STORY EXCERPT

The full moon always did a job on Benjamin Byrd’s hormones, pheromones, and all the other moans in his lupine body. The cold gray orb pulled at him like it pulled at the ocean tides. It made him do crazy things. Things he wouldn’t normally do. Like go to the Wolf Den.

Ben lived like a lone wolf, but once a month the craving for companionship—spelled S.E.X.—fired up all his nerve endings, and thoughts of the pack drew him like a moth to a flame. Pack mentality was inbred in every wolf. There was no getting away from it, not when a full moon rose in the sky.

So Ben, dressed in a new pair of jeans and a clean black T-shirt, started walking toward the Wolf Den. The closer he got, the more his nerves increased. He hadn’t been back for twenty-nine days, and that visit hadn’t gone well. Harry, the plug-ugly bully, had made a pass at him, and Ben had beaten a hasty retreat. Harry was dead now, and a small part of Ben was glad he wouldn’t be running into the troublemaker tonight. For a second, Ben felt bad. A man shouldn’t think ill of the dead, especially someone who had been murdered. His regret didn’t last too long. Harry had not been a nice person.

Living so far from Arcadia, Ben was out of the loop, but bad news traveled faster than other kinds, and when a pack member was killed by one of his own, that kind of news traveled fastest of all. Hunter Black, one of the alpha’s best enforcers, had torn Harry’s throat out and run off. It was said that Hunter had been granted asylum at the Colony, home of the vampire-hawks. Ben knew Hunter, and in his opinion, if Hunter was guilty, he must have had good reason.

Ben slowed up as he approached the barn-like building that housed the Arcadia Pack’s bar and dance club. He felt eyes following his movement, but he shrugged it off as paranoia. Ben always felt conspicuous around the others.

Entering the club, Ben stood at the door for a few minutes, just looking around. Already, the place smelled of beer, testosterone, and sweat. A few men leered at him suggestively, and ignoring them and the electronic beat of the dance music, he headed to the bar. A drink would go a long way to calm his nerves.

Ben looked for the bartender. Kade was on tonight. He had his back turned, and he was filling mugs with draft beer from the kegs. Suddenly, Ben was very conscious of the way Kade’s ass filled out his snug jeans. The bartender straightened and turned. Kade flashed a sexy grin, and it sent an unexpected and unwanted jolt of sexual awareness straight to Ben’s groin.

Hell, no.

Kade was one hot wolf, but he was cocky and arrogant, definitely not the type of partner Ben was looking for. The bartender intimated him. Already Ben felt his tongue tying itself into knots.

Kade set the mugs on the bar and came over to take Ben’s order. He stared at Ben’s hand on the bar. Ben’s eyes followed the direction of Kade’s gaze.

“Sharp talons,” Ben gave out a shaky laugh. “I wasn’t wearing my glove.”

Kade’s sneer of contempt and ridicule cut deeper than the talon marks on Ben’s hand. “So, what’ll it be, birdman?”

“Bud Light,” Ben replied in a voice so low, the bartender couldn’t hear him.

“What was that again, birdman?”

“Bud Light,” Ben said, a little louder this time.

“A Stud Light for the birdman,” Kade said loudly. Everyone laughed and the bartender set a bottle in front of Ben. “You spend too much time with those damn birds,” Kade spat. “You need a real man in your cage, someone who will ruffle your feathers.”

“Like you?” Ben retorted, hackles rising. He hated Kade’s condescending attitude.

“You should be so lucky,” Kade declared extravagantly.

Fuck you! Biting his lip, Ben grabbed the beer and moved away from the bar.

I shouldn’t have come.

Slipping through the pack of bodies, he made his way to a shadowy corner and leaned against the wall, trying to ape the attitude of the other wolf-shifters. It wouldn’t work. Ben had never been like the others, and no matter how much he pretended he was, everyone in the pack knew he was different. Too small. Too serious. Too much into birds.

ADULT EXCERPT

Ben swallowed hard. Something about shifting in front of the vampire had felt very intimate. He and Talon had shared their spirit animals with each other, and it had brought them another step closer. That feeling, combined with Talon’s musky scent and his sexy cut cock, made arousal curl low in Ben’s belly. His heat had barely ended, and now he felt it rise again. The need to come was a dull ache in his groin.

Boldly, he met Talon’s gaze and held it as he moved toward the vampire like a man in a trance. Giving in to his baser instincts so easily made Ben feel slutty. It was a first for him, and he loved it.

Lowering himself over the vampire’s body, he straddled Talon’s thighs, whimpering as the stiff cock nudged the crease of his ass.

“Are you sure,” Talon whispered.

Am I? These feelings were forbidden, for sure, but all the alpha’s lectures about controlling taboo desires didn’t amount to a hill of wolf dung right now. Ben had the man of his dreams in his arms and he was ready to give up control, and let passion take over.

“Yes,” Ben hissed, as Talon’s hot, swollen cockhead pressed for entrance.

Talon gripped Ben’s hips and stilled him. “I’m leaking enough pre-cum to grease your passage. You set the pace. I’ll follow.

Inch by slow inch, Ben lowered himself over the steel-hard shaft, while Talon clenched his teeth in a supreme struggle to keep his control. Ben appreciated the vampire’s efforts to take things slow, but when Talon’s long length was finally seated inside him, Ben felt more than ready to pick up tempo, and he squirmed like an impatient pup.

“Don’t be in such a hurry, Ben,” Talon cautioned. “We have a little time, and I want to enjoy you.” He ran his fingers through Ben’s chest hair in search of a nipple.

“I hope you don’t mind my thick pelt,” Ben said shyly. The vampire’s chest appeared smoother than a plucked chicken, but Ben thought it was sexy as fuck. He let out a gasp as the vampire found what he was looking for and pinched the tight nub.

Talon grinned at him. “It’s like hunting for buried treasure. It’s incredibly hot. Just like your dick.” Talon stroked Ben’s shaft slowly, and both men followed the movement of the foreskin back and forth over the head of Ben’s cock. “Like I said—buried treasure.”

Ben’s breath hitched. The feeling of being filled along with the stimulation was so much more satisfying than pleasuring himself. For the first time, Ben felt as if he was truly having satisfying sex with a partner.

“Your cockhead must be very sensitive,” Talon said. With that devilish grin, he leaned over and blew on it gently.

Ben’s cock jumped, eager for more, and his pulse raced. Ben couldn’t help moving on Talon. The vampire let out a groan and started pushing upward to meet Ben’s thrusts.

Pressed chest against chest, they moved in tandem, Ben pushing down, Talon thrusting up. Talon leaned forward and captured Ben’s lips, swallowing his sounds of his pleasure. Ben kissed him back, touching his tongue to Talon’s in an erotic duel. His tongue moved inside the vampire’s mouth in strong, compelling thrusts, a rough parody of what Talon was doing to him.

Talon responded by taking a firm grip on Ben’s cock and pumping. The vampire’s hand moved up and down Ben’s throbbing shaft, slowly at first, then faster. Ben became lost in the rhythm. He was breathing really hard now, and he felt his balls tighten, ready to explode. He tensed his body, hoping to stave off his climax, but Talon was relentless. Ben’s toes curled. He shut his eyes tight, threw back his head, and howled.

The sensation of Talon’s seed filling him made their connection all the better. Ben moaned, savoring the closeness and some unidentifiable feeling he couldn’t put a name to. It was bliss. So good that Ben floated dreamily out of touch, and only became aware when Talon’s fangs pierced his neck.