Hidden Passions (22 page)

The wolf was sexy enough with all of his clothes on.

~

Liam's moods had been up and down since their volunteer assignment at the pool hall. One glimpse of his sullen face told Chris the big Irish cat wouldn't be a ray of sunshine this evening.

"I don't see why we have to waste our Friday night with wolves," he grumbled loudly enough for the rest of the crew to hear. "We don't get the weekend off that often."

Hoping to make the omega feel less overlooked, Chris had been helping him stack fire hose on racks in the engine bay. It was grunt work but necessary. Watching Liam sulk made wonder why he'd bothered.

"It's a party," he pointed out. "And it was nice of them to invite us. But feel free to miss out. No need to eat great food or listen to good music or meet the creatures everyone has been talking about for months. We'll muddle on without you if wasting time with wolves bothers you that much."

Liam stopped folding hose to gape at him. "I don't want to stay away by myself."

No, he wanted the crew to take his side against the pack who'd accepted Tony's sexuality. Chris shook his head silently. God save him from insecure twenty-five-year-olds.

"Grow up, Liam," Syd put in from his position hosing down their dirty hook and ladder. Evidently, Syd had decided which side of this squabble he supported. Chris would have been more grateful if Syd's support hadn't spurred Jonah to defend his buddy.

"Lay off the kid," he said. "Liam is entitled to his opinion."

"He's being a fucking tool. Nate's a wolf, and he's all right."

Jonah wouldn't have made a face if he'd known Evina had just entered the garage.

"Yes, he is," their alpha said, giving Syd's dreads a friendly tug. "All his pack are stand-up people. We're lucky to have this chance to broaden our horizons. Having closer ties to the city's cops can only help us in what we do."

"Sorry," Jonah said, realizing he'd put his foot in it. "I didn't mean to insult your mate."

"We're a team," Evina reminded, drawing on her alpha charisma as well as her motherly patience. "Every one of us needs the others. We can't let this kind of conflict drive a wedge between us."

"It wouldn't be so bad if Chris weren't always on Liam's case," Jonah said.

Evina's brows went up. "It's not my perception that he is."

"You don't see everything," their third muttered.

Evina glanced at Chris, who didn't know what to say. No alpha saw everything. That wasn't how clans worked. "Do the three of us need to talk?"

Chris was willing to if she wanted. He wasn't perfect, but he did the best he could. He
knew
he was the best cat to serve as beta. No one else had anywhere near his experience. No one else cared as much about all of them--even when they were being twits.

"Maybe we should," he said, trying not to sound like he was sucking up.

Jonah's resentful grimace said the cat thought he was. Chris suppressed a sigh. That reaction was exactly why Jonah couldn't step into his turnout boots.

"You're putting them first," the tiger said darkly. "You both like the wolves better."

Jonah certainly wasn't short on nerve. Chris gave him credit for speaking his mind straight out. What he couldn't do was let the statement stand.

"Whatever you think of me, you're being unfair to Evina--and maybe to Nate as well. Haven't you noticed how much happier she is since she married him? How much more affection she has to give? As for Nate, he cares about us. He's new to our lives, and he's been giving us a chance to get used to him, but you have to admit he treats Evina's cubs as lovingly as if they were his own blood. His whole pack has welcomed Abby and Rafiq. Those wolves are putting us cats to shame!"

Chris's voice had roughened, the topic one that affected him. He told himself he wouldn't be embarrassed about getting emotional.

"Well," Evina said, sounding choked up herself. She pressed her fingertips to the wetness beneath her eyes. Though she was their alpha, the sight of her tears brought out the protective male in her crewmembers.

Syd smacked her lightly on the bicep. "We'll work it out, chief. You know cats are stubborn. We take longer for some things. I, for one, am completely stoked about meeting those dragons. I've got a nephew who'll think I'm a god if I get a picture of me with one."

The tension eased as the others ribbed Syd over this.

Evina watched them a minute longer, weighing if the crisis really was over. It appeared to be. Jonah had returned to soaping the lime green tiger-striped hook and ladder. Chris wouldn't say he looked satisfied, but his manner was no longer challenging.

"You okay?" Chris asked Liam. "You should come to tonight's party. You'll be grumpy if everyone else goes and you miss out."

