Chapter 12
Chapter
Twelve
CALEB
Iwoke to the sound of persistent, off-key humming.
Groaning, I opened my eyes and squinted at my unfamiliar surroundings.
Purple pre-dawn light spilled over dark hardwood floors.
In the corner, a plaid throw was draped over an upholstered chair with rolled arms. The table next to it held a stack of books.
More books were piled on the floor, multicolored sticky notes marking the pages.
Jesse’s books. I was at his townhouse in Albany, and it was Saturday morning.
The events of the night flooded back, filling my cheeks—and other parts of me—with heat.
After Jesse had declared me his, we’d lounged in bed for a bit, talking and making out.
Eventually, he’d pulled me from bed and into his shower, where I’d sucked him off with steam rolling around our slick bodies.
He’d offered to return the favor, but apparently, the werewolf refractory period had its limits, after all.
As much as I’d wanted to feel his mouth on me, my tank had been empty.
So I’d stood docilely while he shampooed and conditioned my hair, and I’d groaned as he kneaded my tired muscles with his body wash that smelled like something a rich lumberjack might use.
Then we’d stumbled to bed still wet, and I fell asleep in his arms.
Which couldn’t have been more than a few hours ago.
And now he was up, and I was fully recovered and hard as an anvil. But he wasn’t in bed with me, his hot mouth ready to report for duty.
No, he was humming. Horribly.
With another groan, I grabbed a pillow and pressed it over my head. A second later, footsteps rang out. They stopped a few feet from the bed, and Jesse’s clean scent washed over me.
“You okay under there?” he asked.
I lifted the pillow and glared at his stupid, sexy face. “I’m sleeping.”
“Doesn’t look like it.” He flashed a bright smile. “Which is good because we need to get going.”
Confusion pummeled me. He wore a pair of black joggers and another long-sleeve fitted athletic shirt that made me want to swear fealty to his chest. His hair was damp, and his jaw was clean-shaven with just a hint of dark stubble.
The rich scent of coffee clung to him. He’d obviously been up for a while.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“You need to shift. There’s a nature preserve twenty minutes north of the city.”
I looked at the windows over his shoulder. The shades were up, and the sky outside was just beginning to grow pink. “Right now?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Can you think of a better time?”
“Yeah, actually. After lunch.”
“Cute.” His smile stayed put, but his eyes lightened to gold—which was both hot and mildly terrifying. When he spoke, his authority brushed my skin. “I’ll meet you downstairs in ten minutes.” He turned away.
“Wait!” I flung back the sheet, exposing my erection.
I wasn’t exactly vain, but I’d been an athlete for a long time, and I had the build and body fat percentage to show for it.
I’d inherited my mother’s blond hair, but through some quirk of genetics, I never lost my summer tan, not even in the depths of winter.
I knew I looked good against the white sheets.
As Jesse’s gaze fell over me, I parked one hand behind my head and used the other to give my dick a lazy stroke.
“What am I supposed to do about this?” I asked, my scratchy morning voice doing a decent job of sounding sexy.
Blow jobs and naps sounded like a nice Saturday morning to me.
Way nicer than trying to transform my body into an animal.
Jesse said nothing. Just stood there and watched me work my shaft. And it was…kinda hot, actually, having him fully dressed and looming over me, his dark eyes feasting on my nudity. It felt a little decadent, like I was a prize he’d caught and stashed in his bed.
Oh yeah, I could totally get into this.
Spreading my legs a bit, I arched my back and let a soft moan ease from my lips.
My dick tightened, the veins along my shaft plumping with blood.
My almost nonexistent pubes used to bother me, but now I was grateful for my lack of body hair.
I was a sharp contrast to Jesse, and some sixth sense told me he dug it.
My breath hitched as I spread my legs wider.
“Come back to bed, Jesse.” For the briefest moment, I’d almost said “baby.” But for some reason, Jesse’s real name felt just as intimate.
Maybe it was the teacher thing, which was a kink I hadn’t realized I possessed.
He could send me to detention. Or paddle me.
Mr. van der Meer could do quite a few things to me.
But I was counting on him walking to the bed and swallowing my dick.
“Please, Jesse,” I said, hearing the whine in my voice and feeling as slutty as I probably looked. I let my thighs fall wide. “I need to come.”
He watched for another moment, then lifted bright yellow eyes to mine. “Only good boys get to come, Caleb. And right now, you’re being very bad.”
