HUNTER SAT IN front of the wolf-shifters’ mansion, wondering who was going to be assigned as his partner tonight yet, at the same time, not giving two shits one way or the other. So far, a different shifter every evening had either come out the door or come to pick him up, and every night, he found himself feeling more and more miserable.
Hunter hadn’t seen Quentin since the night they had their date.
No, he took that back. It hadn’t been a date. It had been hanging out. Because, if it had been a date, Quentin wouldn’t have just disappeared after that, never to be heard from again.
Or maybe he would have.
Maybe Hunter was that lousy of a date. The wolf-shifter alpha had told him there was some family emergency when he called Hunter to tell him he’d be getting a new partner. But for Quentin not to say anything to Hunter—no phone call, no text—could only mean one thing. Quentin wasn’t interested, which really pissed Hunter off.
Fuck you, Quentin.
Fuck him for making Hunter feel things and then disappearing. Fuck him for not caring enough to drop a line. And fuck him for putting Hunter in this situation with no one to talk to.
After Quentin had left, Hunter had realized he had no one else to talk to about his whole maybe-gay situation. He was disappointingly alone right now.
Hunter pulled out his phone for what was probably the one-millionth time since he’d gone out with Quentin. His notification bar was mockingly empty. It might as well be putting the middle finger up at him.
Just then, his phone rang, and he cursed the split second of joy that bloomed in his chest before he saw it was Ram.
“Hello?”
“Hey, where are you?”
“Wolf-shifters’. Waiting for my partner.”
“Good. Someone called into the tip line about seeing something about ten minutes from your location. Can you check it out?”
“Sure. Does Dante know?”
“Nah, he’s busy fuckin’ the cat. We decided it wasn’t worth bothering him unless you discovered something. You know how it goes. Most of the time, these tips are bogus.”
“Right. Of course.”
“You okay, man?”
No. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Shoot.”
“If a…someone asked you to hang out for the night at a bar with their friends as a casual thing and then kissed you, would you think it was a date? Would you think you would hear from that person after that?”
Ram chuckled. “Girl problems?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“Hmm. I guess I would say that, since it was never specified as a date, then it wasn’t a date. And, since it wasn’t a date, that person didn’t owe me anything. A kiss is just a kiss. If she dropped down on her knee and asked me to marry her, it would be a totally different thing. But a kiss? Nah, man.”
Hunter dropped his head, feeling bad for expecting so much out of Quentin. Ram was right. Quentin had never promised Hunter anything.
“Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. And don’t worry. Whatever chick you’re doggin’ will forget about your ugly mug as soon as the next guy kisses her.”
Hunter laughed nervously. Of course Ram would assume Hunter was the ditcher and not the ditchee.
A movement out of the corner of Hunter’s eye caught his attention.
A shadowy figure was coming down the dark path to his car.
“Hey, my partner is here.” He turned his head toward his window, so whomever he was assigned with tonight would see he was on the phone. “Can you text me that address?”
“Yep. Already done,” Ram said as Hunter’s car door opened.
Hunter swore he smelled Quentin, just like every other night since he’d last seen the wolf, and he told his brain to shut the hell up. “I’ll call you if we find anything important.”
“Later.”
“Later,” Hunter said. He moved his phone from his ear and hit End.
“Something important come up?” Quentin asked.
“Holy shit,” Hunter said as he jumped. He’d been so lost in his head that he’d forgotten someone had gotten in with him. Upon hearing Quentin’s voice, Hunter about had a heart attack.
He wasn’t prepared for this. He’d been missing the shifter, but now, he was mad at Quentin and mad at himself for caring. He didn’t know how to act, feeling like a teenager who had had his first kiss, and that was without all the other confusion upon seeing Quentin for the first time in several days.
Ugh. When had he turned into such a pussy?
He needed to suck it up. There were real problems out there. His love life was not that important.
Quentin raised an eyebrow. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah. We, uh…have an address we have to go check out. Tip-line call.” Hunter pulled up his text messages and found the address. He was grateful he’d driven tonight. It would give him something to do besides fidgeting in his seat.
“Sounds good,” Quentin answered.
Hunter put his car in drive.
They traveled for a few minutes before Hunter sucked up his hurt feelings and asked, “Everything okay with your family?”
