At the door of the dark room, they paused, and Drew kissed Matt again, their mouths pressed together firmly. Matt could feel Drew's lips hard on his, and Drew's leanly-muscled body pressed to him.
Drew and Matt reached the edge of the bed, and there Drew pressed Matt gently back onto the bed beneath him. His mouth still on Matt's, he began to undress him. In moments they were both devoid of clothing. Lying with their skin, warm and slightly damp, pressed together, Matt looked sideways at Drew's face, surprised by the depth of desire written in every line of it. It occurred to Matt that a part of him had been anticipating this as well; even from the time of Hillary and Jake’s wedding. Thinking back to that day, Matt realized that the sexual tension that had sparked between them then had been immeasurable.
Matt lay back against the pillows and took in the glorious view of the man standing opposite him. His skin was gently tanned from the summer sun, his muscles defined like some ancient hero of legend, and his engorged manhood standing before him in all its glory.
He joined him on the bed, pressing the front of his body against the length of Matt's side. His fingers trailed lazy circles across his skin, sending tendrils of heat to the center of Matt's body. Their gazes collided when his hand stroked down towards Matt's pelvis, straining lower. Their eyes met.
When Drew's hand moved lower, Matt threw his head back and gasped. His fingers carved trails of fire through Matt, filling him with an impossible pleasure.
Still touching him slowly, Drew's eyes met Matt's. “Turn over?”
“Yes.” Matt's voice, barely more than a whisper, was entirely definite.
He rolled over, and instantly Drew's body was on his, his hands on his shoulders, on his back, on his waist, as he positioned himself. Then he slid into him, deeply. Matt could barely help crying out. The sweet ache filled him, the impossibly delicious pressure deep inside him, filling him so that it was almost painful, but wonderful too. Drew thrust in again and again, and Matt found his body moving with the motion, until they were both losing all awareness, straining and moving, pounding into each other with waves of impossible pleasure. They strained together, the motion something apart, greater than either of them, driving them to collide and part and move. Their sweat-soaked bodies slid over each other, pounding and writhing, and, finally, crying out together.
After a few minutes of complete blackout, lost beyond all sensation on a crest of pleasure so intense it was unlike anything either of them had felt, Drew rolled off Matt and slid down to lie beside him. After a moment, they kissed again.
Drew’s mouth was warm and tender on Matt's; a gentle, probing softness.
Lying there beside him, their bodies pressed close, still throbbing from the moment of climax, Matt had the sudden realization that he had grown to love this man.
They lay together for a long while. Matt did not know what to expect from Drew. For a moment he considered returning to Hillary’s house. How would he react, if he knew how deeply Matt felt? Matt felt too unsure to risk his finding out. He lay there for a few moments, undecided. He was about to make up his mind to go, when Drew wrapped his arms around him. The tenderness of the gesture stopped Matt's breathing for a moment. Drew nuzzled the back of his neck, and they both drifted off to sleep.
The next morning Matt awoke feeling slightly tender from their repeated lovemaking. He hung in the pleasant space between dream and reality, basking in the warmth created by Drew’s body beside his.
As his brain lit on a thought, Matt sat up with a jolt and a gasp. He looked down at Drew, who, he was surprised to notice, was awake as well, and watching him with an amused expression.
“What are we going to tell Hillary and your brother about where I’ve been all night?” Matt muttered from behind his hand.
Drew pulled him back down, now facing him, and wrapped his arms around him.
“Would it be such a bad thing to say that you were with me?” The kisses that he was trailing along his neck were distracting Matt from the problem at hand.
“I’m a journalist, and you are my subject.” He tried to say it sternly, but Drew bit gently and the sensation ticked, making him gasp.
Drew leaned back and stared at him with a suddenly serious look.
“Does that change the truth? Would it affect the way that you write?” He asked. His eyes, looking down at Matt, were level and serious, all teasing gone.
