by Eden French
Calen pushed Zev hard against the chest. Zev was taken off guard and absorbed the full force of the assault. He hit the lockers behind him. It took two seconds for the wolf to take over. Zev leaped over the thin wooden bench and grabbed Calen by the jersey. He ran him back with a strength he didn’t even know he possessed until Calen slammed against the locker doors behind him, leaving a small indentation.
“Don’t ever touch me again,” Zev growled, his mouth was pressed up against the faceguard, inches from Calen’s face. His hot breath seared his lips. Zev watched as Calen’s eyes filled with intense anger. The normally vibrant green orbs, turned dark…sinister. For the first time, he saw Calen’s rage from behind his typical amicable façade.
Calen stared at Zev as he held him against the lockers. His breath was heavy. Zev scented the adrenaline pulsing through Calen’s veins. He could tell his friend had never wanted to hurt someone as much as he wanted to hurt him in that moment. It startled Zev. But, his wolf egged him on, pushing him to see the limits of his true power. Zev was more than happy to oblige. He stared into Calen’s eyes and challenged him to this game.
“What are you gonna do about this?” Zev whispered. He was clearly the stronger of the two and reveled in the fact that Calen knew it. Still, despite his clear upper hand in the situation, he felt Calen prepared to challenge him. He could see it in his eyes, smell it on his skin. The wolf was not having it.
Zev felt a surge of animal rise within him. He held it at bay, not wanting to shift in the locker room. However, he was willing to let it get as close as possible. He wanted to show Calen just who was in charge.
Calen pushed against Zev. His kicked his foot out and knocked Zev’s footing out from under him. Zev cursed as he stumbled, Calen taking the opening to swing at his friend’s face. His fist connected with Zev’s jaw. Zev stumbled back further, landing on one knee.
Zev was stunned. He had never been hit by anyone before in his life. He suspected Calen had never hit anyone either by the way he held his fist. This was going too far.
Zev stayed down until he felt control over his animal. His first instinct was to immediately transition and rip Calen’s head off—literally. Thank God he was much better able to control his rage than his jealousy. He took the two extra seconds needed to hold the wolf back.
* * * *
Calen watched in silence, his head fuzzy with adrenaline, as his friend stayed kneeled on the locker room floor with his head down and eyes closed. He watched as Zev’s chest heaved up and down. Calen waited, unmoving. Had he just hit his best friend? What was happening? After a few more seconds, Zev looked up. His eyes met Calen’s and locked gazes.
Calen froze. His eyes were glued to Zev as Zev stood, took two large strides toward him, and picked him up by his shirt, tossing him into the locker. Calen tried to defend himself, but Zev was too strong. His heart raced. Calen had always known his friend was muscled, but this was a level of power he hadn’t anticipated. Where did that strength come from? Steroids? What had his friend been hiding from him?
Calen gazed into Zev’s eyes as he held him up against the locker. They were inches apart. Calen could feel Zev’s breath on his face. He could see the twitch in the vein on the side of his neck. His eyes widened at the thick yellow circle that glowed around Zev’s dark irises.
Calen gasped. There was only one other set of eyes he had ever seen that yellow ring in. Celeste’s face flashed through his mind, and Calen’s brain stumbled. Zev’s eyes were just like Celeste’s. How could that be? Calen grew uncomfortable remembering the last time he saw that color in Celeste’s eyes. They had just reached an earth-shattering orgasm. Calen’s body responded to the memory. God, no, not now! His body was too close to Zev’s. Breaking eye contact, he searched the ground.
Stop it!
Calen chastised himself, urging his body to stand down.
* * * *
Zev watched as Calen relented to him. He sensed a shift in Calen’s energy and scent. He felt his friend’s anger release to desire, and it caught him off guard. Zev’s muscles pulsed in response, excitement flying through his body. Zev let go of Calen’s jersey and leaned back creating space between them. He had nothing to prove anymore, he’d shown his dominance. Zev dropped his hands to his side and stood in front of Calen, his heart still racing from the encounter. Calen took a small step back out of Zev’s reach.
