Chapter 5
FOOT, MEET MOUTH
Crush slammed on the brakes, slowing the car down abruptly. But they weren’t slowing down enough.
Killian clutched his seat, his heart almost bursting.
They were going to crash into the deer.
Inches away from collision, the deer leaped away unharmed, disappearing into the forest.
Killian clutched his heart. “Oh gods, that was so close.”
“Fuck,” Crush muttered, shaking his head. “Sorry, I was... distracted.”
“You were?” Killian asked, surprised.
Crush looked extremely shifty. “You should tell me more about the gadget bag.”
He was changing the subject. Why? Killian frowned and studied the alpha, only to notice the big, thick bulge tenting his sweatpants. Again.
Warmth rushed through Killian’s body; he moaned a little. “It’s so big.”
Crush swore. “Killian, sweetheart. You need to stop talking about my cock, or we might crash.”
He called me sweetheart. Killian’s heart skipped. Then he paid attention to the rest of that sentence.
“Stop talking?” Killian squeaked. He shoved his hands over his mouth. “I can do that!”
The alpha snorted. “Are you sure?”
“Yes I can!”
Killian bit down hard on his lips. If his mouth was closed, no words would escape.
For a while, he stared at the mailboxes lining the narrow road, their driveways disappearing into the trees. This was a hardwood forest, wasn’t it?
Hard just like...
He sneaked a peek from the corner of his eye. Was it him, or did Crush look bigger than before?
What would Crush’s cock feel like, stretching him inside? Grinding against his prostate, pushing against the entrance of his womb to flood him with cum?
Killian moaned into his hands. “I haven’t been fucked in a very long time.”
The next second, he whimpered. How had those words escaped?
Crush’s knuckles turned white against the steering wheel. “Kil, bunny rabbit. I need my blood in my brain.”
Killian’s gaze sank like a rock. This time, he couldn’t help it when he blurted, “How can you still think when there’s so much blood in your cock?”
“I can’t,” Crush said tightly. And the wet spot at his tip grew larger.
“You’re leaking,” Killian said.
Crush twitched; the car swerved a little.
“Shutting up,” Killian yelped. But the next question popped into his head like a gopher. “Do they make you wear cock cages at driving school?”
Crush stepped on the brakes. “What?”
“So you won’t... leak like that.” Killian gestured helplessly at Crush’s bulge. “It would help, right? If you lock it up in a small cage, the blood will stay in your brain.”
Crush slowed the car to a stop. Then he turned to give Killian a look of disbelief. “Most people don’t get hard at driving school.”
“You didn’t?” Killian asked incredulously.
“No! I didn’t!”
“But you’re hard now!”
“I wonder why,” Crush growled, his voice going so low that it worsened the flutter in Killian’s belly. “Kil, I can smell your slick.”
Killian’s face burned so hot, it felt like the surface of the sun. “Oh gods. Maybe I need a buttplug?”
Crush smacked his forehead against the steering wheel.
“Why are you bashing your head?” Killian yelped. “Do you not have buttplugs where we’re going? I don’t think I need ten. Maybe five?”
“Fuck,” Crush whispered. And he wrapped his arm around his stomach, his shoulders shaking.
“Are you crying?” Killian squeaked, horrified. “It’s okay, you don’t have to cry just because we don’t have something to plug up my butt—”
The alpha turned to him then, wiping tears from his eyes.
He was laughing.
Killian’s mouth fell open. “Why are you laughing at me?!”
“I’m not laughing at you! It’s just—” Crush stopped and laughed harder. “You say the most unexpected things. Why do you need five plugs?”
“One for every day of the week!”
“There are seven days in a week, bunny.”
“Yeah, and on the weekends I should go without so my butthole has a chance to tighten back up.”
Crush cracked an eye open to stare at Killian. Then he shook his head, smiling helplessly. “Fuck.”
“Why are you looking at me and saying ‘fuck’?” Killian asked, mystified.
“You’re one of a kind, sweetheart.” Crush’s gaze was so warm, Killian blushed all over. The alpha began to rumble in his chest.
Gods, Killian loved that sound.
Before either of them could say a word, Naddie gave an unhappy whimper in the back seat.
Killian winced. “That’s her hungry sound. I need to feed her soon.”
All at once, Crush’s expression lost its humor. He began to drive. “What kind of food does she need?”
“Um, she’s part rabbit, so I’ve been feeding her sprouts and soft fruit.” Killian chewed on his lip.
“I’m hearing a ‘but’ in there.”
Killian sighed. “But she’s not just a rabbit. I... I don’t actually know what her other species is. But sometimes she bites me and... she likes to lick off the blood?”
Crush’s face gave a complicated twitch. “Vampire?”
