For the first time, he thought about what would be required of him having a male mate. He'd always loved having his c.o.c.k sucked but now, it would be Garret sucking it, not a woman. He'd always loved having a.n.a.l s.e.x, but now he would f.u.c.k Garret's a.s.s, not a woman's. When he slid his c.o.c.k deep inside the tight ring of a.n.a.l muscles, it would be Garret's c.o.c.k his fingers would seek, not the wet swollen nub of a woman's c.l.i.t. A frisson of fear went down his spine and he finished the bottle of water in one long swallow. This might not be easy at all, he thought as he headed to his room to get his racket.

When he returned, he found Garret near the door, waiting patiently with a hooded expression. He figured his thoughts were bleeding out again.

"I'm not ready to talk s.e.x yet," he said stiffly as he opened the door. "Maybe tonight. Today, let's just get to know each other. A game of tennis, some breakfast, and then Sean's group activity for the day. After that, we can grab some lunch and get into the strategy session Sean wants."

"Then maybe a swim before dinner?" Garret suggested.

Holden nodded. "Sounds good to me."

The tennis courts were indeed empty at that hour. Garret turned out to be a good player, although not in Holden's league, but he held his own pretty well which pleased Holden. At breakfast, they discovered they both liked their bagels with b.u.t.ter, not cream cheese, and preferred bacon over sausage. They both had a love of good strong coffee, but where Garret doused his with cream and sugar, Holden liked his black. When Holden asked Garret about drinking tea, the Englishman made a face, saying that not all Brits liked tea.

They both disliked politics, but the state of the economy interested both of them albeit for different reasons. Garret kept his fingers on the pulse of the stock market, which meant that he was intensely interested in the economy and current trends. Holden stayed abreast of economic trends because he and Declan were always on the lookout for businesses they could buy to increase Antaeus Internationals profits and net worth.

After breakfast, they returned to their suite to shower and dress for the seminar Sean had planned. As he stood in the shower, Holden got an image of Garret in his shower, stroking his c.o.c.k. He shivered, knowing that if Garret was masturbating, the man had to be fantasizing about him. The thought aroused him, but he still wasn't at the point where he could fantasize about being with Garret s.e.xually. s.e.x with a man, even when the man was Garret, still seemed completely alien to him.

They met in the main room of the suite before heading down to the seminar. Garret was dressed in dark slacks and a pale yellow polo shirt. Holden wore dark jeans and a plain white b.u.t.ton down shirt. He eyed Garret's shiny loafers then flicked a glance at his own beat up runners. Of course, Garret was new to the company and still dressing to impress. As one of the owners of the company, Holden could dress as he pleased. Still, it amused him a little that the bean counter looked all shiny and spiffy.

"I'm not a bean counter," Garret protested in a low growl as they headed down to the lodge's conference room in the elevator.

Holden made a rude sound. "You're a finance whiz kid. That means you're a bean counter,"

he teased.

Garret's emerald eyes flashed. "You'll pay for that later, Holden."

"Really?" Holden held open the door to the conference room. "I'm all agog to know how."

A sly smile curved Garret's mobile mouth. "No, you aren't. You're not ready to go there yet.

But I'm hopeful that you will be soon."

Heat flashed through Holden's body as he had a sudden vision of Garret kneeling between his thighs reaching for his c.o.c.k. His eyes met Garret's and he realized the other man had sent him the thought. Before he could reply, Emily appeared and took Garret by the arm dragging him across the room.

Biting back a sigh, Holden looked for his brothers and found Declan with Vahid in a corner of the room. Sean was nowhere in sight. As he walked up to Declan, he heard Vahid hiss, "I'm not Emily's keeper. I can't stop her from drinking!"

Holden's brows rose a little and his eyes met his older brother's. Vahid never got angry. Even when their sister Eden had dumped him, Vahid hadn't shown anger. His palpable annoyance made Holden wonder what the h.e.l.l Emily had done to him. He decided to help Vahid out a little.

"He's right, Declan. Let him be. Emily's responsible for her own behavior. Just because Vahid always makes everything perfect for Sean doesn't mean he can control all of us," Holden teased with a wink.

