"I think I know how to fix this and not break your heart. But right now, you are more important to me than your father and we didn't have a chance to reunite properly before," he said, tracing his fingers down Darwin's front. The soft hisses and the way Darwin squirmed and wiggled made him hot with anticipation. Slowly, ever so gently, he worked his way down to Darwin's crotch, humming when he found hardness to rival his own. The heat of Darwin's bulge beneath his hand sped up Jared's own pulse and he grabbed the waistband of Darwin's pants hard, gasping as he rubbed himself against his ass. He strained to find his voice and when he did, he couldn't do more than rasp. "Talk later, sex now?"
Darwin's hand joined his and pried open the button of his pants, opening up an easier path to his cock. Jared groaned, tearing one-handed at Darwin's pants as he forced the zipper down, then switched to the small of his back to pull at the denim and bare that ass. The soft skin beneath his fingers, the hot friction of naked skin against the bulge in his pants, was sweet, utter, torture.
Jared tugged at his own pants, ripped them open and shoved them down until his cock sprang free and slapped against that warm ass pushing back against him. The warmth and the soft hairs tickling against his sensitive length tore a deep groan out of him and tightened his fingers around Darwin's length, which in turn added another rumbling moan to the echo in the small room. Skin against skin, Jared felt the soft, nervous twitch of the tight, wrinkled muscle against the underside of his cock. The thought of how soon he would be buried inside the twitching orifice drew drops of pre-come out of his tip and the sensation of his corona rubbing against the wetness he left on Darwin's ass drew up his balls.
"There's lube in the nightstand. You better get it before I go all over your ass," Jared hissed, kneading Darwin's thigh as he fought for control. Mine, his wolf whispered, gleefully spurring him on to claim the body of his mate. His instinct didn't understand the finer points of gay sex.
Darwin wiggled and huffed as he half-rolled, stretched and fumbled the drawer open. The soft 'snick' of the lube cut through the heavy atmosphere, then he dangled the opened bottle over his shoulder, offering it to Jared nonchalantly, if a little breathless with anticipation.
Too much. "I don't think I can stop myself from biting you," Jared warned breathlessly, grabbing the lube and squirting it haphazardly somewhere in between his crotch and Darwin's ass, soiling the bed as much as hitting his target.
The shudder running through Darwin's body shook the mattress. He raised one leg and tilted his ass, all but offering himself to the hard rod rubbing against his slick ass as he made breathless little sounds. "Then don't," he said and sounded almost annoyed with the necessity of talking at all. "Bite me!"
Jared's eyes rolled into the back of his head. He grabbed Darwin's hip hard enough to bruise and slammed in, tearing a pained, ecstatic scream out of him. Little jolts of pure elation twinged through his back as he pulled Darwin's twitching body closer, angled his face forward and closed his teeth around the warm, soft skin at his neck, groaning harshly. The vise grip around his cock was utter torture, muscles twitching, contracting, pulling him deeper in sync with the stream of sharp little groans and moans, gasps and whimpers coming from Darwin. This had to hurt, at least a little, but Darwin still let him do it, still submitted, writhed in his embrace, thrust his ass back to bury him deeper.
Bliss.
The hint of blood, just a little, no more than a drop, spurred him on and he started to move, lazily at first, luxuriating in the roll of hips, the hot tightness, the scent of sweat and pre-come drifting up from the wrecked body in his arms. But soon it wasn't enough anymore. Jared bit deeper, groaning sharply against the bruised skin between his jaws, and sped up, each thrust a harsh slap that stung against his thighs as much as it bit against Darwin's tense ass.
Darwin shifted his leg, straining back to change the path Jared's cock took into his tight channel, and shouted when he plunged deeper, rubbed against that spot inside of him that made his own length dribble and throb. His channel tightened around Jared, squeezing him until he saw stars and sputtered to arrhythmic jerks, and all of a sudden there was no ways left to go and he came.
The intensity robbed him of sight, voice, control. He felt Darwin come, shudder, squirm between his cock still pulsing inside his ass and the teeth Jared still dug into his neck. It cut his invisible threads and he sagged back onto the bad, gasping for air and drenched in the sweetest of sweats.
