At the time, he hadn’t realized they were werewolves. That had come later. In the end, he’d realized the only way to save his brother was to join him and somehow create the opportunity to drag his brother’s ass to safety. So he’d popped a fairy cherry and ended up naked in a barn with werewolf Aladdin.
While he was ruminating on that, he drank the sports drink and waited for his lightheadedness to clear.
Then Laddin settled in next to him. Bruce hadn’t even realized how chilly it was until he felt Laddin’s arm around his naked shoulders and the heat as their thighs pressed against each other.
“You’re cold,” Laddin said as he disentangled the sweatpants from Bruce’s grip, then draped them across Bruce’s legs. It wasn’t enough to cover him, but it helped, especially as Laddin pressed his cheek to Bruce’s shoulder as he adjusted the makeshift blanket.
Then they sat there while Bruce slowly sipped his drink. He wanted to chug it down, but his stomach was churning, and queasiness dogged every breath. He sipped while Laddin squeezed his shoulder with one hand and made cooing sounds at the hissing barn cat.
“Come here, puss. I won’t hurt you. I just want to pet you.”
“It probably has fleas,” Bruce grumbled.
“For all you know, you could have fleas,” Laddin countered in a teasing tone.
The cat sniffed at Laddin for a moment, then turned on its tail and stalked away. Laddin sighed in disappointment, and Bruce couldn’t help but remember all the times his sister, Ivy, had begged for a cat. She’d never gotten to keep one, but that hadn’t stopped her from trying to get one, including bringing a kitten home from a neighbor as a Christmas gift.
That had not gone well for anyone—especially the kitten. Bruce shuddered at the memory of his sister’s tearstained cheeks as she watched their father toss the tiny cat out into the snow. Bruce had managed to sneak out and rescue it a half hour later, quietly taking it back to the neighbor, but that had been a long, awful thirty minutes for everyone. And the beating he’d earned from his father afterward hadn’t been fun either.
Now, Laddin leaned his head back against the straw bale. “The cats probably know we’re werewolves. They probably have some sort of instinct to keep away from us.”
Bruce didn’t comment. He was still waiting on his blood sugar to stabilize, while being ridiculously mesmerized by the feeling of having Laddin’s arm across his shoulders and the idle way that Laddin stroked a couple of fingers through his hair. It didn’t feel sexual. Well, not much. It was more like the way a kid would pet a cat. Since the feline had run away, Laddin was petting Bruce instead. Normally he’d hate it, but he wasn’t feeling so great, and the caress was soothing. And when Laddin’s fingers touched the back of his neck, he shivered in delight. That really ought to have set off all sorts of alarms in his thoughts, but honestly, it just felt nice.
He closed his eyes and let his head drop forward, giving Laddin better access to his neck and shoulders. There was lots of skin there to caress, and the guy seemed all too willing to touch him.
“I’ve got good news and bad news,” Laddin said, his voice slightly breathless. “Which do you want first?”
Neither, but it didn’t sound like he had a choice. “Hit me with the bad stuff.”
Laddin nodded, but instead of speaking, he twisted around such that he was half hugging Bruce. He dropped his chin on Bruce’s shoulder, and his free landed gently on Bruce’s thigh. It was warm and squeezed down hard enough to be felt through the thick sweatpants. And damn if the nearness of that pressure didn’t make certain other parts of him perk up.
Hell. He was getting a boner. He couldn’t possibly be that hard up. Sure, Mr. Sunshine was attractive. And the man made him smile—inside—and that was more anybody ever had. But still….
Rather than dwell on those thoughts, he shifted to look Laddin in the eye. “You’re not talking.”
“I hate giving bad news.”
“You’d rather give it after, then, and kill the happy one?”
Laddin’s lips curved. “I usually solve the problem first, then say I’ve fixed it. In this case, I have some ideas, but I’m not absolutely sure. Do you want to know what ‘the problem’ is?”
“Yes.”
Laddin blew out a breath that skated across Bruce’s chin and heated him enough that his nipples tightened. Bruce didn’t move. It would draw too much attention to it if he covered up. But damn if his chest didn’t tingle in a really embarrassing way.
“Your body isn’t handling coming back to being human very well.” Then, before Bruce could ask, Laddin rushed on to reassure him. “Overall you’re doing great. I mean, there’s a one-in-three survival rate for new recruits, so by that standard, you’re doing amazing.”
“One in three?” he echoed, the idea terrifying.
“Yeah. But the odds get worse when you count the ones who can’t come back to human well.”
“Like me.”
Laddin winced. “Maybe like you. I’m still hoping the electrolytes will help. Gelpack could probably stabilize you, but he isn’t here.” He slanted Bruce a sidelong look. “We weren’t expecting you.”
Because he’d gone the fairy-fruit route. “Who’s Gelpack?”
“You’ll meet him later, but be careful. He’s kind of like a clown. You’ll either like him or he’ll haunt your nightmares.” Then Laddin brightened
