LGBTQ, Dark Fantasy, Interracial Romance
Date Published: October 11, 2024
From insisting on a bed for their first time to protecting Amir from
everything, Oliver is stepping all over Amir’s last nerve. It’s
almost too bad the submissive wolf wants dominant Oliver in the worst
way.
Amir’s frustration with Oliver doesn’t cancel out his
attraction to the other wolf. As they fall deeper into the dangers of the
psychic world in an effort to rescue their leader, their love may be the
only thing keeping them sane.
As the leader of the werewolves sinks further into insanity, Amir and
Oliver are pushed to their limits to find out what’s causing his
decline. Once they discover the truth, it’s another struggle, this one
against prejudice and time, to rescue the alpha above all alphas.
EXCERPT
It was full dark when Oliver jerked awake. He sat up, smelling his own
sweat and the aftermath of sex.
He flashed back to the most traumatic time he’d woken to the stench
of spent jizz. Geoffrey, the beta of the Kreisha pack, had been standing
over him, cum dripping from his rapidly shrinking cock.
Oliver swung his legs over the side of the bed, fully expecting to find
himself surrounded by the enemy. His eyes were adjusting to the darkness,
and he picked out the shadowy form of a lampshade. He reached out, almost
knocking the lamp over in his need to shed light on the situation. When the
bulb glowed, he took a quick look around the room, feeling the urge to
ensure he was alone and safe. He didn’t quite dare to rise to his feet
because his legs felt like they’d turned to water.
He missed Kenneth Jeremiah in the worst way all of a sudden, and he was
unable to hide from the truth, that he missed his lover not for Kenneth
Jeremiah’s own sake but because his lover had kept the nightmares at
bay. Ever since being attacked, which had been two months before Kenneth
Jeremiah died, the nightmares had been threatening. But he hadn’t
actually dreamed of what happened until after his beloved was dead. Kenneth
Jeremiah had possessed a rare empathic gift, one that allowed him to soothe
others’ minds.
Sort of like Amir, he thought, but his terror kept him dwelling on the
past.
He was alone in the downstairs bedroom of the house he rented in
Washington, D.C.’s Northwest quarter. Why the hell did it smell of
sex? And why didn’t his ass hurt?
Oliver’s gorge rose. He swallowed against the need to throw up.
Gradually, his stomach settled and new information came to his nose. Yes, it
was his own jizz he smelled on the air, but it was mixed with another
male’s. The aroma didn’t spark a flashback but seemed to wrap
around him, comforting him.
Amir’s scent surrounded him.
He’d had sex, all right, except it had really been making love. There
was no fear or rage clouding the healthy leavings of two werewolves who
cared for each other. They hadn’t gone all the way. Oliver had refused
to claim Amir’s virgin body while they were so spun up from the events
of the last few days and when Oliver himself had been so desperate for
sexual contact that he hadn’t been sure he could be as gentle as was
needed. They’d had oral sex, and now that his head was clearing, he
realized he could taste Amir’s salty spend on his tongue. He licked
his lips, found a little more of the heavenly liquid at one corner, and
closed his eyes to savor it.
His cock stirred, although only a little as he fully realized he was alone
in the bedroom. Where had Amir gone? Had he woken as Oliver had, frightened,
and escaped into the house at large, or to the world beyond these walls?
What if Oliver’s nightmare had been prophetic rather than a misplaced
response to his joy?
He tried to push himself to his feet, but his legs wouldn’t support
him. He flopped back onto the bed. Cursing softly, he performed a quick
self-analysis, looking for sore spots or other indicators he’d been
drugged. He detected nothing. Likewise, he felt no alien presence in his
mind. His psychic shields were up and strong.
Still, his legs trembled. Clutching his knees, he tried to get a handle on
his fear.
It hadn’t been all that long since he’d dreamed of the gang
rape Geoffrey Huntington had led. Maybe only three weeks. Still, he was
shocked every time it recurred. Hadn’t going through it once been
enough? Apparently not for his traumatized body. Oliver could have bested
three out of the four werewolves who raped him during that long five hours,
but he’d surrendered to their brutality to save Kenneth Jeremiah. When
the attack had begun, he’d expected to find Travers and Cobb involved
because they were closer to him in rank, both being lower gammas. But the
three besides Geoffrey, who was the beta of the Kreisha pack, had been Carl,
Matthias, and Scott, all very low-ranked wolves, although not quite
submissive. He’d always thought their ranks were why they’d
participated. Geoffrey might have forced them.
Thinking about that night, all alone in the midst of raving beasts,
wasn’t going to steady his legs. He needed to get himself under
control so he could go looking for Amir and ensure his new lover was
safe.
He forced himself to lie down on the bed. He inhaled Amir’s scent
rising from his pillow, an aroma made of sweat and excitement and just a
touch of disinfectant because Amir was a physician. Oliver breathed in and
out, counting the seconds for each inhale and exhale. He added three seconds
of holding his breath between these two acts and slowly his heartbeat
stopped racing out of control. Amir’s joy and release held a comfort
that Oliver hadn’t found since before the gang rape.
He sat up before that thought could take hold. He focused on the bedroom
door, which was ajar. He did another quick sweep of the room, this time with
nose fully engaged. He didn’t detect any blood or stench of fear. Amir
must have left the room of his own volition.
With this idea in his head, Oliver was finally able to rise. He tugged on
the pants he’d been wearing and started for the hallway. Following
Amir’s scent, he went into the bathroom across the way, where Amir had
apparently washed up because the tang of citrus soap hung in the air. Had he
come out here naked?
Needing to solve that mystery because Amir walking anywhere potentially
public without his clothes didn’t seem like the doctor of magical
creatures at all. Back in the bedroom, however, Oliver saw all of
Amir’s articles of clothing were still there.
Concern reared its ugly head again and he trotted from the room. He stopped
by the front door, but Amir hadn’t come this way. He trailed the scent
of soap to the stairs, and that was where it changed. The addition of
fur’s rich aroma told Oliver Amir had slipped from human guise to
lupine seeming before he went up the staircase to the second floor.
His night vision had fully adjusted to the dimness, and he climbed the
stairs silently, keeping his ears open for Amir or their mutual
patient.
Maybe that was it, he thought as he put his foot on the third step. Their
mutual patient, Tilthos Charles, the alpha above all alphas in the Americas
and Canada, was ill. Amir had managed to rule out any poisons or physical
cause for Tilthos Charles’s growing madness, leaving it to Oliver to
figure out the psychic cause. Oliver hadn’t yet solved the mystery
beyond the realization Tilthos Charles was being forced to share his mind
with five or six other werewolves who meant him harm.
Maybe Tilthos Charles was the reason Amir had left the bedroom and not
because he’d endured a terrible dream. Oliver purposely made a little
noise on the stairs to warn those up on the second floor that he was coming.
He couldn’t quite make himself call out or even whisper. His throat
had tightened, now with nervousness. What had he been thinking, making love
to Amir when they had a patient to look after?
He reached the landing between the first and second floors and paused.
Above him, out of sight because of the construction of the house, he heard a
very quiet growl.
About the Author
Emily Carrington is a multipublished author of male/male and transgender
women’s speculative fiction. Seeking a world made of equality, she
created SearchLight to live out her dreams. But even SearchLight has its
problems, and Emily is looking forward to working all of these out with a
host of characters from dragons and genies to psychic vampires. And in the
contemporary world she’s named “Sticks & Stones,”
Emily has vowed to create small towns where prejudice is challenged by a
passionate quest for equality. Find her on Facebook at Shapeshifter Central
or on her website.
Contact Links
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@changelingpress
