But all folks are damaged goods

[Kang Taebin]

"Yeah," Josh countered matter-of-factly, leveling one of his acid-sharp stares at Rae. He wanted to be fucked. That was the point of this entire exercise and Rae was taking his sweet ass time with it, while Josh just wanted to bend him over the back of one of the seats and say screw it to romance.

What? Fucking while facing each other was plenty romantic.

Thankfully, Rae didn't make him wait long, although this moment honestly felt like it was years in the making. There had always been something between them--a sizzle and a spark--but nothing ever happened. Infuriatingly, Rae wasn't the cheating type, which surprised, amused, impressed and utterly disgusted Josh, who held no such notions of loyalty. He was loyal but not in that way, not in the way that Rae had been to Alva.

Which was why as he plunged down over Josh, it brought a sharp sense of satisfaction not only for Josh's aching body, but also for his rotten soul. So much for staying faithful. So much for those five years--all meaningless, Josh thought, in the face of this one moment. He savored it, even as he bucked uncontrollably into Rae with a hiss.

The pleasure was intense and so was the gloating. The gloating made the sex feel that much better and as the intensity and the heat ramped up, Josh's savage smile of self-satisfaction grew wider. His hands slipped over Rae, grasping him tightly, running his thumb over the sensitive head and stroking him in time to the rhythm of his body. Rae was doing most of the damage on his own and Josh sat back for the ride.

Heat ran over his body in waves, cooling and then spiking, enveloping him in Rae's heat. He shivered, moaned wantonly into kisses and tasted savagery and desperation, licking the broken skin of his throbbing lips as the sound of their mingled, heavy breathing filled the inside of the truck.

It couldn't last forever, though, and when it all ended, Josh let out a silent cry as his shaking body arched up to meet Rae's. Even as he climaxed, he was smiling, that same thin, cruel, pleased smile--directed at the head rest of the driver's seat while Rae fell against him.

I win.

And Alva, that crippled, useless excuse for a shifter, lost. Josh lifted a hand and pressed it to the back of Rae's head to keep him in place. Idly, he pressed a kiss--a meaningless little peck--to one damp temple. Somewhere, a phone buzzed. Then it buzzed again, a few more times, before it went still.

Josh's fingers tightened in Rae's hair, possessively, briefly, holding him there. "Let's go back to my place."

[Reagan Ryang]

When he closed his eyes, the world spun in a dizzying kaleidoscope of colors. Josh was all he scented and in the back of his mind, it felt wrong. Somebody else had wound his way around his heart so tightly that it was impossible to forget him fully. In the moment, his memory was vanquished, but only for a moment. As he panted for breath and his eyes cracked open to a shoulder, he shivered. Josh's shirt had been forcibly pulled aside, he noticed. Am I the one who did that? He could see a mess of blood smeared across his skin, on the skewed collar of his shirt.

Lazily, he licked at it. He'd never do something like this to Alva. Even in the heat of the moment, he was more like a puppy using soft paws and soft teeth in play rather than intentionally trying to draw blood.

It felt good, though, to let it out. But it wasn't all out. That was the problem. There was still something restless crawling inside, screaming to get out. He had a feeling that wouldn't subside any time soon. In the background, somewhere from the front seat, he heard a phone going off but when he started to lift his head, Josh held him in place. It probably wasn't Alva anyway. He set his head back down, letting his eyes close as Josh's fingers tightened in his damp hair.

Back to Josh's place. He almost laughed. Mostly it came out as a breathless little scoffing sound. They barely even got away from his place before they fucked like animals in the backseat but it made sense. Where else were they going to go? Rae said he wanted to fuck shit up but it wasn't like he couldn't get his fill of that with just Josh alone. Letting out a groan, he pulled himself up. He was so paying for what he'd done to himself... not even tomorrow. Like, right now.

"Fine," he groaned. "But you're driving."

