Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
Evan finished his glass of wine, and as tempting as it was to open another bottle—because now he had someone to drink it with—that didn’t end in a good place. All he’d planned on doing tonight was to go for a swim and have dinner with a couple of glasses of wine in front of the TV.
He’d done all of that, but somehow George had gotten tangled up in his plans because he wasn’t able to say no to the younger wolf. He was pretty sure that if George had propositioned him five years ago, he still wouldn’t have been able to say no…or if he had, there would have been claws involved because he was drowning in denial and would rather die than admit he needed help.
George obviously had no trouble asking for help, and he didn’t expect his hand to be bitten off in the process. He had an easy smile and carefree attitude, which must make him irresistible to any man. It had worked on him, and if he was being truthful, it always had, which is why it had been easy to hate him. He’d been terrified someone else might notice the way George looked at him.
While the anger towards his pack had faded into disappointment that they would rather lose some of their young wolves than reconsider their archaic rules, it hadn’t softened when it came to his family. They were supposed to love him regardless. If they couldn’t handle his dislike of shifting, they were going to dislike his choice of partners even more.
He wasn’t sure he was ready to talk about his brother without another glass of wine.
“I don’t have to work tomorrow, so I’m going to have another glass. Do you want one?” Evan stood without waiting for an answer. Since tonight was going to end up in a bad place anyway, adding an extra glass of wine wasn’t going to change that.
“Sure.” George drained his glass and got up.
Evan selected another bottle of red wine from the rack and opened it. He topped up the two glasses. “What is it you specifically want to know? The orders I was given? Or how Ryan reacted? The answers won’t change anything.”
He studied him, hoping George understood rehashing the past would not change it. It probably wouldn’t even change the way he felt about it. It was always going to be a scar, and sometimes they healed up well, leaving only a small line, and other times they were a knotted mess that pulled with every movement.
“I just want to understand. Because even though he was my best friend for eleven years, I feel as though I didn’t know him since he cut me off so fast.”
Evan could argue that Ryan didn’t know either of them. But that wasn’t what George was looking for. “Your friendship with him was the subject of many family meetings. Our parents had asked Ryan to find a more appropriate friend, but you were the only wolf in his year group, and he liked having that in common. He had human friends as well, but there is an automatic connection with another shifter, as I’m sure you found in your travels.”
George nodded. “There’s an understanding.”
“Exactly. And it wasn’t as much of a problem in primary school as neither of you knew about shifters. However, when you both started shifting and pack loyalty became more important, that created tensions at home. And I guess that at some point, my parents spoke to the leader, and things were discussed. I was called into a meeting with the leader and told to use whatever means necessary to kill the friendship. He suggested using the fact that you were already out.”
At that point, Evan had been firmly in denial, but the conversation had terrified him because he didn’t want to lie, and he didn’t want to create trouble because then he’d be the center of attention. And he had been desperate to be unnoticed since his own discussion about shifting.
“I never liked Ryan that way.”
“You don’t say?” Evan took a sip of wine. He remembered the day he first realized George fancied him. He’d been horrified and aroused. If anyone had noticed and word had gotten back, there would have been questions. Looking back, it was clear the only reason he was bothered was because he knew how his parents and pack would respond. He’d been smart enough not to acknowledge it, even to scare George off. Plus, at the time, he didn’t want to hang out with a sixteen-year-old pup. He was twenty, at uni and going clubbing… and he’d been amazed at how free some of the guys he hung out with were. That first year had been eye-opening. The second year had been liberating, and he’d known then there was no way he was going back.
George held his gaze. “So you told Ryan I wanted to date him and that everyone in the pack thought he was gay?”
It had been a little more than that. “I told him that people thought you two were dating and that he was the bottom.” Which was worse than being a gay wolf, as that made him a submissive wolf. Wolves like him went to the bottom of the pack. He’d done it in part to hide who he was. “If I had refused, I would’ve been punished for disobeying, and the pack leader would’ve ordered someone else to do it…and they might have used more than words.”
“It was easier to hate you than to hate an entire pack. Than to hate Ryan.”
