by Shea Balik
CHAPTER 15
There was an odd moment that Spencer didn’t think he’d ever forget. The hairs all over his body were standing on end as an almost eerie presence entered the woods. He couldn’t quite explain it, because one minute he was finally beginning to calm his racing heart at seeing the proof of the town’s legendary upside-down trees, and the next it was as if a deep foreboding filled him.
Then there was Sammy, who had his ears flattened against his head, tail down, head low to the ground, with his teeth bared as he growled menacingly in the direction of whatever sinister aura had descended over them. If the hairs on his body weren’t already straight up in the air, they would have been by the sounds coming out of Sammy. But since they were, an odd, almost surreal out of body experience started to happen.
Like he got the danger they were in, well that was a drastic overstatement since he had no clue what was out there, but still, Spencer was aware they weren’t in the least bit safe. Knowing that, he had to admit to wishing to hell he was the type of person to turn tail and run, leaving the man he was beginning to fall in love with, as well as his best friend, behind.
Okay, so maybe that wasn’t entirely true. The survival part of him kind of wanted to be that person. Dying by being ripped apart was not on his list of ways to meet his maker. That didn’t mean he was about to abandoned two people he cared for just so he could live.
Where that left him was the part that Spencer would never forget. Scared? Shitless. Speechless? Oddly, no. Sense of humor? Weirdly, more so than usual. It was a strange combination.
“Uh, Axom,” Spencer whispered loud enough to the man, who was standing at least twenty-five feet away, amongst the inverted trees. “If you want to give us suggestions, I think now would be a really great time to do so.”
His friend shrugged as he stared hard at the spot Sammy was. “How the hell would I know? It’s not like I ever came face to face with Bigfoot.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be the Bigfoot expert?” Reese asked.
Axom frowned, giving Reese and Spencer a quick glance before peering once more through the foliage to see whatever danger Sammy sensed. “It’s not like there’s a school for this or anything. I mean, as far as I know no one has actually come face to face with Bigfoot. Well, and survived.”
“Seriously?” Spencer hissed. “You’re telling us this now? Then why in the hell did you give us this?” Spencer pulled out the hunting knife he’d had strapped to his thigh. As sharp as it was, he didn’t believe even the eight-inch blade would do much damage if the stories about Bigfoot were to be believed. “And where the hell are all those damn guns you have?”
Slowly, as if trying not to draw attention to himself, Axom pulled out a nine mm handgun.
“You have got to be kidding me.” Spencer exclaimed as he stared at the ridiculously small gun. “Where’s the friggin’ M-16, AR-15, or hell, at this point, I’d take a shotgun. What were you thinking bringing that to fight Bigfoot?”
“I didn’t think we’d actually find him,” Axom hissed back at Spencer. “I’ve been searching for the past twenty years. How was I supposed to know he’d be here? It’s been four damn days since you saw him,” Axom reminded him.
Reese was shaking against Spencer, reminding him that he and Axom weren’t alone in this. “Please, tell me he’s joking.” It was hard to make out all of Reese’s words, but Spencer figured it was close enough.
“I wish I were,” Spencer muttered. Louder, he said, “Since we have no way to defend ourselves, what exactly do you suggest we do?”
Axom glanced back his way and gave him a lopsided smile. “Kiss our asses good-bye.”
He hadn’t even gotten the last word out when Sammy started to back up. His ass hit Axom’s leg and Spencer would swear the dog was trying his best to push Axom backwards.
“What the hell is he doing?” Axom called to Spencer and Reese.
“Saving your ass, you moron,” Spencer told him. “Now do as he is telling you and back the fuck up.”
Axom was shaking his head and trying to sidestep Sammy, who refused to let him do so. “No way,” Axom said firmly. “This might be my only chance to see Bigfoot for myself. I’m not leaving.”
Sammy tilted his head back and howled. The sound sent chills racing up and down Spencer’s spine.