The two stared at each other, their chests heaving. The tension between them was thick and heady. Zev felt the electricity spark and pop in the air. Calen’s lips parted to speak and Zev’s eyes narrowed in on them. Both men jumped when the field door open and a voice yelled into the space, but neither one moved.
“Red! Get your ass out here now! Where the hell are you?” Coach Kent’s voice echoed through the tiled room. The two teammates heard his footsteps as he walked a few rows, reaching the aisle where Calen and Zev continued their standoff staring at each other. Coach Kent looked from one man to the other. The oxygen had been sucked from the space between them.
“Okay, boys, simmer down.” Coach Kent ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with you two, but you leave it here, got it? There’s no room on that field for whatever is happening. Back off and walk away.”
The two men were silent. Neither dared to move.
“Do you hear me, Red?”
Silence.
“Red! I said, do you fucking understand?”
“Yes, Coach,” Calen replied through gritted teeth, his eyes continued to hold Zev’s gaze.
“Reynolds, I’m talking to you, too. You got it? Whatever it is…leave it alone. Am I clear?”
Zev nodded. “Crystal, Coach.”
Coach Kent looked from one player to the other, his lips pressed into a hard line. After a minute, he spoke. “I’m gonna walk away now, and the both of you are going to hurry up and get your asses out there. Do I make myself clear?”
Silence.
“Do I make myself fucking clear?”
“Yes, Coach.”
Coach Kent gave them one final look before heading back out to the field.
The two men continued to stare at each other, the tension between them was a thick wool blanket on a hot summer day. It weighed heavy on them in its stifling embrace. It was Calen who broke the silence.
“Just leave Celeste out of it.”
“Whatever you want, Red,” Zev replied, his hands raised in mock surrender, taking a step back over the bench to his side of the row and bending over to remove his gear from his bag.
* * * *
The tension between the two faded just enough for Calen to breathe normally. His chest slowed its rhythm as air flowed in and out in a measured rate. He watched Zev closely as he backed away down the row, eventually turning around and heading out to the field.
What the hell happened? What the fuck?
Calen’s thoughts were confused. Though his heart had slowed, his head was still feeling the effects of the adrenaline—and the attraction he had felt. Even in his most rage-filled moments, the thought of Celeste sparked his arousal. Out in the open air, away from Zev, Calen laughed at himself. Of all the times to get a hard on.
Man, he had it bad for Celeste.
He ran out toward the field. As he approached the team, he noticed his sweet temptress off to the side, camera in hand. She was taking some shots of the team as they ran through their drills. Her lips pursed in a full pink bow.
Calen stopped short. He remembered how she looked below him as he thrust into her. He remembered her eyes as she had looked up at him through a haze of sex. The yellow ring around her irises had been a glowing yellow. Calen felt himself respond to the memory. The twitch between his legs grew uncomfortable as he felt himself fill and grow hard in his cup.
Suddenly, the memory shifted and though he was looking into the same eyes ringed in yellow, they no longer belonged to Celeste. In his mind, Calen now looked into Zev’s eyes. He grew harder at the thought, his cock bumping up agai
nst his cup, trying to escape like a caged animal. Calen blinked hard.
What the fuck?
He shook his head, trying to get rid the desire bursting to be released. His breathing picked up. He tried to talk himself down.
It’s just displaced arousal. That’s all.
Calen stood in the field, stuck in place, and attempted to rationalize his hardness. It wasn’t that difficult to do, Celeste consumed him. His cock strained in his pants. Calen looked up and found Celeste on the sidelines, her face behind the camera lens. He quickly ducked through the fence leading to the parking lot. He knew she would see him.
Celeste looked out from her camera when Calen waved her over. She brought the camera down and walked over to where the handsome athlete waited.
“Hey, where’ve you been?” she said as she approached him.
Calen threw off his helmet and pulled her close, leading her to a secluded corner of the fence line.
“Calen, what are you doing?” she said smiling, letting him pull her away from the field.
He took her camera from her and carefully placed it on the ground next to them.