“He is hard to hate, but if you hang around bigots long enough, you become one of them.” He finished his third glass of wine and glanced at the bottle but couldn’t be bothered getting up for another glass or dealing with the hangover in the morning. So he set the glass on the coffee table and let himself melt into the leather. “I don’t like turning over the past. It feels like ripping open scars for no good reason. I was an asshole back then, but I don’t know how I could’ve done anything differently at the time because I didn’t know how to be different.”
“I never told Ryan I thought you were hot because I was aware it would cause trouble. I knew your pack was shit. I guess I thought our friendship was strong enough to survive any drama.” George gave a bitter laugh and shook his head. “Nothing survives wolf drama. And no one does drama quite like a wolf.”
He wished he still had some wine in his glass to raise a toast. “That is an undeniable fact.”
“So, where does that leave us?”
Evan watched him and shrugged. “I wasn’t aware there is an us .”
George blushed adorably and stared at the glass in his hand. “I meant if I start running with the Outcasts, or if we do become friends and I see you more often, I don’t want things to be…weird? Difficult?”
“Melbourne is a bit bigger than Darwin, but you eventually run into hook-ups and exes at various places.” And for a few seconds, Evan wondered how much of a life George had experienced in Darwin. Was there a good scene, or was there a limited number of options? The next job he took was going to be out of state. All he needed was another two years to finish his training and become certified.
“I meant wolf-wise. Every gay man in Darwin knew who liked what and what the gossip was. I had a regular thing with a snake shifter for a bit…err…that might be a story for another day.”
Evan grinned. Or over another glass of wine. Justin and Taylor had a thing, but there was something unnerving about the snake shifter aside from his eyes. Maybe it was his own unease around snakes.
“Look, I don’t go around flaunting I like being railed because if it got back to the leader, he’d hunt me down to take the notch out of my ear.” Continuing to see George was flirting with trouble, but he wasn’t quite ready to kick him out either. That gleam of lust was too enticing. And he wanted to get to know him, hear about his travels; it was rare to talk to a wolf who was eager to get away for the hell of it. Most only moved to escape their pack. Moving for work was the polite euphemism for ‘‘I’m gay, leave me alone’’ amongst wolves, which probably caused some trouble for wolves who were literally moving for work and no other reason. “I’m enjoying getting to know you.”
“Same…four years doesn’t seem like much of an age difference now, does it?”
“No, but now we both have some life experience, a few more scars, and have made our own decisions and mistakes. I know this is a bad idea, so feel free to say no because I’m going to blame the extra glass of wine, but would you like another drink and to tell me about your snake shifter before staying the night?”
George’s nostrils flared as he inhaled. It was subconscious as he searched for clues using his heightened senses.
Evan considered being obvious and rearranging his junk, but quite frankly, the soft navy-blue T-shirt material of his pajamas was not doing a good job of hiding anything. He wasn’t sure when his dick had begun hardening, but the semi was pressed against his thigh, and as long as George was there, only a few feet away, it wasn’t going anywhere.
George stood, and for a couple of disappointed heartbeats, Evan thought he was going to walk out. That was the smart thing to do. Instead, he walked over to the kitchen counter and poured himself a glass, and not a standard serve either. He filled the fucker up. Maybe that was a standard glass in Darwin.
“That’s about two glasses worth, right? I’ve got some catching up to do.”
Evan patted the sofa next to him, and George gave a careful nod as if aware of how dangerous this unexplored ground could be.
They’d admitted the attraction had been there for years and had raked through the past to make sure nothing was left to fester, yet there may be hidden traps. Wolf traps.
George took a drink and kept his gaze on the wine. “I’m guessing since you don’t like shifting, you’ve never done anything while shifted.”
Well, that just about killed his semi. “If you’re about to tell me you fucked a snake as a wolf or a snake fucked you, I am tapping out now. Ugh, I’ve got mental images I really didn’t want.” There was not enough wine to erase those thoughts.
“No, that’s not what happened. That would be truly weird…wouldn’t it?”
He did not want to think about what Justin and Taylor might get up to. “Yes, that would be weird.” He shuddered, unable to imagine anything worse than having shifted sex. He didn’t even like eating as a shifter or going to the bathroom. It didn’t feel like his body.
