Dark of the Moon

by Shannon West

  He rocked against Jace, pushing into him. Jace could feel he was leaking pre-cum and he rubbed it against Hawke’s stomach.

  “Yes, I can feel how hard you are, Jace. You’re going to come again for me, sweetheart.”

  Jace’s legs fell open and Hawke smiled, pushing Jace’s knee up and smoothing the lube over his crease, finding his tight hole and easing a lube-coated finger inside. Jace hissed in a breath and almost jerked away, but Hawke didn’t stop, pushing in farther, not rough, but slow and insistent. Jace thrashed his head on the pillow beneath him, alarmed at the burn, but Hawke wouldn’t let him get away. “Look at me, Jace,” he said, and Jace looked up into his eyes, so close to his. “Relax Jace. Let me in. We’ll take this slow.”

  Jace sighed and tried hard to relax, groaning at the sensation of Hawke’s finger inside him. He added another and Jace moaned, looking up at Hawke for help. Hawke kissed his lips and shifted so that he nudged under Jace’s balls with the tip of his cock. Jace lost himself in the kiss, feeling like he was being claimed by this man. As he relaxed, Hawke pulled his fingers away and Jace whimpered at the loss. Hawke nudged his cock against Jace’s hole again, and he instinctively surged toward him, letting him in.

  Hawke felt the tip of his cock breach his hole and he cried out in excitement. The air around them seemed charged and electric. Hawke surged inside him and set up a slow rhythm that was making Jace lose his mind as he raked his huge cock over a spot inside him that seriously drove him crazy.

  Jace couldn’t catch his breath, and when Hawke put his hand between them and wrapped it around his cock again, moving it up and down in the same rhythm, he lost it. He screamed out Hawke’s name as he convulsed and his seed sprayed out between them. Seconds later, he felt Hawke’s hot cum filling him as he groaned out his own release. Hawke collapsed against him, nuzzling his nose into the side of Jace’s neck. He moaned weakly and Hawke smiled down at him. “Sleep,” he whispered, and fell down beside him on the bed.

  ****

  Jace lay there, not moving. He was so relaxed and content that he felt as if he’d melted into a big, well-fucked puddle right there on the bed. Hawke was still on top of him, nuzzling his neck. He was big and heavy, but Jace could tell that he was trying to hold his weight off him as much as he could. He was about to tell Hawke that his weight didn’t bother him when Hawke started moving away from him. Jace held onto his shoulders, not ready for Hawke to go.

  Hawke smiled down at him. “I’ll be right back. I need to clean up.”

  Jace wanted to protest and tell Hawke to wait and he’d join him, but the fact was that he didn’t think he could. The sex had been amazing, and had left him weak-kneed. In a few minutes, Hawke was back with a warm washcloth and towel. No one had ever taken care of him like this before and he felt another layer of something hard and brittle melt inside his chest. When he was done, Hawke crawled back in bed beside Jace.

  “Turn over on your side, and let me hold you.”

  Jace was happy to do as he was told and was pulled back against Hawke, spoon-fashion, with his ass cradled in Hawke’s groin and his lover’s big, muscular arm holding him close. Jace had never felt so safe in his life. Before this, his sexual experiences had consisted mostly of quick encounters that ended as soon as the climax did. This was different and something that he could get used to in a hurry. Smiling at that thought, he drifted into a peaceful slumber.

  Sometime in the middle of the night, something woke him. What was it? His legs were entangled with Hawke’s, and a hand was slowly stroking his cock, which had come back to life long before he had. He moaned and wiggled his butt against Hawke’s cock, which was hard and pressing his crease. Hawke made a sound that was almost like a growl and increased the rhythm on Jace’s cock, kicking the bedcovers back at the same time.

  Released from the tangle of the sheet, Jace had more freedom of movement and began moving with the rhythm, fucking Hawke’s hand. The feelings were suddenly overwhelming to him.

  “Hawke, I don’t think I can hold back much longer.”

  “Then, don’t.”

  With a deep groan, Jace did as he was told, coming in Hawke’s hand. Hawke seemed content to lie there, holding his softening cock in his hand, but Jace turned over and swung one leg over Hawke’s. He rubbed his hand down Hawke’s chest, stopping at his nipples. Hearing a sharp intake of breath from the other man, Jace could only assume that Hawke’s nipples were one of his erogenous zones. Good to know.

