Free Melbourne Heat by Elizabeth Lapthorne

change. Knowing for sure will mean I can sort everything else we’ve discussed in my head and believe that, too. I can try and understand it then. To deal with it.”
    “It’s okay,” Charles said.
    Charles bent his head and Spencer eagerly tilted his chin up. They pressed their lips together and shared a kiss. Needing to prove he wasn’t trying to be an asshole, Spencer pushed Charles’ shoulder. He urged his partner to lean back, to relax. Spencer kissed Charles with passion. When Charles parted his mouth Spencer thrust his tongue inside, tangling them together.
    Lifting his hands, Spencer threaded his fingers through Charles’ silky hair. Massaging his scalp, he used his thumbs to knead Charles’ neck. When Charles moaned, Spencer gasped to catch his breath, fire racing in his blood.
    He peppered kisses across Charles’ cheek then licked a hot trail down Charles’ jaw. Nipping at his chin, Spencer chuckled at the naughty idea that crossed his mind. Feeling confident, he bent lower. Using his teeth gently, he took a small circle of skin down the base of Charles’ jaw. Sucking hard, he laved his tongue over the area and rolled the skin in his mouth.
    Letting go with a pop, he then surveyed the small mark. Not quite satisfied, he repeated the gesture until a bruise began to form.
    “There now,” he said, feeling proud. Spencer lifted his gaze and met Charles’. “Now we have matching hickeys. We’ve officially regressed back to high school.”
    Charles threw his head back and laughed.
    Spencer felt pleased with himself. The uncertainty and tension in the air had been broken. Once again he could feel the intimate connection between them. There were still definitely going to be rocky patches ahead, but they’d weathered this first one well in his mind.
    Large, warm hands cupped his jaw. Spencer smiled as Charles drew his face close and kissed him almost chastely.
    “I’m glad you wanted to do that,” Charles said. “And I appreciate you bringing some levity to the situation. I’m not sure I could be as gracious should our positions have been reversed.”
    Spencer shrugged, feeling a bit embarrassed.
    Charles stood up and closed the few curtains that remained open, giving the room complete privacy from the outside. He stripped in a quick, economical fashion. Spencer drank in the sight of his naked body, heated memories from the night before flashing across his mind.
    “Don’t be scared, okay?” Charles said. “I’m betting the sight will be full-on the first time you witness it, but that’s just ’cos it’s new. Everything is scary the first time, but gets easier after that. I promise.”
    Nervous, Spencer couldn’t tell why he wanted to stand to witness this. Maybe it seemed lazy to be sitting when Charles exposed himself like this, he didn’t know. But Spencer got to his feet and tried to not fidget.
    Charles took a deep breath and held Spencer’s gaze. Spencer was focusing so hard it took him a moment to realize nothing was happening immediately. When he thought he saw the air shimmer, he blinked, convinced he was giving himself eye strain. It was gone before he could make up his mind. Charles’ body contorted and he grimaced.
    The sound of bones popping shattered the air. Spencer gasped and instinctively took a step back, almost tripping over the damn couch.
    Charles hunched over and it looked like his back rippled. The bones in his spine moved in a manner Spencer knew wasn’t natural. All of a sudden he wanted to rush over to Charles, to cry out to stop. He didn’t need to see this after all, he’d witnessed enough.
    It looked painful.
    Charles didn’t cry out, though he did grunt once. Limbs elongated and fur sprang from his body as if a seam in his skin had split open. On all fours now, Charles shuddered.
    Spencer couldn’t breathe. Bones crunched together and he had no doubt that the air shimmered as if heat was being expelled from Charles’ body, as if the change caused some