The Hart's Desire

Story by Slothdog on SoFurry

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A deer finds his dreams come true in a very literal way... Check the tags for more info.

This was written as a part 1; I may or may not continue it.

Comments/critique welcome. Editors are also welcome. If anyone would like to edit the stories I write, I'd be perfectly happy to let you. I'd also do the same for you.


The Hart's Desire

It came closer and closer. His muscles stung, shins felt like they would splinter as he fled through the undergrowth. He'd run a marathon already. All he could think of now was the thick taste of fear, the shuddering anticipation of capture. No matter how fast he ran, no matter how he hid, it would find him. The wolf always found him.

_ _

A howl echoed in his ears. He felt hot breath upon him. He turned, jabbing his antlers at the black shape behind. He felt nothing, grazed only air, and collapsed as he felt a sharp stab behind his knee. It was on him now. They fell in a tangle of struggling limbs. He feared pain, the sharp sting of ivory fangs. Instead, he was effortlessly pinned to the ground.

_ _

The full weight of the wolf was on him. There was a sharp pain in his back; the wolf's knee pressed down in the small of his back. It gave him a target. He slammed his head upwards, angled to drive sharp points into the wolf's chest. Antlers connected, sent a shock through his skull, but the satisfying crack of bone didn't come; the wolf just caught them.

_ _

The forest spun as the wolf slammed his head into the earth with a concussive thud.

_ _

"Stay down."

_ _

He heard a harsh whisper, the breathy pant of the predator who had bested him. The wolf's taut body was pressing up against his and he was dizzy, he couldn't focus. His arms were dragged behind him, wrists pulled together. A cord was strapped around them. His legs, too; the wolf snapped them together and bound them tightly.

_ _

"No..."

_ _

He felt so weak. All the strength was gone from his body, but he twisted and struggled anyway, and the wolf just laughed as he pressed down on his neck and stroked and whispered in the deer's ear and nibbled softly around his cheeks.

_ _

"Shh... relax."

_ _

Like hell. He arched backwards and struck as hard as he could.

_ _

There was contact this time, but he barely managed to scrape the wolf's chest. The predator had seen it coming, jumped back out of the way, and he was rewarded for his effort with another heavy blow to the back of the skull. His vision blurred and he blacked out for a few precious moments. While he lay dazed, the wolf tied a thick blindfold over his eyes.

"Give up, little buck." The wolf's voice was thick with scorn. "Or should I say doe? Bucks usually put up more of a fight."

His face flushed, but he didn't say anything to contradict the wolf. He didn't have any right to, not now.

"P-please. Just let me go."He whispered. He couldn't seem to manage anything louder.

The wolf stroked the back of the deer's shivering head. He shook his head. "Be a shame to let a brand new toy just go."

The wolf's words made him shudder, but he couldn't muster up the strength to fight back. He could barely squeak out a protest as the wolf gently scratched behind his ears.

"I'm not a t-toy."

He heard a chuckle. "Oh, I beg to differ."

There was a tug at his leggings, a sharp rip of fabric. A breeze brushed over his exposed fur.

"What are- what are you doing?"

Hot breath tickled his ear. "Proving my point."

He gasped as he felt a paw touch his sheath. Was this the game the wolf was playing today? Any doubts he had were dispelled when the wolf began to stroke him, starting at the tip of the silky covering and dragging down to the base of the buck's naked sac. Even through his sheath, he could feel the touch of the wolf's paw. It made him shiver and twitch, and it wasn't long before he could feel himself getting hard.

_ _

A couple inches of his pink poked out. The wolf didn't waste any time taking advantage of it. A rough paw grasped the buck's member and rubbed over the sensitive skin.

_ _

"Stop it. Please, stop it."

_ _

He didn't want this, didn't want the wolf to make him feel this way. He had to--

***

"Dave."

He felt a hand on his shoulder.

He was back. Dirt had been replaced by carpeting and sprawling undergrowth with gray plastic dividers. Which looked a lot like the carpets, really.

"Hey. You listening?"

"Mm. Sleeping." His head stayed firmly planted on his desk, tucked neatly behind his arm.

"Yeah, that's kind of the problem."

He looked up. There was a German shepherd standing in front of him in loosely fitting business casual, a plain blue dress shirt and slacks. He stared straight at the red deer, arms crossed and toes tapping, but a smile tugged at the corners of dog's muzzle and he couldn't seem to keep his tail from wagging.

David grinned. "I'll be more productive after a nap. Promise."

Kyle rolled his eyes. "You've been napping for an hour. Time to wake up." Kyle tossed a folder on the table. "New design docs."

"Again?" David stretched. The joints in his arms and neck popped and crackled. He was glad it was still spring; antlers were murder on the spine. "That's like the third time this week."

Kyle shrugged. "Did you even read the last two? You're at work. You should try working sometime."

David might have put a little more effort into work if it felt a little less like torture devised by a particularly unimaginative demon. It wasn't so much that he found his job boring. It was that it was the particular kind of boring which somehow managed to require his full attention, at least if he was going to be any good at it. And the only thing he hated worse than being bored at something was being bad at it.

"Hey, it's not my fault I didn't get any sleep last night." He winked at the dog.

