hard, staring down at little old me. Can you blame me for
following you in here? And you leaving all those
marks on that
poor human….” Cal was back to that again, and Ray didn"t
think he was dreaming the longing in Cal"s voice. “I bet the
sounds he made scandalized the neighbors… not that I
remember hearing anything as I walked up.”
Ray was losing his mind. He couldn"t argue, or summon
up the strength of will to ask Cal to stop talking. “Tsk,
Branigan. You know, if you did that to me, it wouldn"t hurt
much… or at least… not for long. You could bruise me as
much as you want.”
“It wasn"t a tryst.” Ray was biting out words, but he was
speaking again at least. “Lex and I aren"t like that.”
“Really?” Pure pleasure drifted over the steam from the
shower, mingled with it. “Not romantic at all? Just filthy, dirty
Ray Branigan sex?” Pleasure and pulsing want. Too much
want for such a short acquaintance when Ray had been
nothing but rude to him. It must be in his head. Wishful
thinking.
“The case?” he rasped.
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“In other words, they can be nasty buggers. Especially
when they feel you"ve wronged them somehow. They"d
probably be serial bombers if they had the patience for the
mechanics. Well, I"ve never met one who did, but I"m sure it"s
possible. Not exactly relevant to this, though.” Cal switched
back to the other topic with enviable ease.
Ray abruptly felt an overwhelming desire to ask what
else Cal knew about serial bombers, and why, and if his
name was Calvin, too, like his father. And if it was true, about
the bruises not hurting much.
He realized he was just standing there, listening.
“At that scene before you kicked me out—”
“You left. I didn"t kick you out. And you don"t listen to me
anyway. You haven"t, not once in three days.”
“Aw, is that why you"re mad? I"m listening now, Detective
Ray Branigan. Detective. Not much else I can do until you
come out of there and let me get a good look at you.” Cal
paused, and Ray shuddered at the thought. “Detective…. That
wasn"t easy
for you, was it? Earning that rank? Earning that
respect, and there I was, up in your face in front of
everyone….”
“I don"t care about that.” Because he didn"t, anymore,
though now that Cal said it, he could hear himself barking for
Cal to take this seriously, to take
him
seriously, when that
was stupid because Cal was Fairy. They couldn"t take
anything seriously, or didn"t like to. But just the same, Ray
hesitated. “I didn"t mean to yell at you.”
Cal ignored him.
“No,
I"m
sorry, Branigan. I shouldn"t….” Ray imagined
Cal biting that lip and slid a hand over to the wet glass of the
door. “I know what it is to need to be taken seriously. God
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knows when I was a kid my dad was always careful with me
at the department picnics, you know, only half-human and all.
Sparkly, wings, no one expecting me to have an interest in
football.”
“It….” Ray
did
know, and it had been beyond difficult for
him, at first. He
still
had bad days. He hadn"t expected Cal to
understand that. He wondered if Cal
did
have an interest in
football, but couldn"t ask, too aware that the answer would
probably be, “I have an interest in football
players
.”
“Goblins,” he said instead, drawing Cal back to the case.
“
So
. I was out, drowning my thwarted desires and sense
of pique at being so rejected at a bar when I remembered that
letter you showed me. The latest one sent to Prescott
Industries. The language in it, the rejection reminded me
and—you"re taking a long shower. Can"t get the smell off or do
you need a hand in there?”
“Thwarted….” Ray exhaled heavily. He was so hot he
shivered. “This could have waited. Even
you
know that.” He
put his mouth to the water, lapping it up before turning away.
Fairies, he reminded himself. No impulse control, even if Cal
was
understanding and apparently, slightly, temperamental.
Cal would probably quit the case again tomorrow, then vanish
forever.
“I know, but I wanted to tell you. Because I might have to
ask my friend Benny in on this. He knows more about them
as part of his wizard training. Anyway, I wanted to see your
lair.”
Ah, generic curiosity about Weres. Ray had encountered
that before. It had never made him want to get wasted and
tear something to pieces before, however. “Now you"ve seen it.
You can go.”
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“But I haven"t seen
everything
. You wouldn"t deny me the
floorshow, would you? Or are you going to stay in there until
you"re wrinkly like a bulldog?”
Ray turned off the water with a vicious jerk. He didn"t let
himself think about it before he opened the door and stepped
out with the growl thick in his throat.
He was hard and naked and dripping onto the floor, but
he was in his own bathroom and no half-fairy, mate or not,
was going to scare him anymore. If anything, Ray wanted it.
He wanted to see Cal Parker"s face.
He felt hot, burning to his ears, the urge to shift a lot like
the urge to come, sudden and strong. He thought he might do
both, right then, with Cal Parker"s eyes traveling all over him,
up and down and back again. His mouth open. His expression
starving.
“Whoa,” he said, and didn"t seem to notice that he got to
his feet. “What a good puppy you are,” he breathed, and Ray
met his gaze.
