Wild Warrior (The Weavers Circle 2)

Baer hurried to the bed, where he grabbed a book and sat against the pillow, trying to appear as if he were reading. At least he had the good sense to check to make sure the damn thing wasn’t upside-down. It had been.

There wasn’t anything he could do about the hard-on in his jeans. He just tried to hide it with the book while not looking like he’d been listening at the door.

When Wiley came out, his skin was bright red. Whether it was from the heat of the shower or shyness, Baer had no idea. It was cute as hell though, the way he stood awkwardly by the door, staring at Baer with his big, brown eyes.

There was no missing it. Wiley was very attractive. His hair was currently slicked back, making his features seem even sharper. He looked so different without his glasses, but Baer loved him in the things.

“Thanks for letting me use your shower.”

“No problem. I’m sure Dane will get yours fixed tomorrow. He’s great at stuff like that.”

Wiley just nodded. He held his wet sweat pants in his hands. “If you have a load of clothes, I can run down and put these in. I’m not tired, so I’ll stay up until I can put them into the dryer.”

“Sure.” Baer got up, painfully aware of his hard dick, and gathered some dirty clothes for Wiley. As he closed the distance between them, he was hit with the smell of a man fresh from the shower. He inhaled as he handed Wiley the clothes.

Wiley gave him one of those sweet smiles and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Baer barely made it into the bathroom before he was unzipping his jeans and pulling himself free. All it took were a few hard pumps, and he was shooting onto the floor. He didn’t bother to hold back his groan of relief, not caring if Wiley heard him.

Fuck, the guy was just so damn sexy. That shy awkwardness did it for Baer. As did that tight, slender body. He wondered how bendy the guy was and nearly started chubbing up again.

He took a quick shower and walked naked into his room. Ruby jumped up onto the bed and stretched out across the bottom. She gave him a look, and he lifted an eyebrow. “Yeah, I like him. So what?”

But she was thinking about how annoying the new cat was as she watched him walk around the room. He preferred to sleep nude, so he didn’t bother with pants. Climbing into the bed, he picked up his book again, but it held no interest for him.

All he could think about was how good Wiley had felt against him when they’d both been soaked. How sweet he’d been, standing there in a pair of sweats with his skin all flushed.

Baer had wanted to pull him close and smell that freshly showered scent on his neck, bury his face there. He’d wanted to kiss him. Open up those plump lips and delve inside to taste the man.

Baer hadn’t felt this kind of attraction to anyone since Dave. The memory of his ex cooled his ardor fast. He’d thought he was in love with the man, but their relationship had been disastrous. Turned out, Dave hadn’t given a shit about him, and his cheating had proved it.

Restless, Baer got out of the bed and pulled on a pair of pajama pants so he could go outside. Nature called to him, and he decided to answer.

Wincing against the creaking floorboards that complained about his weight, he moved carefully through the house. No one was downstairs. He slipped outside and walked toward the woods. Crickets and frogs sang their nightly song, easing his restlessness. He strolled between the trees, where it grew nearly too dark to see. The scent of nature, greenery, and dirt filled his nose and he breathed it in deep.

Something walked among the dried leaves, and he opened his senses to discover it was a deer. He thought about changing into one and meeting it, but he really felt the need to run. Fast.

The image of a gray-and-white wolf filled his brain and he smiled. The change swept over him, and he kneeled on the ground to let the magic free. Bones popped and muscles stretched. The initial pain was gone, replaced with a comfortable burn. From what his brothers had told him, the actual shift was masked by the glow of magic, smoothing out any possibly gory images of him moving from man to animal.

He’d gotten so good at changing, it didn’t take long before he was running through the darkness, leaping over logs and chasing rabbits. Wind ruffled his fur as he dodged trees and made his way to the pond.

He thought back to a conversation he’d had with his brothers about becoming a fish. It was something he hadn’t yet tried, and he toyed with the idea of doing it now but decided against it. He was having too much fun as a wolf.