Darwin murmured breathless endearments, drunk on endorphins and exhausted, and Jared pulled him closer and wrapped his body around his sweat-slick mate. Give this up? Never. He'd rather die.
Leftover anger more than choice led Jared back the way he had come, out of the bedroom and down the stairs to the living room. He almost stumbled over his feet when George and Mary appeared in the hallway leading outside. They stared at him with a mixture of surprise and the same brooding anger that had ruled their interactions since the day Carl had died. Jared bristled before he could get a hold of himself, rolling his shoulders against the tension creeping up his back. He so wasn't ready for another exchange of snide remarks, but this would have to happen sooner rather than later. Still, his lips went numb at the thought of what he was about to do.
"George, a word," he asked as curtly as possible.
George just huffed. His face twitched as he tried to decide on an answer, his gaze flitting from Jared to the living room door behind him.
This was it. After all the worrying and the talks, after turning the situation over and over in his head, he had finally decided to do something and this was the answer he got? No. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. A snarl hijacked his face and he stepped closer before his mind could catch up to his mood and stop him. The growl trickling out of his throat was deep and warning, a sound fit for bloodshed and death and definitely enough to catch George's attention. The old man's eyes snapped back to Jared's face.
"This is not a request. I offer you privacy, but if you don't take it, and I mean now, we can do this in front of everyone. Your choice." He should have felt silly talking like this to a man more than twice his age, but that feeling didn't come. Instead, a tight knot in his stomach loosened and a wave of force, for lack of a better word, rushed through his chest and right into his head. The room shrank, the air got fresher, colors brighter, like he had shrugged off a layer of too-tight skin.
George felt it too. Even wheelchair-bound as he was, he sat up straighter, winced a little and gulped, his eyes widening as he lowered his gaze. "Lead the way," he said and nodded once. At what, Jared had no idea.
"Good choice."
Jared turned on his heels and stalked off, setting a healthy pace down the hallway and towards the terrace. Not the most courteous move, but Jared needed the few moments of head start to think, to decide what to do next. He went outside and leaned onto the banister, staring blankly at the mountainous woods. What would Tobias do in his place? What would his uncle have done? They wouldn't have let things go on for this long, that much Jared knew, but how would they have solved it?
Jared snorted. His uncle would have killed George. His brother would have thrown him out. None of those options were acceptable, which meant he had nothing to go on but his own intuition and no way out but through. "Being the Alpha really sucks," he said and tugged at his hair.
"I wouldn't know."
Rubber wheels clacked softly as George maneuvered his chair through the door and onto the wooden planks, nimbly coming to a halt next to Jared. He looked much more composed than before, calmer than Jared had ever seen him. Not that he knew much of George besides Darwin's stories.
"Sorry, I didn't mean for you to hear that," he admitted and grinned lopsidedly. "But it's true, you know? It sucks. Especially for me. I have no idea how to be an Alpha, but I guess you already noticed that."
George snorted and frowned at the mountain peaks along the vista. "Hard not to notice. Which is why I don't want you anywhere near my son. He doesn't need another dysfuncti
onal Alpha in his life."
"But he wants me there and frankly, nobody asked you. Yet."
"Yet?"
"Did you know your son was a submissive?"
Admittedly, Jared had hoped for a little more than the silence George bestowed on him, but the quiet spoke its own words. He'd had no idea, just like the rest of his pack. Even Darwin's father had been blind to the truth sitting right in front of him. Jared shook his head and huffed. "And you call me dysfunctional."
The banister cracked beneath George's fist. Black, web-like fissures appeared along the carved wood, a stark reminder of the power still left in the broken body. He couldn't do much more than that, but the force spoke volumes, as did the tear in the corner of his eye. He wiped at it angrily, stopping its path halfway down. "Is this what you wanted to talk to me about? My failures as a father?" he asked, his voice tight and rough.
