9. Only One Bed

9

ONLY ONE BED

Wren woke up in a warm, comfortable cocoon that felt so safe, he didn't want to get out.

He closed his eyes and tried to enjoy it. Except his body twitched, and he bumped into something large and solid behind him.

On instinct, he froze. He'd never woken up with... a person in his bed before. Because that had to be what the shape was, stretching from his shoulders all the way down to his legs, pressed against his own body like a dream.

Heart thumping, he risked a peek. The covers had been kicked off. A lightly-furred arm was wrapped around his waist. Hot breath fluttered against his neck. Something hard pressed against the back of his thigh.

And he was completely naked.

Wren yelped, his insides clenching—only to squeeze around something in his ass. A plug.

Memories crashed into him then: a king-sized bed, showering, Fang's plug, and just... Fang.

Fang feeding him, holding him, watching him. Fang telling him to go back to sleep while he himself got out of bed to comfort Steffie.

And now Fang was wrapped around him, cradling Wren like they were lovers.

He flushed hot. He must've made a sound; Fang shifted, pressing his nose into Wren's hair as he fitted their bodies snug together.

That hard thing slid between Wren's thighs, and Wren realized suddenly what it was.

Right as he made another sound, Fang rolled his hips, pushing his cock deeper between Wren's legs.

Oh gods. It's so big! Thick, heavy, blunt and smooth.

What would it feel like inside him?

"Mmmm," Fang groaned, his arm tightening around Wren. He gave several slow, toe-curling thrusts that made Wren's mouth go dry.

Except Fang stopped moving, his breathing growing deeper. When Wren peeked over his shoulder, he found Fang with his eyes wide open, his gaze locked on where they were joined.

"Sorry," Fang rasped, his voice sleep-rough. He withdrew his arm from Wren's waist and leaned away, his cock leaving Wren's thighs in a rush of sinful friction.

Wren fought down his disappointment. "You don't want to cuddle with me?"

Those grey-green eyes flicked back up to his. "I was trying to be... appropriate."

Wren squirmed around to face him fully, looking between their equally-naked bodies. "I think we're way past being appropriate. Besides, we're on your side of the bed."

Fang frowned. "I don't remember dragging you halfway across the bed."

"It's probably my fault." Wren cringed. "I might have shuffled over while I was sleeping."

"Was this something you disliked?"

Wren shook his head quickly. "I liked it."

Fang's smile grew. "I would like to continue this, but we should get going. Traffic's lighter earlier in the day."

He sat up and swung his legs off the bed, his back muscles resplendent, his ass firm and muscular. His cock jutted up demandingly, commanding attention. When he turned around to shut the bathroom door, Wren yanked his gaze away—except Fang must've seen him ogling, because he grinned.

Wren was so great at being sneaky. Not.

"Thanks for helping with Steffie last night," Wren mumbled. Could Fang hear him from inside the bathroom?

He stood to go over to the crib, pausing when Fang's plug nudged against his inner walls. That really wasn't appropriate for daytime stuff. Wren blushed and gently worked it out of himself, laying the heavy shape on the bed. He pulled on his clothes from yesterday.

At the crib, Steffie made searching sounds, trying to pull herself to standing. Wren's heart overflowed. He swept off the muffling spell and scooped her out of the crib, cuddling her close. "You're doing so great, hon."

Steffie smiled guilelessly and grabbed his nose.

"Did you say thank you to Fang? We say thank you when someone does something nice for us. I hope you didn't wake him up more than once."

He pressed his nose into her hair and sniffed her sweet scent, just savoring her weight in his arms. While he did that, he heated some water in the microwave for her formula.

Fang stepped out of the bathroom after a while, water dripping off his hair, his chest glistening. At least he was wearing pants.

When Fang's gaze searched out Wren, Wren ducked his head, suddenly shy.

"She didn't wake up a second time," Fang said.

Wren's blush scorched his face. He squawked. "You heard me?"

Fang smirked. "I hear quite a bit. And I smell quite a bit, too."

"L-like what?"

"Like your discomfort. Your arousal. Your—" He paused, his gaze flicking to the abandoned plug on the bed. "That. Why did you take it out?"

Wren frowned. "I can't wear that and hold Steffie!"

Fang's gaze turned considering. "All right. But tonight, I'll put a new set into you."

"A-a new set?" Wren squeaked.

"Bigger ones."

"Oh, gods."

Fang glanced at Steffie, his mouth pulling into a grin. "Let's change the subject."

"To—To what?"

Fang shrugged and pulled on a fresh shirt.

"Why didn't you cuddle me in bed at first?" Wren blurted. "Last night, I mean. You had your hands all over me in the shower."

