When he first woke up, Abraham had no idea where he was.

This wasn’t an unusual thing for him. A person who constantly moved from one temporary location to another was bound to have a hard time keeping things straight after a certain point.

Opening his eyes, feeling groggy, he peered around in the darkness. His storage room bedroom at Terry’s? No. It was a small enough room for that but not cluttered. And he had been kicked out of there anyway. So, where…?

Memories came flooding back to him. Agreeing to stay with Thunder. Somehow getting into a very deep conversation. Kissing him. It seemed that he could still feel the pressure of that kiss on his lips even now, a phantom of sensation. And then, all the other things that had followed.

“Good morning,” a very deep, rough voice said to his back.

Abraham rolled over. At least, he tried to. He couldn’t quite manage it, since there were two strong arms wrapped around him. Rather than feeling pinned down, the arms around him felt quite nice and he gave up in his efforts to roll over so he could press himself more comfortably back against Thunder. Their bodies lined up so perfectly now they had everything figured out, his ass tucked into Thunder’s lap, the top of his head fitting under his chin. It was like being cradled by a pillow that conformed to the exact shape of his body.

“Good morning,” Abraham whispered back. He felt something hard press between his ass cheeks and shivered a little, knowing exactly what it was. After what had happened last night, there was only one logical place to go from there. “How did you sleep?”

“Like a fucking log,” Thunder groaned. He tightened his arms around Abraham and tucked his face down into his hair.

Normally, Abraham hated anyone seeing or talking to him in the morning before he’d had a chance to get himself together, fix his hair, put on the clothes of the tough persona he wore. Right now, feeling Thunder’s hot breath stir the wayward strands of hair on top of his head felt like the most perfect thing ever. The pit of his stomach was full of burning tingles.

“I didn’t set an alarm last night,” Thunder said. “I just got in bed. Which means I’ve overslept.”

Something like a pang of fear went through Abraham. “Do you have to go somewhere?”

I don’t want to be here all alone. I want to spend some more time with you.

“Mmm, not really. I only have work to do.” Thunder sighed. “I was going to finish up the final draft of that design. Maybe go to the beach to do it, since it’s supposed to be a nice day today. You could come with me.”

Abraham’s heart skipped a beat at the invitation. Maybe it was just the fact that it was too soon after he’d woken up and he didn’t have his shit together yet. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he’d given Thunder a hand job last night, had been closer to him than ever before.

Or maybe, just maybe, it was the fact that he was finally living out one of the many daydreams he’d had when he was 16, back when spending time with Thunder like this was unattainable.

Either way, he didn’t want to go anywhere. He wanted to stay with the other man, right by his side, at least for a little while.

“Problem is,” Thunder continued, “I don’t feel like getting out of bed just yet.”

Abraham lightly pressed his ass back against Thunder’s erection, causing the alpha to tremble and give a muted groan. “Then, don’t go anywhere. Stay.”

Thunder growled softly and pressed his face to the top of Abraham’s head. He growled again and kissed his hair, then opened his mouth and let Abraham feel his teeth. He pretended to bite, then slid his lips down through Abraham’s hair to his ear. He tugged on the lobe, scraping his teeth against it, causing more burning embers to ignite inside him.

“If you keep doing that,” Thunder whispered, “I won’t be able to keep from pouncing on you.”

“Maybe that’s what I want,” Abraham whispered back.

There was no maybe about it. Being with Thunder, causing such lust in him, made him feel powerful and alive. There was nothing weak about it at all. He didn’t have to pretend. He could be what he was with Thunder and that was all there was to it.

“Is that what you want?”

In answer, Abraham pressed his ass back even more firmly against Thunder’s cock. Thunder groaned louder than before, this time shoving back. The force of his movement was enough to shift Abraham’s whole body and he trembled, then rolled over. The arms around him relaxed, and he slid free of them to lay on his stomach. Rising up on his hands and knees, he pushed away the clothes he was still wearing. Then, like a wolf presenting itself for claiming, he lifted his ass up in the air.

His insides quaked with excitement as he took the position that felt so right. Even though he was submitting, it felt good. He knew he would be equal to Thunder, that he wouldn’t be taken advantage of. Maybe this was what it was all about.

Then, he stopped thinking about anything at all as Thunder crawled over the bed to him, sliding his hand from his shoulder, down his back, curving all the way up to one ass cheek. He squeezed, just barely, and the press of his fingers seemed to resonate deep inside Abraham in a place he hadn’t even really known he had. There was a burning there, a tingle which couldn’t really be described as such because it was far more than that.

Abraham wiggled his ass, then pushed himself harder against Thunder’s hand.

Thunder held his ass in both hands now, his fingers pressing, roaming, exploring. “Very nice,” Thunder whispered. “Very, very nice. All mine.”

Everywhere the other man touched or pressed caused that burning place inside him to flare in intensity. Abraham’s own dick throbbed for release at this point and he pressed his thighs together slightly.

Thunder slid his hands down to Abraham’s legs and gently pulled them back into the position they were in before. One hand went back to Abraham’s ass, while the fingers of the other went roaming, exploring. Two of them slid up and down between his ass cheeks, then slid deeper within.

Abraham trembled and gripped the mattress with both hands as Thunder found his opening and played with it, sliding his fingertip around it, pressing in lightly before backing away and resuming with teasing, circular motions. He felt tight and loose all at once, a strange sensation he had never known before.

As Thunder teased him, rubbed him, Abraham felt his body start to move and he let it, rubbing his ass on Thunder’s fingers. They were making a fire between them and it was not just their bodies which were connecting, but their minds. Their thoughts slid together, a brush of fur on fur. Their bodies were men, but their minds were wolves, and they were tangling together, exploring, coming to know one another through touch alone.

Suddenly, something cold and wet slid against Abraham’s opening. He let out a startled gasp and bucked forward to try and escape, although he wasn’t ever going to get very far because there was a hand wrapped around his dick, stroking him from base to hilt, easing him back into the same position as before.

The hot press of Thunder’s body leaned over him. Breath hit against his ear. “Relax. It’s just lube.”

