Should have Put a Leash On It (10 page)

“Yes.” Micah didn’t want to lie. Rylan had a right to know what was happening to him. “Sage asked around and the one answer he turned up was that you have to intimately reconnect.”

“There is no way Remy is getting anywhere near my ass...” Rylan stabbed his finger at Micah and he saw the moment Rylan realized exactly why Micah was there. “
No.
There has to be another way.”

Micah flinched. “Sage says no.”

“Why you? Hunter’s asked me out a few times, don’t tell me he didn’t leap at the chance to chase my tail,” Rylan contended with a scowl.

Rylan talked about Hunter’s attraction as if it were annoying rather than seeming interested. Any lingering animosity he felt toward Hunter and the others left him in a rush. But he chose not to look too closely at why he was pleased with Rylan’s disinterest in the other males.

“He did, so did Gabriel and Mars.” Micah took a deep breath and continued. Rylan would find out sooner or later. “I kind of attacked him.”

“What?” Rylan went deadly still, eyes boring into him and Micah rethought his stance. This was definitely the scariest thing he’d done to date and he was waiting to be shut down hard. Rylan had probably waited years to knock him down a few pegs.

So Micah would have to stand there and take it.

“I attacked him,” Micah repeated. He could see the little vein pulsing by Rylan’s temple and knew the explosion was imminent.

“I heard what you said. What the hell do you think you were doing? You have no rights over who touches me. You spend every minute of time in my presence putting me down and arguing. Why the hell would you want to fuck me when you made it plain years ago that I—and I quote—was just a kid and didn’t know what I wanted?” Rylan even made air quotes as he threw Micah’s words back at him.

All good intentions to let Rylan lay into him and stay quiet disappeared. Micah growled, coming right up next to the bed. “Hey, I’ll take half the blame, but you sling your fair share of insults. And if you think back, since Remy mated Skylar, have I attacked first or have you just gone on the offensive the second you see my face?”

He waited a minute for his words to sink in before closing the distance and sitting on the bed. Micah ignored the warning in Rylan’s scent that clearly said he wasn’t welcome. “As for the other...you were sixteen to my twenty-seven. What did you expect me to do?”

Rylan opened his mouth, no doubt to argue, but Micah pinned him with a hard stare, daring him to come up with a good reason why what Micah had done hadn’t been the right thing. In the end, Rylan huffed and threw his hands in the air. “Fine.”

Unfortunately the move must have pulled his still healing ribs as Rylan winced. “Ow, fuck.”

Micah immediately reached out and tried to help, taking Rylan’s weight as he’d done at the hospital and pulling Rylan more upright. The soft, oversized blue t-shirt Rylan wore bunched up, revealing a strip of tanned, golden skin. He smoothed it back down to cover the temptation even as his wolf pulled at him to taste.

The feel of Rylan’s hard body beneath the fabric didn’t escape him. Once the clothing was back in place, he tugged the soft grey comforter up from the bottom of the bed and laid it over Rylan’s waist and legs. He was painfully aware of Rylan’s stare.

“Okay, I admit you did the right thing by not taking me up on my invitation back then, but there was another time, before you left for the other pack. I didn’t deserve what you did, Micah.”

Micah flinched. He’d been hoping that incident wouldn’t come up. It wasn’t his finest moment. “I know you didn’t.”

The night before he left to fill a beta position that had opened up in another pack, he’d gone out with his siblings. They all stumbled home more than a little merry except for Remy, who was still underage at the time, although they’d slipped him an alcopop or two during the night.

He’d managed to catch the eye of a hot little thing with long blonde hair and an ass to die for that was barely covered by the denim skirt she wore. When he got home Rylan had been waiting for him. The nineteen-year-old had worn a navy suit and tie with his curly hair combed back and smelling of a subtle cologne. Micah hadn’t been drunk enough not to notice, but he had been too drunk to keep his mouth under control.

Micah remembered he’d pulled the ditzy blonde bimbo to him and opened his front door, letting her inside and laughing as she slapped his ass and told him to ditch the kid and not be long. So of course Micah had then turned to Rylan and asked the kid what he was doing there. He’d actually respected the courage of the kid when he stood his ground and made a big speech about he was old enough now to know what he wanted and what he wanted was Micah.

Micah had laughed, actually laughed, in Rylan’s face.

