Kick at the Darkness (29 page)

“Pressure me about what?” Adam’s brow creased.

“I don’t want you to come with me because you think you have to. Because you’re being honorable or something. If you want to stay here and have a…pack or whatever, I don’t want to stand in the way.”

“A pack?”

“Ramon said it’s really important.”

“Is that what you want?” Adam asked carefully. “I thought after the other day, we were on the same page again.”

“We are.” Parker reached for Adam’s hand. They were both wearing gloves, and the leather squeaked together. “I want you to be happy. I want you to have a choice. This place could be so great for you. For me too. I don’t know what to do.”

“You know what the best decision I ever made was?”

Holding his breath, Parker shook his head.

“Giving an entitled freshman who didn’t try hard enough a C-minus.”

Parker’s head was suddenly light, and he gripped Adam’s hand.

“There are a million what-ifs and maybes in our lives. What if the pandemic had never happened? Maybe you would have dropped the class like you’d promised, and I’d have never seen you again. Maybe I’d have gone back to my studio apartment after I ran into you on campus, and spent another night alone watching reality TV and eating takeout. Maybe I’d have gone on filming other people’s lives. Gone on watching life happen through a lens. But I didn’t, because I gave you a shitty grade, and because I was lucky enough to run into you. Because we needed each other. Maybe if the world had stayed the same, I wouldn’t know you. But I can’t imagine my life without you now.”

All Parker could do was suck in a breath before he threw himself at Adam and hugged him tightly, desperate to kiss him but knowing he couldn’t, not until Neil did his tests. “I can’t either, Adam.”

Adam wrapped his arms around Parker and buried his face in his neck. “Whatever we do, it’s together.”

“Okay. Yeah. Good.” He breathed deeply and relaxed against Adam. “I love you.” It took a heartbeat for Parker to realize what he’d said, and he pulled back and met Adam’s gaze, his mouth going dry. “I didn’t mean…you don’t have to… Is that crazy?” He forced his lungs to expand. “Maybe it is, but it’s how I feel.”

Taking Parker’s face in his hands, Adam rubbed their noses together. “What isn’t crazy now? We don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Falling in love with you is the one amazing thing that’s come out of this mess. The one thing that makes it all worth it.”

His heart thumped. “Really?”

“Duh.”

Parker laughed, feeling like he could float up right over the peaks of the Rockies. “I guess you’re my boyfriend, huh?”

“Boyfriend. Partner. Significant other. Whatever you want to call it.”

“So we’re making a conscious coupling here. Officially.”

Adam laughed, his warm breath skating over Parker’s cold cheeks. “Yes, Gwyneth.” He leaned their foreheads together. “Whatever we do, we do it together.”

He loves me. I love him. We could be dead tomorrow, so why the hell shouldn’t we love each other?

After a minute of nuzzling, Parker leaned back. “I don’t want to die on some insane quest, but I think it would drive me nuts, always wondering about my parents. But then I think maybe I’m crazy to want to leave this place. We’ve got everything we could want, and not a creeper in sight.”

“But?”

“Is it me, or does it feel like the calm before the storm? Right now there’s still electricity and heat and gourmet food. Movie nights and salsa classes in the Vista Lounge. Seriously, they were salsaing this afternoon. Everyone is really nice, and they talk about building a community, and it all sounds great.”

“But it’s going to hell fast as soon as the creepers get through that gate.”

“Exactly! They’re all trying so hard to be normal. Like this is a retreat and we’re guests here at the hotel. But winter’s coming. What if they run out of food? What if a hundred new people show up at the gates and want in? I feel like shit’s going to go down sooner or later. This is a fantasy. It can’t last.”

Adam nodded. “I think we should go. No matter what might happen here, you have to try to find your family. I know I would.”

Parker exhaled. “God, I want to kiss you right now.”

“The feeling is extremely mutual.”

“But I think I have good news on that front. Neil’s going to take a sample of your blood so he can check it for infection.”

Adam was silent for a moment. “You think we can trust him?”

“Yes? Do you think he’ll see anything…werewolfy in there?”

“I don’t think so. In high school biology we had to do blood tests, and mine looked normal. I think my white blood cell count was high? That was about it. Regardless, I can’t imagine Neil would have a clue about werewolves.”

