Chapter 4 Koda
FOUR
KODA
Holding someone’s hand had never gotten Koda as hot and bothered as it did right now.
Koda kept a firm grip on Jae’s hand as he led them past the dimly lit bar and high top tables, right onto the crowded dancefloor.
Of course, it wasn’t just the handholding that was making sweat break out under Koda’s arms. The club was nearly dripping in pheromones, the strongest of which began to roll off Jae as he swayed his hips to the music.
Koda followed his lead, dancing next to him as one song turned into two, then three.
Koda wanted to touch him, but there would be time for that.
Right now, Jae was beautiful to watch, and Koda’s bear reminded them of what Jae had said about ducks doing mating dances for their mates.
They could picture Jae as he was right now, half naked with sweat glistening on his exposed belly and throat, dancing in Koda’s bedroom for them.
Sadly they didn’t know what a male Mandarin duck looked like, but they imagined he would have white, brown, and green plumage, if his shifted hair from earlier was anything to go by.
Jae tipped his head back and undulated his hips to the heavy bass in a way that had Koda’s stomach tightening.
Their bear let out a low growl that escaped from Koda’s lips, and Jae’s airy scent thickened, settling over Koda like fog on the lake behind their childhood home.
Koda hoped it was seeping into their clothes the way Jae had already managed to insert himself into Koda’s life.
Every thought they had was about Jae, noting the snacks he liked to eat, the drinks he preferred, things that happened in his past relationship, and what he was looking for now.
Koda was hopeful they could be what Jae wanted in a partner.
Their bear growled, wondering if that also applied to being what Jae wanted in a lover.
As if sensing their thoughts, or more likely picking up on the pheromones they were also emitting, Jae surged forward to press up against Koda’s front. Koda brought their hands to the bare curve of his lower back and held him close.
“Do you like dancing?” Jae asked, loud enough to be heard over the pounding music.
Koda tipped their head back and forth in a so-so gesture. “I do, but everyone always assumes I want to lead.”
Huh. Koda wasn’t sure why they’d admitted that on a crowded dance floor.
Maybe because there was something about Jae that made them feel safe.
He had been looking out for Koda, and for Hollis, the entire night, and it had been a long time since Koda had felt taken care of.
They wanted to take care of him as well, in whatever way he needed.
“Do you not like leading?” Jae asked, his fingers running down the front of the bar crawl t-shirt until his knuckles grazed Koda’s bare skin.
“Sometimes I do. Like right now, I wouldn’t mind,” Koda said, sliding one hand up to the center of Jae’s back while pulling him closer by his hip. “But sometimes I don’t. Most folks don’t expect that or understand that about me. Especially not other alphas.”
Jae studied them, his eyes roving over Koda’s face as his hands skimmed down Koda’s ribs, causing goosebumps to erupt all the way down to their tattooed hips. Jae stroked the pebbled skin, digging his thumbs in and causing Koda’s knees to quiver.
Before Koda could get too lost in the feeling, Jae pressed up onto his toes, running his nose along Koda’s jaw. At the same time, he grabbed their overall straps and tugged, forcing Koda to curve their shoulders down.
Jae brought his mouth to the shell of Koda’s ear, and his breath tickled across their skin. “Does sometimes liking to lead and sometimes not also apply off the dancefloor?”
“Yes,” Koda said immediately. Their bear chuffed, and Koda realized it had been their bear who had pushed them to be so transparent.
A lot of folks made assumptions about Koda because of their size, as well as being assigned male and alpha at birth.
They weren’t sure if being agender and relatively unattached to their alpha gender affected what they liked–off the dancefloor, as Jae had put it–but they didn’t often get to explore it.
Most of the shifters they’d slept with didn’t bother going past the surface with Koda.
Jae, on the other hand, made a sort of rumbling noise that Koda could feel vibrating against their chest. Jae’s hand snaked around into the back of their overalls, gripping their waist and pressing their bodies flush together. “Will you let me lead right now?”
Koda barely had the chance to nod before Jae grabbed their chin and tilted their head down, planting a rough kiss on their lips.
“Jae,” Koda whispered, loving the way their breath mixed with Jae’s between their parted lips and then disappeared as Jae captured their mouth again.
