Feral Magnetism (2 page)

Chapter Two

“Where’d she come from?” Brad stood peering down over the woman, one eyebrow cocked as though he’d never seen a human female before.

J.C. pointed at the wooden door leading to the park. “I’m guessing you left the door unlocked.”

“Why would I lock it?”

The expression on Brad’s face told J.C. he really hadn’t seen a reason to. A large sign stated clearly the mechanical shed was meant for
Employees Only
, and all Hard Delights employees knew better than to barge in on a Fuck Friday without knocking. Which left only curious park visitors, like the woman in red still sprawled on the floor.

“You knew this was bound to happen sooner or later, didn’t you? Some horny visitors getting a little too frisky and looking for a place a little more private?”

Brad shrugged. “Yeah, but I guess I figured they’d be…” His voice faded as he gestured in the direction of their uninvited guest.

“Men,” J.C. finished for him. “You figured they’d be men, and we could all have a good laugh about it… after we’d fucked. Right?”

Not even the slightest hint of embarrassment tinged Brad’s cheeks, but those irresistible dimples reappeared as he grinned. “Guilty as charged.”

J.C. threw his hands up. “Help me get rid of her.”

Brad’s face drained of color, his lips thinning into a bloodless line. “Get
rid
of her? You don’t mean…”

J.C. rolled his eyes and gave Brad a playful clip on the ear. “Don’t be absurd. I just don’t want her in here when she wakes up.” He grabbed his jeans from where they’d fallen on the floor and pulled them up, not bothering to find his boxers first. The denim hugged his calves and he struggled to pull the pants past his knees. He yanked hard, then tugged again when nothing happened. The clear sound of splitting fabric resonated through the room.

“You’re not really planning on going out there like that, are you?”

J.C. swore low under his breath. He’d been so preoccupied with the woman at his feet he hadn’t realized he was still in mid-change. Glancing up at the window, he noticed the moon had disappeared. The fireworks continued to explode across the sky, but he couldn’t make out the location of the silvery moon. Normally, he could shift at will, but on a full moon night the magnetic pull of the beams held powerful sway over his ability to change shape. The lunar phase regulated the shift, and he needed to be in direct contact with a light beam to be able to either complete the change or turn back to his human form. In the meantime, he was stuck in limbo.

“Yeah, sure. The wolf-man running amuck through a gay amusement park. That would be all over the news first thing tomorrow.”

Brad chuckled. “Any publicity is good publicity.”

Abandoning his attempt to put on clothes, J.C. tugged on the chain connected to the single light bulb casting its pale glow over the room. The light disappeared with a tiny metal click, plunging them into darkness. Well, relative darkness, at least for a fraction of a second. The colorful fireworks flickering over the night sky lit up the inside of the shed like the 4th of July.

“Now what?” Brad asked.

“Now you move away from the window.” J.C. positioned himself in the path of any moonbeams that might make their way through the glass. He sat cross-legged on the floor beside the woman. “And we wait for her to wake up.”

“I can take her out myself if you want.”

“That’s a generous offer, but the owner of the park carrying an unconscious woman past the cotton candy and condom booths would raise more than a few eyebrows. No, I think it’s better if we wait. No one knows me, so I can just say she’s my sister who got lost looking for me if anyone questions us on our way out.”

“Do you think we should move her? Make her more comfortable?”

It was J.C.’s turn to chuckle. “She’s unconscious on a wooden floor. She has no idea whether she’s comfortable or not. Besides, the only other place I can put her is on the table, and I doubt that would be any better.”

Brad slid along the wall to sit on the floor across from J.C. The last of the fireworks fizzled and dimmed, leaving the room shrouded in shadow. In the darkness, Brad’s pale hazel eyes glittered like gemstones. “She’s beautiful, though, isn’t she?”

J.C. tried to keep his tone neutral. “If you like that sort of thing.”

In truth, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the way her breasts pressed up against the thin material of her dress, her nipples clearly outlined through the cloth. He wondered whether her areolas were the color of dark chocolate or a pale, rosy pink. Her legs went on forever under that short skirt, and he couldn’t help but picture the creamy skin of her thighs leading up to a perfect, wet cunt.

