Slumping tiredly to the pavement, their hair coated with gray ash, their throats sore from the heavy smoke that permeated the area, and their hands blackened and bloodied, Dae and Sean leaned against one another. Dae looked up at Baker.
“Thanks for what your men and the fire department did tonight, Detective. What happens now?”
“Go on home, Dr. Anderson. We’ll know more after the arson team finishes its investigation.” Turning to leave, he looked back over his shoulder, meeting Dae’s eyes. “Just don’t make any plans to leave town.”
Sean sat next to Dae, offering him what little support he could, although Sean’s eyes were as hollowed with exhaustion and sadness as Dae’s. Neither of them could find the energy to move. Finally, Sean dragged himself to his feet. “C’mon, Dae. We can’t do anything more here. Let me take you home.”
“He’d better pray that the police get to him before I do,” Dae growled, the venom in his voice belying his fatigue. Clenching and unclenching his hands, not taking his eyes off the smoking remains of the clinic, he continued, “I know it was him. I feel it in my gut. I’ll kill him, Sean. I’ll rip Jack to shreds.”
“I think it was him too, but let the police handle it, Dae. C’mon,” Sean insisted wearily, pulling on Dae’s arm. “Sitting here isn’t doing you any good.”
Dae reluctantly allowed Sean to pull him up from the curb and lead him back to the VW bug. Sean’s eyes darted over to Dae repeatedly during the drive back to the apartment, asking Dae several times if he was all right. Dae remained silent, lost in his thoughts as he stared out of the window, and the only response Sean received to the inquiries was a small nod.
Chapter Seven
THE FIRST thing Sean did when he followed Dae into the apartment was to turn off the ringer of Dae’s telephone. The message light was already blinking rapidly, indicating that Dae had several messages waiting. Sean had no doubt that some, if not all, of those messages were from clients whose pets had been at the clinic during the fire.
“Lie down and rest, Dae. I’ll phone the clients for you,” Sean offered. He felt half-dead himself and wasn’t looking forward to those conversations but didn’t want Dae to have deal with it.
“No, that’s my responsibility,” Dae countered. His lips were tightened into a grim, white line as he sat down at his desk and reached for his address book.
It was obvious to Sean that each phone call Dae made twisted the knife in his heart a bit deeper. His shoulders shook with sorrow. His entire adult life had been dedicated to the welfare of animals and now so many of them were dead. Sean knew Dae felt it was entirely his fault, his own failure, and he felt each of his clients’ pain as his own. Sean wished he could convince Dae that even if Dae had tried to go after Jack, nothing would’ve changed. The deaths of the animals rested on Jack, and Jack alone.
When the last call had been made, Dae sat at his desk, staring at the receiver in his hand as if unable to find the strength to replace it in its cradle. Sean’s hand gently took it from him, hanging up the receiver.
“Dae, come on,” he urged gently, taking Dae’s elbow. Sean led Dae into the bedroom and sat him down on the bed. Crouching down in front of him, Sean said, “This isn’t your fault, Dae. You didn’t set that fire.” He wiped a tear from Dae’s cheek with his thumb. “There was no way you could have known what Jack was planning.”
Dae took a deep, shuddering breath but said nothing.
Shaking his head, Sean ushered Dae toward the bathroom to clean up. He heard Dae turn on the taps, but the sound of the running water didn’t quite mask Dae’s sobs. Sean hated this, hated being powerless to help Dae. His fists clenched as he paced back and forth in front of the bathroom door, his chest hitching as he fought back his own tears. Dae needed him now, needed him to keep himself together. He rubbed at his wet eyes with the heels of his hands. By the time Dae emerged, Sean’s eyes were dry, and he ordered Dae into bed before going to use the facilities himself.
When Sean returned, he walked to the edge of Dae’s bed, fully expecting to find Dae already fast asleep. Instead, he found a pair of sad hazel eyes looking back at him.
Tenderly Sean reached out and brushed a damp hank of hair from Dae’s forehead, letting his fingers gently trail down Dae’s cheek.
Sean knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was what Dae needed now, even more than rest. After everything the two of them had been through together over the past couple of days, Dae needed to be distracted from his troubles. He needed to be held, to be loved. He needed Sean.
