Exodus (7 page)

He reached Matt’s and slid to a muddy, thuddy stop against Matt’s door. Rivvie had just begun shifting when the door opened and he gracelessly stumbled inside.

“Gods, it’s awful out. You should have stayed home,” Matt scolded, dragging Rivvie farther into Matt’s dwelling. “Come on. I’ll dry you off.”

Rivvie’s teeth had started chattering. “Y-you’re not m-mad I’m h-here?” he asked.

Matt tsked at him. “You shouldn’t have come out in this shit, but no, I’m not mad—at you, anyway. At me, yes, I’m pissed off.”

“D-don’t be,” Rivvie advised. “B-be good t-to you.”

Matt huffed at that then he nudged Rivvie to a large rock with a rough padded cushion on it. “Sit.”

Rivvie sat, wincing. The material wasn’t much better than sitting on sand.

“I know, it sucks, but it was all the material I had to make a cushion with.” Matt stepped into a small curved area then picked something up. When he turned around, he had a much nicer strip of material draped over one forearm. “This is the quality stuff. I use it to dry off with after I’ve bathed.”

He stopped in front of Rivvie and began rubbing his chilled skin. “This storm just came out of nowhere. I didn’t see a cloud in the sky before the incident with your mother. How is she?”

Rivvie was surprised Matt cared enough to ask. He wasn’t sure he’d be so nice if he was in Matt’s place. “She’s gone. Don’t know if it’s permanently or not. I wish you could have known her before she lost Dad. She was great.”

“I’m sorry.” Matt’s movements became brisker as he spoke. “I don’t know about shifters, so I couldn’t say if this would be the case, but with humans—don’t glare at me, I have to make the distinction—sometimes the mind just goes. It can be age that takes it away, or an injury, or a traumatic event. Usually it’s gone for good with the first two. With the second, there’s hope for recovery. I’d say, hang onto that hope.”

“It’s hard when she’s being so hateful,” Rivvie said. “She’s like a person I never knew before. It’s scary.”

“I bet it is.” Matt knelt and gestured at him. “Spread your legs.”

Rivvie did so. “You know, I don’t think I got a lot of rain there.”

Matt began toweling off his inner thighs, then his balls. “Ah, I think you’re wrong. That rain is really pouring down, and it’s gotten everywhere.” He gave Rivvie’s nuts a little tug, then looked up at Rivvie with sorrow in his eyes. “I shouldn’t have acted like such an asshole. Again. Seems to be a habit I’m having trouble breaking.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself.” Rivvie cupped Matt’s chin. The warmth of his skin and the rasp of stubble against Rivvie’s palm were both appealing. “You asked for privacy, and my Mom blew that out of the water. I don’t know how she knew. I’m sorry she did it. I wanted you to have what you need.”

“I’m not sure I know what that is, beyond the moment,” Matt said.

Rivvie’s blood heated with excitement. “And what do you need in
this
moment?”

Matt leaned forward and licked Rivvie’s cock from the base to the tip. “This. You. Us.”

Rivvie’s insides quivered. “You’ve got it all, for as long as you want it.” He held his breath, hoping Matt would lick him again. After that first time, when Rivvie had lost it and come on Matt’s face, Matt hadn’t gone down on him again. They’d jacked each other’s cocks and rubbed off on one another. Rivvie was good with those things. However, if Matt wanted to up their sexual play, Rivvie was good with that, too.

Mattie licked him then sucked on the base of Rivvie’s cock. He fondled Rivvie’s balls, massaging them until Rivvie parted his legs more.

“Come to my bed. It’s not as nice or as big as yours, but it’s better than what you’re sitting on.” Mattie stood up and winced. “I wish we were at your place. My candle will burn out soon and I like your den better. Mine is just a temporary dwelling. It doesn’t feel like a home.”

Rivvie was flattered. “I haven’t been in mine long.”

“You made it your own, with the carved furniture and walls.” Matt led him over to a thin, short mattress. “You have colorful things around—the cloth rug on the floor and the blanket made from patches of different materials. You even have a glass jar filled with stones that gleam like your eyes when you’re happy. I love your home.”

Rivvie preened, then cracked, “You’re with me just for my den, aren’t you?”

Matt laughed. “Damn, you’ve figured me out.” He began to remove his clothes. “What ever should we do this time?”

