STORY EXCERPT

 “So, tourist or visiting friends or family?” the human beside him asked, curiously peeking at the letters Matthias clutched to him. Stuffing back in his backpack, Matt decided to answer him.

“I’m seeing a very close…friend.” Was friend the right word? Jared would certainly scoff at Matthias’s label, but what else would Matthias call Jared? Normal folks didn’t usually bare the contents of their souls to random strangers. Not especially the guy who murdered their parents.

Catching sight of the “Welcome to Darkfall” sign, Matthias’s heart started beating rapidly. When the bus stopped at the station, Matt suddenly hesitated, old fears creeping back. He wasn’t afraid to die, that much was certain, but seeing Jared made him apprehensive. What the fuck? Matthias shouldn’t be acting like some nervous kid on his first date, yet that was exactly the way he felt. He headed down the bus, and took a good look around Darkfall. The bus stopped at what looked like the town proper.

Darkfall had a typical small town feel to it. Charming single-story shops lined the street Matthias disembarked on. He spotted a local grocer, an independently owned bookshop and a couple of antique shops. Matthias’s bear told me the residents were a mix of human and supernatural. His spine tingled, telling Matthias the paranormal locals were checking him out. Remembering Jared telling him about the town’s recent troubles and tangles with a fanatic group of human hunters, and before that, with a killer and another animal group, Matthias understood why security was tight.

Still, it wasn’t hard to imagine, strolling these streets, his pup by his side. When the season turned cold, Jared would lean close to his warmth, and Matthias would happily share his heat.

“What the fuck am I thinking?” Matthias muttered out loud, drawing some curious passersby.

He didn’t need unwanted attention. Jared knowing he was here was one thing. The leaders of the Darkfall pack, the werewolf siblings that raised Jared and his sister would no doubt, kill him on sight, because not all rumors were baseless. Matthias’s bear warned him then, not of danger, but something else. Catching wind of a delicious scent, Matthias sniffed the air, looking for the source. Jared, Matthias mused, was nearby. Hell, he knew it, deep in his bones. What else explained the interest of his bear?

Turning, Matthias’s gaze ignored the other passerby, solely focusing on the lean young man crossing the road. Same blond hair and dark eyes as the man in the photograph, but seeing Jared in the flesh shook Matthias up. Spurred his bear, who seldom showed interest in any other human being after Marie, his first wife. Their gazes locked and he saw Jared stumble, staring at him, knowing like he did. A strange magnetism connected them, and Matthias didn’t resist the pull.

He walked, waiting for the moment for surprise to change to something else. Fury. Jared’s tempting lips twisted, a strange smile that felt out of place. A predator’s smile, reminding Matthias it wasn’t a lost human boy he looked at, but a young wolf raised on hate. They stopped, inches from each other.

“Matthias, you look exactly like your picture.”

Matthias couldn’t process the words immediately. Everything felt and seemed so surreal, especially the sound of Jared’s voice. He still heard it sometimes, Jared’s child-like accusatory voice, condemning Matthias as a coward.

“You too,” Matthias said, voice harsh, still unused to conversing with another human being.

He couldn’t sleep on the bus, plagued by thoughts of what he would say and how Jared would react. Now, he stood there, paralyzed and speechless. The longer they stood staring at each other, taking measure, the more Matthias sensed the anger in Jared. Not hot enough to burn, but the cold lasting kind, one that lasted Jared through the years.

You fucked me up so badly, I can’t enjoy a normal relationship with another man, Jared once wrote. The selfish part of Matthias liked that, and savored the fact Jared was in some perverted way, irrevocably his. That the fates bound their lives together the moment his truck crashed into their car.

Silently, Matthias willed Jared to finish the deed. Would Jared pull out his weapon of choice, and end him here on the street? Would he lure Matthias to some dark alleyway, and then slit his throat, making sure no one would ever find his corpse? What’s your next move, Jared?

The twisted part of Matthias didn’t want to die though. He wanted to find out more, to learn what made Jared tick. Jared could have done the deed any moment, but he didn’t. He waited, maybe for Matthias to make the first move, to rewrite the script that damned both of their souls from the start.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” Jared demanded. There was an edge to his words. His pupils gleamed amber, wrestling control with his beast. Matthias took a step forward. Jared hesitantly took a step back. This dancing back and forth seemed ridiculous really.

“Only this.” Matthias moved, too fast for Jared to anticipate.

He saw Jared tense when Matthias closed his hand over the back of his neck, drawing him near. One second of hesitation might make Matthias lose his momentum and his recklessness. Christ, he couldn’t remember the last time he kissed anyone. He claimed Jared’s lips, all hunger and need. Matthias bit and nipped, kissed like he fucked, rough and without care. Heat flooded between them. Electricity sparked between their bodies and their animals knew with certainty, one damning truth. Mine. Yours. No one else’s.

