Chapter Six
Jude felt as if his knees would give way. That his spine would crumble. His guts come up. And his heart beat right out into the open air.
What the hell had just happened? He must be lacking something in his diet. Perhaps that beer had been spiked. Maybe he was hallucinating after a stressful few hours at the police station.
“Jude.” Neo straightened his T-shirt then hitched up the leather pants that had been too low on his hips. He reached out and pressed his palm on Jude’s shoulder.
Jude shot off to the side. He didn’t stop. He kept the memento going and picked up a fast pace. His shoulder skimming the wall and his feet tripping over themselves.
“Wait,” Neo called after him. “I can explain.”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
“Are you mad at me? I’m sorry.”
He kept on going. “Mad...yes, that’s probably what I am.” Mad. Crazy. Seeing things.
The men in white coats would be arriving soon with a straight jacket for him to wear. Never mind a cell with drunks, rapists and murderers, he’d be confined to a padded cell. They’d throw him in and chuck away the key.
Suddenly a tight grip wrapped around his arm and he was pulled sideways, into an alleyway .
“Stop running,” Neo said, backing him up against a gritty wall.
“Get off me.” Damn it. He was cornered. Neo was so big in comparison to him.
“No. I won’t leave it like this. You have to let me explain.” Neo released him but set his palms on the wall either side of Jude’s head. He leaned in close, so that his nose almost touched Jude’s. “Don’t be frightened.”
“How can I not be? You just changed from a dog to a man and now you have me trapped in this creepy old alley.” Jude’s heart pounded. His pulse thudded in his ears. “For all I know, you’re going to maul me to death.”
Neo didn’t move. “Don’t be frightened. I would never hurt you. Why would I hurt you?”
“Because you’re a...shifter.” There he’d said it.
“That makes no sense.”
“But I know you are. I saw you change, which was really fucking freaky, by the way.”
“Thanks.” Neo frowned. “But what I mean is why would I hurt you because I’m a shifter?
The dog that came out of the police station is more likely to hurt you than me. He’s a run-of- the mill canine, highly-trained yes, but not the same as me. If he’s told to bite, he’ll bite.”
“And you won’t, bite that is?”
Neo’s lips twitched into a brief smile. “Not in a bad way.”
Jude huffed and tried to move away. But he couldn’t. Neo had him trapped, his legs now pushing up against Jude’s. His knees and thighs blocking him in. There was no denying the sexual spark that zinged between them. It raised the hairs on the back of Jude’s neck and had heat rushing to his groin.
“That dog,” Jude said. “He sniffed me, licked me. It was odd. Even the cop thought so.”
Neo shrugged. “He can smell I’m around. He doesn’t understand what I am, but he knows it’s something interesting.” He smiled. “And my scent is all over you, Jude. Hell, it’s in you, too.” He squeezed in closer, his groin pressing on Jude’s.
Pulling in a breath, Jude braced his legs and pushed his butt into the wall. Neo was hard. Really hard. Even through their clothing it was clear he had a full-blown erection.
“What do you want from me?” Jude asked breathily.
“You. I just want you.” Neo brushed his lips over Jude’s.
Jude didn’t object. He was beginning to think that maybe they should go for a repeat performance of the beach house fun.
The damn beach house.
“No, you can’t just win me over, Neo. I’ve been through hell because of you this evening. Hauled off in a cop car, and cuffed for hours in that godforsaken place. A quick kiss and a grope can’t fix that.” He set his palms on Neo’s chest and shoved.
Neo didn’t move, instead he placed his mouth by Jude’s ear. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
His warm breath sent a shiver of desire down Jude’s neck. He couldn’t hide it, his skin tingled and his spine quivered. “But you must have known. Hell, that wasn’t your bike or your house.”
“It was fun, though, don’t you think?”
“Fun? It was illegal. Robbery and breaking and entering.”
“We didn’t do any harm. Nothing broken, nothing unreturned.” He looked down at Jude. “And you can’t say we didn’t enjoy ourselves.”
Jude couldn’t deny that. He’d been having the best time ever—until the cops had stormed the place.
“And we can do that again. Lots.” Neo twitched his thick eyebrows.
“What, by stealing another bike? Finding another empty house?”
“No.” Neo shook his head and stroked his hand over Jude’s hair. “At my place. Out east. Run away with me?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you still want me.” Neo ran his palm down Jude’s neck, over his chest and to his groin. He cupped Jude’s cock through his pants. “You want me so bad.”
Jude groaned and fluttered his eyes shut. He’d been trying to hide how turned on he was, trapped by Neo, feeling his hot body against his. Now there was no getting away from the fact that he’d happily turn around, bend over and get fucked senseless again. Shifter or no shifter.
Neo chuckled. “Go on, say yes. I’ll make it good for you. So good. And you know I can live up to my word.”
“And are we going east as a human and a dog or two humans?” Was he seriously thinking of going with Neo? A shifter!
Of course I am.
“Which would you prefer?”
“The police are looking for you. Something about stealing from bins in restaurants and then disappearing when you were in custody.”
“Ah, that.”
“Yes, ‘ah, that.’ Do you make a habit of being in trouble with the law?”
