by A J Gala
“So, what are you doing here then? If you could have gone anywhere, why pick here?”
She shrugged. “Needed a change of scenery, some fresh mountain air for a while. Being stuck in a loud, noisy city for the last two years has made me agitated.”
A soft buzz went off in Stephan’s pants and he quickly retrieved his phone. It was Declan. He cursed under his breath. Really? Right now? The bastard had the worst timing.
You coming over today? We should talk, I think I might have found something to help you.
Quickly he texted back, excited by what was said, even if it was horrible timing.
Yeah, on my way.
“Why do I get the feeling you are going to leave me to eat this casserole and carry these heavy boxes to where they need to go all by myself now?” Blythe pouted playfully. “The big, strong handsome neighbor man can’t just leave the damsel in distress like that.”
He pocketed his phone. “Sorry, I have to meet up with a friend about something important. But if I get done soon enough and it’s not too late, I’ll come back over and give you a hand if you want.”
She put the spoon down and flipped her blonde hair and walked into the other room. “No matter. Come over and help if you want, or don’t, makes no difference to me what you do. I’ll be here either way.”
Stephan walked to the door, almost feeling like he had been scolded by his mother. “Well, either way, we will see each other another time, neighbor.”
God, she was hard to read. Was she really mad at him? He stole one last glance at her, but she was busy rooting around in a box. Whatever.
Stephan pulled his beat-up grey Ford truck up to the double-wide trailer, twenty minutes out of town. Declan enjoyed his privacy, and for good reason. Most of the shifters he had met lived outside of the main part of town. Stephan was starting to understand the reasoning for it, and now it might be something he needed to investigate soon… if he couldn’t get his own shit under control.
“Hey! Sorry I’m late!” Stephan jumped out and slammed the door. “You wouldn’t believe the day I’ve been having.”
Declan strode up to Stephan with all his five-foot-nine glory and handed him a beer. Cold and bottled, cheap and domestic. He did not have Stephan’s broad shoulders or chiseled jaw. Rather, he was lean and willowy. If Stephan had been the jock in high school, Declan would have been the dreamy-eyed band kid with a killer smile and bass guitar.
“You smell like Paula Deen,” he said, moving his dark blonde hair out of his hazel eyes. “You been cookin’ or something?”
“Yeah.” Stephan had to catch his breath. “Hot girl moved in next door. Baked her a casserole like some kind of dopey idiot.”
Declan laughed, but it was short-lived. “Is that because she caught you in a compromising situation this morning?”
Stephan cast his eyes to the ground with guilt and popped the cap on his beer with the novelty bottle opener on his key chain. “Not sure what you are talking about, man.”
“Were you not going to come clean about that?” Declan asked. “Liian saw you last night. Shit, he followed you and watched you this morning. All cock in hand stuttering like a teenager in front of your new neighbor. You gotta be careful! We talked about this, man!”
“I know!” Stephan snapped. “I’ve been doing my best, okay? But lately, it’s been hard to keep my form. Believe me—” he took a hearty first drink, “—I’ve been doing everything I can think of. You don’t want to know how many astrology sites I’m signed up to, trying to see if it’s the Moon this, Mars trine Saturn that, Mercury Gatorade whatever… getting really sick and tired of that fucking crow ratting me out like some punk kid. Maybe I should buy a slingshot.”
Declan dragged a couple of green camping chairs over to his empty fire pit. “Leave the crow alone. Sit down, dude.”
Stephan didn’t fight it and plopped down, taking another heavy drink. He silently reminded himself to bring Declan a six-pack of craft beer on his next visit. He loved his friend but was tired of drinking piss every time he came over, which seemed to be more and more of late. Declan was the only other ‘outcasted’ animal from the pack, all due to being ‘different’—like somehow anyone got to choose what they turned into. Because anyone in their right mind would pick a raccoon or a possum over a bear or wolf, or something badass like that. Right.