“So you’ll do it? It’s your choice, obviously. It just seems like too good an opportunity to pass up. I don’t think we’re going to run into many more epidemiologists.”

Adam’s lips quirked. “Seems unlikely. Yeah, let’s do it. If I’m being paranoid for nothing, I want to know.” He rubbed his gloved thumb over Parker’s lower lip. “I want to kiss you for days.”

“The feeling is entirely mutual.” Parker pressed his lips to Adam’s cheek. “I guess we should get back,” he murmured.

“Wanna take a ride first?” Adam nodded at the sled.

Parker grinned. “Hell yes.”

They squeezed onto the wooden rectangle, Parker wedged between Adam’s legs. With a big push, they zoomed down the steep hillside, Parker’s laughter echoing through the pines. At the bottom they tumbled into a heap in the soggy snow.

Parker groaned. “Ugh, wet jeans are the worst.”

“We’ll just have to get you out of them. Maybe we should take a shower.” Adam waggled his eyebrows. “I hear it’s big enough for two.”

“What are we waiting for?” Parker sprang to his feet. “Oh, right. We need to walk back up this hill. Wanna carry me?”

Adam wrapped the sled’s rope around his wrist. “Hop on.”

“Seriously? Man, having a super-strong boyfriend/partner/SO has its perks.”

Parker took a running leap at his back, and Adam hooked his arms under Parker’s knees.

“If I tell you to mush, will you toss me back down when we get to the top?”

Adam’s shoulders shook. “Definitely.”

“I’ll just be thinking it then.”

Adam motored up the hill with a speed and grace Parker could only dream of, and he looped his arms around Adam’s neck, holding on tight.

Parker’s heart skipped a beat as he spotted Neil walk into the dining hall the next morning.

Across the table, Adam chewed his western omelette and frowned. “What?” he asked around a mouthful.

“Neil!” Parker called out and waved. To Adam he muttered, “Maybe he has the test results.”

It was still early, the sun rising in a brilliant blue sky over a patchwork of orange and red leaves and evergreen pines. The dining hall’s wall of glass truly offered an impressive view. Parker could see why people had gotten comfortable here. But only patches of snow remained, and he and Adam needed to go before the weather worsened again.

Only a dozen other people were scattered across the hall, talking quietly amongst themselves. Neil pulled out a chair beside Parker and Adam at their four-person table. He was wearing a ratty He-Man tee that looked like it had been in his wardrobe for years.

“Do you want the good news, or the bad news?” Neil asked without preamble.

Adam and Parker shared a glance, and Parker’s palms went clammy.

“Bad,” Adam replied.

“Nah, I’m just messing with you. It’s all good news. You don’t have a trace of the virus in your bloodstream. Your antibodies are off the charts. I’ve actually never seen white blood cells like yours before. What’s your genetic background?”

Parker exhaled the breath he was holding. “You’re positive? He’s okay?”

“Yep. Free and clear. So, Adam, where were your parents from?” Neil pulled a notepad and pen from his pocket.

“Uh, they were both from Minnesota. My grandparents came from Germany and England. Nothing exciting, I’m afraid.” Adam met Parker’s gaze intensely.

He knew he was grinning like an idiot, but Parker didn’t care. “Neil, can we talk later? We’ve got to do something. I forgot about…this thing. That we need to do. Now.”

Neil looked up from the notes he was scratching. “Sure. Just a few more questions. Adam, what’s your typical diet?”

While Adam answered Neil’s seemingly endless questions, Parker jiggled his foot and played with the zipper on his hoodie, relief, excitement, and hard-core lust zinging through him. Finally, Neil capped his pen.

“Thanks so much. I might have some more questions later. You guys will be around, right?”

“Uh-huh,” Parker answered, already pushing back his chair. “Thanks again, Neil.” He clapped him on the shoulder as he passed by.

He and Adam waited until they were in the stairwell to run. Of course Adam beat him to the third floor by a mile, and was already naked when Parker stumbled through the door to their room. The sun streamed in the windows, showing every bit of Adam’s lean flesh and powerful muscles, and the dark hair dusted over his body.

