Epilogue

GARRETT

Six months later.

T he last of the equipment that you requested came in today.” Drake hung up his jacket and set his messenger bag aside. “That should be everything you need for your lab.”

Garrett pulled his boyfriend into his arms and hugged him tight, ending with a passionate kiss. Bailey and Brian circled their legs, tails thumping, just like every night at dinnertime.

When Drake stepped back, he made sure to pet both dogs before toeing off his shoes in the entry hall. “How did you beat me home today?”

“It was quiet at the office,” Garrett said with a shrug. “Brian and Bailey helped me make the rounds, but we didn’t have any last-minute emergencies, so I spent a lot of time working up plans for the lab.”

Formulating pharmaceuticals without FDA approval was illegal. But gaining the okay from the newly-created Federal Supernatural Drug Administration gave Garrett and a couple of carefully cleared assistants the go-ahead to work on creating variants of public domain medications specially formulated for creatures with paranormal metabolisms.

“If we can prove the concept, this is going to be big.” Garrett went to the counter to dish out spaghetti and meatballs from a large pot. “Pain killers, anti-inflammatories, heart meds—if we can adjust for the differences between humans and shifters, vampires, and were-animals, we could relieve a lot of suffering and improve overall health.”

“And from the FBSI side, it also dramatically cuts demand for the illegal, unregulated paranormal pharmaceuticals, which makes dealing less profitable.” Drake poured glasses of water for them.

“If we can get approval for the quality control measures I’m working on, patients don’t have to worry about getting under-the-table crap that is dangerous or doesn’t work,” Garrett added.

“Any luck on better tests for rougarou roofies and monster meth?” Drake portioned out food for the dogs as he talked.

“I’m trying to figure out how to test for the zombie drugs like Colletta originally used on Brian,” Garrett replied. Brian didn’t flinch at the name, and Garrett was glad for him that apparently, the worst memories had been forgotten.

“That’s going to be a huge help,” Drake said. “We get shifters and creatures into custody, and we can tell something’s not right, but we don’t have good tests to figure out what, let alone being able to handle an overdose.”

“You know, I heard about drugs that could put a person under a compulsion—like the zombie legends—but it never occurred to me that would be a problem with supernatural creatures, even after I found out they existed.”

Garrett dug into his food between comments. Drake leaned in to wipe spaghetti sauce from his lips.

“How’s your network of vets in-the-know taking shape?” Drake asked as he put down food for Bailey and Brian. They ate separately and didn’t steal from each other—much.

Just in the time since that night at the carnival, Garrett could tell that Brian’s humanity was slipping away, replaced more and more by dog-ness.

Drake had found records of Brian’s human life. Hard-scrabble upbringing and petty crime had escalated to bigger things, attracting the attention of McElvoy’s mobsters. Drug running, assault, arson, grand theft, and several possible murders gave Garrett deeper understanding as to why Brian didn’t want his human life back. If he didn’t die in a gang fight or a bust, he’d have ended up in prison.

He really was a hitman. Imagine that. When Brian looked up, tongue lolling, grinning wide with his tail thumping, Garrett knew Brian had made the right choice.

Bailey had always been intrigued when Brian came into the office with Colletta, and now that he lived with them, Bailey accepted the change and made Brian his new best bud.

“I’m slowly getting quiet referrals to other vets who have been secretly treating shifters, weres, and other creatures all along.” Garrett placed bowls of salad at their places on the table. “The shifter communities have been especially helpful. And here I thought I was the only one.”

“I’m still adjusting to shifters needing a designated fake owner to take them to the vet,” Drake replied as they sat to eat. “Good thing that falsifying dog licenses isn’t a major crime.”

“Your friends who busted Swain’s operation put me in touch with a shifter community in New York that’s been very helpful.” Garrett poured ranch dressing on his salad.

“Some days, I still feel like I fell through the looking glass. I never believed supernatural things existed, and now I find out there’s a very large, well-connected community out there with all kinds of parallel services. It’s mind-blowing.”

“I’m amazed that no one’s done what you’re doing long before this,” Drake replied. “In hindsight, it’s obvious.”