“I hate to break this to you,” Declan started, “but if you can’t control your inner trash panda, you’re gonna have to move out of town. We cannot have you waking up in other peoples’ yards buck ass naked all the time.”
“What’s the harm in everyone thinking I’m just a crazy frat boy?”
“It would be fine if that’s all it was! But all it takes is for one person to see you shift and then the rest of us are done for. We can’t be outed because you don’t have any self-control. This secret has been kept for hundreds of years around here; you wouldn’t be the first to be ‘dealt’ with if you can’t learn control.”
Stephan rolled his eyes and sighed. He knew Declan was right and he certainly knew Rift and Matt would have no problem ‘dealing’ with him. Hell, the two jerkoffs would likely get off on killing him. Pricks. “Then what did you call me over here for? I’m pretty sure my neighbor would have let me bend her over the kitchen counter if I had stayed for another thirty seconds. And god, we both know it’s been far too long since I’ve gotten a piece of ass.”
“Oh, shit.” Declan laughed. “Well, now I feel special.” He fished in his pocket for a little orange pill bottle and rattled it in front of Stephan’s face. “This is what you gave up a piece of ass for.”
Stephan took the pill bottle and peered at the label. “Isn’t this heartburn medication?”
“Oh, sorry, no that’s just the bottle. Not what’s inside.”
“I’m not taking drugs to keep my form. No way, Declan. Out of the question.” He handed them back, but Declan wouldn’t take them. “I’ve heard horror stories from a few others that have done this.”
“Until you have a better idea, yes you are. One of the wolf packs around here, they’ve got a bunch of smart-ass people. Scientists, doctors, probably a pharmacist, I don’t know. They came up with that because some teenagers were starting to shift early and couldn’t control it. Should work perfectly. This is new stuff, been ‘perfected’ from what they told me. Uh, well, as close as it can be.”
“Nothing works perfectly.” Stephan twisted off the lid and looked inside. The pills were tiny, smaller than the diameter of a pencil eraser. Each one had a letter L stamped into the top. “What are the side effects?”
Declan cringed. Not a good sign. “Just some bad dreams. Maybe some insomnia.”
“Like I can’t get a good night’s sleep insomnia? Or like I’ve been awake for ninety-six hours and am hallucinating insomnia?”
Declan shrugged. “Hey man, everyone’s different. It’s not a perfect science, this isn’t something that has a billion-dollar budget to look at and create. So just stop being a bitch about it and take them until we get this shit figured out better.”
Stephan groaned. “Alright, I’ll give it a shot. But you’re babysitting me the first night, and I swear to god if anything happens to me, I’m going to go through your garbage and get it all over the place. You’ll have to spend hours cleaning it up.”
Declan’s lips twisted up in a wry grin. “Oh, you’ll be fine. Don’t worry. Your hot neighbor will never know what you are. Though who knows, maybe she likes furry little rodents, might even want you as a pet?”
“Fuck off, you’re the rodent, opossum boy!”
“Marsupial! Big difference, prick.”
“Some shifters tell their close friends or loved ones, you know,” Stephan said.
“Yeah, if they’re something cool like a wolf. Not a fucking raccoon.” Declan took a drink. “Or an opossum. Everyone calls ‘em possums, but that’s a totally different animal. You have no idea how many times I fight the urge to correct people.”
Neither
one of them fit in with the rest of the community. But Declan was always so casual and calm that sometimes Stephan forgot how much it really bothered him. No one wanted to be an outcast, less so a shifter outcast. It was bad enough they weren’t ‘human,’ but to not be good enough as an ‘animal’ was a real slap to an already sore face.
Stephan chugged the cheap beer and tossed it in Declan’s recycle bucket. He waited for the rattle of glass to stop before speaking again. “You coming back to my place now or later?”
He shrugged. “Depends. Do you want the booze and wings to start now, or do you want to go chase tail first?”
If he was being honest, it was a damn difficult decision. Typically, they’d order wings from the pizza place down the street from his house and they were fried and battered to perfection. Blythe was a knockout, there was no argument there, but the more he thought about it, the more he worried about losing his form in the middle of their lustful romp.