“It’s cold, you idiot,” Abraham growled, laughing a little.

“Is it? Then, let me warm it up for you.”

Thunder proceeded to do exactly that, rubbing his fingers against his opening until the lube was warm and had been spread all over. Then, he said, “Tell me how this feels.”

Before Abraham knew what was going to happen, one of Thunder’s fingers pushed against his opening. The pressure was exquisite and he gasped, tossing his head back.

The pressure didn’t stop. Thunder slipped his finger inside Abraham, pushing in a centimeter at a time until Abraham could feel the curve of his wrist on his ass.

Thunder’s other hand slid over his back, caressing his muscles. “Relax,” he murmured, his voice encouraging. “And it’ll feel better.”

It was difficult to relax when he was being invaded. That was what it felt like. Not because he didn’t want this. His body didn’t know what to do, what to feel about this foreign presence entering a place which had never been entered before.

“Relax,” Thunder coaxed. His hand kept sliding up and down, trailing over the curves of muscles, down the length of Abraham’s spine.

Abraham closed his eyes and forced himself to relax, focusing only on what Thunder was doing. Little by little, he managed to loosen his muscles. When he stopped clamping down on the finger inside him, the experience only got much better.

Gentle heat teased against his neck as Thunder leaned over him again to kiss him, and at the same time, Thunder started moving his finger around inside him, turning it in circles.

Feeling Thunder’s lubed finger moving around inside him was perhaps the strangest thing Abraham had ever experienced. And, one of the best. His body started moving of its own accord again, following the motions the other man made. Eyes closing, he started to rock back and forth slightly, wanting Thunder even deeper inside him, to touch against that intense place.

His groin felt tight, and his dick was as hard as stone. When he moved, the firm surface brushed against his own skin, and these ghosts of sensation were going to drive him crazy.

Thunder dropped his hand down. Abraham didn’t know where it went, was hardly aware of it leaving.

Then, Thunder started to remove his finger.

“No,” Abraham growled, clamping his muscles down on the digit to prevent it from leaving. Squeezing around the finger, feeling it press hard into his sensitive inner walls, caused a fierce surge of pleasure inside him. “Stay.”

“I’m coming back,” Thunder murmured. His deep voice was light, almost a purr. “Let go. It gets even better.”

Better than this? Abraham had no idea how anything could live up to such an assumption. Surely if anything felt better than this, the entire world would topple over, unbalanced. His entire world, anyway.

He wanted that. He wanted it so much.

With sheer effort and force of will, he stopped clenching his muscles and Thunder slid free.

The emptiness, the lack of being stretched which followed this separation, was almost enough to make Abraham cry out from disappointment.

Before he could give voice to any complaint, Thunder was back. The same, but different.

The lubed object pushing between his ass cheeks, pressing against his opening, sliding inside him, was not a finger.

“Oh,” Abraham gasped. The fire inside him surged up to almost unimaginable heights, until he thought his mind might break in two. He bucked back hard on Thunder’s cock, wanting to spear himself on it, to be impaled. It felt so good to be stretched and filled, to have Thunder’s firm-and-soft textures rubbing on him from the inside. It did hurt a little. He didn’t care. The pleasure was more than the pain and he went after it, shoving and writhing, thrusting backward.

Thunder moved against him, rotating his hips in a soft circle, grinding inside Abraham’s ass. “Fuck yes,” he groaned, sounding as if he spoke to the ceiling. “Fuck yes, take my cock. Take all of it. Come on. I know you can.”

As it turned out, he could.

They were hip-to-ass, joined into one. The tip of Thunder’s cock pushed against that place of fire deep, deep inside Abraham and it was as if this action caused both of them to lose control at once. Their minds slid together, their pleasure echoing back and forth between them.

Grabbing the mattress so hard that the covering tore, Abraham succumbed to the rhythm and shoved himself on Thunder’s cock.

And Thunder thrust inside him, following his rhythm effortlessly, grinding and fucking, stoking the flame higher and higher.

Their bodies moved faster.

The flames blazed out of control.

Abraham tossed his head back, feeling the flames about to devour him, knowing he was on the very edge of orgasm. That was when Thunder snuck his hand down and grabbed onto his dick and gave it a single, slow, firm caress all the way to the tip. Abraham’s orgasm followed the motion of Thunder’s hand, white-hot, and then it burst out of his control when Thunder reached his head.

His ass muscles clamped down, loosened, tightened again. He couldn’t control the spasms, had no say in what his body did anymore. He shook all over and if he was crying out, he had no idea. He was too lost inside himself to know anything that was happening on the outside.

Echoing heat inside his ass told him Thunder had also cum, and that was about the extent of his awareness.

At some point, the spasms dropped down into little quivering embers. Around that same time was when he collapsed on his face on the torn mattress, though he was hardly aware of it. His breath came in shuddering gasps. His heart pounded.

He felt so, so good.

As time passed, minutes or hours, he didn’t know, gradually he became aware of weight on his back. Thunder lay draped on top of him, breathing slowly. His body weight wasn’t uncomfortable, so Abraham kept his eyes closed and allowed himself to relax. Thunder’s cock was still inside his ass, and that felt nice, too.

Everything felt nice.

Could this be what he was meant to be? As much as he had tried to avoid this fate, had it found him anyway? It was difficult to remember why he had rebelled against this in the first place.

“Stop that,” Thunder murmured. He gulped for air between the two words, and Abraham heard his heart pounding, just like his own. In fact, if he wasn’t mistaken, their hearts beat to the same rhythm, even racing like this.

“What?” Abraham whispered back.

“Thinking so much.” Groaning, Thunder rolled over onto his side, taking Abraham with him. They ended up lying in bed in exactly the same position as before, no closer to getting up and facing the day than they had been at the start of this. “I can feel your thoughts.”

Cuddling himself back against Thunder, Abraham shrugged. “Just trying to figure some things out.”

“Well, don’t,” Thunder murmured. “Just let it be. Just let it exist for a little while before you start poking at it.”

