Hunter's Moon

by Susan Laine

  With sharp zinging sounds, his talons sprung out, and the wolf within him was purring, striving to be free to hunt. Soon, he promised himself. Every sensation heightened as he focused on not losing his mate to the night. Tracking was one of his brother Michael’s skills, not Gabe’s, but he could still hold his own on the hunt. Blood was thrumming through his veins as his still-human mind concentrated on counting down the time he had promised his mate. From Kieran’s expression, Gabe had known the man did not believe Gabe would hurt him, so he must have understood the nature of the game.

  He could not contain the burst of sound within anymore, so tilting his head back and straightening his back, he howled into the darkness. All other animal and bird noises ceased, and silence reigned in the night. This was his night—the night of the hunter.

  At last, he sighed. Time is at hand.

  Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply, searching for his mate’s unique scent.

  Crouching instinctively when he sniffed Kieran, Gabe felt his wolf overcome the few measly safeguards of humanity and push through. Good thing he was wearing just loose jeans as they gave him enough mobility to shift. Growing taller, bulkier, hairier, Gabe morphed into a half-human, half-wolf and let out another howl.

  Without another warning to his fleeing mate, Gabe sprinted into action. He ran as both human on two feet and as a wolf on all fours. Twigs, rocks, grass, puddles, sand—all these he felt underneath his bare feet and hands, but that did not stop him from racing through the sacred land that had belonged to his kind even before his family and his pack had taken charge. Storming forward, Gabe felt the rush of wind against his face, bringing him the smell of dry grass, wet soil, animal tracks, and all other natural odors strongly. He felt alive. He felt as though lightning had hit him, jolted him to a level of suspense and desire he had never experienced before.

  Kieran.

  Grinding to a halt at a rock formation overlooking the vale and creating a dust cloud in his wake, Gabe stopped to take a deep whiff. He could not believe how far Kieran had gotten in such a short amount of time, and barefoot too. Gabe was impressed—and aroused. A powerful craving for his mate coursed through his veins, sizzling just underneath his skin and bubbling in his groin. His erection pushed against the buttons of his jeans painfully, and he needed relief, even if he had to pin his mate to the ground and grind against him till sparks flew out of that pleasurable friction.

  Fresh water assailed his olfactory senses as he came to realize how close they were to the Blue River that had once given its name to the town close by, beyond the woods and the ridge. He scrabbled down the outcroppings until he reached the rapids, where the river that ran through the plains dropped down eighty feet to a gorge, the waterfall running amid sharp, out-jutting rock landings for fifty feet and then cascading like a shower down the last thirty feet or so.

  Oh.

  Gabe started chuckling when he got wind of Kieran’s thought process.

  “Smart, Kieran. Coming here where I can’t hear you over the rush of the water, where I can’t see you through the mist of the waterfall, where I can’t smell you with this natural display drowning out my wolf senses. Oh, Kieran, so smart of you.” He didn’t bother masquerading or hiding the naked admiration in his voice. If he had wanted his mate before, now he was borderline desperate to find him and fuck him into oblivion and ecstasy.

  Standing very still, closing his eyes and letting go of his hot imaginings of sex with his mate, Gabe scoured the surroundings, reaching out with the tendrils of his wolf senses, attempting to locate the man who was going to be his tonight.

  Gradually, he was able to separate sounds, smells, tastes, all sensations—until he heard only the rapid beating of a heart mixed with an equally fast-paced shallow breathing.

  There. Behind the rocks. On the other side of the waterfall.

  Grinning triumphantly, Gabe let out a fierce bark, stepped back, and used his wolf strength and speed to jump the gully. Nothing stirred, but now he could smell Kieran too. So close as his natural body odor overrode all other fragrances in the cool, dry night air.

  “There you are, babe. Gotcha.” Gabe spoke into the darkness, not knowing exactly where Kieran was yet. Then he allowed himself to enter into the fever of a wolf in mating, and his eyes morphed further. This was a stage previously unfamiliar to him, as he had never mated before, and the feel of the beast within swept over him, surpassing his human instincts until he was pure wolf.

  The faint traces of human warmth on the ground, blades of grass stepped over, twigs bent and broken, the rasp of his breath not far away.