“I want you,” he said, his voice held an urgency that revealed his need.
“What, now?”
“Yes, now. I need you, Celeste. Now.” The throbbing ache between his legs forced his eyes closed. He steadied his breath.
He had to have her. Everything in the locker room had spiked his adrenaline past the point of return. He wanted to leave all the anger and frustration he had felt with Zev behind, but it affected his control. His cock stretched under the pressure and he squeezed his eyes shut tight. He needed her to bring him down from what happened between he and Zev. Only Celeste could ground him.
* * * *
Celeste felt his pain and anger, the scent rippled off him in waves. It was there in thick layers along with confusion. What happened when he left the field? It didn’t matter. He needed her. Her heart yearned for him. “Then take me,” she said as she pressed her body flush to his.
Calen grabbed her waist and turned her around, pressing her up against the slatted fence. His mouth found hers and kissed her hard, his lips crushing hers with hot fire. Celeste tugged at his navy mesh shorts, pulling the drawstring loose. She reached deep, past the protective gear, releasing Calen’s hard cock from his shorts.
Celeste brought her leg up and, using the fence at her back for leverage, hooked it around Calen’s hip. He greedily ate at her neck, his hands frantically finding the hem of her shirt and lifted it up to reveal her breasts. Calen cupped and squeezed them over her smooth, satin bra.
Celeste was overcome with his need. She wasn’t sure what spurred on his intense desire, but his energy roused something wild inside her.
“We don’t have much time,” Calen purred between kisses.
“We won’t need it,” Celeste responded.
She reached down and under her skirt. Angling her hips, she felt Calen’s erection press against her thigh. Her fingers found her panties and shifted them to the side, exposing her throbbing, wet pussy. Celeste burned. Calen moved his body so his tip barely touched the entrance.
“Hold on there, cowboy,” Celeste whispered. She reached into an inner pocket of her jean jacket and pulled out a shiny foil packet. Calen gave her a sideways glance.
“You happened to have that in your pocket?”
Celeste smiled. “Let’s just say that when I’m near you, being prepared is a must.”
She held the packet by the corner in front of Calen’s mouth.
“Open it,” she ordered.
Calen grasped the other corner in his teeth and pulled open the protection. Celeste quickly removed the latex circle and slid it along Calen’s cock. He gasped, his desire throbbing against her fingertips. His response to her touch was maddening. Celeste sucked in air between her teeth.
“Celeste, I can’t wait any longer. I need to be inside you,” Calen moaned.
Celeste was drunk with power as she listened to Calen begging to have her. She lifted her hips forward and widened her knees, spreading herself completely open. Calen plunged deep inside. Celeste’s hot pussy was tight around him.
“Oh, Calen!” His name rolled off her tongue in ecstasy.
Calen held her fast against the fence, his rhythm was erratic—desperate. It was unlike his normal behavior. Celeste sensed a savageness to him, something that hadn’t been present before.
What could have brought this on?
It didn’t matter. Calen was losing himself in her and it turned her on. She felt herself release a river of fluid that dripped from her pussy down the thick cock that now stuffed her repeatedly with a roughness that made her drip more.
“Oh fuck, Calen.” Celeste’s stomach twisted in knots as she felt his cock penetrate deep inside her over and over and over again. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head.
She felt the orgasm grow. Not just hers, but his, as well. They weren’t two separate entities anymore, but one massive body. It built quickly, flying higher and higher until it reached space and exploded between them, ragged and uncontrolled.
* * * *
Zev spied the two against the fence. His wolf had smelled their arousal the moment he stepped out of the locker room, and he quietly sneaked up on them, his hand finding his cock as he watched the two with hunger. He pulled at his cock, building with them.
“Oh, shit!” Calen gasped, his voice shredded by orgasm.
His body tensed as Celeste’s fingers gripped his shoulders. Zev sensed her orgasm rolling in thick sticky waves drowning her in desire. Zev’s nostrils flared and he inhaled deeply. God, she smelled delicious. When Celeste squeezed her eyes tight, Zev knew all her other senses dulled in the massive burst of ecstasy.