"You trying to tell me something?"

"Just that our rooms are right next to each other and the walls are thin."

"So what? Me and Kelly?" The shepherd's mouth hung open in a quiet canine grin. "That's a change. If you had an Indian name, it would be Humps-A-Fox."

There had only been one, who had pranced into his life three years ago and then stomped right out again two years later. He of the bushy tail and insecure ego, who couldn't walk across a room without stopping to flirt and who had so thoroughly charmed David when they first met that he couldn't think of anything else for days.

"The walls were thicker then." He shrugged. "I'm over foxes, anyway. Too floofy."

"If you say so. Dunno if they're over you, though."

"Not my problem."

David turned to look at the folder sitting on his desk. Synco Accounting Software Management, Revision 14. Riveting. He made an effort to focus on it anyway.

Kyle flicked his ears forward. "Well, whatever. Just came over to make sure you were awake for once. You haven't, uh, really gotten a whole lot done the last couple weeks."

He answered without looking up. "I know. You told me yesterday."

"And I'm saying it again."

David flipped the folder open and stared at the first page. Synco Accounting has requested additional changes to server side security management options. Oh boy. He could feel his mind melting already.

Kyle scuffed his shoes against the carpet. "Fine. We still on for lunch?"

"Sure."

The shepherd seemed to be satisfied by that. He wasn't getting anything more, so he'd have to be. Kyle slipped away from David's cubicle and padded down the hall.

David flipped the manila folder closed and let it skitter across his desk where it came to rest under his potted cactus. Kyle had a point; he just didn't like hearing it. Besides, he didn't know how he could explain things in a way that made sense. The problems weren't with falling asleep. In fact, he could sleep anytime, anywhere, something which made everyone who'd been on vacation with him jealous enough to almost smother him in his sleep. He'd even slept standing up, once.

The problems were dreams. Or one dream, in particular. Him in a forest. Not like the ones now, tamed and corralled by cities and roads. This was the old stuff, primeval forest. The ones with trees thick as small cars and canopies that drank up every last drop of sunlight.

He started having the dreams when he was a fawn, maybe five or six. They'd been fun, at first. He lived in the city all his life, and he could spend hours in his head just running and running. Which was funny, because it was something he hated doing in real life. He was the kind of person who preferred monitors to motion, even--or especially--when his siblings set state records in high school, and his muscle tone was best described as "suety." But in those dreams, he could run and run and run without ever getting tired. It was a juvenile little power fantasy that had always left him feeling clean and refreshed.

Now, though...

He shook his head. He needed coffee. And maybe a cold shower. He always felt jumpy after those dreams. Big, sexy wolves were fine--although there'd be plenty of deer who'd give him an earful about predatory structural violence--but only in contexts where there was little to no bodily injury involved.

He grabbed a mug off his desk and staggered out of his cubicle with a yawn. He wasn't the only one. Everyone was busy, busy, busy, and they all needed coffee, though he could probably make a case for needing it the most today. He limped down the thin and worn carpet to the break room.

There was a wide-eyed and pudgy timber wolf a head shorter than David there to greet him, which was a change. The wolf's name was Nathan and he had a cubicle on the path from David's desk to the break room. They met every day when David went to get coffee or eat lunch, no matter when David actually went to get coffee or eat lunch. Whenever he went down to the grubby, white-tiled room he would inevitably hear toes clicking after him, and half a minute later Nathan would walk in and do anything from pour a cup of water to fiddle with the foosball table.

Anything, though, did not include talking to David. Nathan never even looked in David's direction when David looked in his, except to wave and smile as his tail did a hopeful little wag before dropping right back down between his legs. Although if David sat still for a few minutes and watched the wall closely, he would notice a distinct lack of sound coming from Nathan's direction. Almost as if the wolf were also standing very still and watching something.

David didn't mind. He just wasn't quite sure what he'd actually do if the wolf ever said more than a mumbled hello. He was therefore completely at a loss today when Nathan walked up to him holding a little red plastic bottle.

"H-hi." The wolf looked down at his feet. Eye contact was something Nathan hadn't quite got the hang of yet.

"Hey. Something going on today?" The apocalypse, maybe?

"I, um, heard you were having some trouble staying awake. So I got you this." Nathan, who had managed to divert his gaze from the floor to the wall, handed David the bottle. Five Hour Energy.

"Oh. Thanks." The taste of Five Hour Energy reminded him of the time his brother had dared him to drink water out of a muddy puddle. He smiled at the wolf anyway. If he didn't take it, Nathan would probably spend the rest of the day staring at his computer screen in a spiraling frenzy of self-doubt.

"I'll save it for later." That would work. Give him enough time to dump it out in the bathroom and put the bottle on his desk.

The wolf nodded. Or at least David thought he did. It was hard to tell, since Nathan's head never really went above neck level. His tail was wagging, at least. David took that as a good sign.

He brushed past the softly quivering wolf into the break room. He heard the click of toenails, Nathan turning in place to follow him, and smiled to himself as he reached the counter. He reached for the coffee pot and filled his mug with coffee.