  “Kieran….” Gabe was only vaguely aware that his words came out as mere growls.

  All of a sudden a dark shape lunged at him.

  At exactly the same moment, Gabe pounced.

  Gabe caught Kieran in his arms, and they rolled over the rocks, Kieran’s grunts of pain accompanying the gush of water as they tilted to the edge of the waterfall, their bodies drenched under the cascade. Kieran was giving it his all, as though he was fighting for his life, and Gabe was on top of the world, too horny to notice the cuts and bruises borne on his own skin.

  Unexpectedly, Gabe was too far gone to observe how close they were to the rim until they had already tipped over it and plunged into the cold mountain waters. Fighting to reach the surface and for breath, they both slid along the brisk stream, down the terraces under the waves, until at last they fell the last few feet into the pool beneath.

  Plummeting into the cold, clear waters was not the worst part of the ordeal for Gabe. Scared out of his mind, Gabe burst out of the water, searching for Kieran frantically when he was suddenly yanked hard beneath the surface. For a moment he did not know who he was struggling with, the rapid flow of the river, or Kieran.

  Dazed, Gabe finally managed to get some distance from his battling companion and find solid ground in the riverbed. He was coughing as he got up, thigh-deep in the cool waters. On the opposite bank Kieran was dragging himself out of the water, shivering, soaking wet, and clearing his throat, spitting out water.

  In one jump Gabe closed the distance between them and embraced Kieran roughly, crestfallen. “Oh, Kieran. I’m so sorry. I never meant for you to get hurt—”

  Kieran shoved him off. “You asshole.” Gabe was mortified when to his surprise his mate’s right hook connected with his jaw, sending him staggering backward into the river until he landed there on his backside. Shock undoubtedly written all over his face, Gabe stared stunned at Kieran—who grinned wolfishly. “Now catch me if you can, puppy.” At that he laughed with a raspy tone and sprinted up toward the ridge of the gorge, zigzagging through the pine trees like a gust of wind, as though he had not just come tumbling down a waterfall and nearly drowned. Gabe could not help but stare in awe at Kieran’s receding figure, at the man who apparently was hiding some major energy reserves.

  While the cold water had cooled off his amorous pursuit temporarily, it was now back in full force, and with a roar he trudged out of the stream and dashed up the ridge after his playful mate. Due to Gabe’s astonishment, Kieran had gotten a good head start. Along the trail he found Kieran’s wet shirt the man had tossed aside, and Gabe took it, inhaled the whiff of his mate still clinging to the soaked fabric, and then threw the needless garment away. It wasn’t until he saw Kieran running across the tall grass of the range that expanded from the top of the ridge that he got the chance to do what he had longed for since the first sniff of his mate.

  With a high-pitched howl, Gabe scampered closer and leaped through the air, landing on Kieran’s back, and they both went twirling around in a heap of flailing arms and legs. It took him more than half a dozen rolls, but at last Gabe got Kieran tackled onto his back, with Gabe straddling his thighs, and he pinned his mate flat against the crisp-smelling grass.

  “Get off me,” Kieran muttered, exasperated, still striving to break free.

  “Na-ah.” Gabe smiled with glee. “Gotcha. Mate.” With the glow in Kieran’s blue-gray
eyes, Gabe now knew his mate had not mistaken their combative chase as anything other than foreplay. His patience had worn thin. “Kieran, I need you. Tell me I can have you tonight.”

  When Kieran’s face went blank, Gabe felt deflated. But Kieran spoke quickly. “I don’t know exactly how to do this. I’ve never been with anybody. In a relationship, I mean. Not for long, anyway. But, Gabe… you can have me tonight—and every night from here on out. It’s what I want, trust me on that.”

  That was all Gabe wanted and needed to hear.

  Without warning he dove down and conquered Kieran’s mouth. With a mere brush of Gabe’s tongue against the seam of his mate’s lips, Kieran opened up and gave him free entry, and for a good while their tongues tangled and their lips nibbled as they kissed each other breathless. He delivered a pinch of pain as he nipped at Kieran’s full lower lip, and it made the man squirm. Yet it did not go unnoticed by Gabe how Kieran’s lips quivered, hesitant, how his body trembled, nervous, and how his shortened breath indicated he was more anxious than aroused.

