by Odessa Lynne
Stark relief flowed through Devon. He didn’t know why the drug’s hold over Kem had failed but the idea that he was trapped in a room with three wolves had kept his blood rushing for all the wrong reasons.
Kem’s hair tickled the underside of Devon’s chin. Devon had said he would try to get better at submitting. He had meant it too—when he said it. But Kem had said the bartering wasn’t necessary, so—
“I don’t—” Belong to anyone, he would have said, but Kem’s hand squeezed the back of Devon’s neck tighter, touching off sparks of pain in the still healing wounds from Devon’s last attempt at defiance in the face of Kem’s instinctive desire for submission.
“Okay, okay, okay. I belong to you. I’m yours,” Devon said and the words came out so much easier than he’d thought they would. “But—”
Kem reached for the button on Devon’s pants. A hard tug pulled Devon’s ass completely up off the seat and the button popped, plinging sharply against the wall behind him.
“Whoa!” Devon tried to catch Kem’s hand, but Kem wrapped his arm around Devon’s back and dragged him right off the side of the chair and onto the hard floor.
“Submit!” Kem demanded, turning and pushing Devon onto his back and looming over him and already yanking at Devon’s pants.
Shit.
He grabbed Kem’s arms. “Lube. We have to have lube. Kem, come on. Listen to me.”
His hold had no effect on Kem’s movements. Devon’s pants made it to mid-thigh before Kem gave in and pressed his face to the smooth skin of Devon’s groin.
Kem stayed there for a good long minute, his moist, hot breath fanning across Devon’s bare skin, his every inhale causing a shudder to go through him.
“Lube,” Devon said again, breathing fast and shallow, his heart racing. “You’re gonna hurt me if we try to do this without lube, Kem, come on.”
Another shudder wracked Kem’s body.
“Please,” Devon said. “I like it when you fuck me. Don’t make me wish you wouldn’t.”
Kem pushed himself up on his strongly muscled arms. “I can’t wait,” he said.
“My mouth,” Devon said. “I’ll suck you off and then we can go—”
“No.”
“Come on. The alternative’s no good. You’ll rip me apart if we don’t use lube.”
“No control,” Kem said. “I’ll hurt you.”
“Better my mouth than my asshole,” Devon said, reaching for Kem’s fly. He tugged at the closure and shoved his hand down Kem’s pants. His dick was thick and hot, hotter than a human penis and the skin had a certain thinness to it that Devon hadn’t expected. If the wolves had an equivalent to circumcision, Kem hadn’t had it done to him as best as Devon could tell, and when he moved his hand, Kem’s whole body jerked.
Kem seized Devon’s wrist, almost painfully tight.
“Careful,” Kem growled, holding his weight off Devon with one arm. He dropped his forehead down to Devon’s collar and nuzzled his head in against Devon’s skin.
“Never sucked an alien dick before,” Devon said. “But I want to.”
Kem covered his mouth, kissing him thoroughly, hot, wet and with a nip of teeth at Devon’s lip that stung, drawing a soft gasp out of Devon.
Devon shouldn't have been surprised when Kem threw back his head and roared as his dick pulsed with his orgasm, semen spilling all over Devon's t-shirt and a stretch of bared skin at his stomach where the shirt’s hem had rucked up. His hand curled around the hot, hard shaft and he pumped Kem’s dick with fast, strong strokes, as close as he could remember Kem doing for himself every time they had fucked.
Kem breathed heavy through the orgasm and then scrambled backward to sit on his heels. Devon followed him up, letting Kem’s slick penis slide out of his hand. Semen trailed down his arm and dripped from his wrist and he looked at his hand for a second. What the hell, might as well, he thought, and he brought it up to his mouth and swiped his tongue carefully over the skin between his thumb and fingers.
Kem tasted bitter and sharp, with the metallic aftertaste Devon most often associated with a split lip. Definitely bearable.
Kem’s eyelids looked heavy and his chest rose and fell so fast Devon wondered how he didn’t hyperventilate. “Now.”
Devon grabbed Kem’s arm and pulled himself up to his knees. He pushed Kem backward. Kem rumbled, deep in his chest and his lips pulled back from the points of his eyeteeth.