Fang winced. "That wasn't supposed to happen. I wanted to... take things slow."

"‘Slow,'" Wren said incredulously.

Somehow, Fang looked... sheepish? "I prefer to be romantic."

"Watching me shower is romantic?"

Fang's discomfort increased. "Hush."

Except a memory surfaced in Wren's mind. "My friends said you have a kink. The... The watching kink."

Fang bowed his head. "I'll admit that I've... wanted to watch you ever since I first set my eyes on you. Back at Blade's mansion. I wasn't sure if I could have you, so I contented myself with watching. When you asked for my help, I could not resist making it my payment."

Wren blushed. "You may watch me whenever you want... even after the trip."

Fang's grin was sharp and dangerous. "I appreciate it, Birdie."

Wren's heart skipped at the nickname.

"C'mon, time to pack up," Fang said. He took Wren's warm water out of the microwave and put in the leftover burrito, before collapsing Steffie's travel crib.

"Eh!" Steffie cried, reaching for Fang.

"That soon?" Wren asked, confused. "You don't even know Fang all that well."

When Fang looked over, his eyebrows shot up. Then he smiled. "Steffie likes me?"

He set down the travel crib, coming close to study her. She wriggled and reached for Fang.

"Why does she like you?" Wren blurted. It had taken Steffie two weeks to get used to Wren's presence all the time, and to reach for him after Marie and her husband were murdered.

Fang blinked. Then he looked embarrassed. "I might've shown her my other form to soothe her last night."

"That's doubly unfair," Wren grumbled. "How come she gets to see it and I don't?"

"You weren't bawling your little lungs out," Fang said dryly.

Wren pouted anyway.

Fang nudged him lightly. "You'll get your turn."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Wren cheered up. Fang smiled back, and Wren let Fang hold her for a while.

Steffie grinned and kicked her legs, her little fingers grabbing at Fang's shirt. Then she sneezed. Small golden feathers fluttered onto the floor. Steffie remained human-shaped.

Fang's forehead crinkled. "Where did those come from?"

"Beats me."

Fang lifted Steffie higher and looked at her all over. Wren knew he wouldn't find any feathers; he'd tried to look himself, the first time it happened. She'd either remain a fully-human baby when she sneezed, or turn into a fluffy little bird.

Hopefully she wouldn't turn into a bird at all this trip.

To distract himself, Wren turned his attention to Fang. Fang looked really, really good with a baby in his arms.

Wren's insides ached.

He prepared Steffie's formula and took her back from Fang so she could feed. Fang loaded their things into his car.

The burrito smelled amazing when the microwave was done. Wren eyed it—only to have Fang grab the burrito and unwrap it, offering it to him.

Since Steffie was only too happy to hold her own bottle, Wren got to take a few bites of the burrito before Steffie began reaching for it.

"She definitely knows where the good food is," Fang said.

"She just doesn't want to miss out." Wren huffed, grabbing the plastic spoon Fang held out so he could feed Steffie some rice from the burrito.

They left the motel after splitting what remained of the burrito, heading to a fast food place.

"The Big Breakfast is my favorite," Wren moaned. "It used to be such a treat when I was a kid."

"Yeah?"

"My parents took me and Marie out for breakfast on our birthdays. We'd each get something from here, and the Big Breakfast is a huge plate when you're a kid."

Fang's smile grew. "You really like that."

"Don't tell me you can say no to scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage, and toasted English muffins."

"I'm partial to the pancakes myself."

"With syrup?"

Fang shook his head. "With butter and grape jelly."

"That's blasphemy. How can you not drench it in syrup?"

"That's just sugar-soaked cake," Fang said with an amused smile.

"That's the way it's supposed to be!" Wren cried. "Every mouthful with syrup oozing onto your tongue."

"Would you like some syrup with a side of pancakes?" Fang snorted.

Wren chewed his lip. "Steffie might like one."

Fang gave him a look that said he totally knew it was an excuse. "All right."

They pulled into the drive-thru lane. In a town this small, there weren't many restaurants at all, but there were a couple of large-chain fast food places.

Wren's heart skipped a beat when Fang handed him two large paper bags of food. There were several wrapped sandwiches that Fang had ordered for himself—egg and ham, sausage and cheese, even a couple stuffed full with bacon, hash browns, egg, and fried chicken.

"I've never held this much food in my life," Wren said, handing one of the sandwiches to Fang.

Fang unwrapped it deftly with one hand on the wheel; Wren hesitated.

"Um, I can unwrap that for you," Wren said. "So you can focus on driving."

Fang grinned. "Nothing I haven't done before. But you can unwrap the next ones."

