Adam’s eyes opened. Their colors were bright like the neon hues of exotic fish, but the sadness they expressed—painfully human. “I’m sorry. It was the only way. I couldn’t let him have you.”
“You could have walked away from all this,” Emil whispered, rubbing his wrists, because he didn’t dare step closer yet. The screams of the four cultists were still alive in his ears yet he couldn’t find it in him to pity them. They had used his affection for Adam and lured him here under false pretenses, perfectly content with his death as long as it did not disrupt their own prosperity. They had gotten what they deserved.
Adam exhaled, sending vapor into the cool air. “No. I couldn’t have.”
Emil hugged himself as the cold stabbed his skin, a reminder that he was naked. He still couldn’t believe this was real, that he was talking to Chort himself, that Chort was really Adam, and that Adam had just eaten four people. But the insanity of it all didn’t make it false.
“I know how all this must have looked like to you, but I had nothing to do with this. I didn’t know about their schemes,” Emil uttered, finally daring to approach the massive creature that somehow had the expressions and mannerisms of the man Emil loved.
Adam shrugged, which made the beast look painfully like him. “I know, I’m sorry, I should have trusted you. I was so wrong to accuse you. I panicked and didn’t know any better. After everything I said to you, you still came back to offer your heart…” He went silent for a few seconds before picking up the fallen coat he’d earlier covered Emil with. “You’ll get ill.”
“Are you saying it no longer fits you?” Emil laughed, but felt like a shit right after it came out of his mouth. There was nothing funny about their situation, and while Adam was putting up a brave face, he was surely devastated, even if he felt he’d done the right thing.
The coat couldn’t stop the tremors running up and down his body, but it offered some relief, and as Emil zipped it all the way up, his gaze met the mismatched discs Adam now had for eyes. Tenderness climbed from the depth of Emil’s chest and up his neck, and he stepped closer, first hovering his fingers over the furry arm, then sliding them into the soft pelt.
Adam flinched, as if the touch hurt him, but he didn’t pull away. “I will walk you out of the woods. It’s a dangerous night.”
A part of Emil wanted to take Adam up on the proposition—have a bit of time to rest and regroup, but the thought of leaving him alone had Emil’s heart trembling with regret. Only days ago, he’d been ready to leave behind the one home he knew and follow Adam wherever he needed to go. That was still the case, no matter the fear and anguish of tonight.
He took a step forward and wrapped his arms around the neck of Adam’s monstrous form. “I have nowhere to go,” he whispered. Whatever Adam was now, he still had the same mind, and Emil would stay by his side.
He took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of pine and moss clinging to the fur as if it hadn’t been sprayed with blood just minutes ago.
Adam hesitated, but the tension in his muscles dispersed when he gave in and closed his big arms around Emil. His touch was gentle, as if Emil were a delicate glass figurine that might break with too much pressure. “I don’t know what happens to me now,” he whispered, but as they clung to one another in the sacred grove that still faintly smelled of blood, the sense of belonging filled Emil’s heart with warmth that soon replaced the numbness in his limbs.
“We will work it out. Whatever happens, I will be there for you.” He stroked the thick neck, slowly adjusting to the fact that this was really happening. That Adam’s body changed, but that he was the same person and needed Emil more than ever. “Thank you. For, you know, not ripping my heart out.” He was desperate to bring normality to the situation, but the flash of hurt passing through Adam’s eyes told him his efforts were for nothing.
“I might stay like this forever, so maybe you shouldn’t make any rash decisions,” he said, shifting so both his legs were on one side of Emil’s body. A deep tremor ran through his entire form, and he gave a choked gasp, rubbing his velvety cheek against Emil’s like a cat begging for attention.
The heat radiating from Adam rushed through Emil at a fast pace, as if it had somehow seeped into his arteries and buzzed through his bloodstream, chasing away the unpleasant cold until he could no longer feel it, perfectly comfortable despite his bare feet still touching damp moss.
“There is no walking away from this, Adam,” he said, using his lover’s name to make sure Adam understood that Emil still saw him as the same person—not a monster but the same man whom Emil had given his heart to this summer. And as they stood so close, inhaling one another’s scent, Emil was struck by the realization that nothing really changed in the way he felt about Adam. Arousal climbed up his leg like a serpent, whispering words of temptation that had Emil’s body hair standing to attention. And when he looked into Adam’s eyes—both the blue and the golden one—the need for physical connection settled deep in Emil’s loins, pulling on his tendons as if they were strings, and he—a puppet.
A voice of reason, the one that realized Adam had undergone a drastic transformation, told him he should take his time, but Emil had always been a man of passion, and when the very tips of sharp claws trailed up his thigh, he rolled his tongue over the velvety-soft fur of Adam’s cheek. The depth of the desire growing within him with each heartbeat came as a surprise, but he wouldn’t deny himself what he wanted, not when he was no longer worried about the sharp teeth biting into his flesh.
The beastly chest sank, producing a moan-like sound, and Emil didn’t feel intimidated by it at all.
Adam’s nostrils flared as he sat still before glancing at Emil. “I don’t regret anything that we did. I want you to know that. I was only ever free when I was with you. Whatever happens now, I’m okay with it.”
Emil swallowed, overcome by the need to get closer, to sink into the warm fur and feel the strength of Adam’s new body. “I know you must be scared, but I’ll protect you if need be.”
Adam grinned at him with the huge teeth that had crushed four adults within minutes. “You will protect me?” he asked but pulled Emil closer, until his muzzle, as soft as the lips of a horse, brushed against his forehead.
“From humans with pitchforks.” Emil’s breath caught. He was used to being taller and bigger than Adam, so feeling this small next to him was a strange experience. But the insistent desire still glowing deep within made him wonder if Chort’s body—Emil’s unspoken question was answered when a hard cock poked his hip.
Adam trembled against him and tried to back away, but Emil held him in place. It didn’t matter if they were drawn to each other because of ancient magic, because by now, they’d developed a bond that went far deeper than pure desire.
Yet lust was there, just as real as love. Like Adam’s two eyes, blue and golden, different but the same. He couldn’t even tell if his grandmother’s interference was a curse or a blessing.
Adam crooked his head and rubbed his oddly smooth thumb along Emil’s jaw. The caress was so gentle, so soothing it sent a flash of heat all the way to Emil’s toes. “I can take on pitchforks, maybe even shotguns, but not solitude.”