My balls tightened. Shit, did I have a daddy kink, too? Why the hell not? The more the merrier.
Jesse stepped forward, his eyes like high beams. “Get dressed,” he ordered, his power snapping. It coiled around me and squeezed tight, leaving no space for argument.
Anger rose like a noxious cloud, obliterating my desire. Where the hell did he get off ordering me around? Somewhere in my mind, the answer appeared and then faded, obscured by the roiling, seething anger. My lips peeled back from my teeth, and a growl vibrated my throat.
“You want to challenge me?” Jesse asked, his voice light.
But his power was as heavy as ever. It tightened like a belt around my chest, robbing my breath. Pain stabbed at my eyes, and I jerked my gaze down so quickly that my neck twinged. “No,” I managed through constricted lungs.
“Good. Get up and put on some clothes. And don’t even think about coming. Do I make myself clear?”
I grunted, my gaze pinned to a random spot on the sheets.
What the fuck was wrong with him? Last night, he’d gobbled my ass like a gourmet dinner, then cuddled me like I was made of glass.
Now he was back to his asshole disciplinarian routine?
Maybe last night was a lie. Just a way to get me into bed.
“Caleb?” he prompted.
My anger boiled over. “What?” I said on a growl. “I said I understand.”
He came to me and tangled a hand in my hair.
“Up,” he said, but I was already moving, my body obeying before my mind could catch up.
I went to my knees on the mattress, my stupid dick going hard as Jesse flexed his authority.
And once again, I went from being unable to hold his gaze to being helpless to look away.
When he reached his other hand down and cupped my sack, I gasped like a fish on a hook, trapped in his heated stare.
His low voice slid over my skin as soft and smooth as velvet.
“Make no mistake, sweetheart, I want every bit of cum you’re working up for me.
And I mean to have it. But I also know what’s best for you.
The longer you go without shifting, the harder it’s going to be.
So get dressed, and then meet me downstairs.
And keep your hands off your dick or I’ll tie you to my bed and edge you until you can’t see straight.
Maybe put a cock cage on you to make it extra uncomfortable.
” He squeezed my nuts, his grip wobbling between pleasure and pain.
“Do you have any questions about anything I just said?”
“No,” I said hoarsely. “No, sir.”
We groaned in unison as the last tripped off my tongue.
Pleasure flared in his wolf-bright eyes, and then his mouth was on mine, his kiss hot and possessive.
I moaned as my anger fled and lust spiked in its wake.
Visions of Jesse delivering on his threats formed in my head.
Aside from a couple of swats, he’d been pretty tame last night.
But it was our first time going all the way, so to speak.
He probably had all sorts of wild shit up his sleeve.
It should have terrified me but, damn, if I wasn’t ready to order one of everything on the menu.
He broke off the kiss, shoving me away in the process so I fell backward and landed on my ass. My lips tingled, and my heart thumped hard against my ribs.
Jesse ran a hand through his hair, and I wanted to weep at the way his bicep flexed under his form-fitting shirt. His yellow gaze paused on my swollen, leaking dick before lifting to my eyes. “I’ll see you downstairs.” He turned and went to the door.
“Jesse,” I called. When he stopped and gave me an inquisitive look over his shoulder, I swallowed against a dry throat. “I’m, uh, not sure how I feel about a cock cage.”
Amusement gleamed in his eyes, the human emotion at odds with the wolf staring me down. “I expect not. But you’d look awfully pretty in one.”
My breath hitched, and I bit my lip hard as I staved off a moan. I’d seen dudes online wearing cages. And just like the paddle on Welch’s wall, the photos had twisted my guts and left me hot and sort of shaky. But I’d kept clicking, shuffling through various styles and…attachments.
“Ten minutes,” Jesse said softly. “Dress warmly, sweetheart.”
He left. And as he headed downstairs, he started whistling.
Forty minutes later, I drummed my fingers on my car door’s armrest as Jesse pulled down a road marked by a sign that read “Pine Bush Preserve.” Trees stretched for what looked like miles in every direction, their branches covered in snow that must have fallen overnight.
The sky had lightened to lavender, and the horizon glowed orange, but it was still too fucking early to be up, let alone clomping through a snowy forest. Jesse hadn’t offered me any breakfast when I came downstairs.
With the threat of the cock cage floating in my mind, I’d opted to keep my mouth shut—a decision I regretted now as my stomach did its best to gnaw through my spinal column.