What

What

Missy Welsh

Free Fiction Distributed at missywelsh.com by Missy Welsh This is a work of fiction. Characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and used factiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. This work may not be sold, manipulated, or reproduced in any format without express written permission from the author. This work contains graphic language and explicit sexual content between two men. Intended for adult audiences only. Not intended for anyone under the age of 18. What © 2010 Missy Welsh Cover design © 2010 Missy Welsh

What By Missy Welsh

“Je-Jeremy?” I asked, thankful it only had one false start. I pushed the door from cracked to half-way open, my hand still on the knob as I saw another crack and forgot to breathe. Jesus, but the man had a beautiful ass and there the top half of it was. His black leather pants had already been low, but now, as he sat backwards in a chair with his back to me, those tight pants were carving those cheeks in half. I had an urge to run over there and slide my tongue down that crack. What did his sweat taste like? A drop of it slid down his lower back, but paused, suspended above the dimple to the left of his spine. I trembled when that little drop found another and rapidly rolled down into the darkness. I took a step into the room, part of me all ready to follow wherever that little guy went. “What?” he barked and turned from the window to glare at me. I jumped back, my heart kicking up again. He didn’t want me here, I didn’t want to be here, but there were things I needed to say before I left. “I-I-I-I-I wanted t-t-to ssssss—” I cut myself off and changed words, just getting to the point. I’d stuttered all my life but it always got worse around him. When I was nervous. I supposed that was normal when you were a weak, little queer in love with your straight boss. “Apologize,” I finished lamely and realized I’d tucked my arms around my chest again. I

dropped my arms and tried to stand up straight. He hated when I did the hugging and slumping thing, but it made me feel less vulnerable around all the muscular tough guys like him here in his tattoo shop. Made me a smaller target. “It’s fine, Sam,” he said, sounding tired. “Just go home.” He turned back to stare out the window some more. As far as I could tell, after he finished breaking something glass in here, that was all he’d been doing for the last two hours. Just staring out the window. “It’s n-n-n-n-not fine.” It wasn’t. I’d made him mad before, messed up plenty of times, but not like this. And I wasn’t even sure what the hell I’d done so wrong. I thought maybe the fight had broken out between those two customers because of me, but I didn’t know why. “Jesus, man,” he mumbled and looked up at the night sky. “Je-Je-Je—” “What the hell am I supposed to do with you?” he hollered, getting up off his chair and spinning around to face me. I took a step away and gasped as the door stabbed me in the back. He was across the room in a blink, the door shut, and me pushed up against it. Part of me was thrilled that he was touching me, that he was this close. The stupid part, obviously, since the big hand in the center of my chest wasn’t there to pet. “You’re just a kid,” he said, looking down at me with those sharp, green eyes. “Just a dumb kid who’s got no idea what the hell he’s doing.” I bit my bottom lip to keep it from trembling and looked away. He’d never called me dumb before. Others did all the time. If I took too long to answer a question so I could get a hold of my stutter, they thought I was slow. I’d gotten used to it. From other people. That Jeremy thought I was dumb really, really stung. He was the only person in my life who ever treated me like I mattered. He didn’t rush to finish my sentences when my stuttering took over. He was patient with me, and the stuttering was just one of the ways he was so patient. I’d worked in three other tattoo places before here because no one else could stand me. It was only here that I’d been able to just do my art and not have to worry about chatting up the clients. Jeremy did that part. I realized now that him telling me to go home was probably him actually telling me I was fired. “Sssssorry,” I managed but he didn’t let me move so I just looked away. I had to clench my fists to keep from wrapping my arms around myself and sinking to the floor.