And Sean, if he was perfectly truthful to himself, needed the same from Dae.
For the first time, Sean allowed himself the luxury of really looking at Dae’s body. He’d always thought Dae was attractive—more so than he suspected Dae gave himself credit for being. Dae’s sandy hair was tousled and silky soft. His eyes were that fickle hazel color, somewhere between green and brown but always flecked with gold near the pupil. Dae’s jaw was strong and square and scruffy with day-old beard. Those features cast with sadness, Sean thought Dae appeared almost waiflike, despite the rugged appearance, and felt his heart melt at the sight.
Broad, powerful shoulders and a chest that was nearly completely hairless narrowed to a firm, if not sculpted, stomach and slender hips. Sean was surprised to find that Dae actually had very little body hair, considering that the man was a werewolf. Sean would have thought that Dae would have been a bear, furry from his chin to his ankles. Instead, Dae’s skin was as smooth as satin, except for a light dusting of dark brown hair over his long, firmly muscled legs, and a thick thatch of curls at his groin.
It was there that Sean’s eyes lingered. Dae’s penis was uncut and heavy. Sean reached out and gently picked it up in his fingers, feeling its weight in his palm and smiling at the way it responded immediately to his touch.
With slow strokes, Sean began to rub his fingers along Dae’s length, gently pulling at the foreskin, his own cock stiffening in return. Sean bent down and then pushed back Dae’s foreskin and ran his tongue in small circles over the head of Dae’s awakening erection. Sean cupped Dae’s sac with his free hand as he drew his lips down over Dae’s length. With little effort, Sean lost himself in the feel and taste of the man he had waited four years to love. He felt Dae’s eyes on him, watching him devour that cock, felt Dae’s stomach muscles clench with pleasure. The soft moans he drew from Dae served to spur Sean on, as did the fingers that threaded through his hair and the hips that bucked up toward his mouth.
DAE HAD closed his eyes as Sean reached for him, afraid that anything he might say would make this beautiful young man change his mind or distract Sean from the task he’d taken upon himself. Sean’s mouth was hot, wet, and infinitely talented, and Dae was soon moaning as ripples of pleasure warmed his belly.
He found himself placing his hands on Sean’s head, thrusting upward into Sean’s sweet mouth as his new lover devoured his cock eagerly.
Feeling a steady pressure building, Dae’s eyes flashed open and met Sean’s. Pulling away from the heat of Sean’s mouth and velvet tongue, Dae urged Sean up onto the bed, running his hands over Sean’s body as Sean’s legs straddled Dae’s hips.
Dae grabbed hold of Sean’s shoulders and pulled the smaller man down on top of his chest, crushing his lips against Sean’s and slipping his tongue into Sean’s mouth. His body painfully reminded Dae that he had been injured, but he ignored it. Hungrily, almost savagely, he took control of their lovemaking, the alpha wolf side of his personality bursting through his usually gentle façade as his emotions, rubbed ragged from the night’s events, took control of him.
Rolling them over, Dae’s lips left Sean’s and brushed along Sean’s jaw, sucking fiercely at the tender skin at his throat, marking him. For a moment Dae sat back, eyeing the purplish mark that flowered on Sean’s skin, feeling the heat in his own groin flare like a supernova. Growling, Dae flipped Sean over onto his belly, pulling at his hips until Sean was on his knees. Kneeling behind him, Dae pried ap
art Sean’s hairy cheeks with eager fingers, exposing his crack and puckered, russet opening.
Breathing deeply, Dae filled his lungs with Sean’s scent, committing it to memory. Musky and intoxicating, Dae would be able to track Sean anywhere by his unique personal odor. He lowered his head then lapped at Sean’s asshole until Sean began to writhe and moan. Dae’s lips sucked hungrily at the wrinkled flesh for a few moments before Dae thrust his tongue past the ring of muscle and deeply into Sean’s channel, tongue fucking until Sean began to beg for more.
Dae was in full rut. Snarling, he spat into the palm of his hand and slicked his erection, rearing behind Sean. Howling his pleasure, he sank his cock deeply into Sean’s ass, fully up to the root.
