A Winter Moon Read online

  “It is not my intention to harm anyone. That is why I hide so far away,” Ross responded carefully, trying not to elicit any wild emotions from his compassionate lover.

  “Promise me you didn’t kill anyone,” Johnny whispered while sniffling. “And promise me you never will.”

  This was a difficult promise to keep, but one Ross had every desire to uphold. The strength of his affection for Johnny made him feel confident as he responded, passion filling his voice.

  “I promise, baby,” he said before taking his boyfriend’s lips, the hunger for the body in his arms swiftly overwhelming his mind.

  And then, nothing else mattered in this moment save for the pleasure of a warm body. Johnny sympathized with his bestial boyfriend sudden desire for sex, but insisted that they go into the shower as they were both covered in sweat. Feeling mischievous, Ross lifted his boyfriend and carried him to the bathroom before carefully disrobing. A shiver took over the teacher’s body, the hands of his boyfriend achingly teasing every bit of his thighs and legs as his rod grew hard and heavy in the cold air of the apartment. He reached over to turn on the shower and allowed for the water to warm before they both stepped into its healing spray. With a loving touch, the teacher scrubbed his boyfriend’s body with a bar of soap and rubbed carefully around the wounds he had attended to the day before. Bubbles lined the edges of the tub as he knelt down in front of his lover’s massive wand, the throbbing shaft begging to be devoured.

  As if it had been his first meal in weeks, Johnny carefully took his lover’s wand between his lips and massaged his tongue against the shaft. His lips rose and fell over the aching member, the memory of pleasure now remembered because of the beautiful man offering his mouth as a vessel to receive the delicious load. The tantalizing display nearly caused Ross to erupt instantly, his eyes enraptured by the sight of his loving boyfriend swallowing him whole. He balanced himself against the ceramic tiles of the wall and gripped his lover’s hair, prompting those beautiful lips to suck even harder. This breached every bit of defense and caused him to chuckle excitedly. Before he could begin to roll his hips into the delightful mouth, Johnny stood to occupy the soft lips of his boyfriend.

  “Turn around, baby,” Johnny whispered over the hiss of the shower. “I want to pleasure you in every way possible.”

  Smiling, Ross turned carefully in the ceramic tub and excitedly waited for his lover to take hold of his hips, the strength behind the grip a pleasant surprise. Johnny attentively lubricated his erect member with saliva and then pressed the head against the opening of his lover, eliciting a gasp as water fell over their shivering bodies. He slowly rubbed his wand into the secret garden awaiting him, the delightful pressure wrapping around his aching cock as he delicately parted the entrance of his lover’s hole. The barrier of resistance crumbled and they were hot in a trance, picking up a steady rhythm that pressed them into the tiles. The longing between them intensified the sensation of each penetration and inspired them to moan uninhibitedly. A hand reached down and lifted a leg in order to better accept the driving force aching to erupt. Another hand wrapped around the delicate cock throbbing without a guide, the hand moving carefully over the taut skin to elicit a sweet release.

  The two were engulfed by emotion, their brief separation causing them to become rather primal in the warmth of the shower. Steam rose over the curtain and anointed the air with a heavy buzz of pleasure as Ross was filled with Johnny’s amazing girth. A grunt erupted from the artist, who was digging his nails into the tile, cracking the ceramic under the weight of his hand. The force occupying his sweet hole was driving harder, pushing apart the delicate skin that ached to be filled. As the ticking bomb within his pelvis began to explode, his lover grunted hard and slammed eager hips into his supple thighs, and a chorus of moans filled the air celebrating their completion. The feathery strokes of his lover’s hand inspired his load to coat the wall as he tore away some of the tile above his head. A shower of ceramic chips fell across his back as the frenzied motions of Johnny brought his orgasm in waves, his come bursting from his rod and filling the beautiful rump in front of him.

  Overwhelmed by the steam filling the room, Johnny reached over and turned the cold water up a bit to balance the heat of orgasm, which was taking over his body. He noticed the bits of tile and began to laugh, Ross turning to do the same as he used the wall to keep himself standing.

