Love's Baggage

by T. A. Chase

  "Roman said our mission has gotten a lot more dangerous. Instead of simply challenging for the pack, we're probably going to have to deal with Grime."

  Bandit growled. "Grime should be put out of his misery. He's been nothing but trouble since he's appeared on the scene."

  "Yet if what you think about Grime being forced into the fight circle is right, he might have a very good reason to want to see all preternaturals gone," Allen interjected.

  Shaking his head, Bandit disagreed. "He might have been hurt by lycans, but that doesn't give him the right to destroy all of us. He needs to find the pack that hurt him and get his revenge on them. The rest of us didn't have anything to do with what happened to him."

  Allen leaned against Bandit and nuzzled his chin. "I know, and the scary thing is my old pack is the one that hurt him. Even if I take over the alpha position, it's not going to stop him from coming after us."

  "Sweetheart, we have a target on our back either way. Maybe by you taking over the pack, you'll help save them. If it's too dangerous here, we can always move them closer to my pack. There's plenty of territory around us, and as long as you respect my mom, I'm sure she wouldn't hassle you too much."

  Bandit watched as Allen seemed to be thinking about it. He smiled to himself and pushed to his feet.

  "I'm going to get ready for bed. Nothing needs to be decided tonight, Allen. We can figure it all out tomorrow or when the time comes."

  He went into the bathroom and took care of getting ready for bed. Bandit dug through his shaving kit to find a condom and some lube. He didn't know if anything would happen between them, but he wanted to be ready. When he came out, the lights were off, and Allen was in bed. He stood, unsure of his welcome if he was to climb in bed with Allen.

  "You can join me," Allen said, sitting up and leaning against the pillows. "You should know I don't sleep well. I toss and turn, and sometimes I wake up screaming. I usually share a bed with Roman because we've found out having him in the same bed as me helps me."

  After tugging off his T-shirt, Bandit let it fall to the floor before crawling under the blankets. He dropped the stuff he carried on the nightstand. He wrapped his arms around Allen and breathed deeply of the man's musky scent.

  "Don't worry. I haven't slept an entire night since I left my pack two years ago."

  Allen snuggled closer. "I guess we both have too many memories and no way of really getting rid of them."

  Bandit shrugged, resting his chin on the top of Allen's head, while staring at the wall across from them. "I'm not sure I want them to go away. They make me who I am today, and while to my family's thinking I'm an asshole most of the time, I still know my experiences make me, me."

  He snorted. Well, that was as clear as mud.

  "I know what you mean. At times, I wish I'd never had to go through the experience of being sold and held captive in a carnival side show, but I think it's given me a better understanding of how people can feel trapped and what kind of emotions they go through when they do." Allen sighed. "I wish Roman hadn't gone through it with me."

  Bandit brushed a kiss over Allen's temple. "Honey, your brother doesn't want to be anywhere else except at your side."

  Allen leaned back slightly and looked at Bandit, his doubtful expression bringing a smile to Bandit's face.

  "Okay. At the moment, he doesn't want to be here. He wants to be beside Gianni, and I say all the more power to him."

  "I didn't realize there was anything between them. Roman always seemed more partial to women than men, but maybe it's just Gianni he likes. I don't know. We never talked about the pack once we were sold. It hurt too much to think of everything we'd lost."

  Allen fell silent, and Bandit figured he was thinking about his family. Nothing but heartache rested in those thoughts.

  "I talked to my mom," he mentioned.

  "How is everyone?"

  "She wasn't happy to hear Grime is more than likely targeting your pack for revenge." Bandit drew Allen even closer.

  He hated the idea of Allen in danger from the psychotic non-preter. Grime had proven he would go to any length necessary to achieve his goal. Killing Allen would be a drop in the bucket for the man.

  "What about the others' assignments?"

  Bandit grimaced as he thought about the rest of the news his mother gave him. It wasn't good.

  "Marvus has checked out some of the sickest lycans in Jess's pack, but he hasn't determined anything new aside from what they already know."

  Allen hesitated before saying, "It is parvo, right?"