“It did get done—one vet at a time, passed along by word of mouth, kept under the radar,” Garrett said. “As long as it could be excused as compounding for individual patients, they weren’t likely to have the DEA breathing down their necks. Just a little special formulation for unusual cases. Vets usually are the pharmacy for their patients for specialty medicines, so it worked—or at least, it was better than nothing.”

Garrett knew now that when it didn’t work, shifters and other creatures bought unregulated medications on the street, with all the dangers that entailed.

“You’re the perfect person to take point on this,” Drake noted with his mouth full. “You’ve got cover from FBSI in case any mundane agencies come sniffing around. You’ve got vet and pharmacy credentials, so you know what you’re doing—without needing a big lab and a bunch of experiments.”

Garrett shuddered. “Yeah, no. Experiments aren’t happening on my watch. If I need to test something, I can get consent from the subjects themselves. No one gets hauled away to a secret government lab.”

As far as his regular clinic staff knew, nothing had changed except that the creepy mobster client never came back, and Brian now lived with Garrett. He kept the lab project completely separate and secret for everyone’s safety, but his supernatural clients benefitted from the drugs he altered and what he learned in the process.

As word got around, Garrett saw an increase in shifter and were clients, with his staff none the wiser.

“I’m thinking of creating a mentoring program down the line,” Garrett said as he tore off a piece of garlic bread. “We can’t exactly open a vet school, but trial-and-error is dangerous, and it’s also dangerous to look for info on the Darke Web. The feds could be listening,” he added with a wink.

“I think that’s a great idea—but don’t forget to be home now and then.” Drake slipped his hand onto Garrett’s and stroked his knuckles.

“Oh, I have plenty of incentive to come home—especially when my secret agent boyfriend isn’t out gallivanting,” Garrett flirted shamelessly.

Drake and Clark’s territory encompassed both Moundsville and Wheeling, as well as surrounding areas. They only had to go into headquarters a couple times a month, and many of their meetings had moved to secure online platforms.

That made the decision easy for Drake to move in with Garrett. Sometimes work took him into the field for short periods, but most days, he was home at night with Garrett and the dogs, which made Garrett extremely happy and was thoroughly approved by Brian and Bailey.

“I gallivant as little as possible these days.” Drake nudged Garrett’s knee under the table.

They made quick work of cleaning up after dinner and tangled together on the couch afterward to catch the newest episodes of a few favorite series. Garrett found it difficult to concentrate on the show pressed up against Drake, and he felt his body react to Drake’s scent.

Garrett lightly ran the flat of his palm down Drake’s arm and felt the other man shiver. He mouthed at the back of Drake’s neck and blew across his ear, then traced its shell with his tongue.

Drake shifted to push his ass against Garrett’s groin. Garrett pressed his hard-on between Drake’s ass cheeks, making his arousal clear.

“Want to move into the bedroom?” He slid his hand down to cup Drake’s erection and stroked him through his jeans.

“Thought you’d never ask.”

They stopped the show and switched to a music channel, then Garrett led Drake toward their room. He paused at the door and looked down at Bailey and Brian.

“Sorry, guys. This is private stuff. You can have the whole couch all to yourselves,” Garrett told the dogs, who dutifully retreated as he closed the door.

“Now, where were we?” Garrett mused aloud, turning Drake to face him and running his hands up Drake’s chest, capturing Drake’s mouth with his own.

“Didn’t know spaghetti made you horny,” Drake quipped. “If that’s the case, I vote for pasta every night.”

“ You make me horny.” Garrett pulled Drake’s T-shirt over his head before stripping out of his own. They both shimmied out of their pants and briefs, and Garrett tugged Drake to the bed.

“Been thinking about this all day,” Garrett confessed, pulling Drake in for a long kiss with plenty of tongue and lots of groping.

“I like the way you think,” Drake managed when he came up for air.

“I’ve been reading those romance books.” Garrett kissed his way down Drake’s neck, then teased at his nipples. “Figuring out what I want to do with you.”

“And what did you decide?” Drake sounded breathless, and his cock stood at attention, hard and leaking.

“Everything. I want to do everything with you.”

Drake kissed him. “I love that—and I want to do everything with you too. Just realize we’re not teenagers anymore. So probably not all in one night.”

“We could go on vacation, not get out of bed all week,” Garrett teased, working his way down Drake’s body with his mouth and hands. He stroked his fingers down Drake’s back and slipped them down his thighs to push his legs apart far enough that Garrett could go down on him in one move.

