My Best Friend the Alpha Read online

  “Street Fighter Two? We’ve got to play this.”

  “I should warn you, I’ve been practicing. I’ll totally kick your ass.”

  He'd rather do something else to the man's ass, but Chris would never tell him what.

  “You couldn’t kick my ass even if you tried.”

  Chris couldn’t wait to prove the other man wrong, so when Chris fed Declan’s words to him, he tried not to smile too wide or rub it in too much.

  But that wide-eyed, shocked look on Declan’s face was beyond priceless. It definitely took the ache off his groin to ruin Declan's smug mood. Blue balls were a little easier to deal with when winning at something.

  “You should see yourself right now.”

  Declan took a drink of his beer, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and held the controller with as much determination as he had back when they were kids. “Beginner’s luck. Again.”

  Chris grinned, and he played against the other man again, this time taking it easy on him, almost letting Declan win.

  Almost.

  The other man growled, his eyes glowing at the loss, and Chris couldn’t help but laugh at him.

  They drank and played each other until well after midnight. In the end, multiple empty beer bottles littered Chris’ coffee table, and he’d opened up a few bags of chips he’d had in his cupboard.

  They laughed as they played and got drunk. Declan even managed to beat Chris a couple of times, but Chris was going to chalk that up to luck considering he was getting a little tipsy.

  That had been his biggest mistake.

  Having Declan all to himself for the first time in years felt amazing.

  Even if this was all they could have, Chris was happy. He wanted more, he wanted to press his lips to Declan's thick neck. He wanted to push his hands beneath the waist of Declan's pants to fist his cock.

  But this was all he would ever get. He could learn to be content with that.

  “What did you say?”

  “What?” Chris looked at the other man, blinking through the sudden blur that had become his vision.

  “You just said this makes you happy. Have you been unhappy?”

  Oh fuck, had he been speaking out loud?

  Well, fuck it. What did it matter if Declan knew a couple of things? They were friends, and it wasn’t as though Chris had to reveal everything of himself, did he?

  “I just…wish things could have been different. I like having you around. You were always there for me. As a kid, you know.”

  Declan hesitated, as though thinking his words over carefully before speaking. “If anyone was there for anyone else, it was you. You were the one who was always there for me. You and your parents were always good to me.”

  Chris snorted. “My mom and dad wouldn’t even let me go over to your house.”

  “And they were right to do that.”

  Chris didn’t understand. He looked at the other man, and he knew something was happening here, something he’d wanted for a long time, but now that the chance for it was here, Chris almost didn’t know what to do with it.

  He almost wished he’d kept his mouth shut. What he was saying could ruin their friendship. He could put everything they were to each other in jeopardy because he got drunk and couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

  And despite knowing that, Chris couldn’t seem to shut the hell up.

  “I was just thinking that you’ve always had someone whenever I was single. Rory accused me of being jealous of you, and I thought he was being jealous of me.”

  Declan growled low in his throat. “Rory was a stupid cunt.”

  It had always interested Chris how Declan never seemed to approve of his boyfriends, but he'd especially hated Rory.

  “Yeah, he was, but still, I think I was jealous of you, so I always went out and got a boyfriend so I wouldn’t be a third wheel around you. Double dating, you know? I just didn’t want you to leave my life, and then you would be single and I’d be with someone, and it never seemed to work out until now, but I know you probably wouldn’t choose a man.”

  “I never said that.”

  Chris’ eyes flew wide. His heart stopped, and for a few long seconds, he felt as though he couldn’t breathe.

  He was almost too scared to look at the other man. He had an idea of what Declan was talking about, but he wanted it to be true so badly that to get confirmation of something different might just rip his heart out.

  “Chris, look at me.”

  Chris did. He’d never been this scared of his best friend before. Not because he worried Declan would do something to hurt him but because there was the very real chance that he was going to get his heart crushed with this.

  “I never said I wasn’t willing to look at…other men.”

  Chris didn’t understand. “Then why didn’t I ever see you with a guy?”

  Declan gave him another one of his rare smiles, but this time there was something shy and vulnerable about it, two words that absolutely did not belong with who Declan was as a person.

  “I didn’t want to bring another man around because it was never you.”

  Chris was once again struck with that strange feeling of not being able to breathe, of having his heart clench so hard that it hurt.

  But this was a good sort of hurt. Chris never thought he would feel his heart ache like this and still be able to feel happy and scared at the same time.

  Especially when Declan took Chris’ face in his large, powerful hands and leaned forward. “I never wanted to replace you with anyone.”

  His mouth was so close, and Chris still couldn’t think. He couldn’t move. He could only feel the heat of Declan’s body getting closer. The smell of beer and potato chips was still on him, and he tasted like both when Declan finally kissed him.

  Chris had never in his life had a time-stopping kind of moment when he was ever kissed. He’d read about them and heard about them from other people who had experienced them, but as far as heart-clenching, time-stopping, mind-exploding sort of kisses, this was Chris’ first.

  And it was only their mouths. That was before Declan pushed his tongue against Chris’ lips, and with a moan, Chris opened his mouth for the other man, leaning in.