  Testing that theory, Jace went to work on them. Leaning over Hawke, he licked first one, then the other before beginning total assault on them. By the time he had licked and sucked and nibbled each one, Hawke was moaning and couldn’t be still. Jace wasn’t done, though.

  He left Hawke’s nipples and began slowly licking his way down his treasure trail to the big, beautiful cock standing up and beckoning him to it. Jace didn’t make it wait long for some attention. He placed his lips around the head and began sucking and licking. When he stuck his tongue in the slit, he thought that Hawke was going to buck off the bed.

  “Damn, Jace.”

  “Just lie back and let me make you feel good, Hawke.”

  Hawke reached up and ran his fingers affectionately through Jace’s hair. “Whatever you say.”

  Jace smiled at Hawke and moved over between his powerful thighs. He wanted this to be the best blowjob the man had ever had, so he licked and sucked and stroked his cock while massaging his balls and inner thighs. Hawke was groaning and trying to say something. Jace figured that he was trying to let him know that he was about to come, so he looked up into Hawke’s eyes that were staring down at him and winked, sticking his tongue in his slit at the same time.

  That was all it took. Hawke yelled out Jace’s name and exploded in his mouth, Jace taking it all in.

  Hawke pulled him up next to him and held him close.

  “God, Jace, that was incredible.”

  “Good. I wanted it to be.”

  “Sleepy,” Hawke murmured, his eyelids drooping.

  Jace lay down and backed up to Hawke as he had earlier. When they had settled in together, it only took about a minute before Jace heard the heavy, steady breathing next to his ear, indicating that Hawke was already asleep.

  ****

  Hawke awoke the next morning just after daylight. He lay there for a while enjoying the feel of his mate’s arms and legs entangled with his. He especially liked that warm, round, naked ass pushed up against him. He smiled, thinking of the night before, and their lovemaking. It had been more than he could have ever hoped for and he was more determined than ever not to lose Jace.

  Hawke turned over onto his back and slowly removed the arm under Jace’s pillow, since it felt completely numb from being in the same position all night. Jace made a little sound of protest in his sleep and rolled over, placing a leg over Hawke’s leg and an arm across his broad chest. Hawke smiled. His mate was a cuddler, something that had always annoyed Hawke with other lovers, but not with Jace.

  He allowed himself a few minutes to enjoy their closeness before a frown creased his forehead. They had a lot to talk about, so much to work out. He still hadn’t told him a damn thing. What if Jace was horrified about the shifting and refused to stay? He’d have to let him go, somehow. His feelings were already strong for Jace, but he couldn’t hold him prisoner. He’d just have to find a way to convince him to stay and the first step would be to tell him the truth. He dreaded it because he didn’t know what the reaction would be, but it had to be done, and it had to be today.

  Lying there, mulling all of this over in his head, he heard Jace’s stomach growl, which made him smile. Jace was hungry and still sound asleep. Come to think of it, he was hungry, too. They had certainly worked up an appetite during the night. He started easing himself away from Jace so he could make them some breakfast, and as he stood up, Jace reached a hand over to Hawke’s side of the bed and murmured, sleepily, “Where you goin’?”

  “I’m going to make some coffee
and fix us something to eat. You just stay here and sleep, and I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

  Jace snuggled down in the warm spot that Hawke had left and said, “Okay.”

  Hawke turned and sauntered out of the bedroom and down the hall to the kitchen, feeling tired, but in a good way. He stopped in mid-stride as he entered the kitchen area and was greeted by the congealing mess of food that they had left the night before. Shit. Just what he liked to face in the morning—a huge mess to clean up. At the memory of why they had left the kitchen like that, he shrugged and decided it was worth it.

  He made the coffee and while it was brewing, he dumped last night’s dinner into the garbage and put the dirty dishes in the sink to soak. He was trying to think of something quick and easy to make for breakfast when he remembered that he had frozen waffles in the freezer. That should be easy enough – just pop them in the toaster and slather them with butter and syrup. He’d noticed Jace loved sweets.