Yeah. Dumb, pathetic loser, that was me. “I can’t do it anymore, Sam,” he said and really sounded upset. I chanced a look at him through my bangs only to have him brush my hair back and cup my cheek. I gasped. “I tried,” he said, getting right in my face. “Understand that, okay? I tried to keep near you and stake my claim without the need for the rest of this shit for your sake.” He sighed, his breath smelling like the peppermints he always sucked on. “I-I-I—” “No. Just let me get this all out. You can talk after.” He let me go and turned sideways. “After you’re done screaming, that is,” he mumbled. He sighed again, then waved toward that chair. “Go sit, Sam. It’ll be better if you’re sitting.” I walked over and sat. There was no point in protesting because I was so amped up right now with worry and fear that I couldn’t have said anything anyway. I’d never been afraid of Jeremy before today. He’d never given me a reason. He paced in front of me for a few minutes, and I realized he wasn’t wearing shoes. All he had on were those black leather pants. I was betting there wasn’t any underwear on under them either. Not with how low they’d been while he was sitting. I’d have at least seen the top of a thong or a jock. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as my libido went on red alert at the image of Jeremy in a jockstrap. A ratty one. A ratty one in desperate need of a wash. It’d smell like sweat and piss and every delicious man-smell he could produce. God… “Seriously?” he barked. I flinched and looked at him again. “This is turning you on? Right now? I could fucking tear this place apart at any second and you’re over there getting hot?” I opened my mouth, but I didn’t know what to say to that. How the hell did he know? He kind of growled and ran his hands up into his short, brown hair, spiking it up in places. “You’re really something,” he said and kind of laughed, shaking his head. “I can smell your fear, but right underneath that is arousal.” He took a deep breath, his eyes fluttering closed. Both his hands smoothed down his toned and hairless chest. Oh man. One stopped to tease his abs as he took another breath and the other hand went down to cup his crotch. I became very aware of my own heart beat right then because Jeremy was getting hard. Like a Pavlovian response, my own dick swelled in my jeans. “D-d-do y-y-y-you—?” I stopped not for any reason except that, when he looked at me then, a car drove by and the

light that reflected off his eyes was bright green. That… That wasn’t normal. “Do I what?” He actually grinned and took a few steps toward me. “Do I want you? Fuck yes. Every panther wants his mate, Sam.” Every what now wants his who? Despite not being able to get the words out right then, that thought must have been pretty clear on my face because he came over and knelt in front of me. “I know,” he said, his voice finally the soft one I was used to. The one that made me feel safe and worthy. “It’s going to get a little crazy in a minute or two, Sam, but I promise it’s for the best now. We can’t keep going on like this anymore.” He put his hands on my knobby knees, thumbs stroking the insides. “It’s just not safe for you.” “What’s not?” See? When I felt secure, I could actually talk. He smiled at me. “I know that fight today wasn’t really your fault, but it was because of you.” I shook my head and opened my mouth. “No, let me finish. You didn’t do anything but walk into the room, but that’s all you had to do. They knew you were an unmated panther approaching your first shift and they all wanted to claim you. I had to stop them from trying more with you than they did because you’re mine, Sam.” I dared to slide my hands down my thighs to touch the tips of his fingers. “Jeremy?” He nodded, taking my hands. Green eyes burning into mine, he lifted my palms up so he could kiss each one. I swallowed hard, feeling a little dizzy. “Easy,” he whispered. “Deep breaths.” I nodded, breathing as instructed. I didn’t understand, but just breathing was a job I could do right now. He smiled again, but let my hands go and stepped back. “Just keep breathing, Sam. And please remember that I will not hurt you.” I opened my mouth to ask what the hell that meant, but words dried up in my throat when he undid his pants. Just popped the button and slid the zipper and no, he wasn’t wearing anything under there. And yeah, he was definitely hard and a natural brunet. Oh but the man’s cock was a thing of real beauty. Thrusting up from a trim nest of brown hairs, it was nice and thick, the foreskin looking silky and the head red and shiny. He hooked to the right, too. Good-sized balls, low and swinging. I lost sight of it all for a moment while he took his pants off his legs, but then he straightened up and gave himself a slow stroke, moving