“Jesus, you’re gorgeous.” Parker tossed the key card over his shoulder before yanking off his hoodie and T-shirt and sending his sneakers flying. He struggled with his fly, and then couldn’t wait another moment to kiss Adam, closing the distance between them and lunging for his mouth.

They both groaned as their tongues met. Parker wasn’t sure how long they stood there, just kissing and rubbing against each other. Adam tasted so good, and Parker wanted to lick every inch of him. When he broke the kiss, Adam chased after him with his mouth, but Parker dropped to his knees on the thick carpet.

“You want me?”

Adam growled low in his throat. His eyes flashed bright as they met Parker’s, and Parker swallowed the head of Adam’s thick cock, teasing the foreskin with the point of his tongue. Then he began sucking in earnest, and as he watched through his lashes, Adam’s eyes flared golden and his claws and fangs extended, hair spreading more thickly over his body. He throbbed in Parker’s mouth.

“Parker,” Adam gasped. “I’m… Fuck, I’m sorry. We shouldn’t. Not like this.” He pulled his cock free. “Give me a minute.”

“No.” Parker clutched Adam’s hairy thighs. “I want to see you like this. It’s who you are.” Desire was thick in his veins, and he rubbed himself through his jeans. “I don’t ever want you to hide from me. Fuck me like this.”

In one movement, Adam picked up Parker from his knees and tossed him onto the bed. Heart pounding, Parker shimmied out of his jeans and underwear, and reached for the lube where he’d left it on the side table. Kneeling between Parker’s spread legs, Adam watched with glowing eyes as Parker opened himself with his fingers. Adam’s hairy chest rose and fell quickly, and he stroked himself with a loose fist, his claws barely skimming over his shaft. In his werewolf form, his cock seemed to swell even thicker, and Parker’s throat went dry with a mix of fear and hunger.

He slathered the lube over Adam’s dick and lifted his legs. He bent his knees to his shoulders and opened himself, his heart hammering his ribs. Adam was growling now, and he lifted up Parker’s ass and leaned over him as he rammed inside. It burned painfully, but Parker cried out and arched his back. “Yes! Like that.”

It was rough, and the bed thumped against the wall as Adam pounded into him. All Parker could do was hang on, his ankles up around his ears as Adam bent him in half with punishing strokes. Parker felt like he was being shattered into a million pieces, but filled in every little corner as well, consumed completely as Adam fucked him with low grunts and snarls through his fangs.

Maybe it should have felt wrong, but Parker’s cock thrummed, his balls heavy and tingling as he was stretched and filled. The extra hair on Adam’s body rubbed against Parker’s sac and ass, and he ran his hands over the pelt on Adam’s chest and shoulders. “You’re so hot. I’m gonna come so hard.” He licked Adam’s neck and the sheen of salty sweat there. “Love you,” he mumbled.

With a gasp, Adam’s rhythm stuttered. When he spoke over his fangs, it was deep and strained. “Even like this?”

“Every part of you.” Parker squeezed around Adam’s huge cock opening his ass. The pain and pleasure blurred, and he moaned. “I’d fuck you if you were an actual wolf on four legs. I’d get on my hands and knees and let you lick me open. Let you mount me and plow me with your huge cock. Feel your fur against my skin, and your claws digging into my shoulders, and—”

Adam came with an actual howl, his head thrown back and fangs gleaming as he filled Parker’s ass, splashing hot and wet. He trembled with pulse after pulse until it was leaking out of Parker’s hole. Before Parker could formulate a thought, Adam pulled out and dropped Parker’s legs to the mattress. On his knees, he raised up to straddle Parker’s hips and guide Parker’s cock into him as he sank down in a swift motion.

“Fuck!” Parker bucked up into Adam’s tight ass. The heat and pressure were incredible, and even though there was no lube, Adam didn’t seem to feel any pain as he rode Parker hard, leaning his palms on Parker’s chest. His claws grazed Parker’s skin just enough to send shivers through him. As Parker clutched Adam’s hairy thighs, he was moaning and shouting and being far too loud, but all he could care about was the sensation of being
inside
Adam—of having everything between them stripped away for good.