Page 15 of Lone Wolf
Salem moved in closer, his fur brushing against Damian’s cheek. One paw touched lightly down on his shoulder and was gone again and then the mattress shifted beneath Damian’s hip. When he opened his eyes, Salem was sitting beside him and while Damian just stared at him and breathed in his scent, Salem gently stretched his neck out and laid his head on Damian’s shoulder in an obvious invitation.
Damian's hands shook as he reached for the other shifter and buried his fingers in the thick ruff. He didn't trust his voice, so he didn't say anything. Instead, he tried to show his gratitude by being respectful of Salem's body, staying away from throat and belly, ears and face. He teased the strands of fur apart, marveling at their beauty. His family had all been the usual color, a mottled mix of brown and gray and white. Salem looked like a sculpture created to grace the home of some rich human. His undercoat in particular was downy soft, creating the irresistible temptation to dig his fingers down into it.
Salem was remarkably patient through all his handling. In fact, as Damian continued to comb through the fur, breathing in the scent of shifter and home that the movements released, the tension in Salem's body began to disappear. His ears relaxed and he settled his weight more heavily on Damian's shoulder, eyes half closed. A small groan of contentment vibrated against Damian's shoulder and the omega began to sway slightly with the movements of Damian's hands.
Damian played with his fur a few minutes more, painting the inside of his nose with the smell and fixing these memories in his brain. He could never come back here, he knew that. If he did, the temptation to confess everything in an attempt to forge a new pack would overwhelm him. Whatever he could take from this night would have to do him for the rest of his life.
It made sense now why there weren't many shifters in his agency. He wondered how many went entirely lunar and had to be killed—that was the only recourse with true moon madness. When would it happen to him? After tonight, he thought it would be sooner rather than later. He'd miss this too much, need the touch and smell of fur, the sweet scent of the omega beside him.
Probably for the best. He couldn't imagine another forty years of this...longing. "Thank you," he said softly. "You have no idea how grateful I am for this, I can't even tell you." He breathed in a last deep lungful of Salem's scent and moved carefully out from under the shifter's weight. "I'll go now, but I want you to know that I regret nothing I did this night, except where I made you uncomfortable. I didn't mean that. You're beautiful and you deserve everything good in the world." He reached for his shirt and started to pull it on, but was caught in the watching gold of Salem's eyes. "It's okay. I expect to see the charge for the whole four hours on my card. If I don't, I'll call and complain."
Salem snorted at him, then jumped down off the bed and trotted into the bathroom. Before Damian had his shoes on, Salem was standing in human form, framed in the doorway to the bathroom.
"You're welcome to have a shower before you go," he said, his words ending on an upward lilt of invitation.
"I don't want to trouble you—"
"It's a very nice shower." Again that upward lilt, and Salem had turned in the doorway to lean his shoulders against the frame, head tipped back and tilted a bit toward Damian so that his throat was both vulnerably exposed and protected by the line of his jaw. "It's big enough for two." One hand moved, stroking down over his hip and onto his thigh. He was aroused again and if it was still somewhat guarded, his posture was welcoming. "Let's not waste this last forty-five minutes."
As if he were under Salem's spell, as if the omega’s very name had brought him powers from the old myths, Damian found himself walking toward the bathroom door. Salem smiled invitingly and turned Damian so he could look inside.
Itwasa nice shower. Even nicer were the warm hands sneaking up underneath his shirt, skimming the waistband of his pants in search of the button. Salem undid the fastenings and worked his hands inside, until he could cup Damian's erection.
"Mmm," Salem murmured against the back of his neck. "What do you say? Ever had an omega in a shower?"
Damian swallowed hard, but made no protest as Salem stripped his clothes off him again and then led him into the big, stand-up shower.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
My heat was well and truly done. I’d had to fake it for my morning date, leaning hard on the efforts of the emitter, but I thought I did a good job—he seemed satisfied anyway. Management would have to know, because I’d expected at least another twelve hours out of it.
This was going to put a cramp in my apartment savings.
It was going to be hard going back to my regular clients after David. I’d do it, because I was a professional and I took my job seriously, but he was definitely a hard act to follow.
I tidied up the room and hit the button on the panel to call the floor maintenance crew to come change it over. I had a couple of days off, except for my medical exam tomorrow. Maybe I’d go down to the Housing Commission and see what they said about my apartment choices.
Enderby was already coming down the hall with the cleaning cart. We exchanged friendly hellos and I took the staff stairs down to find the office so I could let them know that my heat was done.
I peeked around the corner, hoping Ma was working but she must have been off dealing with things somewhere else in the building. But it was Peregrine, so it wasn’t that bad. We got along well. He was sitting behind the desk, staring intently at a screen and frowning grumpily while he clicked a cheap ballpoint pen over and over with his free hand. I knocked on the frame of the door. “Hi.”
He looked up and smiled. Peregrine used to work here in Silver before he moved up to management in the Moonflower Garden, but the Silver always called her children home to her. If I didn’t mate and start a family, I’d probably end up in management here once my high earning days were done.
It wasn’t a bad future to look forward to.
“Hey, Salem, I was just looking at your numbers. You had a good heat.”
“Thanks. I think it’s done, though. The emitters weren’t much use to me at all this morning.”
“Too bad, but it’s only to be expected. I noticed you played it safe with the dates anyway, so it’s not like you’ve got anyone coming in expecting to get an omega heat today.”
I shrugged and flushed a little in pleasure. “Ma made sure I knew better.”
“Your Ma’s a smart woman. I can only hope to be half as good as her someday.”
“I’m pretty sure you’ll do better than that.” I lounged against the doorframe, feeling the night’s efforts coming home to roost. “I’m going to grab some sleep, but I’ll be back for my shift tonight. I wanted to book my physical for tomorrow, if there’s any slots left.”
“We can cancel tonight if you want. You had a pretty heavy schedule for the week.” He clicked something and his eyes flickered over the screen. “Your guy from last night, the one that booked the long session? He left you a tip too. A generous one.”
