Love's Misconception

by Flynn Eire

  While they were all bickering and fighting, I think I was the only one who noticed how London had slowly made his way towards the exit, tray still in his hand. This was snowballing into completely extreme way too fast, and it was hurting London more than I could bear.

  3

  “Don’t leave,” Drake murmured, suddenly next to me, his deep voice making me shiver. “I know you’re thinking of escaping, and I would too given how they’re all acting like fruit loops, but I swear, it’s a big, big misunderstanding.”

  I stared up into those gemstone green eyes, his six-eight frame blocking out much else from my vision, namely the door which had brought me so much comfort a moment ago… And almost caved. “You don’t get it. I know you’re nice, and we had some fun, but that’s it, Drake. Don’t make this more than it was, okay?”

  “Like what? I saw that you’re fun to hang out with and how you can actually smile and laugh and not always shut down?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at me. Fine, I’d been kind of a dick to say that, but come on the whole cafeteria was practically ganging up on me. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but you trust me, right?” I slowly nodded and he lost some of the annoyance. “Then I won’t leave your side and you won’t be alone facing this.”

  “Don’t get involved in this,” I muttered, pulling back when he reached out to touch me. “You don’t want to be anywhere near this or me.” I walked over to the group of everyone that was probably important, still bickering, leery of the Wyrok who was adjusting his jaw from the hits I laid on him, and put my fingers in my mouth, whistling loudly. I waited until they settled down and glanced around before focusing on Alexander since he was still in charge. “Did I have to say all I did today? Was that an order?”

  He ground his teeth, waiting until the man I somehow knew to be his mate nudged him. “No, of course not. I would never order someone to divulge personal information they were not comfortable giving as long as no crime has been committed.”

  I wasn’t sure about that last part, but I let it go. “Fine, then I never said any of it so call off your goons or whatever this was and let me just do my assignment as I’ve been ordered to.”

  “Shit, you really don’t want to be here,” a guy, Matteo, I knew somehow, hissed, his eyes wide.

  “Right, because with such a warm welcome as the first guy I met getting in my face and this shit, yeah, I can’t see how I wouldn’t totally feel at home,” I snapped, keeping my voice low and simmering, barely two seconds from blowing.

  “I still need to talk to you,” Councilman Ashton tried, frowning deeply.

  I snorted. “No, you don’t need to. You want dirt on my mother. Not happening. I don’t give a shit what feud is between the families or council seats, it doesn’t involve me, but I am an Aberdeen, so don’t ask me for information even if I’m assigned under this council now. Just don’t.”

  I spun away and stormed out of the cafeteria, my stomach bitching as I moved away from the tasty tacos I’d only gotten to scarf down two of. Man, they had been good. Way better than the shit we got at the Seattle camp. That was like gruel and grits with meat stuck in it crap. I much preferred real grilled, fat burgers for lunch and steak tacos for dinner.

  But apparently another episode of drama at the camp meant I was going hungry. Assholes.

  I didn’t go to my room to unpack. I thought I was, I mean, it was the only place really to go in a camp that no one could leave without a vehicle which I didn’t have. Next thing I knew I was opening the barn door though, tears burning my eyes when Drake’s ten massive puppies came hurrying over to me.

  “I’m going to have to learn all your names if you’re going to be my only friends here,” I whispered as I sunk to my knees. I honestly didn’t know how he could tell them all apart. Did they sound different in his head? That would be too weird, I would think. Then again, I lived in the land of weird.

  Like how did I keep knowing this shit? How did I know who Matteo was and that his gift was reading auras and his mate was Nate who thought he was just getting his gift too? See, that was who I wanted to be friends with, someone like Nate. They had people at the camp that hadn’t been warriors all that long from what I could tell. Why couldn’t I go meet them instead of the people in charge or that fucking Ashton councilman or Wyrok who were coming up behind me to—what? Assure me no one was trying to abduct me?

  “I have no idea how to explain how I whacked the guy in the face,” I whispered as I rubbed one puppy’s tummy while the others were plopping down all around me. “I just knew he was coming at me. I don’t know. It was weird, it was like—I didn’t hear him, but I knew. God, what kind of gift is that?”