If he got that far in the first place.
“Should I take one of those things now? Or before bed?” he asked.
Declan shrugged once again. “Shit, good question.”
“Oh, come on!”
“Just take one! What fucking harm could it do?”
Stephan pinched the bridge of his nose. “God, I hope this doesn’t backfire. Alright, I’m going to take one now. Come over at around nine-thirty or something, okay? And be careful driving. The forecast updated and there’s supposed to be a bad rainstorm tonight.”
“Be careful driving? Thanks for jinxing it, asshole.”
“See you later, dickhead!”
The beat-up Ford pulled into its parking spot and Stephan climbed out, a case of good beer in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other. As he made his way for the doorway, he stole a glance at his neighbor’s house. The lights were still on, meaning she was likely still unpacking. This was good news… maybe.
Putting the case of beer on the steps, he checked his phone.
8:23 pm
Still another hour before Declan would be coming over and that’s if he was even on time. He lifted the bottle of whiskey with a grin. Plenty of time to go over and have a friendly drink or six with the new, sexy, tempting neighbor. It’d be rude not to. Besides, he’d taken one of those pills, and if what Declan said was true, any thought of turning for at least 24 hours should be impossible. So now was as safe as anytime he was going to get.
Quickly he cleared the distance between their houses, crested her porch, and spied the door slightly ajar. He paused, wondering if he should knock, or just let himself in. Well, she did tell me to come on over tonight if I had time. Likely why she left the door like this was to invite me in, in case she was busy.
Without needing any more explanation than that, he let himself in and was surprised to see a very good portion of the boxes were empty and folded in the corner ready for recycling. Furniture was strategically placed where it would likely reside for its remaining time within the house. I wonder how long she plans on staying in this shithole town. Hopefully, long enough for me to play with her a few dozen times or more.
“Damn Blythe,” he called out, hoping to find out where she was, “you certainly were busy this evening.”
There was no reply. The house was still.
He wondered if she had gone to her backyard or something and was about to check when he heard a muffled noise coming from down the hallway near the back of the house.
“Blythe?” he called again, a little more quietly, but he wasn’t sure why. But he remembered the guns and weapons he had seen earlier and figured it was better to advertise who he was. “It’s Stephan, just coming over like you told me to. I brought whiskey to apologize for bailing on you earlier.”
Still no answer. He made his way to the back of the house and pushed the master bedroom door open, hearing the noises from within. The large room was empty and in disarray still, but a crack of light glowed from behind the bathroom door. The shower was on and a light misting of steam seeped out into the room.
“Holy fuck!” He whispered, unsure of himself. I should go back and wait for her to be done. I’m not some creeper. Yet he found himself edging toward the bathroom door, his cock tightening in his pants with each step. Well I mean, she has seen me fully nude; a little peek to even the odds isn’t really being a creeper, might even help with how bloody nervous I am around her.
Pushing the door open a little further he nearly dropped the bottle of whiskey in his hands. It was a large open shower, and Blythe stood in the center, the warm water cascading down onto her sleek and slender form. Little streams raced down her neck and through the curves of her full, perky breasts, continuing down her toned stomach to disappear between her legs.
Stephan watched her hands explore herself, rinsing away any dust or sweat from a day of unpacking. His cock was impossibly tight in his jeans and he tried to readjust it, but just touching it made a small groan escape his lips and he had to fight to quiet himself.
He was about to turn away before he was stupid and made any more noise when he watched her hand slip down between her legs. No fucking way! He shook his head and blinked, staring harder as her fingers moved in slow circles around her clit; her breathing increased, causing her beautiful tits to rise and fall in timing with it all. Then her fingers disappeared as she slipped them inside herself and gasped loudly.
