Little Wolf (20 page)

“So the visitors in town who aren’t here to get laid go on dates, even the weres.” Tim was thoughtful. “No wonder the restaurant you took me to had dim lighting in the middle of the day. This town isn’t just about sex. It’s about romance too. And the weres are fine with sharing popcorn at the movies and splitting milkshakes or whatever?”

“This isn’t the fifties.” Nathaniel rolled his eyes. “You don’t like the idea of spending time with someone you’re attracted to? Getting to know them?”

“I told you, I was too nervous to risk sleeping with a human, and I seem to only like alph—” Tim stopped himself for the sake of the dignity he thought he’d abandoned. “I’ve never stayed anywhere long enough to really think about it. Anyway, I’ve never been attracted to anyone who wanted to spend time with me.”

Nathaniel gave him the strangest look.

“But I suppose a date or two might be okay. Have you ever done that with someone?” Tim hurried on, only to realize he didn’t want an answer. Nathaniel continued to stare at him. Maybe the question had been too personal, but Nathaniel had told Tim to ask him about this. “I heard about you and what you do during the tourist season.” His throat was dry. Why was it so dry? Nathaniel continued staring at him as if Tim had turned into an imp before his eyes. “Serial monogamist for a few months, huh?” Tim joked as best as he could when his chest felt tight. “Do you ever… ever date other weres?” Other weres would claw and bite and leave their scent on Nathaniel. They would be ideal mates. Tim glared at Nathaniel like that was Nathaniel’s fault. “I can’t see you bringing someone flowers. But I suppose another were wouldn’t want flowers.”

Maybe they would. What did Tim know anyway? Flowers were nice. Nathaniel probably gave everyone he liked flowers. He’d probably give Tim monkshood if he gave him anything at all.

“If they want flowers, then you bring flowers.” Nathaniel clearly thought Tim was missing a few screws. He looked less indulgent now and more annoyed. “Courtship rituals are pretty much the same regardless of species, give or take some plumage or sports cars.”

Tim was so distracted by Nathaniel using the phrase “courtship rituals” that he almost missed how Nathaniel hadn’t exactly answered the question.

“So if I see a werewolf giving gifts, I can assume that wolf is wooing someone?” That seemed slightly more were-like to Tim’s way of thinking. Maybe not flowers, but then Tiff wasn’t were.

“Gifts.” Nathaniel took a deep breath, but his voice was level as he went on. He looked into Tim’s eyes. “We do what anyone else would do, human or otherwise. But… we are slightly more obvious in our efforts to show we can provide.”

“Provide?”

“Weres are creatures with basic needs.” Nathaniel seemed like he wanted to grimace, but he kept talking. “We like to offer protection, if needed. Shelter. Food, usually. Or something unique to show off our skills.”

Tim raised his eyebrows, even if it did kind of make sense in a mammalian kind of way. “So if another were ever wants to marry me, I can look forward to dead rabbits being left outside my door?”

“Do you like rabbit?” Nathaniel asked, so seriously that he had to be kidding.

“I’ve never had rabbit,” Tim answered, though he could vaguely recall being very little and his mother taking him out to romp in a forest. He’d been too distracted by the smells and sounds to even think about chasing something.

“If you like—” Nathaniel took another deep breath and rubbed his neck. “—I could take you out to hunt sometime.”

“Hunt?” Tim almost yelped. He backed up into the couch cushion. Nathaniel blinked, startled. “No, I… I wouldn’t be good at it. And you’re you.”

“What does that mean?” Nathaniel, well, he looked more than butthurt; he looked
hurt
.

Tim shook his head. “Making a fool of myself is nothing new, but doing it in front of you in a real way, in a
wolf
way… that is.” He was aware it made no kind of rational sense. He had long since lost his chance to impress Nathaniel, but Nathaniel was a natural at those kinds of things. Tim was such a city wolf. Tim was so out of his depth in this town that he might as well have been human. “I will suck so hard.”

“You want to look good for me?” Nathaniel had no right to look as happy about that as he did. Tim crossed his arms and glared at him, which made Nathaniel settle but only slightly. “I don’t expect you to be good at it right away, Little Wolf. Just tell me when you’re ready and we’ll go.” He cheated when he called Tim “Little Wolf” in that warm, pleased tone. Tim’s heart did things, things Nathaniel would hear if he was paying attention.

