"You really don't have a problem with this place, do you?" he asked after a moment.
I glanced up at him. "Why would I?"
"Most straight guys get uncomfortable around this much dick."
I snorted. "Who said I was straight?"
That got his attention. His ears perked forward slightly, and I watched his nostrils flare like he was trying to catch my scent. "The way you've been keeping your eyes to yourself. Most guys who come here for the first time either stare or actively avoid looking. You're just... working."
"That's because I'm here to do a job," I said, twisting two wires together. "Not to gawk at your customers."
"Fair enough." He was quiet for a moment, then added, "But you did look."
My hands stilled. "What?"
"At me. In the hallway. You looked." There was something almost playful in his voice now, like he was testing me.
I set down my tools and turned to face him fully. "Yeah, I looked. You're hot. Sue me."
Michael's lips curved into a slow smile that showed off those sharp canines again. "Just making sure I wasn't imagining things."
"You weren't." I stood up, wiping my hands on my jeans that were starting to become uncomfortably tight. "Now if you want this thing working tonight, I need to focus."
"Don't let me stop you." But he didn't move, didn't look away.
I turned back to the heater, acutely aware of how small the sauna suddenly felt with both of us in it. The air was thick and hot, and I couldn't tell anymore if the sweat running down my spine was from the temperature or from the way Michael was looking at me.
I finished the last connection and plugged the unit back in. "Alright, moment of truth." I flipped the manual switch I'd installed, and the heater hummed to life. No sparks, no burning smell. Just steady, even heat.
"Perfect," Michael said, moving closer to inspect my work. He was right behind me now, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off his body. "You're pretty good with your hands."
The double meaning wasn't lost on me. I stood up slowly, turning to find him even closer than I'd thought. Close enough that I had to tilt my head back slightly to meet his eyes.
"It's what I get paid for," I said, my voice coming out rougher than I intended. “Do you… uh… wanna show me to the broken hot tub?”
“We actually got that fixed already,” he replied, taking another step forward.
“Damn…” I muttered, trying not to lose my head. “There goes my overtime.”
“Not necessarily.” Michael reached out, slipping a plastic bracelet with a key around my wrist. “Locker forty-two. Leave everything there and enjoy yourself for a little while. I’ll vouch for you to your boss.”
I stared at the key, suddenly nervous. “W-Why?”
“You’re cute,” he replied simply. “And you smell like you could use a…release.”
“A-Are werewolves’ noses really that sensitive?” I stammered, the heat of his body overriding the heat of the sauna.
“Oh honey,” he said softly, reaching up to cup my cheek. “I’m not a werewolf.”
Suddenly his form began to shift.
I stumbled backward, my back hitting the wooden bench as I watched his body ripple and change. The white fur receded, revealing dark charcoal skin underneath. His limbs elongated and faded to pitch black, ending in sharp dark claws. Those amber eyes began to glow with an otherworldly light before turning red. Smoke drifted off his skin, forming two dark spiraling horns on either side of his head. And when he smiled at me, his teeth were too many and too sharp.
"What the fuck are you?" I breathed, unable to look away even as every instinct screamed at me to run.
"Does it matter?" His voice had changed too, layered now, like multiple people speaking at once. The sound slithered down my spine and pooled low in my gut. "You're still hard."
He wasn't wrong. Despite the fear coursing through me, despite the wrongness of what I was seeing, my cock was straining against my jeans. Whatever he was, whatever glamour or pheromones or magic he was putting off, my body was responding in ways my brain couldn't quite process.
