*Content warnings in description*
It took nearly two weeks for the lust to cool enough for a regular conversation.
Adrian caught snippets of information about wolfpacks, mates, and ancient laws, but most of the time, he and Lan were too distracted by the desire to touch and taste. Each time he visited Clair de Lune – which was every other day at this point – he reminded himself that he wanted to satiate his curiosity about the runaway wolf.
Somehow though, they would share kisses at first sight which would lead to fondling and eventually they’d be half-stripped and panting for more on the couch. The floor. Against the wall.
Adrian had experienced attraction many times, but nothing quite compared to Lan. It was as if every sweet sound and movement short circuited another thread of rationality. Soon enough, he was dumbstruck by lust and couldn’t get enough of him. Them. Us.
He sank his teeth into Lan’s thigh for the umpteenth time that evening, taking small sips of the poisonous blood. If he were drinking from a purebred Lycan, the blood might just kill him immediately.
I could’ve died that first night we met. How lucky.
Adrian licked the wound closed and then smiled down at Lan’s flustered face. “Don’t be too cute, doll,” he drawled, lying down on top of Lan’s overheated form. The warmth was always nice.
“You heal them every time.”
“It’s a habit.” Adrian buried his teeth back in Lan’s neck, eyes fluttering shut. It was ecstasy to be able to do this. Of course, he could’ve found a lover and done as he pleased anytime, but no one had sparked his interest quite like Lan.
“It’s still nice of you.” Lan brushed Adrian’s hair absently, legs curling around his waist to keep him buried deep inside. His body shuddered at the press of heat between his thighs and the aching pleasure in his throat. “I like it when you do. I feel safer.”
Adrian reluctantly retracted, mouthing over the wound. It still struck him as odd. Lan seemed to know with great certainty that Adrian was a safe existence. Was it how he smelled? Even when he asked, Lan didn’t know how to explain himself. Curling arms around the wolf, Adrian lifted him into his lap, making sure they stayed connected.
“Who hurt you, sweetheart?” he whispered, tucking Lan’s head against his shoulder. It was the question that had pulsed in the back of Adrian’s brain for a while now. They were clearly compatible physically but breaking down the walls to talk about more was difficult.
Where could they begin?
Adrian knew what the ragged bite mark on the back of Lan’s neck meant. What he couldn’t understand was the torturous degree to which Lan had apparently been beaten and battered. If someone among the wolves bonded with him, didn’t that mean he was given protection?
Asking others hadn’t enlightened him either. Adrian hadn’t even been sure how to ask the right questions to get the answers he wanted. Bonding with another wolf wasn’t necessarily a romantic affair. He knew this much. But beyond that? It was a mystery.
Lan shook his head, clinging to Adrian tightly.
“I don’t need a name,” he assured, rubbing slow circles into Lan’s scarred back. “I just wanna know about you. The good. The scary. The awful.” Adrian kissed his hair, finding that this wasn’t nearly as overwhelming as he expected.
Lan nibbled anxiously at his shoulder before saying, “All of them.”
Adrian cooed praises in his ear and hugged him tighter. It was ridiculously precious when Lan hugged him back just as tightly, arms trembling at the quiet admission. Too soon still. Sighing softly, Adrian smiled into his hair and leaned back against the edge of the couch.
What could he do with that information? Skinning one wolf might be alright. But all of them? Even his Ringleader wouldn’t be able to protect him if he did that.
Wouldn’t it be such a lovely gift for his adorable wolf, though?
Fingers drifted down to Lan’s wet, swollen hole. It was still stretched over Adrian, pulsing every time Lan took a shuddering breath. “Your hips will hurt if we stay like this for too long,” he mused, feeling the drip, drip, dripping of his own release sliding out.
“I’ll be fine,” Lan argued, voice muffled. “It’s better like this. I don’t want to be alone.”
“I’m still gonna be here.” Adrian laughed, managing to coax him into separating. He slid free with a wet pop and groaned at the loss.
Lan squirmed in disappointment, bright eyes peering at Adrian with supreme betrayal.
Rolling his eyes playfully, he pinched the tip of Lan’s nose. “Don’t give me those puppy dog eyes. I’ll be back tomorrow night and you’ll have me all over again. I promise,” Adrian murmured.
It wasn’t a lie.
