Page 16 of The Tech Guru's Heart

“Shit,” Link whispered.“Can’t believe I said that.”He swallowed so hard his Adam’s apple bobbed as he stared up at the trees above them.“I really would never hurt you, Ezra.”Link’s arm tightened around Ezra just a little, as if the big man expected him to hop up and run.Peering at Ezra again, he stared at him beseechingly.“Please believe me.”

Confused as hell at not only his sudden desire to soothe the big man, but at the man’s sudden rambling admission, Ezra slowly shook his head.

“Please?”Link repeated pleadingly.

Realizing Link had gotten the wrong idea, Ezra gave in to his odd compulsion to soothe the big guy and rubbed his palm over his chest.The feel of his wiry chest hairs against his palm caused the hairs to rise on his arm.The rushing heat of awareness surged through Ezra, and blood flooded his groin.The handsome man next to him was barely half-dressed, after all, and he’d been attracted to him while he’d been fully clothed.

“Uh, well...you saved me from that animal, right?”Ezra commented almost absently, offering Link a small smile.“That entitles you to a bit of goodwill, even if youarea stalker.”

While Ezra had meant that to be a joke, Link winced and looked away again.

“Sorry, Link,” Ezra mumbled, feeling a bit bad.With a sigh, he glanced around the area.“So, uh, what happened, anyway?”

“Didn’t save you from the musk ox,” Link told him, teasing his fingertips under the hem of Ezra’s shirt.It had ridden up at some point, giving the other man access to his skin.“Wouldn’t have hurt you, even in that form.”

With the way Link skimmed his fingertips over the knobs of Ezra’s spine, he was having a hard time concentrating on the man’s words.Maybe that was why they didn’t make much sense to him.On the other hand, it could’ve been the feel of Link’s wide torso under his own roving hand.

Wait.“Musk ox?”Ezra snapped his attention to Link’s bearded face.“Is that what that was?”Confusion filled him anew, beating back his completely inappropriate arousal.“Heard the name, but I can’t imagine they’re native to here.”

“Not native to here.”Link took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly through pursed lips.“But as a shifter, we can end up anywhere.”

Ezra froze, stilling his hand on Link’s broad chest.Although, he couldn’t keep his fingers from twitching a little.“I’m sorry.What?”Staring at Link’s handsome bearded features, Ezra wondered just how the man could explain.

“A shifter.”Link repeated the unfamiliar term.“A paranormal being who shares his psyche with an animal.”His dark-eyed gaze pinned Ezra with an intense stare.“Humans aren’t alone on the planet, Ezra.They never have been.”

Barking a laugh, Ezra grinned widely at Link.He waited a couple of heartbeats, feeling certain that the other guy would soon grin, laugh, and tell him that he was just joking.Except, Link didn’t.He just continued to eye him, his gaze steady, his expression serene.

“A-Are you...are you being serious right now?”Ezra couldn’t help but ask the question, even though, from Link’s expression, it was plain he clearly believed his words.Without waiting for a response, Ezra quickly continued, “Of course you are.”He lifted a little, rising onto his elbow so he could peer down at Link, his brain spinning.“Butwhywould you believe such a thing?”

“You saw me shift, Ezra,” Link insisted.After a second of hesitation, he added, “And you saw me yesterday.I had that satchel hanging from my horn.”Pointing, Link indicated a satchel to Ezra’s left that looked distinctly familiar.“You were about to take a picture of me, so I had to get away from you.”With a scoff, Link muttered, “Sure can’t have you posting pictures of my musk ox form on social media or somethin’.That’d draw the wrong kind of attention.”

“Wrong kind of attention?”Ezra repeated, a fresh wave of confusion filling him.“What’s that mean?Who’re you talking about?”His brain fritzed in another direction, and he mumbled, “Surely this is supposed to be a secret, right?Why would you tell me about this?”

“Well, no, we don’t normally tell anyone about us,” Link admitted, flicking out his tongue and wetting his bottom lip.The move nearly distracted Ezra from his next comment of, “But you’re my mate.Um, my soul mate, so you need to know about this shit.”

“Your mate.Soul mate?”Ezra felt as if he was parroting Link’s words an awful lot, and he felt a rush of annoyance.“What the fuck does that mean?”

Link hunched his shoulders a little, and he winced, his lips pinching as his brows drew down.

Ezra felt a niggle of guilt that he didn’t understand.His frustration warred with his need to see that expression gone from Link’s face.While Ezra didn’t comprehend it, he had to acknowledge that something within him made him want to see the man relax and smile at him again.

Shit.What the hell is this that I’m feeling?

After blowing out a breath through pursed lips, making the beard hairs around his lips quiver just a little, Link focused his dark-eyed gaze on Ezra once more.“I promised to answer all your questions, and so I shall.”

Link wetted his lips again, almost derailing Ezra’s need for answers.The move reminded him of how pleasurable the big man’s kisses were, and his desire to experience that again flooded him.Ezra’s cock thickened, swelling and filling the confines of his cargo shorts.

His nostrils flaring, Link sucked in a sharp breath.“Gods, the smell of your arousal is making it tough to concentrate,” he rumbled gruffly while flicking his gaze toward Ezra’s bulging fly.Grimacing, Link refocused on Ezra’s face.“But as much as I want to suck you off and bury my cock so far up your ass you’ll feel me in your throat, I need to explain why you want those exact same things.”

Hearing Link’s blunt description of his desires caused a flare of heat in his groin, and his cock twitched behind his fly.He wanted those exact same things...oh-so-badly.Except, then he processed Link’s final words.

With a groan, knowing Link was right, Ezra lowered his hand and adjusted his hard prick.He blew out a breath and returned his palm to the big man’s thick pectoral.The feel of the hard muscle twitching under his fingers didn’t help a whole lot.

Ezra grunted in frustration and flopped to his back.The move should have put a little space between them, but Link didn’t seem to want that.Instead, the big man moved with him, and it was his turn to rest his head on the crook of Ezra’s shoulder.Link’s beard prickled Ezra’s side, causing his nipples to bead.

“Damn, it’s hard to concentrate when we’re touching,” Ezra mumbled, but that didn’t stop him from curving the arm under Link’s back up so he could rub over his shoulder blade.

“I like touching you, too,” Link replied softly.After a few heartbeats of silence, he cleared his throat and stated, “So, uh, let me start answering your questions.”

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