17. Tony

“No. It’s related to what I showed you last time you were in the car.”

His head edged closer to mine, and I didn’t pull away. I tasted his breath and longed for my tongue to be inside him. My eyes blinked rapidly as he fixed his gaze on me and parted his lips. The tip of his tongue poked out. My cock swelled, leaving little room in my pants, the zipper pressing on the shaft.

I ignored the discomfort, concentrating on Flint’s lips, and wondering if we kissed would it hurt my lip. When we last met, he was my kidnapper. So what was this? Who were we to one another and was I tempted by the undercurrent of danger that he brought with him? I was apprehensive of what might happen next.

The air in the car heated up as we both panted, our chests heaving. My body was saying, “Yes,” as he leaned in to me, his lips a hair’s breadth from mine. Goosebumps flared on my skin, rippling over me, their spiky heads making me shiver.

“Tony.” He extended a hand toward me. I didn’t flinch, and he brushed hair from my brow while I enjoyed the warmth of his fingertips.

“Flint.”

A garbage truck beeped at a car blocking its path, the noise freaked me out, and I pulled away.

“Fuck that shit. I should freaking well send Emilio after those guys,” he bellowed.

He’d broken the spell, and I picked up my pack, needing to get out of this small space.

“I’m sorry for my outburst.”

That was a first.

“Please, Tony. I beg you. Hear me out.”

A faint gray dawn edged around the buildings as people jogged past and others walked their dogs. Early-bird workers tucked their briefcases under their arms while chatting on the phone and drinking their first coffee of the day.

“I can show you what I need to and have you back in an hour.”

Sixty minutes with Flint. No handcuffs, no gun pointed at my face. I could do that.

“Fine, but no weird shit, and I need a coffee.” I rolled my tongue over my teeth. “And some mouthwash.”

“Stinky breath doesn’t matter to me.”

“Really?” I leaned back and studied him. “So if Emilio got in, breathing garlic in your face, it wouldn’t bother you?”

A smile tugged at his lips. “I’d tell him to get the fuck away and brush his dammed teeth.”

I grinned. “So why’d you lie?” I nibbled a nail and waited.

“Didn’t. Can we not talk about Emilio, please.”

“Fine,” I agreed. “He’s not my favorite person.” I rubbed my bottom lip that was almost healed.

“He’s a good man, and remember, he knew your father.”

“Getting back to foul breath, whose would you put up with?” I was daring him to say what I thought he was going to say. “Your dad? Brothers? That ass who stood up at the meeting?”

“No, nope, and no.”

“Then who?” This reminded me of a kids song, one of those never-ending ones. Or was it a beer-drinking ditty? “You have to spill or I won’t come with you.”

“Someone I met recently. We didn’t meet under the best of circumstances. This person really annoys me part of the time. I want to shake some sense into them because they have no self-preservation skills.”

Wow! He really said it. Or almost. I wanted to hear the rest. “And the other part?” My harsh breathing punctuated the stillness in the car, and my heart was thudding so loudly it sounded like the pile driver in the empty allotment next to my building.

“No matter how stinky his breath was, I’d smother his face and every nook and cranny on his body with kisses for now and always.”

My mouth opened, slowly, dropping lower until my chin touched my chest. Mixed emotions welled up inside me. If he was talking about me, what the freaking hell? He kidnapped me. But but but… his words were so heartfelt, and there was a tremor in his voice, as if he was barely containing his passion. My heart constricted.

But what if he was thinking of someone else? The green monster reared its head, and I clenched my fist and pounded it into my palm, wanting to punch the guy, whoever he was.

“Oh.”

He turned on the ignition and pulled out without looking, his security detail scrambling to catch us. I would have snarked that I’d like to be alive at the end of the trip, but his words were zinging around my head. When I finally focused on where we were headed, we were outside the city, and I guessed on the road to his place.

Unlike the first and second times I’d arrived, I noted the gate clanging shut behind us and didn’t dread what lay ahead. The security guards appeared and were swallowed by the undergrowth as we passed. The driveway, the bushes shaped like animals. I half expected it to look different, but it had only been four days.

Flint didn’t park in the garage but left the car in the front of his home. I leaped out, pleased I could unlock my own door, and he pointed to the woods at the back of the house.

“You’ll keep your promise, right?” The woods were scary.