Rivvie gingerly sat on the bed. At least it was softer than the ground. “We can do whatever you want.” He let Matt set the tone. Later, if Matt stayed with him long enough and grew more confident in bed, Rivvie would take charge at times. For now, he didn’t want to scare Matt, and he was perfectly happy to let Matt have his way.

“I want…” Matt stripped down to nothing but bare skin.

Rivvie tried not to drool.

“I want to do something different,” Matt said, clenching and unclenching his fists.

As long as it didn’t involve pummeling him, Rivvie figured he could get into it. “Whatever you want.”

Matt nodded jerkily. “Can you roll over?” His breath caught on the ‘c’ but he didn’t quite stutter. Still, it was another show of nerves.

Rivvie rolled to his side. “Like this? Or on my stomach?”

“Stomach,” Matt directed, sounding less nervous than before, more certain of what he wanted.

Rivvie clenched his ass in anticipation. Matt wouldn’t want him on his belly just to look at his ass.
Hopefully. Gods, let him touch me there…
He wanted to ask if Matt had ever taken a woman that way, but reminding Matt of a different body, softer, more supple, just wasn’t happening. Rivvie dared to part his legs, exposing more of himself to his lover. He raised his hips up enough to tuck his balls and cock down. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, yet it turned him on.

“So— I don’t have words,” Matt said, lightly touching Rivvie’s back. “Magnificent, maybe, though that seems too tame. You’re strong and golden and wild. I think sometimes I can feel your wolf moving under my palms when I caress you like this.” He tracked the length of Rivvie’s spine. “Is he separate from you? Like a different being inside of you?”

Rivvie tried to shake his head, which didn’t work so well considering he had it turned in the first place. “No,” he got out, eyes slipping almost closed when Matt began rubbing the top of his crease. “No, it’s not like that, exactly. He’s in there, yes, and he’s a part of me, and I’m a part of him. We don’t always agree, but that’s the same as anyone else who’s arguing with their conscience. That’s the best way I can describe it.”

“Two parts of a whole,” Matt said.

Rivvie wanted to say that didn’t make him whole, it just made him what he was, a shifter. He hadn’t ever felt like he was all there or all that bright. He covered it well with jokes and sometimes glares. Inside, he knew the truth.

Inside, he had a burden of guilt that sometimes felt like it’d crush him.

“Where’d you go?” Matt asked. “You aren’t with me. I’m not doing this right.”

“Yes you are,” Rivvie protested, wiggling his butt. “Anything you do to me is right. It just felt so good, my mind drifted.”

“That’s the wrong kind of good, then.” Matt inhaled, then he began sliding a finger down Rivvie’s crack. “I don’t want you to feel the relaxed kind of good. I want you to feel the ‘oh my gods my head’s gonna blow off when I come’ kinda good.”

“Getting there.” Rivvie gulped and spread his legs a little more.

“I haven’t ever touched someone there,” Matt said, his voice a bare hint of sound. “Never thought to. We were taught— Well—” He chuckled. “Never mind that. Obviously, there’s something to this.” He traced Rivvie’s pucker. “Can you get on your knees? I want to do this properly.”

“No improper way to do it.” Rivvie did think of one suggestion. “Just use lots of spit.”

“I have something better.” Matt patted him on the flank. “Let me get it.”

Rivvie moved into a better position and watched Matt walk to a thin rock outcropping on the far wall. A small bag rested on it. Matt opened the bag and took out a wooden container. “What’s that?” Rivvie asked.

“Something to make this go much smoother than spit would.” Matt’s cock bounced as he walked.

Rivvie was so busy watching that bobbing shaft that he almost didn’t hear Matt speak.

“It’s a mixture of oils Lanaka gave me before she left.” Matt’s cheeks darkened. “She said I’d know what to use them for. I tried to pretend ignorance but she knew. I’d have gone for indignant if I hadn’t thought she’d turn me into a turd for it.”

Rivvie barked out a laugh, amused by his lover’s sense of humor. “Oh, she might have. Lanaka isn’t to be messed with. So she gave you some of her special lubricant?”

“She did, and I could have died of mortification. I admit I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to use it for either, though I did suspect it had to do with sex. I had something similar in the village for when I wanted to masturbate.” Matt stopped by the bed and opened the container. He sniffed. “Oh, it smells divine. I wouldn’t have thought so.”

Rivvie wiggled his backside again. “How about giving it a try? I’ve never had any special stuff from Lanaka. Always made do with grease or…well, or spit.”

Matt looked at him intently. “You’ll tell me if I do it wrong.”

