Rivvie had suspected Matt would enjoy a little pain. Rivvie sure did, and sometimes, he wanted to be the one administering the pain instead. It seemed that he and Matt were well-suited. “Fuck me this time. We don’t have more lubricant, and I won’t fuck you the first few times with only spit to ease the way. You wouldn’t like the kind of pain doing that would cause.”
Matt winced. “No, I guess not.”
Rivvie winked at him. “Then come on, mount up and ride me. You can slap my ass and pull my hair, pretend I’m a horse, since I’m hung like one.”
“Ugh.” Matt groaned. “And might I add, gross. I don’t ever want to pretend I’m fucking a horse, Riv. That’s nasty.”
“I meant like you’re riding one in a nonsexual way,” Rivvie got out between snickers. “I’m not quite the pervert you think I am.”
“Thank fuck for that.” Matt moved all the way behind him again. “Down, boy.”
Rivvie was eager to feel Matt’s cock piercing him again. “Any day now— Oh!”
Being a smart ass got him a full ass, fast. Matt thrust right in, driving his cock deep, not pausing until his groin was pressed to Rivvie’s ass.
“You were saying?” Matt rasped, bending over him and grabbing a handful of Rivvie’s hair. “So this… I’ll use this for reins.” He tugged lightly.
Reins, schmeins.
Rivvie didn’t care what Matt called them. “Just fuck me,” he begged.
“Honey, I’m going to do just that.” Matt pulled Rivvie’s hair.
He had to tip his head back, had to arch his neck and his back and that caused Matt’s cock to rub over his gland.
Rivvie mewled like a kitten at the warm rush of bliss infusing his body. “Aw, yes!” He felt no need to keep it quiet, not when shouts and moans and other sex-related sounds filled the air. Rivvie let it all go. He cried out for Mattie, begged him and found that his voice hadn’t been nearly as gone as he’d thought. He even bellowed when Mattie hammered into him so hard Rivvie would have sworn he felt Mattie’s cock jabbing his collarbone.
He came hard, with Mattie biting at his shoulder blade and coming right with him. Rivvie had never come without a hand on his dick before then. Now he knew it was possible, at least as long as Mattie was fucking him like that.
Once he’d climaxed and that sweet, life-altering sensation had faded, he and Mattie lay side by side on their backs, looking up at the stars. “There must be millions of them,” Rivvie mused.
“I wonder if there’s more out there. I think there has to be. We can’t be the only life forms in the universe,” Matt said. “Don’t you agree?”
“Never really thought about it, but yeah.” They were silent for several minutes, and Rivvie’s thoughts turned dark. His gut cramped when he couldn’t shake the vision of Mattie swinging a bloody knife at him, madness ruining the beauty of Mattie’s eyes.
“Mattie?” Rivvie began, only to fear he never should have started.
Matt propped up on one elbow and looked at him. “You’re way more interesting than all the stars, you know?”
Rivvie’s heart lurched. Not in a bad way, like when he’d almost fallen off the cliff when he’d been five years old. No, this wasn’t fear he was giving way to. Love had penetrated his walls and seeped into his previously untouched heart. Rivvie cupped Matt’s cheek. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Matt said in a tone that sounded like he was every bit as gone for Rivvie as Rivvie was for him.
Rivvie kissed Matt, a leisurely brush of lips and tongue. “I don’t want to lose you, Mattie, and I’m scared,” he admitted.
“I think we all are. You’re not going to lose me, not if I can help it,” Matt promised. “I think maybe—no, that’s being a coward. I don’t think.” He huffed and puffed a few times, then stared into Rivvie’s eyes.
Rivvie held himself still, daring to hope.
“I know that I’m in love with you,” Matt said. He sounded certain of it, too. “I have been, maybe since the first time you flirted with me. I was just too stupid and too scared to know it.”
“Oh.” Rivvie licked his lips. Now his heart was trying to race the wind, it was beating so fast. “Oh, I didn’t think that—” And he wasn’t going to be the fumbling twit now. “I love you, too, Mattie. I’d have you as my mate, and me as yours, if you’re willing.”
“I am.” Matt smiled slowly, sincerely. “I
so
am, Rivvie.”
Rivvie and Matt reached for each other at the same time. Rivvie couldn’t believe he’d found this…this happiness and yes, love with Mattie after thinking he’d never stand a chance.
There was no way he’d risk losing Mattie, either.
