The Beast Within (7 page)

“I see you found my…clothes.”

Aaron turned his head to find Tony standing at the top of the stairs. He hastily bunched the pants and shirt in front of him to hide his erection.

“Do they fit?” Once again Tony was wearing that confident, charming smile, the one that sought to assure him they were friends.

This time, however, Aaron wasn’t sure he could buy it.

“I think you and my things are a perfect fit.”

“Again with the double talk,” Aaron snapped. “Here you are hitting on me, or pretending to hit on me, and you just called me in to Kapre. Is this another trick? See if I’m dumb enough to let you tie me up and wait for the cavalry again?”

“I didn’t report you.” Tony moved closer. He tossed Aaron’s phone on the bed so he could reach it. “Didn’t turn on your red alert tracker, either.”

“Why not?” Aaron tried to hide the relief from his voice as he turned his back and pulled on the clothes. He faced Tony as he secured his phone in his waistband, thankful the pants were baggy enough to conceal his fading erection.

“Why should I? You were the victim of an attack. And I’ve seen you shifted. You were no threat to me just now. Just the opposite. You saved my life. Qi was going to choke me to death.”

“I know.”

“So, I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry you seduced me and made me look like a fool? Or, you’re sorry because you were nearly killed and I had the decency to stop it, despite your asinine behavior?”

“Both.”

“Well, then.” Aaron turned away and began closing the drawers. “I’ll have your clothes clean and waiting for you on your desk tomorrow. Braven will have my resignation on hers.”

“No, she won’t.”

Tony’s hand dropped down onto his shoulder. He shook it off.

“I’m sorry I did those things as part of my stupid trick, but I’m not sorry I did them,” Tony said. “And I’m not sorry we’re partners. And I’m not sorry for this.” Tony dropped to his knees. Before Aaron could react, his face was cupped in Tony’s hands. Tony covered his mouth, kissing him deeply. His scent, his taste, the nearness of his heartbeat, they all overwhelmed Aaron’s thoughts, stirred inside him the dark thing who had so recently been put to bed. Carried on a wave of animalistic desire, Aaron opened his mouth to Tony. A moment later the wave crashed, and human logic hit. Aaron pulled away.

“I’ve gotta go,” he said. “I can’t do this. Not with you. Not after all of this.”

“Don’t go,” Tony said.

“What right do you have to ask that of me?”

“None.” Tony spread his hands in a pleading gesture. “But I didn’t mean…”

“Your intent doesn’t matter.” Aaron stood to loom over Tony, who cleverly remained kneeling, penitent and subservient, at his feet. It pleased the wolf. The human, however, was far less easily swayed. “You hurt me, whether you wanted to or not. You made me feel good about my job and myself for the first time in a long while. Maybe that’s my fault for letting someone I met six hours ago have that kind of influence over my happiness… Of course it is. But, I’m not going to let that happen again. I understand you’re sorry, and I accept it. And I’m going home.”

“You don’t have your car.” Tony tried one last angle. “Let me drive you, at least.”

“I’ll catch a cab.”

Tony made a helpless sound and shrugged, clearly out of tactics. The gesture lifted his pecs, heightened the definition of his shoulders and tightened his sculptural abs. The patch of skin Aaron had doctored earlier shined pink and new—a swipe of imperfection that merely accentuated the divinity of form around it. A ragged breath escaped Aaron’s throat. His gut twisted like an invisible fishing line had secured around it. It tugged with an almost violent desire. With a force of will that depleted his remaining strength, Aaron turned to the stairs. He clattered down the treads two at a time, lest his weakness land him in trouble yet again.

Chapter Nine

Dredging up the Past

Even through the cloying ‘Sunshine Rain’ scent of his detergent, Tony’s aroma screamed at Aaron. The richness of musk and man swirled through his head like an exotic dancer, teasing, promising, inviting. A deep chill pervaded the air, and Aaron set off for home, determined to let the cold and exhaustion work out his frustrations. He made it just three blocks without his shoes before he pulled his cell out of his waistband and resignedly called a cab.

The driver’s mass spilled over the front seat across the armrest. His eyes, constantly flicking up to the rear-view to observe Aaron, were vacant and unsettling. The monster inside him labeled the man a predator, but not the sort he was used to dealing with. Aaron made a mental note of the driver’s posted information and jammed himself as far into the corner of the back seat and door as possible and let the scenery tick by.