ADULT EXCERPT

When Jared pulled back, his eyes were wide, his lips slightly parted. His wolf wanted more, and according to his hard dick, so did his human half. “Stop fighting this.”

“What is this, Jared, a last fuck or a final hurrah before the end?” Matthias asked.

Would Matthias refuse Jared again, if he said he no longer knew what to do? Fuck that. Jared lied through his teeth. “Yes. You owe it to me, to us.”

Matthias gave him a shaky laugh. “I paid my dues, and did my time, pup.”

“But you wrote back. You fucking flirted with me though those letters. We’re like druggies, unable to shake off our addiction. One fuck, Matthias. Cure us both of this obsession.”

Another lie. Jared seemed to be able to come up with them without effort. He didn’t want this, his bantering with Matthias to end. Weren’t hate and love the same side of the same coin? Part of Matthias’s reasoning made sense, but Jared didn’t care about the right thing anymore.

“I hope you don’t regret this, pup,” Matthias warned. The werebear didn’t need any more convincing. The next thing Jared knew, Matthias switched their places. Jared’s back dug against grass and ground, and Jared became aware of the delicious press of Matthias’s body above him, straddling him.

“Don’t back out now, bear,” Jared said.

Matthias barked out a harsh laugh. “Fuck, pup. You have no idea how much I’ve wanted this. How often I imagine you beneath me, just like this, but—”

“But nothing, bear.” Jared reached for Matthias’s dick between their bodies. Christ, Matthias’s cock was massive. He didn’t think he had anything so large in him. Then again, sex had only been distraction to Jared. A convenient way to forget about the only man he wanted, but Matthias was right in front of him now. Pulse racing, Jared gazed at the wounded man in front of him. Matthias’s eyes showed a soul, cracked and broken, same as his. Nothing ever felt so fucking right and perfect.

Matthias groaned as Jared glided his fist up and down, cock head to base with slow halting motions, designed to torment.

“Did you imagine taming me, and the moment I’d choose to yield?” Jared whispered against his ear, making Matthias growl.

“Fuck, Jared.” That was all Matthias said. His assent. Matthias closed a large hand over Jared’s wrist, lifting Jared’s fingers, licking each one, tasting himself on Jared. Staring, Jared became stunned at the gesture, and by how fucking aroused he got at the sight. One handed, Matthias restrained Jared’s wrists and tugged them above his head, effective as any restraint.

“What are you doing?” Jared asked, losing his composure.

Matthias silenced him with another rough kiss, his mouth a hot vacuum against the side of Jared’s neck. Fixated on the spot between shoulder and neck, Matthias licked at the tiny bit of flesh. Any shifter knew what that place meant—the perfect spot to put a mating mark. Heart thudding, Jared didn’t protest. He held his breath, half dreading, half daring Matthias to make the decision for them. That way, Jared didn’t need to feel guilty for wanting his parents’ murderer, for the man responsible for turning Jane and he from human to monster.

Looking pained, Matthias lifted his head from the spot to answer him. “You said I can do whatever I want.”

“I did,” Jared whispered, frightened now of his attraction to Matthias and what it implied.

He knew with some shame, he’d take whatever Matthias wanted to give. Worse, he’d beg for more. Matthias continued pelting hot kisses down his throat, releasing his hands. Jared threaded his fingers into Matthias’s short hair, tugging, but the werebear didn’t seem to mind. Closing his mouth over Jared’s left nipple, Matthias sealed the hardening bud with heat. Matthias’s gaze pinned his, devouring Jared’s every reaction. Fuck, but that was hot.

Feeling the slight edge of teeth, Jared groaned when Matthias bit down, leaving an imprint of his teeth on the nipple. Matthias moved on to his right, leaving an identical souvenir. It didn’t take for Jared to become aware of Matthias’s impressive dick, pressing up against his belly. Noticing Jared’s gaze, Matthias flashed him a lazy smile.

“You want my cock, pup?”

Jared could imagine wrapping his mouth around that meaty dick even before Matthias lifted himself and straddled his face. He saw the careful way Matthias positioned himself those, nudging his glistening cock head between Jared’s lips. Opening his jaws wider, Jared accepted his length. He gagged at first, unused to the size, but Matthias patiently waited for Jared. Sucking softly, Jared took Matthias’s dick in, marveling at the way Matthias groaned, the silky texture of his groin stretched over hard steel.

“Your mouth feels unbelievably good, pup,” Matthias muttered, eyes shining with appreciation. Then he took control, fucking Jared’s mouth with relish. The sight of Matthias’s rough face tensing, filled with ecstasy made his own cock rock hard. Matthias rode his mouth, faster, and Jared imagined how that enormous dick felt like, pushing into his tight puckered hole.