Authors: Annabelle Jacobs
CHAPTER FIVE
Jared lay on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Barely two hours after Nathan had left and he was bored. Saturday afternoon TV held little appeal, and he couldn’t settle enough to watch a film. The book he’d started yesterday sat on the bedside table, but Jared wasn’t in the mood to be scared shitless again and couldn’t be arsed to pick out another.
The sad truth was he wanted his phone and he wanted his laptop. He wanted to go home.
“Fuck.” With Nathan gone, the last twenty-four hours seemed surreal. The bite on his neck had healed completely, not even a scar to show for it, so he didn’t even have the physical evidence to convince himself it had actually happened.
Jared ran his fingers over the base of his throat and along his neck, trying to recall what it felt like when Nathan’s teeth sank in. Had it hurt? It must have—the blood on his T-shirt had been substantial—but no matter how hard he sought even a brief glimmer of memory, nothing happened.
The twinge of disappointment left him off-kilter and restless. Not remembering was a good thing. He didn’t want that trauma burned into his brain forever, and he stamped out the small part of him that was curious. Jared had made that mistake before—trusted the wrong man and let his curiosity overrule his common sense. The price for that had been heavy and painful. He wouldn’t be doing it again, no matter how tempting. Shifters were all the same.
Ugh
, now he was depressed too. Nice one.
Jared rolled onto his stomach, crossed his arms, and rested his head on them. With Nathan gone, it was an ideal opportunity to have a look around, poke his nose where it didn’t belong. He eyed the closed bedroom door. Nathan said the whole flat was partially soundproofed; he should be fine in the living area as long as he didn’t make any loud noise, but fuck that. Knowing Jared’s luck, he’d knock something over or accidentally turn the TV on full blast.
Nope, no way was he going to risk bringing a horde of shifters running to investigate. They could be next door, above, below… shit, before Nathan left, he really should have asked him who was in the building. A pen and paper would come in handy right about then—he needed to write these things down while he remembered them. Maybe Nathan had some in here somewhere.
After shuffling over to the side of the bed, Jared slid open the drawers one by one. Nothing. Not even a pen or anything to say the cabinet was even in use. Nathan must sleep on the other side, then, the side Jared had woken up on. Interesting. He crawled over to that side and pulled open the top drawer.
Oh.
Still no sign of a pen or paper, but something a lot more interesting. A lot of somethings, in fact. Jared grinned and pulled the drawer all the way out.
Nathan was a naughty, naughty boy.
Two bottles of lube rolled towards him, coming to rest against the front of the drawer. Behind those were—Jared counted them—three dildos, two butt plugs, and… he shook the drawer a little to see what was partly hidden. An array of loose condom packets. At least Nathan played safe.
Jared always pictured shifters as aggressive tops when it came to sex. Granted, his opinion was biased, but they had that whole alpha-male thing going on. Judging by the contents of the drawer, he was way off base. With Nathan anyway, assuming he used them on himself.
As much as Jared hated to admit it, the idea of Nathan lying back and fucking himself with one of those toys was hot. Imagining it sent a frisson of heat straight to his groin, and Jared pressed harder against the bed. Again, he really fucking wished he was at home. With his own drawer. An afternoon wank was always a good way to pass the time when he was bored.
Glancing back at the drawer, a slow smile curved his lips. Lube was lube, right? Didn’t matter if it wasn’t his. He grabbed the nearest bottle and settled himself on his back, with Nathan’s pillows supporting him. As he’d discovered earlier, Nathan subscribed to all the channels, and Jared flicked on the TV and found some hot boy-on-boy action easily enough.
Soft moans filtered out of the speakers, followed by the slap of skin on skin. Jared watched, one hand shoving his jogging bottoms and underwear out of the way, the other pushing his T-shirt up. His cock lay rigid against his belly; the thought of what he was about to do enough to get him turned on.
The guys on screen were going at it hard, one pinned over the back of the sofa as the other pulled almost all the way out then slammed back in. Jared bit his lip and hurried to squirt a generous amount of lube into his palm.