  “Baby,” he panted. “You are amazing.”

  “I love you,” Johnny whispered in response.

  Taken aback by the statement, Ross washed himself off and brushed the tile from Johnny’s shoulders before slipping a tongue into his mouth.

  “I love you too,” Ross replied and smiled into the sweet mouth of his lover.

  A round of thunder signaled them to hop out of the shower and towel off so they could enjoy their company before the day ended and night fell. The thought crossed Johnny’s mind that he would have to leave Ross in the morning, causing him to become nauseous. Don’t worry about that now, he told himself. Just focus on your beautiful man and enjoy the rest of today. Between the news of flash flooding on the TV and the sex, he was mentally and physically exhausted, so he asked Ross if they could rest on the bed for a bit before dinner. The sounds of the storm lulled him into a relaxed trance as Ross traced the outline of his arm.

  Chapter 5

  The following week after the discovery of Ross’s condition, the school was abuzz with a number of rumors that made Johnny nervous. He overheard one student talking about the body that had washed up and how it resembled one of their friends. Coincidentally, this was the boy that had been marked absent for a couple of days the previous week, David. As Johnny looked over the roll, he realized David was still missing, and his panic peaked.

  After school, the storm raged on. The news on the radio said it might develop into a hurricane. This caused more anxiety to Johnny, who was beginning to suspect his lover of lying about never killing. At home, he took the stairs by two and barreled through the front door, immediately turning on the news to check the local channels for any confirmation of the terrible rumors he had heard about David. To his dismay, the body had been identified as David Harrowitz, from his class. He felt his anger rise, along with the fear.

  The news anchor continued to outline the details of David’s death, explaining that the poor boy had been ravaged with what appeared to be claw marks. While no known predators were amidst the areas of Central Palm Beach, the news report speculated that it was a wild cat that had escaped the zoo and found the poor boy walking alone during the storm. The grip of panic persisted and tears began to form in Johnny’s eyes, a horrible taste rising up from his stomach and settling into the back of his throat. While pacing, Johnny pulled out his phone and called Ross who answered on the second ring. His voice was cheerful when he greeted Johnny.

  “Hello, darling. How are you?” asked Ross.

  “Don’t call me darling and don’t you dare lie to me. A body just turned up after the storm and it’s been reported to have claw marks. Do you have anything to say about that?” asked Johnny who was trying to keep from becoming shrill.

  Ross bit his lower lip, panic slipping into his gut as he tried to remember what his primal form had done.

  “I promise I didn’t kill anyone. There’s no way I could have–”

  “He was my student, Ross! How could you lie to me like this?!”

  The fear was taking over and Johnny succumbed to the terror that gripped his heart. A wave of nausea hit him like a wall of bricks, his body crumbling to the floor as he yelled at Ross to stay the hell away. Crying, he threw his phone across the room without even bothering to hang up, hoping perhaps Ross would just disappear from his life. Both torn souls were weeping just miles apart from each other, the horror of possible murder on the hands of one while betrayal tore through the other. How could this have happened? If fate had so kindly brought them together, how could it rip them apart?

  As Johnny’s body shuddered with sobs,
he wrapped his own arms around him to console himself. He had no one to call to talk about the situation because it would expose the terrible secret that Ross was a murderer. It was also possible to be considered an accessory even though Johnny had had nothing to do with the murder. He racked his brain about how he could possibly explain this if he called the police. For example, perhaps he could say that he had heard something. But what would he have heard? There was nothing he could do and reporting his own lover would only tear him into pieces. He wished hard for the claws of his passionate companion to rip through him, releasing him from the grip of the pain that was caused by those same paws.

  Across the city, a distraught Ross tried hard to remember where he had gone during his time as the creature. It wouldn’t be the first time he would have to run from a city because of similar circumstances. The town up in Maine had been much the same, which was why he went so far south. He hadn’t killed anyone there, but something just seemed to change about the air, and he felt no longer welcome. Disappearing a long way away was the best thing for him to do and one of the only other skills he had aside from photography.

