He was dreading the return to their room even more than dinner.
CHAPTER SEVEN
After saying their goodbyes to Rachel and Jenn, Daryl allowed Jason to lead him back up the stairs. Not that either of them were tired, but the rules of the task stated the blindfold had to stay on until Jason escorted him back up to their room, and Daryl had had enough of being in the dark.
With his pack surrounding him, he hadn’t felt threatened or exposed, but it was true what they said: cutting off one sense heightened the others. He could pretty much control what to focus in on hearing-wise, having spent years learning not to listen to other people’s conversations unless necessary.
But taste, touch, and smell? He had absolutely no control over those.
Even now, Daryl felt Jason’s presence next to him far more acutely than ever before. The strength in his forearm where Daryl held onto him, the warmth of his skin through the thin cotton of his T-shirt, all of it made the hairs on the back of Daryl’s neck stand on end and his wolf pay attention.
The upcoming full moon wasn’t helping matters. Daryl’s nerve-endings felt extra sensitive, every touch sending shivers down his spine that took all his focus to contain.
He hated feeling like this, hated the way his body responded without his permission.
That’s a lie, whispered the voice at the back of his mind.
Daryl sighed, forced to admit the truth to himself. Part of him did like it, liked feeling so alive, liked the thrum of pleasure and satisfaction when he caught the sharp scent of arousal coming from Jason every now and again. But he hated the sudden lack of control he had over himself.
Being a shifter waseverything, and Daryl would never want to change that, but sometimes he wished he could turn parts of himself off and still be in blissful ignorance of just how attractive Jason found him.
“You okay?” Jason asked, hesitating at the top of the stairs.
“Yeah, why?”
“You sighed.”
Oh.
Even the soft timbre of Jason’s voice sounded different now. Deeper, maybe.
Jason ran a hand through his hair, at least that’s what Daryl assumed he’d done. “I wondered if everything was all right. I know dinner was strange and—”
“I’m fine.” Daryl had no desire to find out where Jason was going with that sentence. “I just want to get this thing off.” He touched the blindfold with his fingers, the silk smooth to the touch. The tie had been expensive. He’d only had cause to wear it once, but now he wouldn’t be able to wear it again without remembering this moment.
“Yeah, I bet you do. Come on.” Jason started walking again, so Daryl went with him.
Once inside their room with the door closed, Jason immediately reached to undo the blindfold.
Without realising what he was doing, Daryl reached up and grabbed his hands. “Wait.”
Jason stilled immediately, fingers resting on the knot. “Why?”
“I don’t know, I just . . .”
Fuck.
Daryl couldn’t say why exactly; he’d just known he wasn’t ready to take it off. Not ready to face Jason. All of a sudden he felt safe behind the dark silk; taking it off felt like exposing himself. Made him feel vulnerable, which was ridiculous, he knew, but he needed a moment to get himself under control.
The familiarity of their room went some way to soothing his nerves. He breathed deeply,
choosing to ignore the fact that it was Jason’s scent mixed in with his that calmed him.
Accepting that he couldn’t put it off any longer and knowing Jason must think he was acting weird, Daryl reached back to untie the knot. He blinked at the sudden brightness, his eyes taking a moment to adjust.
“Better?” Jason stood off to one side, giving Daryl his space, for which he was grateful.
He blinked a couple more times until satisfied everything was as it should be. Then he turned to face Jason, and their eyes met.
