Moon Shadows

by Neena Jaydon

  Reluctantly Max made himself slow down and deal with this. "What do you mean?"

  "It's, y'know, not like the mythology says. We don't change with the full moon. We can actually change back and forth all the time." Theo's words gained momentum. "It's just that something about the cycles of the moon affects our energy levels pretty hardcore."

  "Not quite getting it yet." Max's hands played across Theo's smooth skin.

  "No one's really figured out why, but when the moon's full we feel just dragged out and sick, like, like a bad flu."

  "And are you okay now?" Max wanted to get rid of the cloth between them. He could feel the hard shapes of Theo's body but not closely enough.

  "Well, I mean, I'm okay, but still pretty weak."

  "Then let's just say we see how far we can get." Max quickly unzipped his coat and threw it aside. "Deal?" He pushed Theo's disheveled hair out of his face and tried not to smile at how red he was. Theo closed his eyes and nodded. With great restraint, Max kissed his forehead, then each eyelid, before engaging his mouth again. Now there was no hesitation in Theo's response, and new heat exploded across Max's skin. "God, I'm burning up," he said under his breath as he stripped off his shirt. He watched as Theo, eyes cracked open, unbuttoned his khakis for him; grinning, he caught Theo's hands and brought them to his chest. "Well?"

  "Not bad," Theo said, one corner of his mouth lifting and his eyebrows at jaunty angles. The overall effect was quite handsome.

  "Gee, thanks," Max said with an artificial pout; they both laughed. He liked that. Laughter was the cherry on the sex sundae: it wasn't strictly necessary, but it topped everything off nicely. It also, he thought, eased some of the tension in Theo's nervous frame. "What've you got?"

  "Hm? Oh. Bedside table."

  Max shifted across the bed and reached out to the first drawer; then he considered whose bedroom this was and went for the bottom drawer instead. In it were lubricant, a box of condoms, and a stack of what looked like comic books.

  Even though he lives alone, the naughty stuff gets hidden. Half-assed hidden. That's so like him. It was nothing more than a fleeting thought. His body was telling him how done it was with this thinking and talking nonsense.

  When he turned, Theo had straightened himself out on the bed. He watched Max with his lower lip clamped between his teeth. Max didn't take his eyes off of him as he got out of the rest of his clothes. He all but leapt on top of Theo, skating his mouth down his neck. Theo's arms stole around him, then tightened. He tilted his head back, baring his throat for Max to explore as well. His skin smelled smoky-sweet, that scent lingering on Max's tongue when he inhaled.

  Both of them were breathing faster; Max moaned softly as he shifted against Theo, his hardened cock sliding across that flat belly. He moved downward, mouth playing over Theo's tightly defined chest, until he knelt between his legs. There he got a good look at Theo's half-erect cock and gave it an encouraging stroke. Theo moved his pelvis restlessly.

  "I guess you might not be too tired," Max said, hearing huskiness in his own voice. Theo nodded quickly, and relief mingled with Max's throbbing desire. I want inside him, and I want inside him now.

  Max had been secretly afraid he was dealing with an inexperienced partner, but Theo simply gave a shivering sigh when Max slipped a dampened, exploratory finger inside. While he was more passive than Max was used to, lying spread out and simply watching with a clouded gaze, he didn't seem nervous or afraid. Max groaned, getting a condom on in record time.

  "Here we go," he said, putting his hands under Theo's thighs and pushing them up. "You ready?"

  "Really ready," Theo whispered.

  "Me too." Max slowly worked his way inside. For a while, it was just their mingled breathing; Max was so excited he had to concentrate to keep himself from going too quickly. Theo accommodated him willingly, relaxing into him. "Theo, you're so perfect."

  "D-don't say that." Theo closed his eyes, exhaling on a moan as Max started to move.

  "I'll say what I want, especially when I mean it." His speech grew ragged, thrown off by the sweet pleasure of their connection. It was all incredible: Theo moaning with him, Theo pulling him closer with strong hands, Theo gazing feverishly up at him. Digging in with his feet, he pressed in, curling Theo tighter beneath him; he pounded harder, caught by Theo's lost expression.

  "Oh, Max," Theo whispered.