  "Yes, but some kind of mutant strain that's killing lycans left and right. Some do survive, but they're not the same mentally as they were before the illness. I think Grime is using biological weapons against us, as well as all the other things he's doing to us." Bandit sighed. "Nick and Gryphon have arrived at the High Council, but they're being stonewalled."

  "They knew it would happen," Allen reminded him.

  Bandit nodded. "Yeah, they did, but what the High Council doesn't know is that Nick's spirit guide isn't going to tolerate such disrespect for much longer. Serpens will force his way into the High Council's chamber, and they will hear what Nick has to say."

  Avatars were rare in the preternatural world and to have one whom all the gods protect is even more rare. The council members wouldn't know what hit them once Nick got going. Bandit smiled at the thought of all those stodgy elders dealing with someone like Nick. Good thing the former human had Gryphon and Serpens to keep an eye on him.

  "What about Jess and Pavel? Has anything new been discovered about where they might be?" Allen stroked his hands over Bandit's chest. "It worries me that we haven't heard anything more from them. Nick couldn't get in touch with Jess before we left. I hope it means something other than they're dead."

  Bandit tried to focus on their conversation instead of how he enjoyed Allen's hands on his body. "We need to have hope. Both Jess and Pavel are strong and they'll find a way to free themselves from Grime's clutches. If not, then we'll end up going after them."

  He meant what he said. Nick and Gryphon had become a part of the pack, even with Gryphon being a vampire. Jess and Pavel were their best friends, which meant even though they hadn't spent much time with the Canis pack, they were considered members as well. Savannah would do everything in her power to bring them home, and when they did come back, hopefully they wouldn't be too scarred by what had happened to them.

  The touch of Allen's fingers on Bandit's stomach brought his attention back to the man in his arms and his growing erection. He rolled until Allen lay on his back, looking up at Bandit. He leaned down and kissed Allen, who tensed slightly, but didn't push him away.

  Their arms tangled and their legs entwined as they kissed, discovering how each other tasted. Bandit loved the way Allen felt against him as he pressed his body into Allen's. He slid his hands down Allen's back to grasp his butt. Massaging the firm muscles drew another moan from Allen, and Bandit trailed his finger down Allen's crease to rub over his hole. Allen tilted his ass, silently begging for more. Bandit eased away and pressed kisses along Allen's throat to his chest, where he teased and sucked on Allen's nipples.

  "Oh, please. More."

  Allen undulated beneath Bandit, trying to get him to move where he wanted, but Bandit was going to progress at his own pace. He brought the fingers of one of his hands up to Allen's mouth and pressed them in.

  "Get them good and wet," he ordered.

  Allen nodded and opened, swirling his tongue around Bandit's fingers before letting them in. While Allen made sure Bandit's fingers were taken care of, Bandit slipped farther down and licked a line along the underside of Allen's shaft.

  When he thought his fingers were wet enough, Bandit removed them from Allen's mouth and began playing with Allen's hole again. He caressed Allen once before slowly invading the man's opening. Bandit wrapped his lips around the head of Allen's cock and swallowed him down.

  "Oh, my God!" Allen cried out, hands g
ripping the sheets beside them.

  Bandit kept going until Allen hit the back of his throat, then he began working Allen the best he could with both his mouth and his fingers. Allen shuddered and cried out with each thrust. Bandit kept Allen relaxed while stretching him.

  A tap to the side of his head had him looking up. Allen met his gaze and smiled.

  "I'm close. I don't want to come until you're inside me."

  Bandit hummed, and Allen trembled. He let Allen's cock slide from his mouth and placed a quick kiss on the slick head. After grabbing the foil packet, he tore it open and pulled the rubber out. As he rolled it down over his erection, he couldn't help but think how weird it was to be using one with Allen.

  As lycans, they couldn't catch human diseases, but he was so used to using protection when he slept with human lovers, he didn't think about it. Allen stared at him, and Bandit decided he'd talk to him about that later. He squirted some lube on his palm and coated his cock with it.

  Allen reached down and pulled his legs up and out, exposing himself. "Come on, Bandit. I don't want to wait any longer."