  Taking out a map, he began to plan his next escape and decided he would go all the way across the country. California, maybe, if he could afford it. It was the only way he could keep the love of his life safe from the horrible impulses of his body.

  Eventually, the news died down about the dead teen and Johnny went about his business as if he had never been involved with a lying beast. The days dragged by one after the other in a haze, his own body suffering from lack of comfort and intimacy. The storm seemed to dissipate as Johnny’s emotions began to pass, the loss of Ross feeling less awful with each passing day. A few weeks had passed when he finally decided to grab a beer at a local bar, taking up darts while he listened to old rock music playing over the speakers. He ordered two shots from the bar and had the bartender, Aaron, drink with him.

  “We drink to freedom,” Johnny said as he raised his glass. “And to storms passing.”

  “That sounds pretty deep, John. You alright?” Aaron asked before shooting the liquor.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” Johnny replied while looking down at the bar. “I’ll have another beer.”

  As Aaron opened another bottle, he handed it to Johnny and said, “On the house.”

  It made Johnny smile even though he wasn’t in the mood to smile. The simple gift had made him feel better. He hadn’t even enjoyed his own volunteering at the food kitchen lately, which was a telling sign that he was incredibly depressed. Maybe I can forget about Ross by picking up somebody else, he thought while looking around the room. Within his sight wasn’t much variety, and anyway, it wasn’t like this was a gay bar where he knew the men were gay. Rolling his eyes, he chugged down the rest of his beer and then grabbed his coat to head out into the wintry night. The chilling air bit his face as he crossed the threshold which caused him to dip down into his coat and walk quickly to his car. He looked up into the night sky briefly to find a lone cloud eerily creeping across a full winter moon.

  A full moon.

  Johnny picked up his pace as he realized what night it was, thoughts of Ross flooding his mind while he sprinted to his car. The coat billowed about him and exposed his arms to the cold, the chill pinching the skin uncovered. It didn’t concern him. He was more occupied by the fright that raised the hair on his arms, caused by wondering whether Ross was still in town. They had parted as soon as Johnny had told him off, the screams still echoing in his own head. Just as he was fumbling through his coat, he heard rustling and a growl. The keys Johnny was wrestling from his pocket hit the ground and he turned with a knot stuck in his throat.

  Before him stood a great beast with glowing green eyes, its jaw hanging open and dripping with saliva. The paws of the wolf were gargantuan and had enormous black claws that glittered under the gentle light of the moon. It seemed to be studying Johnny who was frozen in place, unsure of what to do in this moment. He looked around the empty parking lot as the last alcohol from the beer he had drunk coursed through his veins – at least he might be a bit buzzed when he died. After formulating a quick plan, Johnny peeled off his college ring from his left hand and tossed it at the beast who shuddered in response. The small ring seemed to leave a burning print on its face which agitated the beast, inspiring him to lunge forward. Johnny had already picked up his keys and fallen to the ground to roll under his car to the other side where he could run into the distance.

  This turned out to be a poor decision on his part, as he realized the beast was faster on four legs. The parking lot ended just a hundred yards from his car and he ducked behind some other cars in hopes maybe the wolf would lose interest. As the creature crawled over the vehicles, it growled again and scraped its claws against the metal, the noise piercing in the cold and quiet night. Seeing an opportunity to sprint again, Johnny took a deep breath and lunged between two cars, back to his where he shoved his key into the door. Before he could unlock the vehicle, the great beast had him pinned to the ground underneath a row of sharp teeth decorated with what might have been blood in the dim light. Johnny accepted his fate and said a small prayer in order to save his soul before his last breath, then shut his eyes as the mouth came down for his head.

  Chapter 6

  The growling, fanged maw above his face was coming down slowly, elongating the time between living and dying. Another prayer came to mind for a quick death as the claws of the beast dug into his shoulders, his body collapsing beneath the weight of the filthy animal. As Johnny squeezed his eyes shut, something large barreled into the beast from the right, shoving it off his body. A quick glance revealed a black shadow about the same size that growled heavily and sank its teeth into the creature that nearly took his life. Dazed, Johnny stood to watch the primal battle between these two huge wolves, their shining teeth sinking into fur and reappearing bloodied and black. It wasn’t long before one of the beast which had attacked him collapsed to the ground, its howl fading as it passed away and shifted back into the human it used to be. As the light of the moon illuminated its face, shock ran through his body as he realized that face was a familiar one.