“Axom, don’t be stupid. You aren’t prepared for this. Now do as Sammy is telling you and get your ass back here with us.” He wasn’t sure why he thought Axom would listen. The man never had been good with taking direction from anyone, not even his beloved maw maw, his grandmother on his mother’s side, who ruled her family with a firm hand, often to the backsides of her family when she felt they needed it.
A grunt came from within the trees both Sammy and Axom were staring at. A flash of dark brown suddenly peeled away from one of the trees. The standing trees shook, pine needles coating the snowy white forest floor. Then whatever it was they’d seen, was gone.
Just as Spencer had feared, Axom took off after whatever had been there, Sammy hot on his heels.
“Fuck,” Spencer yelled as he started to take off after the pair, but Reese’s death grip on him held him in place.
The man was shaking so hard his teeth were clacking together. If he wasn’t careful, he’d end up breaking a tooth.
Turning his full attention to Reese, Spencer wrapped his arms around the man. “Hey. Hey. It’s okay. You’re going to be fine. But I need you to follow the trail back across the river and alert Anook, Cass, and Kip what’s going on.”
“I c-can-can’t l-leave y-you,” Reese stuttered out. “Sammy,” he said more clearly but instead of continuing to speak, he pointed in the direction his beloved dog had run. “Gotta find him,” Reese finally said before starting off in that direction.
Spencer wasn’t so sure that it was a good idea to bring Reese along when the man was clearly terrified and not reacting well to what had happened. Then again, the logical part of his mind reminded Spencer, it wasn’t a good idea for any of them to go running after whatever had been in those woods.
Bigfoot or no, the thing had been huge. Chasing it would only piss it off more than it probably already was. That was a good way to get them all killed.
Following Reese, thankfully, it wasn’t too hard to keep track of the footprints. He had no clue what it meant that the creature they were following had what appeared to look like human feet, except they were nearly a foot and a half long. And damn if the dude’s stride wasn’t enormous.
A deep guttural howl had both Spencer and Reese stopping in their tracks. It was in the distance, but they didn’t like the sound of it, especially when it was followed by another howl that sounded like Sammy.
“Hurry,” Reese said as he grabbed Spencer’s hand and pulled him forward along the path they were following.
They ran for another fifteen minutes, with only occasional howls from Sammy to guide them. There hadn’t been any other sounds, thankfully. With any luck, whatever had been watching them was long gone and Axom hadn’t gotten close enough to get himself killed.
“I can’t believe you did that,” Axom yelled from further ahead of them. “I was catching up.” There was a yip that Spencer would swear sounded like Sammy was trying to laugh. “Well, I was close,” Axom argued back. “Tripping me was completely uncalled for.”
Even from where they were, which was far enough that he and Reese couldn’t see Axom or Sammy, the sound of Sammy’s huff of disbelief was loud and clear.
“Do you think Sammy really tripped Axom?” Reese’s voice was filled with a mix of worry and relief.
“Knowing Axom,” Spencer said. “Not in the slightest. The man is like a walking accident. I swear, all those stupid warning labels on products were put there because of Axom.”
Not that Axom would ever admit it.
As if to prove that, when they came to where Axom was picking up the contents of his backpack, which had somehow split open, he scowled at Reese and pointed at Sammy. “Your dog
is a menace. He made me lose Bigfoot, then he tripped me, my backpack got caught on a branch and…” There was a strangled yelp from Axom a split second before his feet went out from under him and he landed hard on his ass.
“Ow,” Axom groaned out.
Spencer forced himself to not laugh, but it was hard, especially when Reese said, “I see what you mean about him being accident prone.”
“I am not,” Axom grumbled as he sat there on the frozen ground. “If your dog would stop getting in my way, none of this would have happened.”
Sammy let out a mix between a huff and a bark as if disputing Axom’s words.
“Whatever,” Axom said as he forced himself back to his feet. “All I know is I was hot on Bigfoot’s heels. Now I’m not. The only other factor in that equation was you,” he told Sammy as if that made perfect sense.
“Did you catch sight of him, at least?” Spencer asked.