Jared shifted, straightened and turned to George, keeping his face pleasantly blank. "No. I wanted to talk about your behavior towards me and Darwin. I have no idea how I'm supposed to act because you're his father and I really want you to like me, but I think I've gone about this all wrong. I'm not just your son's boyfriend, I'm his mate and on my way to become your Alpha, and as the pack Alpha I've let you trample all over me. I've given you the impression of weakness for all the wrong reasons and now we're here and it's almost too late to patch up things. For that I'm sorry. But I'm not sorry I found Darwin, or that he loves me, and I won't stop seeing him just because you don't approve. You're out of your depth. A few days ago you thought he was a dominant and now he isn't. You're worried for his safety, any good dominant would be, but you're forgetting something. I always knew what he was and he knew it too, which means that you're the only one still confused about how to treat him, how to see him. He didn't change, your opinion of him did."
Fresh winter wind carried off the last words and swallowed the echo. George kneaded the armrest of his wheelchair, chewed his lips and grunted noncommittally, but whatever force had fired his rage was suddenly gone. He looked old, cold and brittle, his jaws clenched as if to keep quiet by force. Jared turned his head and took in the view, at a loss for words now that he had said his piece. What else could he do to make George understand he wouldn't leave Darwin?
George snorted and shook his head. "Why are you telling me what I already know? Or did you think that little heart-to-heart would make me see things your way?" He turned his chair, leaned back and threw Jared a loathing look. "I don't care what you want, I won't let you ruin him. I forbid it."
Familiar ground at last. Jared smirked and nodded. "As you wish. You leave me no other choice then: I challenge you, George."
'Dumbfounded' was too mild a description for the look on George's face. His jaw dropped and he sputtered, gasped and fumbled for words. At last he got his tongue back, eyes wild as he said, "You can't be serious!"
Now that the impasse loomed over him, Jared doubted how serious he was himself. If George didn't back down, now that the gauntlet had been thrown, a fight would be inevitable and Jared would be forced to hurt or even kill George. The choice between fucked and utterly fucked.
Another sharp gust of wind howled by, rattling the banister and tugging at Jared's collar as the breeze raced around the house. Seconds stretched and stretched, torturous time spent with staring, hoping, trying to keep his expression blank as George searched his face for hints of a bluff. A slight vertigo nudged at him, trying to steal the balance he had so easily held all his life.
Then the moment was over. George's face hardened, his lips nothing more but a whitened line as he turned his chair towards the balcony door. "I forfeit," he said, cleared his throat and repeated in a steadier voice, "I forfeit the duel."
"Then you accept my dominion over you?"
Teeth creaked as George tightened his jaws, his words a slithering thing, barely thick enough to crawl out of his mouth. "I do."
Something hard, tight and cold around Jared's chest loosened and he took a deep breath, closing his eyes. A trickle of laughter clogged his throat, only just held back by his will for fear of ruining the unsteady truce he had just forged. It took a while to cram down his elation deep enough to be sure it would stay hidden, and only then did he open his eyes again. Nothing was more frightening than a quadriplegic, disgruntled father-in-law.
George was staring at him, his face intent and sharp.
It made Jared cringe a little. "What? Do I have something on my face?"
The old man hesitated, hissed, and shrugged. "No. Just wanted to make sure you weren't having a laugh on my account."
"And?"
A small smile tugged at the mobile part of George's mouth and he nodded tersely. "And you weren't. Thank you."
Then George wheeled himself back inside, leaving Jared to stare after him with bemused surprise and a little bit of anxiety. Now that it was done, what the hell was he supposed to do next?
Darwin
The feet on his lap stank. Two days of constant travel did that to anyone's feet, but having the source of the odor sitting right there and right below his nose made it worse. No amount of turning his head or cracking the window open to catch the cold winter breeze helped for long, and the constant movement of the car did its part to twist Darwin's stomach in a tight, sick, knot.
"Could we please pull over at the next rest stop?" he begged, head held high and turned to the side to escape the fumes. The owner of those feet, no other than Harry, snored peacefully, his head burrowed into Rayne's sweater to keep out the daylight.
Darla huffed, swerving around another unsuspecting motorist dumb enough to stick to the speed limit. Somewhere, miles behind them for all Darwin knew, Mary was all but having a coronary event. Or she had given up on keeping up. "Again? What is it this time, Darwin?"
