Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
While Evan didn’t like shifting, his body knew the drive up to Kyle’s meant only one thing. That George was with him wasn’t helping to keep the heat tamped down because, with George, all he wanted to do was kiss him, which would lead to other things. And then every shifter at Kyle’s place would know exactly what was going on.
George was telling a story about chasing lizards in the desert after a few too many tequilas with a lion shifter that somehow ended up with scorpions attacking and stinging them both, which sounded like a nightmare, even though George was laughing.
His laughter lit up his eyes and tumbled through Evan. His skin prickled as if he was about to shift, and his jeans were biting in all the wrong places. He was sure he already stank of desire. It was only when the beds of his fingernails began to throb that he realized he wasn’t going to make it to Kyle’s. His body wanted—needed—release now.
No…he hadn’t had an accidental or unwanted shift in years. He controlled his body and his shifts. He sucked in a couple of slow, deep breaths, which did nothing to calm the heat coursing through his veins. When he spotted a rest stop with an ablutions block and a picnic table, he indicated and pulled in.
“What’s wrong? Am I talking too much?”
Evan parked the car, leaned over, grabbed the front of George’s shirt, and pulled him in for a harsh kiss. His wolf was too close to the surface, and he did not want to shift any sooner than he needed.
He half expected George to push him away, but he didn’t. His hands gripped him and pulled him closer.
“This is unexpected.” George’s tongue traced his lips.
It was. And he didn’t like it. And since he didn’t want to shift, there was only one other solution. “Shut up and fuck me already.”
“We might be a bit too close to the road for that.” George’s fingers were beneath his shirt, his nails raking over Evan’s skin. “Your skin is burning.”
“I’m about to sprout fur, and my teeth are aching.” He was sure they were also sharpening.
“I thought you were in control?”
Evan growled, the sound far too wolf-like. “The prospect of a run and the scent of you is far stronger than my mental dislike of shifting.”
“I can drive if you want to?—”
“I don’t want to,” he snarled. “I want you. Then I’ll drive the rest of the way and run when I’m good and ready.” Which was never. He was never ready.
While he smelled the desire on George’s skin, he also noted the hesitation in his eyes. Oh, shit. He was going to have to give in and shift.
“You don’t…” Evan rocked back. He was behaving like a teen who couldn’t control his shifts. He was begging to be fucked. In that moment, he hated who he was.
George cupped Evan’s face. “I want you…but the rest of the pack will smell it. Are you okay with that?”
In that moment, he didn’t care. He might later, but this was better than shifting. “I will be.”
George undid his seat belt. “You want to take a short walk into scrub?”
God, yes, anything to quench the heat in his veins. “You don’t care that I’m about to lose control of my shift?”
“Nah.” He stole a kiss. “I kind of like it when you’re on edge. Otherwise, you’re too fucking perfect.”
No one had ever described him as perfect. They had called him driven, determined, secretive, snide, and that was all from his pack. Some of them hadn’t liked the way he’d planned on going to uni or his chosen degree. But he’d dug his heels in. Perhaps a part of him had known it was the only way out. If he’d buckled, he would’ve never…
He drew in a breath, not wanting to think about it, and got out of the car.
This isn’t what he did. He didn’t pull over to the side of the road for sex. He didn’t unexpectedly pop a shift either, at least not since he was sixteen. But he followed George away from the road and into the trees. The part of him that wanted to break free was anticipating a run. He would subdue it with sex, which is what he’d been doing the night he’d re-met George.
He stalked him. He couldn’t help it. The wolf wanted to pounce and bite. When George tossed a lazy grin over his shoulder, it was clear he knew and didn’t care. Or maybe he was enjoying it.
The sound of the traffic followed them. How far was far enough?
George slid down the embankment into the dry riverbed. “This will give us a little privacy, as I don’t want to be caught.”
The part of his brain that was still working understood that getting caught would be a bad thing. The rest of him didn’t care. His teeth ached, and his dick throbbed, unsure if he was shifting or getting fucked but craving the release either way.
Evan leaped down to join George. George barely gave him time to find his feet before pouncing. George kissed him hard and worked open his jeans as if he were the one burning up with heat. He reached into Evan’s briefs to grab his cock.
Evan growled and bit George’s lip, needing more. He cupped George’s jaw, his fingernails pressing into the skin a little too hard, but he couldn’t stop himself. But George didn’t pull away even as he scratched his nails over George’s belly.
He needed him naked. He wanted to bite him hard enough to leave a bruise. To claim him so no other wolf could take him. The thought was almost enough to pull him back.
Almost.