Axom gave him a withering look. “No. But now that I know his hideout, I plan to put cameras all around those trees so I can catch him.”
Yeah, the guys weren’t going to like hearing that. The last time Axom tried to do that back in college, he’d stayed up for two weeks straight. It had been summer so there hadn’t been classes, but Axom had refused to bathe, and he’d forced them to get his food for him.
He’d even peed in empty jars and bottles. It had been disgusting. The only time he’d stepped away, and only if two of them were available to watch the screens at all times, was to poop. At least he hadn’t tried to do that in the dining room where he’d set up the monitors.
Spencer hadn’t thought about whether or not he’d move out of Reese’s now that he’d forgiven his friends. Maybe he’d ask if he could stay. No way did he want to live through that again.
CHAPTER 16
“Thank you for letting me stay here.” Spencer sounded so damn stiff and formal, Reese was beginning to think instead of Bigfoot out in those woods, it had been more like an alien abduction of some kind.
“Spence.” Reese went for casual and had to admit he liked the way Spencer’s slightly shorter nickname sounded. “I said it was fine and I meant it. I like having you here.”
That wasn’t entirely true. The past few days he’d gone from teasing Spencer by coming out in nothing but pajama bottoms, to not being able to wear anything that unrestricting because his dick refused to cooperate when Spencer was around. It was perpetually hard if he so much as thought about the man, but to hear his voice or see his sexy body?
Reese let out a long, silent breath after he’d turned to the sink so Spencer couldn’t see. His cock ached and he was sure there was a wet spot on his jeans, as it hadn’t stopped leaking since Spencer came home just over an hour ago.
To add to that delicious torture, Spencer had offered to help with the casserole they were bringing for the holiday dinner. In theory, that had sounded great. In practice, it meant being in close proximity to the man he had somehow managed to fall in love with yet, had no idea how to tell him that. Or if he even wanted to.
He’d nearly dropped to the floor in relief when he’d put the three glass dishes into the oven. If only Spencer hadn’t then offered to help clean up. The man was killing him.
Never had any of Reese’s previous boyfriends ever offered to help with dishes. It was so damn… well, domestic. The thing was, Reese liked it. A little too much considering they were currently behaving as only roommates.
No matter what Reese had done, Spencer never once made a move on him. Yeah, he knew that was stupid. There was no reason it had to be Spencer who made the first move. Other than the fact that it had been Spencer who had made it clear there could be nothing between them in the first place.
Still, they’d progressed beyond that, hadn’t they?
Reese no longer knew. He was so confused, and it wasn’t helping that every time Spencer’s fingers brushed against his hand when he took one of the dishes Reese washed, he swore the man was caressing his skin. It was maddening.
The moment Spencer took the last pot, Reese wanted to cry. He just wasn’t sure if it was in relief that the torture of having the man so near was finally over, or that he hadn’t wanted it to end.
Reese had been so into his own head that he hadn’t been paying any attention to where Spencer was until he turned around after wiping down the sink and slammed into him. He’d just opened his mouth to apologize when Spencer’s lips covered his in a kiss that had his knees wobbling and his body quivering for so much more.
The second his brain was able to engage into what was happening, he wrapped his arms around Spencer’s neck and pulled him closer. This might be a huge mistake as they hadn’t resolved anything between them, except…
“Oh fuck,” Reese moaned when Spencer reached down and cupped his aching dick. His head fell back on his shoulders and Spencer used that to his advantage as he nipped a path down his neck, leaving little stinging bites that he soothed with his tongue.
As far as Reese was concerned, they didn’t have any issues, despite what Spencer said. The man loved Sammy, so the point of contention between them was irrelevant. Spencer might not yet be willing to admit it, but he loved animals just as much as Reese did.
He’d even caught the man feeding the cat Dane had whenever the thing got out. Once, Spencer put little Misty inside his coat and carried her to the bar because he thought she was too cold.
That was the first time Reese realized he was falling head over heels in love with Spencer. But it definitely hadn’t been the last.
