STORY EXCERPT

Daniel Conners sat in his car outside the Dark Hollow police station, trying to avoid going inside for as long as possible. He hoped that if he waited long enough, then Deputy Charlie Harper would leave and go home, so that Daniel wouldn’t have to see him. He wasn’t above ducking down in his car to avoid being spotted.

He worked as a technician in a lab in Clearspring, and had been tasked with hand delivering some paperwork that his boss insisted had to be taken care of tonight so the DHPD could tie up a case they had been working on. It was the last thing he had to do before he could go home and start his weekend, not that his plans involved anything other than cracking open a book and a bottle of wine, but he couldn’t get on with that until he handed over the paperwork.

“Okay, I’m going to do it,” Daniel told himself, putting his hand on the door handle and promptly freezing. “After I call Sam.”

Well aware that he was chickening out, Daniel grabbed his phone from the passenger seat and called his friend.

“Hey,” Sam answered, sounding like he was out of breath.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Running,” Sam said.

“From what?” Daniel asked.

Sam huffed out a laugh. “Nothing. I’m jogging…you know, for exercise. You should try it some time.”

“Why?” Daniel asked in disgust.

“I don’t know, Danny, it might do you good.”

“Doubtful,” Daniel said. “I’d probably pull something.”

He could practically hear his friend shaking his head in despair. He saw movement in the doorway of the police station and he ducked down before quickly realizing it wasn’t Charlie. The former soldier was much taller and broader…and handsome.

No, he told himself sternly. Stop thinking like that.

“Where are you? Do you want to come out tonight? Some of us are having drinks at the Whiskey Barrel,” Sam told him.

Daniel hesitated before answering. He was well aware that he had a tendency to decline invitations out of habit. The word anti-social had been thrown in his direction before. He was much happier at home with a book in his hand than he was at a bar.

“Who’s going?”

“People,” Sam answered.

“Which people?”

“I don’t know,” Sam said. “This guy I know mentioned it.”

“So I’ll only know you?” Daniel asked, already knowing the answer, and knowing that he wouldn’t be going.

Sam was an artist. Everything with him was free and easy. It made Daniel wonder why they were even friends. Daniel was could be uptight, by the book—not exactly the life and soul of the party.

“You’ve already decided you’re not coming, haven’t you?” Sam said, knowing him too well. “Are you at home? Maybe I’ll stop by before I go out, see if I can’t talk you into it.”

“Um, actually, I’m in Dark Hollow,” Daniel told him. “Hiding in my car from the police.”

Sam’s heavy breathing stopped, indicating that he had stopped running. “Oh my God. Tell me you’re not stalking him.”

“What? No, of course not,” Daniel insisted. “I have to drop something off at the station. I’m just waiting until…well, until he leaves, if he’s even in there.”

“Danny, tell me you’re not serious,” Sam said, clearly outraged. “This guy flirts with you for weeks, finally asks you out, then stands you up and doesn’t even call to explain or apologize. You’ve done nothing wrong, so you get out of your car and walk into that police station with your head held high. Look him dead in the eye, put whatever it is in his hand, turn and walk back out.”

That sounded like something Sam would do, not Daniel. “What if he tries to talk to me about it? What if it’s just really awkward?”

“More awkward than you sitting alone in a restaurant for so long that the wait staff felt sorry for you and gave you a free dessert to take home?” Sam said, reminding Daniel of the humiliation he had felt at being stood up.

Daniel rested his forehead on the steering wheel. “God, I am such a loser.”

As if proving his own point, he rolled his head and accidentally hit the horn, making him jump and fumble to hold onto the phone.

“What was that?” Sam asked. “Oh God, please tell me that’s not what I think it is.”

“Yes,” Daniel hissed, ducking down as far as he could go. “I hit the horn. Oh crap. What do I do?”

“Go!” Sam shouted.

“What?”

“Get out of there. Drive away, right now.”

“What happened to holding my head high?” Daniel asked, already starting his car back up.

“We’re beyond that now, Danny,” Sam insisted. “You’ve got to know when to cut and run.”

Daniel pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street, but not before spying a familiar form emerge from the station in his rearview mirror.

“Oh crap,” Daniel said. “I think he saw me.”

“Who? Deputy Dick?” Sam asked. “Oh my God.”

