughts for another time. When they had forty-eight-hours of hormones and being hard and wanting nothing more than to fuck. Expected to do nothing more than satisfy his omega's needs with his knot.

This was not those forty-eight-hours.

"How?" Linus gasped. He nipped Miko's thigh. "Position? I'm so ready."

"Whatever you want, baby. Need you."

Linus tried to get his brain cells to hold hands and make a good decision. Doggie would be awkward with his balance issues, and Miko seemed a little too endorphin-high to ride him. "On our sides. Spooning. Let's do that, so I can hold you."

"Yeah." Miko released a soft moan. "Fuck, yeah, let's do that."

"Okay." Linus snagged the bottle of slick before nudging Miko into position on his right side. He chose this so that while his stump would be against the mattress, he'd have his whole left leg to wrap around Miko's, to play with him and hold him tight. He slathered slick around his cock, the cold gel a brief shock to his system, before gently pressing some into Miko's hole. Miko sighed and pushed back against him, welcoming his questing finger.

Everything about this was both strange and familiar, a dance as old as time, despite them both being completely new at it.

Because we're bondmates. We're meant to be together, in this life and the next.

"Please, alpha, I need you," Miko panted. "Now. Claim me."

"Mine." Linus tugged his finger free and braced the head of his dick against Miko's entrance. He had to take a few long, deep breaths to center himself, the enormity of this new step crashing down all at once. His best friend, his lifelong friend, his bondmate, was giving Linus his virginity and making a declaration that they would one day be mates.

It was almost too much to process, so Linus stopped thinking and ran on instinct. Instinct that demanded he push. Push forward into intense pressure that seemed impenetrable—until it gave way to a kind of heat he'd never imagined. Miko made a noise he couldn't identify or respond to; all Linus could do was push. With each thrust, he moved deeper into that all-encompassing heat, fell further into the deepest well of pleasure he'd ever experienced in his short life. He moved. Miko moved. They existed together, hips slamming against ass, hands groping, legs tangling, moving as one in the messiest, least practiced way possible.

And it was perfect. It was everything Linus needed and more. He lost himself in this ancient dance, in fucking his omega, in driving them both to orgasm. He wasn't entirely sure who came first, only that everything twisted into one orgasmic bliss of pleasure that ended with him hauling Miko close. Kissing him hard. His dick wet, Miko's dick limp, splatters of come everywhere. Skin and sheets damp, the combined scents more intoxicating than any synthesized drug.

"This was everything," Miko said, his voice slurred with fatigue.

"Yeah." Linus squeezed his hip and pressed a kiss to the back of his neck. "Absolutely everything."