  His student, Mark!

  After recognizing the body, he looked around for the other beast, but was met with distant howling and the scent of a familiar cologne. It was Ross who had just saved him! This poor teenage boy who hardly had any control over his body was merely confused, incapable of controlling the beast that desperately wanted to take over. In his horrible fit, he had attacked his teacher and was then defeated by another beast, Ross, who had been trained to control these inclinations. But Ross was gone, and Johnny took pity on the boy, his youthful features glowing in the light from the full moon, the very thing that controlled his curse. A lone tear rolled out of his eye and fell to the cold pavement below, echoing in the empty lot that had once been filled with growls.

  Realizing the situation, Johnny turned to jump into his car before the police arrived. He wouldn’t be able to explain his presence other than the fact that he was at the bar. And what of evidence? He hadn’t paid with a card and nothing of his was left at the scene save for – his ring! Quickly looking around didn’t reveal the ring’s location, but panic led him to drive away before anyone noticed the dead body of his student in the parking lot.

  That night, he hardly slept, thinking of all the ways the police would break down his door in order to arrest him for being an accessory to murder. Surely they would find the ring and connect it to him. Maybe they would even show up in his classroom and arrest him in front of his students, making an embarrassing spectacle that would be spoken of perpetually as part of Reynolds High history. Mr. Christensen was a murderer who clawed up this poor little teenage boy. He was just pent up with rage over his ex-boyfriend. What a shame. What a pity. It’s always the quiet ones who have the fits, isn’t it?

  Dawn broke through the window, the sun breaking through the darkness of the nightmares haunting the disturbed teacher’s mind. Joh
nny woke in a fit and looked about wildly, waiting for something to come at him. His eyes focused on the figure in the far corner and relaxed when he recognized it was Ross.

  “Ross!” he cried while shaking. “You saved me!”

  For fear of alarming his lover, Ross didn’t budge from the corner of the room, but smiled in response. He held up a handkerchief and then placed it on the bed, motioning for Johnny to open it up.

  “You could have used that to your advantage, but you threw it. I’m sure it could come in handy some other time,” explained Ross while rubbing his chin. “Why did you throw it, anyway?”

  Johnny leaned over the sheets to inspect the cloth and unwrapped it to reveal his class ring. The silver winked at him in the morning light, suddenly reminding him of the day he had graduated college. He wasn’t even sure why he still wore this thing, but now it was apparent that fate had other things in mind. Silver was a bane to werewolves, so it was no surprise that it burned Mark when it had struck his face.

  “I panicked,” Johnny said while holding the ring up to the light. “Did it hurt you to carry it? When did you even get it?”

  “I went back in the morning to retrieve it,” said Ross while looking at the ground.

  Johnny’s mouth dropped open in shock.

  “But the body!”

  Ross shook his head.

  “The body was gone when I went back and there weren’t any police. I don’t think we have anything to worry about. Some young werewolves, when they are defeated in the midst of shifting, tend to simply crumble away after death. It’s something that keeps our species safer. No body. No mess.”

  The explanation seemed far too ludicrous and Johnny pressed for another reason that the body had disappeared, insisting there must be something more to it than that. Ross shook his head and assured Johnny that it was the truth. It still didn’t settle well, but the stress was overwhelming and caused the exhausted teacher to collapse against the sheets of the bed. Ross, realizing the discomfort he had caused, flew over the edge of the bed to embrace the poor man whose heart couldn’t seem to take much more tragedy. The truth resided in the gut of the primitive beast along with the remains of the teenager whom he had gobbled up after Johnny had left the scene. There was no need for the boy to be discovered and for their ancient secret to be revealed. Even the beastly side of Ross understood this fact, but it wasn’t something he could reveal to Johnny.