Jack made me drive back the long way, around south of Mount Hood, since he rightly pointed out that Lady Ann would most likely be having I-84 watched, which added another hour onto the drive. Jack napped on the passenger’s seat as a jackal while I drove. After I determined he wasn’t hurt, I let him sleep. Shapeshifting healed most injuries, but was tiring.

My arm ached. It was odd. When I’d been shot through the heart, it’d hurt, sure, but not like this. A tingling pain was spreading down my arm and back. The pain became so bad I had to pull over to the side of the narrow highway to lay back against the seat. Closing my eyes, I gritted my teeth, waiting for the worst of it to pass.

Sometime later I felt a warm nose press against my face.

“Everett?” Jack said.

I opened my eyes to find Jack’s jackal muzzle inches from my face. I shied to the side in alarm.

“Are you okay? You look very pale—well, more than normal,” Jack clarified.

“Shoulder.” I had to pause as a wave of pain wracked me. “Hurts. Shot.”

“Shot? You should have healed.” Jack’s long ears went back and he backed up, claws clicking on the center console. “Sit forward. Let me see.”

I was only too happy to slump forward over the steering wheel so that

Jack could inspect my bullet wound. I felt whiskers on my back as Jack ripped my shirt open with his teeth.

“Water balloon too,” I gasped.

“It’s black around the wound. Silver, most likely,” Jack said. “And it’s a myth about holy water, if that was what was in those balloons.”

“Silver?” I slurred. “You. Shot. Too.” It took me several breaths to get the whole sentence out.

“Yeah, but the myth about silver and were creatures is just that: a myth. Silver doesn’t hurt shapeshifters any more than a regular bullet.” Jack’s breath was warm on my back. “But not for vampires. Only saving grace is it looks like a through and through. We just have to get you some blood and wait for the trace amounts of silver to make their way out of your system.”

There was a shuffling sound, and I only half listened to what Jack was doing. A door slammed and then Jack grabbed my head from behind, wrapping my whole face with a cloth. Strong arms pulled me out of the driver’s seat. I could feel his warmth and his pulse where he held me. So thirsty. I salivated. My fangs were already down.

I clawed and snapped, trying to bite the meal holding me, but the cloth around my face was in the way. After a moment my brain processed that I needed to move the cloth before I could eat, but my working hand was trapped between my body and the food holding me. Then suddenly I was falling, and landed on my bad arm. My scream was louder even than the sound of the trunk slamming shut over me.

“I’m sorry, Everett.” A door slammed and the car started up again.

My left arm was free. I tore the covering from my face to find myself lying on my side in a pitch-dark trunk. I could still see the outlines of things around me, like at the fairgrounds. The warm food was close, so close, but as much as I tried, I couldn’t claw through the metal barrier between me and it. Dimly I was aware of the car moving, bouncing along, but my overriding need for the warmth of blood on my tongue drowned out almost everything else.

***

A while later the trunk popped open, letting in a sliver of light. I thrashed, kicking, trying to open it more, while snapping my teeth at the warm thing on the other side. Two red bottles that smelled like blood were pushed through the opening, then the trunk was slammed closed again. I attacked the nearest bottle, greedily gulping down the contents.

By the time I finished the second one, I’d come back to myself a bit. I lay there, panting as I remembered trying to bite Jack. I hadn’t even processed at that time that it had been Jack. At the time, all I’d known was that he was food.

“Awfully quiet in there. Are you finally calm?” Jack asked from outside.

“I think so,” I said, curling on my side away from the opening and hugging my knees to my chest as I stared at the ruined trunk. In my frenzy I’d clawed through the cloth covering on the back inside of the trunk, and I could see fingernail scratches in the metal of the interior. Between this, the blood, and the bullet holes, Emily was going to be pissed.

“Think so or know so?” Jack asked.

I stared at the devastation around me. “I didn’t even know it was you,” I said, biting back a sob. “I’m sorry.”

The lock clicked and the trunk swung open. “You were thirsty and in pain. It happens. Come on. We need to get you inside before dawn.”

I let Jack help me out. Jack wore his blood-stained pants, but no shirt. Yet even the sight of shirtless Jack couldn’t overcome the wave of misery that swept over me. I turned my head away, unable to look at him as he escorted me to the basement door.

“You still look awful. I’ll send down another bottle. Drink it before you lie down, okay?” Jack said in a motherly voice.

I just went down the stairs without responding.

“Do you want to talk about what happened with your parents?” Jack took two steps down after me. I could hear the hurt in his voice.