“I think she sprouted a patch of fur once, and it wasn’t the same color as mine.”
“So... a predator shifter?”
Unease crept into Killian. “Maybe? Gods, I don’t know how to care for a predator baby. What if she tries to eat me? Do I smell like prey?”
Crush reached over, folding his large, warm hand over Killian’s. “You do smell like prey—” Killian’s shoulders sagged “—but she probably thinks of you as pack. She won’t eat you. She might nip at you, though.”
Killian rubbed his chest. “Yeah. I... might have a few scars from that.”
Crush growled. “Tell you what. Let me try something, see if she responds to it.”
Curious, Killian nodded. “Okay.”
He thought Crush might pull over on the road shoulder and speak to Naddie.
Instead, Crush tipped his head back and howled.
It wasn’t a loud howl; they were in a car, the howl’s intended recipient right behind them.
Electricity rippled across Killian’s skin anyway. Crush’s howl sent a wild shiver down his spine, reminding him of full moon nights in shadowy forests, hiding in a warren while a wolf pack frolicked above.
To Killian’s surprise, Naddie barked, then howled back.
“She’s a coyote,” Crush said, a smile tugging at his lips.
Killian turned, suddenly wary. What if Crush tried to steal Naddie from him? “How do you know that?”
“She barked before howling. And her howl is pitched higher than a wolf pup’s.”
Despite his unease, something settled in Killian’s chest. This was a question that had nagged at him for several months. His mouth betrayed him again. “Do you want her for yourself?”
Crush slanted a look at him; it was an expression that Killian didn’t know how to read.
Killian narrowed his eyes. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You asked a complicated question.”
“How is that complicated?!”
Instead of answering, Crush pulled up in front of a general store, a sprawling log cabin with yellowed ads on its windows advertising soda in glass bottles. Rocking chairs decorated the porch, and climbing ivy hung from its roof.
Crush looked over. “Do you and Naddie want to come in with me? I’m doing a supply run. The car is spelled to suppress your presence, so the choice is yours.”
Killian eyed him. “You haven’t answered my question.”
The alpha blinked. Then he smiled sheepishly. “I’ll give you my answer some other time. We’re in a bit of a hurry right now.”
He was in the middle of turning away when he paused, sniffing. His gaze dropped to Killian’s arm.
Crush growled, wrapping his hand around Killian’s elbow. “You’re bleeding.”
Killian blinked and looked down. There was a rip in the sleeve of his hoodie, on his upper arm. It was edged in dried blood. “Oh. Yeah. That was from earlier. Someone was shooting at me and Mathlin. But it’s not a big deal. That’s already dried up.”
Crush’s grip tightened. “You were shot.”
“Grazed by a bullet.”
“Doesn’t that scare you, even a little?” Crush frowned.
He looked so worried that Killian tried to reassure him. “I’ve actually been shot before. This is just a scrape. It’s okay.”
“You’ve been shot?!” Crush paled. Then his eyes flashed gold. “Who did it?”
Killian opened and closed his mouth. “Some people.”
Crush growled louder. He looked as though he wanted to say more, but held back. “We’ll continue this chat later; we’re still not in a safe place. Right now, we need to grab some things and get out of here. Are you coming with me, or not?”
Killian gulped at the steel in Crush’s tone. “Yes, I’m coming! I mean, I’m following you! Not, you know, coming all over your—um. Fuck.” Killian groaned into his hands, his ears burning. “I’m com—I’m following you!”
Crush huffed, his mouth finally curving into a smile. Before Killian could open his own door, Crush was out of the car and opening Killian’s door for him.
“You didn’t have to,” Killian said. Crush opened the back door, too.
It was only when Killian had stepped out onto the asphalt, that he realized just how huge Crush was. In the chaos of being shot at, he hadn’t had time to admire how the alpha stood two heads taller than him, his shoulders twice as broad.
With an unknown number of hostiles on his tail, Crush’s presence made him feel so safe.
Killian gathered Naddie into his arms, only to have Crush steal the gun out of his waistband. Killian turned.
To his surprise, large fingers slipped into his pocket, pulling out the spare magazine. Crush loaded the gun and holstered it on his own hip. “It’ll look less out of place on me. But feel free to use it if we’re in danger.”
Killian nodded, taking note of the gun’s draw angle. When he looked up, he found Crush watching him contemplatively.
“Let’s get going,” Crush said mildly.
Killian tucked Naddie under his shirt so she could latch and nurse. “You’re not going to ask?”
“Oh, I am. Later.” Crush grinned, his canines long and sharp.
A dozen shopping carts were frolicking at the general store’s entrance, chasing each other around planters full of colorful bushes. Killian carefully hooked his fingers into Crush’s belt loop, following him toward the carts.