Worried, I followed it. As I ran, I tried my best to ignore the throbbing desire pooling below my stomach. As a young man, I was, er, familiar with it—but not like this. This was a whole other animal, burning with primal need. Masturbation was one thing. Whatever this heat-kindled desire was made my head spin. It was like comparing a drop of water to a flood.
I was beginning to understand why Hugo and Len, and Dax and Morgan had always disappeared at the start of their relationships. The nights they were missing, the cagey way they acted in the morning. It made sense now. They must have all been under the spell of whateverthiswas.
Xander’s scent got stronger. I couldn’t help the whimper coming out of me. My ears pressed back. I needed him.
The scent trail stopped, then pooled in the shadow of a small hollow. At first, I didn’t see him. He was so still, so perfectly blended into the darkness—but then I caught the yellow-green reflection of his eyes. He stared right at me.
“Sage?” he asked, voice gruff.
“Xander.”
He shifted. The reflection of his eyes disappeared as he became a man. He was leaning against the smooth stone wall. I smelled dried blood and that fear again. But it wasn’t the smell of fear from a prey animal. It was mild, differently flavored somehow.
I shifted and approached him. My cock was hard, which was annoying, but I didn’t bother covering it up this time. I was too worried about Xander.
“Are you okay?” I asked, approaching the threshold of the hollow.
“Don’t come in. Please.”
Xander’s voice was tight, either from pain or something else.
I was tired of being told what to do. “Why?”
But when my eyes adjusted and I saw Xander’s face, it wasn’t angry. He looked relieved, yet strained.
“Are you hurt?” I asked again.
“No.”
“Then what—”
“If you come any closer, I don’t know if I can control my attraction to you.”
His words sent an electric bolt of desire down my spine. I shuddered out a breath. My cock twitched beneath my hand.
He wasn’t being coy or avoiding me any longer. His words were honest and laid bare, a confession more so than a warning.
I took a step inside.
“Sage, I—”
I cut him off. “Xander.”
I took another step. Desire flickered in his eyes. My gaze raked over his body. The wounds were visible, but dry. They didn’t seem to be bothering him as much as the scent of my heat did. I smirked. It was an interesting feeling to have this much power over him.
“I’m serious,” Xander said as I slowly approached.
“What if that’s what I want?” I shot back.
My answer dumbfounded him. He had no reply.
I kneeled down so we were at eye level with each other. His nostrils flared and I saw his chest rising and falling rapidly. His cock strained as hard as mine, though much larger.
“You might get pregnant,” Xander mumbled. He said it like it was a bad thing.
“And?”
His eyes flashed. He tore his gaze away from me. “We can’t.”