SEAN BURIED his face in a pillow, biting the fabric to keep from yelping at the invasion of Dae’s thick length, feeling as though he was being split in two. It took several minutes before he was able to force himself to relax and accept Dae’s substantial penis as it thrust deeply into his asshole. Eventually, as Dae’s cock hit Sean’s prostate, he began to enjoy himself, backing up to meet Dae’s mighty thrusts. Dae would bury himself in to the hilt, his balls banging against Sean’s ass, then withdraw, only to push forward again in a punishing rhythm as Dae’s fingers gripped Sean’s hips tightly, holding him firm.
This was a side of Dae Sean had never seen, this primal, savage creature who was fucking Sean with a possessiveness Sean found overwhelmingly erotic. This was elemental sex, primordial in its stark, almost brutal energy, and while Sean had never felt anything like it before, he also knew he’d never want anything but it from that moment on. Stroking himself, Sean threw his head back and rose up on his knees, crying out with the intensity of his climax as he came hard over his fist.
DAE HEARD the ecstasy in Sean’s voice and felt his shudders and the orgasmic contractions of his body as Sean climaxed, and the combination pushed Dae over the edge himself. He came, growling through gritted teeth, every muscle in his body straining with the power of his orgasm.
Breathing heavily, Dae fell to the side of his lover, his heart pounding in his chest. He threw an arm over Sean’s chest and a leg over both of Sean’s, possessively holding Sean in place next to his body. “Mine,” he whispered, feeling completely sated even as his fatigue crept back, making his limbs feel like lead. He bared his teeth and bit lightly at Sean’s shoulder. “Mine.”
Sean looked over at Dae, “Yours,” he agreed, “for as long as you want me, Dae.”
With a low, contented rumble in his throat, Dae closed his eyes and fell into a drained slumber. The last words he said before he was lost in his dreams were “I love you.”
“No, you don’t,” Sean whispered back, snuggling closer to Dae. “Yet. But you will.”
Chapter Eight
DAE HAD been silently watching Sean sleep for quite some time, content to gaze upon the planes and shadows of Sean’s face, finding him beautiful in repose. When Sean at last opened his eyes, it was to see Dae’s face, inches away, staring at him.
“I wasn’t gentle with you last night,” Dae said softly, tracing one finger along the line of Sean’s jaw from his ear to his chin. “I’m sorry. After everything that happened, it got away from me. Did I hurt you?”
Sean’s lips lifted in a smile. “No. Well, maybe a little at first, but then…. You were magnificent, Dae.”
“It wasn’t the way I had thought it would be the first time between us, Sean. Not the way I wanted it to be,” Dae said, passing his thumb over Sean’s lips. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I obviously enjoyed it. I slept in a puddle all night!” Sean chuckled, wrinkling his nose and picking at the stiffened sheets with his fingers.
“Next time will be different, I promise. Slow and sweet,” Dae whispered, leaning over and pressing his lips gently to Sean’s. One kiss led to another, and he moaned against Sean’s lips, pressing his growing erection against Sean’s hip.
“Mmm, as much as I would like to have a repeat performance of last night,” Sean said, running his hand over Dae’s strong shoulder, mindful of his injury, “there are things that need to be done, Dae, and the first order of business is a shower. I still reek of smoke.”
Dae frowned for a moment, reminded of the horror of the night before. “Together, then,” Dae said, twisting his head to take Sean’s earlobe between his lips, sucking gently.
“Oh, no you don’t,” Sean replied, pushing away from Dae and sliding to the edge of the bed even as a smile tilted his lips. “You still need rest, something I keep trying to tell you but you don’t seem to be actually doing. I’m going to hop into the shower while you lie here and do absolutely nothing. After I’m done, I’ll make breakfast.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve slept half the day away! It’s already well past noon. Besides, I can make break—”
“No! We didn’t fall asleep until early this morning! You are to do absolutely, positively nothing! You are to just lie there and rest, Dae. I’m serious,” Sean argued, reaching over and lifting a corner of the bandage that covered Dae’s left shoulder. “I’m amazed we didn’t rip these stitches out last night. The wound looks like it’s scabbed over nicely, but we’re not going to take any chances.”
