Prodigal Wolf

by L E Franks

  They stared at each other for a long moment, neither of them moving. Kevin placed his coke on the desk and stepped closer to Grady. He didn’t crowd his friend, giving him plenty of time to move away if he wanted. Fear pinged through Kevin, leaving him wondering if he’d assumed too much. They hadn’t talked about liking boys, but they also didn’t talk about girls. Never once in the three years they’d been friends had Grady said he liked a girl.

  Kevin placed both hands on Grady’s shirtfront, smoothing his palms over the crisp linen. Grady was breathing hard, the coke still in his hand. Kevin undid another button and Grady moved, passing the coke from his right hand to his left, setting it on the desk. Kevin was worried that he’d use his free hands to bat away Kevin’s touch, telling him to go to hell. Instead, Grady reached out, his hands shaking as he placed them on Kevin’s hips, fingers curling into the cloth of Kevin’s pants, and warming him to his toes.

  Funny, they’d been alone before, but never alone-alone. There’d always been someone else there. Like alone in the back of a cab, or in the kitchen knowing that someone else was about to walk in, but this was really alone, no one was up and they wouldn’t be interrupted.

  They didn’t speak, only stared at each other as Kevin worked all the buttons free on Grady’s shirt. He pushed the material apart, his fingers toying with the white cotton undershirt.

  Grady didn’t move and now it looked like he was barely breathing. If Grady had pulled him close, or leaned in, Kevin would have felt more sure of himself, but now that they were standing together, Grady’s shirt open, their hands on each other, Kevin didn’t know what to do. Well, he knew what he wanted to do, but should he?

  Grady removed his hands from Kevin’s waist. Disappointment exploded in Kevin. He’d misjudged badly and now he’d lose his best friend. He opened his mouth to apologize when Grady swiped a finger full of peanut butter and held it up to Kevin’s mouth.

  Tentatively, Kevin slid his tongue out and licked at the nutty goo, his balls pulling up tight as his tongue rolled over Grady’s finger. He sucked the full digit into his mouth, moaning as Grady slid it in and out.

  Grady stepped close and angled his head, his own tongue licking at the peanut butter. Suddenly both of them were licking the same spot on Grady’s finger, their tongues touching for the first time. They both gasped and straightened. Grady’s eyes were wide and he knew his were too. They probably looked crazy, standing there with Grady’s peanut butter finger held between them, but he didn’t care how they looked. He just wanted to taste Grady again.

  Kevin made the first move, abruptly pulling Grady into him, mashing their mouths together for a moment before letting out an explosive breath that had them separating and taking a step back.

  “Holy hell, Kevin.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Fuck.” Grady reached out and grabbed Kevin’s hand, pulling him close. “Kiss me again.”

  Kevin stepped close, his fingers feathering over Grady’s cheeks. “You’re so good looking.” He angled his head, lining up and slowly brushing his lips over Grady’s. The sweet kiss made his throat close up and his eyes burn. He’d waited so long to do this. Since meeting Grady three years ago he’d thought about kissing him and now he was.

  The kiss ended and Grady tilted his head so their foreheads were together, their breaths mingling.

  A knock at his door brought them up quick. They jerked apart and Kevin called out, his voice squeaky. “It’s unlocked.”

  The door pushed open and his mom walked in. His whole body heated. What if they’d been kissing and he hadn’t heard.

  “Kevin, Grady,” his mom’s smile was wide, twisting through Kevin’s gut, leaving him filled with guilt. “I’m glad you made it home. I hope you had a good time. Your father is asleep so just be quiet. Oh my, peanut butter and Oreos. That’s not a healthy snack.” His mom closed the lid to the peanut butter and picked up the Oreos. “I’ll get you some fruit.”

  His mom left the room with the food and Grady raced into the bathroom, closing the door. The sound of the lock turning was like a slam to his heart. He closed his eyes, wondering how the hell Grady was going to react. When he’d finally exited the bathroom, Grady had told him the kiss meant nothing. He’d agreed, of course, hiding the fact that he’d been crushed from Grady. After all, they were young and Kevin was the first guy Grady’d kissed. Of course they wouldn’t be boyfriends. It would be crazy to think they were.