No way at all.
Chapter Eighteen
He wasn’t surprised to have most of the former villagers approach him in a group the next morning. Valen also had a good idea what they wanted. He’d let them talk first, in case he was wrong.
Madge and Jane stepped forward and greeted him with some kind of dip-thing movement he’d seen them do to Walter and Anita. A show of respect, then. That was always good. Valen wasn’t immune to having his ego stroked a little.
“Is this a good time to speak with you?” Jane asked.
Valen was aware of Aaron striding over to join him. “If you need anything, I’m almost always available. What can I help you with?”
Jane darted a nervous glance around him but didn’t directly meet his gaze. “Well, it’s about the…the sickness. We’ve all heard that Aaron said it was something contagious, and we may have been exposed.”
“None of us want to die like that,” Madge added. “If we get that illness and aren’t capable of following through on what we want, please know this. We’d all take our own lives before turning into some mindless, murderous shell of a person.”
“What she’s asking is for a swift and merciful death if any of start showing signs of that wasting disease,” Vex called out from the group. “If any of us lose the balls to do it ourselves.”
“We don’t even know if there are signs,” Aaron said, “or if it’s a disease. If could be that it’s a food-borne reaction. Or inbreeding. Exposure to some toxin left behind from before the End Times. My point is, again, that we don’t know what it is, or if it’s a thing at all, or if there’s just roving bands of crazy people we’re only just learning about.”
“Of course
you
aren’t worried,” said Smith, a young man who was usually quiet at all times. “
You’re
a shifter now.”
Valen heard the wistfulness and envy in Smith’s voice. “We don’t know how that happened either. Had any of you ever heard it was possible?”
The low murmur of ‘no’s didn’t make anyone happy.
“Well it
is
possible,” someone else said. “We want it done to us. What’s an hour of agony compared to being a shifter? Would you want to be a human instead?”
“It didn’t actually hurt,” Aaron offered. “It felt good, which is weird but true.”
Valen wished Aaron hadn’t shared that bit of information, but he had and now there was much more excitement among the people in front of them. He held up one hand when everyone started talking at once.
“Enough.” Much to his surprise and great relief, the group listened. “No one is saying you can’t try it, if you find a willing partner.
Willing
being the key word.” Damn, he had a feeling shifters were going to be getting more sex than ever in a matter of days. “Also, we’ll be moving on in less than half an hour, so don’t start on the fucking yet. At least wait until we’re settled down for the night. Don’t poach, either. I never have cared who fucks whom as long as all parties are consenting adults, but trying to get between an established or mated couple, that will land you in deep shit with me.”
“There has to be biting, right?” Jane asked.
“As Valen said, we don’t know. He did bite me before I changed that day, but he’d bitten me many times before then, too.” Aaron blushed. “I mean, like a lot.”
Jane and Madge weren’t the only ones staring at Aaron with undisguised interest. “How much is a lot?” Madge asked.
“Our sex life is off limits as of now,” Valen informed them. “I won’t have anyone harassing Aaron about it. Make sure you all have gathered up whatever you brought with you. Now we’re down to about twenty minutes.”
There was a little grumbling but the group dispelled without further questions.
Aaron groaned and covered his face with his hands. “I shouldn’t have said that. Now I’ll be getting weird looks and questions I don’t want to answer.”
“Send them my way, anyone who asks you a question that makes you feel uncomfortable. I’ll make sure they get an answer.” Valen smirked. “Might not be the one they want but— Hey, come here for a minute.” He was looking at Aaron, and seeing some changes.
Aaron set down the bag he’d just picked up. “Sure. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, it’s just, I want you to stand in front of me, facing me.” Valen waited until Aaron was in place. “Huh.”
“Huh what?” Aaron asked, his eyebrows knitting together as he frowned. “What am I missing?”
“Are you achy in your bones, Aaron?”
“Yes, but I figured things in there are still getting used to the new way they have to work,” Aaron explained.
Valen put a hand on top of Aaron’s head. “You think that’s all?” He moved his hand across, keeping it at Aaron’s height, and bringing it to touch just above his own nose.
Aaron’s eyes widened to the point of danger. Valen halfway expected them to pop on out.
“I’m that tall?” Aaron tried it himself. “Oh my gods! I
am
!”
“That’s a damned big growth spurt. You’ve got more muscle mass, too.” Valen felt Aaron’s biceps. “And I bet you’ll have more body hair, like I do.”