Or tried to. There was something wrong with the mug. It was stretched and blurred, like he was looking through a pair of glasses the wrong way, and the coffee was suddenly missing it and splashing on the counter in a brownish cascade. Everything was spinning, spinning, and he stumbled backwards across the floor, dropped the pot and the mug with a tinkling crash. Everything else was suddenly so very distant. He was drifting away, floating, and he was going to lose himself, and he barely even noticed as he toppled over like a corpse.

All around was the sharp scent of wolf and a whisper.

Almost there. I'm almost there. Just a little further.

He shuddered. Moments passed. He didn't notice them until he heard someone shouting at him from a long way away.

"...David. David!"

He opened his eyes.

There was a dark canine figure standing over him, silhouetted by the ceiling light. It leaned backwards when it saw him move.

It was Nathan.

The wolf spoke. "Oh, god. Are you okay?"

David wasn't sure. He climbed to his feet anyway.

"Yeah. Yeah, no problem."

Nathan didn't seem convinced.

"D-do you want me to get some help?"

He shook his head. "I just need to get back to my desk." It was just a dizzy spell. Nothing anyone needed to get concerned about.

David took a few steps forward, stumbled, and was surprised when Nathan bounded forward and slipped under his shoulder.

"I can. Um. Help with that." There was a distinct redness to the wolf's face. It crept all the way up to the tips of his ears.

"I- Thanks." He was going to say he didn't need any help, but his spinning head changed his mind. And he had to admit, it felt nice. Nathan's fur was soft, like a cushion. David pictured Nathan taking a brush over his naked body as he stood in front of a mirror. Long, smooth strokes over the mottled fur as the wolf twitched and panted. Did Nathan blush like that when he was alone, too?

David limped back down the hall to his desk, letting Nathan hold him up. A few heads sprang up as they passed, keyboards falling silent. David responded with a quick wave and a grin. Nothing to see here, folks. Go back to debugging.

Nathan, on the other hand, stared straight ahead. The wolf made a little noise in his throat several times, like he was going to say something, but it never seemed to make it past his lips. Once they reached David's desk, Nathan managed to mumble something coherent.

"You, um. You smell nice today."

His lips pulled back into a puckish grin. "What? Skip breakfast?"

"I-I just meant..." The wolf's ears flattened, tail curled up uncertainly. Silence hung in the air for a few moments.

"I, um. I have to go. Do work." The wolf turned tail, bumping against the corners of the cubicle walls. David watched him move as fast as he could without actually running.

David wondered how Nathan would react if someone actually asked him out. Poor guy would probably have a heart attack. Assuming he'd be able to tell if someone was asking him out.

Not that it mattered. He had to focus. Not almost pass out in the break room. Or think about wolves, or foxes.

So he opened the plain folder on his desk and prepared to lose himself in the... fascinating world of Synco Accounting's new software. And as he drifted off into sleep, he was surprised it had taken him almost twenty minutes to lose consciousness.

***

--fight it.

_ _

But he couldn't deny that he was enjoying it, that every touch of the wolf sent a little thrill through his body.

_ _

And the scent. It was sharp and spicy, wild animal smell, mixed with something deep and musky and so undeniably male that he wanted to thrust into the wolf's paw right then. He would have begged for it, if he thought it would help. But the wolf never listened to him. He couldn't even beg unless the wolf let him.

_ _

The wolf could smell the arousal rising from the buck's defeated body, too, and feel him quivering underneath its muscular form. The black-furred predator chuckled.

_ _

"See? Just give in, little doe."

_ _

Was that why the wolf caught him so easily? He should have been able to outrun anything. What else could it be that dulled his senses so much? And he couldn't deny that he quivered, ached with a need for something he'd been missing all his life.

_ _

But not like this, not this way. "I-I don't-"

_ _

The wolf clamped a paw over his muzzle.

_ _

"Don't you?"

_ _

He could feel the heat of the wolf pressed up against him, the subtle thrill of the rough pads rubbing against his cock and tugging teasingly at his balls.

_ _

The wolf took his paw away from the deer's muzzle and bent down to whisper in his ear.

_ _

"Don't lie."

_ _

He let out a squeak as the wolf's other paw pushed at his tightly clenched rear.

_ _

"Say it, and we can continue."

_ _

He was already bound and helpless at the predator's feet. The wolf could do anything. He had no way to resist. But that wasn't enough for the wolf. It didn't just want him. It wanted him to want it. He flushed at the thought.

_ _

But he couldn't help it. He wanted the wolf, wanted him more than he'd wanted anything before, and before he knew it the words slipped from his mouth.

_ _

"I do."

_ _

Something about the air changed when he said those words. It became heavy, oppressive. What little strength he had left his body and left him completely and utterly vulnerable.

_ _

The wolf was smiling. He knew it instinctively, blind as he was.

_ _

_ "See you on the other side."_

***

"Dave!"

He jerked his head up from the sodden pile of papers he'd been napping in, nearly falling out of his chair.

"K-kyle?"

"Jesus. What the hell's wrong with you?"

The shepherd was staring down at him with narrowed eyes, arms crossed and tail spiked high.

David blinked. "Sorry, sorry. I fell asleep again."

"That wasn't exactly the problem this time." Kyle was whispering. Why was he whispering?