“What sort of thing? The blonde bombshell look?”

J.C. kneaded a knot at the back of his neck in a vain attempt to relieve some of his cramping muscles. This wasn’t the first time he’d been stuck in mid-shift, but he certainly hoped it would be the last. His entire body screamed in protest.

“Pussy,” J.C. said bluntly.

“Ah. When was the last time you had some?”

“A few months. No, wait.” J.C. frowned, trying to remember. A year? Two? Had it really been that long? “I don’t know,” he said at last, shaking his head. He was glad he could no longer see the woman as clearly, though her rhythmic breathing assured him she was still alive. She’d come to eventually; hopefully after he’d returned to his human form and put on some clothes.

“Want to have a little fun?” Brad’s voice took on that throaty tone he used when he was horny and he’d just come up with a new kinky game to play.

“No.”

“Aww, come on. We’d wait for her to wake up first.”

“No.”

“But you didn’t even hear what I had to say.”

J.C. sighed. “I’m not interested.”

“Really? An hour ago you were lamenting your lack of a mate, now a prospective candidate lands at your feet and you’re not even willing to consider a quick fuck?”

J.C.’s teeth ground together before he even realized he’d clamped his jaw shut. “I said I was going to choose a mate from among our pack, not a human with no knowledge of our ways. The mere idea that this woman might be my mate is absolutely ridiculous.” His pulse quickened as he glanced at her fallen form. His cock twitched, as if disagreeing with his statement. J.C. looked away before any more body parts could get any ideas.

“Fine, then, no more talk of mating rituals. But the elders didn’t say you couldn’t fuck a human, right? Though I’m willing to bet she’s not the kind of woman who’d indulge in a threesome, which is too bad.”

J.C.’s mouth went dry. A threesome? With her? Images assaulted his mind in the dark, each more carnal than the last. He pictured the blonde on her knees, sucking Brad’s cock while J.C. fucked her from behind, his dick buried to the hilt in her creamy, wet pussy. He bit his lip to keep from groaning. “Something tells me she’d be willing.”

“How about a friendly wager, then? We’ll ask her when she wakes up. If she agrees, you win. Not only will we get to fuck her, but…” Brad paused as though searching for a suitable wager. “I’ll tell the elders I’m willing to choose a mate. That’ll buy you at least another couple of months before they come after you again.”

J.C.’s mouth gaped open. The pack’s confirmed bachelor --
gay bachelor
-- was willing to choose a mate? “Why would you do that?”

He could almost see Brad shrugging in the dark. “I need to do it sooner or later. I just haven’t been properly motivated yet.”

J.C. shook his head. There was more to this than his friend was letting on. “And if you win?”

“If I win… you let me fuck you for once.”

Ah
. That explained it. J.C. and Brad had been getting together for their weekly Fuck Fridays for years, but they had an agreement. J.C.’s ass was strictly off limits. He’d never let anyone penetrate him, no matter how horny he got or how often he fucked another man.

He was a Zantean shifter. The pack’s alpha. Royalty. No one fucked him up the ass.

“You’re awfully quiet. Is that a yes?”

Wanting to make Brad believe he was actually thinking about his proposal, J.C. took a deep breath before responding. When he did, the answer was simple.

“No.”

* * *

Eve awoke to the smell of sex.

Not the slightly musky odor that permeated the air in her bedroom after she spent a night enjoying the pleasures of her favorite vibrator -- pungent but ultimately tame. No, this was the full-blown, tangy, mouthwatering aroma of unbridled lust. It made her think of hard naked bodies, of sweat and arousal, of semen splattered all over the floor.

She kept her eyes closed, inhaling the scent through shallowly drawn breaths. This was the first time she’d been able to enjoy anything that even vaguely reminded her of an orgasm in… much too long. As much as she liked to tease her best friend, Angelina, about her lack of a sex life since Griffin abandoned her, Eve’s own erotic adventures left a lot to be desired. There were only so many nights a woman could spend in the company of a vibrator before even that took a backseat to a good book and
Late Night with David Letterman
.

“Her breathing’s changed. Did you notice?”

