CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER11

NOAH

I clung on to Lucas, with my arms wrapped around his waist and my belly did an excited flip as we sped away.

I watched the houses and trees whipping past in a rush. I could feel the wind against my neck and wished I could take my helmet off and feel it brushing through my hair, but that would be dangerous.

It felt good to hold onto Lucas, wrapping my arms around him and holding him tightly. I could feel the hard strength in his body as he controlled the bike. The corners were fun, the bike would lean to the side as we swung around the bend.

We made it to the bookstore all too quickly for my liking, but I was looking forward to the ride home at the end of the day.

"That was exhilarating!" I said as I took my helmet off and handed it to Lucas.

He chuckled at my obvious excitement. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. If you think that was fun, you'll love running through the forest as a wolf."

"Is it similar?" I asked, feeling some nerves about my upcoming first shift.

"Better. Wolves can run incredibly fast and our senses are heightened, so everything feels more intense. Including fucking," Lucas said, adding a wink at the end.

I hadn't considered the possibility of fucking each other as wolves. I'd barely had a chance to consider fucking him as a human yet.

"Um… okay. Let's tackle the human side of the relationship first," I said, feeling suddenly skittish.

"Oh, I've been upgraded to a relationship," Lucas joked.

"Shut up," I snickered as I walked to the store, Lucas following closely behind.

I unlocked the store and let us in then walked to the counter to start up the computer. I watched Lucas as he wandered around, observing all the shelves and titles.

The computer screen lit up and I entered the password.

"What would you like for breakfast? My treat," Lucas offered.

I looked up and saw him looking at me with a smile that gave me butterflies.

Damn, I've got it bad.

"Oh, thank you. Um, I'll have a bacon and cheese croissant and a latte please."

Lucas went upstairs while I logged in and got the computer ready for the day. I printed out the list of online orders that I had received overnight and logged into my email.

Lucas returned shortly with our breakfast so we cozied up on the couch. It was quite small and with Lucas being so large, it forced us to sit close. The side of his body was pressed tightly to mine and I was hyper aware of his body heat and his scent.

We sat in comfortable silence as we ate breakfast. I put the last bit of my croissant in my mouth and took a deep inhale through my nose and noticed something.

I had no idea why I could smell it now when my nose wasn't pressed to his neck like earlier.

"You said that I'm already a werewolf, even though I haven't shifted yet, right?" I asked in between bites of my breakfast.

Lucas nodded, "Mm hm," he hummed as he finished a mouthful of bagel, "that's right. Why do you ask?"

"Well, you said earlier that wolves have more intense senses. Does that mean my senses will become more sensitive before my first shift?"

"Why do I get the feeling you're skirting around something? What have you noticed?"

"I can smell you."

"Really?" Lucas asked, turning a smirk toward me and humor dancing in his eyes.

I knew bringing this up would get that kind of reaction, hence why I was ‘skirting around' the topic.

"So, you can smell my scent?"

"No. You stink of BO," I muttered sarcastically, unsuccessfully trying to deflect.

He released a full bellied laugh. "No, I don't. You, can smell my scent, can't you?"

"Fine. Yes, I can."

"And you like it."

"You really are a cocky bastard, you know that?"

"I do. Doesn't change the fact that my scent is doing it for you. Is it turning you on Noah?" he asked with an obscene amount of confidence that both aroused and infuriated me.

"Ugh. You're so frustrating," I muttered and made a move to get up but he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me down, pinning me onto the couch with the length of his body.

"Your scent turns me on too," he purred, taking a quick swipe of the bite on my neck and creating a flash of pleasure that disappeared just as quickly as it started. "Take a deep inhale of my neck, tell me what you smell," Lucas instructed.

"Why do I get the feeling you're just trying to get into my pants?"

He chuckled. "I'd love to, but this is not the place I'd like to do it. I'm trying to help you tune into your senses. Now, take a whiff," he said, baring his neck and lowering it in front of my face.

I raised my head and sniffed, running my nose up the length of his neck and breathing in deeply. My body involuntarily shuddered with delight. He smelled intoxicating.

Lucas moaned. "Me too, baby. Now, tell me what you smell," he asked, lifting his head to stare into my eyes.

"Something musky, but something else too that I can't place, maybe citrusy?"

"Very good. You'll be able to pick up more specific notes in my scent when you're in wolf form but I'm impressed, your body is adapting quickly," he murmured, pride evident in his expression.

I felt a swell of pleasure that he was proud, like I wanted to please and impress him. It was an odd feeling and I wasn't so sure I liked it. It was confusing.

"Okay, I better get to work," I announced, pushing at his shoulders to try and get up. He let me, because I had no nope in hell of actually being able to move the mountain of a werewolf on top of me. "What are your plans for the day?"