When Jae stroked his tongue along Koda’s lips, they parted without hesitation, and when Jae pressed into the hinge in their jaw, their mouth fell open enough that Jae could pull their bottom lip between his teeth.
Koda whimpered, as the slight sting of pain shot through them, mixing with pleasure in an intoxicating swirl that had their entire body shaking.
Koda could have gotten lost in the feeling, but something made them open their eyes, and they found Jae doing the same.
Their gazes locked and held, and Jae released Koda’s lip.
He stared deep into Koda, past their glasses and sparkly makeup, and straight down into their core.
Their bear sat back on its haunches, tipping their head up to the sky the way a wolf would howl.
For just a moment, Koda could see Jae’s duck, too.
He had his wings spread wide, and he flapped them, once, twice, and then Jae blinked.
“Dance with me,” he said.
Koda would have done anything he asked. They’d already gone on a Fuck Fate bar crawl together. What was a single dance?
As it turned out, a single dance could mean everything.
Jae guided Koda by pressing on their hips, encouraging them to bend their knees and dip first to one side and then the other. Jae moved their hips in the opposite direction, pulling Koda closer so their chests rubbed together.
They did this until Koda’s thighs began to burn, and then Jae pushed down on Koda’s hips, guiding them to bend their knees until there was only a few inches of height difference between them.
Jae slotted his thigh between Koda’s large legs, and Koda didn’t need instructions for this.
They ground down as Jae pressed his knee up.
Koda moaned, pleasure lighting up their spine and crashing into their brain, causing their bear to roar in joy.
Koda only lasted maybe thirty seconds before their knees began to quake, and they surged forward, capturing Jae’s mouth in a desperate kiss as they clung to his small frame.
Jae kissed them like there was nowhere else he’d rather be. He kissed like they had all the time in the world, not a finite amount of time their phone clock was actively counting down.
Intellectually, Koda knew that they did have time.
They had tomorrow, and next week, and six months from now, and possibly their whole lives ahead of them.
Their heart didn't seem to understand that, though.
It was beating out a frantic rhythm, desperately wishing that for one single moment, the earth would stop spinning, and they could savor the taste of crystal clear mountain water and tangy energy drinks.
Their lower back gave a sharp twinge, and unfortunately any hope of prolonging the moment was broken. Koda stood up, and Jae immediately retracted his leg.
“Sorry,” Jae breathed, somehow taking the words right out of Koda’s mouth. “I know I’m short.”
Koda laughed, giddy bubbles of elation and lust rushing in to fill the spaces in his lungs where oxygen should have been.
They felt lightheaded, and while they couldn’t cling to Jae without aggravating their back again, they could grab him by his hips and pull him so tightly against them, they practically lifted him off his feet.
“I think you’re the perfect size,” Koda said, burying their nose in his soft, short hair.
“I think you’re the perfect size,” he repeated back.
When Koda turned their head to kiss him, his eyes flashed pale-yellow around the irises, and the smell of his arousal nearly bowled Koda over.
“I need you,” Koda gasped into his mouth, and Jae made that rumbling noise again.
“I need you, too. Can I have you? Now?”
Koda didn’t stop to think about gross club bathrooms or public indecency. They released Jae’s hips and pulled him by the hand in the direction they were pretty sure the bathrooms were in.
Jae’s laugh carried over the noise of the club. “Are we going to make out in another bathroom?”
Koda wanted to do a lot more than makeout. They wanted to taste their fated mate, or let him taste them, or quite possibly sleep with him, or maybe even mate with him.
Okay, no, they were definitely not mating in a bathroom.
Koda’s bear cried plaintively, but Koda was going to stand firm on this one.
They were sure they wouldn’t be the first ones to do it.
Some clubs even had private rooms in case shifters met their fated mates and wanted to consummate their bond right then.
Again, as if reading Koda’s mind, Jae tugged on their hand. “I think this club might have—”
“Mating rooms?” Koda asked, gazing down into the dark, shifting waters that were his mate’s eyes.
“Yeah… I don’t think we should mate—”
“No, we shouldn’t, but—”
“But I need you,” Jae said, and Koda nodded. “And you need me?”
Koda nodded even harder.