Wren couldn't help but stare as Fang tucked his half-eaten sandwich between his thighs. With one hand on the steering wheel, Fang grabbed his coffee for a sip, then went back to his sandwich. He didn't take his eyes off the road the entire time.

"How did you get so good at that?"

"I drifted for a while after I left my pack," Fang murmured. "Took up several odd jobs everywhere. I was a trucker for a while."

"Were you lonely?"

Fang glanced sideways at him. "A little. But I had to do it."

"Why?"

"I'll tell you that some other time." Fang took another bite, groaning. "This is pretty good. I would've taken you to a local restaurant, but I don't want to hang around in town. There were people sniffing around the car last night."

Wren's stomach tightened. "There were?"

"I smelled strangers close to it. But I checked it all over for tracking devices. Don't worry too much."

Wren couldn't help but worry, though.

"Birdie," Fang said after three songs had played on the radio. "Eat. Your food's getting cold and soggy."

"I guess." Wren pushed his anxiety to the back of his mind, pulling out his box of food. Even after so many years, he couldn't help but smile when he saw his Big Breakfast spread out like a feast. He knew it was fast food. But the scrambled egg was warm and fluffy, the sausage savory, and the English muffin was chewy between his teeth.

When Wren was done and Fang had gone through four sandwiches, Fang said, "Would you mind buttering some pancakes for me?"

"I'll do it." Wren opened one of the boxes of pancakes, carefully smearing butter onto every pancake. "Grape jelly, too?"

"Please." After a while, Fang huffed. "You didn't have to spread it all the way to the edges."

"I have to! I hate it when a PB sandwich has empty corners and edges. You'll get tasteless bites like that. Why would anyone do that to themselves?"

Fang's smile was wolfish. "That only happens when you take dainty bites, Birdie. Things like that don't matter when you bite off enough to taste the middle."

"My mouth isn't that big."

"Oh, I am very aware."

And now Fang's teeth looked sharp. Wren flushed, surprised that he didn't feel the least bit unnerved. "You've been looking at my mouth?"

"Imagining what I can fit in there."

Wren blushed.

Fang set his pile of pancakes on his lap, rolling up the first pancake with his fingers and shoving the entire thing into his mouth.

"What a big mouth you have," Wren blurted.

Fang barked a laugh. "All the better to taste you with."

They pulled over after a while, so Wren could get into the back seat to check on Steffie and give her a plain pancake. Steffie tore it apart and flung aside more pancake than she put into her mouth.

"She looks adorable when she eats," Wren said fondly.

"I'm sure she looks adorable all the time."

Wren didn't know what to do with this information, that Fang thought babies were adorable. It made his ovaries ache even more. "I think I forgot to say this, but... Thanks for getting all those supplies for Steffie. It's a lot."

Fang smiled. "I wanted to make sure that you and Steffie want for nothing."

"Surely watching me do... things isn't worth that much."

Fang rumbled. "You underestimate yourself, Birdie. Tell me when you're ready to sit up front again."

He met Wren's gaze through the rearview mirror, his eyes dark and hooded. A hot shiver went down Wren's spine.

Wren sang to Steffie and rocked her in his arms. When she dozed off, Wren buckled her into her child seat, and Fang pulled the car over on a wide road shoulder.

Fang was watching, too, when Wren climbed back into the passenger seat.

Instead of turning back onto the road immediately, Fang reached over to straighten Wren's shirt. His large fingers smoothed over Wren's chest, slow and deliberate, passing over the bumps of his nipples. His gaze dropped to Wren's lips.

"I like it when you smell like me," Fang murmured.

"You... This is you leaving your scent on me."

"More of my scent. You already have some from last night on your skin. But your clothes smell only like you right now."

Wren's heart skipped a beat. "You're... welcome to touch up the scents."

Fang grinned. "Anywhere?"

Wren blushed. "Anywhere."

Fang glanced in the rearview mirror. "She's asleep."

And he grasped Wren's lower thigh, slowly sliding his palm higher and higher, catching Wren's inseam with his nails.

Wren stopped breathing. His hand is so close to my cock.

"I'm surprised no one has claimed you for themselves," Fang murmured. "You would make an exquisite mate."

"No one has tried," Wren admitted.

"Their loss." Fang brushed his fingertips over Wren's bulge, pressing hard enough that Wren squirmed. "This will be mine."

"H-how are you going to make it yours?"

Wren wasn't prepared for the way Fang covered his bulge with his entire hand, giving him a light squeeze. His hips jerked up helplessly.

"We'll see, won't we?" Fang grinned and ran his thumb up and down Wren's growing length. "Step out of the car."