“No.” Matt admitted. It pleased him that Drew trusted that his story would not be swayed by their relationship.
“Good.” Drew returned to his trail of kisses. “Then we can say that you were with me and that you plan on staying here every night.”
“Every night until I leave,” he gasped again. Drew's hands had now joined in roaming over the sensitive areas of his skin.
“Hmm,” Drew commented as he turned over, moving his body against Matt's, “Only if I fail at convincing you to stay indefinitely.” He nipped at the skin of his shoulder, and turned him gently, so that he could enter him again. Matt felt his breath quicken, the playful teasing of earlier turning quickly into passion. As Drew slid into him, filling him achingly full again, Matt only had a moment to wonder if he had been serious.
***
The next few days were a blur of happiness for Matt. He spent the daylight hours writing his article and the night hours wrapped in the warm embraces of Drew Matherson. The newlyweds were not the least bit surprised at the turn of events. In fact, they seemed to have expected the couple to come to this conclusion as the looks of I told you so passed from wife to husband with a knowing smile. Drew did convince Matt to extend his stay for an additional week, though indefinitely had not yet been discussed.
The story was coming along beautifully. Matt had already received dozens of email responses to his letters, confirming the statements from Mary Ann’s tour. It had all the workings of a major award-winning piece. On Monday morning Matt sent an outline to his editor, promising a final draft in the days to come.
That evening, Drew had a meeting, and Jake and Hillary were in town attending a gala function. Matt, for the first time in weeks, had an evening to himself. He sighed. He walked to the back door and down a path he had noticed a few days ago, which led into a small wilderness of trees. After about ten minutes of walk, he stopped and looked around. Then, he closed his eyes. He shifted.
Suddenly, the world looked different, and felt different: alive with all the scents and sounds and subtleties of the forest around him. He looked around, his heart soaring. This was the one thing he had been missing, even in all the joys and wonder of the previous few days. Silently, he padded into the forest.
Matt had already decided to only stay out here for a few hours. The memory of that carried over into his other form. He would leave just after moonrise. In his form as a pale timber-wolf, he ran silently along track-ways through the trees, his movement whisper-soft over the ground. The woods at night were inspiring, magical. His senses came alive in the earthy coolness, filled with a thousand tiny sounds.
It was moonrise, then, and Matt reluctantly remembered he had to change. He allowed himself a few moments. Then, knowing he had to be back before anyone arrived, he half-ran, half-walked back to the entrance to the forest. As he was re-joining the path, he stopped.
His senses all froze, his heart pounding against his ribcage. Another wolf. He knew he had sensed it. Somewhere, on the edge of his vision, his senses told him, was another wolf. In a flash of intuition, he saw its form. It was also pale, even paler than him; perhaps Albino. And it was tall, solid, with a stocky build. Every line of his body spoke of power. Matt sniffed the air. The scent was gone. He was at the entrance to the wood. He was about to step between the trees and into the clearing, where he could change form, when he froze again.
On the pathway before him, there was a man. He could see the knees, the solidly-muscled legs. He looked up. Drew stood before him on the path.
No, Matt's mind thought, numbly. Then he shifted. The proximity to his human life must hav
e made it happen without his full command, because he felt a strange sensation ripple through his body and suddenly he was six foot tall, embarrassed, and in business dress in the woods at night.
Drew looked at him, his jaw dropped in shock. They stared at each other, each too shocked and stunned to move.
“I...let me explain...”
“Oh, Goodness! Oh, Matt! You...”
They both started talking at once, Matt helplessly embarrassed and Drew with a look of such delight on his face that Matt would have laughed if the surprise had not been too much for him.
“Drew? You...I mean...”
“Matt! My goodness! You...you're one, too!”
They stopped and blinked at each other. The implications of that worked through into Matt's shocked, exhausted mind.
“You mean...”
