"There's a storm coming, bro. You might want to hide." Jared said, making Jamie fidget as he started tugging his bloody shirt over his head. 

He'd gotten grazed a few times, but the stab wound on his shoulder was definitely the most painful injury he'd managed to get. It thankfully wasn't too deep, but just the idea of Palace grabbing him there, on purpose or by accident, made his stomach churn uneasily. 

Maybe I should go hide somewhere. He thought at the same time he heard the sliding door to the backyard slam open, likely hitting the opposite wall hard enough to jerk it off its tracks. 

Palace needed less than a second to zero in on where Jamie stood near the entrance to the kitchen, his shirt clutched in his slightly shaking hands as he began to quickly back up into the room. Before he knew it his waist was pressed against the edge of the counter and Palace was in his face, teeth bared and eyes already dilated. His wolf was just barely restrained. 

"Palace, I'm okay. It's nothing that won't heal after a few days of rest." He stuttered, keeping his eyes down so that he didn't infuriate the wolf even further. 

I told Knight to tell you all not to come! Did he not give that message to you? He growled in his mind, making Jamie purse his lips nervously. 

"He did." He whispered, eliciting an audible growl from Palace, who was now gripping the counter tightly on either side of him. 

Instead of cowering more, Jamie let his own animal rise enough to let a growl slip from his own lips. He knew that Palace could easily kill him, lion or not, but he also knew that beneath all of the bravado and aggressive was a decent person. And a decent wolf. 

The response he gave made Palace pause, the blacks of his eyes receding slightly as he tried to figure out the turn in the situation. Jamie could feel his wolf pacing frantically at the edge of his mind and reached out to it. He wasn't surprised when it lashed out, but he refused to let it continue circling, because it was only spurring Palace on. 

Calm down. I'm sorry I didn't listen, but I needed to make sure that you would be alright. He told it, earning another grumble from it as it continued to march around his thoughts. 

Please try to relax a little, Palace is hurt, too, and I won't be able to help either of us if you push him too much. It didn't seem like it wanted to listen, but when Jamie reached up and took Palace's face in his hands, the wolf halted abruptly. 

"Please, just calm down a little." He said before leaning in and pressing a soft kiss to Palace's lips, then leaning back after a few seconds. 

The look on Palace's face actually drew a small smile to Jamie's. The poor guy looked like he couldn't process what had happened after being so angry. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Jamie began to carefully slip out from where Palace was practically pinning him against the kitchen counter, but when he nudged at his right arm, hoping that he'd just let him go, Palace strengthened his grip until Jamie was left scowling up at him. 

His frustration was wiped away in a heartbeat, however, when Palace leaned over and covered his down-turned lips with his own rough ones. Jamie was just considering opening his mouth to Palace's persistently prodding tongue when there was suddenly a much larger tongue slobbering across his face. 

"Hello to you, too." He said as he reached up and swiped his arm across his face, only succeeding in smearing the saliva more.

"Thanks for that." He told Palace's wolf as he watched the overly-excited monstrosity hop around ecstatically, flapping its wings to get a little higher off the ground, while at the same time off-balancing himself without really thinking. 

Shaking his head, Jamie carefully caught the wolf's shoulders on one of its awkward jumps and held him gently after he stumbled back to all fours. "You're going to make your injury worse, bud. I'm glad to see you, too, but we need to get your arm treated, as well as mine." He said, drawing the wolf's attention down to its reinjured arm. 

It didn't seem too concerned, but thankfully it followed him out of the kitchen when he moved anyway, and toward the bathroom. 

"Uh, wait a minute. You aren't going to fit in here." He said, more to himself than to the wolf panting hot breath against his lower back. 

"Outside then." He said as he walked into the bathroom and grabbed a few towels, some soap, and the first aid kit, then headed toward the door leading to the backyard that Jared was currently trying to fix. 

Palace romped ahead of him, running around in the enclosed space for a few moments before dropping to his back and rolling around. 

"Yeah, sure. Get all dirty right before I'm going to clean you. I swear, wherever they kept you was filthy." Jamie said, getting a snort from Palace as he replied in his mind. 

They just wanted to make me look filthy to sell me better. Guilt always helps. 

"I suppose that makes sense. Well, are you satisfied with your dirty self now? May I scrub you clean, then tend to your injury?" Jamie asked as he quickly washed his own wound using the hose fastened against the side of the house, then stitched it up with a decent bit of effort.

By the time he'd added a bandage to keep the area extra clean, Palace was nudging at his face with a dirty nose. 

"Ready then?" He said as he began to lift the hose toward Palace's fur.

The wolf panted quietly as Jamie began soaking his body with the cool water. When it was finally completely soaked, he turned and grabbed the shampoo, lathering a good amount in his hands, then turned back around. 

Oh. 

Where his wolf had been just seconds before, now there was a very dirty, very naked, Palace. 

"I... I suppose you can do it... yourself now." He whispered awkwardly, his voice catching a few times. 

He began retracting his soapy hands, but when Palace's gripped his wrists tightly, Jamie's eyes widened. 

"Finish what you started, little lion." Palace rasped, his eyes narrowing before he slowly released Jamie's wrists. 

Swallowing down his building nerves, Jamie hesitantly reached forward and began rubbing his hands along Palace's arms. He had no doubt that a blush was coloring his face after mere seconds, but he refused to focus on it and instead put  his effort into making every speck of dirt on Palace disappear, being especially careful to clean his injured arm. 

He intentionally skirted around private areas, but thoroughly cleaned every other inch until Palace's strong hands gently grasped his own, then slowly guided them down between his legs where his length was standing at perfect attention. 

"Finish." He mumbled as he leaned forward, groaning quietly when Jamie's fingers finally grasped him and began awkwardly cleaning the area. 

The gruff grunts and panting that rose in volume from Palace made Jamie's face burn even hotter. It didn't help that he could feel his excitement through their bond, making his own breathing harsh as he worked. 

He got nearly to the point where they both couldn't handle it any longer before sliding his hands along Palace's waist toward his backside, the last thing he had yet to clean. 

Jamie's fingers were just about to their target when Palace snarled loudly and lunged forward, pinning Jamie down in the thick grass. Before he could even gasp from surprise, Palace's mouth was on his, hungrily taking what he wanted as he worked his body against Jamie's. 

He wasn't shocked that Palace was extremely rough with his mouth and his hips when he got excited. Thankfully, his own pants were still on, but Jamie could definitely feel Palace's effort through them and squirmed quite a few times as their breathing grew ragged together. He knew that he shouldn't be doing what he was doing, but it didn't feel so wrong at that moment.

He actually started enjoying the attention as things got more heated, perhaps a bit too much. He felt Palace nearly at his peak through their bond, and without really thinking, slid one of his hands down along their wet bodies to tug at his sweatpants. He expected Palace to be all for the gift, but just before he could get them down far enough to allow him entrance, Palace snagged his hand in a painfully tight grip and forced it into the grass right above Jamie's head. 

No! 

The sheer force of the thought, and that Palace had actually chosen not to accept what he'd offered, baffled Jamie, but when Palace's free hand suddenly slid beneath the waistband of his sweatpants and jerked on his stiff length aggressively, every other thought besides what his body wanted disappeared from his mind completely. 

They both released together, moaning into each other's mouths before Palace finally relaxed down onto his body, their breath mingling as they panted hard. 

"Well... fuck. That sure wasn't something my specialized raptor eyes needed to see in such detail." Knight said in a distraught, sarcastic voice as he turned from where he stood by the door and headed back inside. 

A few seconds later, he yelled from somewhere in the house. 

"Hey Jared, where the hell did you go hide? Let's do it, too!"