Emerging from the safety of his room, Derek glanced up and down the hallway. It was late, and he could neither see nor hear anyone moving or talking in the other rooms. There were bound to still be people awake in other parts of the factory, but it seemed the living quarters were quiet. Making sure the coast was definitely clear, he grabbed the bundle of clothes and a towel before slipping quietly into the hallway.

He had managed to avoid being in the same room as Sean for two full days. It wasn’t necessarily a difficult endeavor, since Sean was constantly on the move as he went about his business. The trick had been trying to do it without looking obvious. The last thing he needed was for someone to see him acting oddly and putting the pieces together. He wasn’t quite prepared to deal with anyone knowing what had happened between him and Sean.

It would have been all too easy for Sean to hunt him down or summon him. Derek knew full well his own politeness and obligation to help the pack would force him to answer any summons from the Alpha. He was thankful Sean was either respecting Derek’s desire for distance, or he was left thinking about what had transpired between them, too. Derek didn’t want to know what Sean might say if they ended up in the same room however, and he’d expended plenty of effort avoiding him.

He made his way to the communal shower room. It wasn’t his first time there, though it was the first time he’d had it to himself. Like the sept, the City Wolves weren’t particularly prudish when it came to nudity. It wasn’t unusual to see two or more werewolves bathing in the large stall, using one of the showerheads built into the wall. Save for the fact that it was a shower, it wasn’t very different from bathing in the sept. The only difference in the sept was that you bathed in the river for the most part, though there were tubs in their homes to use during the winter.

When he jumped at the sound of something in the hallway, he chided himself softly. “Quit twitching at every little noise Derek. You’re acting like he’s going to pop out from around a corner and hold you down. Just breathe.”

It was foolish, he knew that, acting like an awkward teenager trying to avoid making eye contact with his first crush. Kissing the very same man who had done nothing but make his time here unpleasant just wasn’t something he was ready to face. It would have been simpler if Sean had been upset by it, or had even tried to act as if it hadn’t happened. Derek could still picture the dazed but happy expression on Sean’s face. The memory served to strengthen his resolve to get his head on straight before talking to Sean again, and it also aroused him slightly.

Growling at himself in annoyance, he yanked his clothes off, piling them up on one of the benches. He walked around the half-wall that separated the stall from the changing area, choosing a showerhead that would give him a view of the hallway. It took a few moments to get the water to the proper temperature. When he’d first come here, it had been difficult adjusting to having ready access to hot water. Even during the winter months, werewolves in the sept rarely heated their bath water above tepid. He had spent his first few showers trying to bathe in cooler water, watching with fascination as the others in the shower bathed in hot water.

When the warm water hit his skin, he sighed slightly, dipping his head under the spray. He was finding he actually enjoyed having water that didn’t threaten to freeze your skin every time you submerged yourself in it. It certainly was a lot better for relaxing him than the ice-cold showers he’d had in the past. As the water beat down on his muscles, he groaned faintly, letting it warm his head and shoulders.

“Oh baby, make love to that water,” Sean’s smart ass voice quipped.

Derek jerked his head up and around, wiping water out of his eyes. “Sean? Good Gaia, you scared me!”

Sean was leaning against the doorway with a smirk. “Yeah, could see that for myself.”

Derek glanced down at himself, more aware of his nakedness than he’d ever been before. “What are you doing in here?”

“Well, it is the only place to bathe around here,” Sean said.

Derek fought the urge to cover himself as he squinted at the Alpha. “You don’t have a change of clothes or a towel.”

Sean shrugged. “Fine, I didn’t come here to bathe. No one else around here but me takes a shower in the middle of the night. I heard the shower when I was doing my last rounds before bed, and I got curious. Didn’t expect it to be you.”

Derek shifted uncomfortably. “What? I bathe.”

“Yeah, but you’ve been doing everything you can to avoid being anywhere I might be. I guess I should have suspected it would be you since it is the middle of the night,” Sean snorted.

Derek winced. “I haven’t been, okay perhaps I have been avoiding you. I can’t say I left our last…discussion in a way I would have preferred.”

Sean rolled his eyes. “Stop twisting and turning all over the place. You’re tall, but you’re not tall enough that I can see anything over the wall. Your goody bits are still innocent and pure from my prying eyes.”

Derek stopped, not realizing he’d been doing it subconsciously. “I…sorry.”

“Stop apologizing for God’s sake. Is that how you treat kissing and sex out in the sept? It’s amazing you guys have kids at all if that’s the case,” Sean said with another shake of his head.

Derek was glad the room was dimly lit, so it would hide the blush that crept across his face. “No, the sept isn’t awkward about kissing or…sex, which for the record we weren’t having.”

