Hidden Passions (14 page)

They squinted at Tony like he wasn't sure of his welcome.

"Hey," he said, rising a little awkwardly as Tony came around the front of Rick's car. Before he went off the grid, Rick had ditched the Buick at Cass's place. Tony had reclaimed it for him.

With a sense of unreality, he beeped the doors locked with Rick's key ring remote. He stopped an arm's length away from Chris. He wasn't going to react, not until he knew what the tiger was doing here.

"You know this is a nosy neighborhood, right?" he said. "Everyone around here knows who belongs where."

Chris smiled faintly. "I did notice a few inquiring looks." He shrugged one shoulder more than the other. "I wanted to make sure you were okay. Evina mentioned your brother, um, hasn't been reachable lately."

"She did."

"I don't think Nate told her much. And I haven't told anyone."

Tony didn't want his heart to race, but it was. He tried to remember the man who'd walked out on him in that gardener's shed, not the one who'd lost his mother and his brothers to a long-ago horror story. Sympathy for Chris wouldn't protect him. Neither would inhaling his spicy-sweet aftershave. "You didn't have to check on me."

"I wasn't sure . . ." Chris shoved his hands in his pants pockets. "Your pack is busy. I wanted to make sure someone was paying attention to how you are."

"And you honestly thought that someone should be you?"

"Tony."

"Fuck," Tony said, knowing he'd responded too harshly. He pressed the heels of his hands into tired eye sockets, abruptly as exhausted as if a twelve-story building had flattened him. His arms dropped like they had no muscles left.

"Couldn't we go inside?" Chris asked in a low voice. "You don't have to talk to me. I can just sit with you for a bit. If nothing else, the company will soothe your wolf."

The funny thing was that he was right. His wolf felt like it had been pacing back and forth inside him since Rick disappeared--despite his alpha's attempt to be supportive. His wolf wasn't pacing now. It was focused on Chris's presence--not happy but calmer.

As they spoke, Chris and Tony's gazes had locked onto each other. Chris's eyes weren't glowing, but little lemon lights flickered in their brown-orange depths. He was feeling strong emotions, whatever they might be. The pulse that beat in his neck matched the one in Tony's. Tony wanted to lick it so badly his mouth watered.

"If I let you in," he said. "It won't be just to sit."

Chris's breath caught softly. "That would be okay with me."

Would it be okay with Tony? He'd been trying to put Chris behind him. Did he really want another taste of the tiger's advance and retreat school of seduction? He knew what his body wanted. He was hard enough to go then and there. He had an urge to grab Chris's hand, but they were outside, in plain view of the neighborhood.

He squeezed the key ring he was holding. "All right. Follow me if you're going to."

Chris followed far enough behind him that their entry wouldn't look intimate. Tony's niggle of resentment over that didn't quash his arousal. His palm was sweating as he twisted his doorknob.

"Holy crap," Chris exclaimed as they entered the apartment. "Are you opening a junk shop? How do you walk in here?"

Tony's current work in progress was a set of harp-backed chairs that might one day grace his dining room. If it turned out they didn't suit, he'd sell them on eBuy. He wasn't the only person in Resurrection who liked fixed-up old things. Of course, since there were six chairs, and none were finished, they did fill up the living room.

Maybe a sensible person would have started off by repairing two?

Flushing, Tony shut the door sharply. "Fixing stuff is my hobby. Anyway, what are you worried about? You're a cat. You're supposed to be surefooted."

Chris turned back, his lips rolled together to control a smile. He gave up a moment later and broke into a laugh. "How the hell do you and that neat freak Nate get along?"

"We get along fine," Tony huffed, fists planted on his hips.

Chris's grin softened. The cat was inside Tony's house, his territory, and they both knew they weren't here to fight. Chris stepped to Tony, taking his shoulders in a partly reassuring, partly erotic hold. Tony's anger fell away, his hands moving a bit too naturally to Chris's waist. The man was literally hot, waves of warmth beating out from him. Tony's fingers dug into hard muscle. His dick was so stiff it hurt.

"I want you," he said, the only confession that seemed both honest and unlikely to get him in trouble.

Chris's eyes darkened. "I'm here to be of service."

His manner was humorous, and Tony felt a need to be clear. "I want to fuck you. You know: me in charge and you taking it."