“What am I going to do?” Daniel asked as he drove away.

“Find a diner or something, have some coffee, and then go back there after and act like nothing happened,” Sam told him.

“Okay, I’ll call you later,” Daniel said.

ADULT EXCERPT

With Daniel naked in his arms, his skin warm and smooth against him, Charlie groaned. He was so hard, and so in need, but he had to remember that he wasn’t human anymore. He still wasn’t confident in his control, and he would never forgive himself if he got carried away and hurt Daniel. Even as he thought it, there was something inside him that knew he never would. In that, at least, he and his wolf were in sync—Daniel’s needs came before theirs, no matter what.

“You’re so hot,” Daniel said. “How the hell do you look like that?”

Feeling like he was in a fog, Charlie couldn’t find the words to answer.

“Is it CrossFit? Tell me it’s CrossFit, or something else that makes you miserable,” Daniel said. “Tell me you don’t just look like that, because that isn’t fair.”

“Shut up,” Charlie said, walking Daniel back toward the bed. His mouth was on him again, wishing he could pause this moment and spend the next hour kissing every last inch of his body.

“Mph,” Daniel murmured against Charlie’s mouth. “You get kind of caveman when you’re horny…I like it.”

His skin felt like it was on fire, burning everywhere that Daniel touched. Somehow, they made it to the bed, though Charlie wasn’t aware he had moved.

“Shit,” he said, turning his head to the side and taking a breath. He realized he was on top of Daniel on the bed, grinding against him.

“Are you okay?” Daniel asked, his hands running up over Charlie’s shoulders.

“I’m just…trying really hard to stay in control,” Charlie confessed.

“Why?”

Charlie looked back at the man under him, the object of his desire. “Because I…have to.”

“No you don’t,” Daniel told him. “I don’t really know how this works, if you’re half man, half wolf, or both at the same time, but I’m pretty sure we all want the same thing here.”

Charlie wasn’t sure either. He didn’t feel like he and the wolf were two separate entities, just that he was more wolf-like now.

“I could hurt you,” Charlie warned him.

“I think that’s the last thing you want to do,” Daniel assured him. “I think you want to fuck me, nice and slow, and then hard and fast, until we both forget the crazy day we’ve just had.”

He hadn’t expected Daniel to talk like that, or for his voice to so easily take on such a seductive tone, but he was pleasantly surprised.

“That…yes, I want that,” Charlie said, feeling like he could barely string a sentence together. He kept lube and condoms in his nightstand, so he moved off Daniel to get them, instantly missing the heat from the other man’s body. His supplies were usually used when he was alone for an easy cleanup.

As he grabbed them, Daniel moved up the bed until he was by the pillows. It was only now that it really hit him. He finally had Daniel right here on his bed, naked and beautiful, and hard for him.

He let himself take a moment to really look at Daniel’s body. He was slim, but he had muscle definition in his arms and his chest. His skin, pale from working inside, was dotted with the occasional freckle. He wanted to join them all up with his tongue.

“Are you just going to look at me all night? Or are you going to fuck me?” Daniel asked.

Charlie felt like he was seeing a side of Daniel he hadn’t even known was there. The adorable pissed off kitten had become a wild cat, and Charlie was one hundred percent here for it.

“Oh, I’m going to fuck you,” Charlie promised him, as he ripped open the condom wrapper and slid it down over his cock. Daniel’s gaze followed the movements of Charlie’s hands almost jealously.

“God, look at you,” Daniel said, pushing his floppy hair back from his forehead.

Charlie gave himself a slow stroke. He didn’t think he had ever wanted anything as much as he wanted to sink his cock into Daniel’s ass right now. He popped open the lube and squeezed some onto his fingers as Daniel spread his legs for him.

It was such a glorious sight that he felt a little light-headed. Nothing outside of this room mattered. He didn’t understand the pull, he just knew that it felt right, and that the last thing he wanted to do was try and fight it.

Touching his fingertip to Daniel’s opening, he kept his gaze on Daniel’s face, looking for signs of pleasure or discomfort. Circling the hole, he watched as Daniel’s eyes fluttered close and his lips parted. A beautiful flush had begun to spread across his chest that Charlie wanted to lick.

“Okay?” Charlie asked, pushing his finger in carefully.

Daniel nodded. “So okay.”