Drake moaned and lightly tangled his fingers in Garrett’s hair, leaning back and spreading his legs.

Garrett worked Drake’s cock like he had practiced on a dildo he had bought, doing his best to remember the tricks he had seen in some of the videos. He slipped his hand between Drake’s legs, palming his balls, then stroked his taint until he found that magic spot that made Drake moan.

“Fuck, Garrett, feels so good,” Drake managed.

Garrett reached for the lube he had already stashed nearby and slicked up his right hand, gripping the base of Drake’s cock with his left. He nudged Drake until he fell onto his back, and his legs splayed wide, still keeping up a rhythm with his mouth.

“Damn—you’ve been reading those books? God, don’t stop.”

Garrett eased one slippery finger into Drake’s hole, making him buck with the gentle intrusion. He slipped it in and out in time with how his mouth worked Drake’s cock, knowing it wasn’t going to take much more to make him come.

“I’m real close,” Drake breathed. “Last chance to pull off.”

Instead, Garrett added another finger in Drake’s ass and swirled his tongue across the head and through the slit of his cock, then pressed against the sensitive spot just under the flare. Drake arched and came, and Garrett did his best to swallow it all.

He pulled off with a pop. While Drake lay pliant and blissed out, Garrett pushed his knees up and withdrew the fingers, only to push his face into the cleft of Drake’s ass and replace fingers with his tongue.

“Oh, fuck,” was all Drake could manage as Garrett began working him with both his tongue and fingers, adding a third and curling them to stroke Drake’s prostate. He had already experimented on his own ass, finding that magic spot and figuring out what felt good.

Drake’s hands clenched the sheets as Garrett continued to lick and stroke, getting Drake’s hole loose and wet. He climbed up between Drake’s legs, with his rock-hard cock and heavy balls making his need clear.

“Okay if I fuck you?” Garrett hoped he sounded more seductive than nervous.

“Think I’ll die of frustration if you don’t,” Drake gasped.

Garrett gripped Drake’s hips and lined himself up, pressing in slowly so he didn’t hurt his lover. No matter how much he had read or how many videos he watched, this was still new to him, and he wanted to get it right.

“It’s good. So good. Just go with it,” Drake begged.

Garrett pushed all the way until he was fully seated and looked into Drake’s eyes. “Like you on your back when we do this. Want to see your face.”

“Please…move.”

Garrett slid out and back, slowly at first, then setting up a rhythm and making sure he nailed Drake’s prostate every few strokes. He kept going until Drake began to harden again. His cock hadn’t gotten the message about slower second rounds.

“Love you so much,” Garrett whispered, hoping he left fingerprints on Drake’s hips. “Want to make this good for you.”

“Oh…it’s definitely…good,” Drake managed. “Love you too.”

Garrett felt his orgasm rising and quickened his pace, wondering if Drake would feel him when he walked tomorrow. He pounded his way through his climax, only slowing down when the crest waned. Garrett withdrew carefully, knowing Drake’s hole would be tender.

“That was…” Drake said.

“Not done.” Garrett shifted forward until his ass was above Drake’s stiffening cock, and he let himself down in one move until the whole shaft disappeared.

Drake yelped with surprise. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

Garrett chuckled. “Had a plug in all afternoon. Nice and open and slick for you.”

Drake’s head dropped back onto the pillow. “You’re going to kill me.”

“There are worse ways to go.”

Garrett’s thighs were already beginning to burn, and he knew he couldn’t ride Drake for long, but despite Drake’s disclaimer, his cock plumped up in record time, and Garrett wrung a second climax from both of them.

“How did you…get all that out of those books?” Drake finally said when he had caught his breath. They lay together, sweaty, sticky, and completely fucked out.

“Always been a straight-A student,” Garrett laughed. “That was the only thing straight about me.”

“We should probably take a shower and change the sheets before we’re stuck here,” Drake said after they lay bonelessly still for a while.

“Probably. Think we can get round three in the shower?” Garrett grinned. “I’m up for trying.”

“You’re incorrigible.”

“Oh, for you, I’m totally corrigible.”

“That’s not a word.”

“It is now.”

“Okay, as long as we can be corrigible together.” Drake pressed a kiss to Garrett’s head.

“Always.”