“Yeah, because that monster against my stomach told me you didn’t want to have sex or anything,” Sean quipped.

“I just feel it was an inappropriate action on my part. I felt uncomfortable having pushed the boundaries and thought it was better that I make a speedy exit,” Derek explained, scrambling to maintain his self-control.

“Might be inappropriate by your sept’s standards, but you didn’t push anything. If I didn’t want it, I wouldn’t have kissed you back immediately,” Sean said.

Confused, Derek gestured to Sean. “Why though? You obviously can’t stand me, and you barely tolerate my presence. If it weren’t for my having been assigned here, you wouldn’t have allowed me to stay here at all.”

Sean shrugged. “I don’t have to like someone to want to sleep with them.”

“That certainly alleviates any concerns I might have had,” Derek said dryly.

Sean laughed. “Okay, would it make you feel better if I said that maybe it’s been fun riling you up?”

“Also not helping,” Derek replied.

Sean stepped away from the doorway. “I wasn’t kidding when I said all of that in the room the other day. You take everything that’s thrown at you and put that stupid polite smile on your face. You let me walk all over you, abuse you and call you everything under the sun, all that without saying hardly a thing against me. The other day, I thought you were going to hit me, that you were finally going to stand up for yourself.”

“But I didn’t,” Derek said, unable to help the sigh that escaped his lips.

“But you did fight back in your own way, even managed to take me by surprise, which is nice,” Sean said as he stepped closer.

Derek’s attention focused on him. “What are you doing?”

Sean kicked his shoes off, bending to remove his socks. “I’m going to shower.”

Derek’s heart began to race. “You still don’t have clothes or a towel.”

Sean tugged his shirt off, pulling at his pants as he approached the half-wall of the stall. “Okay, you caught me. What I’m going to do is get in the shower with you and see what you’ll let me get away with while I’m naked and wet.”

Panic was slipping into Derek’s thoughts even as he felt himself starting to get hard. “I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”

Sean was naked, his lower body hidden by the wall as he leaned on it. “And why’s that?”

Derek’s eyes traveled the lines of muscle in Sean’s shoulders. “Because it’s not something we should be doing. I’m here as a representative of the sept, and you’re the Alpha of this pack, it wouldn’t be right. That and we can barely stand one another.”

Sean shrugged. “I think we’ve already established that I don’t give a fuck about propriety. And if you pinning me against a wall to make out with me is any indication, you’re not really too big on it either. But as for not being able to stand one another, eh, I’m sure we can find a way around that. Doesn’t look like part of you thinks it’s a bad idea either.”

The more Sean spoke, the harder Derek’s cock was getting. He still felt like it was a terrible idea, and invited all sorts of trouble. The truth was, anticipation and eagerness was filling him as Sean rounded the half-wall to step into the large stall with him. His gaze roved over the sight of Sean’s naked body, his heart thudding in his chest. The Alpha was solidly built for a man his height, his body tight with well-defined muscle. Water beaded on his chest and his toned stomach as he confidently approached Derek.

“That doesn’t make it a good idea,” Derek insisted one last time.

“Tell me no then,” Sean said, gazing up at Derek.

“Would you believe me if I said I haven’t done anything like this before?” Derek asked weakly.

Sean cocked a brow. “I would call bullshit on that. There’s no way someone who was bold enough to grab hold of and kiss me like you did the other day, has not gotten laid at some point.”

Derek sighed. “I do want it, it’s just a bad idea.”

Sean advanced, nudging Derek until his back was against the shower wall. “Your honesty is refreshing, but your moral compass needs some tweaking. Tell you what, we have a bit of fun, and you tell me afterward if it’s really such a bad idea.”

With Sean pressed up against him, it was difficult for Derek to think of any reason it was a bad idea. His breath hissed when he felt Sean’s hand wrap around the shaft of his cock, stroking gently. He sank back against the cool tile behind him, pushing his hips forward into the Alpha’s grip. Sean’s smile widened as he ran his fingers skillfully over the sensitive head, curling his fingers into a grip once more and resuming his strokes.

“Now, kiss me again,” Sean told him.

Derek obeyed, using one hand to pull Sean’s mouth up toward his. Their lips met with the same heat as they’d had a couple days before. Sean’s hand never released its grip on Derek’s cock, stroking him between their pressed bodies. Derek moaned, opening their mouths and letting his tongue run along Sean’s. He twisted them around, pushing Sean against the wall and kissing him harder. Sean’s body pushed back against his, grinding his own cock against Derek’s thigh and whimpering. The sound drove deep into Derek’s core, drawing a growl out of him as he thrust into Sean’s grip.