“Belle Woods, that’s the new apartments out there on Backfin Road?” the driver asked.

Aaron nodded.

The dark thing snarled.

A few minutes later the cab pulled up into the apartment complex. Aaron motioned for him to stop in front of the clubhouse. He did not want this man knowing where he lived. He passed a twenty up to the driver and climbed out. He hesitated a moment, then swung back to the car. The driver rolled the window down, his expression as blank as before. Aaron relaxed just enough for his alter ego to scrabble for control. He directed its power, felt the shift in his vision. The driver’s sudden slacked jaw and smell of terror confirmed they had turned wolfish, deadly.

“Whatever it is you’re doing, or planning on doing, you should stop.” Aaron leaned closer, sucking air into his nose with a loud sniff. “I can smell the evil on you. It’s a distinct odor, one I won’t have any trouble at all tracking should the need arise.” He channeled Tony’s easy grin as he pulled away from the window and gave the vinyl a slap. “You have a good night, now.”

The driver, pale and sweaty, peeled out of the parking lot and sped away.

The encounter left the dark thing unsettled. As he made his way along the labyrinth of sidewalks, Aaron’s senses slammed into overdrive. Each scent that drifted to him was that of another predator, each rustle of shrubbery and elongated shadow an ambush. His childhood dog used to snap at leaves borne on the wind, whipping this way and that to snatch the threatening objects out of the air, never gaining hold of one because another fluttering object caught his attention mid-attack. This was how the monster in him now reacted, racing in metaphorical circles, gnashing teeth at every imagined aggressor. By the time Aaron reached his door, his heart was racing. Overcome by the multitude of alarms wailing in his brain he pushed into the bathroom and slammed the door behind him. His hands were shaking. Letting the dark thing rise so soon after a full shift had been a bad idea. It knew he was tired and his focus shattered. And it was wide awake.

Right after he was bitten the creature would fight him for control, try to gain dominance in their relationship. Unlike Carlos and his weres, Aaron was not the wolf. It wasn’t simply a facet of him, nor he a facet of it. The thing living inside him was entirely independent and viewed him and his body as nothing more than a defiant member of its pack who did not know its hierarchical place. All of these attempts at subjugation made Aaron frantic and added to his erratic behavior, which was already in overdrive from the PTSD. Carlos had helped, taught him ways to turn back the rising tide of panic and prevent it from gaining control.

Aaron snapped open the shower curtain and turned the cold water on full blast. The spray splattered against the fiberglass in a familiar rhythmic tattoo. He sat down, side pressed against the tub. A fine, cool mist tickled his face. He leaned his head against the side and let the noise drown out all external sounds. It soothed him, denied the hungry beast the adrenaline it thrived on. Deprived of mental and physical stimulation, the dark thing soon subsided. Overwhelmed with exhaustion, Aaron leaned back against the tub and closed his eyes.

* * * *

Aaron awakened to the sound of soft laughter.

“Left you tied up there too long?” Tony stood over him, his shirtless torso gleaming with sweat.

Confused, Aaron blinked away the sleepiness. His hands tingled from the restraints and his arms ached from their awkward slant. The massive tub chilled his back. He rattled the restraints against the pipe. They held fast. His mind churned with the slowness of first awakening. He was home, wasn’t he? Hadn’t he already been chained up? Hadn’t he already escaped and saved Tony from Qi?

“That demon put up a helluva fight,” Tony said, as if reading his thoughts. “I got him subdued, though. Got the information we needed.” He knelt beside Aaron, his crystalline eyes sparkling. He held out a bloody knife. Its handle declared ‘www.KapreSecureNation.com’ in tacky trade show font. “Then I put this in his brain.”

Aaron stared. This wasn’t right. It didn’t happen this way.

“Come on, don’t be mad,” Tony said, sidling up against him. He pressed his lips to Aaron’s neck. “I only restrained you to keep you out of the way. You know Qi couldn’t see you like this. It was his birthday, after all.”

Aaron looked down. His entire body was covered in wolfish fur. Through the riot of horrified confusion in his head he managed, “No, I guess I’m not dressed right.”

“That’s more like it.” Tony smiled and cupped his face in his hands. “Let’s get you taken care of, hoss.”

Hoss?