David turned his head around. He slowly became aware that Kyle wasn't the only person watching him. There was a crowd around his cubicle. A few of them were whispering to each other. All of them were giving him an odd look, although now that he'd woken up they pretended they hadn't been and were wandering off.

Nathan was there, too. The wolf seemed strangely out of breath. When David turned to look at him, Nathan flushed a brilliant crimson and ducked behind the rest of the crowd.

He frowned. "Did something happen?"

Kyle coughed. "Kind of."

"Someone have an accident or something?" David looked around furtively.

"Well." Kyle leaned casually on a divider. "You were moaning. Kind of loudly."

"So? What's wrong with-"

He followed Kyle's gaze downward. His pants were straining to contain a large bulge.

Oh. Like a sex moan. Like a creepy-guy-that-masturbates-in-public moan. Or a just-had-an-erotic-dream-with-wolves-in-public moan. And suddenly, the looks and the crowd made sense, and David had a burning desire to go to lunch. He wasn't sure if was going to come back afterward.

Kyle stared at the deer's erection. "That's kind of impressive, actually."

"Aren't you supposed to be straight?"

"Still impressed."

David glowered at the dog, and at the backs of the dispersing crowd, then grabbed his jacket. "Let's just go."

***

They ended up heading to a café down the street. Neither of them really had anywhere they wanted to go, so they'd eventually settled for the closest place that didn't make either of them want to vomit. The little diner was plain and fairly cramped, and emptier than he would have expected at this time of day. Still, it was clean, and the owners had chosen a shade of yellow for the walls that made the restaurant seem warm and inviting instead of just small.

They entered the restaurant. There was a graying hare standing behind the counter, who gave them the calculating look. They headed for a corner booth. The waiter, a thin and wiry lemur, arrived apparently from thin air.

David ordered a salad. He could eat meat, if he wanted, but herbivore genetics made most animal products taste like butter mixed with salt. Kyle, on the other hand, ordered a sandwich stuffed with about half a chicken. And a side of fries. Their food came quickly enough, and David didn't waste any time digging in. He wanted out of here.

"I think we need to talk," Kyle said.

David took a bite of his salad. He looked out the window. There were a pair of caracals in high heels walking outside.

"You listening?"

"Sure."

They sat there for about thirty seconds. Kyle ate a fry and tried again. "So have you seen a doctor about your narcolepsy problem yet?"

"Narcolepsy problem?" David's tone was flat and even.

"You know, the thing where you've been falling asleep at work the last couple weeks and I have to keep waking you up before you get in trouble for it?"

"It's just insomnia."

"Insomnia doesn't make you collapse while pouring coffee." Kyle ripped off a hunk of his sandwich.

No. It didn't. David thought a priest would probably have a better shot at tackling his problems.

"Look," he said, chewing slowly. "It's a personal issue, and I'll deal with it on my own time."

"With all due respect, which in this case is pretty much none, personal issues sort of concern me when they end up with my roommate collapsing at work."

"Hey, if I end up in the hospital, you'll have the place to yourself. You could get Kelly to move in." He gave a thin smile.

Kyle put down the sandwich, all traces of good humor gone. "You know you're basically one 'incident' away from getting fired?"

"I can get another job." David was surprised by how much he meant it.

"Okay." Kyle jabbed a fry in his direction. "You know you're basically one incident away from being tied up and mailed to a doctor?"

This one was easy. "I'm good with knots."

"Jesus fuck." The lemur peeked curiously around the corner. Kyle lowered his voice. "Will you take this fucking seriously?"

I always take fucking seriously. The words danced on his tongue. He choked them down.

What could he say, exactly? He imagined the expression on Kyle's face. A mixture of horrified voyeurism and concern for his mental health. "Really? The wolf does what? Since you were fourteen? Ever thought of seeing a therapist?"

He'd only ever told one person, and it had ended with Jamie leaving him. Not immediately afterwards. Jamie was more interested than disturbed, at first. But after all that had happened, it didn't seem like a cute quirk to the fox anymore. It'd scared him, spooked him so badly that he dropped everything and vanished. David still hadn't talked to him since then.

His head began to pound, a dull, aching throb that sent colored waves through his vision. He winced and rubbed his temples. It was happening again. Stronger, this time. He could hear Kyle saying something, but it didn't make any sense.

Then he was falling, the ground was rushing up to meet him. His arm hit the table, his leg twisted at an odd angle, and he was lying on the floor and the ceiling was twitching. He couldn't feel anything. There was a scent in the air, sharp and spicy. He moaned. He didn't know if anyone could hear him. He didn't care.

He saw Kyle leaning down and shaking him with a strange look in his eye, and the last thing he remembered before passing out was the smell of wolf.

***

Every night an act of worship. Every dream a prayer. It shuddered, rippled through him, swirled around and touched him gently. And in a moment it was gone, somewhere out in the world.

***

He woke up--naturally--and opened his eyes. He was lying in bed, back in his apartment.

Yellow light filtered down through the blinds. It was still daytime; he hadn't been sleeping for long. And his room was a mess, just as he'd left it. Clothes were scattered across the floor, mixed with books and magazines he always meant to finish sometime. His bookshelves, on the other hand, were filled with trinkets and pictures. His family; friends from college; Kyle, looking bored; Jamie, in a few of them, mostly making faces at the camera. He didn't know why he was keeping the last set. They hadn't talked since they broke up, and David didn't think that was going to change.