That actually sounded like pretty solid advice. Abraham relaxed, letting his head loll back against Thunder’s shoulder.

They spent quite some time in that position, unmoving, catching their breath and letting the last remaining tingles from their orgasms fade away. Only when their heartbeats had settled into a more normal rhythm did Thunder finally stir again.

Even knowing this was coming, it was still disappointing.

“I really need to finish this project today,” Thunder said. “You want to come to the beach with me?”

“Can I cum at the beach with you?”

Thunder pressed a kiss against the back of his neck. “I’m sure that can be arranged.”

It was almost a little frightening how good it felt to be treated so gently.

“I’m going to shower,” Thunder said. More fleeting kisses, all over Abraham’s neck and head. “You can get a little more sleep if you want.”

“Can we do it together?”

For a moment, there was no reply. Something wavered in the air between them, nameless and small and very, very significant.

“Yeah,” Thunder said. “Yeah, we can. I need someone to help shave my back, anyway.”

“Ew.”

Thunder laughed, then slid out of bed. Abraham did the same, then reached out and caught the other man’s hand. They didn’t exactly need to hold hands on the way to the bathroom, as they were unlikely to get separated or lost. It just felt like the right thing to do. Judging by the way Thunder slid his fingers between Abraham’s, entwining them together, he felt the same.

Abraham followed Thunder to the bathroom. The alpha turned on the shower to get it warming up, then looked back at Abraham and reached out for him.

Abraham took his hand again and let himself be pulled into Thunder’s embrace. He wrapped his arms around the other man’s neck and tilted his head up to ask for a kiss. His request was granted. Their lips lingered together and they shared their breath between them until steam filtering up from behind the shower curtain told them it was ready.

“You first,” Thunder suggested.

Abraham wrinkled his nose. “No. You. I’m not going to be the guinea pig to test the water.”

Laughing, Thunder pulled open the curtain and stepped into the spray. Water coursed down his shoulders, droplets racing over his chest, down to his thighs. His muscles gleamed.

“See? The water’s fine. Now get in here.”

Abraham lingered for a moment or two, admiring the alpha’s muscles. Then, he stepped in. Thunder moved back to give him room, then shut the curtain, closing off the rest of the world so it was only the two of them, the water, and the steam.

Thunder’s shoulders shook as he reached for the soap. Abraham reached out for him, a little worried, and then he realized the other man was laughing and it just couldn’t be heard underneath the sound of the pounding spray.

“What’s so funny?”

“You just did that so you could look at my back, didn’t you?”

Abraham grinned, and Thunder laughed. “You’ll be pleased to know it’s not nearly as hairy back there as you might think.”

Thunder cupped his hands and caught some of the shower water, then tossed it at Abraham’s face. Abraham ducked, sputtering. “For someone who’s a wolf, isn’t it weird not to be excited by a little bit of extra hair?”

Abraham grabbed a shampoo bottle and whacked Thunder’s arm with it. The alpha pretended to grimace, then took the bottle and put it on a shelf behind him, out of Abraham’s reach.

“I’m more than just a wolf.”

Thunder’s pale eyes were very soft, nearly as transparent as the water falling down around them like rain. “You really are.”

Abraham gazed into his eyes, unable to look away for the longest time. He wanted to be looked at like this forever.

However, nothing could last forever. Thunder eventually moved, lathering up a loofah with soap. He reached out and started to wash Abraham, which was another new experience. There had been so many of those already today and they had only moved from the bedroom to the shower. The potential for so many other things to happen by the end of the day was staggering.

Abraham grabbed a bar of soap off the nearby shelf and slid it all over Thunder’s shoulder and chest and his decidedly not-hairy back, washing him as he was washed. At a certain point, they seemed to reach a unanimous decision to cast aside the objects preventing them from actually touching each other, and used their hands instead. Abraham closed his eyes and let his sense of touch have its moment here, gliding over muscles and joints, exploring what he found.

Thunder’s face was surprisingly soft, and his beard and moustache were silky. His shoulders were firm, his muscles curved, bulging like gentle mountain peaks. His elbows were rough. His nipples were velvety buds, and touching them caused the alpha to make soft sounds of pleasure.

Abraham was explored in a similar manner himself, and he was surprised and delighted to discover that this simple act of sliding hands could cause so much excitement. He had an erection almost the entire time, except he felt no real urgency to bring himself off. It was good enough to just feel good, and he had never known such a thing before.

They helped rinse each other off, occasionally switching positions so that one of them stood more under the spray than the other. Their bodies slid together, always touching somehow.

Thunder reached for the bottle of shampoo and squeezed a liberal amount into his palms. “Come here,” he said.

Abraham ducked under those grabbing hands, nearly slipping and falling. Remembering the last time he’d done such a thing, all alone in the bathroom with no one to care, he latched onto the first thing he touched, which happened to be Thunder.

Thunder reached out to help steady him, still with his hands covered in shampoo.

More carefully this time, Abraham slid out of reach. His ass pressed against the cold shower wall. He scowled at Thunder. “I’ll wash my own hair, thanks.”

Thunder looked both baffled and amused, a smile playing around the corners of his lips. “Explain to me why that crosses a line?”

“You’ll get soap in my eyes. And that’s way too much for me, and too much even for you.” Abraham took the bottle himself. “It’s almost like you don’t know how to wash hair.”

Thunder laughed. “Okay. So you do it. And me. Put that bottle down and take some of this that I’ve already got.”

Abraham slapped his hand into Thunder’s, lifting away a small amount of shampoo, which was all he needed for his own hair. He was very, very aware of Thunder watching him the entire time, and he felt self-conscious and also somehow liberated all at the same time.

When he was done with his own hair, he took more of the shampoo from Thunder, though that left the alpha with still quite a lot left over in his hands. “Turn around,” Abraham instructed. “And get rid of the rest of that. We don’t need it.”

Thunder let the shower spray wash the shampoo from his hands and obediently turned so that his back was to Abraham.