“Of course, but short of shoving your whole hand up my ass at once, you can’t do it wrong. Just go slow.” Rivvie picked his head up and widened his eyes. “You
are
going to put your fingers in me, right?”

“At the very least.”

Rivvie flushed with heat. “Oh. Okay. That’d be… It’d be great.”

“Great?” Matt snorted. “Put your head back down and let me play.”

Rivvie could follow orders. He put his head down and whimpered with anticipation.

The aromatic lubricant brought to mind sumptuous things—softer bedding, the sun on his skin, a field of flowers, a lover’s soft touch. Rivvie let his eyes close and lost himself in the sensations Matt gave him. The caresses to his back, thighs, and butt, fondling his balls, kneaded his cheeks until Rivvie was so desperate for more he couldn’t string together a coherent sentence.

“I never knew how much I’d want this,” he heard Matt say. “All the times I had sex and wondered why everyone else was so eager to do it. It felt good, but it wasn’t anything like this. What you make me feel is…” He hissed then sunk a finger into Rivvie’s ass. “Gods, gods, fuck I don’t even know how I’ll last once I get my cock in here. You’re so hot inside, Riv.”

Rivvie panted and might have had his tongue hanging out for all he knew. He didn’t feel all man—felt instead like he was a beast at the mercy of his body’s arousal.

And he loved it. The mindlessness of simply feeling was exquisite. While Matt talked, spearing first the one digit, then two and later, a third into him, Rivvie felt and moaned and whined. He rolled his hips and shoved himself back on those slick digits again and again, wailing when they rubbed over his gland.

“I have to have you,” Matt snarled at some point, then those fingers were gone and something bigger was pushing into his hole as heat flared out behind Rivvie. Not just from the penetration, but the heat of Matt’s thighs as they neared his, the slap of his groin against Rivvie’s ass.

Rivvie took the pain and burn and let it burst into pleasure. His nipples ached, and he reached under himself to pinch one hard enough to make him cry out.

“Fuck yes,” Matt bellowed, and drove into Rivvie repeatedly. He slapped Rivvie’s ass at some points, and clung to him at others.

Rivvie’s every nerve ending was aflame with a rapturous sensation. He couldn’t comprehend the amount of bliss being fucked into him. Every time Matt shoved that cock of his in to the root, the level of ecstasy in Rivvie increased. He was going to be burned alive by it if he didn’t come soon.

Then Matt hunched over him, fucking with short thrusts, hardly withdrawing at all. The position put his cockhead in direct contact with Rivvie’s gland almost constantly.

Rivvie yelped with the intense pleasure. He twisted his nipple and shattered the instant that Matt got a hand on his dick. Rivvie didn’t even make it through one stroke. He came and came until he was wrung out and felt as if he’d been dragged a hundred miles after running a thousand.

He was dimly aware of when Matt came, of the shout that made his ears ring and the thrust that he felt so deep inside it must have left an impression of Matt’s cock in him.

But that was all Rivvie made it through before sleep jerked him into darkness.

Chapter Eight

“This shit has to stop.” Valen paced the length of the den’s front room. “We can’t handle much more of it.”

Aaron bit his lip but didn’t speak.

Valen grunted then stomped over to the door. There was no need to look outside. He could hear the rain still coming down as if the heavens were furious at the poor people on the ground below. Thunder rocked the ground, and lightning made leaving the safety of the den a challenge. The wind howled louder than any wolf ever could, and the chill in the air was unseasonably cold.

“This isn’t natural,” he groused before flinging the door open. Icy rain and wind greeted him with a vicious assault. “Damn!” Valen slammed the door shut, feeling like he’d been jabbed with hundreds of tiny frozen daggers. “I’m going to shift and check on how high the river is. I didn’t like what I saw a few hours ago. The water’s coming down from the mountains and even if the rain stops in a little while, we might still have to evacuate.”

“I’ve never seen weather like this,” Aaron said. “Three days of almost constant storms. When it isn’t raining, the wind is vicious and so cold it feels like it’s slicing right through your flesh to your bones.” He stood up then crossed to Valen. “This is scaring me, Valen. I keep thinking what you said is right, this isn’t natural, but it must be. No one controls the weather.” He chewed on his bottom lip again then let it go. “What if some humans somewhere have done something?”

“Something like what?” Valen folded Aaron into his arms. “What could they do?”

Aaron snuggled in close. “I don’t know. Something bad, like they did before the End Times. We have no way of knowing what’s being done around the world.”