He got out of bed. The wooden floorboards creaked under his weight. Someone was talking in the living room.

"...don't think I can make it today... something came up..."

It was Kyle. So Kyle had brought him back to their apartment. David walked towards the door.

"...kind of collapsed while we were eating lunch ..."

Who was he talking to? David glanced at the clock; it was almost half past three. Kyle would have called work a while ago.

"...kept saying he was fine... call them if he doesn't wake up soon..."

He opened the door.

Kyle stood leaning on the kitchen counter. The shepherd spun around, startled by the click of the latch. "Oh. He woke up. I'll call you back later."

"Who was that?"

"Kelly." The dog hung up and slipped his cell phone in his pocket.

Who else would it be? David walked over to the fridge and pulled a Coke out. Kyle rushed over.

"Hey. Hold it. You sure you should be up?"

"I feel okay."

Kyle frowned, ears sweeping back. "I thought we kind of established you weren't."

"I'm fine." David slammed the fridge shut.

"Collapsing in public is a pretty clear sign of being not fine."

"Yeah? I feel fine, so I'm fine. Alright?"

David turned back towards his room. Kyle grabbed him by the arm.

He glared at the dog; Kyle held his gaze without flinching. The shepherd's face was pinched tightly, ears up and alert.

"You've known me for five years, Dave. Show a little trust here."

David looked away. He walked over to the couch and sat down, stared out the window. Kyle took a seat on a swiveling chair across from him. The only sound was the tick of the clock from his room.

It was several minutes before he spoke. "You ever have an idea you can't get out of your head?"

"Like bad pop music?"

"Kind of." He took a sip of coke. "If you had the same song stuck in your head for about ten years."

"That can happen. How else do you explain radio stations?" Kyle hung his arms over the back of the chair and let his head flop down on top of them.

"This is more like a, a computer virus or something. Something that gets in your head and takes over." He crossed his legs.

"And what does this have to do with the passing out?"

David frowned. "This is going to sound weird."

"Cross-dresser weird or serial killer weird?"

The first hit a little too close for comfort. He winced. "It's about a dream I keep having. Over and over."

"So? Recurring dreams are pretty normal. I've got this one about cheese that keeps popping up."

"This is..." David shook his head. "It's not like normal dreams. There's something more real about them. You know how your head's fuzzy in a dream? And when you wake up, you know it never happened?"

Kyle nodded. His ears twitched, like he was trying to shake off a fly.

"When I'm in those dreams, I know I'm dreaming. But it doesn't feel any different than being awake. And when it's over, I remember it like I was just there."

A grin crossed Kyle's face. "So right before lunch-"

Oh, no. "Kyle, I would really appreciate it if you didn't make any comments."

"Sure, sure." The grin stayed plastered on the Kyle's face. "You know you go all formal when you get embarrassed?"

"Shut up." Damn. No bluffing his way out of it now. Still, he didn't have to go into details. "Anyway, you're... probably thinking along the right lines."

Kyle absentmindedly rocked back and forth in the chair. "You know, most people stop being embarrassed by wet dreams once they start having sex."

Not that David had sex. Not since Jamie.

He shook his head. "I don't think you're really getting it."

"And I don't think you're telling me everything."

Kyle slowly lifted his head. There was an odd expression on his face, lean and predatory.

David froze. "Kyle?"

The dog sniffed the air.

"I-is something wrong?"

Kyle shook his head. "No. Not with me, anyway."

There was a dark cast to the dog's features. There was a smile on the dog's face that David had never seen before. Sanguinary. That was it. A sanguinary smile.

A sharp and spicy scent, wild animal smell.

The dog licked his lips. "I think I know what your problem is, though."

"What are you-"

The shepherd lunged. Before David could even finish his thought, Kyle had one arm around him in a vice-like grip, muzzle pressed firmly against his. His lips parted. The dog's thick muscles stood in contrast to his limp frame. He wasn't kissing; he was being kissed.

He stood there and let the feel of the tongue in his mouth, let the raw scent of the dog overtake him. Too soon, Kyle pulled away. A little strand of drool dribbled out the corner of his mouth.

"Clothes off. Now."

His heart was pounding. Images flashed in his mind. Kyle with his shirt off lounging on the couch, paws dangling off the armrest. Kyle in the shower in college, water dripping down his chest and dribbling from his sheath. He knew what he wanted. All he had to do was ignore the tickling at the edge of his vision, the buzzing in the back of his mind telling him something was off. Kyle was straight. Very straight.

On the other hand, Kyle was taking his shirt off, and he stared at the slick coating of sweat gleaming on the dog's black fur, imagined that thick cock pulsing in him...

Fuck it. He'd deal with whatever it was later. Shirt, pants, boxers were off in a flash, lying forgotten on the floor. His slender dick stood stiffening in the air.

"Perfect." Kyle licked his lips. "Next. Knees."

He obeyed. David dropped down to the floor, head level with the dog's thick sheath. He didn't need to be told what to do next. A few touches, a little stroke down the outside of the furry coat, and there was an inch of red waiting for him. He buried his nose in it, inhaling Kyle's thick and musky scent, before giving the tip of the dog's stiffening member a suckle.