Abraham rubbed his hands together to spread the shampoo around, then got to work. He had never washed anyone else before, hair or otherwise, but touching Thunder like this felt so natural. He slid his fingers deeply into Thunder’s hair, working the shampoo from roots to ends. The shampoo turned into a thick lather in a matter of seconds. Abraham kept working it in, massaging Thunder’s scalp and the back of his neck.

The alpha relaxed deeply into his hands, occasionally making a deep, satisfied sound in the back of his throat.

“Rinse.”

Thunder rinsed his hair in water which was lukewarm at best, by now. Even though Abraham hated showers that were anything less than burning-hot, he found he didn’t mind the temperature. This was no ordinary shower, after all. He wasn’t doing this just to get clean.

They repeated the process again with conditioner, and Thunder rinsed once more. By that point, there really wasn’t anything left for them to do, so Thunder shut the water off and climbed out. He grabbed a towel from a convenient rack on the wall nearby; instead of using it for himself, he held it out wide open for Abraham. “Let me return the favor,” he said, very gently.

Abraham hesitated. With the shower turned off, cold air was invading the space behind the curtain. He shivered, but still hesitated. “Thunder?”

“Yeah?”

“Is it weak to be taken care of?”

“You pick the weirdest times to have conversations like this.” Thunder wrapped the towel around his own shoulders, then grabbed another. This time, he placed it around Abraham without asking and started to gently rub him dry. The towel was very soft and absorbent, making quick work of the job. Thunder still took his time, then lifted the towel up so it came over the top of Abraham’s head. Only then did he start speaking again, as if he’d been using the time until now to think of a response.

“Of course it’s not weak. In fact, I think real strength comes from knowing your limits.”

Thunder was as bad at drying hair as he was washing it. Abraham did his best not to wince.

Thunder’s eyes were still incredibly soft as he talked, like the warm shower had melted away the iciness in his gaze. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with liking something or being content. Fighting for change or going your own way is one thing, but you have to know what you’re aiming for, to recognize when you’ve gotten there. Otherwise, what’s the point?”

“What if you don’t know where you’re going?” Abraham whispered. His heart trembled inside his chest.

Thunder shrugged. “Then you keep your eyes open. When something looks like what you might want, you start there. But, it’s not a forward journey, you know. Lots of paths to take and not all of them lead straight. Does that make sense? If we all ended up in the same place, what would be the point? I think I’ve kind of gotten off track.”

“It’s okay. I like to hear you talk.”

Thunder placed his hands on Abraham’s towel-covered shoulders. Though the thick, fluffy fabric separated them, the touch was rather warm. “I think what I’m trying to say is strength comes from inside. It doesn’t matter if you live in the mountains and catch all your own food, or if you’re in a house in the ‘burbs with all that you need within walking distance. Doesn’t matter if you teach for a living or arrest bad guys. Doesn’t matter if you’re doing what everyone else does, or if it’s something never attempted before. If you like it, if you’re happy with it… That’s strength. And if you like being cared for? I like caring for you. So, if you think that’s weak, we’ll be weak together.”

When he’d asked the question, he hadn’t been expecting a speech in answer. He was glad that was what happened. There was a lot for him to think about, a lot to help him make decisions.

Thunder turned away and frowned at himself in the bathroom mirror. He had been drip-drying the entire time they talked, and now he pushed his fingers into his damp hair. “My hair has never been fuller and fluffier. I guess you’ll be washing it for me from now on.”

Abraham laughed, relieved at the change in pace. He wanted time to think about things on his own. “It won’t stay that way for long. We’re going to the beach, remember?”

“Vaguely. But I guess if we’re going to do that, we’d best get out there before too long. I don’t like to work in the dark.”

They got ready for the day together, sharing the bathroom, always touching or purposefully bumping into each other. Abraham relished in the touch of skin against skin, sending tingles lancing through him even though he’d orgasmed not all that long ago. It was like he couldn’t get enough, now that he could get it. After that, they headed out to the beach.

Pensacola Beach, to be specific. Named after the city in which it was located, of course, Pensacola Beach could be reached by way of a highway, which stretched across the water.

Abraham gazed down at the pure blue waters of Pensacola Bay outside the window of Thunder’s offensive yellow car. Ever since the talk they’d had back in the shower, his thoughts had been turning and turning inside his head, a cyclone of fragmented feelings.

If he did what he liked, he wasn’t weak. That was what Thunder said, and the way he said it made it seem as if it could actually be true.

He enjoyed stealing. He loved every part of it, from the search for marks, to the chase, to the execution of the act. The thrill it gave him never seemed to get old.

At the same time, there were these moments he had when he felt listless, tired of it all. He knew deep down inside that he couldn’t steal forever, that this wasn’t how he was going to live his life until its inevitable completion. He hoped to eventually branch off, to stumble across something else which would satisfy him in the same way without being quite so uncertain. Thievery was, after all, a temperamental profession.

Up until now, he had not seen any way to branch off.

Maybe he hadn’t been keeping his eyes open in the way Thunder said he should.

“You look like you’re thinking hard over there,” Thunder said.

They hadn’t moved much in the past couple of minutes. Traffic on this highway fluctuated often throughout the day and right now just so happened to be one of the times when it was busiest, clogged from end to end with vehicles all going to the same place. It was lunch time, and tourists were flocking to the beach in hopes of obtaining some fine cuisine, whether it was fresh seafood or some exotic concoction handed out the window of a food truck. Others, families in particular, might have coolers filled with a cold lunch and drinks, to enjoy a few hours before heading off again.

The lack of movement had been fine with Abraham up until now. Suddenly eager to get moving, he shifted to look at Thunder, who gazed back expectantly. His pale eyes were in sharp contrast to the deeper coloration of the ocean. Whereas the tide came and went, always wavering, Thunder’s gaze was steady.

“I think I’ve got a lot to think about,” Abraham said.

“Are you sure you want to come to the beach with me, then?”

Abraham scrunched up his nose. “I think it’s a little too late to back out now. I could jump off the bridge and swim to shore from here.”

“If you asked me to, I’d pull a 180 right here and now just to get you home.”

Home.

