Chapter 30
My phone buzzed a few times with text messages as I followed Angel back across the Veil and pulled into the lot of the community center.
None of them were from Ivan. The place was packed now, nearly every spot in the lot full.
Angel took an open spot with another empty beside it at the back edge of the lot, and I pulled in next to him, took a minute to breathe, and got out.
Most of the messages were updates from our team, file additions for review, and one from Grandpa about some bingo game on Sunday.
I added it to my calendar since Grandpa loved bingo—even won a few times, getting weird shit like a Coach handbag and a fancy mixer.
I’d ended up with the mixer and sold the handbag for him.
At least he was keeping social in his old age.
“Do you have workout clothes in your car?” Angel asked as he stood beside my door.
“Uh, yeah.” I popped the trunk. Years of habit ingrained as a homicide detective who needed to change clothes on the fly meant I had a handful of outfits in a small suitcase in the back, and a small duffle bag with everything from a full body suit to extra booties and gloves. “Are we working out?”
“I figured we could play a little before leaving.” His words made my face heat, and he snorted, then leaned in close. “They have private dressing rooms, but I was thinking we’d play in the climbing room first.”
“I’ve never been like this before,” I admitted.
“Like what?” He cocked his head, studying me.
“Turned on by everything someone says or does.”
His smile turned radiant. “Good.” He tugged me toward the door.
“Why is it good?”
“Because it’s just me that does it for you, right?”
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“Good.”
“What about you? Do you have workout clothes?” I asked, as he wasn’t carrying a bag.
“There are extras for everyone in here, but I thought I’d change. Give you some time with my cat, since you seem to like cats so much.”
I liked him too, but wondered what it would be like in some supernatural playroom of giant cat toys. Lots of boxes? Feathers hanging from the ceiling? Was the climbing room a giant cat tower or simply one of those rock walls?
He paused at a desk off to the side of the main entry and requested a key, which was handed over a minute later.
The woman behind the desk frowned at me, but said nothing.
I tried to give her a polite smile, but she looked down instead of meeting my gaze.
Angel turned toward me and held up the key, “Private changing room. Let’s go. ”
We descended two flights of stairs. A giant window overlooked an Olympic-sized pool with multiple slides leading into it. Several people splashed in the water, and I paused on the stairs as I thought I caught a glimpse of fins. Were there fish shifters?
“Would you rather swim?” Angel asked.
“I don’t have a suit with me, but maybe someday…”
“The slides are fun, but the pool is less busy at night if you want to do laps.”
“The Y doesn’t have windows like that,” I said, following Angel down to the bottom floor. This area was buzzing, with a full café, and people wandering back and forth between what looked like an open gymnasium and a weight room.
Angel led us down a long hall and to another narrow one filled with closed doors, where he unlocked one. The room had a small, double-sized bed built into the wall and a dresser, as well as a tiny toilet next to a stand shower. It was the smallest efficiency I’d ever seen.
“This is a changing room?”
“Works for naps too,” Angel said as he kicked off his shoes. “They keep them pretty clean. Say you come here on a weekend and your brother is running around all day, but you want to nap or read in quiet, these rooms are for that.”
“That’s sort of amazing,” I said, unable to tear my eyes off him as he lifted his shirt over his head.
“You gonna change?” he asked.
“Oh, right,” I said, and set my bag on the tiny dresser to pull out my sweatpants and t-shirt.
“You can leave your shoes here. You won’t need them in the climbing room. Everything in there is carpet.”
“Is it one of those cliff wall setups? I’ve never been good at those.”
“More like a giant McDonald’s playhouse with lots of sisal rope and vertical carpet runs for anything with claws to climb. The room isn’t as big as the pool or the gym, but there’s a ball pit, a couple of slides, lots of ladders, and padded mats to land on.”
“Oh, so I get to be a big kid?”
“Yep,” Angel agreed as he shoved off his pants. My mouth went dry. Damn, he was perfect all over. He took his time folding his clothes and setting them on the bed, unbothered by his nudity, and I stood frozen, barely breathing until he glanced my way, his gaze heated.
“Hi,” I said stupidly.
The corner of his lips turned up and he slipped into my personal bubble, pinning me against the dresser. “You going to finish changing, or just enjoying the view?”
“Uh…right.” I was supposed to be getting changed. But he was right there. Naked.
Angel slid his fingers under my shirt and tugged it off, setting it on the dresser as he waited for me to respond.
And oh, boy, was I responding. My face felt like it was on fire, and there was no way I could wear sweatpants with my current response to his attention.
I swallowed hard, frozen in place, wondering what we could do on that tiny bed.
“Maybe I should wait here,” I offered. How long would it take to jerk off to the memory of him? Or for the fucking erection to go down?
“Can I help you with that?” Angel asked.
“With what?” I asked dumbly, heart pounding in my ears.