Calen’s body stiffened, every muscle momentarily paralyzed and hard. Zev knew he had found his release. He watched as Celeste had wrapped both legs around Calen’s waist, her arms holding herself up around his shoulders. Her face nestled in the crook of his neck. As she reached her climax, her eyes shot open and met Zev’s gaze. A thick ring of yellow glowed around the edge of her irises.
Zev sucked in his breath. He aggressively tugged at his cock, Celeste watching from her position against the fence. As she held Calen close to her body, Zev felt himself harden further and closed his eyes under his grip. When he reopened them, Celeste’s mouth had opened slightly. She watched him greedily, the tip of her tongue grazing the edge of her teeth. Zev’s wolf responded to her stare.
I am yours, if you choose.
A small grunt escaped his throat. Zev held himself firm as his cock pumped its seed in a moment of existential release.
* * * *
Celeste watched Zev come. She could tell by the way his body shook, by the way his eyes fluttered, by the way his cheeks flushed. She continued to hold Calen tight to her, squeezing her legs around him as he spent the last ounces of himself into her. She watched as Zev fell into uninhibited release, his head tilting back just a bit, his mouth ajar.
Celeste felt the two men’s energies as they each reached their orgasm, one inside her and the other for her to watch. She felt a power grow in her, an instinctual need to control them both, to ravage them with her being.
You are mine.
It was Calen who broke the spell.
“I can’t believe you’re mine.” His lips kissed her neck.
Celeste snapped out of her trance. “Funny, that’s what I was just thinking.”
Celeste lowered her legs and found her footing as Calen pulled himself free, removing the condom. Celeste pulled an old lens cloth from her jacket pocket and opened it up in her hand for Calen to place the garbage.
“Here, I’ll deal with that. You better get to practice. Your coach has been yelling up something fierce today. What’s with that guy, anyway?”
Calen brought his hand to her chin and turned her face until he found her eyes. “Hey, I mean it. You are my everything. Do you understand that? How special you are?”
Celeste met his eyes and nodded.
He held her there for a second longer in silence. He placed a soft kiss on her lips before releasing her chin. Celeste held his gaze.
“I feel the same way about you.” The words were filled with emotion, though her conscience nagged her.
How could she have been so turned on by Zev’s stare? She should have been offended at his intrusion, but she thoroughly enjoyed watching him get off to her and Calen fucking. It had made her come harder. Now, she harbored the guilt of that action. Her feelings for Calen were unlike any other she had felt before.
She reached down and grabbed the waistband of his shorts and tugged them up. “Since that’s settled, you’d better get back to practice. Seriously. Not only will I be kicked off the assignment for distracting players, but you might get benched.” She laughed and gave the drawstring one final pull.
Calen flashed a sly smile. “As long as I get to sit next to you, everything will be just fine.”
Calen leaned in and gave Celeste one last kiss before turning and running out to the field. Celeste watched him run, enjoying the view before she glanced over to where Zev had been hiding. She felt awful as she recognized the slight twist in her heart as disappointment when she realized he was no longer there.
Chapter Eleven
The news of the animal attack had died away in the weeks since the body had been found. The fingerprints had revealed the body to be Beta Omega member, Kevin Andrews. Priscilla Vanderson had been questioned extensively since she had been the last one spotted with him.
The attack was determined to be animal related. The bite and claw marks left behind made it quite evident. Still, Priscilla had been questioned. The university had done what it could to control the interrogation, making the whole process as short as possible.
Other than a warning to remain out of the woods, the case was considered closed. However, something about it just didn’t sit right with Celeste. And, it wasn’t the fact that Kevin had been viciously torn into pieces. That was easy to settle. As antisocial as she was, even Celeste knew Kevin’s reputation as a womanizer and misogynist. It was clear by Priscilla’s calm and chilly demeanor throughout the whole situation that Kevin had perhaps crossed a few lines when in her company. Celeste sensed Priscilla’s relief, though she didn’t quite understand how she was able to do so.
