Page 10 of The Monster at the End of This Molt

The next few days passed by in a blur. I made some progress on the wheel, but it was far from round. One side had caved in upon impact with a rock shelf jutting several feet above the ravine. It had looked more like a happy face when I pulled it out. I'd hammered it back to being wheel shaped, but it needed to be perfectly round with even rims around the outside edges before I could attempt to affix the rubber tire. I'd gotten to where hammering out each imperfection caused two more.

Each evening, Robin met me to watch the sunset until Friday's rain cut my workday short. I prepared our lunch basket for the following day and tucked it back into the refrigerator. Then, I fixed another simple meal of vegetables and rice.

I even beat Robin into the shower, though I missed his delicious scent. I still found myself thinking about it as I soaped my thickening cock.

What was the harm in returning the favor? I leaned against the tiled wall, pressing my forehead to my forearm as I feverishly worked my cock with my other hand. All my pent-up frustration at Robin's unexpected arrival and the nights I hadn't been able to touch him since then came shooting out of me in hot white spurts all over the shower wall.

My knot burgeoned. I ignored it and continued to scrub myself clean.

A moment later, I regretted my life choices. The outside door banged open and Robin whined, "Gods, I hate rain. Are you here, Weld?"

The bathroom door creaked open before I could grab a towel.

Robin sniffed the air, leaning toward me with each flare of his nostrils. He looked as wet as I was. He leaned so far forward, he almost tumbled into the shower stall with me.

He was too late. I grabbed a towel from the shelf beside Robin and unfurled it, but I didn't bother to hide my nakedness, or my still-erect cock and thick knot. I lifted the towel to my dripping hair.

Robin reached for me with desire in his gaze.

"No. Stand still."

He dropped his arm back to his side, but his gaze roamed my body.

I stepped closer and peeled his wet t-shirt off him. I was the elder. I could do this.

Gently, I unbuckled his pants and looped my thumbs in the band of his compression shorts. He sucked in a surprised breath when I shucked them down his legs, turning them inside out. He braced himself on the counter and kicked his clothes away. It was a long way up from my crouch, but I eventually met his heated gaze. His cock was rock hard and already leaking, but this wasn't about sex.

"Shower while I get dinner ready."

I ignored his whimper as I stood and walked out, shutting the door behind me. The sound almost drew me back to him, but I stayed firm.

He barely spoke to me through dinner. When I checked on him before I went to bed, he pretended to be asleep.

I'd really fucked things up this time. While I lay in bed, staring at the slanted ceiling, I wondered if fate saw how incompatible Robin and I were. Beyond the sexual desire, there was no reason for a sweet kid like him and a grumpy old pain in the ass like me to be together.

* * *

The Saturday morning sunlight woke me from a fitful sleep. I rubbed grit from my tired eyes. A sharp pain in my chest made me sit up so fast my head spun.

The pain wasn't mine, but it hurt like hell. It was unlike anything I'd ever felt. I hopped out of bed and rushed to the living room, where Robin lay with his head buried between two pillows. The muffled sounds of his sobs broke my heart.

I kneeled beside him and tugged the nearest pillow away. "Hey."

Without hesitation, he wrapped his arms around me. He arranged me until I sat beside him with his head in my lap. I quickly positioned his pillow between us, which only made him sob harder.

"Why do you hate me?" He sniffled. "I did everything you said. I was patient. I waited. Everyone said, 'oh, you know your fated mate, you've got it so easy,' but waiting was never easy. Now I'm here, and you still make me wait. When I think I'm making some headway with you, you just push me away again."

"I'm not pushing you away," I said.

"What the hell do you call yesterday in the shower?"

"You were cold and wet, and I was finished."

"Yeah, you finished all right."

I couldn't help it. His crass joke made me snort. "Did you think I wouldn't smell your cum all those times?"

"I hoped you would," he said. "You don't know how much I want you to mark and claim me. You don't even care!"

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