Aaron clapped his hands with excitement. “I hope so! I love body hair, and come on, we both know even the female shifters have more body hair than I do.”
“I’m not disputing it. Seems like you’re truly altering from human to shifter in every way,” Valen observed.
A look of concern came over Aaron. “Are you still going to want me? I know me being smaller and thinner than you turned you on.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.
You
turn me on.” Valen pinched one of Aaron’s nipples. “Everything about you makes me horny, including the way you’re changing. I’d have been just as lusty if you hadn’t grown three or four inches since you shifted.”
Aaron struck a pose, bending his arms and making his biceps—which were slight but there—pop up. “I don’t feel more masculine. Wait. I never felt un-masculine to begin with. I mean, I don’t have this sudden desire to be alpha of anything.”
Valen pushed the opening of Aaron’s shirt aside. “No birthmark. Huh, that’s going to be interesting, if humans can be turned into shifters and we start popping up with alphas everywhere.”
“Rivvie’s coming,” Aaron said.
Valen turned and saw his brother jogging over. “What’s up?”
Rivvie waved at Aaron then gawked at him. “You got taller!”
“And more muscles, too,” Aaron said proudly, flexing his arms. “See?”
Rivvie’s smile could have warmed the heard of the cruelest bastard. “That is awesome! It means he’s really turning all the way! Great, that’s good to know. I saw a group of people here a few minutes ago.”
“The wanted to ask about being turned into shifters, and oh yeah, if we’d kill them should they develop whatever gods damned thing those humans had yesterday.” Valen growled the last few words. “The original pack members are about to get more pussy and ass than ever before in their lives.”
“I’m not sticking my dick anywhere it doesn’t belong.” Rivvie nodded to Aaron. “And I won’t gross you out and mention it only belongs in your brother.”
“Ack!” Aaron coughed and looked a little green. “You just did mention it.”
Rivvie held his hands up. “Whoops.”
Aaron smacked them both down. “You aren’t sorry.”
“Nope, not at all,” Rivvie agreed. “So, care to tell me the best way to bring Mattie over to the dark and hairy side?”
“We don’t know how it works. Didn’t we say as much yesterday?” Valen almost didn’t make it a question.
Rivvie’s shoulders rounded as he slumped. “Oh. I’d hoped maybe you two figured it out.”
Valen glanced at Aaron. “There’s always the possibility it’s an alpha thing only.”
Aaron shrugged.
Rivvie slumped even more. “Oh. Well then. I’m obviously not an alpha.”
“We don’t know if that’s got anything to do with it,” Valen reminded him. “Have you discussed this with Matthew?”
“I’m going to, in more depth, once we get to a stopping point tonight. Are we heading anywhere near where our lands were? Do you think there’s any point to that?” Rivvie asked. “Or do you think we’ve been given some great cosmic warning to move on?”
“My gut tells me to be cautious. That’s all I’ve got right now.” The dull throb of loss in Valen’s chest pulsed sharper for a moment. “Did you look back at all when we were fleeing?”
Rivvie shook his head. “No, I was too busy trying to keep ahead of the flood. And the earthquakes. And the twisters. Yeah.”
Valen almost chuckled at Rivvie’s descriptions. “Well, I did once we began the ascent up the rock mountain. I saw this massive wall of water come down, and that was from a great distance at that point. Then it looked like the ocean itself had moved over the land. I can’t think there’s anything to go back to. That much water wouldn’t just be drained away already, though maybe we can check, depending on which direction we travel in. I intend to listen to my instincts, not my emotions. That’s what I need to do.” It was why he was an alpha.
“So there’s a chance we can at least check on the pack lands?” Rivvie asked wistfully.
“Maybe, unless I decide otherwise.” Valen waited, but Rivvie didn’t ask another question. “Is that all?”
“It’s everything,” Rivvie replied. “We’ll be ready when you are.”
“Five minutes,” Valen told him. “Go talk to Matthew.”
Rivvie held his breath then blew it out noisily. “I want him for my mate. And he wants me. For his mate, I mean. So this isn’t just a temporary thing. I love him.”
“Yes!” Aaron just about shattered Valen’s eardrums with his joyous shriek. “It’s about time!”
“What Aaron said, bro.” Valen thumped Rivvie on the back. “Congratulations. You want the whole ceremony?”