Chris's mouth twitched at the corners. "Do you hear me objecting?"

Tony didn't. The desire inside him seemed to explode. He grabbed both sides of Chris's face, pulling his head close for a deep kiss. Chris's big arms surrounded him, the fingers of one hand forking into Tony's hair. Tony's wolf fangs slid down and a second later Chris's followed suit. The point of Chris's canine nicked Tony's lip. Blood welled up in the moment before it healed.

Chris drew back just far enough to apologize.

Tony growled, seized his head, and sucked his tongue again.

He guessed Chris found that exciting. He body-slammed Tony against the wall, hands sliding to his butt, erection grinding up and down over his. The cat was all the way hard--long, thick, and apparently indestructible. The pressure he used felt so good Tony nearly forgot his intentions.
Nearly
wasn't the same as really. Grunting at the strength it took to shift Chris's greater weight, he shoved the cat around until
he
was backed up to the wall instead.

"Jesus," Chris breathed. His eyes slid shut as Tony worked his crotch over his. Chris looked like he was in heaven, but not convinced he ought to be. Determined to decide him, Tony pulled Chris's hands from his butt.

Another grunt of effort slapped them up beside Chris's head.

Chris gasped and looked at him. Tony was treating him like he was dominant.

"You sure?" Chris's expression glazed as Tony continued to hump his thigh and crotch. "You don't want me to take care of you?"

Tony did--and that's why he couldn't. "I want to fuck you," he repeated.

He wasn't a hundred percent sure how to go about it, which angered him. He let go of Chris's wrists, but only to wrench off his light jacket. Chris started to undo his own shirt buttons. Not wanting that, Tony took over.

The feel of Chris breathing faster as his skin was uncovered was really arousing. Tony knelt to remove Chris's shoes and pants. When he rose, Chris's touch felt too good not to let him undress him. They kissed again wearing only their underwear. Tony decided soft cotton stretched by hard cock was a great combination, especially with two dicks to rub together. Their hands went everywhere they could--backs, arms, heaving chests, and rib cages. Tony loved the hairy muscles of Chris's legs jostling his.

With a groan of pleasure, he drove his fingers into the tiger's briefs and around his clenched butt cheeks.

Squeezing them caused Chris to tear his mouth from his. "You want a little guidance, or would you rather figure this out by trial and error?"

Trial and error sounded uncomfortable for Chris.

"You won't get bossy?"

Chris smiled at him. He was caressing Tony's arm muscles, fingers sliding from elbow to shoulder. Tony decided he liked the cat's expression. Chris wasn't laughing at him; he was just amused in general.

"You have good arms," Chris said, avoiding answering Tony's question. "Nice and brawny. I think you might be strong enough to control me."

Tony snorted. "Only if you let me."

Chris's grin broadened. "Want to take the shower we missed out on the first time?"

They'd missed out because Chris had declined Tony's offer to join him. Tony's brows lowered at the memory.

"Showers are handy," Chris pointed out. "Lots of slippery stuff. Plenty of hot water for cleaning up."

"Wait here," Tony said in his sternest voice. "I need five minutes to get ready."

The bathroom was what needed getting ready, not himself. He stalked to it, and--as soon as the door was shut--commenced to scrub it at shifter speed. When he'd moved into the brownstone with Rick and Adam, rather than gut this room, he'd painstakingly salvaged the bits he could. The toilet groaned when you flushed it, and the antique white-and-black patterned hex-tile wasn't a breeze to clean. Oddly enough, he had plenty of energy for it now. Chris guessed what he was doing. Tony heard him chuckling outside the door.

"I told you to stay put," he objected.

"I'm flattered you're fussing on my behalf," Chris said. "Also, I'm jerking myself off out here."

Okay, Tony didn't need an incentive to go faster, but that certainly worked as one. The tiger was a sex fiend, apparently. How he'd sneaked around successfully for so long Tony couldn't imagine. Or maybe he was a sex fiend because he didn't allow himself to sneak around very often. That idea sent a painful throb of excitement through Tony's cock. He could identify with never getting as much sex as you wanted.

"Done," he said, practically flinging the door open.