His ass hit the counter and for a moment, Reese considered striping down, hopping up, and letting Spencer fuck him again. But he wanted something else this time. With that in mind, he dove into the kiss, his tongue dueling with Spencer’s for dominance.
He loved the needy little noises coming from Spencer as he devoured that amazing mouth. With each nip and lick, Spencer’s body melted against his until the man was pliant within his arms.
Just like before, the moment their lips had touched, lust had slammed into them at an alarming pace, leaving their hands unable to do the simplest tasks, like getting their clothes off. Desperate to keep control of this encounter, for Reese wasn’t entirely sure there would be another and he wanted so badly to know what it felt like to be inside Spencer, he pulled away, and in his best commanding tone that he often used when training Sammy and said, “Bedroom, now. Then clothes off.”
A smile instantly formed when he saw Spencer’s eyes dilate before he turned and ran for the bedroom. He’d seen a few hints of Spencer responding to him when he’d used that tone before, but he hadn’t been sure. Now that he knew it turned him on, Reese planned to use it to his complete advantage.
Not only that, it gave him some of his own control back. It was time to make Spencer realize this wasn’t going to be another one-off. Even if he had to make the man beg to accomplish it.
Sauntering into the room, he was pleased to see that Spencer’s shirt was off and he was currently pushing down his jeans and underwear. Since they hadn’t left the house yet, they weren’t as layered up as they would need to be even to go the short distance to the Frosted Mug.
Seeing the muscled globes of Spencer’s ass had Reese’s cock twitching to get closer. With that in mind, he shucked his shirt over his head. When he’d dropped the material, he’d glanced in Spencer’s direction to see the man standing there a bit uncertainly. As if he wasn’t sure what he should do.
The need still shining in his eyes from when Reese had ordered him into the room to undress was still there though. “Get the condoms and lube out of the drawer and lie on the bed,” Reese ordered.
Damn if his prick didn’t leak a stream of fluid when Spencer did just as commanded. This could be a lot of fun – for both of them.
Shoving down his own jeans and underwear, Reese stood up to find Spencer’s hungry gaze moving up and down his body. He couldn’t deny the satisfaction that welled within him at the approval in his lover’s eyes.
Stalki
ng toward the bed, he crawled onto the mattress, forcing Spencer, who had been leaning up on his elbows, to lie flat on his back. Hovering over the man, he dipped his head down and gave him a hard, albeit brief, kiss.
He wanted Spencer to know he was in charge, but he also wasn’t about to let himself get distracted by the delectable physique underneath him. Keeping his body above Spencer’s, not touching him in any way, Reese stared down at the man.
“No more one night stands. If we do this, it’s for real. No more ‘let’s be friends,’ crap. No more ‘we have too many differences,’ bullshit. We figure things out and we live together, in the same bed, night after night, waking up in each other’s arms. Got it?”
The relief was profound in Spencer’s brown eyes. “Yes. I was stupid to think we could be anything less.”
Reese kissed him hard again, his hand snatching the lube. When he opened the cap and poured some onto his fingers, he lifted back up and demanded, “Hold your legs up.”
A groan from deep within him spilled out as Spencer rolled his hips up and showed off that tantalizing pucker. “Fuck me,” Reese breathed out.
Then he reached out a lubed finger and brushed it over the tight ring of muscles. “So pretty,” he whispered.
He wasn’t sure how he’d gotten the strength not to plunge three fingers in all at once and instead played with the edges, relaxing the muscles that guarded the entrance. But he had to admit to being entranced by the sight, especially when those muscles relaxed and his finger slid in.
That was all it took for the limited hold he had on his lust to snap like a twig. Suddenly, the need to make Spencer his was all consuming.
Sliding in a second digit, he leaned over Spencer’s bent form and kissed him. The position was a bit awkward, but they made it work as he quickly opened the man up for him. Not that Spencer needed a lot of prep. It was as if his body was made just for Reese, relaxing at his every touch, writhing with the pleasure Reese gave him.