“I’ve only ever had sex with another wolf once, and it was just a lot of licking, in case you now think I’m some kind of weirdo.” He took a gulp of wine. “Brian, that was the snake shifter. Also, did you know snakes are hung? I bottomed for him a couple of times?—”
“So you’re not a total top?” That was surprising.
“Mostly I am. Like I said, we had a regular thing, so we stepped outside our normal activities sometimes. One of his things was always wanting to give head as a snake.”
“You have been wanting to tell this story for ages, haven’t you?”
“I couldn’t tell it in Darwin, as then everyone would find out. And yes, I have been busting to tell someone…I never imagined it would be you.” He took another drink of wine. “Anyway, we’d had a few beers and were sitting in his backyard, talking shit, and it came up. I think he expected me to freak out like you did, but I had wondered what his tongue would feel like.”
Evan laughed. He couldn’t help himself. It was too easy to imagine George sitting out the back with a snake in his lap. “Any good?”
“Very ticklish, but he worked the slit so fucking good, and his tail tickled my balls. I’ve never come so hard.”
His erection was back, thinking about George’s cock being teased by a forked tongue. “And it only happened once?”
“The tease was great, but I prefer a little more suction and throat, and that was all tongue.”
“I quite like tongue. Perhaps I should give a snake shifter a chance.” He was only joking about the snake shifter part, but the flash of jealousy in George’s eyes was gratifying and made his pulse quicken. He lifted his hips slightly, and George’s gaze dropped for a millisecond.
“Yeah? I’m pretty good with my tongue. You could use your imagination.”
Evan put his feet on the edge of the coffee table and pushed it out of the way. He’d known when he’d invited him around that they’d end up getting naked. He wanted to suck everything from this experience while he had the chance.
George took a drink of wine—he was only halfway through it—and put the glass on the coffee table. He dropped to his knees on the rug and ran his hands up Evan’s thighs. “I never thought pajamas could be sexy.”
He didn’t reach for the waistband to free Evan’s cock, though. Instead, he nuzzled between his legs, his nose pressing against his balls and his breath hot through the fabric as though all he wanted to do was to inhale Evan’s scent. He understood that need. It was one of the few things humans didn’t mind. Some thought it was hot how he wanted to pet and lick their balls.
Watching George was hot.
Then he looked up as he mouthed his way along Evan’s shaft, leaving the fabric damp. “The pants don’t turn see-through.” Evan’s voice was rough with a lust he couldn’t hide and didn’t want to.
“Very disappointing.” George bit gently, and Evan’s stomach tightened as his balls drew up.
George sucked the head, leaving a wet spot, before drawing back to drag down the waistband. Evan freed his cock from the leg of his pajama pants, needing to feel George’s tongue and lips on his skin.
George grinned as he lapped along the length with tiny, teasing flicks of his tongue. His fingers feathered over the shaft, barely touching. He acted as though he wasn’t in any kind of hurry, taking his time to explore the head and foreskin and probe the slit.
Evan’s breath quickened as he watched George slowly lap up a drop of cum. It was the most languid blow job he had ever received. And every time he thought he was getting close, George redirected his attention somewhere else, biting his inner thigh, licking his balls. All the while, his hand kept control of Evan’s dick.
His fingers curled against the leather, and his hips twitched as George started working his way up again as if he needed to clean up the leaking pre-cum. His teeth raked over the sensitive skin, and Evan shuddered.
“Too much?”
“No…but I’m getting close.”
“I can tell.” He smiled and rubbed his tongue over the glans.
“Oh, fuck.” His hips lifted, and he couldn’t hold back. The heat tightened in his balls, and he came.
George’s lips wrapped around the head, catching everything and licking until Evan had to beg him to stop because every part of him was too sensitive. His heart hammered in his chest as George calmly tucked everything away and adjusted the pajama pants as though nothing had happened. Evan uncurled his fingers, sure he’d left nail marks in the expensive leather.
George reached behind him and grabbed his glass of wine, taking a sip before offering it to Evan. He didn’t need any more alcohol, but he needed something.
Someone.
Not George. He was not falling for George.