“No! Shut up! Good night!”
And with that, Garry turned off the light.
Chapter 22
Goodnight Carson
Sam was already in the room when Carson arrived, sitting on the far bed with his back to the door, eyes fixed on the phone in his lap. He looked small, almost childlike, all hunched down around the device, and his eyes went wide as saucers when he turned around to see Carson entering.
“Hey,” Carson waved casually, a little dismayed at how jumpy Sam was. It wasn’t like it could be anyone else at the door.
Sam looked down quickly, turning back to his phone. “Hi.” Whatever he was doing was clearly more interesting than talking to Carson.
He decided that he didn’t care, or at least that he’d try not to, and he sat down on his own bed and tugged off his shoes. Sam still wasn’t acknowledging him, so Carson cleared his throat. “Have you talked to Drew yet?” That seemed like a safe topic. And judging from how quickly Sam turned around to look at him, the man was clearly on his mind.
“Yes,” Sam answered, staring at Carson, amber eyes boring into him. There was something unnerving about the look in Sam's eyes. Something almost sinister, almost inhuman. Carson wanted to squirm beneath his gaze, it felt so intense, so needlessly searching, and he instantly felt a pang of guilt for even daring to think about Sam in such a way.
Sam was nice to him, always had been, even when he was in a bad mood. It was messed up of him to think he saw anything inhuman in his eyes. And it was bizarre. Whatever it was that Carson thought he saw, was probably just only concern over Drew's health.
Of course, Sam had spoken with Drew. Those two were practically joined at the hip and everyone knew it. As teammates on Rockfort they naturally developed a familiarity with one another. Translating it to the National Team was a natural extension of their bond. But it was also clear that they were also fond of each other off the field as well, since they lingered in each other’s presence even when given the opportunity to branch out. Carson couldn’t tell whether it was Sam’s shyness which dictated this strange dynamic or if it was Drew’s ego driving them together. Either way, there was no denying that having one without the other was pretty strange.
Carson raised his eyebrows, to prompt him to speak. “And? Is he alright? He scared the shit out of us, passing out like that.”
Sam held his gaze a moment before his phone buzzed and lit up in his hand. He frowned slightly, looking down at his phone once again. “The doctors will have to carry out further testing tomorrow, but he says it’s just a stomach flu.” He looked up, an air of finality about him. Carson found the intensity in Sam’s face highly unnerving. “So, it’s just the stomach flu.”
“Then he’s better where he is, in the hospital.” Carson said, agreeing with the assessment, even if it seemed a little premature. No sense in arguing with Sam about it though, and better to think positive thoughts. It could have been a lot worse than a stomach bug, after all. “He’ll probably be feeling better by morning. Maybe he’ll even get to come cheer us on tomorrow.” It was unlikely, but a little optimism never hurt anyone.
Something passed over Sam’s face just then, a twitch of a smile. Sharp white teeth nibbled on his lower lip and he nodded. “If I know him,. He’ll be there tomorrow.”
“You sound so certain.” Carson laughed, falling flat on his back on the bed, his legs dangling over the edge at the knees. “What if he’s puking his guts out or something. You think the doctors will release him if he’s so sick he can’t stand up?”
“I told you,” Sam said, tracing a long finger around the square edges of his phone. Carson watched him from the corner of his eyes, noting the look of fondness which passed over him as he did. “I know Drew. And if he says he’ll be there, he will be there.”
* * *
The only word to really describe Carson’s dream that night was otherworldly. He wasn’t sure where he was. His mind didn’t connect anything being amiss at first, just registered that he was in an orchard, surrounded by beautiful plants, and he felt completely at ease in this green, floral setting. The sky was a deep purple, a cool sort of hue, and overhead shone the golden- yellow moon. The stars stood out against the backdrop of the sky like a swarm of fireflies, and if it hadn’t been for the fact that he was all alone in a strange orchard, he might have found it kind of romantic.
He stared at one of the blooming plants, nose wrinkling as he rolled up onto his toes in order to reach one of the low hanging fruits there. Try as he might, though, he wasn’t quite tall enough to reach it. As he did, he was suddenly aware that he wasn’t alone and he turned his eyes to discover he was face to face with Ian.
