Bitten By Mistake (23 page)

Fuck me.

Nathan’s jeans were all of a sudden uncomfortably tight. That one word sent a shiver down his spine and his cock throbbed in time to Jared’s footsteps. Fucking right he was claimed.

Mine, mine, mine.

Nathan’s low growl was too quiet for human ears, but Luke heard it. He needed to calm down. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Luke staring at him with a puzzled expression on his face that wouldn’t remain that way for long if Nathan didn’t pull himself together.

Luke obviously thought Jared was playing some kinky sort of role play, a joke to get Nathan a little riled up—the Internet was overrun with shifter-human porn. In about 80 per cent of them, the human begged to be ‘claimed.’ The shifter naturally obliged, bit them, they had wild sex, and were instantly bonded.

While incredibly hot, Nathan had always laughed at how that would never happen in real life.

It wasn’t so funny anymore.

He swallowed thickly as Jared walked up to him and stopped so they were close but not quite touching.

“Hey.” Jared smiled that soft smile Nathan only usually saw first thing in a morning when Jared woke up in his arms and hadn’t yet remembered why they were in bed together. It was Nathan’s favourite.

Jared’s scent wrapped around Nathan, setting his nerves on edge. Jared smelled like
them
, like pack almost, and Nathan’s need to protect went into overdrive. There were too many people, too many shifters close by who were a possible threat. He scanned the street, half expecting a group of rogue shifters to jump out at any second.

“Nathan?”

Nathan turned back to Jared, his gaze flicking from Jared’s eyes to his mouth, to his black collar. The word stood out like a beacon, and Nathan was moving before he even realised. He grabbed Jared by the shoulder, pushed him up against the wall of the club, and kissed him. Fuck, he was so hard, and he pressed his hips against Jared’s, wanting him to feel the effect he had on him.

Jared moaned into the kiss, his hands on Nathan’s arse, and he pulled him closer, then broke off to press his nose to the base of Nathan’s throat. Jared growled low and menacing. “I can smell that fucker on you again. Can’t he tell that you’re taken?” The words were followed by the swipe of Jared’s tongue and the nip of his teeth. “It’s a shame he can’t see my bite mark.”

Nathan was too caught up in the moment to realise what Jared had done, but Luke’s sharp inhale was as effective as a bucket of cold water.

Oh shit.

Jared froze, and when Nathan pulled back enough to see his face, he was staring back with wide, terrified eyes. “Fuck.”

His fingers dug into Nathan’s biceps and his whole body started to tremble, the acrid scent of fear suddenly heavy in the air. Nathan wrapped his arms tightly around him and held him close, as though he could shield him from whatever was about to happen.

With his head down and his forehead resting on Nathan’s shoulder, Jared clung to him. “Shit, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think. I just—”

Nathan shushed him. It was done now; nothing they could do would change that, and if Nathan was honest, part of him was relieved that Luke knew. Selfish as it might be, he’d hated lying to him, and depending on how he took the news, it could be good to have someone in the pack on his side.

Assuming Luke didn’t run straight to Gareth and tell him everything.

“Nathan.” Luke’s voice held a hint of warning in it, and when Nathan met his gaze, Luke nodded through the doors of the club. Shit, one of the P-Pack shifters was coming their way. “He needs to go. Now!”

The line of people were watching the three of them with interest, but Nathan ignored them. He grabbed Jared by the chin and kissed him quickly. “You need to go. Wes is on his way down and you absolutely cannot slip up in front of him.”

“Wes? Is he the one who wipes his fucking scent all over you?” Jared’s lip curled, and Nathan did a double take at the way his canines seemed to have sharpened.

“Yes, and if he sees you do that, then he won’t need to see your neck.” He hissed the words as low as he could, even though the music in the club was painfully loud. “You need to go.” A flash of hurt crossed Jared’s face, and Nathan sighed.
Fucking bond.
He ran his thumb across the lettering on Jared’s collar, let him see exactly how badly Nathan wanted to take him home right now and fuck him. “Go home. I’ll be off in three hours, and when I get back I expect you to be waiting for me, wearing nothing but this.” He punctuated it with a nip to Jared’s throat, not hard enough to break the skin but enough to make Jared shudder.

“Yeah, okay.” Jared stepped back, his eyes almost black as he glanced down at the very obvious bulge in Nathan’s jeans. “Don’t be late.”

