11. Brandon

11

brANDON

Brandon kissed him again. "I've got an idea. Wanna see my moose?"

Riley laughed. "From anyone else, I'd think that was a euphemism. Of course I do."

"All right. Get your coat."

Riley gave him a quizzical look. "Does it hurt to shift? I don't want you to be uncomfortable just to show me. I'm sure I'll see at some point."

Brandon shook his head. "Shifting doesn't hurt unless I push it too fast, which isn't healthy for other reasons. It's like doing a really good stretch, the kind that makes you feel like you've worked out all your knots. And then I'm a moose. On the other side, it's like curling into myself, only I keep curling and curling and then, poof! No more moose."

Riley looked at him quizzically. "Where does all the mooseness go? You're a big guy, but you're a huge moose. The antlers alone are gigantic. I don't understand how all that fits in here." He rested his hand on Brandon's chest.

"That's the nice thing about being a born shifter—I don't have to understand how it works. I just think about it and it happens."

"Some shifters aren't born that way?"

"We avoid using the ‘were' prefix because it's got a lot of stigma attached to it," Brandon replied. "Some were-creatures are born that way. Most turn because of a bite—which is fine, as long as it's consensual. They know what it was like to be purely human, so I've heard that learning to shift is harder for them. I think everyone gets the hang of it eventually."

"The world is a much more complicated place than I ever knew," Riley replied.

"Come on," Brandon said. "I want you to see my moose. He's been bugging me to show him off. And then you can help warm me up."

Riley grabbed his coat and followed Brandon out the back door. "That's my changing area." Brandon pointed at his shelter. "Keeps me out of the wind. Avoids freezing the dangly bits."

"I'm fond of those bits," Riley pointed out. "Gotta keep them safe."

"Give me a minute once I ‘moose out,' and then you can pet me if you want to. The antlers are very sensitive. Touching them is like stroking my arm."

"I think I have a new fetish," Riley replied.

"Kinky."

Brandon went to the changing area and stripped down quickly, glad for the windbreak but still shivering. The change came fast, transforming muscle and sinew. He had watched others shift, but Brandon realized he had never shifted in front of someone. Once he could talk again, he would have to ask what it looked like.

It looks majestic. He's finally getting to see us in all our moosely glory. He was barely conscious the last time.

I don't think "moosely" is a word.

It should be. It describes our "mooseness."

Also not a word.

His moose made a noise like blowing raspberries but much louder and slurpier.

Brandon stepped out of the windbreak, feeling unexpectedly self-conscious, as if he were being seen naked for the first time instead of transforming into a massive forest creature.

Riley's eyes were wide, and he stared at Brandon in wonder. "Wow. You're beautiful. Handsome. Magnificent."

Brandon ducked his head in acknowledgment. Even in moose form, their not-yet-complete mate bond still provided impressions of Riley's emotions, which echoed his spoken praise.

He likes us. He thinks we look good. Brandon's moose preened, and he realized that his other half had been afraid Riley might not approve.

Of course he does. We do.

Riley moved forward hesitantly as if Brandon might spook in his new form. Brandon waited patiently, head down so Riley could pet his neck and antlers.

"You are so…just, wow." Riley stroked Brandon's slick, short hair. He scratched behind one of Brandon's ears, which tickled, making him twitch.

"I think I have an antler fetish." Riley played his fingers lightly across the velvety surface.

No one had ever touched Brandon's antlers before, and he shivered, surprised at just how sensitive they were.

"So soft," Riley whispered. "And big. Your antlers are almost wider across than I am tall. That's…impressive." He paused. "Moose shed their antlers, right?"

Brandon nodded.

"Does it hurt?"

Brandon shook his head and made the closest noise to a chuckle he could manage. Riley stroked a finger down the bridge of Brandon's nose, looking into his dark eyes.

Brandon snuffled into Riley's palm.

"Oooh. Moose snot," Riley laughed, wiping his hands on his pants. He stepped closer and put his arms around Brandon's neck.

"Thank you for saving me. I love you—and your moose." Riley buried his face in Brandon's fur.

They stood together for a few moments, and then Riley moved back. "Do you need to go frolic a little since you're shifted?"

Brandon gave him the side-eye at that and then nodded.