His heart skipped a beat and he smiled.
“Need a hand?” Ian asked, not waiting for him to answer. He easily plucked one of the strong, bright fruits and brought it to his lips, biting into it before offering it to Carson. “You look hungry.”
He grinned unabashedly and accepted it with both hands. “You’re always looking out for me, aren’t you, Ian?”
“Always,” Ian smirked, red juice dripping from his lips. His tongue quickly darted out and he licked it away. Carson stared at Ian’s mouth a moment before looking up into Ian’s dark eyes, which had a glint of something mysterious in them. He liked that look in Ian’s eyes.
Laughing, Carson brought the fruit to his own mouth., He was half a second away from biting into it when he heard someone else in the distance, calling out to him.
“Carson! Stop!”
His attention turned, and there, sprinting through the rows of fruit trees was Garry, out of breath and looking angry.
“Don’t eat it!” Garry hissed, running toward them at full speed.
He frowned, eyes narrowing at his old friend. “What? Why? What’s going on?”
“Stay away from him!” Garry yelled, and was met with an inhuman growl which took Carson by surprise. He looked back to Ian, but instead of seeing Ian, he found that he was face to face with a dark-furred, snarling monster.
“What the—!” Carson dropped the fruit, stumbling away from Ian, bumping into one of the trees. He stood there, dumbstruck at the sight as the creature growled and lunged toward him.
It happened so quickly then;, in a flash of fur and fists. As Carson tried to shield himself with his arms, he caught a glimpse of Garry diving to tackle the creature, knocking it to the soil with a heavy thud. The beast let out a terrifying howl, unearthly in how the way it seemed to echo and bounce off the foliage, defying the laws of sound, rolling back onto its four great paws as it leapt at Garry.
“Garry!” Carson cried out, but it was too late. His friend was taken to the ground by the animal, which was now staring at Carson with its dark, glowing eyes, as if to say you’re next, you’re next, you’re next.
Carson’s heart was pounding, an adrenaline rush overtaking him. He suddenly didn’t feel afraid anymore. Breathing in, he felt a sense of serenity as he prepared to surrender to the beast.
* * *
Carson woke with a start at the sound of banging in the room adjacent to theirs. Dream immediately forgotten, Carson sat up in bed with a rattling gasp, disoriented as he fumbled around for the lamp on the bedside table. Sam sat up in his own bed, equally confused at whatever was going on.
“What the fuck is that noise?” Carson groaned, shielding his eyes once the light was on. The clock on the table read 2:02 AM.
“Shhh!” Sam hissed back, pushing off his blankets as he found his feet. “Listen.”
Carson frowned but obeyed, tilting his head so he could better pinpoint the source of the ongoing thumping sounds from the room next door. “It’s definitely coming from that room. Who the hell is in there anyway?”
Sam’s brows furrowed as he approached the wall, pressing his ear up against it. Just as he did, the muffled sound of a voice came from the other side. “Cassius and Adrian,” he said, arms folded across his bare chest. There was something off about the way he stood there. Sam seemed in
command of the situation, both calm and angry at the same time. It might have worried Carson if he wasn't too busy being tired and frustrated to really pay close attention.
“Cassius and Adrian need to shut the fuck up! It’s four in the morning and we have a game this evening.” And Carson had breakfast plans with Ian. He needed his beauty sleep if he was going to compete with Sam. “Move out of the way. I want to bang on the wall and yell at them.” And they thought Carson was the irresponsible one. Ha!.
“I’ll go tell them to knock it off,” Sam said calmly, waving a hand before Carson could protest. He watched lamely as Sam left the room, and he listened in rapt wonder at the strange and curiously wild sounds coming through the wall. Whatever was going on in there almost sounded more like a dog fight than an actual human conversation.