  When the waffles were ready, Hawke poured their coffee and put all of it on a tray to take to the bedroom. When he walked in, Jace was just rousing up and looked at him and smiled, as his stomach rumbled. “Whatever that is, it smells great. We never got around to eating supper last night, you know.”

  “I know.” Hawke said, smiling across at him. “Personally, I think it was worth skipping a meal.”

  Jace was already working on the waffles. His mouth full, Jace nodded, making sounds of pleasure.

  Hawke watched Jace’s tongue touch the corner of his mouth to catch some syrup that had dripped there and felt his cock swelling. What, again? Would he ever get enough of this man? He leaned across the tray between them and said, “Let me get that for you,” as his tongue touched the corner of Jace’s mouth and slid across his lips. Jace moaned and Hawke felt his lips open for a kiss, which he was happy to give him. One thing led to another and by the time they’d finished, that one kiss had led to a messy disaster.

  Hawke moved the tray to the bedside table and said, “Come on, I think that we could both use a shower, but first…” he leaned toward Jace and licked a spot on his chest, enjoying Jace’s groans. Hawke got up and pulled Jace to his feet, leading him toward the master bath. By the time they reached it, Jace’s cock was hard again, and seeing it just got Hawke going—zero to sixty in two seconds flat.

  He’d never had so much sex in his life, not that he was complaining. He turned on the shower and adjusted the temperature before turning back to take Jace in his arms and rub his sticky body against him, running his fingers lightly down Jace’s spine to his ass, massaging it. As Jace kissed Hawke’s neck and tried to move even closer to him, Hawke eased away just enough to turn Jace around and pull his back up next to him.

  Jace moaned, pushing his ass out toward Hawke’s crotch. Hawke chuckled and said, “I was going to do this in the shower, but I think it will be more fun here so we can watch in the mirror.” He reached over to get some lube out of the drawer, put some on his dick and bent Jace over the vanity. Taking his knee, he spread Jace’s legs apart and slid his finger with the lube on it into Jace’s hole.

  He reached around Jace, caressing his nipples and nibbling kisses down his spine. Jace moaned and pushed back toward Hawke, and Hawke knew what he wanted. He entered Jace slowly, letting him get used to his girth before pushing all the way in and beginning a steady rhythm in and out. From all the sex they’d had, he didn’t have to worry much about stretching him. Hawke couldn’t remember when anything had felt this good. Hawke could feel himself getting close, so he reached for Jace’s cock with his hand and matched the rhythm in and out of Jace’s ass. He had only to rub over Jace’s prostate with his cock a couple of times before Jace was ready to come.

  With a long, deep moan, Jace shot all over the vanity just as Hawke filled him with hot cum. Jace laid his head down on the counter and Hawke seemed to melt on top of him. Hawke kissed the back of Jace’s neck tenderly, and pulled him into the waiting shower.

  ****

  Later, when they’d both managed to get dressed without attacking each other again, he took Jace into the living room and sat down with him. “Jace, we need to talk.”

  “I know what you want to talk about, and it’s okay.”

  “Uh…what?”

  “I mean, I’m pretty sure I know, and it’s all right. I’m clean. I know we’ve been having a lot of unprotected sex, and I usually never do that. But I’m clean, and I got tested only a couple of months ago. I haven’t had sex since then, so I’m fine.”

  Hawke shook his head. Shit, he hadn’t even thought of that. His people were immune to human diseases, and he certainly had nothing he could pass on to Jace, but he’d been pretty damn insensitive not to have mentioned it to him. Jace must have been concerned, though he was being sweet about it now.

  “Jace, I’m so sorry, but that never even occurred to me. I know you’re clean, Jace, because—because I could smell it if you were sick.”

  Jace tilted his head. “What?”

  He took Jace’s hands in his and held on tight. “Jace, I have something to tell you, and I don’t want you to be scared. I’d never hurt you, or do anything to cause you pain. You know that, right?”

  “Yeah, I guess so. I mean, of course, but what are you trying to say? You’re scaring me a little.”

  “I don’t want to scare you. But you don’t have to worry about me giving you a human disease. I can’t.”

  “A human disease?”

