Chapter Twenty-Four
Frey
However he’d expected this day to end up, it wasn’t with him skipping out on work for a full day, having Booker run him a bubble bath, or ordering all his favorite take out. Which he’d consumed while sitting on Booker’s lap at the kitchen table. No, not what he’d planned at all! Booker, Frey felt, had encouraged him in all kinds of ways he’d never have expected. Why else, when Frey had appeared in his onesie after his bath, had Booker asked which seat Frey wanted to take to eat? To Frey, that meant Booker was offering to let him sit any place he wanted, and that included Booker’s lap. When he’d eyed it as Booker sat at the overladen table and had lifted his arm, that was all the encouragement Frey had needed .
Who lifted their arms like that if they didn’t want someone to sit on them?
His bear hadn’t complained, not one teeny-tiny bit when he’d shyly crawled onto his lap. That was over an hour ago. Now Frey didn’t want to move, but considered it was probably over stepping to stay put, especially when his fox wanted to shift right where they were and have a snooze. Emotional rollercoasters always made his fox antsy and want to come out.
“Are you okay?” Booker asked gently, or as gently as his voice allowed when it had a great rumbly base.
Frey glanced over his shoulder, then put down the spoon he’d been twiddling between his fingers. “I… my fox… we… shift,” he answered, explaining absolutely nothing.
“You want to shift?”
Frey wriggled around on Booker’s lap and noticed something happening under his bottom. He gulped and did his best to keep still. “Yes… I can wait if you’re gonna go now?”
Don’t go.
Please don’t go.
“Oh… do you want me to leave? I wasn’t planning on it… not yet anyway and…”
He paused for so long and his skin darkened over the bridge of his nose, Frey started to wriggle once more. “And?” he prompted, squeaking at how his own body got tingly.
“My bear wants to introduce himself to your fox.” Booker spoke so fast that Frey had to take a second to run through what he’d said.
Yes.
Before Frey could utter a word, his shift was on him, and he peered up from the folds of the onesie at an… amused looking Booker, a second later.
“I knew you’d be cute. Your ears are adorable.” His hand came up and hesitated right by one of Frey’s ears. “You’re such a pretty fox, aren’t you?”
Making a sound of encouragement, Frey’s fox butted its head at Booker’s fingers in invitation, absolutely loving the compliments.
In his fox form, the noise was like he was humming a tune.
“Is that a yes to stroking your ears?” Booker clarified, and Frey’s animal nearly rolled over to expose his belly.
They nodded and Frey gave an internal groan at how gentle Booker was when stroking his ears. “So soft and silky, my pretty little fox.”
The way Booker spoke, it was as if he was talking more to himself as he grinned at them. His fox made more humming sounds until Booker scooped them up in the onesie and went to place them on the sofa. They watched as Booker stripped down to his boxer briefs, then Frey got his fox side to close his eyes to stop staring.
Only his fox had other ideas and opened them.
Don’t stare, it’s rude.
We need to know for later…
The bear that emerged was huge. Standing well over seven feet, they craned their head back to look at the magnificence that was Booker. Fur, a deep brown that in places looked almost black, covered him. Its silky texture shone under the lights as he lumbered into the middle of the room and lay down on the rug that Frey had. The bear curled up, but there was a space right in the middle that looked perfect for a fox to snuggle into.
Frey’s animal was not like Frey. He was brave and wriggled out of the fleecy onesie to dart off the sofa. He swept his brush in the air to show off as he roamed around Booker’s enormous body, sniffing.
The bear smelled so good.
His fox gave Booker’s bottom a little cheeky nip, getting a rumble that sounded playful, so he did it again. The bear's head lifted, and he looked back at the fox. Something about his eyes touched the human part that remained in Frey’s shifted form. He, while a fox, always let the animal side lead.
So they waited.
The bear lifted an enormous paw and ever so carefully stroked their pointy ears, once more making a rumbly noise in the back of his throat. His fox leaned into the touch and rubbed against the leathery pads. His fox explored some more, getting more gentle touches, the last to his brush. He stopped at the big head and eyed Booker before he swiped his tongue over the furry cheek, making Frey’s human half blush at how forward his animal was. Then, before he could consider protesting, they curled up close to the bear's belly and rested their head on the bear’s front leg.
His fox vocalized several more times before he closed his eyes. A peace he’d never thought he’d experience again seeped into his soul. A peace that came with a sense of knowing he was truly safe for the first time since he’d run away from his skulk .
Oh wow…
I’m in lo—
Don’t think about that now. He’s our bear, let that be enough for the time being.
He wanted to argue, but everything felt so good, Frey let the worry slip away and took his animal’s advice. There’d been enough emotional upheavals today. There would be time for that— tomorrow —another day.