  I ended up on the barn floor, rolling around and playing with the dogs, tossing all the squeaky balls they brought me, trying my damnedest to snap out of my desire to cry, because that wouldn’t do anything. And I couldn’t run, I couldn’t go back, couldn’t transfer anywhere else—not when they obviously wanted information out of me here… I was stuck.

  “This was so not what I pictured when I thought of being a warrior, finally out of that fucking house and dropped off at a camp to get away from the crazy,” I bitched as I let two of the dogs practically drag me across the floor with some toy rope they were trying to get from me.

  “Now I would have thought you would have gone to the shooting range to let off steam, especially since that’s your baby now,” Drake’s deep chuckle came from behind me sometime later. “Instead of sneaking in here to my area and playing with my pups.”

  I quickly dropped the rope I was playing with a few others then and rolled over onto my back so I could see him. “You said I could.” He nodded, his eyes shining as he took in the scene, me sprawled all over with the pups climbing over me and playing. “Stress relief is nice, but guns don’t lick your face or lay their head in your lap when you’re upset.”

  “No, but I did offer to talk with you and help,” he hedged, frowning. “Should I be offended you opted for my dogs?”

  I sighed, letting my head fall back to the floor of the barn. “I told you why I walked away, Drake. You don’t want any part of this. It’s messy.”

  “Messy can be fun. I play with the boys in the mud and we have a blast. Paintballing is fun. There’s lots that can be fun that gets messy.” He cleared his throat when he realized the innuendo but not before I felt a healthy shot of lust go through me. “Boys, to your beds.”

  “Hey, we were playing,” I bitched as all the pups hurried off, a few giving me kisses first.

  “I know, they can come back, but I brought you something,” he chuckled, moving into my vision before squatting down. God, he was hot.

  My stomach growled when I saw the to-go container. “Tacos?”

  “You didn’t get to eat. I figured you’d be at the range or in your room, but then I heard the boys barking excitedly and figured it out.”

  “The grub here really is better than we got in Seattle.” I slowly sat up, reaching for the container. I was actually shocked when he pulled it back, thinking he was the one guy here that wasn’t a dick. “I should have known you wanted something. Forget it. Keep your damn tacos.” I moved my feet under me to get up, but Drake pushed me onto my ass.

  “All I wanted was a thank-you, and maybe some kind of acknowledgement that all of us here aren’t dicks. I know you’re in a rough spot and probably all you can see are bastards because that’s all you’ve known, but I’m telling you, things here got screwed up. So fine, you don’t believe me yet, but I came looking for you because you didn’t eat and I was worried about you. What does that tell you?”

  “That you’re not a dick,” I mumbled, taking the container from him. “That you’re a good guy. I knew that, maybe more so now.” I crossed my legs and opened it, taking a long whiff. “God, these smell so good. I could eat like twenty. Why is the food here so good?”

  “Because the nearest restaurant is miles and miles away,” he chuckled as he sat down. “If they didn’t make the food dece
nt, people would be taking the camp’s trucks to get the fuck out of here and get something real. We each get days we help out on, but the main guy who does the cooking, Manny, he’s good. I mean like learned how to make New York, Chicago, LA, New Orleans specialties, you name it.”

  “If you tell me there’s a gyros night, I’m gonna cream myself,” I moaned in between bites.

  Drake smiled widely. “Every other Wednesday. He makes lamb and chicken ones. The Wednesdays not gyros are Italian beefs and sausages. Personally, I recommend picking a day shift or night one for something that’s not your favorite. I hear it ruins it if you cook it and smell of it all the time.”

  “Good call,” I agreed with a mouthful of food, so it sounded more like, “Ooom wall.” Drake smiled, shaking his head at me. I hurried and swallowed before thinking it over. “I’d prefer a breakfast shift. There’s too much variety to get sick of it. Scramble eggs, refill cereal, make bacon, sausage, or whatever. I’m a morning person so I could totally get up early, no problem.”

