Devon's Gamble (Wolves' Heat) Read online

  Devon startled, unintentionally jerking against Green-eyes’ hold on his arm.

  Green-eyes buried his nose against Devon’s collar, sniffing deeply, running his nose up along the side of Devon’s neck, pushing Devon’s head back in a way that exposed the vulnerable column of flesh at Devon’s throat.

  Shit.

  Devon swallowed, feeling the muscles tighten as his head went back as far as it would go and the wolf’s smooth cheek rubbed against the grain of Devon’s growing beard. He hadn’t had a shave in over a week.

  Another deep sniff and then Green-eyes licked him, tongue warm and wet, teeth scraping. Devon hissed out his breath between clenched teeth.

  Yep. This was not a precursor to a questioning; this was foreplay.

  Only Devon’s dick wasn’t all that interested at the moment, and Green-eyes seemed to know it.

  He pulled back and his eyes flickered over Devon’s face as Devon lowered his chin.

  The wolves had brought advanced learning technology with them to Earth and Devon had learned the wolves’ language like most everyone else in that first year, but his grasp of the wolves’ language wasn’t great, and even if it had been, there were so many words with meanings that didn’t translate well that half the time what did translate didn’t make any sense.

  But he recognized the words when Green-eyes spoke to his companions, never taking his eyes off Devon, “He smells like alpha’s human. Fascinating … sharp.”

  Devon leaned his head to the side and took a big whiff of his underarm, and shit, he stank to high heaven. Fear and uncertainty had a rank scent and being locked in a basement for three days with wolves at the door had put a certain twang behind his smell. There was a half-bathroom in the corner, but obviously his morning sponge bath hadn’t been all that helpful.

  The wolf beside Green-eyes put his hand on Green-eyes’ shoulder.

  Green-eyes gave an aborted growl that vibrated up from his chest in a sound that was unique to the wolves and which sent a sharp prickle over Devon’s skin. The sound must have served as a warning because the other wolf removed his hand and stepped aside, a few feet further away. He wasn’t the only wolf who gave Green-eyes more space.

  “You should choose another,” the wolf said. “Choosing him because he smells like Alpha’s human is dangerous.”

  Devon felt the way Green-eyes’ fingers tightened around his arm.

  “This one,” Green-eyes said. “His scent has lingered in my thoughts since we caught him sneaking through our woods. Alpha said to pick one to mate before the drugs wear off. This one will do.”

  “I’ll do?” Devon asked. “What the hell does that mean? If you’ve picked me out of the crowd for the reason I think, at least act like I’m something special.”

  “Are you sure?” another of the wolves asked, one who didn’t seem nearly as close to the edge of control as Green-eyes. “He seems very—”

  “I want him. He’ll submit,” Green-eyes said. “Or he’ll die.”

  “Shit,” Devon said.

  Green-eyes’ nostrils flared on an indrawn breath and he locked his hard stare on Devon once again. “He’s intelligent. His scent is compelling.” The wolf’s brow furrowed over his straight, thin nose, and then suddenly he was addressing Devon. “You’ll submit.”

  Devon licked his bottom lip. “Sure. I’ll submit. I’m not ready to die today.”

  “You know what the human scent does to us right now. It’s not our fault you’re here. If we’d left you in the woods, a rogue pack might have found you. Only the Diviners know what your fate might have been. Just tonight Alpha stopped three from attacking one of you. They were already in a frenzy when he caught their scent.”

  Devon decided to keep his mouth shut lest he start an argument that got him more than he wanted right now. But it certainly wasn’t his fault the wolves had come to Earth. If not for that, he wouldn’t be here now and whoever Alpha had saved wouldn’t have needed saving.

  He might also have been looking at a short, grim future of his own, but that—he didn’t like thinking about that.

  Green-eyes put his finger under Devon’s chin and tilted Devon’s head back even though the wolf wasn’t much taller than Devon, maybe an inch or two, tops. Devon refused to break eye contact. The wolf dragged the fingers of his other hand across Devon’s throat.