Tony’s mouth came down on his with brutal force, his teeth crushing Aaron’s lips. Blood trickled into Aaron’s mouth. The wolf howled for more, and he shuddered.

“Are you cold?” Tony pulled away. “Let’s get you into the tub. It’ll be full in just a sec.”

Tony reached over and unclasped the restraints. Aaron’s arms fell dead in his lap. Tony ran his hands down Aaron’s furred extremities, stroking circulation back into them. His fingers screamed with tingling pain, but he didn’t mind as long as Tony continued running his hands along them. His cock jumped to life at the thought of those caressing hands wandering elsewhere. Panic filled him. What if he was still a wolf…down there? Aaron squirmed, wanted to run and hide, but there was nowhere to retreat. Tony had him pinned against the side of the massive tub.

“Let’s get this off of you.” Tony kissed him again, then began snatching away chunks of his fur.

Aaron cried out in anticipatory agony, but his wolfish coat fell away in painless tufts, leaving behind bare, undamaged skin. Tony grinned with delight. He leaned in and ran his tongue along Aaron’s chest. He teased his nipples with his teeth, then dropped his head and kissed a trail from his sternum to belly button. Tony dipped lower and Aaron thrust his hips to meet Tony’s open mouth. He groaned as Tony covered the head of his engorged cock and suckled gently. Tony pulled away and licked the base a few teasing times, then ran his tongue up the shaft in long, slow strokes. Aaron threw back his head. His hair trailed in the metallic smelling water sloshing against the edge. Tony pulled at the tip with firm, sure pressure as his tongue teased the ridge. Aaron let his head fall to the side as he gave in to the pleasure. His unfocused vision caught a burst of color in the otherwise stark white room, but then Tony was running his mouth along the entirety of his shaft and he drifted away on a new wave of ecstasy.

Tony found his sac and cradled it gently, squeezing lightly as Tony took all of his cock into his throat. Tony pulled back, suctioning with his full lips closed tightly around his shaft, then plunged down again, taking him deep into his throat. Aaron moaned. Tony moved faster, pulling and sucking.

An intense pressure built just beneath his head. Aaron’s shaft spasmed. He flung back his grasping hands, seeking support as his cum shot into Tony’s waiting mouth and the orgasm shuddered through his body with driving pleasure. His flailing hands hit the water. It splashed across the floor. A few drops spattered along Tony’s back. They were red.

“Tony?”

Tony continued working at his still shuddering organ. The sensation was quickly fading to something bordering on pain.

He grabbed Tony’s shoulder. His hand was covered in viscous red. With a startled shout, he looked back. The tub brimmed with blood. The heads of his former colleagues bobbed on its surface. They bumped around, knocked loudly against the sides. He screamed. Tony consolingly lapped his dick.

“Tony!”

He looked down to see the black wolf sitting between his knees, licking red from its muzzle.

Aaron awakened, screaming and clawing at the air. His feet, acting on his brain’s instinctive commands, scrabbled against the damp tiles in an effort to flee, but his trembling legs would not let him stand. The screams came from his throat in short, desperate bursts. The scent of the wolf lingered in his nose. The knocking of the heads in the tub continued, grew in volume until they crashed like splintering wood.

“Aaron!” a voice that was not Tony’s cried out.

The floor shook with advancing footsteps. Aaron tried to muffle his screams with his fist. A man burst through the door, slid on the film of overspray from the shower, and fell, sprawling on the tiles next to Aaron.

“Mi hombre, it’s me. It’s me,” the man said as he wrangled his long limbs under him.

The words scratched the surface of his hysteria enough for Aaron to realize he was curled on the bathroom floor in the middle of a hysterical fit. Carlos was now on his knees, leaning protectively over him, his dark curls sticking to his forehead and stubbly cheeks, performing his practiced search of Aaron’s face for signs of lucidity. For a moment Aaron thought he was still asleep, that this was some new and torturous aspect of the dream, but then came the other voice.

“Is he okay?” Matthew, the Trinity Clan’s second-in-command asked from the doorway.

Tall and fit, with slicked blond hair and pale blue eyes, he was the negative mirror to Carlos in every physical way, the white chess king to the black. As Matthew watched Carlos cradle Aaron, Aaron’s tormented mind wrenched into overdrive. He smelled the truth of the matter on the man even before he saw Carlos’ expression soften slightly when he returned the glance. He knew it before the words came out of Carlos’ mouth.