  This was a dream. This had to be a drunken dream. No way was this real. No way was Chris kissing his best friend, tasting his tongue and getting hard to the little moans Declan made for him.

  Or was he the one making those noises?

  Whatever. He didn’t care. Chris didn’t care if this was Declan’s safe way of experimenting and finding himself. He could experiment all he wanted, and Chris would be happy to let him.

  He wanted more. He never wanted to stop. If Chris was going to do this then he was going to be greedy and go the whole way. He wanted this man to kiss him and love him as much as he was able to for as long as he was able to.

  So for that, Chris wrapped his arms around Declan’s neck and gave himself over to the other man.

  He was too tipsy to take much charge here. He had never been much of a take-charge-in-bed kind of guy anyway, so he hoped Declan didn’t mind.

  The other man growled at him, and holy God, with as long as Chris had known the other man, he knew a growl could be a warning, a sign that Declan was annoyed or about to pounce and wrestle Chris to the ground, but one of those growls had never made Chris shiver with lust before.

  It never made his cock throb the way it did right now, and suddenly, as though his body had come to life for the first time ever, Chris found himself pushing his body into Declan’s arms.

  Something wild and animal that he’d never before experienced roared inside him, and he couldn’t contain it. The only person who could was Declan, and that was by submitting to the man. Chris wanted to give himself over to him. He wanted Declan to take him, to dominate him.

  And Declan smelled differently in that moment. His musk smelled thicker. It tickled the back of Chris’ nose in a way it never had before, pulling Chris even closer to him.


  “God, you smell good,” Chris said, pressing his face to Declan’s neck, desperate to get more of that scent, to soak it in until he was bathing in it.

  So good. He wanted it and so much more.

  "Touch me." Chris grabbed Declan's big hand, putting it to his painfully clothed cock. "Touch me."

  He felt as though he would implode if he didn't get more.

  Declan growled at him, his mouth attacking Chris’ lips then his jaw and throat. More than once Chris felt the scrape of teeth. He thought he should be nervous about that. It wasn’t unheard of for shifters to get a little too rowdy and bite their partners without intending to. Maybe it was the liquid courage that did it, but Chris didn’t feel any fear of this possibility.

  In that moment, he trusted Declan with every fiber of his being. It was easy to trust him while thrusting into the man's hand.

  Declan seemed so much more out of control and wild than Chris could ever imagine him to be. He’d never seen or felt Declan like this. Of course, he’d also never felt the other man’s mouth over his, never felt the heat of his lips or his body this close.

  Never reached down for Declan’s cock and found it hard for him.

  Declan moaned against Chris’ mouth. He pulled back, gasping for breath, and when he opened his eyes, they were positively red.

  Chris couldn’t look away from them. He wanted to sink into them and never leave.

  He couldn’t help but smile at the other man. Chris was straddling his best friend. They were holding onto each other’s dicks over their clothes.

  There really was only one way this could go. “Are you…is this a wolf thing?”

  “Is what a wolf thing?”

  The way Chris felt so pulled toward the other man. The way he felt as though he would do anything to be touched by Declan, to be fucked by him.

  He didn’t say that. He didn’t know the rules on how shifters had sex, but he knew there were a few rules to it, and Chris wasn’t about to take the risk that opening his mouth this time around would damper the mood and put a stop to what he wanted.

  So he shook his head. “Nothing.” He took Declan’s hand, threading their fingers together, still impressed by the way he was able to feel the heat of Declan’s body. He thought he could make out the heavy beating of his heart just by touching his hand, but that had to be a mistake.

  They looked at each other, and it was Declan who broke the silence. “Want to take this to your room?”

  Chris nodded, not thinking about what would happen in the morning. “Absolutely.”

  Chapter Three

  Chris was drunk on beer and pleasure before they fell onto his mattress. Declan had started kissing him again, really showing him how talented he was.

  The only regret Chris had in his mind was that it had taken them so long to get to this point, that they hadn’t figured this out about each other a long time ago.

  Chris wished he’d picked up that old SNES and gotten drunk with Declan a long time ago. Then, maybe, they could have sped up this process a little.

  Declan shoved his hands down Chris’ pants. Chris thought he detected a hint of claws when he did so, but he never once was scratched.

  Though he did make out the ripping sound from his jeans, and then his dick was suddenly free.

  Strange, but whatever, because then Declan wrapped his hand around Chris’ cock, his other hand wiggling beneath Chris’ ass.

  “Lift your hips.”

  Chris did as he was told even before the other man had the chance to finish that sentence, knowing what Declan wanted from him.

  And he got it when he felt the tip of Declan’s fingers touch his hole.

  Chris shivered, his head falling back into the sheets behind him.

  So good.

  “You like that?”

  Did he really have to ask?

  Chris nodded, trying to look down at the other man, but he could hardly keep his focus, as Declan was relentless in the way he massaged Chris’ asshole while his other hand continued to stroke his cock.

  Some of Chris’ old boyfriends had complained to him that they didn’t like hand jobs. Why try to give something they were already experts at? was the claim.