that skin up and then back. His balls bounced. “Ughn,” I said around the pool of spit gathering in my mouth. I wanted to lick. I wanted to suck. I was about to beg. “Not yet,” he said and groaned. “I want to do everything you’re thinking, baby, but not yet. You need to understand this first.” He sounded a little sad, but I was tripping over the fact he’d called me his baby. “Just wait,” he said and sank down onto his hands and knees. “And please don’t leave the room. It’ll be okay.” As if this all wasn’t something out of a dream already, suddenly the man in front of me wasn’t a man anymore. Where Jeremy had been bent over and looking like an invitation to fuck, now there was a big, black, green-eyed, motherfucking panther. I shot to my feet, the chair clattering over behind me. The panther flinched back, lifting one huge paw off the wood floor. A rumbling noise filled the room for a just a second or two. Like a warning. Please don’t leave the room. Okay. Right. That would probably be bad because it would mean going around the wild animal in front of me and racing through an empty tattoo shop to a sidewalk that was probably deserted too. Please remember I will not hurt you. Oh. Yes. This wasn’t some escaped cat intent on shredding my flesh from my bones. A minute ago, that was Jeremy. “Are y-y-you sssssstill in there?” The panther slowly nodded. I nodded back. “Ok-k-k-kay.” He stepped closer to me. I could see his caution and I was sure he could see mine. That whiskered snout and shiny black nose was level with my navel. How big were his teeth? But when he reached me, there were no teeth or any hint of ill intent. He leaned that massive head into my stomach and rubbed while making a huffing sort of noise. He was so soft! It felt perfectly natural to put my hands on him and sink down to sit on the floor. He crowded close, making sounds that seemed happy, and rubbed his cheeks all over my head and shoulders. I couldn’t help laughing even as I touched him back, running my fingers though silky black fur and feeling the hard muscles just beneath the surface. “Big kitty,” I whispered when he looked me right in the face. I laughed when he rolled his

eyes and licked my cheek. “Oh,” I said because that long tongue was deliciously scratchy. I thought maybe he’d waggled his eyebrows at me, but then the human Jeremy was sitting on his heels in front of me again. He wasn’t hard anymore, but he was still spectacular. Then he gathered me up, pulling me to straddle his thighs as he sat back, and was suddenly kissing me. Nine months I’d been dreaming of kissing this amazing man. To say I dove into it would be an understatement. I gave up breathing to devour his mouth. It didn’t last nearly long enough, though. “You’re okay?” he asked, his lips shining and red. “I didn’t scare you?” I took my shirt over my head, tossing it away, then I leaned into his hand when he cupped my cheek and shifted closer to him, my whole pelvis aching with want. We both moaned when he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me in tight. He felt so good under my hands, his skin as silky as his fur had been. The hand holding my head slid down my chest, his fingers going for the buttons of my jeans. I moaned again and leaned in to taste the column of his neck and that rounded shoulder. “Yeah,” he said, “you’re fine.” I chuckled, nodding as I sipped at lightly salted skin. Then—oh sweet hell!—he was fishing my dick out of my jeans and stroking me. He was a little rough, though. “Jeremy?” I asked as I stilled his hand and looked down into his eyes. “You need to come, Sam,” he said, shaking my hand off his. “It’ll trigger your shift.” I swallowed hard, trembling for a second from more than the brutal pull of his fist. I grabbed his hand and pulled it up to my mouth. If he was going to do this, I needed some damn lubrication so he didn’t tear my foreskin right the hell off. He liked watching me lick his hand, wetting it as best I could. I spared a grin, got one in return, and he reached down to adjust himself as he started getting hard again. I scooted closer to him, cocks bumping, and wow did I enjoy his rumble right there. When a little rivulet of saliva began inching down his wrist, I wrapped his hand around me and showed him how I liked it. Thankful he didn’t take over or go back to that brutal yanking, I let him go and leaned back in to kiss him some more. It was slower now, less urgent, though I could feel something more than a need to come building inside me. My skin was kind of itchy, muscles aching. It was distracting and I didn’t want to be distracted now that I finally had Jeremy in my arms, that minty tongue of his

