Little Wolf (34 page)

Nathaniel released his hand and took himself away in one abrupt movement. He took another step and then let out a shuddering breath. He put his hands behind his back. “I won’t be in town tomorrow,” he announced, staring at Tim. After a moment he spoke again. “I won’t be in town, but I will be here in the evening. If you need me, you can call and I’ll be there. I’ll speak to the others about everything else. You’ll be safe.”

Nathaniel was so determined to give Tim his space that Tim had almost forgotten Nathaniel was keeping an eye out for him. Tim didn’t say anything about that for now, only shaking his head. “Wait, you won’t be around?” He frowned without intending to. “I won’t see you for a whole day?” He ducked his head the moment the stupid little whine was out of his mouth.

The sound that left Nathaniel was tortured. “Little Wolf, stop. There’s only so much I can take from you.” The declaration of surrender brought Tim’s head up, but Nathaniel turned away from him. He was off the porch in a bound and stripping his clothes away with an urgency that took the human from Tim’s thinking. His skin and strength were on display, every curving muscle until he fell forward and groaned with the discomfort of the shift.

Tim curled his fingers into his palm, seeking out the lingering warmth from Nathaniel’s mouth, even if it was imaginary. Then Big Wolf turned to him, fur blacker than the sky, eyes flashing, before he ran to the cover of the trees.

He stayed there for the rest of the night. Tim could hear him prowling restlessly around outside the cabin, as if he wanted to vanish into the trees but wouldn’t leave Tim alone. Tim finally fell asleep sitting up in bed, listening to soft scratching of the pacing wolf at the door.

W
ATCHING
THE
baby wolves wiggle out of their clothes and shift into their wolf forms was almost like déjà vu, except that Rebecca, Samantha, and Scott were shouting at one another before they fell onto all fours and began to run. Even Scott was graceful in that form, sure of himself and the strength of his limbs. Their colors were varied, as was their speed, and Tim surprised himself by wondering which of them was the fastest, and if he would win if he joined in their race.

The wind was fierce, cold and dry as it rushed down from the mountains, and Tim raised his head to feel it against his warm cheeks. He inhaled, noting the scent of wolf but no other predators. A second later he realized he was keeping a protective eye on the baby wolves, the baby wolves who could take care of themselves better than Tim could. He’d spent too much time around Nathaniel.

Nonetheless, he swept his gaze across the valley one more time, not certain what he was looking for or why he frowned to realize he couldn’t detect his or Nathaniel’s presence in the Meadows from the day before. He’d have to shift, get closer, to trace the scents, and he shuddered away from that for now. He still didn’t have the baby wolves’ grace for one thing, and for another, the only person aside from his mother to ever see Tim as a wolf was Nathaniel, and Tim was content to keep it that way for now. Albert didn’t seem to expect it from him anyway.

Albert watched his friends go in silence, then looked down at his clasped hands. “Want to go for a walk?” he asked, tilting his head toward Tim before looking at him. Tim immediately stared down as well, although it was stupid to be so nervous about something so obvious. Albert wasn’t asking him for a walk in the woods, and they both knew it.

Tim had the suspicion that Albert was a virgin too but then dismissed it. Albert was hot. Even if he’d been waiting for Graham—or whatever was going on there—someone would have jumped him by now.

Technically, Tim wasn’t sure he was even a virgin anymore. Nathaniel had made him come, unintentionally, but it had happened. But technicalities were not actual experience. Yet this wasn’t exactly how he’d thought about getting it. Especially with Nathaniel’s scent haunting him.

He had to wet his mouth to speak. “Sure.” His legs didn’t seem to want to carry him. He stayed frozen in place until Albert smiled, and then he finally got his ass in motion.

He glanced around again, fully conscious of the fact that there was no one watching, and certainly not Nathaniel. Nathaniel had not been around today. He hadn’t even been in town. The rumors, quick to reach Tim at the café, were that the sheriff had taken an unprecedented sick day. Tim had already felt crappy from a night spent waiting for Nathaniel to return. He hadn’t needed the uncomfortable knowledge that Nathaniel was going out of his way to give Tim space he hadn’t asked for.