Kyle chuckled. David looked up at the dog towering before him. There was a glint in the shepherd's eyes that he couldn't place.

It didn't matter though. The only thing that mattered right now was in front of him. He felt the dog rub gently behind his ears, scratch around the nubs where his antlers would grow in. They were starting to itch, now. He always found them more trouble than they were worth. A large set of horns was only useful nowadays if you wanted to attract female deer. Or deer like him.

He liked this better. The dog's cock swelled, and he took all of it. Kyle was big. He felt the growing shaft tickle the back of his throat, felt the tip pop into his throat, and he moaned around the thick member. Only the growing knot remained outside. If he weren't out of practice, he could probably have taken that, too.

"Good bitch."

David blushed. Jamie would never have said something like that. His long tongue wrapped and swirled around every inch of the dog's member. The taste of musk and pre filled his mind, blotted out every other thought except pleasing the dog in front of him. He rubbed lightly around the base of the thick shaft, behind the knot. The other paw gently cradled the dog's balls. Kyle's tongue lolled out the side of his mouth.

He would have been perfectly happy working away at the cock in his muzzle until the dog came, but Kyle had other ideas. The shepherd reached down and placed a finger on the deer's nose, then pushed. David got the message, shuffling backward and letting the cock slide out of his mouth. A little string of mixed drool and juices dangled out the corner of his mouth and came to rest against his chest.

David took huge gulps of air, chest heaving. Did that actually just happen? Only the lingering taste on his tongue convinced him it was anything more than a daydream.

It didn't seem like Kyle had any trouble coming to grips with his newfound urges, though. Kyle stood casually, confidently, poised on the balls of his feet. The shepherd usually slouched; now he stalked as he brushed past David and headed towards the bedrooms.

"Coming?" Kyle winked. David felt a twinge go through his cock.

It was surreal. He'd flat-out offered to blow Kyle before, but the dog had never taken him up on it. Not even the times they'd stumbled in black-out drunk together, probably because...

Wait. Shit. Girlfriend. What was Kelly going to say? Normally, he would trust Kyle's judgment. On the other hand, normally Kyle wouldn't let him suck his dick.

David followed on Kyle's heels. He was surprised for a moment as Kyle entered his room instead of the dog's. He stopped at the threshold. "Hey. Kyle. What about Kelly? Is she... okay with this?"

"Hm? Oh sure, sure." Kyle grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. He didn't offer any resistance, not even when Kyle closed and locked the door behind them. "More importantly..." There was a deep rumbling coming from Kyle's throat. And there was that smile again. The one that made him shiver all over, sent signals flashing in the deepest quarters of his hindbrain.

There was a dark cast to the dog's features. Kyle's normal tan-and-black coloring had deepened to simply black all over.

This was not normal. This was not real. David took two stumbling steps backward.

"What's the matter, Dave?" The dog stood in front of the door. The only exit.

"Your fur." David could barely speak.

Kyle glanced to his right. There was a mirror on the wall, next to David's bed, and the dog smiled when he saw his reflection.

"All I see is an incredibly handsome and ripped dog. Who would like his roommate to shut up and get on the bed so they can start fucking."

Oh, fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. He wanted this so badly. But every alarm in his brain was tripping right now, and he needed to stop. Take things slowly. Where had he seen this before? When had he seen it before? His spine was tingling, nerves singing.

The dog stepped forward. Kyle's features blurred. There was none of the shepherd's softness left in his face. He didn't even look like a dog anymore. More like... a wolf.

"You're not Kyle." That much was obvious.

The wolf smiled again. "Who else would I be? I've got all his thoughts, all his memories. Maybe a few more... desires."

It was the face he'd seen, night after night, since he was a teenager. No--before that. Even in his earliest dreams, there had been something hidden in the shadows. Why else had he been running?

"Figured it out yet, doe?" The wolf stepped towards the crumbling deer.

It wasn't possible. David didn't believe in magic. He didn't believe in the supernatural. He definitely didn't believe in dreams.

So what was this? Hypnosis? Hallucinations? Maybe he was dreaming now. Maybe Kyle had been right, and he should have seen a doctor, and now he was stuck in a coma because he'd had an aneurysm or cancer or some other horrible and likely fatal condition.

But he felt the rush of blood through his veins, muscles coiled and wound tight, as he watched the dog/wolf approach with fur so dark it drank up the light around him and if this was a coma it was the most awake coma ever recorded in medical history.

"Now. Let's continue where we left off."

David bolted. Or tried to. The wolf-as-Kyle caught him by the jaw before he took more than half a step.

"Mmph!" David grabbed Kyle's arm and pulled, tried to lift even a single finger clamped around his muzzle, but Kyle spent an hour at the gym every day and David usually spent that hour playing Skyrim. Even so, the dog's grip was abnormally strong. David didn't think he'd have been able to budge it if he'd been a bodybuilder.

Kyle shook his head. "It's easier if you don't fight. Not that you could anyway, mister physical-strength-is-for-cavemen."

David thrashed in the dog's grip, trying to land a blow. His fists bounced off; it felt like punching steel.