[Kang Taebin]

Josh smirked. "Oh, I get to drive now?" he asked purely facetiously and just to be an ass, giving Rae's sore ass a not-so-light swat. "All right, let's go." Before curiosity (or guilt) got the better of Rae and he decided that he wanted to run back to Alva with his tail between his legs. Josh's gaze flicked down to their half-naked bodies.

If his upper body was bloody, it was matched by Rae's lower body. A dark little smile flickered over his lips as he glanced up, matching his gaze with Rae's. His neck and shoulders throbbed like a bitch but it was worth it. His shirt was ruined, torn and bloodied, but there was something oh-so-satisfying about a good hard fuck and nobody did that better than Rae. Or so Josh had heard--until today.

He had no doubt that Rae didn't do this with Alva, though. On the occasions that Josh saw Alva, he never sported injuries like these. At most there would be maybe a light bruise or a reddish mark, but nothing like what Rae did--Rae marked him, laying his claim over Josh as surely as Josh had laid claim over Rae. Josh briefly touched one of the bite marks, fingertips brushing over broken skin and coming away a little damp. He leaned up, half-rising, and kissed Rae--not gently or sweetly, but gentle and sweet for him.

"Come on." Josh pulled up his damn pants, half-zipped it in his impatience and got out of the truck so that he could slide into the driver's seat. The ride back to his house was brief; he recklessly cut off at least two people, both of whom honked long and hard, and Josh simply stuck his middle finger out through the window at them. Then they were back again, pulling into the driveway. Josh smiled over at Rae, meaningfully, and hopped lightly out. Nobody was going to be home for a long while and, honestly, even if they all stood at the doorway to watch, Josh wouldn't have cared.

He might even relish the audience. This was what he had wanted for years--this moment and this man. Hell if he was letting anything get between him and what he desired. Josh always got what he wanted, in the end... and if he couldn't have it, then he would make damn sure nobody else could, either. Did that make him vindictive? Hell yes--and it worked for him.

Josh didn't even bother locking the front door. He didn't remember if he closed it or not. The second he set foot inside the house, he was half-dragging Rae upstairs with him--and he didn't care if each step was a little taste of hell for Rae's ass. His bedroom wasn't far down the hall; Josh led him inside and kicked the door closed with his foot. Josh shed his torn shirt and wiggled out of his jeans and fell into bed with Rae with a low, soft, pleased laugh. In here, they could take their time.

In here, it was just him and Rae, the way it should have always been.

[Reagan Ryang]

Round two meant far more time spent together, more exploration, and more pain mixed deliciously together with the pleasure. Josh was everything Rae imagined and more. There were daydreams, there were nights when he woke restlessly from dreams of being with him but the reality was far better. It was so real that when he had a second chance to really take it all in, he did exactly that. He drank in the sight of Josh, handsome, even with the cruel tilt in his smile and the dark pride in his eyes. If anything, that look only spurred him on further.

Rae lost count of how many times they fucked. It felt like if it existed, they were doing it to one another. Rae left more marks and he certainly bore more marks by the end of it all.

As he lay back at the end of it all and reached for a bottle of water sitting on the table beside the bed, he ran his hand through Josh's hair. It had been a long, long time since he'd felt this sexually satiated. Josh teased him mercilessly about it up until this point and Rae scoffed and rebuffed him at every turn but fuck if the guy wasn't right about it all along.

Passing the water bottle to Josh, his voice wasn't over a murmur as he said something about how much he hated that Josh was right. But that didn't stop him from playfully sliding a leg over Josh's.

Eventually, he felt the weight of exhaustion passing over him. Consciousness faded into blackness and he fell into the deepest sleep he could remember having in a long time.

When he woke up next, he turned his heavy head and blinked blearily at Josh. "What time is it?" he asked groggily. Whatever time it was, the room was pitch dark. Slowly and with a groan, he made himself sit up. "Fuck." His ass was throbbing at the mere thought of movement. Still, he had to go so he forced himself off the bed and into the adjacent bathroom, where he took a quick leak and washed his hands.