  Parting a hair’s breadth away, Gabe whispered, “Nothing has to happen that you feel uncomfortable with, Kieran. You say no or stop, and this ends here. Say those words at any time, and we can try other things.”

  Kieran frowned, panting. “You mean… other than your dick in my ass?”

  Gabe winced. “Crude, but accurate. But there’s so much more we can do before we cross that line—”

  “No.” Kieran shook his head, adamant. “We’re going to do that. Tonight. Right here.”

  Wanting Kieran to be sure was one thing. Wanting Kieran—period—was another, so Gabe gave in with a curt nod. “All right. But you just remember that if you want to stop—”

  “Jesus, Gabe. I’m a grown man. I know what to say. Just fucking kiss me already!”

  Grinning like the Cheshire cat, Gabe chuckled and delved into a deep kiss once again with his beloved man, cupping the sides of his face with ardor. Kieran’s strong hands wound around Gabe’s broad shoulders and pulled him down further until their bodies were lined up and connected from head to toes. The undeniable urge to explore made Gabe run his hands up and down Kieran’s body, wherever he could reach, all the luscious spots of naked, hard flesh he could so readily touch now. He rubbed the length of his body against the hard, quaking body trapped beneath him, against the dry grass, the earth still warm with the residue of the sunny day.

  Kieran’s hands slid down from Gabe’s shoulders, grabbed his ass and yanked him so close that for a moment it felt to Gabe like they had no clothes on at all. The clever, insistent fingers kneaded his buttocks through his wet, stiffening jeans as they slowly dried in the night breeze. Their hips found a rhythm of mutual movements, bumping against each other with needy jerks.

  The hunger within Gabe could not be satisfied with anything less than a joined climax, so once he had ravished and suckled Kieran’s lips enough to appease him for the moment, he nuzzled Kieran’s neck with single-minded purpose to taste every delectable inch of his man, licking a wet line at his pulse point up to suck softly at the tender earlobe. Kieran groaned and arched his back to gain more surface contact.

  “Weird…,” Kieran mumbled incoherently.

  Raising his head, puzzled, Gabe asked, “What?”

  With an abashed expression, Kieran chuckled. “Your, uh, stubble. Feels weird against my skin. Sort of tickles, sort of burns.” He shook his head. “Wow. Is this how it feels for girls too? Beard burn, I mean. Odd.”

  Gabe had to laugh at that wholeheartedly. “Would you like us to stop while I go back to the house and shave? Or perhaps find some ladies and do some comparative research?”

  Kieran’s gray eyes flashed and darkened. “You do that, and it’ll be the last thing you ever do, got that?”

  Though fiery with righteous indignation, Kieran was beauty incarnate to Gabe and his adoring gaze, an embodiment of all that he had longed for in life. After living so many centuries, he had feared that once he met his mate he would find the whole act of sex too dull to entertain anymore, but Kieran had proven to be firecracker and a tempest that shook Gabe down to his very core. There was no denying it, despite their inherent differences. They would just have to learn to adjust, to compromise, and to complement each other where they did not perfectly fit as one, rough edges and all.

  Staring intently, Gabe allowed his hands to roam the expanse of lean muscle and skin as smooth as silk, with only a faint trail of dark hair running down from Kieran’s belly button to his groin where the patch of pubes thickened. Gabe could not see beyond that as the waistband of the formal dress pants blocked his view, and he growled in frustration.

  “If you gotta problem with my pants, then shuck ’em.” Kieran—the imp—chuckled.

  Fumbling with the buttons and the fly of Kieran’s dress pants, Gabe practically tore the zipper and fabric out of his way as he shoved his hand underneath the loose boxers to the throbbing reward waiting for him there. Kieran moaned and his hips bucked the first chance Gabe got to fist his man’s hot, hard dick, which leaked a steady stream of colorless precum, the hot drops landing on Gabe’s gripping fingers, slicking them for better mobility.

  “Fuck, yeah,” Kieran muttered, his eyelids fluttering.

