Little Wolf (27 page)

Nathaniel met his eyes. “I don’t just tolerate your mouth.” He’d left out the word “sassy” on purpose to torture Tim, Tim was pretty sure. Before Tim could challenge that, Nathaniel went on. “About the bear, or what they said was a bear, the entire town wanted to tell you because they’ve smelled my interest in you. You might not have known what it was, but they did, and your behavior intrigues them.”

Tim was running out of the ability to respond to humiliation. He brushed past the knowledge that the entire town had probably been documenting his public hard-ons, and focused on more relevant information. “Am I not were-like enough?”

“You are
all
were.” Nathaniel’s tone was hot. Tim found himself smiling dopily at him, then caught a glimpse of Zoe’s astonishment and made himself frown. Nathaniel’s expression didn’t change, although he leaned back to put one arm over the chair next to him. He regarded Tim steadily. “You know, in the Meadows, they are going to want to see all of you.” His tone was a study in layers as he looked Tim over.

Tim had to think of unsexy things to get his scent under control. His pulse kicked up as he thought about nudity and Nathaniel looking at Tim the way he was right now. Then he realized Nathaniel wasn’t talking about nudity.

“You mean they will want to see
me
?” Tim came to the conclusion in a loud, horrified voice. “My wolf? No. No way.”

For a second, Nathaniel’s eyes went yellow. Nathaniel could have been thinking about Tim naked or Tim’s wolf. Tim had no idea which and couldn’t ask with Zoe there and the kiss fresh in his mind. Running down Wolf’s Paw’s main street naked was a much less frightening thought than Nathaniel seeing Tim as a wolf. He might not laugh at Tim, but he wouldn’t want to be seen with him anymore. He definitely wouldn’t want to kiss Tim again.

“Is it because you’re tiny? Is that why you don’t show your wolf?” Zoe rejoined the conversation. Tim exhaled angrily and waved at himself, then at them, because
obviously
.

“I don’t see either of you prowling around on all fours,” Tim began to argue, though the moment he said it, it occurred to him that they had been restraining themselves for his comfort. “Has everyone been hiding themselves for me?” He felt warm in an entirely new way. He wondered what gratitude and surprise smelled like. Nathaniel’s gaze was soft as Tim spoke again. “Do werewolves like… walk through town? As themselves?”

“Nope.” Zoe snorted. “Even other beings are wary of us as wolves, especially Nathaniel. He’s big, and his family is old wolf. Not Greenleaf-old but nothing to sniff at.”

The way she said
old wolf
nearly made Tim flinch. He could tell Nathaniel wanted to ask and shook his head so he wouldn’t. He studied Nathaniel. “Of course you’re big.” Tim could not speak above a whisper. “Like weres are supposed to be. Like a Dirus.” He hadn’t said his family name aloud in years.

Nathaniel’s head went back at the name. “Yes. But I’m not connected to that family. I don’t know if there are even that many of them anymore. They were… clannish.”

That was one word for it, Tim thought as Zoe snorted again. He waited, making sure he didn’t seem too anxious, then went on. “Do you normally act more….” He gestured for “wolfy,” but he could already tell they did. He didn’t know how Zoe had known not to during Tim’s first day here, but on reflection he could see that Zoe had done what she and the other weres always did and taken cues from Nathaniel. Nathaniel accepted Tim, weirdo though he was, so the town had as well, and had refrained from talking about or doing anything that might alarm him.

He wasn’t sure whether to be grateful or annoyed at the kid gloves. He forced his chin up. “Are you going to shift now?”

“Don’t be stupid, my show is on,” Zoe said in disgust and got up from the table. She put her dishes and all the other cooking dishes in the sink for Tim, and rubbed Tim’s hair when Tim absently told her to fuck off. Tim snarled after her without thinking, only to freeze at Nathaniel’s small, pleased chuckle.

Tim turned back to him. Nathaniel was staring at him, a glowing sort of stare. Tim forgot about food. “What? Did I do something?” He sounded too weak and cleared his throat. “You didn’t eat, and you didn’t sleep, and you still have your uniform on. Are you seriously thinking of going in?”

Nathaniel didn’t say anything about Tim’s attitude, the attitude he liked, the attitude he did more than tolerate. He shut his eyes and drained the last of his coffee, then took in a long, slow breath. He opened his eyes when he finally exhaled. “It’s only for a few hours. I’ll be fine now.”