Liam's head was down. He glanced at his boss sideways. "I'll think about it," he said.

Chris rubbed the omega's back before stepping to Evina.

"Kids," Evina said, rolling her eyes at him. She'd moved to the station's weightlifting corner so they could speak privately.

"Jonah and Liam are close," Chris said. "I don't want to discourage them from sticking up for each other, but--"

"--they're being a pain in the ass right now?"

"I hope that's all it is, and that they'll get over it." If Jonah was gearing up for a challenge . . .

"We haven't done anything wrong," she said, a hint of exasperation in her tone. "Nate is an asset to this clan." Chris smiled, and Evina rubbed the wing of one dark eyebrow. "Okay, maybe I'm partial."

Chris thought she was right to be, which might have been part of the problem. "Did you have a favor you wanted to ask me?"

"You know me too well," she said with a little laugh. "I hope this isn't awkward, considering the timing, but could you give Tony a ride tonight? He's been borrowing Rick's car, and it's in the shop."

"Oh," Chris said, caught flatfooted.

"We can take him if it's inconvenient," Evina assured him. "Nate's Goblinati is just so small the cubs end up climbing all over him. Plus, my car's such a piece of crap Nate hates driving it."

"Not a problem," Chris said.

Evina searched his eyes for doubt. "You get along with everyone. I thought you and Tony might be a good bridge to build, but maybe not if the cats are feeling all
Mom and Dad don't love me
."

"We shouldn't necessarily coddle their fears."

"No," she agreed, rubbing her brow again. "God, I wish they weren't so uptight about Tony being gay. He's a good man."

Chris squeezed the deceptively delicate ball of her shoulder. "Maybe Syd's right, and they're simply taking longer to wrap their heads around the change in our conditions."

Evina surprised him by going up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. "You're a rock. I'm so glad I have you to help me."

Chris didn't know how much help he was in this particular situation--or how objective. He wondered if Evina would have been as quick to thank him if she'd known where he was truly coming from.

~

Chris's dusty white Ford Explorer was nothing fancy, but for a conversion it ran okay. As he pulled up to the brownstone's front, Tony jogged down the steps. He was grinning from ear to ear, so unabashedly excited Chris couldn't help but be infected by his good mood.

The wolf looked totally do-able in worn jeans, a black T-shirt, and a brown sport coat.

"Thank God," Chris said, leaning sideways to open the door for him.

The greeting surprised Tony. "Were you expecting me to be late?"

"No," Chris said as the wolf slipped smoothly into the passenger seat. "I meant thank God you're wearing clothes and not a bathing suit.

Tony grinned devilishly. "It's January. My swimsuit is underneath. It's a bright red Speedo, in case you're interested."

"Jesus," Chris breathed, putting the car in gear.

"Sorry, dude." Tony tossed his head airily. "I don't do grandpa trunks."

Chris refused to picture him in either. They always left separately for their secret meetings. This was the first time he'd driven Tony anywhere. Simply being in the front seat together added weight and warmth to his groin.

Some hint of his foreboding must have shown in his face.

"I didn't put Evina up to recruiting you as my ride," Tony said.

"I didn't think you had." Chris touched his leg briefly. "Half the time you're more careful than I am."

"FYI, I'd like to be kissing you right now."

Chris laughed, his cock twitching dangerously. "Me too," he admitted.

Tony surveyed the car, which for some reason seemed to please him. Probably the vehicle being Chris's was enough to cause the reaction. They both liked being around each other's stuff.

"What happened to your brother's car?" Chris asked.

"A vampire ran into it," Tony said gleefully.

"A vampire?"

"Uh-huh. We finally closed this re-homicide Carmine caught lead on. He and I chased the murderer six miles along River Drive and into an alley. Rick blocked the end with his Buick, exactly as we'd arranged. The timing was perfect until the vampire decided he'd try to blur through the vehicle. Those bloodsuckers are dense . . . in more ways than one. I guess he didn't realize Rick's car was solid Detroit steel, not some lightweight goblin composite."

"Why didn't he leap over the car?"

"Because we'd exhausted him. He couldn't do that semi-flying thing vampires like. Fortunately, the collision stunned Pointy Tooth. Carmine and I were able to cuff him before he recovered."

Chris tried not to show how much this story alarmed him. "Was your brother okay?"

