Out Of The Shadows (4 page)

Jai got him onto the bed, so that he rested against the pillows, and straddled his hips. Pressing his lips to Dane’s, he began a slow trail of kisses down his body. Moving lower, he stopped when he came level with Dane’s dick. He smiled as he looked along the length of Dane’s torso, catching the other man’s eye. He wrapped his hand around Dane’s rigid cock and gave it a gentle squeeze, before dipping his head down to run his tongue over the head. As he closed his mouth around Dane’s cock—engulfing him, continuing to use his tongue and hands as well—Dane’s heartbeat sped up, pounding loudly to his sensitive hearing as his fingers clenched at the bedcovers. The look on his face told him his mate was enjoying this.

Dane reached out a hand to touch Jai and then paused, unsure, until Jai used his free hand to take hold of it. His confidence bolstered, he did as he had begun to earlier and ran his fingers through Jai’s hair, tangling them in the silky locks, as Jai continued his ministrations. He could feel that Dane was close and worked harder to push him over that line, until he bucked and tensed under Jai’s weight, spilling into Jai’s mouth. Jai drank him down, taking in every drop, before letting Dane’s cock slip from between his lips.

“Oh man, fuck, that was amazing,” Dane said, his expression slightly dazed.

Jai laughed softly and crawled back up his body, dropping back down beside him.

“You sound as though that’s the first time a bloke has sucked you off?”

Dane averted his eyes again, causing Jai to frown.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to embarrass you—”

“You’re right,” he murmured. “It is the first time; the men who picked me just wanted their cock in my arse or my mouth. You are the only one who ever did that for me.”

Gathering Dane into his arms, he kissed the end of his nose. The look in Dane’s eyes, the embarrassment, made his heart ache. He wanted to be able to chase away the bad experiences in Dane’s past, but that would be impossible. What he could do was to give him some new memories, to show him what it
could
be like.

“Dane, tell me you won’t go to those places any more,” he said quietly.

He felt Dane’s body tense in his arms, shifting back a little, away from him. “Why?”

Jai propped himself on one elbow and looked down at Dane. “Because it’s hurting you,” he said. “Please, Dane.”

Dane didn’t answer.

“I’m only trying to help you,” Jai continued.

“I won’t embarrass the pack, if that’s what you’re thinking…”

Jai frowned and, his fingers under Dane’s chin, turned the man’s face to his. “I don’t give a crap about the pack; what I care about is you. I hate the thought of you being treated like that. I’m assuming that these guys don’t bother to use protection. If you weren’t a were I’d be damn worried about the health risks.”

Dane was lucky that weres didn’t contract or pass on any human diseases. If he had been human, goodness only knows what he would have picked up from these men. Lecturing Dane wasn’t going to help, however; Jai didn’t want the man to clam up again just when he’d started trusting him.

Jai curled up against Dane’s warm, hard body, ignoring the ache in his groin. He wanted nothing more than to sink his cock into Dane, to fuck him hard and fast, but what he’d learned of Dane’s experiences so far made him hold back. He didn’t want Dane to think he was the same as the other men who had picked him up in the bars, wanting nothing more than a quick fuck and then tossing him away in search of their next conquest.

“Dane, I need to talk to you about something.”

* * * *

Dane sighed. “You want me to go, don’t you?”

“No, babe. Why on earth would you think that?”

The man didn’t answer, just shrugged his shoulders and avoided Jai’s eyes again.

“I don’t want you to leave; in fact, it’s just the opposite,” Jai told him. “I wasn’t sure how to tell you at first, but you should know and so I’ll just say it. You’re my mate.”

Dane’s eyes widened. “What? No, I would have known.” He studied the sincerity in Jai’s eyes and he shook his head, his face paling. “You’re serious, aren’t you? Oh, God, my family. What am I supposed to tell them?”

“I know you said that your dad would have a problem with it, but the rest of your family, too?”

Dane shook his head. “I don’t know; even if they were alright about it, they wouldn’t stand against my dad.”

He had left his previous pack to avoid his dad finding out about his sexual orientation, among other things, but there would be no way to hide it if he and Jai were mated. That conversation was one he wasn’t looking forward to. Jai seemed at ease with the fact they were mates, but then he was happily out about his choices. How could he not have realised? Looking back, it made a few things clearer. The signs had been there but he had been so busy trying to lock away those feelings that he hadn’t noticed. He’d found himself leaving the bars with men who were tall, with dark hair, who resembled Jai more than he had realised at the time.

There had been countless times at the office when just the sight of Jai walking by his desk had made him so hard he’d had to escape to the bathroom to relieve the pressure. He had made the connection, he supposed, somewhere deep down. His thoughts always returned to the image of that same tall, dark werewolf.

Oh, shit. How the hell could I have never seen that he was my mate?

Mates were supposed to fit together, though, to be the other’s perfect match. How could he be mated to Jai? Jai deserved so much better than him, a man who was so scared of himself that he had hidden his true self for years. Jai, on the other hand, was open and content with his bisexuality, not to mention confident in everything else. He was flamboyant in a way that Dane could only dream of. A few weeks ago, he had seen Jai on his way out to a club in the city with Ret and a couple of the others. His black hair had a deep magenta streak through it, starting just above his left eyebrow. Jai’s green eyes had been ringed with dark eyeliner, making the colour more vibrant. Eyeliner, for Pete’s sake. Had Dane tried that he would have looked ridiculous, but on Jai it had looked perfectly normal. He had been wearing black leather trousers that looked almost painted on with an open black silk shirt tucked into them. Despite his attempts not to notice, the thought of Jai in that outfit had kept him tossing and turning in bed all that night. The man was gorgeous—even when he was trying to convince himself not to look he could see that.

