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  Taking a deep breath, Nero switched back to human, then went to sit on the bed and wait. He felt the strain on his system, the heat and the pain that always came from shifting. That was the curse for lycanthropes. Too many movies had werewolves shifting in agony, so he suffered from that concept. The good news was that he wasn’t tied to the moon like so many. In fact, the current full moon boosted his strength, but not enough to want to go through that pain again for a while. He was staying strictly human for now, which made this next step more dangerous.

  Josh came out of the shower bristling with antagonism. It wasn’t an obvious thing. In fact, his movements were beautifully casual as he finger-combed his hair while keeping a towel neatly wrapped around his hips. He had the lean build that Nero found so attractive. Lanky, often flexible, and with a long stride and a laid-back carriage that seemed relaxed until the guy exploded into motion. Right now he was moving with practiced ease, though the temperature in the room seemed to have dropped twenty degrees.

  “If you’re thinking of getting it on,” Josh drawled, “I’m really not in the mood.”

  Sadly, that was true. There was no indication that Josh’s dick was doing anything under his towel. “Actually, I’m here to level with you, but we have to keep our voices down. We can’t have the other recruits hearing this by accident.”

  “Uh-huh,” Josh intoned as he leaned back against his dresser. His taut abs were on display, and there was moisture pebbling in his light dusting of chest hair. He stretched his long legs out in front of him. If Nero had ever wanted an image to jerk off to, this was it. And the arch to Josh’s brows said he knew exactly what he was doing to Nero’s libido. “So the artful arrangement of you naked in my bed is just convenient?”

  Nero shrugged. It was and it wasn’t, no sense in denying it. “Listen for a moment.” He dropped his voice to just above a whisper. “The goal of training at this stage is to get you to shift back to your wolf. We do that by pissing you off, like Yordan did with Bing.”

  Josh’s eyes widened, which showed he was listening.

  “But you’re not like most recruits. The more angry you get, the more in your head you get.” He lifted his chin. “How many different plans do you have for getting even with us?”

  Josh’s lips curled in a truly evil grin. “A dozen aimed at humiliation, seven will maim, and countless lethal ones, but only two are practical.”

  Well, that was scarily detailed. “Which means we have to find a different way.”

  Josh folded his arms across his chest. “How about explaining the process to me?”

  “That won’t work. It’s different for everybody—”

  “It’s a place to start—”

  “And all I can say is that I let myself go wolf. Or human. I want it and I’m there.”

  Josh threw up his hands. “You’re all fucking naturals, which makes you lousy teachers.”

  Nero couldn’t argue, but he could share his experiences from when he’d first shifted. “Remember when I told you that I was bitten in a bar fight?”

  “You came to in the woods with your entire pack.”

  “Such as it was. Pack means a whole lot more to me now that it did back then.” He leaned forward on the bed. He hadn’t bothered with a sheet to cover his nakedness, and he was pleased to see Josh follow his movements with his eyes. Nero wasn’t exactly ugly, so maybe there was interest there. He sure as hell was enjoying his view of Josh.

  “I was kept alive by a girl with more sexual appetite than I’d ever experienced. Hell, more than I ever thought possible. Anyway, she smelled like lust, and at seventeen, that was all it took. If she was a wolf, then I went wolf and we did it that way. If she was human, then I shifted to two legs and took her that way. Or her friends. Or they me.”

  “Wow,” Josh breathed. “Sounds like every teenage boy’s fantasy.” There was envy in his tone that Nero was quick to squash.

  “Like I said, pack means a lot more to me now, and endless sex gets boring.” He flashed a rueful smile. “My brain doesn’t crave the constant stimulation like yours does, and even I got tired of it.”

  “My brain will shut up for some things.”

  Nero smiled. “Good. Because that’s exactly my plan.”

  “Come again?”

  “We need to get you into your body. For you, that means touch, caresses—”

  “Sex.” It wasn’t a statement so much as a snort of derision.

  “Hear me out. The girl who smelled like lust taught me a lot of things too, including how to trigger the wolf sex drive.” He pointed at the desk and the thick stack of papers there. “So we can sit here and fill out all of Yordan’s paperwork, or you can let me do everything she did to me. Every wolf trigger I know—”

  “Sexually.” There wasn’t derision in his tone. It was more like heavily layered doubt.