"Shit." He touched some of the wounds Josh left on him, but he half smiled, too. He liked it, the marks. It was like having battle scars and sex could be every bit as much a battle as any other kind of fight. Padding back into the bedroom, he reached down for his pants and dragged them into the bed with him as he carefully laid back against a pile of pillows, his body sidling up against Josh's.

He pulled his phone out of his pants pocket to check the time.

"Wow. Fuck." It was nearly five in the morning. And there were missed calls. And a message. Glancing over at Josh--he was sure Josh saw it, too--Rae passed his finger over the unlock screen and opened up his voicemail. It didn't surprise him to see that the missed calls and shit were from Alva but... seeing his name on the screen was like having a bucket of ice tossed over his head. With a tight throat, he slowly sat up and hit the voicemail with his thumb.

[Kang Taebin]

Of course Josh was right.

He was a wolf, just like Rae, afflicted with the same shit that turned them into uncontrollable wild animals every full moon. He understood better than a sheltered, coddled, crippled fox how things went with them. Alva couldn't possibly know what it was like to have the insatiable need to fuck. Not make love--nothing sappy or romantic or pathetic like that--but fuck. Like animals. Because that was what he and Rae were.

They fucked like animals and even when they were out of breath and left with barely enough energy to lift their heads, that deeply ingrained desire was still there. Maybe some part of this was because of genuine feelings... but Josh wasn't about to confront that part of himself for a long time to come. As far as he was concerned, this was about getting what he wanted, and about being right.

Oh, right--and about winning over Alva.

He smiled into Rae's shoulder as fingers slipped through his hair, and ran his fingertips over a bite mark. That was definitely his teeth, leaving his mark on Rae. Josh grinned wolfishly as he molded his teeth around the mark again, playfully. There were similar marks on him, too--bites, scratches, bruises, fingerprints. Anything that could leave a lasting impression, anywhere that was exposed to teeth and nails, everything was fair game. Rae lived up to his reputation and although Josh was sore all over, he didn't regret anything. This was how sex was meant to be--none of that weak-ass vanilla bullshit that Alva must've subjected Rae to for all these years.

For a little while after Rae fell asleep, Josh stayed awake. He feigned slumber at first, but once he was sure that Rae was fast asleep--and he was, after their exertions in bed--Josh's eyes slid open. He ran a gentle hand over Rae's brow, gentler than any of his earlier touches that night. In the dark, Josh's secret was safe. Nobody could see the way he smiled at Rae, or that his gaze softened into something he would routinely mock Alva for. Nobody knew how his heart ached as he laid awake in this same bed some nights, knowing that Rae was somewhere else, with someone else. (Worse, someone Josh despised and absolutely considered beneath them.)

Eventually he fell asleep, but was rudely awakened only a few hours later. "Fuck o'clock" was Josh's annoyed grumble as he turned his face into the pillow. The bed bounced a little as Rae got up and Josh cursed again. His ass didn't appreciate the jostling any more than Rae's but he didn't smile. He grimaced--it was a victorious grimace, though, and as soon as Rae returned, Josh curled into him, running a lazy hand down his stomach.

"Jesus. Somebody blew up your phone last night," he muttered, craning his neck to catch a glimpse of the caller ID. Josh's heart sank. Fuck. Alva. Five calls from Alva and a voice message. Josh felt like he forgot to breathe as Rae's thumb hit the voicemail icon and slowly, he let it out. Turned away. Forced himelf up despite his screaming ass and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

It didn't matter what the message was. See, that was the thing--it didn't matter a tiny little bit. Josh saw the look in Rae's eyes, by the light of the phone's screen, and he knew what that look was. Slowly, he punched a closed fist against the edge of the sink, and squeezed his eyes shut. Fifty-fifty chance of Rae still being out there once he got out. Those weren't great odds. Once Rae heard Alva's voice, all bets were off because Josh knew Rae, and he knew how stupidly sentimental Rae could be.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!

Josh opened his eyes to his own grim image in the mirror. Marks. He breathed out, nostrils flaring, eyes blazing with anger and--triumph. Marks. Josh wasn't the only one who had marks all over him...