“What?”
“Uh, Damien said you had a family emergency.”
“Oh, uh…yeah, everything’s okay.” Quentin looked away from Hunter and out his window.
Hunter was trying to be the bigger man here and not let his hurt feelings ruin anything. But Quentin couldn’t even talk to him. The shifter was acting like Hunter had screwed him over.
Whatever.
Hunter gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white, but at least he didn’t say another word to Quentin. He would keep it professional. They had a job to do after all. That was the only reason they were here.
Too bad his heart and his dick didn’t agree with his head.
Thankfully, Ram was right about the distance away, and Hunter and Quentin arrived in just under ten minutes. They each exited the vehicle and made their way up to the front of the house. They were in shifter territory, so Hunter let Quentin take the lead.
After knocking on the door, a little old cat-shifter couple, who had to be close to a thousand, answered. There was no way they’d seen anything, going by the thickness of both their glasses.
“Hello, sir, ma’am,” Quentin said. “We got a call about a tip?”
“Huh? Speak up, young man,” the male said.
“George, I told you to put in your hearing aid,” his mate said, loud enough to alert the whole block.
So, it seemed like the elderly couple probably hadn’t heard anything either. Hunter was feeling let down. This was his last shot at a positive evening, and it looked like it was a bust. He needed to get out of there. He couldn’t stand next to Quentin and pretend everything was okay.
Hunter took out his phone and held it up. “I need to take this,” he told the couple.
“Whaaat?” they both said.
“I need to take this,” he practically shouted. He looked at Quentin. “Can you handle this?”
Quentin looked down at Hunter’s black screen and back up at Hunter.
Hunter quickly put his phone against his chest, so Quentin couldn’t see that he was lying.
Quentin shook his head in disappointment. “Yeah, I got this.”
Hunter took off, back toward his car, not even bothering to pretend to answer his phone.
A couple of minutes later, Quentin joined him, slamming his car door closed.
“Hey, be careful,” Hunter said, gunning the gas.
“Sorry,” Quentin said with no hint of remorse in his voice.
Hunter drove, not knowing where he was going, feeling his anger get stronger and stronger, the more he tried to repress it. He glanced over at Quentin, whose jaw twitched as he stared straight ahead.
Finally, Hunter couldn’t take it anymore. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Quentin whipped his head around to look at Hunter. “What the fuck is wrong with me? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
And what was he supposed to say to that? I’ve only known you less than a month, but I missed you while you were gone.
Yeah, right because it was obvious that Quentin hadn’t missed him.
“I asked you first.”
Quentin didn’t answer, and the two of them stared at each other until a horn honked, jolting Hunter’s eyes back to the road just in time to miss hitting a semi whose lane he had wandered over to.
“Holy shit, you’re going to kill us,” Quentin said. “Pull over there.” He pointed to a park. “We obviously have a few things to say to each other, and I’d rather not die in the process.”
Quentin was right, and Hunter pulled off the road and into the parking lot. The night wasn’t cold, but it was still cool outside, so the park was blessedly empty. Hunter opened his door, got out, and headed for the nearest tree to rest his back against, sliding down to the cool ground. He couldn’t stay cooped up in his car with Quentin.
The shifter came and sat beside him. Neither one spoke as they stared off into the darkness of the night. After almost crashing, Hunter had lost a lot of his steam. He was still upset, but it didn’t seem worth dying over.
Hunter spoke first, “Look, I don’t want to fight. I don’t even know why you’re mad at me.”
“Why don’t you start by telling me why you’re mad at me?”
Hunter barked out a humorless laugh. “Do I have to?”
Quentin looked him right in the eye. “Yes.”
Hunter exhaled. Why not add humiliation to the list of things wrong with tonight? “I’m more mad at myself than at you.” He put his head back against the tree and stared up at the empty branches. “I was disappointed to find out you were gone. And then, when I didn’t hear from you…” He shrugged. “I don’t know.” He lifted his head and made a sound of exasperation. “I’ve never felt like this before. I’m a mess of emotions, and quite frankly, I don’t like it.” He looked at Quentin. “The thing is, I know you never promised me anything. I guess I just thought we had…I don’t know…some sort of connection. That was my bad to assume that. I shouldn’t project my feelings onto you. I promise, I will try to be more levelheaded tonight and from now on.”