Vahid's smile was patently false but he nodded at Holden's words and used the distraction to slip away. Holden snagged his older brother's gaze. "Picking on Vahid? Are you p.i.s.sed at Sean?"

he said with a wry smile.

Declan let out a weary sigh. "No. But usually Vahid makes sure everything runs smoothly.

Last night, he sat back and let Emily make a fool of herself. He would not have done that with any other executive in the company," he explained. "He would have told the bartender to water their drinks or not serve them anymore. I don't know why he picked on her last night. I asked him if they'd had a fight over the budget or something and he wouldn't answer."

Holden shook his head in surprise. "That is unusual for Vahid. She must have done something to put his panties in a twist." Declan nodded his agreement. "And how about you? Yesterday you were all bent out of shape about being paired with Wonderboy and today you show up almost arm in arm. What gives?"

Holden shrugged as they moved toward their seats at the conference table. "We played tennis this morning. He's good."

A laugh escaped Declan. "I get it. You're just happy to have someone to play with again. The noob doesn't realize he has no chance of ever winning against you."

The vision of Garret sucking his c.o.c.k flashed through Holden's mind again and his lips twitched into a smile. "Oh, I wouldn't say that. He's got some moves neither of us ever antic.i.p.ated."

Declan looked at him with a puzzled frown, but Holden just smiled and opened his portfolio as Sean came into the room with the day's speaker.

Chapter Four.

Garret's hopes for a private lunch with Holden were dashed when Vahid and Sean decided to join them. Similarly, their strategy session ended up including Emily and Declan. Garret tried not to be disappointed because business was business after all, yet he couldn't help but feel a little impatient that his time alone with Holden had been invaded.

He'd been hugely relieved that his actions the night before hadn't spoiled the promise of a relationship with Holden. In fact, they seemed to have spurred his new mate into some hard thoughts about mating and the future. Anything that served to open Holden's mind to the truth and the possibilities was fine by Garret.

The kiss they'd shared on the balcony had been the hottest kiss of Garret's life. His senses were becoming tuned to Holden's and he'd known right when things had started to shift toward out of control. He'd already decided that he needed to take things slowly with Holden. His new mate was freaked by the thought of s.e.x with a man. Garret knew he had to back off in spite of the fact Holden had been on the verge of kissing him back. At least Holden hadn't been afraid of Garret's erection this time. Pressing his c.o.c.k against Holden's crotch and feeling the man's own c.o.c.k respond had sent shivers of delight and l.u.s.t through Garret. He couldn't wait to touch Holden's naked body. Touch and taste it.

The strategy session didn't drag as Garret had thought it would. He discovered that Holden and Declan Antaeus worked together like a well-oiled machine. Declan excelled at choosing a target company to take over. Holden excelled at knowing the legal issues they faced. Coupled with Emily's brilliance when it came to knowing the value and worth of a company, the three of them managed a takeover or buyout with a smooth professionalism that awed Garret.

It dawned on him that he'd joined a company run by a group of supremely intelligent and professional executives. None of these people rested on their laurels or let their underlings do all the work. They were dedicated and brilliant at what they did. It made him glad he'd decided to take Sean's offer. A company like this gave him something he could sink his teeth into.

When the strategy session finished, Declan and Holden headed for the business center of the lodge intent on faxing yet another sheaf of doc.u.ments to Australia. Garret stood watching them walk away, both tall, dark-haired, and athletic, although Declan stood a good three inches taller than Holden. Still, they were attractive men and obviously related. As they disappeared from view, Garret wondered what it would be like to be part of the Antaeus family.

"Don't let them eat you alive," Emily advised with a lift of her perfectly plucked eyebrows. "I can see how much their business ac.u.men turns you on. Just don't let them use you, Garret."

"I won't," he responded easily, giving her a rea.s.suring smile.

She patted his arm. "Good. I'll see you tomorrow."

Garret looked at her in surprise. "You're not coming down to dinner?"