The guy being fucked moaned loudly, his head tipped back, and reached down to wrap a hand around his cock. Jared hurried to do the same. God, that felt good. The firm slick press of his palm pushed everything else to the back of his mind. The tight grip of his fingers made his breath hitch, and Jared pushed up into his fist, thrusting in time with the grunts on the TV. What he wouldn’t give for one of his own toys right then—filling his arse while he brought himself off.
Fumbling with the lube again, he slicked his other hand, brought his knees up, and—
oh God
. The angle was awkward, but so worth it when two fingers slipped inside. The sounds on the TV faded into the background as Jared pumped his dick and fucked himself on his fingers, pushing them in and out until his back arched and he came with a choked-off cry. Thank Christ the bedroom was soundproof or else the whole building would have heard it.
He glanced up in time to see the guy on screen pull out and shoot all over the other’s arse, come trickling down between his cheeks. Jared gave his cock another stroke, drawing one last shudder as he came down from his orgasm, then collapsed back against the pillows.
Maybe now he was relaxed enough to watch a film.
Four hours and two films later, the bedroom door swung open, startling Jared out of his doze. He’d cleaned up and put the lube back in the drawer and now lay sprawled fully dressed on top of the quilt, one hand clutched to his chest. “Shit, you scared me.”
Nathan looked abashed. “Sorry. I forget that you can’t hear the front door from in here. There’s a security camera over—” He took two steps into the room and promptly froze, his gaze flicking from Jared to the bedside cabinet and back again. His expression went from contrite to smug in a heartbeat. “Have fun while I was out?”
Bollocks. Of course he’d be able to smell it.
Jared wanted to slap himself. He tried to look as nonchalant as possible. “I was bored. And you can wipe that look off your face. It had nothing to do with you, obviously, since you weren’t even here.”
Undeterred, Nathan smiled wider and walked over to sit on the bed. Jared shuffled farther away just to be contrary. “Ah,” he said as he pulled open the bedside drawer and took a deep breath. “You used my favourite lube.”
Jared huffed. “Unfortunate coincidence.”
“If you say so.” Nathan reached in and selected one of the dildos—a realistic-looking purple one that had caught Jared’s eye earlier. Nathan held it aloft for Jared to see. “This is my favourite too. Did you imagine me using it?” His voice was low, silky smooth, and he glanced over at Jared, dark blue eyes pinning him in place.
“Nope.” Jared swallowed and looked away, fiddling with the hem of his T-shirt as though he couldn’t care less about the picture Nathan painted.
“Are you sure?” Nathan ran his fingers up and down the silicone shaft, and Jared watched out the corner of his eye, unable to look away. “Did the thought of me fucking myself with this get you off? Maybe you wanted to do it… slick it up nice and wet and push it into my tight arse. Give it to me hard and rough, just—”
“Oh my God, will you stop.” Jared rolled onto his side to shield his traitorously stiff cock from Nathan’s view. “How many times do I have to say
I’m not interested
?”
Nathan leaned close enough to whisper in his ear. “And yet again you say the words, but your body tells a different story.”
He traced a finger down the middle of Jared’s back, making him shiver.
Jared rolled over to face him. No point hiding the bulge in his joggers anymore. “Last time I checked, consent was still a law that shifters had to abide by. So if I say no, then I fucking well mean no. Regardless of what your shiftery senses tell you. Got it?”
Nathan grinned, blatantly eyeing his erection. “Loud and clear.” He didn’t push the issue further, which surprised Jared. Instead he put the dildo back in the drawer, closed it, and stood. “I brought food as requested, so I’m going to make a start on dinner. Come and join me when you’re ready.”
Again, Jared felt a stab of disappointment that Nathan hadn’t made a move on him. At that moment he didn’t know what pissed him off more. “Fucking hell,” he muttered, then realised too late that the door was open.
Nathan’s laughter sounded in the kitchen.
Awesome.
Dinner turned out to be frozen pizza and oven chips. With the TV on in the lounge, Nathan assured him he was free to talk and walk around as normal, so Jared took one look at the plate set before him and grimaced. “Really? That’s what you call dinner?”
Nathan glanced at the food. “What’s wrong with it?”