He showed up the following night. And then the night after that. No one questioned it though, least of all Clarisse. It was apparent that privacy was the number one concern in their social club. Besides, Adrian was a respected member of Delirium and Lan happily attended to him each time.
There were no issues.
***
“Are you dating then?”
Lan looked up from his dinner in the kitchen. He always got delivery and many other employees did, too. Going outside was something many of them avoided. They also often took their meals to their respective rooms, but Lan preferred being able to interact with anyone who passed by.
Being alone was no fun and he couldn’t imagine having to go back into isolation. After only a month and a half of this freedom, the idea of being dragged back into Nyx’s clutches sounded worse than death.
“Dating?” he repeated the word carefully. He’d heard it enough times from clients, but usually it involved complaining. Lan never pressed them about such things—mostly because he had no idea how to engage the topic. Most topics were still a mystery to him though.
Liza leaned over the kitchen island, eyeing him teasingly. “Don’t be bashful now. I know the same client has been filling up your evenings. You got a wealthy sugar daddy?”
Sugar daddy? Lan frowned.
“Really? You don’t know that word either?” She groaned. “Honestly, I don’t think I ever want to know what happened to you before you got here. Sounds like a terribly boring place.”
Lan stifled a grin. “So? What’s a sugar daddy? I wanna know.”
“It’s a wealthy man who spoils you with gifts and money and luxuries in exchange for conversation and sex,” she explained rather matter-of-factly. An exaggerated sigh slipped from her lips. “That’s the dream. Being someone’s pet and having all your needs met.”
By that definition, Lan supposed he did have a sugar daddy. There was certainly a lot of sex. Wonderful, mind-blowing sex. And Adrian left him tips nearly equivalent to the cost of the reservation.
But the way Liza spoke, it sounded much more transactional. Lan wasn’t sure if it was an exchange so much as Adrian simply wanted to spoil him. Period.
It was merely a hunch though.
Lan didn’t have any solid proof of Adrian’s intentions. He still brought up Lan joining Delirium, but it never seemed important to him. It was more of a musing in between heated touches and cuddles. If Lan understood their relationship thus far, they met each other’s physical wants and needs.
Finding him interesting and comfortable is just a bonus, I think. That was fine though. He rather enjoyed their current arrangement even if Adrian never wanted to share something more. Lan wasn’t even sure what “more” entailed. He could still barely talk about Valentine’s pack and Nyx’s vanguard without choking up.
Whatever existed between him and Adrian was slow growing. A curiosity that developed more and more each day.
“I’m taking your silence as confirmation.”
Lan snapped back to attention. Scrambling for a response, he set his food back down. Liza was laughing and eagerly awaiting whatever excuse he threw together.
Before he could speak though, a newspaper smacked Liza on the back of the head. She scowled and yelped, whirling around to see Clarisse glaring sternly. “What’s our policy?” they demanded.
Rolling her eyes, Liza muttered something about client and employee privacy before shuffling over to the fridge. “What does it matter? With how things are panning out, we may be saying bye to your newest employee sooner than expected.”
Clarisse soundly ignored her, tossing the newspaper on the island. Bold black letters and grayscale images were splashed across the front page.
5th Serial Disappearance Confirmed by Police
Lan took a large bite of his first burger as he skimmed the article. “Are you worried, Clarisse?” he asked after swallowing. “It doesn’t sound like anyone from our area has disappeared.”
They smiled, walking around to ruffle his hair. “Yeah. That’s good news for now, but if the culprits keep running around like this, we might be on the list.”
Liza popped a box of leftovers in the microwave. “The media is having a field day with those reports. I bet they’re making connections that aren’t even there. People disappear in London every day. They’re just trying to shame people into quitting the entertainment business.”
It was certainly peculiar how everyone targeted was involved with the night life. Bartenders, servers, social club employees, and any number of sex workers. There were tenuous connections between them at best.
“Well regardless, we need to be vigilant until the culprits are caught,” Clarisse responded, stealing one of Lan’s sweet potato fries. “I know neither of you leaves often or ever,” they glanced at Lan knowingly, “but we’ll be adjusting our work hours. Reduced shifts and no new clients will be accepted for the time being. Regulars are always welcome though.”
Liza began to argue, but Lan was only half-listening. He stared at the newspaper, feeling somewhere deep in his gut that this wasn’t so simple.
Comments (8)
See all