"Run free, sweet moose." Riley gave a big grin and a slap to his hindquarters then watched as Brandon loped off toward the tree line, before he headed back inside.

He has good taste in moose.

I think we're the only one he's ever seen for real.

Still, his moose replied. I approve.

That's good because I'm keeping him.

Since he had gone to the trouble of shifting, Brandon took time to nibble at the twigs, bark, and needles his moose preferred. It felt good to stretch his legs in this form, and he walked a mile or so before returning to the cabin, not wanting to leave Riley alone for long.

Changing back left him shivery, and he hurried into the house. "Miss me?" Brandon peeled off his coat and slipped out of his boots.

"Of course," Riley called from the kitchen, where he had a pan of hot chocolate on the stove. "Drink this—and then I'll be glad to warm up any dangly bits that are still cold."

"There's a lot to be said for having fur down there." Brandon sat at the table and accepted the hot mug from Riley. "None of the equipment gets cold in moose form."

"No moose-scaping?"

Brandon rolled his eyes. "That would defeat the purpose. But I've got no problem trimming the hedges in human form."

Riley gave him a dirty grin. "It's nice not to get hair stuck in my teeth."

"If manscaping means more blow jobs, sign me up."

"Once you finish your hot chocolate, I've got other ways to get you warm." Riley came up behind Brandon and leaned in close. "Gotta check very closely for frostbite."

Riley went down to his knees between Brandon's legs, mouthing at his bulge through the denim and running his fingers up his sensitive inner thighs. Brandon set his drink aside since being doused by hot chocolate would only be sexy if Riley then licked it off.

Hold that thought for the future.

Riley teased Brandon until his hard cock strained at the zipper, and Brandon groaned, spreading his legs wider to give his swollen member some space.

"Please, Riley," he groaned. "Make me feel good."

Riley grinned and made a show of unbuckling Brandon's belt. He made Brandon wait, moving the zipper one tooth at a time, as his left hand slid beneath Brandon to massage his balls and taint.

"So good. Want you."

Riley opened Brandon's fly, and Brandon lifted enough for him to slide his jeans down, leaving him in his briefs.

"Already leaking for me. So sexy," Riley said in a rough voice that sounded like all Brandon's dirty dreams.

Riley mouthed his bulge through the cotton, exhaling hot air against the swollen dick and rolling Brandon's balls with his other hand.

He slid Brandon's underwear down, and his cock sprang free. "So big—and all for me."

"All yours. Come on. Wanna feel you suck me."

"Tell me what it's going to be like when we finally fuck." Riley licked at the crown and teased his tongue up and down the shaft. "Talk dirty to me."

"Gonna lick you all over," Brandon breathed. "Mark you up so everyone knows you're mine. Drive you wild, teasing your nipples."

"Yeah?"

"Find your sensitive spots where I can make you crazy and see if I can make you come just like that," Brandon continued as if he hadn't heard Riley. "I want to suck your cock and your balls and lick your taint. Want to rim you until you scream."

Riley had to press the heel of his hand against his own aching hard-on until he wasn't in imminent danger of blowing his load.

"Go on," he said in a strangled voice before returning to his task with renewed vigor. He sucked in his cheeks and hummed, then went back to licking Brandon like a popsicle. Brandon squirmed, and Riley doubled down, alternating humming and sucking as he rolled Brandon's balls in his fingers.

"Take my time opening you up with my fingers and my tongue," Brandon went on, breathless. "Get you sloppy wet and loose so you can take me. Finger your magic spot and make you come so you're nice and relaxed. Can't decide if I want to fuck you from behind or have you ride my cock on my lap. Bend you over the table. Pick you up and fuck you against the wall."

Riley got his fingers nice and wet and then slipped them along Brandon's taint. He eased one finger into Brandon's tight pucker, rewarded by Brandon's sharp intake of breath. Riley kept up his rhythm with his mouth as he curled his finger to hit Brandon's sweet spot.

Brandon arched and cried out, coming down Riley's throat and leaking out of the corners of his mouth. Riley swallowed and licked his lips. Brandon leaned forward with his elbows on Riley's shoulders and panted. Riley gave one more lick to Brandon's over-sensitive cock to make him shiver.