"It's not a group dinner night. I'm going to visit the spa and call room service. If I don't spoil me, no one will," she told him, her voice tinged with bitterness again. "You have a good night."

Garret stared after Emily's elegant form. Her bitterness was obviously not new. The cool control he'd observed in her up until now must have undergone some ma.s.sive meltdown. He couldn't imagine what would make an accomplished executive like Emily Carrington crack. He headed up to his suite and changed for the swim that he and Holden had planned.

Standing in front of the full length closet mirror, he eyed himself critically. For a hundred and twenty-year-old dragon, he looked pretty good. No gray in his dark hair yet, nor wrinkles, although he did have a crinkle between his brows from frowning. He looked like a human male in his early thirties until one noticed the dragon clan mark that twisted across his lower back.

The black swirling lines were often mistaken for a tattoo and he'd been teased about having a "tramp stamp." The single black dragon with an emerald in its mouth had etched itself on his skin when he'd come of age s.e.xually. The emerald was the only part of the mark that wasn't black.

As he stared in the mirror at his clan mark, he remembered seeing Holden's clan mark the night before. When he'd turned and slammed his door, Garret had gotten a glimpse of lines running down his spine between his shoulder blades.

Garret knew his looks didn't even compare to Holden's. His chestnut brown hair and green eyes were not as dramatic as Holden's ink black hair and bright amber eyes. Even their physiques weren't comparable. Holden had a sleek hairless chest while Garret had his little fur patch and a trail of hair down his abdomen. Regardless of the fact that he had a lean, taut swimmer's body with defined muscles, Garret knew he looked nothing like the beautiful golden skinned Holden with his perfect athlete's body, bulging with sleek muscle in his biceps, shoulders, pecs, and thighs. He wasn't overly muscular like a body builder, but he wasn't as lean as Garret either.

The clan mark on Garret's lower back p.r.i.c.kled. He turned away from the mirror, closing the closet as the sound of the suite's outer door reached his ears. He'd only taken a couple of steps toward his door when Holden appeared. Their gazes met.

"I was afraid you'd forgotten our swim," Holden said in a low voice as his attention flickered over Garret's nearly naked body in a pair of green swim shorts.

Garret's heart thundered in his chest, hoping that Holden didn't think he looked like a pasty faced Englishman, even though that description did fit him.

A grin turned up the corners of Holden's mouth as he stepped into the bedroom. "No, it doesn't. You're a little pale, but certainly not pasty faced," he said on a chuckle.

Garret's eyes opened wide with shock. Holden had heard his thoughts.

With a snort, Holden came to a stop in front of him. "You're not the only one fine tuning this mating stuff," he explained. "I've been working on it all afternoon, trying to hear you. It gets stronger the more I try."

"It gets much easier after s.e.x," Garret said, then could have bitten his tongue out. "Or so I hear."

Holden laughed, his eyes glittering with amus.e.m.e.nt. "I've heard that too. I remember Sean saying it after he met Careen." He sobered then, his face falling into more serious lines. "This isn't easy for me, Garret, but I'm willing to work on it. I still don't understand why things shook out this way for me, for us. There must be a reason, but I guess we just don't know what it is yet. For now, let's go have that swim and then dinner here in the suite, okay?"

A surge of joy rushed through Garret at the thought of an evening alone with Holden.

Already, the man commanded his emotions with as little as a flick of his eyebrow. He would do anything to have Holden touch him. Amber eyes lit with an indefinable emotion. "We need to talk about the obvious, Garret. I don't have any practical experience when it comes to s.e.x with a man and I'm not sure yet that I can even do it. But I'm willing to discuss it and this whole mating thing after dinner."

Garret nodded. He would have to be content with that. The G.o.ds knew he couldn't afford to push this man and lose him. "Thank you," he said quietly, grateful that Holden wasn't still freaking out.

"Oh, I'm past the freak out part and on to the 'Oh my G.o.ds. Can I do this and do I even want to?' part," Holden replied with a tense little chuckle. Then he did something that completely shocked Garret.

