“Alec called me about Tom going missing.” His grip on Jason tightened as though he might escape at any second.
Liked I’d move a muscle right now.
“When you didn’t answer your phone, I knew he was here. I just fucking knew it.”
Jason felt the scrape of teeth against his skin and his breath caught. “What are you doing?” he whispered, pulse thundering in his ears, his whole body reacting, wanting Daryl to mean what his actions implied.
Daryl pushed closer, the hard length of his cock pressing into Jason’s hip. “I’ve been so fucking selfish,” he murmured, face still buried in the crook of Jason’s neck, hidden.
And that really wouldn’t do.
Jason needed to see his eyes for this conversation. “Hey.” He eased him back a little and cupped his jaw with both hands. The openness in Daryl’s expression floored him. Jason had never seen him this open, this vulnerable. “What makes you think that?”
Daryl’s short laugh was harsh. “Where do I start?” He closed his eyes for a second, and Jason held his tongue despite being desperate to disagree. “I should’ve never started anything with you at the alpha council place.” He put his fingers over Jason’s mouth when Jason went to speak. “Let me finish. I should’ve never started anything without accepting the fact that triggering a potential bond was a strong possibility. I mean, we’re pack.” He offered a small smile. “And you’reyou, so . . .”
Jason let the second part of that sentence go; they could come back to that later. “You weren’t selfish to want sex with someone you trusted.” He grinned. “A little stupid maybe, but I was right there with you. I could’ve put a stop to it.”
Daryll shook his head. “But I knew going in that even if it happened, I wouldn’t want it. I also had a pretty good idea that you would, and taking the risk of putting you through that just so I could get off was one of the most selfish things I’ve ever done.”
Jason froze. Those weren’t the words he’d been hoping to hear. “Is that all it was? You wanting to get off?”
Daryl huffed. “You know it wasn’t.”
Some of the tension eased, but not all of it. “What are you saying then?”
“At first it might’ve been like that, but we were heading towards dangerous territory long before they kidnapped you.”
“Dangerous territory?” Jason sighed and let his head fall back against the wall. “Do you still see it that way?”
“No.”
He said it so softly, Jason thought he’d misheard. “No?” His fingers slid into Daryl’s hair, holding him in place so he couldn’t look away.
“I’ve done some thinking since we got back.” He huffed out a laugh. “Well, I had some things pointed out to me in a rather blunt fashion—”
“Daryl.” Jason didn’t care about any of that. Hope surged inside him, too big to contain. “Have you changed your mind? Do you want to complete our bond?” He bit his bottom lip, not daring to breathe, heart thudding with each second it took for Daryl to answer.
“Yes.”
That one tiny word was the sweetest sound Jason had ever heard. A startled laugh burst out of him, his smile so wide his cheeks hurt. “For fuck’s sake! Why didn’t you just start with that?”
Daryl huffed. “I was working up to it.” He let go of Jason’s shoulders, hands sliding up to rest against the base of his throat. “I didn’t want to burst in here, pin you against the wall with a “Hey, Jason, I changed my mind. Let’s fuck so I can bite you.”
Jason let out a low, rumbling growl. “Why not? Works for me.”
“Yeah?” Daryl’s dirty smirk matched the roughness of his voice.
“Oh yeah.”
“Well, in that case . . .” He leaned in, mouth skimming Jason’s skin as he trailed kisses up the side of his neck. When he reached Jason’s ear he whispered, “I changed my mind.” Jason shivered at the hint of fang. “Now, let’s get naked, have sex, and bite each other.”
“Oh fuck, that’s even better.”
“What are you waiting for?” Daryl grinned. “You’ve got about five seconds before I rip those jeans off you.”
Jason hooked his thumbs under the waistband and slowly teased his button open. “Didn’t like these much anyway.”
Daryl laughed as he flicked out his claws and sank to his knees. The material gave easily, peeling away as Daryl dragged his hands down Jason’s thighs, careful to only graze his skin. His underwear went the same way, tossed into a heap on the floor next to them.