  The song ended and Grady stepped away from the dance floor with a smile, waving goodbye to Conrad, who was now trying to corral Blue Boy. Grady crossed over to their table grabbing his coke and sucking down half of it in one very, very, hot gulp. Kevin had a hard time controlling himself as he watched a rivulet of sweat work its way down Grady’s throat. The look in his eyes made Kevin’s balls tighten until Grady turned away to look back at the sexy man at the bar.

  “If you like him so much, go talk to him.” Kevin grumbled.

  Grady spun around, anger flashing in the depths. “Maybe I will.”

  “You’re too chicken to go talk to him.”

  “No I’m not. I talk to tons of guys. What the fuck is your problem, Kev? This club was your idea... come to think of it, this whole trip was your idea. I can’t tell what the hell you’re thinking about anymore. All you’ve done since we got here is act like a fuckin’ horn dog. If you’re not talking about banging some guy’s ass, you’re encouraging me to.

  “So yes, I love to dance and this place is rockin’ tonight. It’s filled with smokin’ guys who don’t seem to care where I’m from or what I do. They want to dance and flirt and drink. Well, so do I for that matter.

  “And you see that gorgeous man at the bar? I’m going to ask him to dance, and then after that I’m going to buy him drink and maybe even offer him a blow job in the john!”

  Kevin winced. That hurt. He didn’t want Grady talking to the beautiful stranger. That kind of guy could steal Grady away and Kevin would never get him back. The other jerks in here weren’t real competition, but that one—he was different.

  “Blowjob in the john? Man, are you offering that in general or just to tall dark and sexy over there?”

  Grady blushed. Neither of them had noticed Conrad returning to his spot next to their table. Bluey was tucked under his arm, fingers entwined in the straps and buckles restraining the older man’s chest. It looked like Conrad found a puppy after all. It was almost more than Kevin could bear when Grady whirled away and made a bee-line to the bar. Any entertainment derived at Conrad’s expense was short lived as he made himself watch Grady, calling himself a thousand kinds of fool.

  ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈

  By the time Carlo had finished two more beers and stripped the bottles of their labels, the bar had become packed. As usual, Carlo’s strong Alpha aura was enough to create a little zone of space in the middle of all the human customers. It was doubtful that anyone would actually notice that they stopped precisely three and one-half feet from him in any direction.

  Even Brad the bartender would angle himself to serve Carlo’s beers from beyond that zone. It was a little easier for him, since he had the bar and counter below to help create the illusion of space.

  He checked his watch. Eleven-thirty-eight. He’d need more than the three beers in almost as many hours if he wanted to forget the hell his life had become. He flipped Brad his platinum card to close out his tab, patiently waiting for the transaction to finish so he could go home and face the music from Joey and Ted.

  Out of the corner of his eye he saw the dancer who’d ogled him all night throw up his hands and march across the room towards the bar. He stood up to leave. No point in getting into anyone else’s drama tonight.

  “Crap.” It was obvious that a drink wasn’t on the agenda as the boy changed direction to intercept Carlo as he was leaving.

  “Hey! Hi… um… hi, I’m Grady….” The blond was only a few inches shorter than him, but he was willowy, and his sandy brown hair stuck to his skin, framing h
is angelic face. He shoved his hand almost into Carlo’s space, forcing him to lean in to shake it. The boy smelled of grass and sunshine and the sea. And sorrow. The first scents were very familiar since they came from his property. This was one of the new neighbors playing tourist on the island. Carlo stiffened slightly and pulled away.

  “Hi Grady, I’m Carlo.” He smiled. What had looked like bitchy arrogance from across the room, in reality was a shy sweetness backed up with a bit of a temper. “So is that your brother over there?” Carlo tipped his head in the direction of Kevin standing next to their table.

  “Um no. No! Kevin is my best friend! I’ve known him for years.”

