“I’m going to get us a drink. What would you like?”
“Water’ll be fine, thank you.”
Jason nodded, rolling his eyes when he remembered Daryl couldn’t see him. “Back in a sec.”
He took his time getting them both a drink, needing a moment to calm any remaining nerves. It was just dinner. Feeding Daryl wasn’t anything to get worked up about.
Except when it came down to it, after Jason had brought back their drinks, sat down, and picked up Daryl’s fork, all he could focus on was Daryl’s mouth. A day’s worth of dark stubble covered his
jawline, outlining his mouth and making his soft-looking full lips stand out. Jason shook his head to clear it.
Get it together.
“Ready?” At Daryl’s nod, Jason speared a piece of beef with the fork. “Meat coming your way.”
Rachel choked on her drink and Jenn bit her lip in an effort not to laugh.
Fuck, Jase, choose your words more carefully.
Even Daryl was sat waiting for his food with a big grin, and Jason was tempted to just ram it in there or give him a piece of the avocado from his own plate. He wouldn’t think it was funny then. The only thing that stopped him, again, was knowing that tomorrow he’d be at Daryl’s mercy.
The baby carrot looked innocent enough sat on Daryl’s plate, but when Jason got it on the end of his fork and touched it gently against Daryl’s lips, it took on a whole new connotation. Daryl opened his mouth enough for Jason to slide the tip inside, and he watched it disappear, bit by bit, until Daryl’s lips met the tines. He pulled back as Daryl sucked and the carrot popped off into his mouth.
Jason swallowed thickly and glanced across the table to see Jenn and Rachel staring at him, both with raised eyebrows.
“What?” he mouthed, cheeks heating.
In response, Rachel picked up one of her own carrots and slowly slid it into her mouth. Then pointed between Jason and Daryl.
Oh fuck.
Is that what we look like?
Rachel grinned at him. “Come on, Jase, don’t let the food get cold.”
She laughed at the glare he sent her way and motioned for him to keep going.
He turned to face Daryl, just in time to see him lick his lips, chasing a drip of gravy, and Jason wanted to groan in frustration and bang his head on the table.
Somehow he had to get through the rest of the meal without embarrassing himself more than he already had.
Figuring mashed potato might be his best bet, he scooped up a forkful. “Another one coming,” he whispered, giving Daryl a bit of warning as he brought the fork to his mouth again.
Daryl fidgeted in his seat, shuffling to face Jason better, and his knee brushed along the inside of Jason’s thigh.
Heat shot to Jason’s groin, and his breath caught.
No way did Daryl miss that.
Even through the blindfold, it felt as though he watched Jason’s every move, saw how affected he was by all of this. Daryl’s hands curled into fists, one on the table, one by his side, and Jason wondered how much control it took to keep them there.
His gaze snapped back up as Daryl leaned forward a touch, and Jason watched, helpless to do anything else, as Daryl’s mouth closed around the mashed potato and sucked it slowly off the end of the fork.
Feeding Daryl had turned out to be more intimate than he imagined, and Jason was aware of him in a way he hadn’t been before. The room was full of scents—this many pack members made it hard to distinguish between individual ones—and Jason hoped it masked anything that he might want to hide.
Hoped.
Daryl’s facial expressions gave very little away at the best of times. Add in the blindfold, and Jason had no idea what he was thinking.