  “Yes.”

  “You want me to shift into a wolf during sex.”

  Nero nodded. “It’s a dominance thing. I’m not going to let you get off as a human. You’re going to have to go furry to get your release.”

  Josh’s brows rose into his hairline. “You want to have sex with me as a—”

  “Never.” No room for doubt there. “I’ve never gotten into cross-species sex.” At least he hoped he hadn’t. Those early sex-fest days were murky. “The minute you sprout claws and a tail, you have to stop. A human can get ripped to shreds by an enthusiastic wolf, and I’m way too exhausted to shift again. So decide on a safeword. Something to make you lay off. We just want you going wolf, not… you know… tearing me a new one.”

  “How about ‘stop’?”

  Straightforward and practical. “That’ll work.” But would this?

  Josh blew out a breath. “So that’s why you’re sitting here naked. You want to—”

  “Trigger the wolf sex drive.”

  Nero waited in silence, feeling more naked than any shifter should. He was comfortable with his body and at ease with being naked, but sitting here, vulnerable, while Josh considered the possibilities made him want to huddle beneath a parka.

  He didn’t. He sat there and tried not to squirm. Fortunately, Josh finally nodded. “I suppose it’s better than paperwork.”

  Not a ringing endorsement.

  Josh straightened up. “So… do you want to do this here? Or is there some sex cave for wolves?”

  “We’re not deviants,” Nero snapped. “We’re animals. And we do it right here.” Part of him liked the idea of Josh smelling this—smelling him—on his sheets every time he went to bed. That, too, was a dominance thing.

  “Right here where everyone will hear us?”

  Nero shrugged. As a general rule, werewolves were much more casual about sex than people. “Maybe we can show Yordan that there’s a better way than endless humiliation.”

  Josh snorted. “I can get on board with that.”

  Of course he could. And Nero was glad to get Josh focused on teaching Yordan a constructive lesson rather than a destructive one. So he leaned back on the bed, exposing his entire body, including his rock-hard erection, to Josh’s gaze. He’d worried at first that he wouldn’t be able to get it up, considering the risk. But one look at Josh coming out of the shower had that problem solved.

  Meanwhile, he got the pleasure of seeing Josh’s eyes go dark as he took in Nero’s pose. He was looking, all right. And his nostrils flared, but he didn’t move toward the bed.

  “We’re trying to bring out the predator in me, right?” Josh asked.

  The words were low and dark with menace, and excitement skittered up Nero’s spine. “Yes.”

  Josh exploded forward. He leaped onto the bed and flattened Nero against the headboard. Or he tried. Nero wasn’t any tame bunny to be caught, and he quickly twisted away. What he didn’t expect was for Josh to continue his assault with lightning-fast reflexes. Wasn’t the guy tired from all that running? Apparently not, because he surged forward to pin him again. Clearly there was wrestling in his background. Or
more accurately, an older brother who had needed someone to practice his wrestling on.

  Didn’t matter. Whatever Josh’s training, Nero had more. Not to mention thirty pounds more muscle. He rolled with Josh’s body, and if they hadn’t gotten tangled in the sheets, it would have been hard to say who would have ended up on top. Fortunately for Nero, Josh’s abused feet caught, and he gasped in surprised pain.

  Good. A little bit of pain was part of werewolf sex, and Nero wasted no time in taking advantage. He shoved hard on Josh’s shoulders and forced him flat, belly up, and then he began to lick. It was both sensuous and excruciating for them both. Nero smelled the musk, and his dick pulsed with need. He tasted the shower soap and the tangy spice of Josh—distinct tastes in his mind—and he went in search of a stronger zing.

  He was merciless. No creature liked his belly exposed except in the most intimate of situations. He pushed that to Josh’s limit. He wasn’t careful as he bit down, and he certainly wasn’t easing up as he moved lower. And though Josh twisted and fought, Nero was stronger.