Tim sank down and crossed his arms tighter. “Aaaanyway,” he said firmly. “It seems like you are giving the humans a lot of power, letting them make the first move.”

“We don’t do these things for ourselves. We do it for them.” Nathaniel said it like he’d said it before. Maybe he had to give that speech to all the newcomers. “It’s why we try to answer their questions as honestly as we can, so they don’t get scared, or leave. Just because we’re sure doesn’t mean they are.”

“And you’re sure?” Tim scowled.

“Very.” Nathaniel closed his eyes and took a long, long breath. “When it’s right, it’s unmistakable.”

That must be a mating. Tim was still confused, but when Nathaniel reopened his eyes, Tim’s tongue got stuck behind his teeth, and he couldn’t say a word.

“The instinct is immediate and almost overwhelming once you recognize it.” Nathaniel smelled so good that Tim held his breath until he was dizzy. Breathing in made it worse. They should have left the door open or sat farther apart.

“Instinct?” Tim repeated faintly. He uncrossed his arms and sat on his hands, but he couldn’t stop breathing. It was like being next to a fire on a cold day. He felt full and hot and restless. He could have gone to sleep or pounced. It made no sense. “Instinct to do what?”

“Claim them. Be claimed.” Nathaniel stopped, but Tim knew there was more. Like to bite, and bite hard, do whatever it took to make them yours. He wondered if Nathaniel was still thinking clearly, but of course he had to be, because he wasn’t as in love with his scent as Tim was.

Tim lifted his head anyway and tried to focus. “Have you claimed people?”

Saying that out loud was like ice down his back. Tim dug his fingers into the couch cushion.

“I have never done that with anyone, no matter what the town grapevine might say.” Nathaniel acted as if Tim had impugned his honor. Tim took a second, while he breathed hard with stupid jealousy, then relaxed his hands and pulled them free to wipe his palms on his jeans. Not exactly casual, but his crush wasn’t news to Nathaniel.

“Yeah, you said you wanted more,” Tim recalled softly. “Because you are you, and you are perfect.” He sighed dramatically. “So I guess you’d wait to claim someone special.” Tim was an idiot. “I bet the waiting sucks. Do you have any porn?”

“Do I… what?” At least Tim had surprised him. Nathaniel was shocked. “You want
porn
?” He looked down at himself, then up at Tim.

Tim made a “jerking it” gesture, then rolled his wrist. “I thought… you know. Werewolf porn might give me a better idea of….” He trailed off when Nathaniel’s breathing became noticeably louder. Tim watched his chest move in heavy, irregular motions, then got distracted by the skin of Nathaniel’s throat.

“That’s sex,” Nathaniel explained, husky-voiced and slow. Tim wanted to say, “Duh, it’s
porn
,” but sarcasm seemed too difficult to attempt. They seriously should have opened a window, anything to dull the heavy smell of want coming from Tim and the smoky heat coming from Nathaniel. Tim closed his eyes and shoved his hands under his legs.

“I thought you wanted to know about mating.” The rumble in Nathaniel’s voice made Tim shiver. He dropped his chin almost to his chest but kept his eyes shut tight. He didn’t need any more sensory input at the moment.

“I just want sex right now, thanks.” Tim exhaled and left his mouth open. He might have been panting; maybe that was why the scent seemed to be getting stronger.

“
Sex
.” Nathaniel really had to stop saying that word, even if he did say it flatly, almost angrily.

Tim opened his eyes. “Sorry. Lately I feel like a teenager again.” No need to say why; they both already knew.

Nathaniel stared at him fiercely for another second and then got to his feet. “You practically
are
a teenager.”

Tim put his head back to glare at him and didn’t care that his throat was bared this time. “I’m not a kid,” he insisted, though he was a heartbeat away from pushing his palm against his cock and beating off on the couch. If Nathaniel had posed like the werewolf in those erotic pictures, he might look the same as he did right then, furious and blazing, trapped and itching to get free. Tim’s mouth fell open.

Nathaniel stared hard at him for another long moment and then snarled and headed to the door. He was already tearing off his clothes.