Torn between truth and lie, Darwin sucked in a hesitant breath. Sock sweat immediately coated his tongue and crept into his gullet as he swallowed convulsively. "I'm gonna be sick if you don't!"
Swearing, Darla cut off a truck and almost sheared against the picketing as she pulled off the highway, sending everyone into a confused uproar and waking Harry. Not that Darwin cared; as soon as the car stopped, he popped out the back, stumbled to the side, and plastered the lawn with what little coffee and pancakes he had managed to force down at breakfast.
It wasn't the first time this had happened, too. Ever since the group had decided to leave Renton and go back to Banes, his whole body felt tight, tense, and off. Sure, Darwin was giddy with elation that Jared had made peace with his father, however unstable it was, and he was out of his mind with joy that they would all stay together, both his new pack and what was left of his old one. He even agreed with Jared's reasoning. Having their own territory and a chance to re-build the Banes pack like it was supposed to be was a giant step up from squatting and being run off every few days. But....
He spit a few times, coughing at the bitter flavor in the back of his throat, and got up on wobbly knees. If the trip went on like this, they would never reach Banes. On the other hand, would that be such a bad thing?
The others stayed with the car, chatting in low voices, but a hand grabbed Darwin's arm to help him up and a set of lips kissed the scarred bite on his neck. "I feel the same," confessed Jared, a tight smile on his lips. "Too bad we can't simply elope and run off to Hawaii."
Darwin turned and hugged him, burying his face against his sweater. He stank of sweat and too much deodorant, just like everyone else, but Jared's unique scent never made him sick. If only it had been his feet on his lap, instead of Harry's.
"I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm not usually so weak," Darwin mumbled and swallowed remnants of bile. "Maybe I've caught a stomach bug or something."
Jared chuckled haughtily and hugged him tighter. "Yeah, right. I think it's called 'nerves'."
"What!"
"Don't be so tense, nobody's blaming you for it. You've got every right to be freaked out."
"I am not freaked out!" Darwin
wiggled and shoved against Jared's chest, but he wouldn't let go. It only made him feel more trapped. There was nothing to be freaked out about, nothing at all! They were just going home to Banes, his home, the place he had lived in his whole life, a familiar place, nothing more. Granted, he didn't have fond memories about Banes— or his pack, for that matter— but Carl was dead, so what could go wrong?
His stomach did a backflip and he twisted, dry-heaving to the side while Jared held him upright. His abs hurt from the sheer violence of the contractions and he groaned exhaustedly when the fit passed.
Well, so much for a stomach bug. "Okay, so I'm a little freaked out, so what?"
"So nothing. I just came over here to tell you that we understand and that you don't have to worry about appearances. You're not the only one worried about going back. Rayne has been pacing all night before we took off and Darla was almost at the point of proposing to stay with Margo. Graham had to talk her down for hours. The only ones not feeling the pressure are Harry and Graham, but, you know, they are Prince and King Valium compared to everyone else."
"Really?" It shouldn't have made him feel better, but it did. The impulse to play dominant, to try and control everything and everyone, still haunted him at times, but those moments weren't as bad as the ones where that tiny, inner voice whispered strings and strings of self-deprecations to him. Weak, it said, weak and fragile, useless, unworthy. The thought of anyone thinking those things about him was too much. But what if they weren't?
"I promise you, we're all shaken. I didn't tell anyone about what Carl did to you, but they seem to sense that it's harder for you. Nobody said a word and that's how it will stay."
Jared hugged him again, squeezing his cramped insides between his powerful arms, and grinned broadly. "Don't worry about the puking. We'll get you mouthwash if it starts to bother us."
"Har har." Darwin rolled his eyes and straightened discreetly. His tummy stayed quiet, cramping but too empty to be a risk any longer. A group of deer stalked through the nearby field, eying first them, then the highway and the flitting cars warily. Even nervous like this, they still looked calm and happy. Fear didn't stop them from enjoying the winter sun, so why should Darwin let it stop him? "Okay, fine, I'm freaked. And I'll probably puke again, but I can do this. I will do this and Carl can suck my--"
Unwilling: a shifter romance Page 32