  "You're not weird. You're fantastic." Max panted heavily as he thrust urgently. He dimly regretted how quickly this would end, but all he could see, feel, hear, and smell was Theo, with his incredible shapes and textures. Not only was he gorgeous, he was completely present, taking Max in with his eyes as well as his body. Max couldn't remember sex this honest. Powerful ecstasy blotted out any thoughts of impressing Theo, comparing him to other lovers, or anything but the finish he rushed toward.

  "Theo!" Climax slammed into him, chasing the name from his lips.

  His over-excited hips needed to be reined in before he could free himself and let Theo stretch out his legs. Noticing that Theo's breathing was still tight, Max looked into his face, then down. Theo turned his head, biting his lip.

  "It's harder for, uh, us to...y'know, get off." His eyes narrowed, and he shifted in apparent discomfort. "It takes longer."

  For a moment Max just frowned at him. "What are the disadvantages of being a werewolf again?" This earned him an exasperated huff; before Theo could speak, he gave him a kiss on the temple. "Don't worry," he said. "I'll take care of it." Running a finger down Theo's torso, he traced the lines of his abs; then he reached lower and circled the tip of Theo's cock. Shivering, Theo tilted his head back when Max took a proper hold of him.

  It was lovely to watch. Theo's eyes were just barely open, his eyebrows jerking. Throaty sounds of approval came from between his parted lips. As he pumped at Theo's hot cock, Max circled the fingertips of his free hand around and around an erect nipple.

  He had a long time to look. Long enough that he took a surreptitious glance at the clock.

  This is impossible. Nobody has stamina like this.

  "Oh, god," Theo breathed. "Max..."

  Max dipped to kiss that rigid nipple, then raised his head as a hand clumsily bumped his cheek. Theo was giving him a plaintive look as he caressed Max's face. Smiling, touched, Max leaned in for a kiss. He shifted up and over to deepen the kiss, feeling the subtle echoes of the effect of his own touch through the uneven pressures of Theo's mouth. Theo's helpless groans hit him hard, making him tighten up. His own recovery was so quick he was surprised at himself.

  "I won't stop," he whispered, "but roll over onto your side, okay?" Theo gave a tiny nod and complied. Curving against Theo from behind, he fit himself inside. He watched Theo's face carefully and saw nothing but bliss there. This spurred on his hips and his hands. Theo was hot to the touch everywhere, raising fresh sweat on Max's skin.

  "Oh, god, yes," Theo said, one hand clutching the headboard, the other reaching back to flick across Max's side. "Do it, Max, do it."

  "You sexy little…..." Max breathed.

  "Harder," Theo groaned, pressing back into him. "Don't stop."

  "Come on, Theo. Come on."

  "Ahhh…... Max!" At last Theo jerked into climax, his body clenching around Max. Hissing through his teeth, Max grabbed Theo's hips. Bearing forward, he pressed him half onto his stomach and pulled nearly all the way out. He slid in deep once, out, in again, out, and on the third full thrust he was done. So quickly Theo was still out of breath, and Max was embarrassed.

  "You're a hard man to get finished off," he said as he eased free. And apparently I'm really not.

  "You're just har—" Theo pressed his face into the pillow.

  "What was that? Hm?" Max leaned on his back, speaking into his ear. Theo hunched his shoulders, but Max forced him out of hiding with a pinch on the behind.

  "I liked h-how hard you were, that's all," Theo said weakly.

  "Would you stop being adorable?" Max gave Theo a noisy kiss on the sho
ulder, then collapsed onto his back. He gazed at Theo's bright red ear. There's something about him that draws me in and holds me. "There's got to be an easier way to get you in the sack than finding out you're a werewolf and getting attacked by nasty spirits together."

  "Nope," Theo said, making him laugh. "Are you going to get that?"

  "What?"

  "Your cell keeps ringing."

  "Crap, it's still on vibrate." Max started digging around for his cell. He found it under the bed, unable to hear it until he'd pulled it out into the open. "You've got pretty sharp hearing."

  "Yeah, well," Theo mumbled.

  "Fifteen missed calls? It's, what—crap, is that the time?" He pushed the answer button. "Mom? What's going on? It's three in the morning."

  "Max! Where have you been?"