Yawning, he climbed out of his bed and wandered over to the window, pushing open the curtains enough to see the bright yellow moon over the skyline. He couldn't tell if it was full or not. Maybe it had been the night before, or maybe it would be tomorrow or the next day. He couldn't remember which was waxing and which was the other thing. Either way it was really beautiful. He rubbed his eyes and let himself admire the scenery for a moment until a sharp, decisive sounding snarl pierced through the common wall and grabbed his attention.
“What the hell...?”
Now he was really worried. He drew the curtains closed again, deciding that maybe he should go over to Cassius and Adrian's room to serve as back up. Or maybe he should call Ian. Ian would know what to do. And he would look gorgeous doing it, so it would be a win-win situation.
The growling noises grew louder and louder, as Carson grew even more and more concerned that maybe Cassius and Adrian had smuggled some Rottweilers into their hotel room or something. Seconds later, Sam casually reappeared, no worse for wear, but somewhat more tense looking than he'd been only a few minutes before. Clearly there weren't any vicious animals around, but he did seem out of sorts.
“What’s going on over there?” Carson demanded, approaching Sam to inspect him.
“They were watching TV.”
That had to be the stupidest excuse in the world and Carson didn’t buy it. Besides, what sort of TV made noises similar to that of a bed frame being banged repeatedly against a wall? He might be stupid, but he wasn’t that dumb. Carson paused, giving a sly grin. “Were they naked?”
“It was a horror movie.” Sam’s voice had an authority to it which Carson hadn’t ever heard before, and for some reason, he felt like he shouldn’t question it further. “Anyways, they apologized. Now back to bed.”
Carson watched as Sam walked past him to his bed and crawled in again, settling down to check his phone like there had been nothing at all unusual about the obvious sex sounds and deafening canine cries which had came from the other room only minutes before. Maybe this entire scenario had been a dream. It was the only scenario Carson could use to truly explain the bizarre factors of the situation he was presently in.
Grudgingly, he climbed back into bed too, double-checking the alarm clock before he switched off the bedside lamp.
“Good night, Sam.”
“Good night, Carson.”
They were both quiet for a minute or so before Carson spoke again. “What movie?”
“Huh?” Sam had nearly been on the verge of asleep. Carson almost felt bad.
“You said they were watching a movie. What movie was it?”
Sam shifted in his bed. Carson could see his outline rolling over onto his side so that he was facing the windows. “Will you shut up and go to sleep if I tell you they were having sex?”
In the dark, Carson’s whole face lit up. “Holy shit! Really? I was mostly sort of kidding about that!”
“Good night, Carson.”
“Those two? I knew it! Just as I suspected! But don’t worry, I won’t tell anybody! I just have to say for the record, though, that I totally saw this coming!”
“Carson.”
“Remember when they snuc—”
“Good night, Carson.”
Carson stifled a sigh, then flipped over onto his belly. He was impossibly wired and suddenly had the urge to engage in a full-blown gossip fest. But he could be patient. He could be mature about this. Today was game day. The gossip could wait until they boarded the plane the next day. “All right, fine. Good night, Sam."
Chapter 23
A Bite
Sam's mind was racing, torn between thoughts of Drew and his encounter with Cassius and Adrian. Those idiots, he thought, exhaling into his pillow.
Across the room, Carson began to softly snore.
“Idiots,” he muttered, shutting his eyes tight, trying to force the image from his mind of a disheveled and very flustered Cassius, completely naked save for a hastily retrieved towel to preserve some dignity. He had sweat on his brow and a mortified look on his face as Sam had tentatively opened the door and found them in the throes of passion.
Okay, so Sam had more or less come to terms with Cassius as a sexual being, and he was reluctantly willing to accept that he was involved with Adrian, but the confirmation of their union at 2 AM was definitely not something he needed, especially after the day he’d had. Luckily Cassius was smart enough to sense when to shut up and accept a lecture. Adrian on the other hand..well…
He was laid on the bed, shirtless and perched there like a king on a throne, watching in amusement as Sam went off, eyebrows raised, while his lover stood there like a scolded schoolboy. Sam wasn’t impressed.
“Oh, go back to bed, Sam,” Adrian said with a yawn, not quite dismissive, but close enough to it that Sam felt his blood boiling. “The mood’s gone anyway. You’ve killed it.”