Holden reached out and traced his fingers over Garret's collarbone. Sucking in a breath, Garret looked into his mate's amber eyes. Little flames flickered in their depths. Holden took another step closer and his mouth sought Garret's. With a growl, Garret surrendered to Holden's kiss.

Tentative at first, as if Holden had never kissed anyone before, the softness of his lips surprised Garret. Then his natural arrogance must have come to his aid because his hands reached up to capture Garret's head between them as he deepened the kiss. Holden's tongue swept possessively into Garret's mouth, stroking boldly against his tongue and teeth. Garret's knees went weak as the pa.s.sion in Holden's kiss sent pleasure crashing through him.

This time Holden's hips boldly rubbed his and Garret could feel the hard ridge of his mate's c.o.c.k pressing urgently against him. His own c.o.c.k responded fiercely, arcing toward his belly b.u.t.ton and b.u.mping against Holden's. A shiver went through them both at the contact and Garret's head filled with visions of letting Holden push him down on the bed and strip the shorts from his body.

As Garret reached for the waistband of his shorts, ready to shed them so that he could be f.u.c.ked, Holden's hands gripped his wrists, stopping him. His eyes popped open as Holden broke the kiss, his chest heaving.

"No, Garret." Holden shook his head. "I'm not going to f.u.c.k you. It doesn't feel right yet."

Disappointed, Garret nodded, his hands falling away from Holden's. "You're right."

A wry smile tilted the corner of Holden's mouth. "It's not that I don't want to. I had the vision straight from your head of what it would be like to take you, and it didn't turn me off surprisingly.

I just don't think I'm there yet. We're not there yet. We're still getting used to the idea of being mates. This is a big adjustment for me, to have my body want a man's-"

He broke off, confusion and embarra.s.sment tingeing his cheekbones a slight pink. Instantly, Garret wanted to comfort him. He hadn't thought about how embarra.s.sing it might be for a straight man to have to admit to wanting s.e.x with another man.

Holden turned away. "Let me change and get a towel. Then we'll head down to the pool."

When Holden went into his room and shut the door, Garret sat shakily on the edge of his bed. His c.o.c.k throbbed with need just as it had in the shower that morning. He didn't want to jack off yet again but his reaction to Holden's touch and kiss wasn't something he could control.

Garret wondered how the h.e.l.l he would make it through an hour of swimming in a public place while both of them were dressed in skimpy shorts followed by dinner alone in the suite talking about having s.e.x, when Holden didn't know how and didn't exactly think he could face it yet. That thought sobered Garret and his c.o.c.k responded accordingly, his erection flagging.

Mating with a man who'd only been with women was equal parts joy and nightmare. Garret was already falling in love with Holden. He couldn't imagine a more attractive man if he tried. The wall in his office proved his intelligence and athletic ability. The photos on his desk showed him to be a family man who cared about his siblings and their children. In spite of their rocky start and his fear and confusion, Holden had shifted gears fairly quickly and seemed willing to give their mating a chance. Now, Garret had to do everything in his power to put his mate at ease and show him that things could be good between them.

With his c.o.c.k and his thoughts firmly in control, Garret grabbed a towel from the bathroom and walked into the main room of the suite just as Holden emerged from his bedroom. Garret's breath caught in his throat. Holden Antaeus in a pair of black swim shorts had to be the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. The man's golden skin covered muscles that rippled when he moved, testing Garret's control once more. He noticed that the body he already worshipped was practically hairless, with inky tufts at Holden's arm pits and swirls on his lower legs.

One black brow arched up in a sardonic expression. "Control, Garret..."

Blinking rapidly to free himself from the s.e.xual haze that had come over him at the sight of Holden's nearly naked body, Garret swallowed hard and drew a deep breath. "This is tough, Holden," he admitted. "I want you. The tugging inside me is incessant and undeniable."

Holden came toward him, his towel slung over one broad, muscular shoulder. "I feel it too, Garret. And frankly, it's pretty scary," he said on a sigh. "We'll talk about it after dinner though.

Right now, we both need to relax and not think about it."