Carl hadn’t said a word, but his expression had said he thought Tim was being an idiot. He’d left before Albert and the others had shown up, the one good thing about the day so far. Tim’s stomach had been churning so much he hadn’t even eaten. Nathaniel hadn’t come in to try to make him either. Somehow that was the worst part.

But Nathaniel was also the reason Tim was out here. He had all but shoved Tim at Albert and left him to do… whatever he and Albert did. Tim opened his hand to study his palm for a moment and glanced up. Albert’s cheeks were definitely darker. So Tim wasn’t alone in his nervousness and awkward contemplation of what the hell they were doing.

Albert seemed to know Tim was caught in his thoughts. He even seemed to know why. He glanced over his shoulders too, and gave a little sigh to find them still alone. He hadn’t shown up with Graham, and Tim hadn’t asked. He was starting to think he should have.

It felt like the entire town, except for Carl, was carefully reserving judgment. Robin’s Egg probably would approve, being fairy. But Zoe hadn’t said anything, and she’d had plenty of opportunity. She’d told Tim he looked tired but hadn’t said anything else. She also hadn’t offered up Nathaniel’s location, despite how Tim had not been subtle in trying to find out.

“Albert?” Tim put his hand behind his back. “This is weird, right?”

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” Albert confessed. “It all seems weird to me.” He was hushed. Tim wondered if his guilt was contagious.

Tim felt his shoulders drop as some of his tension left him. “Really? But you’re so….” He studied Albert’s body, then raised his head. Albert, Tim noticed, had a wonderful smile, kind and oddly bashful. Not what he would have expected from a were of his old bloodline, but pleasant to discover. “You should be able to get laid,” Tim summed up, then thought of Nathaniel, again, and the story of his time in high school.

Thinking of Nathaniel made him warm, made his lungs seize up until he gasped in air that was fresh and crisp and yet all wrong. The air was missing
Nathaniel
. In its place was
eager/warmth/Albert
and an undercurrent of need, almost unhappy. But Albert was blushing alongside him, and if Tim stepped closer, he’d feel the heat through his clothes.

“Come on, then,” Tim announced, keeping his chin up by remembering he was a Dirus. “Let’s walk.”

He had no idea where he was going as he stomped toward the tree line, but he could find his way back by scent now, if he didn’t get distracted by the places he’d visited with Nathaniel the day before. He chewed his lip since Nathaniel wasn’t there to fuss about it. Nathaniel was an idiot to worry over something like that when it always healed. Tim wasn’t human. Tim could take a bit of pain. He certainly wouldn’t need a sick day.

He marched on, admitting to some relief when Albert followed him, his footsteps much softer and surer as he moved through the grass. He stepped ahead of Tim when they reached the shade of the trees. Tim couldn’t object. With Nathaniel, he might have objected anyway, so Nathaniel wouldn’t start thinking he could tell Tim what to do. With Nathaniel, Tim would already have been breathing heavily, desperate to inch closer as he inhaled Nathaniel’s desire for him.

Tim tried to redirect his thoughts and wound up studying Albert’s ass, not a bad thing to study, even if he compared it to Nathaniel’s ass and felt like a jerk. He sighed.

The sound was barely out of him when Albert turned to him and swept forward. Albert was close, close and stinking of nerves and lust and, yeah, okay, some of that was Tim. It was probably how he smelled around Nathaniel all the time, which was not a good thought.

Tim brought his hands up to Albert’s shoulders to grab his shirt, then stood there, so tense he was shaking. “I’m not human,” he barked at Albert after a moment, even though Albert smelled of the same confused want. Tim quieted at his slight frown. “Not completely, I mean. Only partly. There’s no need to treat me like I’m breakable like he’s doing—”

Albert put a hand on Tim’s chest and leaned down. Tim didn’t know what to make of his expression or his scent. Everything was mingling, and thinking to separate every strand of emotion was the last thing he wanted to do. He was tired. He was confused. And Nathaniel hadn’t been there today. Tim didn’t know when exactly he’d gone beyond expecting Nathaniel to be there to wanting him there, but he’d wanted him there, to explain, to just fucking
be there
, and he hadn’t been. He’d left Tim to this, deliberately, so that Tim could find out what he wanted.