He’d tried to shove the image of Rylan’s tearful green eyes out of his head when he’d returned to his date, but they wouldn’t leave him. In the end he’d sent the woman home in a cab and taken an icy cold shower, unable to get the scent of apples out of his nose.

Micah had done some pretty shitty things in his life, but that was the only time he’d hurt someone who didn’t deserve his anger or his derision. He’d tried to apologize, but Rylan refused to see him and when Micah had climbed up to Rylan’s window, the kid had gone for his jugular. Figuratively speaking.

Rylan had thrown a book at him and told him to go find a word that would sum up how big of a jackass he was, if he could even spell jackass. Since then, they’d both been at each other’s throats.

Picking at a piece of imaginary lint, Micah took a deep breath and spoke the words that were long overdue. “I’m sorry, I should have never shot you down like that, and being drunk is no excuse.”

He stared at a spot over Rylan’s head at a strand of hair stuck in the light blue paint. Blue had been Rylan’s favorite color he was younger, it was one of the reasons Micah had picked this room for Rylan.

When Rylan touched his face, running a knuckle over his jaw, Micah started. He leaned into the touch before he could stop himself. Surprised at his own reaction, Micah sought out Rylan’s eyes and found Rylan was just as surprised. The way Rylan’s teeth chewed that slightly fuller bottom lip was almost hypnotic. Micah nearly didn’t hear Rylan make an apology of his own.

“It’s okay. I’m sorry, too, I shouldn’t have thrown the book at you. I knew it was a sore spot for you even though I still don’t understand why.” Rylan sounded truly sorry and Micah felt a little piece of the wall surrounding his heart break away.

He reached up and took the hand that Rylan had on his face in his, holding it tight in case the wolf tried to pull away. He didn’t want to lose the connection yet. It felt...nice. “Truce?”

Rylan raised an eyebrow.

He dropped it and looked away, feeling silly, only for Rylan to grab his hand back and give it a squeeze. Scooching over to the far side of the bed, Rylan patted the space he’d just made. “Come here, you’ll be comfier.”

The invitation was nice and Micah could admit that the bed was comfortable and the padded headboard looked like it would be nice to lean against as they talked. He shuffled into place and sighed. “This is really comfy, I could go to sleep forever,” he said, leaning back onto the cushioned surface. Rylan flipped the comforter over him as well and Micah had to really struggle to stay awake.

They sat there like that until they had to address the elephant in the room.

“So...we really have to do it, huh?” Rylan wouldn’t look at him when he said it and Micah relaxed now he knew he wasn’t the only one out of his depth here. He’d rather go intimidate a bully, annoy the heck out of Skylar or even listen to another of his mother’s lectures about how it was time he settled down and made grandbabies for her. Those things he could do, they were familiar. This touchy feely, talk about emotions stuff just gave him a headache.

Micah smirked at the phrasing. “Do it?”

Rylan smiled back, eyes sparkling. “Hey, I can call it what I like, be thankful I didn’t say do the dance with no pants or bumping uglies.”

The shifter gave him a cocky wink, looking a lot like the confident young shifter that had simultaneously annoyed and intrigued him. He hadn’t see Rylan this relaxed around him for a long time. And it wasn’t until now that Micah realized he’d missed it.

Micah burst out laughing, jostling them both on the bed. “Okay, you’re right. I should be thankful. Where the hell did you hear it called the dance with no pants?” Saying it himself set him off again and the more he laughed, the more the headboard banged against the wall.

Rylan started laughing, too, and the noise increased. “We’re bound to have an audience outside to make sure we don’t kill each other. They’re going to think we’re already doing it.” The wolf shot him a cheeky look. “Or that you have no stamina and we’re already finished. I’m not sure how they’ll interpret the laughing.”

Micah’s humor fled at having his manhood threatened. “That’s so not funny.”

Of course, that set Rylan off again.

He tried to cover Rylan’s mouth with his hand to block the noise. “Stop it. Stop laughing right now or I’ll swear I’ll spank you.” That just made Rylan worse, the shifter almost hyperventilating with the force of the giggles.

“They’re going to think you have a teeny weenie,” Rylan got out between gasps for air, slapping the bed and falling over to the side.