“I’m going to suck you off,” Devon said, even though he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be doing much more than providing Kem somewhere to stick his dick, because Kem’s orgasms never had seemed to depend on a lot of friction.
His own dick throbbed in reaction to the thought of getting his mouth on Kem. He awkwardly climbed over Kem, his pants still tangled above his knees. He slipped at the last moment and landed with an oomph on Kem’s chest, knocking them both the rest of the way to the floor.
Kem’s dick brushed against his and Devon sucked in his breath.
He pushed himself backward with his hands until his face was at dick level and just for the hell of it he buried his face against the soft hair that surrounded the root of Kem’s dick and sniffed. Warm skin and earthy sweat and the smell of sex filled his nose and carried to the back of his tongue. Kem arched against Devon’s cheek, his hands reaching for Devon’s shoulders.
Crotch sniffing was goddamn sexy, Devon decided, even though he’d never particularly cared one way or the other in the past as long as the guy smelled clean. Most of the time all he could smell was the scent of the condom anyway.
Devon licked Kem’s dick, trying to get used to the unique flavor and smell that Kem’s semen had left behind on his penis after his first quick orgasm.
“Now,” Kem said, fingers threading through Devon’s hair. Claws pricked his scalp lightly and a shiver raced down his spine.
Devon opened his mouth and took as much of Kem as he could, gagging as soon as Kem’s hips bucked up off the floor and Kem unintentionally shoved the head of his dick right up against the back of Devon’s throat.
He barely restrained himself from biting down.
Streams of semen spurted into his mouth, and Devon choked on the second swallow and just gave up trying to swallow at all, letting the semen spill out of his mouth.
He crossed his forearm over Kem’s thighs and put his weight on his arm and wrapped his other hand around the shaft of Kem’s dick so Kem wouldn’t choke him again and then just held his breath until the spurting stopped. He took a quick swallow, some of the bitter spunk still in his mouth sliding down his throat and took a breath in through his nose and let Kem fuck into his mouth.
So cock sucking during heat season wasn’t going to be something Devon was that eager to repeat because Kem had been exactly right. He had no control and Devon couldn’t count the number of times he almost choked on the thick shaft.
But he didn’t regret offering this to Kem, knowing what could have happened otherwise.
He heard the door creak open slowly. Carefully.
He turned his head in time to see something come rolling across the floor. The door eased shut and his gaze followed the rolling jar until it stopped about six feet away from Kem’s shoulder.
Lube.
He tried to pull off but Kem’s fingers clenched against his scalp and the sharp sting of claws stopped him.
“Submit!” Kem said, but his demand had no bite to it and his thighs barely moved under Devon’s arm.
How could he speak around a mouthful of dick? He wasn’t anxious to test Kem’s rationality but if there was lube, he’d much rather have his ass fucked than keep this up.
Devon started working his mouth up Kem’s dick slowly until he was able to ease off without drawing Kem’s ire.
“Kem. Someone threw lube in here. Let me get it and you can fuck me.”
“No.”
“Kem—”
Kem’s fingers tugged at Devon’s hair. “Submit!”
He’d had enough. “Goddammit,
Kem!”
Kem reared up, pulling Devon right along with him by the hair.
Devon’s stomach clenched and his blood rushed and he grabbed at Kem’s wrist, but Kem released his hair almost as fast as he sat up and Devon ended up kneeling between Kem’s thighs and staring into Kem’s glassy eyes.
Kem hugged Devon to him and buried his face against Devon’s chest. “I can take you back to my home now,” he said, not sounding nearly so irrational as he had moments earlier.
Devon let out a shaky breath and nodded and then rubbed his hand against his throbbing scalp.
“Okay,” he said. “Okay.”
He reached for his pants and awkwardly pulled them up over his ass and hips. His hands shook from the adrenaline still coursing through him so it took him a moment to get his fly closed. The top button was gone, but the rest held.
Kem rose and pulled Devon to his feet before he had time to get up on his own.