Tim inched up and kissed Albert on the mouth, taken aback at the warm tickle of Albert’s breath, the delighted exclamation of surprise that shivered through both of them. He curled his hands tighter in Albert’s shirt and focused on kissing him.

Albert was warm and felt good, solid, under Tim’s hands. He was slow to touch Tim in return, but when he did, it was to slide his fingers under the edge of Tim’s shirt. That was warm too. Tim frowned and pulled him closer, only to nearly tear away when Albert laughed against his mouth. But it wasn’t a mean sound, and the smells curling around Tim were excited. Then Albert pressed a soft kiss to his lips and tilted his head to make it deeper and Tim understood. Albert was happy this was happening.

But there was no fire, no smoke. Tim felt himself scowling and tried to banish it by pulling back to brush kisses over Albert’s throat, like Nathaniel had done to him. Albert flexed his hand against him. Tim kissed him some more, wishing he weren’t so hesitant, or that Albert would do more than sigh. He finally stopped and leaned against the tree.

“It’s not like—” he began, but stopped out of frustration for the right words. He opened his eyes and found Albert smiling at him again, with a tinge of sadness this time.

“Of course it isn’t,” Albert agreed, but then seemed to get distracted by Tim’s mouth. Tim had to admit to a hitch in his breathing at that interested study, and that he wasn’t exactly uninterested in Albert’s mouth either. He had questions, but he held them in as Albert kissed him again, angling his head and experimenting with pressure. Tim whimpered despite himself and slid his fingers through Albert’s hair.

He didn’t know why Albert had waited or why he’d picked Tim, but Tim wasn’t about to second-guess it, even if it felt strange, even if he could still think, even if nothing was hard enough,
Nathaniel
enough.

“Oh fuck, he ruined me,” Tim mumbled into Albert’s mouth and darted forward for another kiss, something rougher. Albert’s hand seized on Tim’s chest, but he didn’t object. He pushed back, and Tim opened his legs the way he would have for Nathaniel. It felt good, frustrating, a little awkward, but good. The height difference didn’t work so well standing like this, but Tim wasn’t inclined to move.

The air was starting to smell like sex already, like anticipation, and Tim was getting hard, but he could breathe, he could think. The scents began to resolve themselves, not nearly as overpowering as he’d expected. He tugged on Albert’s clothes when Albert pushed Tim’s shirt up, and kept kissing him to hide his blushes, the sliver of uncertainty at standing half naked next to someone so attractive. Albert’s silky hair slid through his fingers. His skin was flawless. Tim was paleness and freckles, but Albert dropped his head and placed shy kisses at Tim’s shoulders as if he didn’t mind.

Tim closed his eyes. “Oh,” he said stupidly, but in no mood to sound smart. Albert didn’t pin him to the tree, but he pushed his hand down Tim’s jeans, and that was almost as good. His breathing was fast and eager, and unlike anyone else he kept going once he had Tim stiff and shuddering. Albert made a startled exclamation at his first stroke of Tim’s cock, and Tim had to dig his hands into the tree, but he didn’t come.

It wasn’t like Tim thought sex would be, and it wasn’t like when Nathaniel touched him, but he shoved away thoughts of Nathaniel, the strength of him, and the gentleness he was capable of, and the hurt surrounding him when he’d told Tim to do this. He pushed that away and helped Albert undo his fly in order to get his jeans open and watched Albert jack him off. His breath got louder. He felt weirdly conscious of that and fixed the problem by hauling Albert forward for more kisses.

He kissed harder this time, sloppy and not caring when the memory of fiercer kisses sent him closer to the edge. He bit down and jerked at Albert’s shocked, pleased little sound. The orgasm tore from him, spilling hot like the trace of Albert’s blood. Tim licked dizzily at that blood until it was gone and his body was no longer trembling. He couldn’t apologize, but he could lean back long enough to wet his palm and then pull at Albert’s jeans until they were open.