“No.” I didn’t look back.

Jack sighed. I heard him walk back up the stairs and shut the door behind him. I winced when the lock clicked shut, bursting into tears as I realized that Jack was afraid of me. I made it to the bottom of the steps before collapsing down into a heap on the floor. I curled up into a fetal position, feeling numb. Wrung out. Empty. Not only did my parents still hate me, now Jack did too.

The upstairs door creaked open sometime later, and then hesitant footsteps thumped down the steps. “Everett,” Jack said tenderly. There was the sound of him setting something down.

“Go away,” I gasped between sobs. “I don’t want to eat you.”

Jack sat down on the bottom step and pulled me up against his chest, wrapping his arms around my crossed arms. “You aren’t going to eat me.”

“Yes I am. That’s why you’re afraid of me now.” I half-heartedly pushed at Jack’s arms, but I didn’t really want him to stop. I felt safe. Protected.

“Look, if I were afraid of you, would I be down here right now?” He rested his chin on my shoulder and his arms tightened around me.

“But you locked me in the trunk. And I did try to eat you earlier.” I sniffed.

“I respect your power as a vampire. There’s a difference. You don’t try to reason with a hungry tiger, after all.” Jack’s voice was light, but I could feel the tension under the words. I’d scared Jack, even if he wasn’t admitting it now.

“Did you just compare me to a tiger?” I let out a giggle between sobs, despite myself.

“Yes, I did.” Jack rubbed his beard against my cheek. “My fierce tiger. I don’t blame you. You were in pain and starving. I’m not going to blame you for not being rational. You pushed yourself far too hard, using your speed for that long to save me. Besides, would you rather I have let you eat me?”

I shuddered as I pictured coming back to myself to find Jack dead by my hand. “No. No, I wouldn’t have.”

“So would you like to talk about it?” Jack said softly.

I swallowed. “Not really. It was terrifying. I didn’t even realize it was you. I just sensed food nearby and wanted it.”

Jack sighed. “Not what I was talking about, Everett. Your parents—”

“No.” Now I did push out of Jack’s embrace, jumping to my feet and walking away. I stopped a few feet away with my head bowed. “I was a fool for expecting anything else from them. It’s my fault.”

“That’s not true.” Jack got up and followed me. “But I respect your wish to not talk about it now.” He walked around me and thrust a red bottle into my hands. “Here, I brought this down for you. You lost a lot of blood between the bullet and using your powers. It’ll help flush the silver out of your system too.”

I sighed and nodded, making a face before starting to chug the contents. I hadn’t felt thirsty, but I did start to feel better, perkier, than I had been before drinking it.

Jack’s mouth quirked up in a one-sided smile at my expression. “Stacy hates those things too.” He held up his other hand so I could see the first aid kit he held. “When you’re done, sit down on the couch so I can bandage you up.”

I threw the empty squeeze bottle in the trash and sat on the couch.

“Shirt off,” Jack said, sitting next to me.

I blushed. “Um, can I leave my binder on?”

Jack frowned. “Shirt off first, then we’ll see.”

I sighed but stripped my shirt off, crying out in pain when I lifted my right arm up. “Shit, that hurts still.” I craned my head to see the bullet wound in my shoulder. Dark blood leaked slowly from a jagged hole in my collarbone, and ran down my back and over my binder. Black lines radiated out from the hole along my skin, going almost a palm’s length down my upper arm and chest.

Jack gently put his hand on my back, turning me so that my back was to him. “You can leave the binder on; the wound is high enough it missed it. Now sit still. I’m not sure if this will hurt; I don’t know a lot about vampires. I’m going to clean it with antiseptic wipes.”

“Okay,” I said, clenching my fists and gritting my teeth to prepare. Something wet hit my shoulder. “Nothing yet.”

“Good.” Jack began gently rubbing the cloth along my shoulder. “I’m going to touch the wound next. It looks better than it did earlier, so you are healing.”

“This is better?” I asked, but then Jack’s ministrations reached the hole in my back and I had to bite back a scream. It felt like someone was poking a stick through my back.

“You’re doing great.”

Jack finally finished, and I gasped in relief when he lifted off the antiseptic cloth so he could slap a bandage over the wound. “Now the front.”

“Great,” I muttered, but turned around to face Jack, who turned a bit red.

“Too far.” He gently pressed a hand on my uninjured shoulder to turn me so that he could reach my wounded shoulder better. He cleaned it quickly and efficiently, although it hurt like the devil again, and I had to close my eyes and grit my teeth against the pain.

