They wouldn’t have the tension-relieving sex, but Daryl could live without that.
Probably.
Having Jason as a friend was proving to be equally satisfying.
“Hey.” Jason poked him the chest, and Daryl startled, not realising he’d got so close. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” He shook his head and straightened. “Zoned out for a second.”
“You’re not kidding.” He waved his hand down his body with a flourish. And Daryl noted the absence of shorts. How had he missed that happening? “Getting bored of me already?”
Heat pooled in his groin, and he reached down to palm his fattening cock. “No.” It came out as more of a growl, surprising both of them.
“Good,” Jason whispered and helped him out of his shorts. He slid his hands along Daryl’s bare shoulders and stepped in close until they touched from chest to thigh, deliciously naked skin on skin.
Daryl wrapped his arms around him, hands resting in the small of his back.
They kissed, slow and unhurried the familiarity of it settling in Daryl’s bones and making him sigh.
“Come on,” Jason nudged him until Daryl walked backwards into the bathroom. “We’ll be late for dinner at this rate.”
“We’ve got over an hour.”
Jason rolled his hips, his hard-on pressing into Daryl’s stomach. “We’re gonna need it.”
The landline rang and they groaned in unison.
“You go shower,” Jason sighed as he took a step back. “I’ll go answer that and hopefully get rid of them quickly.”
“Okay.” Reluctantly Daryl turned and headed for the shower.
He’d just have to take his time.
AS HAD BECOME the norm, they sat with Rachel and Jenn at dinner. The letter from the council had been read to both units before they started to eat and the room was abuzz with chatter about what could happen. It sat open in the middle of the table, and Daryl’s gaze kept catching on the task title.
Task #3 Rescue
Over the course of the next forty-eight hours, one of their party—and it could be any of them, betas included—would be taken and hidden within the forest. They had five hours from when the abductee was found missing, to locate and rescue them. They’d have to work as one combined team, no time for petty rivalry. And if they didn’t find them in time, then whoever got taken would be heading back to London early.
Daryl disliked the idea intensely.
He might get on with some better than others, but everyone in this room was pack. The thought of one of them being snatched away—even though it was only for the task—set his wolf on edge.
Jason nudged his knee under the table. “It’s not real. Nothing bad is going to happen to whoever gets taken.”
“I know that.” Daryl kept his voice even. Jason was right, and he didn’t deserve Daryl snapping at him. He rolled his shoulders in an attempt to rid himself of the bad feeling gnawing at him.
Jenn put down her spoon with a sigh. “It doesn’t feel right,” she said, taking Daryl by surprise.
“Even though it’s the alpha council doing it, and it’s just to enable the rest of us to work as a team. It feels . . .” She shrugged as though the right words eluded her. “Wrong.”
“Yeah.” Mollified that he wasn’t the only one unsettled by this task, Daryl relaxed slightly. “It’s a shame we can’t keep everyone locked inside until the time’s up.”
That was another stipulation. They were to go about their days as normal.
And it didn’t matter if they locked the doors or not, the council were bound to have spare keys.
Or probably other ways of getting inside.