  Grinning, Bandit positioned his body over Allen's and began to sink into Allen's hot inner passage an inch at a time. Their gazes connected and froze together as he filled Allen's ass until he couldn't go any farther. He paused for a moment, letting Allen get used to him being inside him.

  A slight relaxation in Allen's body gave Bandit the clue it was time to move. He pulled almost all the way out before plunging back in, speeding up with each thrust until he pounded into his lover. Allen reached up and braced his hands on the headboard, so he didn't bang his head against it as Bandit fucked him.

  Bandit drove them both closer and closer to the edge. He used more force than he usually did. Since Allen was a lycan like Bandit, he didn't have to worry he'd hurt him with his superior strength. With non-preters, Bandit always had to be careful, and it took some of the shine from sex for him.

  He wrapped one of his hands around Allen's cock, letting the power of his thrusts stroke Allen's heated flesh through the ring of his fingers. Allen closed his eyes and groaned.

  "So close, Bandit. I'm gonna come," Allen warned him.

  "Go ahead, love. I've got you," Bandit promised, and deep in his heart, he knew the words were true. Allen had invaded every atom of Bandit's mind and soul.

  Allen threw back his head and cried out. Bandit continued moving fast, shoving Allen straight over the edge into his climax. A few seconds later, Bandit followed him, adding his own howl to the sounds filling the room. Hot liquid spilled over his hand and his own cum flooded the condom.

  They trembled together, coming down from their pleasure slowly. Bandit eased out of Allen and rolled onto his back, making sure to keep one hand on Allen's stomach. As his breathing steadied, he climbed to his feet and wandered to the bathroom. He got rid of the condom and cleaned up before wetting a washcloth and going back to clean up Allen.

  Bandit tossed the cloth back toward the bathroom and joined Allen in bed again. He curled around Allen, drawing the man back against him. Allen sighed, entwining their fingers while they drifted in the darkness.

  "Why did you leave your pack?"

  Allen's question came out of nowhere, but Bandit realized he should have guessed his lover would ask at some point. He didn't really want to talk about it, but no matter how much he would have preferred never to talk about it, he had to be truthful about his past.

  He slipped out of bed again and went to stare out the window. The parking lot was shadow-covered with pools of light splashing in even intervals from the street lamps.

  "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Allen said, letting him off the hook.

  Bandit shook his head. "No. It's something I should tell you. I'm not proud of what I did, and it's why I left."

  "Did you kill someone?"

  He shot a look over his shoulder at Allen, who was sitting up in bed, covers pooled around his waist.

  "No. I wouldn't have left if I did. Killing wouldn't have affected my pride." Bandit clenched his hands.

  Why was he letting it affect him so much? It was over two years ago, and it wasn't like he'd really done anything wrong. Yet it was one more thing his family would use to make him feel useless or stupid. Christ, one would think he was the youngest instead of Lou. Yes, some of his actions were childish, and maybe his pack had the right to think of him as silly and foolish.

  He often played the clown or the smart ass because, well, every family had to have one and none of the others seemed to be stepping up for the role. Plus it was part of his personality not to take things quite as seriously as others did.

  "So what did you do?" Allen's curiosity showed in his question.

  "I fell in love with my sister's husband."

  Silence greeted his confession, and finally he couldn't take it anymore. He turned to look at Allen. His lover sat there, frowning. Bandit rolled his eyes and heaved a mental sigh. He should have known it wouldn't be easy to explain why he left.

  "You fell in love with Darren?"

  "Yes. Before he and Patches got together, he'd come to the bar. We got to be friends." Bandit turned back to the window and ran his hand through his hair. "Stupid really, considering I knew he was straight, but I couldn't help it. It's so stereotypical as well. Gay guy falls for straight guy."

  "Does Patches know you love her husband?"

  Something in Allen's tone made Bandit whirl around to stare at him.

  "I'm not still in love with him. That's why I ended up coming home. Well, that and the fact I missed everyone. I wasn't exactly setting the world on fire while working in the city. The best I ever did was when I helped Max with a couple runaways."

  "But Patches and Darren married long before you ran away. Why did you wait so long to take off?"