  “And you’re doing what here exactly?”

  “Um… well I was hoping you would like to dance with me.” Grady’s bravado seemed to be fading fast. Carlo quirked an eyebrow up and Grady blushed again. “Um, so no? Right?”

  “It just didn’t look like you were really into dancing with anyone in particular out there. No, strike that. It looked like there wasn’t the one in particular that you wanted to dance with out there. Am I close?”

  “Uh… yeah, I guess. He doesn’t dance. Not in public. I think this may be the first gay bar he’s ever been to.” Grady confessed, his eyes fixed on a spot just in front of Carlo’s left shoe.

  “So your friend… Kevin?” Carlo paused until Grady met his eyes. When Grady nodded in the affirmative Carlo continued, “He doesn’t seem like he’s having a good time over there alone.”

  “He’s not alone, he has that guy Conrad...” Grady knew it wasn’t true, but he hated to think he’d been causing Kev pain for no good reason. Well, he had a kind of a good reason since Kevin decided to be a dick tonight… but still…

  Carlo interrupted Grady’s wandering thoughts. “I think Kevin might be a little upset that the guy he’s interested in hasn’t noticed him.”

  “Who?” Grady was honestly shocked. He had no clue who Kevin had been scoping out. Maybe that’s why he picked Club Vibe tonight—maybe he was supposed to meet someone, and he’d been stood up. He’d been coming to the island since he was a kid, so it wasn’t outside the realm of possibilities to have people living here that he considered friends.

  “Ugh, I’m such an idiot… I can’t believe I just left him there to mope after being stood up. I’m such an ass! Thanks man!”

  Grady gripped Carlo’s hand and pulled him into a hard hug, breaching the three foot barrier without batting an eye. “Thanks so much! I’ll see you ‘round!” Grady grinned, pushing his way through the bodies to go find his friend.

  Carlo just shook his head at the sweet idiot, and continued on his way out.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Kevin spun around, facing the other way as soon as Grady had started stalking toward him. He wasn’t going to let his best friend sulk in the corner. When Grady was a foot from Kevin, he reached out and grabbed Kevin’s arm, pulling hard. Kevin was thrown off balance, but Grady didn’t let that stop him. He tugged Kevin forward, using surprise and momentum to get him onto the dance floor.

  At first Kevin looked like a deer caught in the lights, then his lips curved up in a slight smile. Grady wrapped one arm around Kevin’s waist and twisted his fingers in the belt loop of his pants, forcing them close. They were dancing—well, he was dancing, Kevin was swaying.

  The music changed—a faster beat—a better rhythm and Grady had to let go of Kevin’s pants. Kevin turned away from him and tried to slink away but Grady wasn’t having any of that. He pulled Kevin’s ass against his pelvis and ground hard, swiveling his hips. All night long he’d been dancing and living it up, his body plastered against all sorts of men and his dick had stayed down, but against Kevin’s ass, he was getting hard and fast.

  Kevin pushed back, his ass wagging against Grady. He didn’t have the smoothest moves, but Grady enjoyed dancing with Kevin the most. He wrapped his hands around Kevin’s chest, tweaking his nipples. Kevin moaned and leaned back, arching into Grady and throwing his hands up and letting loose for the first time since they’d entered Vibe.

  The area around them cleared out as Grady and Kevin gyrated together. Guys and girls watched them move, their eyes bright with lust as Kevin and he almost became one on dance floor. Their bodies didn’t separate, and when he looked over Kevin’s shoulder he could see the stiff ridge of his hard-on through his pants.

  The song ended and Kevin spun around. This was the Kevin he wanted to be with. Something had gotten into Kevin before they entered the club. He was glad it seemed to be gone now.

  “Hey babe, want something to drink?” Grady asked.

  “You.” Kevin leaned in and kissed him, his mouth slanting across Grady’s, his tongue licking at Grady’s lips.

  He swayed toward Kevin, his whole body responding to the rush of desire. He could still hear the sound of the club around him but he didn’t care. Another song started and Kevin pulled back, his eyes alight with merriment.