  He took his time, but eventually he found his way to Josh’s dick which put them nearly at 69. The scent was strongest down there, the textures intriguing, and the combination nearly sent him spiraling out of control. The only reason he didn’t was because he was still fighting Josh. Every time the man started to relax into the situation—to surrender to the experience—Nero found a way to push him too far. He needed Josh to try to take control, and that would only happen if Josh was uncomfortable.

  Biting was the easiest way, but Nero had other tricks. He scratched everywhere with his nails, and he growled whenever Josh moved.

  “Fight me, you bastard,” he ordered. And the next time Josh started to relax, Nero straddled his face and shoved his dick straight down Josh’s throat.

  He was risking a lot here. Some men would simply bite down, and then Nero would be a eunuch until the next time he shifted. He pushed hard with his hips, half choking Josh, half just getting too involved in the amazing sensation of Josh sucking him off.

  And then he leaned down and began to bite Josh’s dick. Lick, suck, and then bites that he knew would frustrate the hell out of Josh. It worked, if Josh’s groans meant anything. But no matter how much Nero tortured the man, they were both getting steadily closer and closer to orgasm. Nero’s balls had drawn up and his spine burned with precum heat. And Josh’s dick was throbbing. Any minute now, he was going to come.

  So Nero lifted off Josh’s dick, and he wasn’t careful with it. His teeth scraped along the shaft and caught for a moment on the head. And when Josh threw his head back with an ecstatic scream, Nero grabbed Josh’s dick and squeezed the head as hard as he could. Then he balanced on his elbows and did the same with Josh’s ball sac.

  Josh’s scream was louder this time—harsh and full of need. So to increase the pressure, Nero began pumping his hips. Harder, deeper, straight into Josh’s throat. God, he was so close. If Josh swallowed, he was a goner.

  “You want off?” he said with a strangled cry. “Then go wolf! Do it, damn it!”

  He felt the grip of Josh’s hands, hard like talons on his hips. This was stupid, stupid, stupid to push him so hard while he had his jaws around Nero’s dick. But he didn’t know any other way. There was only one thing left to do, one dominance play left in his arsenal. He leaned down and bit into the soft side of Josh’s thigh. He didn’t draw blood, but he came close. And suddenly Josh was sucking him like he wanted to milk him.

  The pull was fast, over and over, and Nero lost control. He erupted like a teenager with his first orgasm. And while he was still trembling from the force of his eruption, Josh’s body changed underneath him. At first he thought the tingling heat was from his own orgasm, but this was magic and Josh was midshift. Nero was still in the grips, his cock pumping out semen in ecstatic pulses. He barely had the wherewithal to understand what was happening and no ability to adjust for it.

  In a split second, he was lying dick-first in a wolf’s mouth. And that wolf was throwing him off with all the power in a revved-up werewolf. Nero went flying sideways and landed on his butt against the headboard. He bounced because it was a mattress, then gasped because he had a hundred-plus pounds of black wolf suddenly going for his throat.

  He wanted to say something, but he hadn’t the breath. All he got out was a garbled “Josh—” And then there was no more talking as Josh came down hard with his jaw on Nero’s neck. One bite and Nero was dead. No way could he shift fast enough to recover from having his throat ripped out. He didn’t even have the strength to cry out, but he lay there waiting for death.

  One breath. Two.

  Burnt orange eyes in a long black wolf face glared at him. Then the animal suddenly lifted his head and howled.

  Triumph reverberated in the sound. Joy, ecstasy, and yes, pure dominant power. It was all there, filling the room until Nero joined, arching his neck and releasing the full-throated sound. Sure, he was human, but it didn’t matter. He knew the howl of a packmate, and nothing was going to keep him from joining in.

  Josh had done it. He’d gone wolf again, and now was the time to celebrate.

  It took several moments for them both to stop howling. Long enough for Wiz to bang on their door and yell, “We got it. You took second place. Now shut the fuck up!”

  Josh just turned his head and howled even louder while Nero laughed. Eventually they both reined it in. Nero sobered up enough to cuff Josh gently on the nose.

  “Listen up, cub. How about I show you how much fun snow is for a wolf?”