  “Great minds,” he murmured, winking at me. I raised an eyebrow at that as I practically shoved in my fourth taco. “I work morning shift on Wednesdays. I agree with you and I would think those go fast, but Manny says not, everyone’s too big of idiots and wants their mornings to themselves or to work out.”

  “Screw that, I can work out whenever. I’m not risking ruining tacos or gyros.” Silly people.

  “My thoughts exactly. And middle of the day is just too disruptive. I mean, can’t start a project or might have to stop one, whatever. If it’s morning, I hurry to feed the pups, go feed the masses, come back, we go for a run, work on some training, and whatnot. It’s a good flow.”

  “If they don’t mind holding it all that time,” I drawled.

  Drake rolled his eyes and pointed to the back part of the barn. “There are several doggy doors. Hell, I’ve got them trained for in and out so no one gets the flaps the wrong way and clocks the other in the head. They go poop right on the compost piles for the garden.”

  “Damn, anything you haven’t trained them to do?”

  “Behave when steak or bacon is around,” he snickered, looking past me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw most of them were way out of their beds, slowly creeping closer as if we wouldn’t notice.

  “I will bring treats, I promise, but I’m starving and you guys ate,” I told them, hoping they understood me half as well as they understood Drake. Then I thought about it. “I had a buddy who used to do smoked salmon for his dogs as treats. Do they ever have a fish night here? We got great fish in Seattle.”

  “No real fish night, but we have some random stuff thrown in now and again. I bet we could get some good salmon brought in if someone knew how to cook it and showed Manny.” Drake shrugged. “Or I’m sure he does but with so many red meat eaters, someone might need to suggest it.”

  I shrank back into myself at the idea of participating in anything. “It’s fine. I’ll make them some extra bacon if I get a morning shift. Maybe an eggs bacon platter if you’re cool with it.”

  “Yeah, neither hurts dogs if in moderation. I feed them people food all the time as long as it doesn’t have spices or marinades or the stuff that is harmful to them. They have to eat bland, not processed stuff.” I nodded as I closed the container and wiped my hands off on the napkin he’d given me. “Good?”

  “Very. Thanks.”

  “You missed a spot,” he murmured. I glanced at him and realized he was staring at my mouth as he licked his lips. “A bit of sour cream.”

  “My favorite part, the cream,” I panted, realizing the situation just shifted to charged in an instant and I’d missed it. His eyes flickered to mine, and then his hand reached out and his thumb wiped the corner of my mouth before he sucked on the tip of it. “So was this always your plan? Taco picnic alone in the barn, warm me over with your love of animals, and then…” I trailed off to let him fill in the rest.

  “And then what, London?” he pushed, leaning in closer. Okay, apparently he didn’t fill in the rest.

  “I don’t know, you tell me. I’m asking what the plan was.”

  “There was no plan. I knew you’d be hungry and upset.” He searched my eyes and then moved his arm across my body and his hand to my hip. “Why? Did you want there to be a plan? You seemed against my friends calling dibs on you.”

  “Calling dibs is stupid. Having a plan to seduce me is hot,” I admitted, hating I’d let that slip out.

  “Agreed. So okay, say this was the plan. What else is left? If it was your plan, what would I do next?”

  “Get me naked and fuck me as long and loud as you could,” I answered easily, thinking that was a duh answer.

  Except Drake’s eyes went wide as his heart skipped a beat before his other hand came up behind my head and his mouth was on mine.

  At least he liked the idea then… I guessed? His kiss said he did.

  I leaned back to the floor, pulling him on top of me as I took the kiss up several notches and moved my legs to accommodate his size. Then I yanked off his shirt and blinked up at him when we had to stop kissing for that. “Are we going to traumatize your dogs if they see us fuck? Should we go to your room? I don’t have lube.”

  “I-I, no, wait—what?” he stuttered, searching my eyes. Drake shook his head and pushed up a bit, and I took in the nice view of his toned chest and chiseled abs. “No, I don’t have lube. We can go anywhere we want, and no, I don’t want to do this in front of the dogs. We should slow down. You’ve had a rough day, and I didn’t come here to take advantage of that and jump you.”