  “Let’s dance!” Kevin shouted. They worked their way to the middle of the dance floor, their bodies in motion together. After another hour he was exhausted.

  “Home, I want to go home.” Grady held onto Kevin, his fingers running over Kevin’s hip.

  Kevin gave him a seductive smile and led him out of the bar to their car. They turned onto the main road and took the circle up Pope to the condo. The streets were empty, the island dark. Stars shone brightly above, leaving the night sky looking like a blanket of black velvet strewn with diamonds. As they took the Coligny circle, he stared down the plaza to the beach and swore he saw a dog leap across the pathway. If it was a dog, it was huge. He put it out of his mind as Kevin turned onto the small street to the condo. Neither of them had spoken since they left the club and they didn’t say anything as Kevin led him in the front door. Grady headed to the couch, settling into the leather cushions. Kevin dropped down beside him, resting his head on Grady’s chest. He wrapped his arm around Kevin’s shoulder and sighed. Before he could maneuver to kiss Kevin, the man was asleep, his soft snores leaving Grady with a funny feeling in his stomach. As he drifted off to sleep, yaps and barks filtered through the condo; before he lost consciousness he swore he heard a wolf howl, sending a shiver through his body. He snuggled closer to Kevin, enjoying the way the man fit in his arms. He could get used to this.

  ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈

  Carlo parked his car and shuffled up the stairs to his front door. He glanced down the street, noticing that most of the places were empty. The season hadn’t fully started yet and they had relative privacy. He looked up at the night sky, sighing as the stars twinkled above. His muscles clenched then released. He needed to run.

  The door flew open in front of him and Ted grabbed his wrist, dragging him inside. “Carlo, oh my God, what the hell happened?”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Don’t worry. They were all—”

  “I don’t want to know. I just want to go for a run.” Carlo stepped close to Ted and nuzzled his neck. “Come on, let’s run like we did on Malibu Beach, or like that time we went out to Santa Cruz Island. Do you remember that?”

  Ted shivered and whimpered. Carlo chuckled and began tugging at his clothes. “Tell Joey.”

  “Tell Joey what?” Joey stumbled in and slouched on the couch.

  Carlo leapt over the back of the couch and sunk down into the puffy cushions. “Let’s go run like we used to.”

  “Really?” Joey’s eyes were bright, his smile wide.

  “Yeah,” Carlo buzzed Joey’s head, “just us three. Come on, strip and we can shift.”

  “Fuck yeah.” Joey tossed his shirt on the floor. Ted moved close to him and Joey sat back on his heels. He stared up at Ted, his eyes round and full of excitement. They needed to run, and tonight would be their night to have fun. No pack—no responsibilities. Just the stars, the beach, and the boys.

  “Let’s go!” Carlo stood and shucked his pants, shoes, socks and undershirt. He stretched, noticing the appreciative looks both Ted and J
oey shot his way. Even though he denied his Alpha status, his body demanded respect and that left him wondering exactly where his place was. He pushed away the thought and let his wolf rise to the surface. His body tingled as the change took over. Neck stretching—back curving—legs tightening. Pain flashed until he was all canine, his tongue lolling out as he panted, smiling as he watched Ted and Joey complete their change. Ted was a beautiful shade of white with one small black patch that was almost in the shape of a heart. Joey was almost pure grey, his eyes a darker shade of yellow, almost green. They were both beautiful. His instincts as a natural born alpha hit him hard in the chest, his heart sped up, craving their obedience. He shook his head and pranced, excited about the run.

  Both wolves came to him, bowing down on front paws, their tails wagging as they begged for his approval. He rolled his eyes and turned, racing out the open porch door and down to the beach.

  The tide was low, giving them plenty of room to run and play. Carlo stopped midway down the beach, staring out into the low surf, watching the dolphins play. He wondered if his old dolphin buddy was still around. It had been years since they’d frolicked together. Of course humans weren’t supposed to touch dolphins in the wild, but he wasn’t in human form.