Another day seemed like a great idea because at some point they’d need to talk about the other stuff and Frey really wasn’t ready for that, not by a long shot. If ever, in fact, with the possibility that Booker could reject him.
Our bear won’t reject us. Now stop thinking, one of us is trying to sleep!
A phone ringing somewhere in the apartment roused Frey, only something was wholly different from when he’d fallen asleep. He lifted his arm, his bare arm, and jerked up to sit on something soft, squishy, and furry.
Ohhhhh.
Naked.
I’m naked on top of Booker’s bear!
How could you do that to me?
How? Frey squealed, doing his best not to move too much while desperately trying not to freak out completely. He’d not been naked in front of anyone in forever. Unless under examination by his doctor, and that definitely didn’t count.
How is it my fault you shifted back into your human form to rub yourself all over the bear? Look here, you’re as responsible as me. So stop being all freaky and screechy. See, he rolled onto his back so you could spread out all over him. Isn’t that nice? I mean, he wasn’t like that when I curled up to go to sleep. So it really goes without saying, this is kinda your fault.
His fox’s logic was not helping his freakout. In fact, it was making it worse because he was the one lying naked on an alpha…
Was the room moving?
Oh dear, he was going to faint.
His eyes snapped to the furry body moving under his ass and Frey stared right into the bear’s warm chocolate eyes.
If it was at all possible, the bear gave him a cheesy grin. “Don’t you go giving me that look. Close your eyes, now. I’m naked,” he snapped, more out of fright than anger, because he’d bet he had drool on the side of his face and his hair was a frightful mess. He did not want the bear seeing him not looking his best for their first official meeting.
It just isn’t right.
The bear closed his eyes but only, Frey noted, after they had roamed down his now flushing body. The moment they closed fully, he wriggled his butt off the bear, keeping the groan of delight at the feel of the silky fur on his bottom to himself. He darted for the sofa and grabbed his onesie and wriggled into it quickly.
He spun around at the groan… the very human groan .
Booker stood staring at where his naked butt had been a moment ago. Every inch of Booker was on display.
Lots and lots of inches…
Wow! Who knew it came in that size?
Will you behave?
You’re the one staring at it.
Bottom!
He was, and now Frey discovered he couldn’t shift his gaze. Knowing he should and doing it were two completely different things. He’d never gotten a proper look at a naked alpha before. Well, not up close and personally. Especially with one who remained perfectly still.
Lost in his desire to have a closer look, Frey took a step closer to Booker and the cock he was staring at twitched.
His head tilted to the side, his eyes narrowing in on its target. Am I making it do that?
Tongue between his teeth, Frey moved another inch closer. This time, the twitch came with a definite increase in size.
He’s getting hard!
Holy fox’s he’s getting hard!
A part of his brain was screaming ‘step away from the cock’ while the other silly, non-compliant part was ‘ooh, look, it likes us’. Frey wasn’t actually sure if he had somehow woken up in an alternative universe where looking so intently at an alpha's cock was deemed as an everyday occurrence. Either way, he was staring, and he wasn’t actually freaking out. That had to be good, right?
He licked at his drying lips, and the noise that came out of Booker got him looking upwards. His expression was fierce, yet not in an ‘I’m about to attack’ way. They stared at each other, and Frey wasn’t exactly sure what Booker was thinking.
The one thing Frey would bet his life on, Booker would do nothing to him that Frey didn’t want. It was there in the depths of those big, soulful brown eyes. “Is it alright to… look?”
“Yes,” Booker rasped in a croaky voice. The hands at his sides clenched and unclenched as Frey inched yet a little closer.
“I’ve never seen a naked man before. Well, besides myself,” Frey confessed, itching to reach out to see if the silky hair on Booker’s chest was as soft as the bear's was. “But I look nothing like you. I don’t have hair on my body.” Frey also wasn’t built like a linebacker.
Booker’s upper torso was wide over the shoulders and back. He had a broad chest, but it tapered down to a slim waist and lean hips. His thighs were thick and solid, covered in as much hair as his chest and arms. A large cock, which originally had sat nestled in dark curls, now protruded from his body as the seconds slipped by.
“Does that normally happen when someone looks at you?” Frey asked tentatively, unsure he should voice such questions but seemingly unable to stop now he’d started this—whatever this was.
“No…” Frey glanced up. “It’s all you.”
Heat flooded Frey’s cheeks as something very unusual happened to his ass. His hand flew to his bottom as the scent of his slick became prominent in the room. Alarm was his first reaction as his eyes locked with Booker’s. His fear hurtled right back to the front of his mind, reminding him exactly what had happened to him.
“I’ll never do anything to you that you don’t specifically ask for.”
Those rumbly words were a soothing balm, one Frey didn’t understand but accepted as a new reality. One that he’d have to explore alone. Frey only understood one thing; Booker spoke the truth.