4
Q
uill awoke in a bed that wasn't his own, but sheer feline lassitude sapped at his will to care. Or move. The oddness of being so relaxed and replete was enough to make him open his eyes. Mellowness was not his strong suit. He yawned and stretched against the mattress, his hand encountering the warm flesh of another human body.
Turning his head, he met the gray gaze of Kienan Vaughn. “Good morning.”
The wolf's eyebrow quirked upward as he cocked his wrist to check his chrono. “It's closer to afternoon.”
“It was an active night.” Heat rushed through his body as the memories flipped through his mind, starting with Gea at his flat and ending with Gea and Kienan here at Tail. Definitely one of the better nights he'd had in recent memory, maybe ever.
Kienan waved a hand around the room. “We seem to have lost our third party, though.”
Yes, Quill had already sensed that, and it made his gut tighten to realize she'd run out on him. Again. “When did she leave?”
The wolf shrugged. “I saw a fluffy white tail darting out of here a little while ago.”
“Arctic fox. That would be her.” It stuck in Quill's craw more and more that she ran from him. He shook the feeling away. He liked his lovers with few strings attached, and Gea gave him just that. It shouldn't bother him. He refused to let it.
“So I assumed.” Kienan rolled to his side and propped his head in his hand with easy lupine grace. His chest rubbed against Quill's arm, and even that simple contact made his body begin to stir. The wolf-shifter's brows drew together in a frown. “Do you think she didn't enjoy herself?”
“She seemed to. I'll call her later and make sure she's all right.” If she bothered to answer. In the last year, Quill had left her messages before that she'd ignored. It didn't matter. She didn't matter. He'd long since learned that letting anyone in exposed the soft underbelly of a person, and that was asking to be gutted by another predator's claws. “Likely, she's off hunting down a clue on something she's investigating.”
“She's a cop?” The wolf grunted, an expression that might have been surprise flitting over his features. He wasn't the easiest man to read.
“Private investigator.”
“Ah.”
Not a conversationalist, this one. It didn't matter much when the wolf-shifter dipped a hand under the sheet to encircle Quill's morning erection. His breath hissed between his teeth, his fangs sliding down when the other man put just enough pressure on his cock to have pleasure and pain streaking through him. “Deus.”
One of the things he loved about fucking other men was the rawness, the roughness. There was nothing soft about this man, and Quill was more than ready to test his stamina.
Pulling his cock free of Kienan's grip, Quill wrapped his hand around the other man's arm, flipping him neatly onto his stomach. He came down on top of him, nudging his erection between the globes of the wolf-shifter's muscular ass. A purr rumbled in Quill's chest. “I like to be on top.”
“I got that sense from you last night. Maybe I can change your mind about that.” Kienan grinned over his shoulder, and Quill had the feeling it was rare to see a genuine smile from the sober man. He didn't say much, but he had an intensity that drew Quill like a magnet.
“You can try.” Unlikely, though. He didn't like feeling out of control. It was a weakness he never allowed himself. Dipping down, he bit the nanotat on the other man's shoulder, using his fangs on the skin. “Some other time. Right now, your ass is mine.”
Kienan groaned, rocking his hips back. The pheromones wafting through the air were enough to make Quill clench his jaw. His cock was harder than mercurite, wet with his pre-come. He wanted to slide inside the wolf's ass, make the quiet man beg for him. A shudder went through Quill at the thought. The head of his cock nudged the tight pucker of Kienan's anus.
A low growl came from Kienan, a hint of the predator within. “There's lubricant in the wash closet. Let me up and I'll get it.”
Chortling, Quill flicked his tongue across the other man's nape, making gooseflesh break down his skin. “Take that with you when you travel, huh?”
“No, a new container was already in the room.” Kienan dropped his head forward, allowing Quill all the access he wanted. “It
is
a technobrothel.”
“Point taken.” Quill nipped and sucked at the wolf's neck, savoring the flavor of him and the anticipation that built higher and higher inside of him. When Kienan bucked upward, his claws ripping through the sheets beneath them, Quill grinned and knelt up on the mattress to release his hold on the wolf-shifter. “Get that container, Vaughn. We're going to need it.”
“Yes. Now.” Kienan moved with silent speed and was back in a moment, handing over the lubricant to Quill.
He unsealed the container and poured a dab of the contents into his palm, looking Kienan over. The man's chest was heaving for breath, his fists clenching and unclenching at his side while he watched Quill stroke the slick fluid onto his cock. “On your back. I want to see your face when I slide inside you.”
Kienan's dick jerked, stretched even farther, until it danced just below his navel. A muscle ticked in his cheek, but he nodded and slid onto the mattress in front of Quill, face up, just as he'd been told. A purr soughed from Quill's throat, the leopard inside him loving the erotic image before him. A sexy male, primed for fucking, willing to do anything to get the surcease Quill could grant him. Deus, it was better than a hit of bliss.
Pressing Kienan's thighs open, Quill used the lubricant on his fingers to slide inside of the wolf-shifter's anus. The muscles were tight, so he added a second and third digit, stretching the other man for his penetration. Groans spilled between Kienan's clenched teeth, and Quill loved the power coursing through him.
“Deus, Quill,” Kienan gritted out, his hands bunching in the sheets. “Quit teasing and fuck me.”
Quill wished he could make him wait, but it wasn't going to happen. He wanted what the wolf wanted, and he wanted it now. His heart hammered in his chest, his lungs burning as he sucked in each breath. His cock was so hard it ached. Grasping his erection, he pressed the head against Kienan's anus, leaned his weight forward, and began impaling the wolf on his dick. Both men groaned, the sound loud and obscene in the small room, which just spiked Quill's excitement higher. The feel of Kienan's ass closing around his cock was maddening, the ring of muscle scraping at his shaft, squeezing him so tight it was almost painful. Almost.