Want/want/want
the air said, as bright and
clear as a solar flare.
The scent was Ray"s, needy and obvious, calling,
reaching.
Cal Parker couldn"t seem to decide where to look. He
licked his lips for everything, humming for Ray"s cock, his
hips, his chest, even his face, and Ray was
impossibly
hot
now, embarrassed, smug, aroused. This was what it should
be to have his mate look at him. It was how he would look to
behold Cal naked. Everything he"d ever want right there,
everything that was good in the world displayed for him.
His. He took another step forward, aware on some level
that he wasn"t
that
attractive to have this fairy looking so
spellbound, but standing straight just the same, letting him
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look. Sounds escaped him, dark and pleased, and Cal lifted
his head to look into his face. His mouth moved again, but his
eyes remained spun and shining, hypnotized.
“Goblins… aren"t. Benny knows… human spells. I…
Brani… Ray. Ray Ray. Look at you. Look at you. You can…
just drag me… anywhere. Anywhere you want to take me,
and I"m there. There you are, and here I am. Just take me.”
With a fairy lack of shame, Cal finally blinked, and then put
up one hand, stopping just short of touching Ray"s chest. The
other he put down to the front of his jeans over his hard on,
the hard on Ray could smell, and pushed down with his palm.
He gave one loud, hungry gasp, and the
want
spiked brighter,
sharper.
Ray opened his mouth, sticky with the heat, soaked to
the skin, and watched Cal"s eyes swirl with need.
He was breathing rapidly, and Ray licked at the air,
heard Cal groan.
“What are you waiting for, Rover?” he demanded quietly
but without moving, either, and right before he frowned, Ray
had the passing thought that he"d never imagined Cal would
hesitate. Then he was just trembling at the brief all-over ache
of shifting, of not quite enough, so close, so close, as he
partially changed to a form that allowed him to bare his teeth,
flash his claws.
He felt larger, heavier, massive for every shocked second
of Cal"s silence, and then just nervous all over again when Cal
backed up and put his head to the wall. He thought it was
fear, fear like he"d expected, because this was all implied
strength and violence and fairies lived to seek out happiness
and pleasure, but then Cal gave a body-long shudder and
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leaned back. He couldn"t know what it meant to expose his
throat like that. He couldn"t.
Ray wanted him anyway. A half-human. A child of man
and fairy. Someone who wouldn"t want any part of him or the
life he offered.
“Yes?” He purred it, growling, maybe knowing the little
butterfly was seconds away from screaming in terror and
fleeing, no matter how much Ray"s soul would pine for his. It
wasn"t fair, wasn"t right.
He stopped short at the touch of a hand, blinking as he
looked down and saw graceful fingers sliding slowly up his
chest, weaving through his fur.
“Soft,” Cal exhaled, startled somehow, and when Ray
looked back up at him, breathing hard, he angled his head
back further without seeming to be aware. He was staring at
his hand, watching himself pet Ray, desire all over his face.
“You"d think you"d be scary. But you"re soft.”
Ray felt a tug, felt himself moving closer. His mouth was
open, his skin prickling with sparkles, butterscotch on his
tongue.
“Ray,” Cal started, only to stop and pull his lip between
his teeth. He wasn"t biting, it wasn"t hard, but Ray wet his
mouth, grunted, and watched that full lip turn red. Cal"s eyes
went round.
In Ray"s changing perception, the lights seemed to flicker,
Cal"s glitter bursting into an impossibly bright halo. Cal made
a noise, shocked, and then the world dimmed, went back to
normal except for a scent made of lilies and caramel popcorn
and the unmistakable tang of pre-come.
“Rover.” Cal"s words buzzed like bees around their
honey. “Ray. You. You"re….”
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“A wolf?” Ray knew rejection was coming. It had to be. If
not before they fucked then after. His soul already cried for
being abandoned, howling when Cal"s teeth sank into his lip
again.
“I was going to say incredible. Shiny. Perfect. Beautiful.
But yeah, wolf will do.”
Ray"s claws clicked against the wall by Cal"s head, their
breath mingling before Ray realized that he"d stepped in
closer. “Do you know what that means?” He had to ask,
barely getting out the desperate question.
Fairies couldn"t lie, or wouldn"t. Cal slowly shook his
head. Then, confusingly, he nodded.
“Going to show me, big man?” he teased, but Ray barely
heard it. He shut his eyes. It had been too much to hope. He"d
known that, but with it all so new, exposed, his cock stiff and
the tip wet, he hadn"t been able to resist trying.
Cal still wanted it, but it wasn"t enough. He wasn"t a
Mate. He didn"t understand. He was Fairy and he would
leave.
Ray tore himself away and faced the mirror over the sink.
He shifted, quick and harsh, back to all man where the loss of
a partner was minutely less painful.
He was panting, tongue lolling out for those pearly, salty