Garret nodded his agreement and followed Holden from the suite. As they walked down to the pool, Garret studied the lines of Holden's clan mark. The black dragon swirled down Holden's spine from between his shoulder blades to the small of his back. Garret wondered what that mark would look like after they mated. In fact, he wondered what his own mark would look like after they did the deed.

"You're leaking out to me, Garret." Holden's voice seemed stern, but when he glanced back over his shoulder, Garret saw the wry smile on his face.

"I'm sorry. I keep trying to think of something else, but it's difficult."

Holden tossed his towel down on a lounger and kicked off his flip flops. Garret did the same, walking over to test the water temperature with his foot. The next thing he knew, he was flying through the air, tumbling into the deep end of the pool. He kicked himself back up to the surface, shaking his wet head and coughing a little. Treading water, he looked around for Holden but didn't see him. Wiping water from his eyes, he stared toward the spot he'd been standing only moments before.

Something brushed his thigh and he looked down, but then warm hands stroked over his shoulders and he felt the brush of what could only be lips on the back of his neck. Shivering, he felt Holden's body pressing against his back under the water. The sensuous feel of wet skin on skin did nothing to take his mind off mating Holden. He could swear he felt the hard ridge of the black dragon's erection rubbing against the crease of his a.s.s.

"Later."

That one word whispered in his ear in a low, deep tone had Garret shaking with reaction. He knew Holden must have known it too. But then the hands on his shoulders stopped caressing and turned hard, pressing him down beneath the water again. This time when he came up, Holden was five feet away and laughing.

Determined that he wouldn't be caught off guard again, he began to swim laps, his arms and legs carrying him powerfully across the pool. He hit the end, tucked and spun, pushing off the side with his feet heading toward the opposite side of the pool. When he'd done fifty laps he stopped, looking around for Holden.

The black dragon sat on the edge of the pool, long legs dangling in the water, watching Garret with enigmatic golden eyes. "You do that rather effortlessly, you know. You make it look easy and I know it's not," he said.

Garret felt the corner of his mouth turn up in a wry smile. "You have your tennis trophies.

Mine are for swimming."

Holden's golden eyes gleamed. "With those long lean muscles, I would have taken you for a track star."

"I tried, but let's just say that I'm a lot more graceful in the water than I am on land," he joked.

When they got back to the suite, they ordered room service and went to their respective rooms for showers. Garret tried not to think about the fact that Holden's remark about his muscles meant that the man had been looking at him. He also tried not to think about the feel of Holden's body pressed against his back, Holden's c.o.c.k rubbing his a.s.s. Their discussion about s.e.x and mating would happen soon enough and Garret was hopeful that it would lead to something more.

By the time he padded barefoot into the sitting room dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, Holden had already poured them each a gla.s.s of wine. It amused him that they were dressed similarly, although Holden wore jeans so well worn that they had a couple of quarter sized threadbare patches at the knees and were nearly white in color. Still, the soft denim hugged the curves of his tight a.s.s and long legs in a way that made Garret drool.

They didn't have a chance to do more than take a sip of wine before room service arrived. The waiters set the table and laid out the food, leaving the cart beside the door. Holden handed them a tip and told them he'd put the dirty dish laden cart in the corridor when they were done.

As Garret sat down and shook out a linen napkin, he shot Holden a laughing glance. "At least with a man for a mate you don't have to worry about pulling out chairs or holding doors," he teased.

Holden sat down abruptly and just stared at Garret for a long moment. Then he picked up his napkin and placed it carefully on his lap. "So one of us isn't the female in this relationship?" he asked in a carefully neutral tone that Garret knew hid his feelings.

"You mean the f.u.c.kee as opposed to the f.u.c.ker?" Garret kept his voice as neutral as Holden's, reaching for his knife and fork and cutting into his prime rib with studied care. When Holden didn't reply, he looked up to find the man staring at him with stormy, almost angry eyes.

With a sigh, Garret set his utensils down. "Holden, relationships between men are not like relationships between men and women," he said hoping like h.e.l.l he didn't sound all preachy.

"Some gay relationships are like male-female relationships because some men like being feminine.