exploring my mouth. I whimpered. “It’s okay,” he whispered, his hand stroking firmly but slowly. “Let it happen, baby. You’ll come and then you’ll shift. You won’t need to think about it this time.” I held tight to his shoulders, panting now, feeling like I had a fever complete with sweating and shaking. This was about the least fun orgasm I’d ever had except for the fact Jeremy was tugging it out of me. I tried to focus on that. On the concern in his beautiful eyes as he stared into mine. On the way he kind of cradled me in his other arm and ignored himself, just taking care of me. If that was part of being someone’s mate… Oh thank God he’s mine! I came with a cry, dribbling over his hand and damn near shaking myself apart. And maybe that’s what I did because when I next opened my eyes, I wasn’t me anymore and Jeremy was easing the new me down so we laid on our sides, facing each other. “Now who’s the big kitty,” he said with a grin as he pet face. I could hear more than just his quiet words. With my one ear pressed to the floor, I could hear all kinds of things I’d never noticed before thumping and creaking in the old building. And his heart beat. I could hear the clatter of Jeremy’s heart. I raised a hand to touch his face and saw the black paw reaching for him. Yeah, totally new me. Oh look at those claws! “Sam,” he warned, giving me a look as I pressed sharp points into his cheek. I had to think about making the claws go away again and heard the grumbly sort of noise coming from my throat as I succeeded and he smiled. Not a purr, but I knew it was a happy sound. “You’re a beauty.” He stroked his hand down my side and, while that felt delightful, I caught scent of his other hand, the one covered in my cum, and found myself licking it. He made a quiet sound of appreciation, and I remembered the rasp of his cat tongue on my human skin. “Hold on,” he said, sitting up, and I realized I still had my jeans on. Sort of. I was definitely twisted up in them as they attempted to hug my panther hips and hind legs. My boots popped off easily enough when he tugged, then he pulled off my socks and worked my jeans off. I sat up on one elbow when I saw my long, black tail snapping around. Myself was suddenly a lot less interesting when Jeremy shifted again. We made those happy sounds at each other while we bumped heads and rubbed together. I could smell him leaving his scent on me and how mine was now on him. We were delicious together. That must have been

what moved me to start licking his face. I licked everywhere. His eyes, his nose, his ears. It wasn’t so much that I was tasting him as I was feeling him and trying to say… I don’t know. I’m yours? Oh yeah, that must’ve been what I said because he was suddenly standing over me, his teeth holding me down by the scruff of my neck. He pressed my chin into the floor, and I went with it willingly, just laying there on my belly. A twitching of anticipation shot through me when he started humping my lower back, right above my new tail, and growled around his mouthful of me in his teeth. I didn’t know if I could smile as a panther, but I sure felt like smiling. This was Jeremy claiming me. Claiming his mate. His mate. That’s me. It sounded so much more permanent than boyfriend or partner or even husband. So I made those rumbling happy sounds as he growled and got himself off on my kitty ass. I shivered at the sticky wet coating my fur back there and at his rough growl just before he let me go and flopped onto his side. My neck throbbed where he’d held me down, but that made me laugh for some reason. And like that, I was human again. A moment later and so was he. “Wow,” I whispered, grinning like a fool. He chuckled and opened his arms to me as he laid back. I dove into him, feeling…giddy! Just stupid happy with answers to why he’d… Wait a minute. “Did you not want to be with me?” I asked, looking down into that handsome, flushed face. “Is that why you—?” “I’m not gay, Sam. That’s why I fought it.” God, that hurt. I pulled away from him, sitting back and pressing a hand to my chest where it ached suddenly. Maybe this pain was a heart attack. I scooted away so he couldn’t save me. “Stop, Sam.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me back to him, my slick skin squeaking against the hardwood floor. “You d-d-d-don’t w-w-w-w—” He gave me a shake. “Yes, I do, damn it. I might not be gay, but I… I don’t know. I am…for you.” I stared at his face, trying to read anything he wasn’t saying. Regret? Disgust? Had he kissed me just to help get me off so I’d shift? Humped me out of instinct? “Quit that,” he snapped and used both hands to make me sit up straight and put my hands