“Yes!” Drew was smiling now, and his eyes were bright, almost as if they had the first traces of tears. “You have no idea how wonderful this is...” he began, his hands reaching out to take Matt's.
“Yes.” Mat looked at him, his eyes level. “Yes, I do.”
They kissed. Then, after a few minutes, they walked back to the house together, and it became clear that Drew was the wolf who Matt had seen. He told Matt that he had returned to the house to visit his brother, and, finding him out of the house, had decided he would also take advantage of this rare alone-time.
He and Matt walked back to the house, Drew's arm around Matt's shoulder, both talking. Inside, they sat with a warm cup of coffee in the sitting room, still talking. They both felt a little dazed. When they had run out of words, they stopped, and looked at each other.
“I...I can hardly believe it.” Drew was saying, his eyes bright.
“I think I always knew.” Matt smiled.
They kissed.
The intensity of the kiss surprised them both. They sat back, recovering their breath.
“Do you think we could...” Matt started, a little awkward.
Drew, catching the thought, laughed breathily. “It's quite exhausting, this shifting...” he smiled.
“I think I'm up to it.” Matt replied, solemn.
They stood after a moment, and walked back the way they had come. Out into the forest. At the pathway, they shifted, and ran off between the darkening trees.
In this form, the desire was as deep, and the joy as great. Matt and Drew came together, spending more than a few hours in this new form, exploring the woods and the ramifications of this new way of being together.
Hours later, they returned to the house, where they showered and fell into a deep and refreshing sleep.
***
The next morning Drew crawled out of bed and left for work, as usual, promising Matt that he would be back in time for dinner with Hillary and Jake. There had been no indication that the day would go any differently than those before.
At noon, Drew arrived back at his house, where Matt had been working diligently on his final draft. His face was ashen and a look of utter disbelief had shadowed his features.
Matt rushed over to him immediately.
“What’s wrong?” He asked, running his hands down his arms. He was not sure what to do or how to help but he had never before seen Drew in this state.
Drew turned his head toward him, his eyebrows drawn together. Without saying a word he held up a rolled newspaper and handed it to Matt.
Preparing himself for another interview from the theatrical ex-girlfriend, Matt shrugged. He knew that his own article would counteract any malicious intent from Melina’s front, though he and Drew had not discussed the article, having agreed to keep a distance between their professional and personal relationships.
Matt read the heading.
Award Winning Journalist Matt Cullam Writes Exposé: The Terror Behind Matherson Developments.
“What’s this?” he asked, thoroughly confused.
“I’d like to ask you the same question.” Drew stepped away from him. His eyes were wounded, hurt and angry.
“Well, this isn’t our publication so I’m not sure what to tell you.” Matt said, starting off hesitantly. He did not understand why Drew was so upset. This was clearly a fabricated article.
“How do they even know that you are writing an article? You told me it was being kept quiet until it went to print.” That was a good question, Matt conceded.
“I’m honestly not sure. But,” he had been about to say that it didn’t matter because his article was nothing of the sort when Drew cut him off.
“Is this a joke?” his whisper was so soft that he might as well have shouted.
“Drew, I don’t know what you are talking about.” Matt's voice was strained.
“I knew you hated me in the beginning, but I honestly thought we had gotten past all of that.” He accused. “Is this some ploy to punish me because we didn’t get along at first? Were you just pretending the entire time you were sleeping with me?”
Matt’s jaw dropped. He could not believe what he was hearing. He was so stunned that he could not even formulate a response. Drew, wounded and angry, plunged onward.
“Here I was thinking that I was in love with you, and you are writing some cock-and-bull story just like the rest of them.” He threw up his hands when Matt made a grab for his arm. “I wouldn’t even care, if that story was true, but its not, and you know it, Matt!” Now he was shouting. Matt wanted to try and explain, but he couldn’t get a word in edgewise. The part of his heart that had soared when Drew had said that he loved him was instantly crushed by the realization that he thought him capable of utter betrayal and lies.