“Try to relax.” He set his hands on the wolf's thighs, digging his fingers in to massage.
Kienan grunted, the tension leeching from his body, though his hands went white-knuckled on the sheets. “More.”
Withdrawing one slow micrometer at a time, Quill shuddered with the need to come. Deus, he hadn't boiled this close to losing control so fast in damn near forever. The thought should have bothered him, but he couldn't focus on anything other than taking the man beneath him. One sharp thrust and he was back inside Kienan, deeper than he'd been before, making both of them growl, fangs bared.
The feral display made the leopard within Quill fight for supremacy, wanting to rut with abandon. He clenched his jaw and held on to his restraint by the tips of his claws. Pistoning his cock in and out of another male was amazing, the heat and friction shoving him right to the edge of orgasm. Moving his hands to Kienan's hips, Quill lifted the other man so he could drive deeper with each plunge of his cock. The wolf rocked himself upward, meeting Quill's downward thrusts. Their skin slapped together, the scent of sex permeating the air.
Kienan's eyes were wild, his chest heaving. “Harder. I need it.”
So did Quill. He wasn't going to last much longer, the speed and roughness of his rhythm enough to topple him in another few nanoseconds. But he was taking the wolf with him. Quill groped for Kienan's cock, relentlessly working it in time with his thrusts.
“I need to come,” Kienan grunted. Desperation reflected on the man's face, his normal stoicism dropping away.
“Then come.” Quill's muscles drew taut, impending orgasm gripping him tight. “Come now.”
Kienan's back bowed, an animalistic howl ripping loose from his throat, and come spurted from his cock, bubbling between Quill's fingers as he continued to stroke the wolf through his orgasm. Letting go of his own control, he exploded inside of Kienan's tight ass, ecstasy rushing through his body as he hammered out his climax inside the other man. A long groan spilled from him and he slammed deep one last time, froze, and shuddered.
They stayed that way for long moments, and only the ragged sound of their breathing broke the silence in the room. When Quill's heart slowed from its racing beat, his sigh tangled with a purr. A smug grin curved his mouth. In terms of sex, the last twenty-four hours had been superb. The wolf looked a little dazed, just as he had the night before after Gea had sucked him off. There was nothing innocent about this man, but somehow the sex seemed to have surprised him. It was good to know that Quill wasn't the only one experiencing this level of intensity.
Slipping backward on his knees, he slid his cock out of Kienan. “You all right?”
“Yeah.” The wolf-shifter blinked, his gaze coming back into focus, his expression going inscrutable. “You?”
“Never better.” Quill's grin spread. It was a little late for the other man to pretend he was impervious and unaffected by what they'd done, but Quill wasn't going to call him on it. He knew the truth, and so did Kienan. “Shower?”
Kienan nodded and crawled to his feet, leading the way into the wash closet, and Quill licked his lips as he watched the other man's ass flex as he walked. Prime-grade muscles there. He definitely wanted to get his hands on that again.
“So, how long are you going to be in town?” Whatever time there was, Quill was going to take advantage of it. It might help distract him from his irritation over the fact that Gea had bolted again. That it bordered perilously close to anger just irritated him more. It was a kick to the gut and the ego that she ran, even though it shouldn't bother him. With any other lover, he didn't think it would. Clamping down on that dangerous thought, he focused on the lover before him.
The wolf glanced back, the lines of his face somber as death.
“What?” Quill asked, reaching around him to start the shower's spray.
Shrugging, the wolf stepped under the blast of water. “So, you came here last night to offer Lorelei a business proposition, is that right?”
Wariness slid through Quill. Where was this question coming from? His business and his sexual affairs were things that he never mixed. Ever. “Yes. Why?”
“Just curious. What kind of business offer was it?” Droplets slipped down Kienan's face as he stepped aside to let Quill get under the spray. “Or is that confidential?”
Something in Quill wanted to trust this man, and that sent a hint of panic through him. He trusted no one, not really. It was safer that way. He let water sluice down his body before he answered. “It's not confidential, but I don't make a habit of discussing business with strangers.”
“Just fucking them?”
“Touché.” He let a small smile touch his lips. Dealing with the people he did made him justifiably paranoid about being a target for industrial espionage or insider trading, so he flipped the questioning around. The best defense was a good offense. “Lorelei said you were some kind of operative. Not for the FBI like Pierce, but some other government organization.”
“I was. I recently retired.”
“Why?”
“I burned out. It can happen in that line of work.” He spread his hands, but his gray eyes narrowed. “What was your business with Lorelei?”
Instead of answering, Quill grinned. He wanted to play cat and mouse? There was a game a leopard excelled at. He almost purred with the challenge. “Afraid I'll lead her astray into nefarious, illegal dealings, Vaughn?”
Lathering his arms and chest, the wolf didn't look away. “Would you? I may have only just met her, but she's still family.”
“No, I wouldn't.” He saved offers like that for people who were interested, and Lorelei liked to keep her hands clean. Part of his success was knowing his market and his competition. “She wouldn't allow it anyway. She's careful, conscientious, and smart. All things I like in people I deal with. She wouldn't take my word on anythingâshe'd want details, records. She'd probably have Pierce do a little background checking.”
One of Kienan's dark eyebrows went up. “And that wouldn't bother you?”
“Only if I had something to hide. Which I don't.” This time. He'd gotten his start in every illegal pleasure this city had to offer, so his hands were far less pristine than Lorelei's.
The wolf-shifter's other eyebrow joined its twin, a look of skepticism crossing his face. “How often do you have something to hide?”