"Oh yeah." Tony beat a drum riff on the sloping dash, still charged up by the incident. "Pissed off about his car, though. The whole front was crumpled. It looked like a tin can ran into a deer. And he temporarily broke his nose when the air bags went off."

"Does this kind of thing happen often?

His voice wasn't as casual as he meant it to be. Tony stretched his arm along the top of the bucket seats. "Don't go protective on me, Savoy. I'm a big tough werecop, remember?"

"I'm not allowed to worry?"

"I'm assuming you'd rather I didn't worry about you. Because
you
don't do anything all day except pull kittens out of trees."

Chris didn't want to smile, but he did.

Tender then, Tony stroked a lock of hair behind Chris's ear, stirring a pleasant small shiver. "I'm not the only adrenaline junkie in this car."

Chris glanced at him, suddenly wanting him so intensely he couldn't imagine how he'd survive the party. "We really fit," he observed, the wonder of it hitting him.

"I'll say," Tony agreed with a naughty leer.

The leer was all it took. Chris's cock overrode his control and jolted out full length.

Tony knew. Tony always knew things like that. "Pit stop?" he suggested with a throaty laugh.

"Where?" Chris asked through gritted teeth.

"As it happens, I know the perfect spot."

He directed Chris downtown to an automated carwash housed in the base of a tall building. The sign above the square steel door said "Pointy Tooth Carwash Emporium." The sign to its right said "Closed."

"I thought you were kidding," Chris said as he turned down the concrete ramp. "The vampire's name really was Pointy Tooth?"

"It was, and since he's currently in a cell, I don't think he'll be disturbing us."

Tony hopped out of the Explorer. Despite the place seeming shut, the access door wasn't locked. Tony needed a single thrust to shove the corrugated metal high enough to clear the SUV. He waved Chris forward like a traffic cop, though Chris couldn't recall seeing one with the wolf's lascivious expression.

Chris drove in and Tony rolled the door down again. For a moment, until Tony found the switch, the business was completely dark. Once the lights were on, their buzzing illumination revealed a washing tunnel and conveyor, both so grimy Chris had to wonder how cars got clean. The giant soaping brushes were black and red--vampire appropriate colors, he supposed.

The booth where drivers paid the attendant was empty. Tony poked his head in, then got back in the car, grinning.

Distracted by their surroundings, Chris craned to look at the flickering lights. "Why do those bulbs look strange?"

"They're EBUs," Tony said. "Everything But Ultraviolent. They don't singe vampires when they're indoors. According to the info we dug up, this place was mainly a cover for money laundering. I'm not sure the equipment works."

"I'm sure the equipment works," Chris quipped.

Tony glanced at his suspiciously bulging crotch. "This is okay then? I know it isn't romantic."

Chris's smile broadened. "You're all the romance I need, Lupone."

"Bullshitter," Tony said.

Chris kissed him like they'd both been wanting.

Tony let out a moan as their tongues slid together and their cheeks applied suction. Possibly too eager to get this going, Chris opened Tony's jeans and slid one hand inside. He was indeed wearing Speedos. His cock stretched them to capacity--no surprise, considering how hard and thick he was. Chris ran his fingers down the underside of his shaft, savoring its melting smoothness and its high-pressure veins. He bent his thumb over Tony's slit and discovered pre-cum beading. That was an invitation he wouldn't dream of declining. The silky wetness simply had to be rubbed around.

Still kissing him, Tony squirmed as his glans was circled, then closed his hand over Chris's trouser bulge. He gripped Chris's package tight, the firm massage sending intense sensations zooming through Chris's nerves.

"Fuck," he breathed, suddenly wanting more than a mutual hand-job. "Maybe we could put the seats down and move this into the back."

Tony had switched to sucking Chris's neck. His canine teeth were down, giving the love bite an extra charge. He pulled back reluctantly, his green eyes glowing like Christmas lights. "How fast can you convert the seats?"

"Very fast," Chris promised.

Tony let go of him.

They were shifters. They could strip off full riot gear in under ten seconds. Chris had the back seats flat in three. Because the carwash's floor was covered in who-knew-what, Tony tossed his clothes into the makeshift bed ahead of him. Gloriously naked and arousingly erect, he made a hurry-up gesture.