  Quickly, Gabe let go of that scrumptious piece of meat and proceeded to yank Kieran’s pants and underwear down further, until they were bunched around his calves, and then Gabe swallowed that pulsating cock into his mouth to the hilt. Kieran’s head thrashed about and his hands gripped Gabe’s dark-blond hair in an effort to keep his cock buried deep in his lover’s eager mouth. At the same time, Gabe tore Kieran’s rumpled clothing off the rest of the way and bent Kieran’s knees up against his chest to have better access to his lover’s nether regions.

  As he let go of Kieran’s cock with a wet plop, Gabe licked his way lower and sucked his lover’s balls into his mouth. Kieran’s whole body convulsed, and he stuffed his ass closer to Gabe and his mouth. Rubbing his fingers along his lover’s perineum, Gabe drew small circles around Kieran’s puckered hole, sliding his mouth along with his fingers. With his other hand he continued to fondle Kieran’s balls, the soft fuzz tickling his palm, the heat radiating through the soft skin in a heady bath of warmth, the sack taut and ready to explode.

  Gabe kissed Kieran’s perineum, his inner thighs, his pucker.

  Rising to his elbows to watch, Kieran asked, frowning, “Isn’t that… gross…?”

  Gabe just chuckled and grinned, shaking his head amused—and delved right back into the thick of things.

  “Your face feels like sandpaper on me,” Kieran murmured, and Gabe smiled, licking and nipping the soft perineum, silky smooth under his tongue. Gabe knew stubble could feel bristly, rough, and even scratchy against sensitive skin, but he also knew Kieran would soon get used to it—and love the feel of it. “And your tongue… it’s kind of coarse… like a dog’s….” The way Kieran shuddered as he spoke told Gabe the man was blushing at saying it, the mental association to dogs and wolves not far off. He knew his tongue could shift—just like the rest of him—but he hadn’t expected it to happen so fast and without his noticing it.

  There was nothing he could do about it anyway. The wolf had a mind of its own.

  Kissing and suckling the tender opening, savoring the pungent male musk wafting over him, Gabe then stuck the tip of his tongue inside, twirling it around as best he could within the limited space available.

  Babbling incoherently, Kieran’s hips shot up, and his moan was downright feral. With a smile Gabe continued his ministrations until Kieran was panting, his relaxed body pliant, before moving back up to take Kieran’s balls back in his mouth, licking and sucking the strained sack that shook with the intensity of the act. He quickly moved his fingers to the place where his mouth had been so that Kieran’s fluttering hole would know it wasn’t over yet.

  Hurriedly Gabe fished in his jean’s pocket for the packet of lube he had had stashed there, praying the river had not taken it.
With a vibrating sigh, Kieran’s balls still lodged in his mouth, Gabe found the packet of lube, dug it out, tore it open, and wet his fingers, continuing to rub the rim of Kieran’s anus, this time with the added slickness of lube, the cool substance warming swiftly with the motion of his hand and the heat Kieran’s body was emanating.

  “What did you put on me?” Kieran raised his head to peer at Gabe’s actions.

  Gabe let go of the balls in his mouth. “Lubricant.” He held his gaze steady at Kieran. “Do you still want to—”

  “Yeah. Stop asking, for fuck’s sake.” There was irritation in Kieran’s tone, and he nudged his body lower, closer to Gabe and his caressing digits.

  “All right,” Gabe reassured his mate. “Try to relax because if you start thinking about it, you’ll be all tense and your muscles won’t allow me entry. When I push, you push back, okay?”

  Kieran’s expression was utterly confused. “Push back—what?”

  Coughing, Gabe knew how he had to put it, but he hated the analogy. “As though you were… in the bathroom….”

  For a second it looked like Kieran didn’t get it, and Gabe couldn’t understand why he was so uncomfortable using the right terms. Suddenly Kieran’s face cleared in apparent epiphany. “Oh, you mean like taking a dump?” Pursing his lips and then chuckling, Gabe nodded, and then Kieran repeated the gesture. “Okay. Now?”

  “When I push in, you push out.”

  All first times were negotiations and experimentation, Gabe was well aware, so he gently inched his fingers around Kieran’s snug entrance, starting with a wide circle and then closing in on his target, until he was close and held a continuous, insistent weight on the twitching hole. He wanted to tell Kieran to breathe and relax, but he knew enough about his mate to know Kieran was trying to concentrate and do it himself—without instructions. So Gabe merely added pressure.