“Rest was all you needed, huh?” Tim’s voice was faint. Nathaniel crooked a smile while continuing to look at him with those eyes. Hungry wolf’s eyes, Tim thought, then changed his mind. Hungry wasn’t the right word.

Nathaniel seemed almost satisfied, oddly happy for a were who hadn’t eaten. “I needed home,” he explained and took another breath that was almost a contented yawn. If Tim hadn’t been so exhausted from his stressful night, he would have followed suit. He was finally starting to relax and feel comfortable enough to try to catch some real sleep, but he and Nathaniel had unfinished business.

“Hmph.” Tim actually hmphed, like Carl or his uncle. He hadn’t known he could make that sound, but he stood by it and pushed his coffee cup in Nathaniel’s direction. Nathaniel held it up without drinking from it. “I was left stranded because of you and your not-bear,” Tim pointed out, watching Nathaniel delicately sniff the rim of the cup and feeling more than a little breathless. Nathaniel inclined his head in response. Tim pressed forward. He’d spent a rough night, and it was Nathaniel’s fault, so he could stop looking so pleased about it. “If it weren’t for my pack, as you like to call them, I would have had no way to get home.”

Nathaniel paused, probably thinking about how Tim was supposed to stay put. “The situation had to be dealt with.”

Tim had been wrong; he would accept an apology anytime now, or at least a better promise for the future. Since words weren’t working, and he kept forgetting them anyway under that hot gaze, he settled into his chair and tried some nonverbal communication.

He had spent all night on the couch, waiting for a call, or a howl. As if he knew what to do if he heard a howl. He didn’t even know what to label the mix of feelings in his gut, but his scent was decidedly spicy, kind of a
Fuck you. Don’t pull that
shit again. You could have been killed
, with a hint of happiness at Nathaniel being around.

Nathaniel gave a start, then lowered the coffee cup to reconsider him. A moment later he had it back at his mouth, although he wasn’t drinking.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Tim confessed. “I was alone. I thought you might howl. Then I thought… the woods are big, and you weren’t here.” He nearly hid his face like the loser he was.

“Alone.” Nathaniel was rough. “I thought you would stay in town. Stay in town next time. Stay with others.”

“I know you aren’t here to defend me. I was being stupid. No one was out there.” Tim searched over the table for anything to make him seem less pathetic.

Nathaniel stopped him. “I would have heard you.”

“Would I have heard you?” Tim tossed back, lifting his gaze again although they both knew he wouldn’t have been much help against even a not-bear. “What the hell do you mean, ‘next time’?”

“I don’t….” Nathaniel pushed out a breath that could have been angry. “I can’t always guarantee that I can call or be able to use a phone.”

Tim scowled. His breathing wasn’t exactly calm either. “I shouldn’t have to find out from everyone in town.”

Nathaniel swallowed, but after a beat he nodded to acknowledge what Tim had said, and what he hadn’t said. He had his coffee cup against his mouth, his lips parted. Like the scents in the room, the scents on that cup would be a flavor on his tongue.

“What, uh, what did you mean when you said—are you smelling me right now?” Tim’s voice was getting too high.

Nathaniel set down the coffee cup, Tim’s cup. He slowly inclined his head.

Tim made a noise that, in a more honest moment, he would have said was a squeal. “I smell good?” It slipped out, greedy and loud, and maybe Zoe heard, but she was the last thing on Tim’s mind now.

Nathaniel wet his lower lip, then nodded again. Tim stuck out his arm without another moment’s pause.

Nathaniel had a clear view of Tim’s wrist and the blue veins visible under the skin, but he kept his gaze on Tim’s face while his fingers curled around Tim’s forearm to pull it closer. Tim leaned in with his eyes wide and his blood pounding, and let his mouth drop open when Nathaniel exhaled against the inside of his arm.

Then Nathaniel closed his eyes and breathed in, inhaling
Tim
, and Tim couldn’t stop a low, shaky moan. “I swear I will try not to come.”

“Why?” Nathaniel marveled quietly, as though Zoe wasn’t turning up the volume on the TV in order to drown them out. “This is what I needed.”

“Yeah?” Tim answered, husky-voiced and lost, and sank back onto his ass when Nathaniel released him. “Work?” Tim wondered mournfully when Nathaniel pushed himself to his feet and started to walk away. “You tease,” he finished in the next second but in a dreamy voice he didn’t recognize. It got Nathaniel to turn around and walk to Tim’s side of the table.