No fear of that, I’ll be sprinting home.

“Go.”

With a last, lingering look, Jared turned and headed back the way he’d come, garnering some interested glances as he passed the line of people waiting outside the club. Luke’s hand on Nathan’s arm reminded him that was the least of his concerns.

He leaned in close enough that his lips brushed Nathan’s ear. “We’ll talk about this fucking mess later.”

Before Nathan could do anything more than nod, Wes sauntered out of the club and came to lean on the wall next to Nathan. Jared had disappeared from view, but Nathan could still smell him. He tensed as Wes leaned in close and took a deliberate deep breath.

For a split second, his shoulders went rigid. Then a slow smile crept over his face as he seemed to relax again. “Hmm… had a visitor?” Dropping his gaze to the front of Nathan’s jeans, which still showed a significant hard-on, Wes’s smile turned into a smirk. “Left you hanging, did he?” His hand shot out to palm Nathan’s cock, but Nathan was quicker.

He grabbed Wes’s wrist and shoved his arm away. “Keep your fucking hands to yourself.”

“Don’t be like that, Nate. You can be as rough as you like with me. Fucking your own kind is so much better than fucking a human.”

Nathan thought about Jared, waiting for him in his bed—naked and hard and wearing nothing but that damn collar. Wes paled in comparison. He couldn’t afford to piss him off too much, considering they were supposed to be working together, so he shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. And thanks for the offer, but I’m not looking to find out anytime soon. Jared keeps me plenty satisfied.” Well, maybe he could piss him off a little.

Wes glared at him, then scoffed. “I bet you’re not the only one.”

“What the fuck did you say?” Nathan’s wolf snarled and hissed beneath his skin, aching to get out. He took a step forward, getting right in Wes’s face.

Wes held his ground. “You know what humans are like… giving it up for any shifter that so much as sniffs in their direction. I doubt you’re the only one he’s banging.”

The only reason Nathan didn’t shift on the spot and rip the smile of Wes’s face was Cam would be pissed off. He’d probably be forced to exact some form of punishment on Nathan if he wanted to keep good relations with the P-Pack alpha. And where would that leave Jared? “Fuck off.”

Wes laughed, and Nathan was seconds from losing it, despite himself.

Thank God Luke stepped in between them. Nathan’s jaw had started to lengthen, and Wes was grinning at him as though he’d already won. “Knock it the fuck off, Wes. Unless you’ve got a good reason to be out here, get back inside. Or would you like me to report to my alpha that you’re pissing about on the job and not taking the threat seriously?”

Wes turned his glare on Luke, before pushing past him and stalking back inside.

What a fucking arsehole. Out of all the shifters at Primrose Hill, why did they get lumped with him? The other one, Paul, was kind of okay; Nathan quite liked what he’d seen of him. But Wes was a dick, and Nathan was quickly growing to hate him.

He waited for Wes to get out of earshot, then whispered “Thanks” to Luke.

Luke nodded; his expression remained unreadable. “You owe me a full explanation tomorrow. And I mean every fucking thing. Okay?”

“Yeah. Of course.”

The rest of the night was uneventful in comparison, and Wes kept out of his way, which was even better. Luke kept giving him dark looks, and the atmosphere between them was strained as it never had been before, but they couldn’t talk about anything while they were at the club. That conversation had been tabled until Saturday afternoon. Nathan pointedly tried not to imagine how that might go. Luke hadn’t rushed to tell Gareth or anyone else so far as Nathan knew, so that was hopefully a good sign. Or maybe he was just waiting until he had the whole story. Only time would tell.

At ten past three, Nathan pushed open the door to Jared’s flat and crept inside. Stopping in the hallway, he listened for a sign that Jared was awake. The place was quiet, except for the whisper of the trees outside the windows and the soft regular breathing coming from down the hall. Walking towards the bedroom, he purposely stepped in the places he knew the floor would creak.

Jared’s breathing picked up the closer Nathan got to the bedroom door. The tantalising smell of his arousal clung to the air and had Nathan hard and aching by the time he reached it.

The door stood ajar, an inch or two away from being shut, and Nathan pushed against the wood with his finger. It swung slowly open, revealing the bed and Jared, and—

“
Fuck me
.”