  *~*~*

  Theo didn't intend to eavesdrop, of course, but he suspected anyone would have been able to hear Kaitlyn's voice through the phone. Theo sat up, gazing at Max's back. Sitting on the edge of his bed, Max seemed completely comfortable with his own nudity, though his shoulders hunched a little as he spoke to his mother.

  "What do you mean Anastasia's missing?"

  "She didn't come home last night either! Max, where are you?"

  "I'm just at a friend's, Mom. I'm fine. Are you sure she didn't have any plans?"

  He was getting cold without Max, but Theo didn't want to move from where he was. This conversation chilled him in a different way.

  "She said she'd be home late, not that she was staying out. Her car's not here, and none of her friends know where she is. Where is she? Where's my daughter?"

  "Mom, calm down." Max glanced at Theo over his shoulder, his brows scrunched in obvious concern. "I'll be home in a few minutes. Just stay home and wait for me, okay?"

  "What if something's happened to her, Max? I want my daughter home, now!"

  "Just hold tight, Mom. Please." Max disconnected and jumped up from the bed. "I'm sorry. I've got to get home."

  "Where would Anastasia go?" Theo asked, also getting up. Fatigue made his muscles fight him, but the worst of the moon sickness was over.

  "I don't know," Max said. "Her boyfriend's on another continent, and her friends are all about as exciting as she is. Late nights for them are having fancy teas and doing hippy, crafty stuff." He sighed as he zipped his pants. Theo handed him his shirt. "Mom freaks out really easily, but I'm…" He threw on his shirt and rubbed a hand across his face. "I don't like this." Theo picked up a pair of jeans and drew them on. When he came clear of the neck hole of a T-shirt, he saw that Max's eyebrows were raised.

  "Can I come?" Theo scooped up Max's jacket and threw it. Max caught it and swung it on.

  "What?"

  "I might…be able to help." He glanced sidelong at Max as he stuffed his shirt hem into his jeans and then ran both hands through his hair repeatedly. Max hesitated, flipping his cell around and around in his palm. His jaw worked subtly from side to side as he regarded Theo. Trying not to let his exhaustion show, Theo waited for his decision.

  "Thanks, Theo," Max said. "You're a good friend." Tucking his cellphone into his jacket pocket, he led the way up the stairs. Theo took a false step, then rubbed briskly at his face with both hands.

  Friend? He hurried up the stairs and dipped down the hall to turn the heat back up before catching up with Max at the door. There were more important things to worry about than that. Even so, he fought down the bad taste that word had left with him.

  Neither spoke once they were in the car. This left Theo plenty of time to worry. He suspected Max broke the silence to distract them both.

  "Do any of your friends know?"

  "No." Theo grimaced.

  "Then why do you have that poster?"

  "Um, it's kind of embarrassing." Theo put a hand to the back of his neck, hesitated, scratched, then dropped it to his lap. "When I was a teenager, for a while I wouldn't stay two-legged. Grandmother tried everything. She even locked up the food so I couldn't get to it without hands." He turned his hands over and looked at his palms, his fingers loosely curled over them; he wondered when he'd become able to talk about this. "Ma was already sick then, but she made the poster. So I couldn't hide from things."

  "So you've always been a werewolf?"

  "Of course I have," Theo snapped, unable to suppress a surge of irritation at the question. "How else do you think I got this way? It runs in the family."

  "Your parents were too?"

  Theo shook his head. An oncoming car's headlights made him wince. "Only on my mom's side. Not everybody inherits. It's just me and Grandmother—" He stopped, biting his lip. "Just me, now, in my immediate family."

  "How long ago did your grandmother pass away?" Max glanced at him, tone softening.

  "Seventeen months ago, with this moon."

  "And the bedroom upstairs was hers."

  "Y-yeah. Why?" Theo rubbed at his cheek, feeling stubble. Outside, the streets were half-heartedly busy; it was still early.

  "You're still in the basement because you think it's still her house."

  "It is." Theo looked uncomfortable. "Territory's—important." Max sighed heavily, sliding his hands back and forth along the curve of the steering wheel.

  "Theo, I'm sorry. My dad passed when I was four, so I know how it feels."

  "Your dad? But—"

  "He's my stepdad. I've known him since I was five, so he's dad to me now too." Max cleared his throat, then twitched his lips in an almost-smile. "I guess I can actually tell you, can't I? My first dad didn't actually leave my life until I was twelve."