What felt like a thousand years later, Jack put a square bandage over the front hole. “There. Done. You did great.”

Jack glanced at the clock on the wall. “We need to get you to bed. C’mon.” He helped me stand then took me to bed, tucking me in.

He paused in the doorway on his way out and turned to look back at me lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. “Are you sure you’re alright, Everett?”

“Not really?” I rolled over onto my good shoulder, putting my back to Jack. “Why does it hurt so much, even though it’s nothing worse than they said to me last year?”

The bed settled as Jack lay down behind me. He spooned me from behind, being careful when he put his arm around my waist not to bump my hurt shoulder. I relaxed into his embrace. It felt intimate, despite the blankets separating us. We lay there in silence for a long moment.

“Because they’re your parents. We’re always told that they’ll love you no matter what. It hurts a lot when that love turns out to be conditional,” Jack said finally.

“Did your parents… How did they react to you coming out?” I asked softly. I tried to tug my arm free of the covers, wanting to clasp Jack’s hand, but my shoulder screamed in agony when I tried to move.

“Not well at first, but they came around. Although my mom never stopped harping on me about how my decision denied her grand babies. I was an only child, but still.” Jack blew out a breath. “As if I chose to be gay. Anyway, nothing like what you’re going through. I wish I knew what to say to you, other than to tell you it’s not your fault.”

“Thanks,” I said sleepily. Jack’s words helped, even if it was the comfort of knowing not all parents rejected their queer children.

I rolled over to lie on my back, turning my head to look at Jack, who smiled down at me tenderly. “About that date…” I let my words trail off. Jack probably wasn’t in the mood, but I didn’t want him to leave.

Jack gave me a sad smile. “I hope you don’t consider tonight our first date.”

“No.” I glanced away, blushing. “Not so far, but maybe it can start now?”

Jack glanced at the clock on the wall. “Only twenty minutes till sunrise, not much of a tonight left. And you’re injured.”

I gave him a shy smile. “I’m feeling a lot better.”

“Fine, but we’ll take it slow.” Jack propped himself up on an elbow and leaned over to kiss me. His mustache and beard tickled my face pleasantly.

I tugged my left arm out of the covers and reached up to caress Jack’s face. His tongue probed my lips, and I parted them to let Jack explore further. I shifted right, and winced when that jostled my hurt arm. Jack immediately pulled back and looked down at me with concern.

“I’m fine,” I said, reaching up to grab Jack’s hair and pulling his head back down to resume our kissing. Jack smiled and let me.

The kisses got hotter and deeper, then Jack pulled away.

“These covers are in the way,” he muttered. He stripped the covers down and tossed them off the edge of the bed. I blushed as my binder was exposed, even though Jack had already seen it earlier. Jack knelt on the bed and looked me over with a smile. “You’re so cute,” he whispered.

“How ’bout you lose that shirt?” I said back. “I’m feeling a little underdressed compared to you.”

“Deal.” Jack put his hands behind his head and tugged his shirt off, dropping it off the bed. He crawled over and straddled my hips. He put a finger on the edge of the compression back brace that I was using as a makeshift binder and ran it along the lower edge, giving me a questioning look.

“I want to leave it on,” I whispered, putting my right hand over Jack’s. The movement twinged my shoulder a little, but it wasn’t unbearable.

Jack smiled at me and set a hand on the bed on either side of my chest and leaned forward over me. “That’s fine. I could tell me touching it last night bothered you too. Is that why you changed your mind about sex yesterday? You’d been all raring to go before that.”

I nodded and bit my lip, waiting for Jack to stand up and reject me because of it. It was what had happened with every guy I’d met at the gay bars after I started passing more often than not. When they’d found boobs where they expected none, rejection quickly followed. Instead Jack just gave me a tender smile, then bent down to kiss me. His hips ground against mine, his erection hard enough I could feel it pressing against me, even through both our jeans. My own underwear was damp with need, and I shifted my hips to grind Jack’s erection against my crotch.

I lifted my good arm and ran my hand along Jack’s bare chest, ruffling Jack’s chest hair, until I found one of his nipples. I ran a finger around the edge of it. Jack broke apart our kiss with a gasp and sat up to fumble with the front of his jeans. Without getting up off me, he stripped them off one leg at a time to reveal Pokémon-branded boxer briefs that barely contained his erect cock. While he did that I tried to unbutton my own pants, but it was too difficult with just one hand.

“Need a little help with that?” Jack smirked as he kicked off the last leg of his jeans.