  “Jace,” Hawke took a deep breath. “What you saw that night—the night you got hurt. It wasn’t a dream or a hallucination. It was the reason I was so anxious to get you out of town. It’s a secret that affects almost everyone in Blackwater Falls—including me.”

  Jace had stiffened, but he was bravely trying to keep his gaze fixed on Hawke’s face. “A-a secret?”

  “The thing that attacked you that night was one of the boys here in town. His name is Travis and he—like all the members of my pride—are cougar shifters.”

  Jace had tilted his head again and had a little half-smile on his face, like he was waiting for Hawke to get to the punchline. Hawke tightened his grip on Jace’s hands. He had a feeling that Jace wouldn’t take this well.

  “When you woke up in the clearing, the cat you saw there was—me, Jace. I was trying to protect you.”

  As he’d expected, Jace tried to pull his hands away, shaking his head. “This is stupid. Stop it, Hawke, I mean it. That was a scary thing that happened, and if you’re just making fun of me…”

  “I’m telling you the truth. Every month during the three day cycle of the dark of the moon, we…shift. Transform. Our bodies and our minds. We become animals—big cats. Like mountain lions, only much bigger. No one knows how or why this all began, though we have legends. We’ve just always been this way, and we’ve had to keep it a secret from the outside world.”

  Jace wrenched his hands away from Hawke’s and stood up, trembling. “Why are you doing this? Saying these crazy things? What’s the matter with you?” He backed away a few steps, and Hawke knew he was about to run. Hawke was too fast for him, though, and he was on him before he could take more than a couple of steps. He scooped Jace up in his arms and sat back down on the couch with him, ignoring his struggles and letting him wear himself out.

  Finally, he slumped down in his arms and his head fell back in defeat.

  “Calm down, sweetheart. I’m not going to hurt you—you know that. But I can’t let you go until you listen to me.”

  “Listen to what? More craziness?” Jace opened his eyes and stared up at Hawke pleadingly. “Why are you doing this?”

  Hawke pulled him up and gripped his biceps, making him look at him. “Damn it, Jace, think about it! You know how strong I am, and you’ve noticed my sense of hearing and smell. Does that seem human to you? Does it? Fuck, you told me yourself that you know what you saw with your own eyes! Do you doubt yourself now?”

  Jace had begun to look unsure, but he shook his head. “No, it’s too c
razy. This can’t be real. We’re not in some horror movie!”

  Hawke sighed and sagged back against the sofa, closing his eyes in exasperation. This was not going well. He opened his eyes to see Jace hovering over him, peering down into his eyes with a worried expression on his face.

  “Hawke, tell me the truth. Did you take something? Some drug? I didn’t see you take anything, but… He looked up at Hawke. “I know you take drugs, Hawke. I found some Vicodin in the drawer, and I know it’s yours. Is that it? You’re trippin’ on something?”

  “No!” Hawke roared, and realized it was a real roar, loud and bestial and frightening, much louder than he’d intended. Jace’s eyes almost bugged out of his head. He reeled backward and might have passed out if Hawke hadn’t grabbed him in a tight embrace, kissing down the side of his neck.

  “I’m sorry, Jace. So sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I guess I don’t have as good a control as I thought. I didn’t mean it,” he said between frantic kisses.

  Jace allowed the kisses, thank God, but he was trembling all over. Hawke held him tightly until he seemed to quiet down, and he started again. “Jace, please listen to me. I know how crazy this has to sound to you, but it’s all real. Wait—I can prove it to you. Do you remember that night you asked me if I had a girlfriend? And I told you I liked you?”

  Jace nodded his head slowly. “Y-yes, I remember.”

  “I left right after that because I heard a scream in the woods. That scream is the sound of a big cougar, Jace, and I knew some of my people were close. I had to leave in a hurry to chase them off before you got scared. I tried to really focus after I shifted so I could stay around you all night, to guard the house. Sometime way in the night, two of the pride came too close to the house, so I ran out to warn them off and I saw you at the window. I know you saw us.”

  Jace’s eyes darkened and he nodded, his gaze distant. “Yes, I remember. Three big cats. I told myself I just imagined it.”

  “But you didn’t, sweetheart. It was me, and I was trying to protect you. I still am, but you have to believe me. Just take it on faith for now, if you can. Trust me, and I promise I’ll never lie to you.”