  "I thought I could handle it, but slowly it got to be too much. So I left before I made a complete ass of myself." Bandit shrugged.

  "Does anyone else know?"

  "Lassie might have guessed, but she wouldn't say anything to anyone else. I think the others just thought I was being my usual idiotic self. No one's really asked me why I went, and I haven't seen the point in enlightening them. By the time I got back, I was over Darren. I could see him with Patches and not feel like my heart was being ripped out of my chest."

  Allen climbed out of bed and walked over to him. Bandit met his lover's eyes and lifted the corner of his mouth with a slight smile.

  "I know it seems like a crazy idea for me to run away, but I didn't want to do anything to upset the rest of the pack. I was extremely jealous of Patches and her relationship with Darren, because I knew there wasn't ever a chance for us." He paused for a moment. "Darren never guessed how I felt about him either, and I hope he never does. I don't want to ruin the friendship I have with him, or make Patches feel bad."

  Allen reached out and cradled Bandit's face in his hands. He brought their lips together. Bandit rested his hands on Allen's hips, but didn't try anything beyond the kiss. When they broke apart, he looked at Allen.

  "I know. It's a stupid reason to run away from your pack, but I was so confused at the time, and it seemed like the only way to make things better for me. Also, I was acting crazy, and I know my mother was starting to get fed up with my antics." Bandit dropped his gaze to stare at Allen's chest. "In the end, I think it was a good thing to be away from them. I learned to rely on myself and not expect them to always have my back."

  "I don't think it was stupid. You obviously had problems you needed to work out on your own, plus you didn't want to hurt Patches. We both know it would have bothered her to know you loved her husband, even if she said it wouldn't."

  Bandit nodded. Patches was the quiet one of the pack, but she tended to be more sensitive than the rest. It was the main reason why he'd decided to leave, instead of hanging around and acting like a complete jackass around the couple.

  "I love my niece and nephew, and Darren and Patches really are perfect for eac
h other." He looked back up to meet Allen's steady gaze again. "I'm happy I came home. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have met you."

  A smile danced around the edges of Allen's lips. "As shitty as my life has been up until now, I have to admit in a way I'm glad for everything that's happened to me. All the crap has led to the moment I met you."

  Bandit kissed Allen again, invading the other lycan's mouth with his tongue. Allen wound his arms around Bandit's shoulders, crushing their bodies tightly together. Bandit slid his hands down to grasp Allen's butt, lifting Allen up so he could wrap his legs around Bandit's waist. They stumbled to the bed, and Bandit dropped on it, making sure he fell on his back. He didn't want to hurt Allen.

  Allen straddled him and grabbed the bottle of lube from where it'd been forgotten under one of the pillows. Bandit moaned as Allen squirted slick all over his cock.

  "I want you to fuck me," Allen said.

  Bandit held the base of his erection and watched as Allen slowly lowered himself on to it. Thank the Gods, Allen was still stretched from their last time. He sank right in without any pause. Allen leaned forward, braced his hands on Bandit's chest, and began to move.

  Reaching up, Bandit clasped Allen's hips and thrust up with each downward plunge from Allen. Soon the sound of skin against skin filled the room, along with the smell of sex. Bandit gritted his teeth as his climax swelled within him. He didn't want to come yet. He wanted Allen to find his pleasure first before he let go. He peeled one hand from Allen's waist and surrounded Allen's cock with his fingers.

  "Gods, that's perfect." Allen's head dropped back and his eyes closed as he rode Bandit.

  Bandit urged Allen to move faster, and he felt the slender man swell in his hand.

  "Bandit, I'm going to come," Allen warned.

  With a grunt, Bandit buried himself deep and came, knowing it would push Allen over the edge. Hot cum covered his hand and stomach as he milked Allen for every drop. Allen shuddered and cried out, while Bandit growled low in his throat as he flooded Allen with his own seed.

  Allen collapsed on top of him, and Bandit encircled him with one arm while holding the other hand away from them. He drifted, breathing in Allen's scent and realizing just how much Allen had come to mean to him. Any feelings he might have had for Darren were minuscule compared to how he felt for Allen.