Thunder’s apartment wasn’t home without Thunder in it.

“I’d hate to be all cooped up inside. I like to be outside when I’m thinking.”

“That’s something we have in common.” Thunder turned his attention back to the road. “I think we’re starting to go a little faster. We’ll be there in no time.”

Inch by inch, the white sand of the beach drew closer. Pensacola Beach was located on a long strip of barrier island, along with many others. There were endless activities for a person to partake in, though there was nothing wrong with just sitting and taking in the view.

Before too long, they left the highway bridge and touched down on the beach. Thunder parked, and they both got out. The breeze was light and salty-sweet, the sun warm on the back of Abraham’s neck.

“Let’s go,” Thunder said, shutting the rear driver’s side door. He had his laptop bag in one hand and a beach blanket in the other.

“I’ll carry that,” Abraham said, reaching for the blanket.

However, Thunder was already walking on, heading in the direction of the beach. “I’ve got it. Thanks though, Abe.”

Abraham trailed along behind him, feeling a little disappointed and trying to fight it back. His hand felt empty without tingling contact to occupy it and he curled his fingers against his palm. If Thunder had let him carry something, that would leave them each with one hand free. They could be walking together right now.

At least we’re going to be here together for a while. That’s worth missing out on a chance to hold hands.

Thunder stepped off the concrete walkway and wove his way nimbly through the clusters of beachgoers and sunbathers, taking care not to kick sand at anyone. Abraham took no such measures, feeling satisfied whenever someone coughed and spluttered on a spray of grit he sent at them.

After a few minutes of walking, Thunder evidently found a place he liked. Setting his laptop bag down on the warm sand, he spread out the blanket. Though there were others nearby, they weren’t close enough to interfere with his work. A cluster of gentle sand dunes formed a wall at his back, while in front of them was the ocean, singing its endless rushing song as it slapped on the shore, receded, then came in again.

Thunder dropped down in the middle of the blanket, then leaned over to grab his bag. He undid the buckle and flipped the top over, then pulled out the device. Abraham hadn’t paid much attention to the computer before. It was a few years old by the looks of it, from a time when companies were trying to outdo each other with bigger screens. The surface was black, though scratched and smudged. It had seen better days.

It wouldn’t fetch much money.

Abraham’s stomach twisted as he realized what thought he’d just had. A thief thought.

“I hope you won’t be too bored,” Thunder said, sounding apologetic. His laptop came to life with a chiming bell sound, undercutting the deepness of his voice. “This shouldn’t take too long. Maybe half an hour to an hour. You can keep me company.” The broad man looked up, squinting a little at Abraham. “If you want to, that is.”

Abraham wanted to, very much, but he had never been one to sit around and let thoughts percolate. He shook his head. “If it’s okay with you, I think I’ll actually take a walk while you do your work. I’ll be back in like, 45 minutes.”

Thunder smiled. The laugh lines crinkled up at the corners of his eyes. He looked wise and dignified, causing Abraham to feel a rush of warmth head straight for his dick. “Going to do some thinking?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, when you come back, I’ll be happy to see you. I’ll be even happier if you bring ice cream. I’ll be finished with this by then and we can enjoy ourselves. Have a date.”

A date with Thunder. A real date, not one carefully scheduled so they would both be on their computers at the same time.

Abraham remembered those times with extreme clarity. He used to bring his dinner into his bedroom and turn off the lights, setting the atmosphere to something which resembled a romantic dinner. Knowing that, on the other side of the screen, Thunder was doing the same thing, gave him a sense of nearness, as if they were in the same room. They typed, discussing the day, what movies they had seen or were interested in, making vague plans for the future without ever setting a date or time for such events. The pauses between messages had been filled with eating, though sometimes Abraham got so long in talking that he neglected his food.

Good times, though nothing compared to the real thing. Just the thought of it made his insides tremble, and his groin tighten. It was like their online relationship had just been foreplay, and this was the climax.

“Sure,” Abraham said. He smiled wide, feeling his grin stretch nearly from one ear to the other. “I would love that.”

“Me, too.” Thunder leaned in and brushed their lips together in a teasing, tempting kiss. Abraham moved closer, letting out a frustrated little growl as Thunder backed away in response. If they had been alone, he would have pursued this until they were fucking again.

Unfortunately, they weren’t alone. Sighing, Abraham leaned back again and resolved to finish this later. “What kind of ice cream person are you?”

“You’re going to think I’m weird, but I’m a strawberry kind of guy.”

Abraham wrinkled his nose. “That is weird.”

“What can I say? I like what I like.” Thunder’s smile changed, growing somehow deeper and more meaningful. He lowered his gaze from Abraham’s face, letting it slide down his body and come to a rest at his groin, where there was a slight bulge.

Smirking, Abraham turned away to deny Thunder the view of his erection and walked off with his best, most casual saunter, pretending as if he didn’t feel on the verge of losing control. A soft chuckle followed him, as did an intense gaze, and then both things stopped as Thunder turned back to his work.

Abraham set off across the sand, heading up to the walkway, which was wooden in this area instead of concrete. With each step he took away from Thunder, he felt himself starting to change on the inside. He stopped thinking about the way the alpha had looked at him, or how his ass ached in a pleasant way from the sex they had. His senses expanded. Things became sharper, clearer around the edges. The salty tang of the sea was enough to burn his nostrils, tempered only by the odors of cooking food, suntan lotion, and other sweet chemicals. The sunlight reflecting off the white sand was nearly blinding. He could taste the dust in the air, kicked up by his own feet. Each voice which rang up in the air was distinct and unique. Children shrieked and parents yelled, and the men and women taking orders, preparing food, handing it out, raised their voices to be heard through the din. The din caused those having conversation to pick up their own sounds a little bit, which led others nearby to do the same in a greater quantity, and so on, a chain of noise which became a clashing symphony no one would ever have paid money to attend. It was like a room full of trumpet players, blatting their horns as they pleased.