  Chris loved a good hand job. He loved being touched, and he adored it when someone was able to use their hands and their mouth, the way Declan was doing right now.

  Declan kissed and licked at the head of Chris’ cock, as though he were tasting a fine wine, as though he were sampling the goods.

  Chris almost snorted a laugh at the way his brain was putting all of this together for him, but then the pleasure became too much and he struggled to keep from groaning as, finally, Declan put his whole mouth around the head of Chris’ dick.

  There was a hint of teeth at first, but thankfully, that went away shortly after, and things seemed to smooth out.

  Chris got into it. How could he not when Declan seemed determined to light his body on fire with the use of his mouth only?

  Chris found himself thrusting between those perfect lips, trying to push deeper while also thrusting his ass back against those fingers. Every inch of his body felt good, even when Declan pulled his mouth away from Chris’ dick so he could kiss Chris’ thighs.

  “God, you have no idea how you smell right now.” Declan moaned.

  Chris smiled through the haze of pleasure. “Good, I hope.”

  Declan looked at him with those red eyes, and when he smiled, he flashed some of his fangs.

  Chris did laugh this time. “As sexy as that looks right now, I don’t know if I want you putting your mouth back around my dick when your teeth are out.”

  “Don’t worry.” Declan kissed the head of Chris’ dick. “I can’t wait anymore anyway. Waited too damned long for this.”

  They’d only just started kissing a few minutes ago on the couch. Of course, Chris realized in that moment that he had been kind of selfish when it came to the pleasure he gave.

  Which was almost none. Just because Chris let others take charge in bed didn’t mean he was prone to lying back like a corpse. He did participate, and he’d done almost nothing to participate since getting into bed.

  He felt bad about that, but then it seemed Declan was getting back into the swing of things.

  “Do you keep any lube?”

  Chris nodded. He pointed to his nightstand. “In there.”

  Declan moved quickly. He yanked open the top drawer, finding what he needed, and only then was Chris grateful that he kept his toys in the bathroom.

  He definitely wasn’t ready to share his little collection of sex toys he used on himself with the other man. Not when he was still tipsy and trying to get off.

  That might embarrass him a little too much.

  But then Declan came back to bed, opening the bottle, squirting some of the clear slick into his hand. Their eyes met, and that glowing was back, but Declan was silent again.

  That was all right. Chris could read this man like the back of his hand.

  Declan was…nervous? Really? Declan didn’t seem as though he could ever get nervous about anything. There were maybe three times in the years they’d known each other when Chris had detected that, but there it was. It was written all over his face.

  Chris smiled up at him. “I won’t bite.”

  Declan paused, looked at him, and then smiled before shaking his head. “You’re not the one I’m worried about doing any biting.”

  “Why? There another shifter in here I should know about? Because you’re the only one I’m giving permission to do this to me.”

  Declan shook his head again, muttering something under his breath that sounded a little like idiot.

  He was so lucky Chris was in love with him.

  Chris yanked Declan back down, crushing their mouths together while Declan pushed his fingers inside Chris’ hole.

  And it was good. It felt so good Chris thought he would implode with pleasure. His cock jumped as he thrust back against those fingers, desperate for more.

>   And Declan had barely touched him.

  He circled around Chris’ pucker with slick fingers, adding just enough pressure to make Chris clench his hands in the sheets.

  Chris closed his eyes, giving himself over to the pleasure.

  And it was good. So good. His prick throbbed with each forward thrust. God, Declan played him like an instrument.

  “You like that?”

  Chris nodded. He wanted to tell Declan how much he loved it, how much he’d thought about the other man, but he didn’t want to ruin the mood. He didn’t want Declan to think twice about this, to realize they were supposed to be friends and nothing more.

  He just wanted more. He wanted so much more.

  Eventually, Declan pushed his fingers inside. There was a slight burn that came with the breach. It had been a while since Chris had anyone, but he knew what to do. He knew how to relax, and he trusted Declan to not just go shoving away.

  Damn, Chris had never stopped to think about how thick his fingers were. It was almost surreal to finally have the other man like this at all.

  The painful burn simmered down shortly. Chris liked to think it had something to do with the way Declan kissed his stomach and chest while thrusting his fingers, scissoring and stretching him.

  Chris needed to touch him back. He threaded his fingers through Declan's red-brown hair. It was so short he wished it was long again, like back when they were kids, so he could really feel the strands.

  But this was just as good.

  It felt as though they'd done this a thousand times before, and Chris hoped they would get a repeat of it.

  "You should get on your hands and knees."

  Chris shook his head. "No way. I want to look at you."

  "You do?"

  Chris didn't expect Declan to look so confused. He had to smile at that.

  "Sure. Why not?"

  Declan seemed to think on that, but whatever excuse he was coming up with in his head apparently wasn't enough to prevent Chris from getting what he wanted.

  Declan nodded. He grabbed Chris by the waist, pulling his hips up, settling him against his powerful lap.

  Chris had known men over the years who spent hours and hours in the gym each week, almost enough to make up a full time job, who weren't as solid as Declan was.