Jared sighed and picked up his fork. “Nothing for one night, but I don’t see much else in the fridge. Your metabolism might burn off all the calories, but mine sure as hell won’t, and it doesn’t look as though I’ll be getting much in the way of exercise for the next three weeks.”
“I have some suggestions.” Nathan grinned but Jared pointedly ignored him. “To be honest, I’m not much of a cook.”
Figured. Bad enough he was trapped, now it looked as though he was going to be cooking too. “Fine, I’ll do it if it means I get to eat properly.”
Nathan studied him for a moment, and Jared wondered what was going through his mind. “Write a list, and we can go shopping after we stop by your flat tomorrow.”
Jared perked up at that. “We’re going tomorrow?”
“I said I’d take you.”
“I know, but—”
“But what?” Nathan frowned. “Did you think I was lying?”
Jared shifted in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable. “Well, no, but….” Yes. A part of him thought Nathan had agreed just to get Jared to stay. “Maybe.”
A flash of hurt crossed Nathan’s features before he schooled them into a tight smile. “I suppose I can’t blame you.” He set his fork on the table. “You can trust me, Jared.”
Jared huffed out a laugh before he could stop it.
Nathan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He looked tired in the muted light of the living room. Tired and at a loss. Not the vicious creature Jared needed him to be. Jared didn’t want to start liking him.
Nathan closed his eyes for a second before he spoke. “I know I haven’t given you much reason to so far, but I want to change that. Starting with going to your flat tomorrow.”
“Why, though?”
Nathan looked confused. “Why what?”
“Why is it important that I trust you?”
“We’re pack creatures. Tactile, social. You’ll be living with me for a while. As I said, we’re going to have to keep in close contact to avoid suspicion. I’d like to make the best of a bad situation.”
“I bet you would.”
Nathan’s smile was wry. “Well, yes, ideally we’d spend the time having sex. But I’m not going to force you.”
“Good to know.”
“Look, I don’t why you have such an aversion to shifters, but I promise you I’m not going to hurt you.” He glanced at Jared’s neck and winced. “Again. I’m not going to hurt you again. So do you have to act like touching me is the worst thing in the world?”
Yes, because otherwise I don’t know where it will stop.
Jared blew out a harsh breath. “Eat your dinner before it gets cold.” Nathan’s gaze remained on him, but Jared kept his eyes focused on the TV as he ate, and eventually Nathan picked up a slice of pizza and started to eat.
They didn’t speak again until the film finished. Although Jared had watched it until the end, he had no idea what it had been about; his mind was preoccupied with past and present events.
The two didn’t marry up. The more time he spent with Nathan, the more it undermined his belief that all shifters were selfish, arrogant bullies. In contrast to the previous day, this one had been relatively uneventful but Jared was tired and yawned widely to prove the point.
“Do you have a pen and some paper?” He stretched as he asked, his back cracking.
Nathan looked at him, probably startled by his sudden desire to speak. “Somewhere, I think. Why?”
“When you’re not here, I keep thinking of questions to ask you. If I don’t write them down, I forget.”
“Okay.” Nathan stood and wandered into the kitchen, returning moments later with a notebook and pen in hand. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.”
“Do you want to ask any now?” Nathan motioned towards the bedroom and turned off the TV.
Jared nodded and followed him. After shutting the door behind them, Jared leaned against it. “Why did I pass out last night? I was fine when I woke up. Then we showered, and… bam.”
“A combination of things, I think.” Nathan paused to pull his T-shirt over his head, revealing his toned abs and the trail of dark hair disappearing under his waistband.
“Such as?” Jared started taking his own clothes off. Apparently they needed to sleep in their underwear. He rolled his eyes again, wondering how much was truth and how much was Nathan’s embellishments.
“Blood loss and shock, for starters. And I suspect it had been a while since you’d eaten. All that combined with my enzymes running rampant through your body—”
“Nice.” Jared grimaced.
“—it’s no surprise you passed out.”
“Hmm. I suppose.” Jared set the pen and notepad on the bedside table that had somehow become his, and went to clean his teeth. There were plenty more questions he wanted to ask, pages of them, but not tonight. All he wanted was to crawl into bed and sleep, and forget for a few hours that this was his life until the next full moon.