“No. Los Gatos proved too tempting. I was hungry, as my dog self, sniffed out some fillet steak in a bin but couldn’t reach it, so I shifted into my human form. Let’s just say the chef wasn’t happy to find me out the back of his kitchen tucking in. Guess I gave him a fright.”
“So why didn’t you shift and run?”
“The guy had a gun pointed at me with one hand, and a cell in the other, calling the cops. I had no choice but to get hauled into the station. After a few hours, they took me to the courthouse.”
“And you escaped?”
“Yeah, not hard to lose a pair of cuffs from paws.” He winked. “I wandered out of the room they’d put me in, picked up the Harley keys from the desk in reception and took a ride. I was mighty happy you hopped on the back. Turned a shit day into one with potential.” He leaned forward and set a gentle kiss on Jude’s mouth. He poked his tongue in, a little, and moaned when it connected with Jude’s.
Jude accepted the kiss. This man before him was wild and different. Exciting and sexy. He was all the things that had been missing from Jude’s life for so long. And the best thing was he genuinely seemed to want Jude. Not just for a quickie in the alley, but to go with him.
Run away with me.
“Say you’ll come with me,” Neo said, wrapping Jude into a tight embrace.
Their cocks rubbed against each other and Neo’s heat blasted onto Jude. “Come with me,” Neo said again. “And I promise I’ll look after you, keep you safe, content and satisfied. I’ll never do anything to hurt you, physically or in your heart.”
“You can’t promise that.” Neo’s expression hardened.
“I can and I will.” “But...”
“Do not think of the past. Of other men who have hurt you. That’s over. That’s history.” He touched his forehead to Jude’s. “There’s only me now and I can give you what you need.”
Jude swallowed. The word ‘yes’ was on his tongue. He wanted to go with Neo. Let him keep those promises. Get the hell out of Los Gatos and see the world, have adventures, be with someone who he could share every thought and desire with.
“Say yes,” Neo whispered. “It’s easy to say yes, and you’ll never regret it.”
“The way I regret jumping on the Harley?”
“You don’t regret that, do you?”
Jude pulled in a breath. “No.”
“So, you’ll come with me? Now. Tonight?”
“What about my job?”
“You hate that job, anyway.”
“But my bank manager doesn’t, or my landlord.”
“That’s all changed now. Everything has changed. You’re with me. These are all human problems that I can fix. There is so much more for you in life than paying bills.”
Jude didn’t really understand what Neo meant when he said he could fix his problems, but he’d spoken with such conviction that he believed him. “Okay. I’ll come with you.” He grinned and the sensation of a balloon swelling in his chest—filled with excitement, recklessness, anticipation—made him catch his breath.
“That is the right decision,” Neo said, then kissed him again. Harder this time and with urgency.
“As long as...” Jude paused.
“What?”
“As long as you’re honest with me from now on. No more pretending shit is yours when it’s not.” Jude frowned, trying to summon his anger again.
“No more trickery, I promise.” Neo grinned. “And from now on, think of the Harley ride and the beach house as tools in my seduction of you.”
“And it worked...the seduction.”
“Thank goodness.”
Jude clung to the man he’d just agreed to run off into the night with. What the future held he had no idea, but he was sure it was going to be good.
Eventually Neo broke the kiss. “Much as I’d like to show you how happy I am that you’ve agreed to come onto my territory, I fear we should really get out of this town. It’s too small, and I’m hot news right now.”
“Well, you’re definitely hot.” Jude ran his hands down Neo’s back and squeezed his buttocks.
“Hot and very turned on. But this can wait. Soon we’ll have privacy, comfort and all the time in the world.”
“That sounds heavenly.”
“It will be.” Neo stepped away. “I’m going to have to shift to get out of here.”
Nerves took hold of Jude. “Really?”
“Yeah, the cops are on the lookout for me, and if they see me with you... Well, let’s just say I don’t think they’ll be too lenient on you the next time. Same mistake in one night and all that.”
“Except you’re not a mistake...are you?”
“Of course not. Tonight you’ve made the best decision of your life, and you just made my life complete.”
“Wow.” There was no doubt about it, Neo was heavy with the sentiments. Jude usually found guys built like they could drag trucks up a mountain with a bit of rope over their shoulder were light on the romance. But that wasn’t the case with Neo. He was dishing it out as if there were no bolts around his heart.
“Look away if you don’t like it.” Neo clenched his fists.
“What about your clothes?”
“No worries. Neat trick the elders came up with years ago. They come and go as I need them. Wouldn’t want to get arrested for indecent exposure on top of everything else.”
Jude nodded. “Clever. Not that I mind seeing you naked.”
Neo grinned, and as he did so, his face blurred and he began to shrink. But as he got lower he also got longer. His clothes turned to fur, his nose grew into a doggy nose, and his limbs became equal length, ending with huge paws.
Jude rubbed his eyes. This night was crazy, but somehow, it also felt right.
When will seeing my lover turn into a dog ever be right?
He didn’t have time to question anything, because Neo set off at a trot, his tail in the air.
Jude jogged along after him, throwing a glance over his shoulder. There were no pedestrians, but in the distance, he spotted a cop car turning left at a set of lights. Neo had been right to shift. They’d have stood out like a sore thumb walking through town together.