Sage's Mystery (6 page)

44

Lynn Hagen

Clank.

William’s hand shook as he pulled it from the cooler. He glanced over his shoulder, but the Dumpster blocked his view of Sage.

“Terror,” William whispered loudly. “Come here, girl.”

Clank.

William jumped when he heard the noise again. He’d lived in this house for months, and he never heard that noise before. He shot off the porch, running full-out toward Sage.

Sage glanced up and must have seen the fear on William’s face because he jumped to his feet, growling.

Growling?

“What’s wrong?”

“I heard a loud clank coming from the house.”

Sage took off, leaving William to defend himself all alone outside.

He watched the large man disappear around the Dumpster. Oh yeah, he knew this part real well. Sage was going into the house, but he would never be coming back out.

“Sick ’em, girl.” William pointed to the house, but Terror ran the other way. “Thanks for having our backs!”

Terror barked, but didn’t come back his way. William stared at the house, praying Sage kicked whoever’s ass. The man could do it.

William knew he could. He breathed a sigh of relief a few seconds later when Sage came strolling back.

“It was the pipes, slim,” he said with amusement in his voice.

Yeah, William had small balls. He’d own that. Big deal. It kept him alive this long. There was nothing wrong with running away screaming in his book. “But I’ve been here for a while, and they never made that noise before,” he pointed out.

Sage shrugged and then sat back down. “I don’t know what to tell you. But it was the pipes in the basement.”

There was a basement?

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you from the pipes,” Sage said and then chuckled.

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“
Hardy-har-har
.”

Sage didn’t say anything else as he grabbed the meat package, tore it open, and tossed the chicken into the frying pan. It sizzled loudly. William’s stomach did a happy dance as he licked his lips.

How long had it been since he had a decent meal?

Since forever.

William sat down on the ground across from Sage, crossing his legs as he watched the meat cook in the frying pan. Even Terror wandered back over at the sizzling sound of the meat cooking.

William sat there picking at his pants, sneaking glances at the handsome man sitting across from him. He wanted to all-out gawk, but knew that wasn’t possible. At least not while Sage was awake.

“Do you want to try a piece of meat?” Sage asked as he cut into the large breast portion. Fuck if that wasn’t a loaded question.

“I’d love to try some of your meat.”

Sage’s hand stilled as he glanced over at William.
Oh, holy hell.

Now he’d done it. There was no way he could have stopped the answer from springing from his lips. No way
.
Sage had left himself wide open for that answer.

“Would you now?”

William wasn’t sure if that was an invitation or a question for clarity right before he was pounded into the dirt. He bit his bottom lip and gave a slight nod, feeling his face heat up like a ball of fire was attacking it. He wasn’t sure where the hell the bravery was coming from, but he’d confessed.

He just hoped it wasn’t his last confession.

The side of Sage’s mouth pulled back into a sexy-as-fuck smile as he held the fork up, a small piece of chicken displayed for William.

He reached across to grab it from the fork, but Sage pulled it back.

“Take it off with your mouth.”

William’s eyes locked onto the fire, refusing to look Sage in his eyes as he leaned sideways, closing his lips around the chicken.

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Spices burst on his tongue, but William was focused on his racing heartbeat instead.

He might have been hearing things because his heart was beating so loudly in his ears, but William could have sworn he heard Sage groan softly. He slowly sat back, swallowing hard around the chicken as he forced its way down his dry throat.

“I–It was good,” William said to the ground.

“Yes, it was,” Sage said in a voice that dipped lower than his already thick and deep timbre that William had grown to appreciate with every word the man spoke. A shiver raced down his spine.

When Sage didn’t say anything else, William jumped up from the ground. “I’ll go get the plates.” And that was saying something. He’d rather move closer to the house with the spooky noises than keep his ass planted right where he was.

William darted across the yard, taking a moment to clear his head as he grabbed a few paper plates from the plastic sleeve that rested next to the cooler. He looked over his shoulder, making sure Sage couldn’t see him, and then reached into the cooler, grabbing a few pieces of ice. He slid his hand down his pants, dropping the cubes in place.

“Oh hell!” he shouted before he could stop himself. That shit was cold!

“What’s wrong?” Sage asked as he stormed past the Dumpster to where William was dancing around the back porch, trying his best to make the ice cubes slide past his balls.
Not one of my more brilliant
plans.

“Nothing. I just stubbed my toe,” he replied as he gritted his teeth, making himself stand in place and live through the brutality of frozen nuts.

Sage’s brows pulled together as he looked at William as if trying to figure him out before turning around and walking away. As soon as Sage was out of sight, William reached in his pants and grabbed the
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ice, tossing it into the yard. “Doofus,” he muttered to himself. But hey, it did the job. His cock was finally lying limp and to the left.

William grabbed the plates, walking back over to the fire and taking a seat as far away from Sage as possible without looking too obvious. Sage held out a hand and William gave him the plates. He saw that Sage had set the pot of beans on the fire and they were bubbling as the steam wafted off of them.

“Here you go,” Sage said as he handed a full plate over to William. He was so damn hungry that he didn’t know where to begin.

It all looked good.

“You might want to slow down,” Sage said a moment later.

William lowered his plastic fork. Yeah, he’d been scarfing the food down, but he couldn’t help it. For a winged meal, it was damn good.

“You chew any faster, and I’ll have to feed you something else.”

William coughed, damn near choking at Sage’s promise.

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Sage pushed his hands into his front pockets, leaned against the wall, and watched as William slept.

His feelings were growing stronger for William, no matter how much he fought against it. He watched as William turned over, pulled the blanket over his shoulder, while using one of Sage’s duffel bags as a pillow.