“I’m going for a run.” He didn’t turn around, and the door banged shut behind him. Tim stayed where he was, his lips dry until he licked them, the metallic edge in his spit almost like blood. He bit down, resting his teeth in his bottom lip, and inhaled through his nose.

His heart was racing, and the room smelled like Nathaniel. Tim rubbed the heel of his hand against his crotch, then brought his hand to his nose, hoping to replace the scent. But the scent didn’t change.

Tim hadn’t been smelling only his own arousal for the past few minutes.

He froze, his pulse wild before he leaned over and buried his face in the arm of the couch. Nathaniel must have smelled Tim’s want, and his body had responded instinctively. No wonder he’d run out of here.

“Well, this is going to be awkward,” Tim mumbled. Nathaniel didn’t want to think of Tim that way; it was instinct, had to be. Tim put his hands on the couch and tried to resist the urge to touch himself, but his dick was pounding at the idea of Nathaniel wanting him back, if only for a second. He groaned and then unbuttoned his jeans.

T
HE
SITUATION
was slightly less awkward in the morning, because Nathaniel hadn’t been around, so Zoe had given Tim a ride into town. Then, as Tim discovered, getting Zoe to talk was as simple as asking her about how her date went.

Still, as the day went on, Tim’s unease grew, especially when Nathaniel didn’t show up at the café for lunch. Tim didn’t want to assume it was because of his embarrassing, out of control emotions, but thinking Nathaniel had run into trouble on the job didn’t make him feel better.

Knowing that didn’t stop Tim from glancing out the window throughout the day. He did it so much that Albert noticed, and now both of them kept looking over their shoulders with an almost nervous twitch. Tim must have gotten more used to Nathaniel visiting him than he’d thought if Nathaniel’s absence had him this jumpy. He wasn’t any less safe now than he had been before he’d come to this town; there was no reason to be imagining he was being watched when he wasn’t. It was probably some other instinctive reaction that he didn’t have the right name for.

All the same, when he looked up from showing Albert how to void a sale on the cash register and saw Nathaniel opening the door, he perked up. Nathaniel took a step as if surprised but then came directly up to the counter. Not one of the people in line said a word.

“We’re okay?” Tim wasn’t sure if he was asking about jacking off on the couch or about accidentally influencing Nathaniel, but Nathaniel gave him that snarky little eye roll that no one else ever got to see. It was the most reassuring thing he could have done. Tim rolled his eyes right back.

“I had to drive out to Carson and I’m starving. You ready to go?” Nathaniel jerked his head toward the street as if Tim wasn’t already scrambling around the counter. It was late, he wanted to get home, and standing there and watching Tim impatiently, Nathaniel really did seem ravenous.

“You can handle it, Albert. Ask Robin’s Egg or Cosmo if you get stuck.” Tim shushed Albert’s alarmed protests, but he did catch Robin’s Egg’s eye to let her know he was going.

“I thought you might be mad,” Tim explained as they crossed the street, stopping when Nathaniel stopped to sweep his gaze over the crowd. He put out one hand across Tim’s chest, scanned the scene for another second, then moved on. He answered Tim once Tim was safely inside the truck.

“Why would I be mad?” He gestured at Tim’s seat belt. Tim sighed but buckled up. A few hours without seeing him and Nathaniel was getting jumpy too. “Here,” Nathaniel said as he started the car, and shoved a shiny, handled bag across the bench seat toward Tim.

The last thing Tim expected to find underneath all the shredded paper inside was a book. He frowned as he flipped the pages, then looked over the front and back covers in growing alarm.

“You got me porn?” he asked in disbelief. It was a collection of short stories, about werewolves, by a werewolf. “Ramona Greenleaf?” He read the author’s name. “As in…?”

“Albert’s aunt. Kind of a local celebrity. She teaches at the college in Carson, if you ever wanted to take a class or were worried about being out of the city. Carson isn’t as isolated, and it’s not as being-centric.” Nathaniel took a hand from the wheel to rub at his neck and shoulder. “She writes about men and women, which, I don’t know if you are into, but I thought it might help. There are links in the back, if you want to look up other stuff on the computer at the house… when I’m not there.”