“Absolutely.”

We walked in silence through the brush, dead leaves cracking under our feet, and our presence disturbed a flock of birds on a high branch. They flew off, their wings creating shadows on the forest floor.

Flint paused at a fallen log and invited me to sit while he stood a ways away. He unbuttoned his jacket and dropped it on the ground before addressing me.

“You saw something in me that day of the meeting.”

I nodded. I got the feeling this was going to be a magic show and I was the audience. Why we had to be in the woods was odd, but I was willing to find out.

“Long ago…” His voice trailed away, and he pursed his lips. I was enjoying the view of his narrow hips and the significant bulge at his crotch. “No, that’s not right. The people in La Luna Noir…”

“I’ve always wanted to correct the name.”

“Not now, Tony. I’ll explain later.”

That was one of his most-used words. Later.

I’d find out later. He’d tell me later. All would be revealed later.

I pressed my knees together and rested my hands in my lap. “Over to you.”

“My people are different to you.”

“I didn’t need to traipse out here for you to tell me that. You and your people,” I put the last two words in air quotes, “are mobsters, and I’m not.”

He sighed. “Okay. No more talk. I’ll show you.”

I clapped. Where was popcorn when I needed it? I should have brought the snacks from the car.

Flint toed off his shoes and yanked off his socks. Maybe the soles of his feet were hardened, but there were big owies on the forest floor. But his hands went to his belt, and I recalled horror stories where kids were beaten with a man’s belt. I wiped my clammy palms on my pants as a feeling of unease expanded in my tummy.

But if he was going to drop his pants, I’d stay where I was and not take off back to the house before getting a look at what was underneath.

Oh gods, they puddled onto the ground and he was wearing briefs, not boxers. Tight briefs that left nothing to the imagination. I swallowed hard and swallowed a second time as he removed his holster. That he treated with reverence, and he laid it carefully on the ground. Next came his shirt. Instead of undoing every button, he ripped the shirt apart, and the buttons tumbled onto the ground, probably lost forever.

“I’m not looking for those.”

“Okay,” he said so softly I almost didn’t make out the words.

He stood, clad only in his briefs, and I wanted to chant, “Take them off. Take them off,” but I couldn’t wrap my head around why he was doing this.

“I won’t touch you,” he said.

I gulped, wondering what he was going to do, but he slid his underwear over his thighs, and I leaped to my feet, a fist in my mouth as his huge dick bounded out and pointed at me. It was a thing of beauty, pink and hard and nestled in a patch of dark curly hair.

What was I supposed to do with that? Look away? Tell him how gorgeous it was? Stroke it? Run like hell? Maybe all of the above?

But the pink dick vanished along with anything that resembled Flint or a human being. There were big pointed ears, fur, a snout, and a tail. Not a dog but a wolf. A magnificent gray, white, and black wolf. This was the creature he’d shown me in the car to scare me, shut me up, or both.

I rubbed my eyes with my fists, but the wolf was still there. I blinked. Nope, still there. “Can you speak?” If this was a fairytale come to life, we could have a chat.

But the creature padded toward me, and I backed up until my legs bashed into the log. “Don’t come any closer.” I waggled a finger at the wild animal. While I didn’t know how to fend off a wolf, I was pretty sure waving a finger in its face wasn’t it.

My head was crammed with ideas, images of Flint from my dreams and the wolf’s fangs which were dripping with saliva.

“Flint,” I called. “Come back. I’ve seen enough. I need you. There’s a big bad wolf.”

The wolf snarled. “Okay, he’s not bad, he’s just a big oversized puppy who wants to play.”

The wolf nodded and vanished, the fur whizzing past my face as the animal turned into Flint. Human brains weren’t prepared for people who became animals, and I couldn’t fathom what or who he was. The only reference I had was a werewolf.

No! He was never going to kill me but turn me instead.

“I thought your kind only appeared at the full moon.”

He took a step toward me, hand outstretched, his cock still at attention. “I’m not a werewolf. They don’t exist.”

“Ha!” There was rustling in the bushes caused by my shriek and more birds took off. “You turned into a wolf and I’m supposed to believe you about werewolves. Also, stay back. I don’t want to be bitten.”

Shoot. The bite on my shoulder. I rubbed it.

“It’s too late. You already did.”