  A chill raced down Devon’s spine. He swallowed uncomfortably but not even a hint of claw touched his skin. He was grateful. He might have pissed his pants if it had.

  His heart beat heavy and fast, his breath unsteady as his stomach muscles clenched with every exhale. But—he knew what to do, thanks to Ian.

  Whether he’d do it was another question.

  He had said he would. He should. Submit, he told himself harshly. Submit or you’re going to get your goddamn throat ripped out.

  That helped.

  He waited. He should have lowered his lashes, closed his eyes, or something, but Green-eyes held his gaze and Devon found that he couldn’t look away from those piercing eyes.

  “Submit,” Green-eyes said.

  Devon nodded, the movement awkward because Green-eyes didn’t move his finger from under Devon’s chin.

  “Submit,” Green-eyes said again, voice lower, a growl of sound followed by a rumbling vibration in his chest.

  The other wolves watched, their narrow eyes lit with the first hints of something other than casual disregard for Devon.

  “I—” Devon cleared his throat and tried again. “I submit. Permission granted. Let’s do this.”

  “You speak so irreverently, but I can hear the anxiety beneath your words.”

  “I’m scared shitless,” Devon said, and he meant it. Couldn’t believe he’d admitted it, but he definitely meant it.

  “You don’t have anything to fear from me as long as you submit,” Green-eyes said.

  “Got it.”

  “I already want to fight for the right to mate with you. You don’t know how much control it’s taking me not to strip you down right here and claim you for mating. But I still have enough of my reason to know how dangerous that would be, if the other wolves’ drugs wear off too soon and they catch your scent. Ashikid doesn’t have any more of the drugs left in his system than I do. If you try to fight, you won’t survive.”

  “Yeah.” Devon’s voice cracked on the word and it pissed him off. He cleared his throat. “No fighting.”

  They had an audience and Devon couldn’t say he was thrilled to have his submission on display for the assholes across the room.

  Green-eyes released Devon’s arm. Devon wasn’t expecting it when Green-eyes’ hands closed on the sides of his neck and he stiffened, but Green-eyes only leaned forward and stuck his nose right up against Devon’s ear.

  He licked Devon’s earlobe.

  Devon’s gaze flickered to the wolves beside them, and then felt a hot tongue on his skin just beneath the edge of his hair. Green-eyes tugged him closer and a thick bulge pressed against Devon’s groin.

  Shit. That was one hard dick in Green-eyes’ pants. He wondered how human it looked, felt his ass clench at the thought of riding it.

  Or would he be on his hands and knees while Green-eyes pounded him from behind?

  God Almighty. He was getting hard.

  Why the hell would he get hard thinking about an alien cock up his ass when he’d been hoping to hell and back that being stuck in a basement for the rest of the wolves’ heat season was the worst he was going to have to deal with?

  His erection had to be an uncontrolled physical reaction to the thought of sex and the feel of the thick bulge brushing against his groin every time Green-eyes shifted his mouth along Devon’s jaw and hot, moist breath fanned out over his skin.

  A cough came from somewhere in the room, but Devon couldn’t pinpoint where, because right at that moment Green-eyes jerked him closer, a low rumble escaping just before his mouth crashed down over Devon’s.

  The sudden move made him stumble over his own feet,
and Devon grabbed at Green-eyes’ upper arms. It didn’t matter if he was supposed to touch Green-eyes or not, because he couldn’t have stopped himself.

  The rumble got louder and the kiss deepened immediately and Devon reacted without thinking, opening his mouth so Green-eyes’ tongue could slide in. Green-eyes melded their mouths together like he wanted to crawl inside Devon, and the points of his teeth nicked Devon’s split lip.

  Devon hissed at the sharp little stab of pain.

  Green-eyes pulled back, clenching his hands at Devon’s waist. He stared at Devon’s mouth and Devon tried to ignore the tingle in his lips and the taste of wolf on his tongue. He’d liked that kiss. He shouldn’t have, but he had, and he couldn’t see himself complaining if Green-eyes wanted to do it again.

  Instead, Green-eyes looked at the wolf beside him, his eyes glittering and his forehead shiny with sweat. “Mine.”