Abraham had no problem whatsoever with the bombardment of stimulus. This was what he worked with so often, when he was out searching for a mark to steal from. It was no different from being a wolf and hunting in a forest, being aware of the smell of every green living thing along the way, the sounds of crickets and birds and other animals. His subconscious did most of the work for him. He observed. He waited, watched, listened, discarding information which did him no good, filing away the interesting things.

There was another thing he was doing, which he had worked at purposefully for a very long time before he was able to do it without thought. He was being inconspicuous.

A person in a crowd who was staring like a creep was always going to be noticed, whether or not the people passing him by were trying to pay attention. Something primal in the body registered a disturbance, that this was not correct. He was likely to raise suspicion, to put an end to his hunt before it even began.

To keep this from happening, Abraham wove. He blended in with the crowd as one of them. When there was a large group, he followed along with them, close enough that to outsiders he was just one of many, while staying far enough back that the members of the group didn’t realize they were being infringed upon. At other times, he wandered calmly along on his own, keeping his gaze moving, but not too much, because he wanted to prevent looking shifty. He surveyed the restaurants, the customers, occasionally stopping or walking too slow, or glancing at his phone. He wanted to avoid the illusion of purposefulness.

He was on the hunt for two reasons. The first being that his random thought while watching Thunder had awoken a desire inside him. A guilty desire, a need, to do some stealing.

The second was that he had promised to buy Thunder some ice cream, and he had no money to do so. Anything he wanted, he usually stole, or bought with money he had acquired through stealing. However, he didn’t have any money at all leftover from when he had to pay Damien back for the loan, and he couldn’t exactly steal ice cream. Not in a place like this, where the little carts and shops were in plain view of everyone else. What was he going to do, just waltz up behind the nearest ice cream man and start scooping some for himself?

No. He needed to steal.

I could just tell him I lost my wallet, he thought, even while he kept prowling around, doing his search. I could avoid all this.

The thing was, as much of a better solution as that would be, he didn’t want to do that. Thunder had given him so much already. A place to stay for a bit. Sex. A second chance. It was almost one-sided, as if Thunder was nurturing him, showing him the way despite the fact that he had had his own doubts and questions even before they met up. He wanted to do something in return to put them on equal footing, even if it was only fetching a disgusting strawberry ice cream cone for the man when he finished his work.

Besides that, it was difficult to ignore the thrill of the hunt, especially when there was an added challenge like right now.

He did not, as a rule, take money directly. People tended to notice missing money more than they did jewelry, or anything else of that sort. Rings dropped off, were forgotten on sinks after washing hands. Jewelry chains snapped. Sometimes people even just plain forgot what they had worn that day if anything.

But dollar bills were different. A person usually knew how much money they had, because they tended to have it for a specific purpose. They had $20 for lunch, or they kept $40 in their wallet in case of emergencies. They knew they had broken a bigger bill to buy hot dog buns for dinner, and should have about $17 left. Money was precise, kept in certain places which were closer to the body, like pockets and wallets, and was harder to lift.

Even more than that though, Abraham just kind of felt bad taking physical money. Losing a ring to a thief might ruin someone’s day, but it wouldn’t really. Jewelry could be replaced, for the most part.

But someone’s potential lunch or dinner money, leaving them to go hungry? That was beyond thievery. That was being an asshole.

I won’t take much, he promised himself while leaning back against the walkway railing, surveying the restaurants in front of him. A chef was preparing some sort of seared meat right on display, expertly shredding it and then tossing it into a bowl of sauce. Only enough for ice cream. Maybe I won’t get anything for myself. I’ll tell Thunder they were out of my favorite flavor.

That was actually a good plan. Thunder would feel sorry for him and share his own ice cream. Even though Abraham hated strawberry, he could amuse himself trying to touch his tongue to Thunder’s.

He continued on in the direction he’d been heading, then hesitated. He’d been at this for a little bit. He should start heading back if he wanted to get to Thunder when he said he would.

Maybe he’d go on just a little further, then double back if he didn’t find anything within a few minutes.

Abraham started off and had only been walking for about 10 seconds, long enough to move from one trash can to another, when a short, sharp burst of sound stopped him in his tracks.

“Psst!”

If the speaker had raised their voice like everyone else, Abraham probably wouldn’t have heard him. As it was, the quiet hiss slid beneath the cacophony and was quite clear.

He turned his head in the direction the hiss had come from, and there was Damien, looking distinctly out of place even though he wasn’t dressed outlandishly. The dangerous air lingering around him was enough to cause a disturbance, making other people avoid him.

“Damien!” he exclaimed. “What are you doing here? Are you okay? Were you… What’s been happening?” He stopped just short of asking the other man if he’d been shot. That would certainly bring them some unwanted attention.

For a man who had at least been shot at, Damien looked distinctly unperturbed. He flashed a grin which would have been handsome if not for his glimmering, glassy eyes. “Things have certainly been happening. Tell you about ‘em some other time. Where you been, Abe?”

“Where have you been?” Abraham shot back. “I haven’t gotten any texts or anything from you. Or anyone else.”

“I can explain myself,” Damien grunted. “Cops took my phone. They fucking smashed it to hell when they shot at me. I came at them with a knife. Can you believe it? You’d think they’ve never dealt with someone like me before. Like it was their first time seeing a knife.”

Only a week or two ago, this display of badassery would have caused Abraham to feel happy. Justified for the actions against the police. Satisfied. Large and in charge, really.

Right now, it just made his stomach twist to hear. While Damien had been trying to stab cops and was getting shot at, Abraham had been helped to get away by Thunder. That wasn’t how things should have been. His gang should have been first. He should have saved his friends instead of his own skin.

The silence had dragged on for a bit by this point. Abraham scrambled for something to say. “So, what, your phone stopped the bullet?”

“Sure as shit did. Can you believe that? But I guess they were worried it might still work and they could get something for it. They kept it as evidence.” Damien shrugged. “I went out and got myself a new iPhone from Walmart while the Electronics guy had his back turned. Nothing to it. As for the other guys, well, that’s part of the stuff that’s been happening. But enough about us. What about you, Abe? You know where the hangouts are. You could have come looking. The fact that you didn’t is… a little concerning. Maybe even a little telling.”