Quentin stared at Hunter until he said, “Fuck being levelheaded,” and he grabbed Hunter behind the neck and pulled him close.
Quentin kissed him like he was dying to taste him, which was just fine with Hunter because the feeling was mutual.
Hunter shoved his tongue in Quentin’s mouth and pushed the shifter to the ground. He shoved his hands under Quentin’s shirt and ripped it over his head. Quentin’s beautiful dark skin was covered in a dusting of curly dark hair and topped by brown nipples. Hunter put his mouth to one and sucked.
Quentin arched underneath Hunter and rubbed his cock against the vampire’s. Hunter wanted to feel it in his hand. He’d only ever held his own, and he wanted to know what Quentin’s felt like.
But then Quentin rolled Hunter over, so he was on top. He sat up and practically tore off the button to Hunter’s jeans as he opened them and pushed them down. Quentin grabbed Hunter’s dick in his hand and squeezed. Hunter moaned.
Quentin leaned down, and Hunter knew exactly what the shifter was going to do. Hunter sat up and quickly covered himself. At least, he did the best he could with Quentin still holding him.
“What’s wrong?” Quentin asked.
Hunter blushed. “I don’t—” He rolled his eyes at himself. “I feel like I’ve been waiting my whole life for this. I don’t want the first time we do this to be angry sex. Or angry oral sex.”
Quentin’s face softened, and he cupped the back of Hunter’s neck again and pulled him in for a kiss. Hunter tasted blood and realized that he’d bitten his lip in the excitement earlier.
Quentin pulled away. “Fuck, do you taste that good everywhere?”
Hunter blushed again and shrugged. He knew vampire blood was sweet compared to human and shifter blood, but he had no idea if his semen would be different. “I don’t know. I’ve never tasted myself.”
Quentin grinned. “Let me find out and let you know.”
Hunter groaned. He wanted that so very much. “But—”
“Hunter, I’m not mad. I’m very, very not mad. Now, lie down, and let me suck your cock, like I’ve been dying to do since I saw you in the conference room.”
Hunter sucked in a breath but only lay back onto his elbows. He wasn’t going to miss this opportunity for the world.
Quentin gently lowered his mouth to Hunter’s dick, but he didn’t touch it with his mouth. He blew on the tip and stroked Hunter with his hand until a drop of pre-cum emerged. Quentin grinned down at the liquid, as if that was what he’d been waiting for, and then he put the head of Hunter’s cock in his mouth and sucked.
“Holy fuck. Holy fuck, holy fuck,” Hunter said as he watched Quentin slowly suck more and more of him down.
Quentin put all of Hunter in his mouth and then gradually suctioned his lips as he brought his mouth back up. He released Hunter and blew on his tip again. This time, his breath combined with his saliva was cool on Hunter’s penis, and a shiver ran down his spine.
The wolf met Hunter’s eyes, and he could see that they had shifted—no white of sclera left. Hunter was really looking at part of the wolf now.
It might scare someone to know a predator was that close to one’s junk, but it only turned Hunter on more. He felt himself leak more. He was afraid he was going to come too soon.
Quentin lowered his mouth again, licking the seam where his pre-cum had appeared and swallowed. And, apparently, the shifter was done with all teasing because he began to work over Hunter’s cock like no one had done before.
Hunter tried to watch as Quentin deep-throated him, but it felt too good. Hunter collapsed back against the grass. Soon, he felt his impending orgasm, and he knew it was going to be different than any other. When he exploded, he heard Quentin groan and actually heard him swallow. Hunter came so hard and so fast that he was afraid he’d pass out. It was better than any female going down on him.
Quentin continued to suck him until he drained Hunter dry, and there was nothing left for him to give. The wolf then lay next to Hunter and kissed him deep, making sure Hunter could taste himself on Quentin’s tongue.
Quentin pulled away. “What do you think? I think you taste better than I ever dreamed.”
Hunter smiled. “I think that I can’t wait to taste you. In more ways than one,” he said as he lightly ran his finger across Quentin’s neck. “And I think I’m definitely not asexual.”
Because that was by far the best orgasm he’d ever had.