Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 130955 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 437(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130955 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 437(@300wpm)
Radek wanted him. They could fuck a few times before Yev returned home, but maybe it was high time to stop giving himself leeway. This would be his life once he moved back, as angry and frustrated as it made him.
Radek set aside the fork when he was done eating, and gave Yev a longing gaze that made him itch with need. “Okay. I just… All this time that I was Ember, I kinda imagined when I turned back, it would be this huge tah-dah! moment and we’d go at it like bunnies for like a week. Stupid, I know.”
Yev exhaled, once again wishing his life weren’t so damn complicated. “You’re very pretty. Both as a fox and a man, but it is what it is,” he said with a shrug. He was surprised Radek didn’t flirt and prod more. A part of him was happy the boy did respect him enough to stop, but a part he should be ashamed of was oh-so-disappointed.
“Thank you for saving my life,” Radek said.
Yev shrugged, though his chest tightened when he remembered the way Ember curled up against him in bed each night. He would miss the company. “I couldn’t let you die. It was the decent thing to do.”
“I don’t like… hate wolves on principle. It’s just that my dad was killed by them, and I lost it that night we met. I’m sorry for being a shit.”
Yev was positive old Nowak’s death had nothing to do with wolves, but there was no point in opening old wounds. “It’s all right. Just try to be good from now on,” Yev said and got up, itching to stroke Radek’s hair and kiss the side of his head. But he wouldn’t do that, because this growing attachment made no sense.
“If I am, can I stay a few days more?” Radek gave a little smile.
Yev’s nostrils flared, and he rubbed his forehead, knowing this was a lost battle. He would not force Radek out into the world when he was so vulnerable and could potentially shift again. He needed to give this issue… a few more days.
“Okay, but come sundown, you’ll lock yourself in the bedroom. Don’t come out until dawn, and use something to mask your scent. Incense? Those herbs the witch had given us? I'll be back before it gets dark, but don’t greet me or look out the window to see me when I arrive for the night. Understood?”
Radek nodded with a small frown. "I guess I won’t be going to work with you this time?"
Yev shrugged, already antsy. “Better not.”
"Have a good day," Radek offered, but all Yev could think of was that the boy didn't have any pants, and that the flesh of his freckled ass sat straight on the wooden seat, and was likely stuck to it with a little bit of sweat.
Distracted, he pushed the last of the bread and eggs into his mouth, then rushed upstairs to shower and dress for the day.
He could not wait for the icy water to wash the edge of arousal down the drain.
Chapter 12 – Radek
A werewolf.
An actual werewolf.
Just when Radek was getting accustomed to the fact of his own magical existence, Yev had thrown that grenade into the mix. He couldn’t even blame Yev for not telling him sooner, because everyone had their secrets, and that was a big one. But how was he to get over how stunning Yev was in his wolf form? All thick black fur Radek could see himself cuddling up to. Not in a sexual way, thank you very much, but he’d felt so safe when he’d wrapped his arms around the giant wolf’s neck.
After a month spent in Ember’s skin it was now strange to be hairless. Though he finally had the answer to why the hair on his forearms and calves was black—it was the color of his fox legs. And since the fox form wasn't a separate being, it made sense that the amputation had affected his human form too, no matter how much he wanted to reject that reality.
He’d gotten used to not having a front paw, especially that he’d lost it on the first night in his vulpine body, but missing a hand had different implications. On top of that, it had been his dominant limb. His life would change forever, and he wasn’t ready to face it.
He’d lost his red string bracelet when he’d first transformed, so he found a sewing kit and had managed to fashion himself a new one with red thread. He’d had to use his mouth and hand as he worked, and it took way more time than was reasonable, but when he managed to get the good luck charm on his left wrist, he felt much better.
He closed his eyes, curling up under the comforter in Yev’s wide bed and willed himself to get smaller, to grow fur and become the cute, carefree fox Yev petted without second-guessing himself.