Chris hadn't been lying. He had his hand down his briefs, and he was tugging his erection. Not rubbing it, just gripping the shaft around the middle and pulling in and out from his groin. Seeing Chris do this was like having a window shade snap up to reveal something extremely personal.

"Jeez," he said, his attention glued to Chris's working hand. "Watching you do that is really hot."

"I can't not touch myself," Chris confessed. "But I don't want to go over."

His voice was husky. Tony shivered in reaction. Their gazes rose at the same time. Staring into each other's eyes was becoming a compulsion. Orange fire flared in Chris's irises. This made Tony's libido squirm.

"Come in," he said, moving back from the doorway.

Now that it was clean, the bathroom was kind of romantic. The tub was the centerpiece. Positioned in the floor's middle, it was one of Tony's left-by-the-curb rescues: a re-glazed cast iron clawfoot with a white shower curtain draped around it. Probably Tony's pack should have realized he was gay long before he told them. Instead, they'd assumed he was a packrat.

Chris stopped tugging his erection and came inside. "Nice," he said, taking in the space. He gripped the edge of the tub and gave it a testing pull. That the heavy basin didn't budge pleased him. "Sturdy."

Tony was too nervous and excited to come up with smart response. "I have lube in the medicine cabinet."

Chris's eyes were calm, only hinting at amusement. "You should probably get it out."

"I don't have to do this. You could--"

"No," Chris interrupted. "You want this, and I want you to have it. I want you to fuck me. I'm not all one thing or another. You get to me. Everything you do gets to me."

The way he said this was so raw Tony shuddered. He knew exactly what Chris meant. He wanted him any time, any way, more than any person he'd ever met. He bit his lip and opened the cabinet.

When he turned back with the lubricant, Chris had shucked his briefs, stepped into the tub, and was cranking the water cocks open.

He smiled at Tony over his big deltoid. "Do my back?"

It was the most gorgeous naked back Tony had ever seen--his dream back, probably. Spray bounced off Chris's mile wide shoulders to run teasingly down his tapered lats.

"Yes," Tony said, suddenly feeling very lucky. "I want to do your everything."

He swung in behind him and grabbed the soap. The tub was a good size, but the two of them filled it up. With the curtain pulled closed around it and the shower pelting them with sound, it was an intimate enclosure. Chris rolled his neck with pleasure as Tony ran lathered hands up and down his satiny back muscles.

Chris didn't resist when Tony urged his arms upward.

"Grab the piping," he said.

Obedient for the time being, Chris's fingers wrapped the structure the curtain rings hung on.

"Will it hold?" he asked doubtfully.

"Enough to swing your weight on. I tested it."

"Enough to swing
your
weight on, you mean," Chris laughed.

Tony shuffled closer to nuzzle his wet shoulder. "You can tug it hard, big man. I don't build things that break."

Chris stopped laughing and shivered. Liking that, Tony mouthed and growled into his warm neck muscle. Necks
meant
things to their animal halves--vulnerability, for one thing. Admiring how strong Chris's was, Tony circled his chest with his arms, soaping his broad pectorals and ribs. The tiger's nipples had drawn into hard points. When he moved restlessly in response to Tony pulling them, the cleft of his soapy ass brushed Tony's erection.

"Mm," Chris sighed. "You feel good against me."

Tony gave in and grabbed the object of his desires, pulling his slippery hands slowly up Chris's erection. The thick shape of it felt wonderful: the rim, the veins, the curve of the head and the strut beneath. His balls practically invited a gentle going over. Seeming to agree that this was a good idea, Chris widened his stance and made a purring sound. Tony ran three slick finger pads behind the swaying sac, over Chris's perineum.

Chris grunted, his head falling back onto Tony's shoulder.

"More," he urged, his wet hair clinging to Tony. "I love you rubbing me there."

Because it was easier to reach from the other side, Tony shifted his right hand back to massage the firm stretch of flesh between his balls and hole. There were nerves underneath that skin that connected to his penis. Chris arched unselfconsciously to give him more access. Tony took the invitation to press harder. Chris's spine writhed with luxuriant enjoyment.

He made Tony feel like he was good at this.

"Do you want my fingers in you first?"

Tony didn't expect his voice to break. When it did, Chris glanced back at him and smiled. The curve of his lips was both sensual and devilish. "I'd like it," he assured him. "And you can get a feel for the territory."