“I told you, werewolves are a hardy breed.”
“I don’t care. Rest. Down, boy. Stay. Don’t make me get out the rolled-up newspaper.” Sean grinned.
“Wolf jokes, again?” Dae asked, smiling in return at Sean’s gentle humor.
“Still funny,” Sean replied, chuckling and sliding out from under Dae’s arms while Dae tried to pull him back into bed.
Dae watched Sean trot into the bathroom, sighing as Sean closed the door behind him. Dae heard the water begin splashing against the tiles as he lay back against the pillows of the bed.
Sean had done an admirable job of distracting Dae temporarily, but as he relaxed on the bed, his arms folded beneath his head, the events of the past few days came rolling back, along with Dae’s feelings of guilt and anger, and he found himself unable to rest.
Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, Dae sat up and reached for his jeans. Extracting his cell phone from the pocket, he dialed the number for the local police station, asking to speak with Detective Baker. He was put on hold and spent the next few minutes listening to a feminine voice reminding him that the annual Policeman’s Benevolence Society’s Picnic and Fundraiser was to be held the following week, and that there was still time to purchase tickets at the town hall.
“Dr. Anderson?” a voice asked, bringing with it a memory of smoke, flame, and death that sent a shiver down Dae’s spine.
“Yes, Detective Baker. I was calling to find out if you have any news about the fire at my animal hospital.”
“No, not yet. The fire marshal is still at the scene in the process of investigating the incident. It will probably take several days at the earliest, and I may not get his report for a couple of weeks. Believe me, you’ll be the first to know the results of the investigation,” Baker replied. “We did, however, speak to your neighbor, a Mr. Peterson, who reported seeing a man driving away in your truck last night. He identified the man as Jack Hemmings. You’re acquainted with this Hemmings?” he asked.
“Yes,” Dae answered, his hand curling into a hard, angry fist at the mention of Jack’s name. “He was my… roommate. He’s the one who stole my truck.”
“Well, since your neighbor corroborates your story, it appears that you were telling the truth about that, although that doesn’t clear you in this matter. Stay in town, Doctor. We’ll be in touch as soon as we hear anything.”
“Are you suggesting that I set that fire?” Dae snapped, the volume of his voice giving a clear indication of his anger at the hinted accusation. “Because that’s crazy!”
“Then you have nothing to worry about, do you?” Baker replied.
“No, I don’t, Detective,” Dae said, irritated beyond words by Baker’s sarcasm. It was painfully obvious that Baker did suspect Da
e of torching his own business.
“Good. We’ll be in touch,” Baker repeated, before hanging up.
Dae pressed the Disconnect button just as Sean reappeared from the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, his hair and skin damp from the shower.
Sean folded his arms over his chest and cocked a brow. “What did I just tell you? You’re supposed to be in bed.”
“There are some clean T-shirts and underwear in the drawer to your left.”
“Don’t change the subject. I thought we agreed that you were going to rest, Dae.”
“I can’t just sit here and do nothing,” Dae said. His frustration was clear as he sat on the edge of the bed, his shoulders slumping.
“You won’t be able to do anyone any good unless you heal, and you won’t heal unless you rest,” Sean insisted. “How does your head feel? Are you dizzy? Go on and take a shower, Dae, but be careful in there, okay?” Sean ordered, whipping the towel off of his waist and using it to rub his hair dry. “And don’t get those bandages wet. I’m going to see what you have available for breakfast.”
“My pantry is bare. I’m not sure you’re going to find anything edible in there,” Dae replied sheepishly as he watched Sean pull out a clean pair of Dae’s underwear from the dresser drawer and wriggle into them. In truth, he hadn’t shopped much since Jack left, living mostly on canned foods and sandwiches. “And don’t worry about the bullet wounds, or my head for that matter. Werewolves heal much faster than humans. The stitches will more than likely be ready to come out by tonight,” he added.
“You are an amazing creature, Dae,” Sean replied, smiling as he helped himself to one of Dae’s clean T-shirts and finished dressing. “It’s funny how just yesterday morning I would have thought that anyone who believed in werewolves was one fry short of a Happy Meal and yet, here you are, and here I am, and—”
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