  A strange inflection wrapped around the word “mine” in the wolves’ language—just another one of the many words where human understanding came up short in dealing with the wolves’ complex and nuanced language.

  Devon didn’t miss the unhappy look on the face of Green-eyes’ companion when Green-eyes said the word.

  He probably thought Devon was trouble. Most people did.

  Devon stared at the wolf, forgetting himself for a moment, too bold for his own good.

  Green-eyes deliberately curled his warm hand around the back of Devon’s neck and turned Devon’s head back to face him, and the faint prick of claws sent a shiver down Devon’s spine. But despite the feel of those claws sharp against his skin this time, he didn’t piss his pants like he’d half thought he might. He didn’t feel safe, by any means, but the wolf wanted to fuck him not kill him, and Devon could handle knowing that.

  “Don’t test my control. The repression drugs are starting to wear off.”

  “I wasn’t doing—”

  Green-eyes pressed a claw-tipped finger over Devon’s lips.

  Devon shut up.

  “It’s time to mate. If I wait any longer to fuck you, the drugs will wear off before you’re ready and I’ll hurt you. I don’t want that. Neither do you.”

  “No.” Devon took a shallow breath. He’d gambled coming into the wolves’ territory, and he’d lost, but he could handle this. He could submit.

  He hadn’t let go of Green-eyes’ arms and he clenched his fingers in the fabric of the wolf’s shirt sleeves. Just below the black cotton, warmer than human flesh brushed the edges of Devon’s hands, while Green-eyes’ piercing eyes stared straight through him.

  Shit. He was such a liar. He really didn’t know if he was going to be able to do this. What if he couldn’t submit? What if he screwed up and said something or did something that would—

  His thoughts derailed when the other wolf spoke, his voice low but firm. “You’re making a mistake,” he said. “When the drugs wear off, you’ll kill him. He doesn’t—”

  Green-eyes turned and shoved the other wolf back and roared. The rest of the wolves reacted, jumping for the wolf Green-eyes had shoved, who was already showing his teeth and raising his hand, dark claws extended.

  Devon found himself jarred to the side and then shoved hard to his knees. He threw his arms up over his head to protect his neck, got his feet under him—don’t run, don’t run, don’t run—and crouched as low as he could get.

  Visions of heat fights and mating frenzies flashed behind his eyes. The three wolves that seemed to have a good deal more control over themselves grabbed the other wolf by the arms and wrestled him back and away, and all the while Devon’s stomach churned and adrenaline pounded through his veins. Not scrambling away from the wolves was probably the hardest thing he’d ever had to do, because he had to resist his natural instincts and they were screaming at him to haul ass.

  “The drugs—” he heard one of the wolves say, and then scuffling and a loud grunt, but Devon had just glanced up from under his arms to see that Green-eyes had created a blockade between him and the other wolves so he didn’t see what had happened. Then, more words, and he heard, “—the last dose. Not enough left for them.”

  Something cracked hard against the concrete floor from the direction of the other side of the basement and Devon turned his head enough to see Lamar scuffling to get himself behind the table they’d been eating their meals at. He’d overturned the table as if he thought putting it between him and the wolves would make a difference.

  The roaring ceased, and Devon found himself wanting to laugh hysterically at Lamar’s stupid-ass move. An overturned table wasn’t going to stop a wolf, much less five of them.

  Something was going on with the drugs. Devon knew that. He remembered something Brendan had said, thought about that last batch of trackers he’d configured.

  Shit. That fucker.

  Brendan had taken out the drug supply. Either stolen it, or destroyed it, but either way, that explained what was going on here.

  The wolves didn’t have any more of their repression drugs. And Devon’s ass was the one on the line.

  He was going to break Brendan’s goddamned legs when he got out of this.

  Fingers closed tightly around Devon’s arm and Green-eyes pulled him upright.

  Devon could tell Green-eyes was breathing faster than he had been, as if he was primed for a fight. He said to the others, his accent heavier and thicker than Devon had heard it since he’d come into the basement, “I’ve chosen my heat mate. Unless you want to challenge me for him, get out of my way.”

