Bonedust

move, gaze downcast and shoulders tense. The way he danced was mechanical, like a robot trying to seduce a can opener.
    Urban slid behind him, placing both hands palms down on the man’s slender hips. Gabriel froze, twisting, but Urban pinned him against the pole. “Easy there, baby,” he murmured, feeling the hot press of Gabe’s back against his chest. “Just relax… Let me show you.”
    After a moment, the man relaxed and Urban swayed against him, urging him on with his hands. “Arch your neck like this,” Urban coaxed him, running a hand through Gabe’s mane of coffee-hued curls, twining his fingers in it. His other hand stayed cupped against Gabriel’s hip. The two of them moved together, every minute passing turning Gabriel’s movements softer. Or maybe it was the Calixthe. The only thing Urban knew was that he was enjoying this.
    He pressed his cheek against the back of Gabriel’s neck, placing a lingering kiss on milky flesh. He nibbled gently at the man’s pulse and Gabriel went stiff as a board in his grip. He jerked, twisting away from the pole and spinning around to look Urban in the eye, the whites of his eyes showing.
    “Don’t do that,” he snapped quietly, and any warmth Urban had felt was gone, sucked up like a cyclone as ice coated the man’s tone. “I’m not that drunk. Look, you’ve had your…fun. Can I just go? Please?” He wrapped his arms around himself and took a step back.
    Urban stepped forwards. “No.”
    “No?”
    He smiled slowly. “You could leave, but I’m not paying you until I get what I paid for.”
    “I’m not your fucking slave.”
    “Never said you were, but obviously you’re someone’s. You’re like a beaten dog, Gabe—”
    “Don’t call me that.” Gabriel’s voice was a hiss. “I’m no one’s slave. Not anymore. What? You want a lap dance? Oh, I’m good at those.” Dark eyes flashed as he reached out, hands connecting with Urban’s chest. He gave him a rough shove back. Urban stumbled, the backs of his calves hitting the mattress. Gabriel pushed him down and straddled him, rocking against him. His fingernails dug little crescents into Urban’s chest and the snake found his heart was doing double time. Damn. So the little slave had a spark of flame in him after all.
    Urban lay back against the bed, his arms reaching for the beautiful man on top of him. Gabriel sliced nails down his chest, leaving red streaks, and his lip turned up in a sneer. “Aw, c’mon babe,” Urban murmured, clamping both hands on either side of Gabriel’s hips and pulling him in. Gabe’s lips were mere inches from his—so kissable, even in their snarl—and Urban wanted badly to reach up and just connect. His hands slid up the scar tissue on Gabriel’s back, arching into him and dropping his head against the mattress. “Have your way with me,” he growled softly, staring up at the man. “Use me…”
    Two things happened at once. One: Gabriel stiffened and jerked away, stumbling back and slamming his hip into the nightstand. He stood there, a stricken look on his face. Two: A tiny chiming bird echoed in Urban’s ear. The man groaned. Not right now. Please, for the love of Halcion… They were so damn close!
    “Give me one sec, babe,” Urban muttered, reaching up and tapping the little black device curled around his earlobe. It crackled to life in his ear and made it sound like the man speaking words was right behind him, close enough to kiss. “Winters—whaddaya want? I’m a little busy.”
    “Not anymore,” the man chuckled. “I’ve got an issue I need some help with. One of my wolves went rogue, completely psycho; she’s killed a man over in Dublith and I’m sure she’s not done yet. She’s a spicy little bitch, I’ll give her that.”
    “Why’d you Change her if you knew she would react?”
    “Sweetie, that’s my business, not yours. I’m offering fifty zaels if you can catch her and bring her back to me.”
    “How dangerous, on a scale from one to ten? Ten being deadly, I-don’t-wanna-fuck-with-this-bitch deadly.” Urban saw Gabriel’s eyebrow raise and he shot the man a quick grin.
    “Probably a good five. She’s majorly pissed, but she should come down. She always does. A little bipolar, maybe? I dunno. Fifty zaels, take it or leave it. I need the job done tonight. Before she endangers the pack any more than she already has.”
    “Done. You say Dublith City?”
    “I’ll wait for you at the boundary line. You’ll get