  “Who’s taken advantage of?” I chuckled, thinking it was cute that he was worried about my honor or something. “We’ve got chemistry, so let’s fuck. I can’t think of a better ending to a rough day, can you?”

  “Right, no, I guess not,” he mumbled as his eyebrows scrunched together. He was almost adorable when he was confused, but either way, I wanted sex now that he got me going. I slid out from under him, grabbed his hand, and pulled him to his feet while yelling good night to the boys. Then I dragged him from the barn and towards the warrior’s dorm, smiling when we ended up at a room just down from mine a few minutes later.

  Well, that was convenient for late-night hookups.

  As soon as I was through the door, I untied my boots and started kicking and tugging off clothes. “Lube?”

  “Umm, top drawer.”

  I glanced up and frowned, seeing Drake was still fully dressed, standing there watching me with his hand on the doorknob as if he might bail. “What’s wrong? Don’t you want this? I thought you were into me.”

  “I am. No, I mean, I am, it’s just…” he trailed off and shook his head before his hands moved to his shorts. “Nothing.”

  “No, tell me. I’m not hopping into bed with someone who’s got an issue with it.” He gave me another look, and I realized that might be the issue. “Dude, don’t worry. I’m not staying the night or gonna announce tomorrow I’m your boyfriend. I know the score. We fuck, I leave, maybe we do it again.”

  “Oh, right, so that’s what we’re doing,” he muttered, bobbing his head. “Cool.”

  Except it didn’t seem to be. Was he nervous? I saw his hands shake as he pulled off his sneakers and relaxed. That had to be it. There probably hadn’t been any new blood at the camp in a while and no one for him to play with. Okay, I could work with that.

  I hurried to get myself ready as he finished getting naked before finally getting in the bed. Drake really got me going by kissing and playing with me while I finished preparing. By the time I was ready to go I was ready to go.

  “Oh god, fuck me now. You have amazing hands,” I moaned, rolling over on all fours.

  “We can do it the other way,” he hedged, his hand on my hip.

  “Sure, whatever. Or I can ride you. Just tell me however.”

  We did none of that, Drake sitting on his feet and pulling me onto his lap, guiding me to wrap my arms back around his neck. Then he t
hrust up in me harder and harder each time, taking me to all kinds of fun places. I held on for dear life, not being quiet in the slightest as to how much I enjoyed every second of it.

  “Good?” he checked as he moved faster.

  “Yes, god yes,” I whimpered, turning my head and kissing his neck. “So this is sex with a gay man, not a straight guy who just wants to stick his dick in someone. I like. Soooo like.”

  “Glad to oblige,” he grumbled.

  Okay, so that had been crude and bad pillow talk. I admitted that. I went for better. “Jesus, Drake, you are fucking huge. I’ve never been stretched like this. I never thought to do it like this.”

  I must have gotten an A on that one because he went faster, his hands tightening on my hips. I’d meant every word, totally not willing to play Drake, but I wanted him to feel as wonderful about this as I did and nothing was worse than letting something stupid slip out during sex.

  Especially when I was having the time of my life.

  He brought me off, hard just like he fucked, and when I was done, he finished in me, grunting as he slammed his hips against me so he went even deeper. It was kinky and thrilling all at once. I slumped back against him, loving the feeling of his cock buried inside me and wanting to relish in it for a moment.

  Don’t be stupid. You know the rules. They fuck you and then you leave. That’s sex. Get in, get off, get out so no one gets hurt.

  Unfortunately my legs were like mush. I moved so I could pull off his cock and practically did a face plant onto the bed. “Nice. Very nice.”

  “Thank you. I get extra for sticking the landing,” I snickered, rolling over and poking him in the stomach with my big toe. “You made my legs not work. Nicely done yourself.”

  “We make a good team,” he said shyly. Then he crawled over me, his still hard cock rubbing against my groin as he lowered himself down to kiss me. “Were you trying to go already? You don’t have to. I know you probably haven’t gotten all your stuff unpacked and bed made. There’s more than enough room for you here tonight.”