Abraham took a step back, his heart fluttering around in his chest. Damien’s glassy eyes had him pinned, like a dead butterfly hung up on the wall. He knew Damien was dangerous and admired him for it. However, he hadn’t ever really felt threatened until right now. Even when Damien pushed him, or punched one of the other guys, or brandished his knife at someone he didn’t like the look of, he had never felt in danger. He had assumed he was special. Damien picked him out, tested him, welcomed him into the family like a lost puppy. There had been nothing for him to fear from that person.

But this person, the one with the dangerous eyes, the hand in his pocket, was certainly someone to be afraid of. He made Abraham’s insides quiver, and not in the good way like Thunder did.

“I’m not with the cops or anything,” Abraham said. “No way. Never. You have to believe that, Damien.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then you’re fucking stupid,” Abraham snapped. It was a risky move, but he could feel the seconds counting down the longer he stood here talking to the leader of his gang. Thunder might come looking for him and see them together, and he didn’t want there to be any misunderstandings between them. “You think I have time for those pigs? No. I’ve just been laying low. Doing my own thing and keeping busy. I had to find a new place to stay and all.”

“The loan wasn’t enough? You need more money?” Damien switched easily from one topic to the other, like he was distracted. That wasn’t the case. He still had that calculating look on his face. He was in control of everything he was doing. Everything. Abraham wasn’t out of the woods yet.

“It was, but the guys I was staying with decided they didn’t want anything more to do with me. I got kicked out.”

“So, you need more money?”

He wants me to be in debt to him.

He hesitated, on the verge of saying no. This was a much easier way out of the predicament he was in, if he wanted to use it. “Actually, I was just trying to find some.” He kept his voice even, not wanting to draw the attention of anyone else around them. “I’ve got someone here with me and I was going to buy them ice cream. I forgot my wallet, though.”

Damien withdrew his hand from his pocket, thankfully bringing out a wallet instead of a knife. “I got you covered. Here. Keep the change. But don’t forget to pay me back. You never know when you’re going to need my help and I’ll have to remind you of this debt.”

The debt being referred to would only amount to $20, which was the amount of money being held out to him. Still, icy fear formed like an iceberg in his stomach. “You don’t have to worry about a thing,” he said.

“Good. And make sure you come by soon, before we forget who you are.”

“I will.” His heart fluttered even faster, like it was trying to escape.

Damien turned away without saying anything else and slid into the crowd. Abraham tried to follow his progress and could only manage it for a few seconds. The gang leader disappeared.

Abraham looked down at the handful of money, then shoved it into his pocket quickly and got to walking. His thoughts swirled to the beat of his walk. He had Thunder. He didn’t need the gang life anymore. He would repay Damien as soon as he could, then cut free, and that would be the end of that chapter of his life.

It isn’t going to be so easy, whispered some niggling little part of himself.

This situation with Thunder might not last. The alpha only had a temporary lease for the apartment, which was the exact opposite of stability. If this fell through, Abraham would be alone again. If he ended things with his gang, he’d really have no one to turn to.

If he stayed with the gang, Thunder wouldn’t approve.

I can keep it a secret. Just as insurance. Just in case.

He had no better ideas than that.

Pressing his lips together, he bought ice cream and then walked across the beach to Thunder’s blanket. As he approached the alpha, his heart started beating faster again. He wasn’t afraid this time, though. Thunder’s glossy hair was being tossed by the wind. His eyes were open as he watched the thin wisps of cloud pass by high above him in the sky, the blue reflected in his eyes. The structure of his facial features was like a sculpted thing, too perfect to be natural.

His dick tight and hard with admiration, Abraham hurried the last few steps to his side. “Here,” he said, a little breathless.

Thunder turned his eyes to him, and a little shiver of heat pulsed through his erection, from base to tip. “There you are,” Thunder purred. He held up one hand, accepting the dripping ice cream come. “I was starting to think I might have to come looking for you.”

It was a good thing that hadn’t happened.

Abraham sat down on the blanket at Thunder’s side, watching the alpha wolf slide his tongue around the outside of his ice cream cone, catching the trickles of sweet strawberry. He felt each lick resonate within his groin, like he was the one being tasted. “How long was I gone for?”

“A little over an hour.”

Abraham groaned. “I’m sorry. I kind of got caught up in something.”

Thunder smiled. His lips were pinker than they had been, chapped by cold, stained with strawberry. The urge to lick them was overwhelming and Abraham leaned in a little, hoping he would get the chance to do so. “That’s okay. You said you had some thinking to do. Nothing wrong with that. What flavor?”

Reminded that he had ice cream of his own, Abraham glanced at it. He was holding onto it so hard that his fingers were dimpling the napkins wrapped around the base of the cone, dimpling the sugary surface and threatening to break it. He relaxed his grip and took a long lick around the edge where cone met frozen treat, aware of Thunder’s gaze on him the entire time. “Blackberry fudge.”

“Blackberry and chocolate? Interesting. Can I?”

Abraham held out his ice cream so Thunder could have a taste. When he took it back, he made sure to put his mouth in exactly the same spot.

Thunder licked his lips. “I like mine better. Although, I like the way chocolate looks on you. Gives me some ideas.”

Abraham laughed. He felt color blush into his cheeks and he reached over to put his hand on Thunder’s thigh. The muscle there jumped beneath his touch. “You’ll have to share them when we get home.”

They leaned together as they enjoyed their ice cream, watching the ocean as seagulls sailed in and out of sight. A boat appeared in the distance, materializing from the horizon, and chugged steadily eastward. Children roamed onto the patch of beach in front of them, engaging in a game of Frisbee; none of them were any good and the game quickly ground to a halt.

Thunder crunched up his cone, while Abraham tore his into pieces and tried to feed them to the seagulls. For some reason, they wouldn’t come to him. Frustrated, he gave up and buried the handful under the sand. He heard chuckling and looked over, frowning at the other man’s amusement. “What’s so funny?”

“You and those birds. They’re such thieves and you couldn’t even get them to take something you gave up willingly.”