down. I’d hunched and tucked again, that move he hated. “I’m sssssorry.” “God, baby, stop.” He pulled me into his arms again, squeezing me as we leaned over our tangled legs. “I want this. You. Yeah, it threw me when I figured out why being near you was making me fucking crazy. I expected a female mate, if I ever found one, so it wasn’t easy to accept a male one.” “Now?” “You seriously have to ask?” he kind of growled at me and swatted the back of my head. “I’m counting what we just did as sex.” His hand went down my back, and I could feel him rubbing something sticky into my skin. “Don’t you agree?” I nodded, leaning into him and resting my head on his shoulder, taking deep breaths as I calmed down again. “So don’t think I’m not in this one hundred percent. You’ve driven me nuts, but I’ve always liked you.” His voice went quiet as he said, “You’ve always had a place in my heart, Sam.” I wrapped my arms around him, and he did the same back to me. “I love you, Jeremy,” I whispered into his neck. “From the first.” He squeezed me tightly, making it hard to take a deep breath, but I knew that, while maybe he couldn’t say the words back yet, he felt something deeper than friendship for me. Instinct might’ve pushed him to finally claim me, but I believed he really did like me. I could build on that. I snuggled into him, feeling like I was inside his heart. He rubbed his face slowly against the side of my head, and it felt like when I’d licked him. I smiled, wondering if he’d ever let me pin him down. “Come on,” he said, giving my back a firm stroke. “Let’s get out of here. I want a shower, food, and more sex.” “In that order?” I asked as we got up and retrieved clothing. “Definitely a shower first, but that could be combined with some sex.” I really liked the leer he sent my way even as he covered up the goods with those pants again. I turned around like I was looking for my shirt as I wiggled my ass into my jeans. He groaned. Yep, the straight guy was liking him some skinny boy butt. As we stomped into our boots, it occurred to me that he’d said the trouble in the shop was my fault. So I asked him about it.

“Well,” he said, “that’ll be different now. The ones who came in and caused all the fights and shit were tuned into you and the fact I hadn’t claimed you yet. It won’t be a problem now.” “Is it okay if, um… Can we be, y-y-y-you know…” He chuckled at my fumbling and looped his arm around my shoulders, leading us to the door. “Are you trying to ask if we can let everyone know we’re a couple?” I nodded and watched his face as he took us through the door and back into the quiet tattoo shop. Now I understood the significance of the purple neon panther prowling one window. I suddenly realized I could smell a ton of different scents. People scents. Like the smell of everyone who’d been in the shop today was still lingering. I sneezed. “You’ll get used to that,” he said, letting me go to grab up his jacket, wallet and keys from under his desk in the back. “And yes, we can be…out, I guess, around everyone. I’m not ashamed my mate’s a guy. I don’t want it to be a secret.” That bubble of giddiness burst inside me again, making me laugh. I hunched my shoulders and hugged my chest, but only because I was stopping myself from running over and jumping on him. He laughed at me, shaking his head, then tucked me back under his arm and took us to the front door now. “We’re taking my bike and going to my place. You’re spending the weekend with me.” “Can we stop at my place for—?” “You’re not going to need clothes,” he said with a leer. “And I’ve got lube and condoms and all kinds of stuff that ought to keep you perfectly happy to stay in my bed.” Silly man. I didn’t need anything more than him to keep me perfectly happy. I kept quiet, though, and let him pop his helmet on my head before he instructed me on how to tuck into his back on the bike. I liked the way the machine vibrated my balls and how I could press into his ass. He laughed as he removed my hands from between his thighs and made me hold him around his waist. As we rode off, I had a million questions filling my head about my new self, how many others there were, and what it all meant for our future together. I could wait, though, to ask and get answers. Loving my Jeremy was more important. I held him tighter and felt the rumble in his chest just before his hand gave mine a comforting squeeze. We were united, and that was all I needed.