“Please.” I lifted my hand and let Jack unbutton and unzip my pants. I bent my knees and set my feet so I could lift my hips, allowing Jack to yank them off. He pulled my underwear off at the same time, leaving me naked on the bed except for my binder. I flushed and grabbed the waistband of Jack’s briefs. “Hey, no fair.”

“True.” Jack pulled them off and tossed them away, then straddled my hips again. His throbbing, hard cock rested on my stomach and I grabbed it, gently running my hand up and down it.

Jack groaned, rocking his hips against mine. “Grip it harder.” I tightened my grip and Jack moaned. “Yes, much better.”

“It looks different than the ones I’ve seen in porn,” I said without thinking. I immediately blushed and added, “It’s nice. I like it.”

Thankfully Jack just laughed. “I haven’t been circumcised. That’s the difference. See that flap of skin near the head that’s moving with your hand?” I nodded. “That’s the foreskin.”

“I’m glad you aren’t offended. It’s my first time with a guy, after all.” I kept stroking Jack’s erection, enjoying the way it felt in my hand and the way Jack moved against my hips. Wetness slicked the inside of my thighs as Jack’s butt rubbed my legs and his hips rocked against mine.

“It’ll be a first for both of us,” Jack said, leaning back over me to rest his weight on his hands. His cock got pinned between his bare chest and my stomach, forcing me to let go of it. Jack kissed me lightly on the lips. “I’ll answer any of your questions as long as you answer mine.”

“Deal,” I agreed, running both my hands down Jack’s sides now. My shoulder ached but I ignored it, having too much fun to want to stop. I could only reach as far as Jack’s waist, and wished I were taller so that I could cup Jack’s ass in my hand.

“What would you like me to do?” Jack asked, giving the bandage on my shoulder a significant glance. “Within reason.”

I bit my lip. “I want you inside me.”

Jack nodded, and leaned over to give me another deep kiss with tongue. His cock pulsed against me. This close the smell of Jack’s blood was overwhelming, and without meaning to my fangs descended, pricking Jack’s lip as he kissed me.

“Oww.” Jack pulled away and touched his lip, fingers coming away red. “Sorry.” I had a flash of thirst at the sight of the red sparkling on Jack’s fingertips, and the coppery tang of blood in the air. “They have a mind of their own sometimes,” I slurred around the fangs that refused to retract.

Jack laughed and sat back. “I know what that’s like.” He ran a hand along the length of himself, and I shuddered as his fingers brushed my stomach. He shifted back off my hips, and I spread my legs to allow Jack access. His cock rested against the folds of my labia, and he ground himself against me. I cried out in pleasure as his throbbing cock brushed my clit and Jack grinned, moving faster and bringing another cry from me.

“Do you have a condom?” I suddenly realized as Jack slowed and grabbed his cock.

Jack gave me a patient look. “You’re a vampire. You can’t get STDs, or get pregnant.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Lube?” he asked in response.

“I, uh, I’m pretty wet already. I think we’ll be fine.”

“Oh, that hole!” Jack said with a laugh. I smiled along with him as he pushed the length of himself into me.

I gasped as Jack grabbed my legs and began rocking quicker inside me, getting deeper with each thrust until his balls were slapping my butt. His slick length rubbing me sent waves of pleasure shuddering through me.

“See that large bump at the top there?” Jack nodded.

“Rub it while you fuck me.”

Jack moaned, lowering a hand to rub while he thrust. “It’s so big,” he said, twirling my clit between his fingers. I bit back a scream of ecstasy and gripped the bedsheets, bucking against Jack’s hips as he rubbed. “Now it’s my turn to say that your downstairs doesn’t quite look like the straight porn I’ve seen,” he said with a wry smile.

“Testosterone,” I managed as pleasure overcame me. “Makes it grow.” Jack let go of me and slid his hands under my butt to pull me closer. His firm chest pressed against my face as I sat up, reaching up to twine the fingers of my good hand through his hair.

I screamed in pleasure, bucking against Jack as I came.

Jack laughed and held me down. “Like fucking a tiger.” He finished with a groan as he came inside me. Jack shuddered along with me for a moment before collapsing, leaning down to kiss me hard with his soft cock still inside me. We lay like that for a long moment. Jack was panting, but I didn’t feel out of breath at all.

“That was wonderful,” Jack said, recovering. He pulled out and rolled over to spoon me from behind.

“It was,” I whispered, already feeling sleepy as the last of the aftershocks came over me with a last spasm of pleasure. I fell asleep, safe in Jack’s arms.

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Continue on to Chapter 20

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