“I don’t know how you do it. They just gravitate to you.”

“Oh.” Thunder shrugged. “That. That’s always happened. Seagulls, squirrels, stray animals. Sometimes I get wild snakes wrapping themselves around my leg and they just kind of hang out. I think they know I’m an animal, too.”

“Well, so am I, and I’m even less of a threat than you are.”

Thunder laughed. “You think so? I think it’s the opposite, and the animals know it, too. They can tell you’re wild and feisty, and I’m just a big cuddly puppy. Looks don’t matter to them.” Reaching over, Thunder plucked a piece of sand-crusted ice cream cone from the ground and held it up. A seagull dove out of the air, a flash of black and white, and snatched the morsel from his fingers.

Abraham scowled.

“Next time, don’t stare at them. That makes them feel like prey because predators usually have forward-facing eyes. Look at ‘em sideways and they’ll be more comfortable.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Speaking of your mind,” Thunder said. He spoke softly. “Can I pick it for a second?”

“Okay?”

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. I was just curious about what’s got you thinking so hard. And did you figure anything out during your walk?”

He actually hadn’t, because he’d been caught up in an attempt at thievery, then he encountered Damien. There had been very little time for any actual thinking, so he came out with it. “Not really.”

“You want to talk about it?”

Abraham was quiet, looking out at the ocean. Here was another situation where Thunder knew so much and he knew so little. What did Thunder need from him when he already had all the answers for himself? Then again, Thunder had said that he had wanted to experience these things with him. Maybe this wasn’t a bad way for things to be.

“Sometimes, having another perspective can help,” Thunder encouraged. “Without yours, I don’t think I would be as relaxed as a person as I am. You gave me things to think about.”

“I guess that’s kind of the thing,” Abraham said. “Is the way you think, the only way to think?”

“Of course not. You can have your own opinions. It doesn’t make either of us wrong, as long as we aren’t insisting one of us is correct. If that makes any sense.”

“It does. So. Um.” He searched for some way of putting what was in his head out into the air. It was not as easy as it should have been. “What are you going to do now that you finished your job?”

“Well, I’m going to find another. I’ll look online, though I’m hoping to find a company here in Pensacola to do some designing for. I think I’d like to stick around for a bit.”

Abraham’s heart nearly jumped out of his mouth. “I would really, really love that.”

Thunder gazed back at him. “Me too. I’ve been getting tired of moving around. If I’m going to stay anywhere, I’d prefer it’s by your side.”

“What about you? Have you thought of a job you want?”

Although he was relieved that the conversation didn’t linger on such a serious topic, he had no idea what answer to give. “I…”

“What kind of things do you like? Tell the truth. I remember the things from before but they might have changed since then.”

“I like flowers,” Abraham whispered. “I like watching plants grow. I like putting things together. When plans work out exactly right. I like being outside. Moving around. Physical things.”

Thievery, his current occupation, and landscaping, his guilty-pleasure dream job, mingled uncomfortably in his mind.

Thunder considered this mishmash of sentences for a minute. “So, go apply at a florist’s or something.”

“Ugh.”

“I know it sounds kind of girly, but think of all the things you could learn. Or, hey! A nursery! One of the plant ones. They have all sorts of things. It’d be a very physical job.” Thunder spoke faster as he grew more excited. It was difficult for Abraham to listen to the words because all he wanted to do was watch Thunder’s face glow. “You’d learn so many things that you could use later on in gardening or landscaping. You don’t have to have the same job your entire life, you know. You could even join the Lawn and Garden department at a Walmart, and I bet you’d still learn a ton.”

“I wish it didn’t feel so… I don’t know.”

“Why not be yourself?” Thunder suggested. “Why not like what you like? It doesn’t seem all that girly or weak to me. I mean, what you like, is basically what farmers do for a living.”

I never thought about it that way.

“Do you think my drawing of you was too pretty? Feminine? Not something a man should be doing?”

“No!”

Of all the things Abraham owned, he cared about very few of them. He considered nothing irreplaceable, except for that drawing. He had made sure to take good care of it when bringing it with him from one apartment to the other.

“Well, landscaping is designing the earth. It’s a powerful thing. You shouldn’t second-guess it. You’d be helping people achieve their dream gardens. Brighten up their lawns, their houses, their lives. You’d be making them feel the way my drawing made you feel. Is that weak, insignificant?”

Abraham didn’t even need to answer and he knew it. He spoke anyway. “No. It isn’t.”

“Well, there you go. Do what you want. Don’t let anything hold you back.”

After that intense exchange, the conversation grew lighter again. They had a very nice time at the beach together, though there seemed to be a gap of some sort between them, an unspoken thing. Abraham was pretty sure he knew what it was, though that also gave him an understanding of why neither of them was saying anything about it.

In such a short time since they met in real life, things had spiraled out of control. They were closer than they had ever been, in both a mental and physical way. Everything felt so real and good right now. Abraham didn’t want it to stop.

But, Thunder was a wanderer. He had come here by chance, in passing. The fact that he wanted work with a company here didn’t mean he had plans to stay for good.

Things couldn’t go on like this.

They couldn’t just exist like this without knowing what was going to happen. If Thunder wanted to stick around, he needed a more permanent residence.

If Abraham was going to stay with him, he needed to leave the other part of his life behind.

Admitting that they wanted these things to happen was terrifying.

Yet, as they spent that day together, lounging on the beach, splashing in the surf, eating dinner at a seaside café, and inevitably falling into bed at the end of it, Abraham became more and more convinced that he wanted this to be. To stay. The fear was good, like a rollercoaster he never wanted to get off of.

Their bodies rocked together, united in the same way as that morning. When they had come down from their orgasms and were on the edge of sleep, Abraham rolled over in the alpha’s arms and looked into his hazy, half-lidded eyes. “Don’t go anywhere,” he whispered, repeating the words he had spoken earlier. The difference was the meaning with which they were laden this time. “Stay.”

Thunder pulled him in close and rested his chin on top of his head, and that was all the answer needed.