Another week and a half of heat season remained if Devon had his days straight. He needed his phone so he could try to convince Gran to hold off on Geoff. Or convince Geoff to run, but that would be hard to do because Geoff had a daughter he wasn’t going to want to leave behind with his unstable ex, that being one of the reasons Geoff had asked for Devon’s help, that and the fact that Devon had been the one to convince him not to turn himself in all those years ago. Knowing what he knew now, that had been a mistake. But at fifteen, he hadn’t recognized the danger. Geoff had really messed up by sticking with Gran for so long but the money Gran’s operations brought in had been too tempting.
Devon’s biggest concern right now seemed to be the need to get Kem rational again and keep him that way long enough to explain the situation to him so he could collect on that help Kem had offered.
Kem took his hand and pulled him out the door.
“Hey,” Devon said, looking over his shoulder as Kem dragged him toward the wooded area that surrounded the small building.
“Better not end up fucking on a bed of goddamn leaves,” Devon muttered.
Kem turned his head and stared at Devon, eyes a vibrant green under an overcast sky. The smell of coming rain lingered in the air along with the sharp scent of decaying leaves and brush.
“We’re going back to my home,” Kem said, “but if another wolf comes near you right now I’ll rip out his throat. You are mine.”
The even tone and clear gaze sent a shiver down Devon’s spine. He’d sure as hell be glad to see the end of heat season.
He ignored the part of himself that was afraid it would end too soon.
Chapter 25
They headed back to the place Kem called home, taking a short hike through the woods behind the building and around instead of going back through the center of the den complex.
For no apparent reason, Kem stopped in the middle of a dense patch of brush between several tall oak trees and pushed Devon’s back against the tree and sniffed his way down Devon’s entire body. The whole experience was nerve-wracking and Devon couldn’t even say why.
Kem seemed much more on edge with this particular heat cycle than he had with any other Devon had experienced with him. Kem had once said his heat cycle would ride him harder as heat season went on. Was this what he’d meant?
“Stop,” Devon said, “I need to take a piss.”
He had a feeling when they got back to Kem’s place, time for a piss was going to be in short supply.
Without a second’s hesitation, Kem stopped. Devon raised his eyebrows at that, but didn’t want to push his luck so he quickly emptied his bladder, piss streaming out over the leaves, the sound drowned out by a close rumble of thunder.
Devon started refastening his pants.
Kem kicked a thick pile of leaves over the spot where Devon had aimed his urine.
“What’s it matter?” Devon asked.
“It matters.” But Kem took his hand and tugged him on.
They arrived at Kem’s home a few minutes later.
Kem pulled him through a series of rooms. Devon glimpsed a sofa and pillows and tables and both human and wolf technology—and his phone, resting on a table in the kitchen. The wolves had mostly adapted human homes to their own needs.
Kem went straight for the bedroom, pushed Devon through the door and bodily lifted him at the waist and tossed him onto the bed.
The mattress jostled and then jostled again as Kem climbed on the bed and crawled right over top of Devon. He put something into the palm of Devon’s hand.
Devon closed his fingers around the cool jar Kem had picked up somewhere along the way— Devon didn’t know where. Seeing his phone had distracted him, but getting his hands on it would have to wait.
Kem stripped him down to nothing but socks and then stripped them off too. He took Devon’s foot in hand and stared at it, gaze taking in the uncontrolled curl of Devon’s toes when his thumb pressed Devon’s arch.
“What are you doing?” Devon asked. He went ahead and opened the jar of lube.
Kem scraped his claws along Devon’s sole and Devon promptly yelped and dropped the jar. He grabbed for Kem’s hand.
Kem bit his foot. Devon tried to pull his foot free of Kem’s hold but Kem licked the arch and Devon dropped back on the bed and huffed out a laugh he couldn’t stop. “Oh my God,” he gasped. “You’re so goddamn weird.”
“You have delicate feet.”
“I have manly feet.” And more than one callous from those boots he wore all the time too. Rural living these days meant a hell of a lot of walking with the cost of halfgas, food, and everything else sky high since the economy tanked.
Kem ran his finger along the edge of Devon’s toenails. “Useless,” he said.
“Probably.”