It scared him to think that he was seriously considering converting William and claiming him. How had things changed so much over the past couple of days? William hadn’t thrown himself at Sage like a lot of she-wolves had done in his birth pack. He ran around here half the time like the Energizer Bunny, tripping over things and making a bigger mess than when they started out.

And that turned him on?

Sage needed his head examined.

When the hell did incompetence become sexy? Sage wasn’t sure, but if it had, then William was the sexiest man on the planet. He smiled at that. The guy didn’t know a number-two bit from a screw, but he did whatever it took to get the job done.

Sage realized just then that he admired William. He was everything opposite of Sage, and that actually turned him on.

Shrink, here I come.

“Is something wrong?”

Sage pushed away from the wall, shaking his head as he saw William’s bright green eyes sparkling in the moonlight spilling into the room. He had tempted fate many times by flirting with William over the past couple of days, but the man never flirted back. Sage
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wasn’t sure about the reason why, so he kept his lust in check, never allowing himself to touch William.

But the change was tomorrow night, and keeping his hands to himself was getting harder. He wanted to go lie down and curl around William. Nuzzle him until they both fell asleep.

Ah hell, who was he kidding? Sage wanted to fuck the man until the house fell down around them. They could cuddle afterward. His cock was so hard that he knew his brain had no blood circulating in it.

That was why he stood there now. If he lay down, he wasn’t sure he could control himself. His skin was tight, itchy, and he was hornier than a motherfucker. The change always did that to his libido. It was nature’s way of making him hunt for a mate.

“No, go back to sleep.”

He patted himself on the back for not taking his anger and aggression out on William over the past few days, even though his attitude was getting worse. If anyone else wandered this way, Sage couldn’t guarantee anything.

Sage leaned back against the wall and then slid down until he was sitting on his ass. He pulled his legs up and rested his arms on his knees. He stared out of the window at the moon that was almost full.

If he claimed William, he wouldn’t have to worry about going through any of this again. He would be able to shift at will, not when the moon was full. He’d no longer be at its mercy. He wasn’t going to condemn William to his outcast life just so he could control his shifts.

He wasn’t that big of a bastard…today.

He clenched his jaw and curled his hands into fists as lust overtook him, wiping out what he had just been thinking. He knew it was more than the change. He wanted William, wanted him more than anyone before.

“Forgive me,” Sage whispered.

“For what?” William asked.

Sage leapt across the room, pinning William on his back. He lowered his head, inhaling the small man’s scent as his tongue trailed
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over his neck. The heat coursing through his body was making him want to take William in a thousand different ways. He couldn’t focus, and his head had a fuzzy haze enveloping it. All Sage could think about was William. The human’s smell was driving him nuts.

“S–Sage?”

Sage closed his eyes, fighting against the lust that ate at his blood.

He shook his head back and forth, leaning back slightly. He couldn’t do this to William. He had to fight it.

“I–I like you, too.”

A growl tore from Sage’s chest. William wasn’t supposed to say that. He was supposed to scream at Sage to get the fuck off of him, not welcome him into his bed. Sage could feel his cock growing longer as William stared up at him. There was a shot of lust in his pretty green eyes, but there was also need.

“You don’t want me,” he said as he rocked back and forth over William. “You don’t know what you’re saying. I’m falling hard and you can’t be the one to catch me.”

William reached up, tracing his fingers over Sage’s scar, his lips parting as his eyes snapped up to Sage’s. “I may be smaller than you, but I’m sure I wouldn’t let you fall.”

Sage leaned in, his lips a hair’s breadth from William’s as he panted heavily, fighting against what his body was begging for. He licked his lips and then pulled his head back slightly. “You don’t know what you’re asking for, slim.”

“I’m asking for one night. I’m asking for you to love me for just a few short hours.”

Sage’s arms shook as he held himself up, hovering over William and slipping quickly over the edge to giving in. Sage lifted one hand, skimming it over the soft skin of William’s face. He wanted the same thing, but he knew it wouldn’t be just a few short hours or just one night. The beast inside of him was already snarling and snapping for him to bite William and then claim him.

Claim him as Sage’s mate.

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“You make me forget that I’m an outcast.”

“Then we both have something in common.”

Sage curled his fingers in, pulling them away from William’s face. “I walk a lonely road. I can’t offer you anything.”

And he couldn’t. He had no pack to offer William. No protection against the harsh world that Sage lived in. If he mated William, and it worked, his mate would automatically be an outcast as well. Sage was torn in two. William was looking at him with longing, giving himself over to Sage, but could Sage keep him safe?

“There’s something you should know.”

William shook his head, placing a finger over Sage’s mouth. “It doesn’t matter.”

The hell it didn’t. The only way it wouldn’t matter would be if Sage fucked William but didn’t bite him, an almost impossible feat.

Sage reached between them, running his hand over William’s stomach, feeling the slight jerk as they connected. His eyes shot to William’s, seeing him bite his bottom lip, and then his legs parted.

Sage growled again. “A few hours.”

William nodded quickly as he reached down and tossed the blanket aside. Sage groaned when he saw that the only thing William had on was one of Sage’s oversize T-shirts. Sage pushed the hem up with a finger, seeing William’s balls and then his hard cock.

He pulled his hand back, fear making him second-guess what they were about to do. William quickly grabbed Sage’s hand, placing it back on his thigh. He could feel William’s hand shaking.

Sage ran the tips of his fingers over William’s hand, stilling them before he ran a knuckle up the length of William’s shaft. He heard a quick intake of breath as his fingers traced over warm, succulent skin.

His common sense was trying to kick in, trying to yell for Sage to run, but Sage didn’t listen.

He stood, ridding himself of his clothes before kneeling back down, his eyes taking in the sight underneath him. William pulled the shirt from over his head, tossing it aside and laying his hands on
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either side of him to rest on the floor. His chest was expanding and contracting rapidly as he lay there waiting for Sage to do something.