Jared lay on top of the quilt propped up against the pillows with his legs spread wide and a hand on his cock. He was as hard as Nathan was by the looks of things, and as requested he was naked apart from the band of black at his throat. Nathan stepped into the room, yanking off his clothes as quickly as possible.

With a tilt of his head, Jared moaned low and needy. The collar stood out against the pale skin of his neck, the word almost mocking as Jared worked himself over, writhing on the bed and fucking into his fist, looking anything but claimed.

The sight was so hot, Nathan stopped with his jeans pushed halfway down his thighs and watched the slow slide of Jared’s hand as it moved easily up and down his shaft.

Jared met Nathan’s gaze and licked his lips. “Hurry, before I finish without you.”

Nathan shoved his jeans the rest of the way off and climbed onto the bed. He went to crawl between Jared’s legs, but Jared stopped him with a quick shake of his head.

“On your back.”

Nathan raised an eyebrow at the commanding tone, but did as he was told.

Jared sat up, reached to the back of the collar and started to unbuckle it.

“No, wait. Leave it on, please. I like it.” Nathan had a hand out as if to stop him, but Jared grinned and leaned back out of his reach. “I like it too, but I think it would look better….” He slid it off his neck and placed it against Nathan’s. “Here.”

Shifters didn’t wear collars, ever. The throat was a vulnerable area, sensitive, and allowing Jared to do this meant more than just sex.

Does he realise what he’s asking?

Nathan swallowed down the instinctive urge to push Jared’s hand away, instead lifting his head so that Jared could fasten the clasp.

The leather was soft against his skin, and his breath caught as Jared sat back and ran his fingers across the front of it.

“Is this okay?” Jared left his fingers where they were and looked at Nathan with a hint of worry.

Maybe he does know.

“Yes.”

The relieved smile Jared gave him quickly turned dirty, as Jared moved to straddle Nathan’s hips. “Thank you.” He reached under the pillow next to Nathan’s head and retrieved a bottle of lube. “I’m so fucking sorry about tonight.” He squirted some onto his palm and then wrapped his hand around Nathan’s cock, making him arch his back with pleasure.

“’S fine.” Nathan pushed into the tightness of Jared’s fist, again and again.

“I can’t handle his,
Wes’s
, scent on you. The others don’t seem to affect me, but his? I can’t stand it.” Jared’s hand sped up, and Nathan moaned into the quiet of the room. “I’ve never even met him, but his scent makes me so angry. I want to….” He teased the head of Nathan’s cock with his thumb, watching him.

“What?” Nathan managed, desperate for Jared to carry on stroking him.

Jared shuffled back a bit until he sat on Nathan’s thighs. He let go of Nathan’s dick and worked a finger down behind his balls, stroking there instead. “I want to show him you’re mine.” He pressed down with the pad of his finger. “I want to bite you and leave a mark for everyone to see.” He bared his teeth, and Nathan’s breath hitched at the sharp edges now clearly visible. “And I want to fuck you so hard you’ll never want anyone else.”

Oh God.

“Yes.
Jesus
, fucking yes to all of that.” He almost pushed Jared off the bed in his haste to spread his legs and get started.

Jared righted himself and quickly scooted between Nathan’s thighs. With another squirt of lube, Jared slid two fingers inside him. Nathan groaned, the low rumbling sound almost a growl as Jared pressed in and rubbed over his prostate. He let him add another and closed his eyes for a second to enjoy the stretch, but it wasn’t nearly enough, and he reached down to push Jared’s hand away. “I’m ready, come on.”

Jared grabbed one of the pillows, and Nathan lifted his hips for Jared to wedge it underneath him.

“I could turn over if you—”

“No.” Jared’s gaze fell on the black collar. “I want to see.” Then he looked up to meet Nathan’s eyes. “All of you.”

Nathan nodded, and his whole body tingled with anticipation as Jared positioned himself between his legs. Jared didn’t take his time or go easy, one hard thrust of his hips and Jared slid inside him. Nathan cried out and Jared leaned down to cover his mouth with his own.

The kiss turned lazy, Jared glided his tongue along Nathan’s bottom lip as he slowly drew out and then pushed all the way back in.

Nathan didn’t want slow; he wanted hard and rough. He wanted the lettering on that fucking collar to be true. “Jared….”

The words faded to the back of his mind as Jared moved to whisper in his ear. “I know. I’ve got you.”