Lucas stood up, clearing away our breakfast containers and putting them in the bin. "Well, since I'm allowed in your store now, I'll hang out here with you. Is there anything I can do to help you today?"

"Hmm, not really. It's mostly office work but you can read anything you like while you hang out here. What kind of books do you like?"

"Um… I don't know. I haven't read for pleasure since I was a kid, I really don't have much time anymore since the pack requires so much of my attention. What would you recommend?"

I found a few of my favorite titles, handing them to Lucas so he could read the blurbs on the back. He ended up choosing a mystery novel set in the Victorian era and settled himself on the couch.

While he got comfortable with that, I got started packaging books that had been ordered overnight, getting them ready for postage.

I sent a txt message to my friend Felix who works in the post office. He's a big fan of fantasy fiction, a lot of them about werewolves ironically, and he often places orders with me. His most recent order had arrived and was ready for him to collect.

Felix walked into the store half an hour later, the perks of living in a tiny rural town meant all the shops were within walking distance.

"Morning Noah," Felix said.

Lucas' head snapped up the moment he heard Felix enter and stood up to greet him. "Felix, good to see you again."

Felix spun around to face Lucas. "Lucas… hi, good to see you too," Felix said with surprise as Lucas approached. He dwarfed Felix in size.

"I didn't realize you two know each other?" I asked, feeling a little befuddled.

"Lucas came into the store when he was looking for you after your hike. Obviously, he found you," Felix said, looking toward me and wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and mouthing ‘he's so hot!'

I chuckled. Felix was perpetually horny and would climb any hot guy he could. He spent an obscene amount of time chatting online and having skype sex with randoms on the internet. The hardships of being gay in a small town.

We'd fooled around once but decided we didn't have that kind of chemistry and settled on being friends. He's a few years younger than me and from what I'd heard, he and Liam, our friend who is close to his age and also Felix's roommate, had started a friends with benefits arrangement.

"So, you two met on a hike then?"

"Yeah, Noah got a little lost and strayed from the path, so I came to his rescue," Lucas said with a smirk, walking around to put his arm around me and hold me close.

Pfft. Something came but it wasn't rescue.

"Really? Do you go hiking a lot then?" Felix asked.

I could see the wheels turning in his head.

"Felix, I know what you're thinking, don't go hiking in the woods to look for single men. It's a terrible idea, and dangerous," I warned.

"Why not, it worked for you!" Felix said, gesturing toward Lucas.

"That's debatable," I muttered.

Lucas growled.

I chuckled. It was too much fun to wind him up.

I picked up Felix's book, put it in a bag and handed it to him. "Okay, here's your book. Please don't go hiking and if you absolutely refuse to listen to me, don't go alone!"

" Fine … I won't go alone. Tootles!" he said as he turned and skipped up the steps.

"Oh god," I muttered, shaking my head.

After Felix's visit, Lucas got settled on the couch again and seemed to get very engrossed in the book I'd recommended.

He hadn't spoken a word by the time my stomach started rumbling for lunch.

"Are you hungry, Lucas?"

"Hmm."

I laughed. He was in a completely different world now. "Lucas?"

"Yeah," he mumbled.

"Are you hungry?"

"Mm," he murmured, still staring at the pages.

I walked over and plucked the book from his hands and he blinked up at me, startled. "I asked if you are hungry."

"Did you? Oh, what time is it?"

"Good book then?" I asked, smirking.

"It's amazing!"

"I'm glad you like it. I was going to go get some lunch, I'm starving," I said, I took the book over to the counter to find a bookmark and placed it at the spot he was up to. "There, now you can pick up where you left off after lunch," I said, showing him the bookmark and placing the book on the counter.

"Great. Yeah, lunch sounds good. Let's go out, we can go for a walk and get some fresh air," he suggested.

I placed a ‘back in 30 minutes' sign on the door and locked up. We walked to the diner a few blocks away and ordered lunch. I ordered the Lasagna and he ordered a steak with all the fixings.

Lucas and I talked about the book and he completely lit up. He was so animated with his opinions of the characters and shocked at some of the twists and turns of the plotline. I loved seeing him get so passionate about it and sharing with him a glimpse into my world.

On the walk back, Lucas took hold of my hand, threading our fingers together. It gave my stomach a little excited flip. I could sense Lucas looking over at me and I tried to hide my smile but failed.

It felt good. Really good.

At first, I thought having Lucas in the shop all day would have been awkward but it was actually really nice.

Once he was settled with a good book, he became quite a comforting presence. He'd look up when someone came into the store and sometimes engage in conversation with them, but generally, it was a pretty relaxed day.

Until it wasn't.