"I told you, don't bother. You're only going to end up hurting yourself."

David kicked, aimed for the wolf's testicles. Kyle blocked it with a knee, and sighed. He felt a sudden sharp pain on the back of his head as the room rushed around him, and then blackness overtook him.

***

When he came to, he was on his bed and naked. There was a dent in the wall next to him in the shape of his skull. His hands were tied behind his back, a gag stuffed in his mouth.

And there was a wolf rummaging through his closet, broad back to the deer.

"Eeyle!"

The wolf was wearing him, all his memories and thoughts and feelings. Like someone would wear a suit. But Kyle had to be in there, somewhere.

The wolf didn't bother to turn around. "Nice collection you have here. Didn't think you'd have this much stuff."

Kyle pulled a box out of his closet. The chemical scent of rubber filled the air. He pulled a black object out; a sensory deprivation hood. "Wow. Kinky. Is this why you and Jamie broke up?"

David could only stare and hope that looks could kill.

"He was pretty discreet about it, you know. Knew you didn't want anyone else to know how much of a bitch you really were."

"Ut. Uf."

The wolf looked over his shoulder, a twinkle in his eye. "Hey, I'm not judging. You could've been a little more open with me, at least."

David lay there in sullen silence. What was he supposed to have said? Jamie had been okay with the games at first. He had been okay while it was a game, and David had played the other role, too, once in a while.

But he didn't want it to be a game. He didn't want it to end after a couple hours, after a night, after a weekend and that had scared Jamie. He wanted the fox to take control. He wanted the fox to want to take control. And Jamie always went cold, stopped there, until the last time. When something had snapped, something had broken in both of them.

Kyle shook his head. "All those urges you were suppressing. What a waste of effort."

What the fuck did he know? Straight-as-an-arrow Kyle, god damn little golden boy in high school, student council president in college, who never had to hide a fucking thing in his life. What the fuck did he know?

The wolf pulled out a few more gadgets from the box and walked over to David. He hadn't moved from the bed. There wouldn't be much point. David wouldn't be able to outrun or outfight Kyle; the only thing he could do was hope his friend--if he was still in there--got careless.

Didn't seem likely, though. Kyle flipped him over, snapped a pair of soft leather cuffs on his wrists and ankles. He heard the locks click, felt a snap as they were cuffed together. Kyle also took a moment to undo whatever had been on his wrists before, which turned out to have been his belt. The wolf tossed it over his shoulder.

He didn't struggle, but glared daggers at the dog.

"Hey, don't be like that." Kyle patted him on the head. "I know you want it. You know you want it. What's the problem?"

He gasped as the wolf began to stroke him, starting at the tip of the silky covering and dragging down to the base of the buck's naked sac. Even through his sheath, he could feel the touch of the wolf's paw. It made him shiver and twitch.

He wanted it to stop. He didn't want it to stop. He didn't know what he wanted.

But the wolf did, and he was going to take it. Kyle let go of his cock and bent down. The tip of the wolf's tongue lapped at the deer's erection.

He moaned, eyes slipping closed. The wolf slipped down on his shaft further, taking the whole thing in one gasp. It was bliss. David could feel the wolf's tongue gently pulsing against his cock as he got his first blowjob in over a year. Now he was sure this wasn't Kyle; Kyle had never sucked cock in his life.

He started to buck and felt the tip of his penis brush up against the back of the wolf's throat, which earned him a growl. The wolf brought a paw up to grab the buck's balls. David stopped dead. The message was clear. He wasn't the one in charge of this. The wolf would give him exactly as much pleasure as it wanted.

Sharp teeth grazed his cock. David's eyes snapped open. The wolf gave him a wink, and he felt them scrape up and down along both sides of his stiff member. He gasped and jerked backwards as much as could. He moved three inches, enough for him to feel his scrotum stretch out in the wolf's grasp and make him grunt in pain. Kyle played with them, too, squeezed down on them like a stress ball, made him squirm and buck as much as he could while the wolf still controlled his body.

The pain was getting to him, and he wanted to tell Kyle to stop, for all the good it would do. The sense of bliss was gone, replaced by a mix of overstimulation and pressure. But he was still hard; he couldn't help it. In a way, he was enjoying this just as much, and he didn't know whether to be happy or disappointed when the wolf finally lifted the powerful muzzle from his jerking and sensitive penis.

The wolf licked his lips again, wiping away the buck's pre. He looked like he was enjoying the taste.

"How are you feeling now?" The wolf quirked a brow at the panting deer.

He didn't answer, didn't give any sign of a reaction except for the motion of his still stiff organs. He wanted what was happening. He wanted to not want was happening. Normal people didn't want things like this. Normal people didn't want to be tied down, normal people didn't want to have someone force them to do things they didn't want.

Normal people had breakups over normal things. Normal people didn't have to wonder whether they'd rather be alone or rather be humiliated.

But here the wolf was, powerful and male. His rough paw ran through the deer's fur, body filled the room with a raw and ripe scent that made him shudder and moan. It felt so perfect, so right that the wolf would do this.

The wolf shook his head. "Still need more convincing, I guess."

David felt himself flipped over, stiff cock landing straight down on the mattress. He groaned through the gag.