  Devon really wanted to ask why they didn’t just fuck each other or something, instead of dragging him into this, but he decided he’d better keep his mouth shut for the moment. Maybe when this guy calmed down, he’d actually ask him. Or maybe he’d just deal, get the hell out of here, and collect his hundred gold ten-dollars.

  The other wolves inclined their heads, in a show of acceptance, except for the one Green-eyes had shoved. “If you kill him, Alpha will kill you—” He said something that was probably Green-eyes’ real name, something Devon couldn’t even begin to pronounce.

  “He’ll submit,” Green-eyes said.

  The other wolf didn’t lose his concerned look but he gave Green-eyes a short nod and then inclined his head, as if he’d done all he could and was giving up the fight.

  Submission, Devon thought. The wolves had some kind of complex, nuanced social hierarchy and customs that made not a goddamn bit of sense to him or half the humans on the planet.

  If he had to guess rank, he’d say Green-eyes was up there near the top, with the other wolf being a close second. Then the others—those who’d been guarding Devon and the rest of the humans—he wasn’t sure where they fell, but it was probably somewhere below the other two.

  Green-eyes pulled Devon along with him and headed up the stairs.

  Devon stumbled on the second step, cursed, and grabbed for the waistband of Green-eyes’ black trousers to keep from going down on his knees. Green-eyes hauled him back to his feet, his powerful arm muscles flexing, and kept climbing, not letting Devon slow him down at all.

  Devon glanced back in time to catch the gaze of the human who had kept to himself the entire time they’d shared the basement. He gave Devon an almost imperceptible nod.

  Devon frowned. He didn’t know that man and he didn’t know what the hell that signal was supposed to mean.

  He wasn’t paying attention and his elbow banged into the doorframe leading out of the basement.

  “Goddammit.” He rubbed his elbow and glared at the profile of the wolf as he staggered along beside him. When he glanced back one last time, it was to see the man had turned away and was scratching his week-old beard.

  Chapter 3

  Humans didn’t survive the kinds of fighting the wolves typically engaged in during the heat season. Wolves didn’t have to submit. They could fight, because wolves healed quickly, amazingly so, unnaturally so, some said. When humans chose to fight instead of submit, they died.

  Devon d
idn’t want to die, not to avoid a bit of fucking—okay, maybe a lot of fucking, but fucking was better than dying. If the wolf could keep it together, he probably wouldn’t hurt Devon.

  Killing the wolves had been out of the question for the governments of the world, because there were too many already on Earth, too many ships, too much advanced technology, and the wolves were doing everything they could to control the fallout from the heat season. Despite everything, there was no malice there, or so the wolves and Devon’s own government kept telling him.

  He wasn’t sure that helped him right now, even if it was true.

  He looked up at Green-eyes, standing there in front of him, staring, while Devon scooted back further onto the edge of the bed where Green-eyes had pushed him down with a hand on his shoulder.

  “You know, I don’t usually let guys fuck me if I don’t even know their names.”

  “Call me…” Green-eyes hesitated, then finished, “Call me Kem.”

  Devon wiped his palms down the front of his thighs, trying to wipe away the sticky feeling. He was too hot, too nervous, and this was going to work out very badly for him if he didn’t relax. Anal sex was never any good when he went into it too wound up. “What’s it stand for?”

  “Wentarki ah se Kem—” and a whole lot of syllables Devon couldn’t understand because they didn’t sound remotely human.

  Devon grimaced. He’d never get that accent right. “I sure as hell can’t say that.”

  “Kem,” Green-eyes repeated.

  “Got it.”

  “You’re Devon Fletcher. Which of those is your familiar name?”

  “Devon,” Devon said, surprised Green-eyes—Kem—remembered that from the day him and his fellow wolves had caught Devon out in the forest. He’d been in an area with too many tall oaks and not enough pines when they’d surrounded him. Maybe if there’d been more pines, his scent trail wouldn’t have given him away. Then again, that would have defeated the purpose.