Kem kissed the corner of Devon’s big toe and then dropped his foot back to the bed. He yanked his shirt off over his head, and then shucked his pants, rolling to the side to get them completely off while Devon watched. Then Kem removed his own socks, and for the first time, Devon noticed how ragged the toe appeared, even though the rest of the sock was a stark, clean white.
Wolves had clawed feet. Dark toenails, wide, thick jointed toes, and a smattering of thin hair at the top of each toe and over the arch, not that different from Devon’s own, but somehow different enough that Devon couldn’t help staring.
“They help us climb.”
Devon glanced up at the comment, thinking about the wolves’ affinity for forested mountain regions. “What do you climb?”
“Trees. Among other things on our old world.”
“Never heard about that.”
Kem rolled over on Devon, kissing Devon’s chest and working his mouth toward one of Devon’s nipples, teeth scraping as he went. Kem’s breath left moist heat behind with every kiss and swipe of his tongue. “There’s a lot you and your people don’t know about us.”
“I could say the same.”
“You could, but it wouldn’t be quite as true for you. We studied you for months before we made our presence known. We had too much at stake to do otherwise.” Kem’s lips covered Devon’s nipple and his teeth nipped gently at the peaked tip.
Sparks of heat went straight to Devon’s dick.
Kem licked across Devon’s flesh, a wide stripe that made his skin tingle. “You taste as fascinating as you smell.”
“I’ve been sweating like a son of a bitch. I wonder if you’d think the same if this wasn’t during your heat.” It was the closest he’d come to asking the question that had been on his mind since he’d admitted to himself that he had feelings for Kem. Would there be anything left between them when his scent didn’t have the power to drive Kem into a lust craze?
Kem raised his head. “I don’t want to fight my fate. I’ve never had so much control over my instincts as I do when I’m with you.”
Devon ran his hand over the back of Kem’s head, fanning his fingers through the soft hair there. “Usually it’s not a good sign when the one you’re with doesn’t have any trouble controlling himself.
”
“You’re trying to compare your human desires with our desire to care for our loved ones. They’re not the same. I have control because I’m afraid I’ll hurt you. Because I don’t want to hurt you. So my instincts give way to my determination to protect you from them and that rarely happens with anyone but a true mate.”
Kem took hold of Devon’s hard dick and pumped him a couple of times and Devon had trouble tearing his gaze away from Kem’s claws, the tips visible and so, so close to Devon’s flesh that every time Kem’s hand moved on him he had trouble taking even a shallow breath.
“I can do this and I shouldn’t be able to even think with your scent soaking your skin and clothes and the air around us both.”
“You seemed to be having a lot of trouble thinking earlier.”
“The drugs failed. The sudden rush of hormones and chemicals in my brain overwhelmed me. It’s a common problem with even the new drugs. We heal so fast that drugs meant to linger in our bodies don’t always work as long as they’re supposed to. You’re my mate. You were right there when it happened so my urge to mate surged to the fore. I’m sorry if I hurt you but your scent will always bring on the urge to mate you during a heat cycle.”
“Ah.”
That bet he’d made had been a hell of a lot riskier than he’d realized, because the information he’d gotten about the strength of the drugs hadn’t included that tidbit.
“Ready yourself. I want to be inside you.” Kem reached between them and started masturbating himself with long hard strokes.
Devon clenched his fingers in Kem’s hair and then released him. Kem knelt back on the bed and watched with glittering hot eyes.
Devon took out a gob of lube with one hand, spread his thighs, and slid his fingers behind his balls and down over the pucker of his asshole.
Kem allowed him just enough time to slick himself up good and then he leaned in and started his inexorable push inside.
Devon wrapped his arm around the back of Kem’s neck and held on.
Kem fucked him for a long time, sliding in and out with a rhythm that got progressively more erratic as the afternoon wore on and Devon came several times before he tired out and Kem didn’t. Then Kem came one last time with a roar, his claws digging into the sheets, his head back and his back bowed, his arms trembling so hard that Devon could feel the tremors where they touched, and Devon curled under Kem as Kem’s release emptied another few warm spurts of semen deep into Devon’s ass.