“Pushy,” Sean commented against Derek’s lips.

“Something I think you like,” Derek told him.

Sean chuckled, releasing his grip on Derek’s cock and sliding his back down the wall until he was kneeling down. Derek, a little surprised, backed up to give the Alpha space. Sean reached up with one hand to stop Derek getting too far away, the other hand held the base of Derek’s cock. Sean’s eyes flicked from Derek’s cock then up to his lips, eagerness filled his face. Derek knew what was about to happen, and he found he no longer wanted to stop him. The cocky, demanding alpha had been replaced by the Sean who seemed to crave being pinned to a wall and kissed hard. Sean looked incredibly erotic knelt before him, Derek’s cock less than an inch from his lips.

He expected a clever quip or a comment from Sean, but the Alpha only leaned forward to wrap his lips around Derek’s cock. Derek eased forward, resting his arms on the wall as he watched. He groaned when he felt his cock hit the back of Sean’s throat and then slip deeper. The man’s muscles squeezed the sensitive head as Sean inched his way forward, obviously determined to swallow it all. Derek hadn’t had many partners in the past, but none of them had made it as far as Sean had. When the last of his cock disappeared into the Alpha’s mouth, Derek shuddered and let out a faint moan.

Sean eased back, nursing on the head and running his fingers along the shaft. Derek’s hips jerked forward, trying to get Sean to repeat the previous motion. The man smirked, but obeyed the silent command, sliding his mouth forward once more. Derek groaned, fighting to hold himself up as he continued to watch. From this angle, he could see everything save for the expression on Sean’s face. If the happy hums that rumbled deliciously up and down the length of his cock were any indication, Derek guessed Sean was enjoying himself just as much.

He watched as the Alpha used his free hand to begin jerking his own cock. The hand that had been around Derek’s cock pulled Derek’s hips forward, inviting him to move. Without hesitation, Derek pulled his cock almost completely free of Sean’s mouth, before again pushing forward. It was a wholly different experience, watching his cock disappear into the man’s mouth through his own movements. His lip caught between his teeth, Derek eased himself back and forth, trying to keep himself in control.

His head swam as the grip of Sean’s throat and the slide of his tongue over the head, drew mounting waves of pleasure from him. He could barely keep himself from driving forward, he was fighting to keep himself to what felt like a safe pace. There was no fighting the building ecstasy within him however. It felt like it had been ages since someone had touched him, and Gaia help him, no one had ever felt like they wanted him as much as Sean seemed to want him in that moment. The two of them could barely stand one another, but damned if Sean wasn’t showing more enjoyment from the act of having Derek’s cock in his mouth than anyone in the past had from merely kissing him.

“Sean,” he said, feeling the pressure within him building to the point of no return and trying to warn the Alpha.

Sean’s efforts doubled at Derek’s warning. He pushed himself into Derek’s thrusts, pulling back to repeat the process. Derek panted, wishing he could maintain the erotic plateau, to make the moment last longer. It was a losing battle and he felt the muscles coiling up in his body right before his release came. Mindful that they weren’t very far from where someone could hear him, he bit back his cry and it turned into a low, rumbling groan. He slumped against the wall as he poured himself into Sean’s throat, gasping for air as the pleasure crashed through him.

When his head cleared, he was barely holding himself upright using the wall for support. Sean had pulled himself off Derek’s cock, leaning himself against the wall and grinning up at Derek. His half-hard cock was against his thigh, the evidence of his own orgasm evident against his leg as he knelt there.

“That,” Derek began, trying to find the right words to describe what had just happened.

“Don’t think too hard about it, you might hurt yourself,” Sean told him as he slid out from in front of Derek to stand up.

“I don’t believe I could think too much right now even if I wanted to,” Derek admitted breathlessly.

Sean snickered. “It’s nice to see I’ve still got it. Thanks for the shower Derek.”

He watched the Alpha pad out of the stall, grabbing his clothes and strolling naked into the hallway. It took Derek several minutes to recover himself, and finish his shower. When he left, he made sure to dress himself, unlike Sean. It was still quiet when he entered the hallway and he made it to his room without incident.

Flopping onto his bed gracelessly, he felt a strong sense of lethargy wash over him as he lay there. He still wasn’t sure that what had happened was a good idea. It didn’t seem to bother Sean very much, it even seemed to please him.

“And he’s not even the one who had the most fun,” Derek told the empty room.

As he drifted off to sleep, he remembered the content expression on the Alpha’s face after Derek had gotten off, and he faintly wondered if maybe Sean had enjoyed it more than he’d thought.