He yanked open George’s pants, shoving them over his hips, along with his boxer briefs, freeing his dick. His mouth watered at the sight of the ruddy head and thick length. That’s what he wanted. He went to lick it, but George yanked him up, his nails pressing against Evan’s throat.
“No teeth. And I swear if you shift when I’m fucking you…” His eyes were dark and wild as if Evan’s shifting heat was affecting him. To some degree, it probably was, as wolves en masse tended to have their own energy.
Evan blinked. The idea of having sex while shifted was so abhorrent that he was able to acknowledge George’s words. “I won’t.”
George studied his eyes for a moment as if ascertaining how much humanity remained. Then he nodded and released Evan. Evan dropped to his knees in the dirt and took George’s cock into his mouth.
He needed the taste of him on his tongue.
“That’s it. Get it nice and slick.” George’s fingers curled into his hair, and his hips rocked.
Evan glanced up and let George push deeper.
“You look so good on your knees in the dirt.” George never took his eyes off him as if he found the sight compelling. As if he found Evan compelling. Which was impossible because he had too much baggage and too many scars for a free-spirited wolf like George.
He wanted some of that to rub off on him.
He wanted George to drag him away and show him the world that he wasn’t brave enough to see on his own. He gagged, and George pulled free as if he was done. A whimper escaped his now empty lips.
“You sure you want this? I’ve got no lube.”
“Yes.” The word was little more than a growl. He dropped onto his hands as if he was about to shift, and his fingers clawed into the dirt. He might’ve shifted if George hadn’t pulled Evan’s underwear down, exposing his ass. That didn’t stop his tailbone from throbbing and his cheeks from tightening as if whiskers were about to push through. The beds of his nails pulsed as if he’d put off shifting for months. It hadn’t been that long. But most shifters couldn’t push it for more than a month.
He was better than this.
Wasn’t he?
George spat and rubbed Evan’s hole, working two fingers in. Evan rocked back, unable to help himself, fucking himself on those fingers, aware he was out of control but unable to stop. It was this or shift.
He would much rather have sex.
The head of George’s cock pressed against his hole, and his nails dug into Evan’s hip to keep him still. Then he sank in, pushing slowly and steadily as if to take him in one thrust.
A whine escaped Evan’s lips. Part pain and part raw need.
“This what you need?” George asked.
“Yes.” Fuck the need to shift out of me.
Why was he like this? Why did he have to be a wolf?
Why didn’t he enjoy being a wolf?
“I like you wild, all messy and undone.” George’s words soothed the edges in Evan’s blood. “Desperate.”
He should be embarrassed, but he wanted to show George how much he needed him.
He rocked back, meeting each thrust. The need in his blood spiked, not with the need to shift but to come. George moved, changing the angle, then reached beneath and grabbed Evan’s dick, and finally he was free to move. He worked himself between the hand around his cock and the dick in his ass. It only took a couple of thrusts before he was moaning with release. The heat in his blood cooled immediately, leaving him breathless and sore and filled with self-loathing.
George pulled out, and it took Evan a couple of moments to realize that he hadn’t come. He lifted his head and turned to watch as George stroked himself to release, spilling on the dirt with a soft moan. That was a waste.
“What? I didn’t think you’d like leaking all over your underwear for the rest of the drive.”
He wouldn’t have…
He hadn’t thought that far ahead. He wasn’t sure he could move, and he couldn’t process a reply.
George pulled his underwear up for him, then helped him to his feet. He dusted off Evan’s palms and studied his eyes again. What he was looking for, Evan wasn’t sure, though he was sure George wouldn’t find it.
His father had called him hollow and selfish often enough. Breaking up the friendship had been a test of loyalty to the pack. They’d known something was wrong with him.
“Why am I like this?”
George didn’t answer. He just pulled him into a hug and held him tight as if he was about to fall apart. He squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t deserve the kindness or the understanding.
Gradually he became aware of the cold breeze biting the bare skin thighs and the ache in his chafed ass—which wasn’t entirely unpleasant while at the same time being uncomfortable.
George drew in a breath and released him. “Why don’t we go wash our hands in the restroom?”
Evan nodded and pulled up his jeans.
“Are you okay?”
This time, he knew what to say. “I’ll be fine to drive.”
George put his hands on Evan’s shoulders so he had to look at him. “That wasn’t what I asked. Did I hurt you?”
“No.” One shift and any tears would be healed, anyway. While the heat had settled, it wasn’t sated. He still needed to shift. Perhaps being around another wolf was too much for him, and it was setting him off…in the right ways and the wrong ways.
George studied him as if trying to work out how fucked up Evan was. If he found the answer, Evan wanted to know because it was clear how he’d been living hadn’t been anything more than survival.