  He shoved Josh off him and got to see the wolf scramble to get his footing. Two feet, four feet? New wolves never could remember. They were like overgrown puppies as they tried to figure it out.

  Nero wanted more than anything to go running outside as a wolf, but he had a responsibility to watch out for Josh. All sorts of bad things could still happen with new werewolves, and he would be better able to help as a human. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t be part of the fun.

  “Ten minutes,” he said to Josh. Then he went to the bathroom and cleaned up. Five minutes after that, he was dressed as they both headed outdoors. The air was crisp, a new dusting of snow was falling, and Josh wasted no time running across the frozen ground to catch snowflakes with his jaws.

  Nero played with him exactly as he’d done with his pack. He tackled the wolf, he rolled on the ground with him, and they played tug-of-war with sticks. Josh needed to get the full animal experience, and Nero needed to remember what fun it could be just to be alive.

  It was the most glorious day of his life.

  Until he remembered the worst.

  Chapter 17

  WHO KNEW it was such fun to be a wolf? Josh had never felt so much unadulterated joy as when he was running around with Nero, chomping snowflakes. Suddenly his body wasn’t an afterthought but a delight. And the simplest things were brand-new. Assuming he remembered he had four feet and not two, he could dive and pivot like a pro athlete. He could leap into the air and smell everything. There was such information in the world if only he sniffed. Pine and rabbit, human sweat, and the musky sent of sex. Yeah, that was great! And even that was nothing compared to playing tug-of-war with Nero. All he did was grab something and pull while Nero held on to the other end. It wasn’t that complicated, but he enjoyed it to a level that was insane. He loved it.

  But most of all—in a universe of mosts—he adored the sound of Nero’s laugh. When the guy let it fly, his laughter was a deep belly explosion of happiness. That sound could fill a black hole to bursting, and the more Josh tumbled, leaped, or rolled, the more Nero filled the world with joy. He could have stayed outside forever.

  “Time to go in, Josh.”

  No, no, no! He was too busy pushing his nose into a mound of debris. The scents were amazing and a little disgusting, but that didn’t deter him. Nero did, though, as he whacked him on the butt with a stick. Ha! It would take a lot more than that to make him stop. There was a weird smell de
eper into this pile of whatever. Some sort of animal—

  “That’s a skunk you’re scenting. I don’t think you want to pursue it.”

  It took a moment for the words to sink in, but when they did, he paused and drew back to stare at Nero, who was chuckling.

  “Okay, okay, you got me. That wasn’t a skunk. I have no freaking idea what you’re smelling, but you need to come inside now and get something to eat. You’re going to need it before you go human.”

  Food sounded interesting. And though his human side revolted at dropping his nose into a bowl of kibble, the rest of him was increasingly interested in anything edible. And given what a wolf would usually eat outside, perhaps whatever Nero was going to feed him would be for the best.

  He huffed out a breath and dipped his chin.

  “That’s the way.” Nero turned and headed up toward the mansion while Josh paced beside him. Now that Nero had brought his attention to it, Josh was feeling tired. His tail was drooping and….

  His tail! He had a tail that he could wag. How cool was that?

  He spun around, doing his best to look at his own tail. He tried to hold that pose while he wagged, but it was hard to manage. He ended up spinning around and wiggling while Nero held his sides laughing. Josh would have given it up quickly, but it felt good to hear such lightness from the guy. And not just for Nero’s sake. Josh hadn’t ever made anyone so happy. Not that kind of hold-your-sides, giddy laughter that filled Josh with light. It healed him deep inside, in a place he hadn’t even realized needed attention.

  So he kept spinning and wagging until he got dizzy from his own antics. Just when he was going to sit his ass down or fall, a huge body tackled him, and they went rolling. It was Nero, who was making fake growling sounds as they tumbled in the snow. Josh tussled back, and it wasn’t long before they were both flat out on the ground and breathing hard.

  “Sweet Jesus,” Nero panted as he canted a glance at Josh. “That’s what my grams used to say. Sweet, beautiful, ever-loving Jesus, you make me laugh!” Nero reached out a hand and burrowed it in Josh’s fur. Then he stared at the sky and kept talking, his voice laced with that laughter that had put light in Josh’s soul.