Sam sputtered, taking a step toward the bed. “I—I what? Are you crazy? You idiots were so loud, Carson and I could hear every single—”
“Okay! I said we were sorry!” Cassius reminded him.
Sam sighed and slowly looked back at Cassius. “What were you two thinking? We have a game today!”
“And standing there reminding us about it isn’t going to get us to sleep any faster.”
Sam let out a low, almost wolfish growl, eyes narrowing at Adrian.
“Hey, come on, knock it off, both of you two,” Cassius frowned, reaching out to pat Sam’s shoulder, clutching the towel around his hips. “We’re sorry. It won’t happen again. In fact, we’re going to bed right now.”
Watching Sam, Adrian gave a shrug in response. Sam didn’t believe them, but what choice did he have? It was 2 AM and he was exhausted. They all ought to be exhausted.
Finally, he gave a small sigh of resignation. “Whatever. Just be quiet. I swear if you wake me up again, I’ll—”
“I’ll show you out, Sam,” Cassius said quietly, nudging him to the door. From the bed, Adrian waved.
“He’s such a jerk,” Sam hissed between his teeth as Cassius followed him into the hallway.
“He’s really not,” Cassius said, smiling a little, still visibly anxious. “You just came in at a bad time. Knock first. Next time I won’t let you borrow the key to my room.”
Sam stared at him with dead eyes.
“I said we were sorry!” Cassius said, laughing and pleading and trying to keep his voice down all at the same time. “It wasn’t premeditated or anything.”
“I don’t need to know the details. I need to sleep. Sorry for barging in.”
“Okay, okay, I know you’re stressed.” Cassius sighed, looking somber then. “How’s Drew?”
Sam flinched a little, then shrugged. “He’ll be alright. They think he might have had a combination of heat exhaustion and the stomach flu.”
Cassius grinned. “Yeah? I’m happy to hear he’s okay.”
“You’ll be even happier if you get some sleep.” Sam replied.
“You’ll be even happier once you come back to bed!” Adrian’s voice called from inside the room. Cassius blushed. Sam groaned.
“Keep it down. I’m serious.” Sam said, stalking
off.
“We will,” Cassius whispered before slipping back into his room and shutting the door behind him.
* * *
“Now, where were we?” Adrian leered, beckoning to Cassius from the bed. Cassius hesitated, looking at his lover, slowly and deliberately bolting the door shut. Adrian raised his eyebrows, waiting for Cassius to join him, to resume their previous activities before Sam had so rudely interrupted them. “We were just getting to the interesting part. You were about to—”
“Adrian, I don’t…I’m scared…” Cassius swallowed hard as he walked back to the bed, his nerves overcoming him, more so now since they’d been disturbed.
“I’m not afraid. I told you. I want this.” Adrian reached out for him, the space between them too far for either of them to touch, Cassius finally closed the gap and sank to his knees beside the bed. “This is for us, Cass. For us. So we can be together, completely.”
He carefully threaded his fingers through Cassius’s hair, both of them relaxing;, the only sounds either of them could hear were their hearts beating and their breathing. Cassius looked up at him, dark eyes wide and frightened. Adrian looked down at him, excited, hopeful, and as in control as he’d ever been. “What if I tell you I love you again? You know I do. Do you want me to tell you again?”
“Adrian, please.”
“I love you. Now, do it. I'm ready, do it.”
Cassius began gently kissing Adrian’s palm, and then pulled away as he tossed the towel he’d been wearing aside. He stood, as if to leave, causing Adrian to frown. “Where are you going?”
“To the bathroom. I’m not sure I can even do this without the full moon. Besides, you really don’t want to see this.”
Adrian stood up quickly. “Don’t be ridiculous. I want to see. I need to see.”
“Baby—”
“Do it here.”
Cassius paused, clenching his fists as he breathed deeply in and then out. Adrian watched him closely and took a step toward him before Cassius turned, a hand raised to stop him. “Stay back. Please.”
Howl At The Moon: MM Shifter Romance Page 16