He dropped to his knees and tugged at my pants, unbuttoning them, until it was clear from the wet spot on my underwear that I was incredibly hard.
He nuzzled between the open fabric of my jeans and the soft cotton of my boxer briefs, face hot, breathing deep.
I sucked in air; afraid I’d blow if I moved wrong.
“This okay?” Angel asked.
“Uh, yeah?”
“Is that a question?”
“You don’t have to…”
“Jude,” Angel said, his warm breath making my dick twitch with need. “Do you want me to suck your cock?”
I swallowed hard, nearly choking on my own spit. “Yes.”
“There’s an answer,” he said with a smile and shoved my briefs down to free my cock.
He nuzzled into the crease of my thigh for a moment, breathing me in.
I could feel his breath against my skin, and oddly, his heartbeat in his hand where it rested on my thigh, or perhaps that was my imagination. “You smell nice.”
“Thanks?” I said, voice pitched higher than I’d like.
Angel smiled as he cupped my balls and gripped my cock for a nice, long lick.
I shuddered with need, ready to blow at any second.
My phone chirped with a text message and I jumped, instantly worried Ivan was looking for me. “Maybe we should…” I was about to put Angel off, and he took me down the back of his throat, swallowing around me. I gasped, my hand winding through his hair.
He swirled his tongue around my cock, sucking the sensitive tip as he withdrew. The length of me was covered in his spit, cooling fast, but aching for more. Angel opened wide to shove me far enough most men would gag, but he swallowed around me, and hummed.
“Holy fuck!” I cried. He suctioned around my cock, bobbing in a steady rhythm, only giving me the extreme deep throat every fourth or fifth thrust. Each time I thought I’d tip over the edge of the building pleasure, he pulled back, giving me a huff of heated breath and a teasing lick.
“Please, Angel,” I begged, barely holding myself up and unable to match the pace I needed with him pinning me against the dresser. “Close.”
Every nerve in my body sang. His magic presence, whatever it was, caressed mine like we were meant to be woven together at our very core. I gasped for air as he moved faster, adding a firm, gripping glide with his hand to mimic his mouth, which shoved me over the edge.
I came hard, trembling with the orgasm and barely keeping my feet. While sex always felt nice, I couldn’t recall a time I’d ever seen stars before. Not that I had a lot of experience on the receiving end of a blow job. But I was pretty sure it was all Angel.
He lifted me to sit on the top of the dresser, keeping me upright while he licked me clean, a satisfied smile on his face.
His cock jutted out from his groin, still leaking, and hard.
If I hadn’t just had the best orgasm in my life, I’d have reached for it to reciprocate, but all I could do was sit there and breathe.
“Give me a minute to return the favor,” I gasped.
He used my discarded shirt to wipe his face, my cock, and his own. “Later.”
“But…”
“I’m fine.”
Did he not want me to?
Angel slid his cheek against mine. “Later. You needed that more than me, and I enjoy the anticipation.”
I blinked at him, still half dazed from the orgasm.
“I’m going to jump in the shower for a minute, then change into my cat. You okay to rest here?”
I nodded dumbly.
He sighed and pressed his forehead to mine, refusing to give me a kiss as he kept his jaw tight. “Not everyone likes cum kisses. Don’t sit here catastrophizing. Change into your workout clothes. We’ll play and then work out the rest, yeah?”
“Should I shower too? Won’t everyone smell me? Shifter senses and all that?”
“Hmm,” he said. “I like you smelling like me.”
Heat blazed up my cheeks. I began to protest, since my brother was out there somewhere, but he grabbed a clean washcloth from the stack beside the tiny shower, turned on the spray, and tested the water.
He waited a minute with his hand under the flow before wetting the cloth and wringing it out, then crossed back to my side and wiped me off, the rag warm.
He tucked me into my undies and made his way back to the shower.
Turning the dial, he stepped in, shivering instantly. But his erection vanished.
“Did you just take a cold shower so I don’t have to blow you?” I asked, stunned.
He turned off the shower and got out, grabbing a towel to do a quick dry-off, then he gave me a little wink and shifted.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away this time. His change worked more like movie animation, his body shrinking in on itself and growing at the same time as it changed and sprouted fur.
The air in the room shifted, gaining tangible weight for a few seconds before he shook himself out, stretched, long and lean, and sat down in front of me to chuff his impatience.
“Oh fuck, right. I’m supposed to change.”
I scrambled off the dresser and into the sweats and t-shirt, hoping no one would be able to smell the cum stain on my underwear, but also unwilling to go commando. Angel watched me change, and it gave me an odd sense of security I didn’t understand.
“Okay. No shoes, you said, how far is this climbing room thing?” I asked. I stuffed the room key in my pocket and opened the door. Angel slunk by me and down the opposite way from where we’d come.