Carter felt like he was coming out of his skin. It was strange. He’d spent the majority of his life in the closet, resigned to the fact that he’d be staying there forever, but now it felt tight and small and unbearable.
Two and a half months. That’s how long he had to wait before Yolanda would perform the spell, and it felt like forever.
He needed to get out. It had been a week since he’d talked to Yolanda, and in that time he’d thrown himself into his work, but the desperate attempt to distract himself wasn’t working. He’d caught up on his workload and made nice with all his clients—which was good—but the situation was unsustainable.
Staring up at the clock hanging over his office door, Carter rubbed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. It was six pm, and the rest of the office was starting to pack up for the day. Carter would have joined them, except the only thing he had waiting for him at home was the company of his TV and his own thoughts.
Both were unappealing.
He could always go visit his parents, but he dismissed that idea as soon as it arose. In less than three months he would be giving them what they’d been hoping for since he was a teenager—a normal son.
Just the thought of talking to them made him feel sick.
Fuck it. Carter pushed his chair back from his desk and shot to his feet, walking around his desk and grabbing his coat before heading out of the office and down to the parking garage. He got into his car and started driving to Builder Falls.
Getting laid should make him feel better. It always had before.
Carter ignored the fact that his cock wasn’t even getting hard—a staple of his commute from Forest Hill to Builder Falls—and that just the thought of fucking some random human made his gut clench like he had a stomach ache.
He wasn’t doing anything wrong. Clenching the wheel, Carter grit his teeth and pushed down on the gas as he zoomed down the highway connecting the two cities.
By the time he made it to the parking garage of Club Thorn he felt like he was going to throw up, but he made his way up into the club anyway.
“Welcome back, Mr. Peterson,” Max greeted him, serious and pleasant as ever. “Would you like me to a book a room for you tonight? We have—”
Carter ignored him and barreled on into the club, not even unbuttoning his coat as he made his way down the stairs into the public play area. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked around.
It was a busy night. The whipping post, the stocks and the spider’s web rope scaffold all had sizable groups standing around and watching the action, and the fucking bench had a line of guys waiting their turn on the trussed up sub’s ass. Carter recognized the boy, but he hadn’t fucked him. He started walking over to get in line, but stopped before he was evenhalfwaythere.
He wasn’t going to be able to do this. His cock was softer than a slice of wonder bread, and there was a lump in his throat that felt like it was choking him. A few people were looking his way, nodding at him and beckoning him to come over, but Carter ignored them. He probably looked like an idiot standing there in his work clothes and a fucking buttoned up Burberry coat.
Turning around, Carter hadn’t even taken three steps before he smelled it. Earthy and with hints of cinnamon and leather, John’s unique fragrance drifted into his nostrils and made him freeze. The scent was coming from up the stairs, and Carter’s heart started hammering.
He wasn’t nervous, he realized. Even though he’d ghosted John like an asshole, the thought of seeing him again made the lump in his throat dissolve and his balls tighten with arousal.
Walking up the stairs, Carter followed the scent without a thought to how stupid and selfish he was being. He met John coming down the stairs, smiling and looking happy, another man walking next to him with his hand on his back like he had any right to touch him.
When John saw Carter his smile dimmed, but it didn’t disappear. He looked cautious, like he was wondering how Carter was going to react.
“John,” Carter said, his voice a gruff rumble. He looked from John to the man standing next to him, feeling more territorial than he ever had in his life. “Who’s this?”
“This is my friend Cory,” John said, looking at Carter with a funny expression. “He’s the friend who originally wanted to show me this place. Cory, this is Carter.”
Carter met Cory’s stare, annoyed that the human’s position on the staircase made them the same height. He was used to towering over people, and never had he more wanted to tower over someone than he did in this moment.
“Nice to meet you,” Cory said, holding out his hand. Carter took it andsqueezed, earning a pained gasp from the interloper. He bared his teeth in a parody of a grin.
“Carter, what the fuck?” John interrupted, punching him in the arm.
Like he was coming out of a haze, Carter dropped Cory’s hand and stepped back. He’d never felt his wolf rise to the surface like that. Unexpected and ferociously jealous, he’d been completely caught off guard.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, surprising himself by how little he meant the apology. “I didn’t mean to squeeze so hard.”
Cory gave him a disbelieving look, shaking out his hand and turning to John. “I think you dodged a bullet with this one. Let’s just head downstairs, it looks like Carter was leaving, anyway.”
Carter couldn’t help the low growl that rumbled deep in his chest, nor the satisfaction when Cory took an alarmed step back.
“Stop it,” John barked, glaring at him. “You don’t get to ignore me for a week and then act all territorial. It’s fucking gross. Now back the fuck off and get lost.”
