Page 7 of Starlight

His lips curved as he took another sip.

Or maybe it was Mothman watching over him. Of course he couldn’t see him because if he did, he’d die, right? Him being a herald of death and all.

Maybe the monster was more like a guardian angel for him…or maybe he was still marked for death, and it hadn’t caught up with him yet.

He finished his hot chocolate, drew in a breath, and turned away from the night. He didn’t need to think about the future right now. He’d do it over breakfast. One thing was certain; he wasn’t leaving the cabin until he had some kind of plan for the future.

CHAPTER FOUR

Akai spent most of the night hunting and then reading messages on the board about solstice and checking some of the social threads for gossip. Lick wasn’t going to solstice this year; he was too busy hunting. Damn. It was more fun when he had someone to run amok with. He was lolling in his nest contemplating sleep as the sun rose, but movement from the cabin caught his attention. The man strolled across the deck, also watching the sunrise.

He rolled over to get a better look since the man was naked.

The morning air was cool, and humans didn’t have any fur to keep them warm, but the man seemed untroubled, stretching as he drank what was in his mug before placing it on the table and giving Akai a perfect view of his nice, round ass—he did love a full moon. The man turned as if facing him, dick jutting forward as if begging for attention. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen the man naked, and he hoped it wouldn’t be the last as it was part of the view that he really enjoyed.

The man wrapped his fingers around his shaft and started stroking.

Oh…he was getting a full show today. He rested his chin on his hands; glad he’d stayed up even though the man was clearly doing it for himself and not for him. If Akai were doing that in front of someone, he’d slow down and take his time and make sure he had their undivided attention.

Even though the man was doing none of that, Akai didn’t even want to blink. He wanted to join in. Need pulsed through his body and his dick. He rolled just enough that he could slide his hand into his pants and grab his dick, stroking in time with the man and determined to wait until the man found his release.

The man’s teeth pressed into his lower lip, and his head tipped back as he came, spilling over the side of the deck and into the scrubs below.

Akai wanted to be hiding beneath the deck. He licked his lips, knowing that even if he was hiding beneath the deck, he couldn’t have stuck his head out to catch the load. What if the man opened his eyes at the wrong moment?

But the idea was enough to push him over the edge. His wings shuddered as he came, letting it drip from his nest to the ground below. He rolled onto his belly, feeling sated and sleepy. He could get used to going to sleep like that.

The man picked up his cup of coffee and brought it to his lips, but he seemed to change his mind at the last moment as he lifted the cup high. “Whoever you are, I hope you enjoyed the show.”

Akai lifted his head and blinked.

The man knew he was there?

CHAPTER FIVE

Cole spent the day hiking and contemplating his future and what he wanted it to look like. He knew more about what he didn’t want than what he actually wanted, which didn’t help matters as it left everything wide open as if he could be, or do, anything he wanted. Which wasn’t true, as he had zero chance of ever becoming a surgeon or something like that.

He needed to be realistic.

Realistically, getting out of construction work meant going to college to do something. But what? There were only two things he knew how to do: football and construction. He could hammer nails and had learned to schedule a job, but he wasn’t sure how useful that would be in any other field.

He’d contemplated jobs associated with football, but he was one hundred percent sure that he didn’t want to coach either, so that left things like physio or psychology, which were things he could also do, not associated with sport. That was a point in their favor.

He certainly had experienced both from the other side of the table, so maybe that was a place to start…or would it bring up his own issues?

He took a quick dip in the little river before returning to the cabin in the late afternoon. There was supposed to be a meteor shower tonight, so he decided to light the small outdoor fire so he could sit out and watch it. It was only as he was setting the fire that he felt that presence again. That prickly sensation of being watched was the same as when he’d stood on the deck enjoying the morning.

Yeah, he probably shouldn’t have taken matters into his own hand, but he figured if someone was spying on him, perhaps it would make them back off unless they were hoping to catch an eyeful…in which case he’d given them exactly what they wanted. Either way, he was not letting his imaginary stalker get in the way of enjoying his cabin.

Imaginary, because there was a damn good chance it was all in his head.

Except there was a fourth pile of rocks by the river today. He touched the smooth, flat pebble in his pocket. Someone was leaving him gifts.

Or at least he assumed they were for him. Perhaps that someone was pissed that he’d taken a rock as it had been replaced, but not by something pretty.

He’d deliberated about what to do with the piles. Ignore them, knock them over… rearrange them into a giant question mark? In the end, he’d gathered a few rocks himself and made a small question mark. Not that he expected an answer.

Whoever it was watching him had never given any indication of being a threat. That said, he never came out here unarmed, and if he was sitting out at dusk or at night, his rifle was always beside him.