“How dare you!” he yelled back him. “How dare you insult my writing? As if I would ever concoct some sensationalist story out of spite. If that is really what you think of me then you don’t know me at all.”
Matt threw the paper down at his feet, grabbed his bag and stormed out the door. He made a quick call to Hillary apologizing about his sudden departure and requesting that his things be sent on to his New York apartment. He hung up the phone, feeling frozen inside. He packed his bags and drove to the airport. It was not until he was almost there, driving numbly along the highway, that Matt let the tears fall.
***
Two days later Matt's article was published. His editor had discovered that the secretary was selling information to a competitor, explaining how they had been aware of an article but not its contents. Assuming that Matt was conforming to the other journalist’s techniques they had assumed that he was attempting to take down the real estate giant once and for all.
Matt could not bring himself to answer his phone on the day of publication. Part of him feared that the caller might be Drew and he knew that he did not have the strength to speak with him. For the entire day he allowed his phone to ring, the list of messages from his secretary piling up at an astronomical rate. Matt did not read those either. He did not want to know.
When Friday rolled around, Matt was still avoiding his telephone. On top of the immense stress that the past week had caused, Matt had started to feel rather under the weather. He’d begun to experience frequent waves of nausea, and although this was quite unusual for Matt, he chalked it up to the emotional roller coaster he’d just taken a wild ride on and figured that a weekend spent in sweatpants in front of the TV would set himself straight. He promised that he would deal with the growing pile of messages on Monday and headed home for the weekend.
When Sunday rolled around and his sickness had not subsided, a cold dread began to take root in Matt’s core, as faint suspicion turned into cruel knowledge: he was pregnant. Before Matt’s falling out with Drew, this news would have been joyous to them both, but now…
Matt’s mind drifted to the many phone messages awaiting him at work. Would any of them be from Drew? Surely he had read Matt’s article by now and could see that his previous allegations had not been rooted in reality. But would he be able to humble himself and apologize, or would his arrogance win out, leaving this rift between them? An even ha
rsher thought crossed Matt’s mind, as he wondered if Drew had only become involved with him to lock down the absolving article. Perhaps Drew would have ended their relationship after its release anyway.
In a flurry of mixed emotions Matt decided to take a walk in order to clear his head and get a hold of himself. He’d need to inform the elders of his pack to gain their council on the situation, but for now he just wanted to be alone.
After exhausting every street in his neighborhood and feeling a bit of emotional strength return, Matt headed home, resolute in facing his situation head on. Rather than wait for tomorrow to listen to his work messages, he would immediately call Drew and inform him of the pregnancy. He had no idea how Drew would react, but he’d cross that bridge when he came to it.
When he arrived at his apartment Matt was flabbergasted to see Drew waiting on the steps outside of the main door. He felt his heart contract, and his breath catch.
“Your doorman wouldn’t let me in.” He sighed. He was smiling; the same wry grin Matt had come to love in their time in Colorado.
“Smart man. I’ll have to remember to thank him.” he jabbed. He could not help it. For the first time in over a week he felt a wash of joy running through him.
“Matt, I’ve left you at least fifty messages. Please, just give me a chance to talk to you.” Drew stood up and followed Matt to the door that he was currently unlocking.
“Like you gave me a chance to explain?”
“I’m so sorry about that.” He ran a hand over his face. “Please let me apologize.”
Matt knew that he was being purposely argumentative. But looking upon his rumpled hair and frazzled demeanor, his heart went out to the man that he loved, despite Matt’s best efforts to hang on to his anger.
Matt held the door open for Drew to pass.
They rode the elevator to Matt's apartment in silence. Matt berated himself for being excited that he was here. He very badly wanted to stay mad at him. The fact that Drew was here could only mean that he was ready to acknowledge that he had been wrong. Was he ready to forgive him? And what would happen when Matt broke the news about the cub that was now growing inside him?
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