  "Huh?"

  "He hung around spiritually for years. I heard his voice before I had any clue that talking to dead people wasn't normal." Max smiled weakly. "Being a werewolf runs in your family; being a medium runs in mine."

  "So you had a stepdad and a ghost dad." Theo gazed wide-eyed at the dashboard.

  "Yup." Max shrugged.

  "That wasn't weird?"

  "It should've been, but I didn't know any better. It helped in a lot of ways. He was talking to Mom too, so when she got married again, he knew about it. He'd already seen that Ambrose was a decent guy, open- minded, and it made it easier for him to accept. I don't know, I've got a huge extended family; it was just that much bigger." Bringing the car to a stop at an intersection, he reached out to touch Theo's shoulder. That touch confused Theo; he didn't know if it was meant to comfort him, or to comfort Max himself, or as an expression of affection. And then something struggled through the mist in his brain.

  "Anastasia can too, right?"

  "Yes," Max said grimly, removing his hand and driving on as the light changed.

  "Then that thing in my basement could, uh, be after her too?" At last Theo was wide awake, his mouth going dry.

  "That's what I was thinking." Max shifted restlessly in his seat, gripping the steering wheel tightly with both hands. "I've got to warn you, Theo. My mom gets hysterical. It's pretty easy for a medium to get overly sensitive because you come in contact with all the baggage spirits are carrying around. But this time, honestly," he gunned the engine, overtaking another car on the highway, "I think she's probably right to be freaking out."

  CHAPTER FIVE

  They'd lost the entire morning. The sun was high in the sky when they stepped out of the Shevchenko house. Kaitlyn had certainly been upset, but Theo privately didn't see the hysteria Max hinted at. Yet she constantly had popped in and out of the basement, apparently going there to do something in the "spirit world." After convincing Kaitlyn to take a sleeping pill, they'd left her curled up in bed, a twin plastered to either side.

  "I think having you there helped," Max told him, leaning on the top of the car. "She couldn't lose her shit with you around. Thanks."

  "Uh," Theo said, then cleared his throat. Sometimes Max's kindness blindsided him. "Where do you want to start?"

  "I really hate to say this, but I'm thinking of going straight to the police. I mean, I don't think they can do anythin
g this soon after she disappeared, but after her going into the river, maybe they'll keep an eye out for her or something." He looked weary, his eyes at half- mast.

  "But the police…" Theo scratched at his chin, feeling fresh stubble poking through. In his head, warnings from his youth butted up against the sense that Max was making. To his family, authorities were always to be regarded with suspicion.

  "I know, I don't like it, either. But do you have any better—" Max abruptly twisted around, staring into the lilac bushes at the corner of the house.

  Theo followed his gaze. He couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, but the hair on his nape lifted.

  "What? Is there a—I don't smell anything, but—"

  "There's somebody there, all right," Max said softly. "It's somebody I haven't seen in a long time. I've never seen him this far out of town."

  Cold sweat beaded up on Theo's upper lip. He shoved his hands into his pockets as his back and neck stiffened. "Okay. Okay, I get it." Max glanced at him. "Can you do me a favour, Theo?"

  "What?" Theo demanded, nerves shoving his voice out too hard.

  "Stay cool." Max gave Theo a tight, one-sided smile and held his hand out toward the lilac bush. His eyes closed gently, and his face grew quiet for a moment. His eyebrows knitted, and he abruptly scratched at his ear, tilting his head and then giving it a shake. Something about the movement looked wrong; Theo shivered, goose bumps leaping up all over him. When Max opened his eyes, turned to look at him, and twisted up his face in a frown, Theo felt the beginnings of a growl tickle his throat. Embarrassed by acting four-legged when on two, he clapped a hand over his mouth as he stared nervously.

  "Max?"

  Max's voice took a moment to come to life, low and grumbling. "No. Uh, no. He's just…" He scratched at his ear again, almost frantically, then gave a jerky shrug. "Just helpin' me talk."

  "Wh-who are you?"

  "Me, I don't matter. But the girl, y'know."

  "The girl?" Theo's over-worked heart leapt. "Who? Anastasia?"

  "Don't know her name. Not good at names. But she and him always been real nice to me, so I know 'em. I heard something went down with her by the river."