"Shut up." The wolf gave him a stinging slap on his ass. "Nothing's broken."

His legs were pulled apart. He couldn't move them back together. A spreader bar. The wolf lifted up his legs, propped him on his knees. His head was still buried in the mattress.

He wanted it so badly. Wanted the wolf to take him, claim him. He didn't need anything else, didn't want anything else except the wolf's cock. He raised his tail like a good little doe would.

The wolf chuckled. "There we go. Just a little more, and you'll be mine."

Something warm and wet rubbed over his ass. The wolf's cock was leaking pre-cum all over him, sticky secretions working their way into his fur. The wolf traced circles over his ass, smaller and smaller, teasing and rubbing his scent into the deer as he spiraled towards the deer's exposed tailhole.

"Ready?"

He moaned in frustration. He needed it now.

The dripping tip sank in smoothly. David huffed through his gag. It was big, the biggest he'd ever taken, and it was sinking in an inch at a time. The wolf didn't rush, didn't hurry; Kyle had all the time he needed. David wasn't going anywhere. Not while the wolf was still sliding his cock in.

David opened up like a flower, spread apart bit by bit as his guts were displaced by the wolf's member.

Kyle panted. "Wow. You're tighter than I thought you'd be."

It was so much more intense than he remembered. His anus bit down, spasmed around the wolf's cock. But that wasn't going to stop Kyle. The wolf grunted, pulled an inch or so out, before thrusting back in.

"Mmph!" David couldn't stop himself from crying out. It hurt. It hurt, but he loved it. He could only twitch and moan around the rubber in his muzzle as the wolf shoved aside his organs, sent that massive cock deep into the deer's waiting bowels. His dick throbbed, pre dripping on his bed sheets.

"We'll do this every day from now on." The wolf grunted as he fucked the deer. "You don't want to work? Fine. You can just stay here."

There was another twitch inside him, another set of muscles stretched wide, and he felt the slap of the wolf's balls against his. Kyle gripped his hips. There was a growl, and the wolf ripped his cock out before shoving all of it back in. Each thrust sent the entire length of the shaft into David, sent waves of pleasure rippling through his body.

"You can do the housework. Bitch work. God knows Kelly hates to cook."

He moaned, bucked backwards in time with each push. He gave himself completely to the wolf. He couldn't do anything else. That was the bliss he knew he wanted as the wolf finally shoved his knot into David, claiming the deer as his bitch. David clamped down on the shaft, trying to get enough pressure to cum.

"Maybe I'll dress you up in one of those leather things you have in your closet while you do them. Or a maid outfit. Stick a plug in you and watch you squirm."

The knot came out. The knot went back in. David bit down on his gag. Too much, too much, it was too much and it was exactly what he wanted.

"So much lost time we have to catch up on. So much we can try."

His ring burned. He didn't think he could take much more when the wolf finally came with a howl. He felt warmth inside him, hot seed spreading outwards inside him as the wolf gave one final push, one more ass-stretching knot fuck.

He felt his skin tingle. The wolf smiled.

"And now you're mine."

Something was changing inside him. Something had changed as soon as the wolf came. His fur was bleaching, turning a pure, unblemished white. In any other situation, he'd think of snow. Now all he could think of was the color of cum.

The wolf bent over and whispered in his ear. "You got away once, dear hart. I won't let you go again. Not in this world or any other."

He shuddered. He was still caught in a haze of lust, couldn't think straight around the wolf cock knotted in him. He wanted to cum, wanted to cum, and he'd do anything for the wolf to make it happen.

But the wolf wasn't about to give him that pleasure. David tried to thrust backwards on the softening cock, tried to rub his own cock against the sheets to get the last bit of pleasure he needed, but the wolf gripped his hips so hard he knew he'd have bruises later. Pleasure would come from the wolf's paw, or not at all.

It was ten minutes before the wolf pulled out, and David was still desperately horny. Cum dripped out of his ass and down the sides of his legs, blending in perfectly with his fur.

"Time to put my toys away for now. I'll see you in a couple hours. There are a few phone calls I have to make."

There was a rustling of leather. The wolf pulled a hood around his head. It was tight, as it should be. It'd been tailored for him, after all. He was blind and almost deaf. The wolf would have to shout for David to hear him.

Arm binders were next, and mitts. Another bit of him locked away. He whimpered as they were laced up. He wanted the wolf to touch his cock, make him cum--no, he wanted the wolf to let him go. His mind roiled in confusion.

His thoughts were interrupted when the wolf shoved a plug in him, almost the size of the wolf's knot at the base. He clamped down, squirmed around it as he tried to get enough pressure to cum.

The wolf was going to take care of that, too. But not in the way he wanted. There was a stinging cold around his dick. He yelped. Ice. His cock shrank almost instantly. He felt fiddling there, straps running around his legs and groin, and then a weight hung around his cock and balls.

"Chastity cage. One of the few things you were missing in your collection. Keeps that plug in, too."

He felt himself picked up. He weighed a hundred and sixty pounds, and the wolf carried him like a teddy bear.

There was a thump as he was thrown down, then a click, and then all he could hear was the sound of his own breathing. He was left to struggle. To cum or to escape. He didn't know which.