“You’re imagining things.”

Eve’s heart quickened at the sound of the masculine voices. She gritted her teeth, trying to yank her thoughts away from nakedness and orgasms and back to the problem at hand. Where was she?

She remembered walking through the gates of the Hard Delights amusement park, finding the fake beard in the trash can, listening outside the doors of the shack, and then…

“Do you think she’s awake?”

Eve stifled a gasp as images of two gorgeous men entwined in some of the hottest, wildest fucking she’d ever seen flashed behind her closed eyelids. Her inner muscles fluttered in response while her imagination insisted on replaying everything she’d seen before the world went black. One of the men was blond, lean, with perfectly shaped muscles and a firm ass she’d have loved to dig her fingernails into. Except someone had already beaten her to it.

The other man had been darker, taller, more muscular. He looked strong and menacing, power and authority drifting off him in waves.

And then he’d started to change. She replayed the scene in her mind. His fingers lengthening, his nails giving way to sharp, deadly-looking claws, his mouth and square jaw transforming into… a muzzle?

She swallowed hard and dug her fingernails into her palms to keep from crying out.

“Oh yeah, she’s definitely awake. Come on, Sleeping Beauty, if you’re up, get up.”

For a moment, Eve considered pretending to still be unconscious, but discarded that idea as quickly as she’d thought of it. They’d never let her get away with it.

She opened one eyelid and peered past her lashes, but all she could make out were shadows, dark patches of inky walls and absolute pitch black. Blinking both eyes open, she struggled to sit up. Her head felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. A quick poke and prod of her forehead with her fingertips told her she’d hit her head on the way down. Surprisingly, that seemed to be all the damage she’d done.

“Why are the lights off?” she mumbled while her hands flew down the length of her body to check for any other injuries. Her elbow was sore. She assumed she’d banged it on the way down.

“Because this is a private party.”

The male voice made warmth pool low in Eve’s belly. Awareness flittered to life in every nerve ending. Dismay crept in. She was
not
going to be attracted to a man who… who what? Who might not be a man at all?

He sounded so arrogant, so sure of himself. She straightened her spine and turned her head, trying to pinpoint his location. “That much I was able to see for myself.”

He made a sound that could either have been a chuckle or a snort of disbelief. Whatever it was, she decided to ignore it.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you you’re supposed to lock the door when you’re… you’re…” She waved her hand in the air while searching for the right word. Her nails scraped against something solid.

Something
warm
and solid.

“Fucking.” He was so close his hot breath tickled her cheek. Cream dampened her panties.

She should have snatched her hand back, she knew, but she couldn’t help herself. Even covered with hair, his skin was soft, deceptively so. Underneath the silky texture, his muscles tensed at her touch. Her fingers roamed upward, feeling every tendon flex as she trailed her hand higher. A moan crept up to her throat as more images assaulted her heightened senses. Being in the dark seemed to have done wonders for her libido, even though every logical thought her brain possessed screamed at her to run… or at least to take careful stock of the situation.

She would probably have explored every inch of him if he had let her. Thankfully, one of them still had some common sense left.

He snatched her wrist in a palm that felt much too large. “Why are you here?”

Eve licked her suddenly dry lips. “I was looking for my friend.”

“In here? Brad? Is she one of yours?”

An amused chuckle echoed from the other side of the room. “Does she
look
like she’s one of mine?”

“She doesn’t look like she belongs to anyone. And that’s the problem.”

Eve bristled. “I’m not property, so stop talking about me like I am.” She snatched her wrist out of his grip and rose to her feet.

The fireworks had stopped blasting their erotic imagery all over the night sky, Eve realized belatedly. How long had she been out?

Panic crept in, replacing her arousal. Her knees wobbled as she turned a full circle on her high heels. “I appreciate the hospitality, but if you’ll point me to the door, I’ll be on my way.”

A strong set of arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her down, yanking her breath from her lungs. Before she could regain her balance, she fell backward and landed hard on what could only be a lap.
His
lap. And she couldn’t explain away the erection pressing against her ass as a cell phone or a lighter. Nor could the fur covering his belly be rationalized away as a fuzzy sweater.