He looked inhuman and beautiful and sexy and not at all like he’d spent a sleepless night. He seemed a million times stronger than he had when Tim had woken up. Tim blinked, completely unprepared for Nathaniel’s radiant glow or what it did to him.

“Thank you, Little Wolf,” Nathaniel told him, very serious.

Whatever he was on about now, Tim didn’t care. He put his wrist against his mouth and, just as seriously, licked the skin. Nathaniel’s taste was faint but so fucking good. “What happened? I was mad at you.” His whispered complaint was more confused than irritated.

“I was mad at you too.” Nathaniel reached out and took hold of Tim’s wrist again. Sadly he didn’t follow Tim’s example. He studied it. “You were right. I have been skating by more than I realized. But I can, you know. I can take a bear.” He curved his mouth in a smile that was earnest and, be still Tim’s heart, dorky. Then the smile was gone.

“Are you upset because I thought you couldn’t?” Tim wanted that dorky smile back. He wasn’t sure he hadn’t imagined it. “Graham said—” Graham had said it was more difficult for a were to attempt it alone, now that Tim thought about it. “Never mind. I should have known you’d be fine. I mean, look at you.”

Nathaniel tugged Tim’s hand up. “Have you ever taken a good look at yourself? A good, long look without comparing yourself to any other weres?”

“Okay, I’m sorry about the bear thing. I didn’t mean to imply you weren’t a stone-cold badass but—” Tim tried to wriggle his hand free, but Nathaniel was insistent.

“Forget the bear. Forget the weres camping out up there—although you shouldn’t be alone outside of town anymore. You took on the festival committee.” Nathaniel regarded Tim as if he wanted to eat him up. The air around him was almost fluffy, the way it was when humans saw a kitten or received an unexpected present. “You offered me your hand.”

“You don’t have to be pleased about everything.” Tim was afraid to blink but managed to keep his voice from shaking. He got to his feet, and Nathaniel pulled Tim’s wrist against his mouth. Tim shut his eyes. “You, uh, you don’t even know what I told the, uh, committee. Anyway, shouldn’t you be mad about that?”

“Do I have to do a photo shoot or another date auction?” Nathaniel’s calm made Tim reopen his eyes. He frowned and shook his head. Nathaniel let his shoulders relax. “Then I’m sure it’s fine.”

Tim could barely speak with Nathaniel’s warm breath on the wet skin of his wrist. “It isn’t fine. Don’t agree to things without hearing what they are. I could be taking advantage of you.” Nathaniel’s satisfied sigh was awful. Tim focused on business. “No dates. No meet and greets because you have work to do. You’ll be out there to be seen, but no one touches you.” Tim attempted manfully to force most of the ferocity from his tone. “
No one
.”

Whatever he was expecting, it wasn’t for Nathaniel to go completely still.

“What?” Tim refused to fidget despite the silence.

Nathaniel blinked and came back to earth. “I have to go into the station, but it won’t be for long. Then I’ll come home.”

Tim went quiet this time. “Okay,” he agreed carefully. “It’s my day off.”

“Are you doing anything?” Nathaniel’s words were warm against Tim’s wrist. Tim mutely shook his head. Nathaniel huffed. “We could watch a movie when I get back, if you want.”

“Okay.” Tim would have agreed to anything with Nathaniel’s mouth on him. “I figured you wouldn’t want any fake dates. You know, from what you said about wanting more.”

“Yes.” Nathaniel pressed a kiss into Tim’s palm. Tim made a noise louder than the volume on Zoe’s show. She turned around to look at them over the back of the couch.

“So.” Tim floundered for words. “So.”

Nathaniel was killing him, one kiss to his palm at a time. Or maybe that was the return of the dorky smile. Tim backed up into the chair when Nathaniel released him, then grabbed ahold of it to stay up on his wobbly legs.

Tim considered going out onto the porch to watch him drive off. Luckily Zoe turned down the volume on the TV, reminding him that she was aware of his racing pulse. So he took a deep breath and went to the stove to look for any leftover eggs and did his best to wipe what was probably a terribly goofy look off his face.

T
IM
HAD
been surprised to find a human romantic comedy in the house, but he’d assumed another visitor could have left
Love Magic
behind. Then he realized Zoe and Nathaniel knew all the words, especially every zingy one-liner from the heroine’s fairy best friend.

Nathaniel had come home in the early afternoon with armfuls of takeout, and they’d settled on the couch after scarfing down beef and noodles. Nathaniel sat on one side of Tim and Zoe on the other, and it wasn’t like either of them was small.