Micah growled. “I do
not
have a teeny weenie!” His shout must have been louder than he’d intended because he heard a choking sound and a crash from outside the door. His head whipped to the side to glare at the offending piece of wood before turning back to Rylan. He narrowed his eyes on Rylan’s shocked face as the sound of footsteps running away from the door was accompanied by more crashes and someone shushing.

“I hate you,” Micah told Rylan, folding his arms over his chest with a huff.

The other wolf cried with mirth, the tears running down his bruised face. Seeing Rylan so happy after the blow of seeing Rylan lifeless and beaten in the hospital tempered his anger and he even started to see the funny side.

“You know by the time we leave this room, everyone will think I’ve got a tiny penis,” he said frankly, resigned to the teasing and taunting ahead of him. There was no way his brothers were going to let him live this down. If he wasn’t mistaken, the guards outside the door had been Liam and Alex. He’d be lucky if the rumor wasn’t already plastered all over the internet. He still hadn’t lived down the sex toy thing from months ago.

“Hey, for all I know you might have a teeny weenie.” Rylan bounced his eyebrows, grinning.

“Please stop saying that.” Micah scrubbed a hand over his face while Rylan snickered. When Rylan showed no signs of quitting “And from the number of times I’ve caught you sneaking a peak at me on pack runs, you know damn well that I’m not small.”

Rylan’s laugh cut off abruptly and his face turned crimson.

Micah’s jaw dropped. Shit. Had Rylan really been looking at him when they shifted? “Wow, I was joking, but I guess your blush speaks for itself.” His wolf preened a little.

“Yeah, well, you already knew I liked you. You rub it in my face with every hookup you brag about.” Rylan shifted away from him.

Micah rocked back at the bitterness there. “Rylan, I swear I didn’t know you liked me. I thought you hated me. Most of the time I’m talking, it’s messing around with my brothers or the new guys.” Micah scooted over so they were pressed side by side again. “I’m sorry.”

Assessing him with suspicion clear on his face, Rylan paused, then nodded. “Okay, I’m sorry for reading something more into it...I don’t hate you. I’ve been angry at you for a long time, but I’ve never hated you, Micah.”

Micah nodded and tried not to read too much into Rylan’s words. “Do you want to try this truce thing again?”

Rylan leaned into him a little. “Sure. You think we can last longer than two whole minutes, this time?”

“Maybe, if neither of us speak or make eye contact,” Micah answered in a serious tone. It seemed like they each took everything the other said too personally and automatically got defensive. A knock at the door stopped whatever small talk either of them were going to make.

“I better go see them or they’ll only come in.” Pack was like the nosiest family in the world. Gossip spread faster than light at times and especially in a healthy inner circle, they never, ever gave up when they thought they could bug you into giving them something juicy.

He shoved the comforter aside and got off the bed.

Micah had almost made it to the door when something hot and hard shoved him forward, body slamming him into the door. “Ow, fuck.” The only thing that kept him from reaching back and hitting the body behind him was the knowledge that it was Rylan.

His wolf stalked inside him, confused at the attack and wanting to get out. But Micah held him back, certain that whatever was happening, Rylan wouldn’t hurt him.

“Is everything alright in there?” He recognized Gabriel’s voice now. Liam and Alex must have swapped shifts after the weenie debacle.

“We’re fine—urgh.” Micah grunted as Rylan grabbed him by the waist and hauled him back from the door. It was only long enough to turn him around, though then Micah found himself slammed back against the door. He growled, unimpressed by the rough handling, but Rylan pressed against him, growling back and flashing his teeth.

Micah’s next protest died on his lips when he saw Rylan’s eyes were full wolf. Fuck. They’d wasted too much time talking and he’d forgotten how pressed they were for time. Rylan must have been struggling to keep himself in check this long and Micah hadn’t even noticed.

Micah swallowed his instinctive growl as Rylan went for his neck. He may be the stronger wolf, but Rylan outranked him in the pack so he had to submit. The action went against everything his wolf stood for, but he forced himself to tip his neck to the side. Rylan had given a lot for him by just listening, talking and agreeing to leave all of the hurts in the past. Micah could bend in return for him.

Rylan snarled at him, but Micah held the position, focusing on keeping his breathing deep and slow. If he was calm, it should calm Rylan’s wolf, too. Rylan growled once more before tearing his t-shirt off in strips and fastening his teeth to Micah’s throat.