The bottle slipped from his grasp and the sound was muffled by the pile of her clothing on the ground. Stephan barely noticed, so transfixed on the sight before him, nothing else even mattered. He knew he shouldn’t be watching, knew this had to be crossing a line, but for some reason he felt this was intended, she left the door open on purpose. She wanted him to see this, wanted him to be here for this.
Blythe leaned back against the shower wall, moaning louder, her fingers working in perfect unison. Lifting one leg onto the shower’s edge, she opened herself up fully, exposing herself to her little viewer. She knew he was there, had seen him come home and had hoped he would come over. She had set the stage just for this little exhibition. She knew she was beautiful, and she enjoyed flaunting it, enjoyed the power and thrills it gave her. She was here for business—dirty, dangerous business. But a little play and sexual exploitation along the way was never a bad thing. And Stephan certainly wasn’t horrible to look at, and with the right instruction, he might even make a decent fuck buddy while she was here.
She stole a quick glance at the doorway, almost cumming at the raw, lustful hunger she caught in his eyes. His cock was still in his pants, though, as he rubbed the bulging crease with his hands. This just won’t do; I want to see it again. She purred to herself, reaching over and retrieving the flesh-colored silicone dildo she had waiting on the towels.
Bringing it up to her mouth, she gingerly caressed it with her full, glossy cherry lips. Gently kissing it as if it were real, letting her lips slip over the contours as she teased it, licking it slowly from the base to the tip, letting her saliva mingle with the warm water.
Slowly she ran it down between her breasts and down her smooth stomach, teasing herself with it, running the thick head along her aroused lips, building up anticipation, for her and for him. Her breathing steadily increasing with each moment that passed.
A soft groan came from the doorway, and she knew victory was hers and she pushed the dildo inside, letting a loud cry of pleasure escape. Her free hand came up to caress her breasts as she finally locked eyes with him, letting him know she knew he was there, letting him know that she wanted him there.
Stephan hadn’t even been aware that his hands had opened his pants and now he was stroking his thick cock freely as he watched his neighbor explore herself.
He didn’t know what he dared to do anymore. Clearly, he was doing enough for her just by standing in her view. He knew she liked what she saw. She couldn’t take those damn emerald green eyes off him and it made him harder than ever. She stared at him through the steamy haze, hungry but dangerous as she worked for her climax
, her free hand pinching her rosy nipples hard.
Her breath fogged the shower glass beside her, and her fingers traced through it as she braced herself, trying to get leverage to force her toy deeper. She was so close, and this fucking idiot standing outside was apparently not going to assist her with that god gifted tool of his. But he moved closer until his hand was on the other side of the glass, opposite hers, like some cheesy PG13 love story.
She pried her eyes away from his other hand, slick with himself as he jerked with fervor, to see his face. She’d never taken the time to appreciate it, and now that he was pressing his forehead into the glass, clenching and unclenching his jaw with little moans, it was the best thing she’d ever seen. He truly was a diamond in the rough of this redneck town.
She shuddered. Suddenly it was all too much and she couldn’t concentrate. She arched back, letting the shower’s stream hit her and drip down her breasts as she plunged the dildo as deep as it would go. Her other hand reached down to circle her clit for only a second before ecstasy consumed her. Her legs trembled dangerously on the slippery tile.
Stephan was hunched over, pried to the shower door, his eyes fixed on Blythe’s impossibly wet body as she rocked with her climax. He moaned into the glass and came with her, spilling out hot and thick into his hand.
As soon as it was over, he wished he’d gone inside the shower with her, had helped himself by helping her. He looked up and she had already cleaned off her silicone toy and was rinsing herself off. Like nothing had happened, again. So casual and dismissive.
He fumbled around her bathroom, grabbing a wad of tissues to clean up his own mess. He’d almost grabbed the blood-red hand towel she had on the sink, but he’d known her less than a day and didn’t have the heart to make laundry day awkward.
Awkward. She had made this awkward, he reminded himself. Or did he blame himself for initially showing up naked in her backyard?
The spray of the water died; Blythe stepped out, wrapped in a thick black towel, covering all the good parts from view.