Jai was interested, he had shown that indisputably, but Dane still couldn’t for the life of him figure out why. It would be wise to walk away now, before it went any further. That would be the fair thing to do, for Jai’s sake, but he didn’t want to. It seemed selfish of him, but he wanted to keep Jai.

“I can’t give you want you deserve,” he said, unsure whether he was hoping for Jai to argue or agree. “I’m messed up, Jai; hell, I moved away from my family and my pack just so I wouldn’t have to tell them I liked men.”

“So, we’ll figure it out as we go.”

“But…”

“I want to make this work,” Jai said softly. “And if that means that we keep this between ourselves until you can get your head around it, then that’s fine. All I’m asking of you is that you give me a chance.”

* * * *

Dane nodded and Jai heaved a sigh of relief. He just had to give Dane time and eventually, things would work themselves out. At least Dane was with him, he told himself. That was all that really mattered.

The following evening, Dane followed Jai back into his house. He hadn’t intended to come here, but Jai had given him a ride home and it had just seemed
right
. Jai took his hand and led him upstairs, kicking the bedroom door shut behind him. Dane had spent almost the entire day chasing away memories of Jai; Jai naked, Jai kissing him, Jai’s mouth as it closed over his cock… When his mate had offered him a lift at the end of the day, he had been left with no doubt as to Jai’s intentions. He had seen Jai watching him, seen the hunger in his eyes, and he knew that he wanted whatever that look promised.

* * * *

“I want you naked,” Jai told him softly, unbuttoning Dane’s shirt and pushing it off his shoulders.

He ran his hands slowly over the smooth, taut skin, feeling the play of muscles underneath, exploring. Moving lower, he unfastened Dane’s jeans, hooking his fingers into the waistband to ease them off, finding his mate wearing nothing underneath. Dane kicked the clothing out of the way once it hit the floor, feeling uncharacteristically shy as Jai stepped back and stood looking at him.

“What are you doing? You’re making me nervous.”

Jai smiled. “Just admiring the view,” he said.

At Dane’s urging, Jai shed his own clothing, turning it into a slow striptease. He groaned; Jai was doing this on purpose, trying to drive him crazy. He allowed Jai to lead him to the bed, getting in. Jai pulled him into his arms, pressing their naked bodies together.

Dane hesitantly reached between them, closing his palm around Jai’s erect cock, making the other man suck in a breath. Jai thrust his hips forward, pushing his cock into Dane’s grip, relishing the feel of his mate’s hand on him. It was the first assertive move Dane had made toward him, usually waiting until he encouraged it.

“We’re mates,” Dane whispered. “I know we are now, and I’m glad it’s you.”

He kissed him hard on the lips, hearing Jai protest as Dane released his cock.

“I want you inside me,” he said and Jai stilled. “Don’t you want to?” he asked, and Jai heard the nervous edge creep back into his voice. “It’s because of what I told you, isn’t it? You think I’m damaged goods.”

“Yes, I mean no.” Jai sighed. “I have been dreaming about sinking my dick deep into you and fucking you through the mattress since I first met you. I just don’t want you to think I’m like those other blokes, only wanting you for sex.”

Dane frowned. “I know you aren’t like them,” he said. “They don’t care about me; I know that. I want to know what it’s like with someone who actually wants me.”

“Oh, babe.”

As he kissed his mate again, Dane drew back enough to murmur, “I like that.”

“What?”

Dane smiled. “Hearing you call me babe.”

Jai grimaced; he hadn’t realised he had said it out loud. He didn’t get much time to think about it, however, as the feel of Dane’s cock brushing against his own when the other man moved closer snapped the last of his resolve. This time when he kissed Dane, it was raw and animalistic, the pent up frustrations of not being able to touch for so many months racing to the surface. He needed to drive his cock into his mate, to see Dane beneath him.

“What are you doing?” Dane asked as Jai leaned across him, reaching.

Jai leaned over the side of the bed, his hand searching underneath before he came back up with a small bottle of lubricant.

“Needed this,” he said, moving back down the bed and spreading Dane’s legs. “Pull your knees up.”

Dane did as instructed and Jai groaned at the sight of him spread out and open before him. His gaze raked down Dane’s body, his attention drawn to the thick, erect cock that lay against Dane’s belly, the head glistening with evidence of Dane’s arousal.

“Please, Jai.”

Jai smiled to himself and slicked his fingers from the bottle of lube, rubbing them together to warm it a little. Dane hissed in a breath as Jai slipped his index finger slowly into his tight hole, feeling Dane’s arse clench around him. He moved slowly, giving Dane chance to get used to the invasion, until the other man pushed against him.

“More.”

Jai added a second finger, feeling Dane’s body relax. Twisting his fingers, scissoring them to loosen Dane up, he wrapped his free hand around Dane’s cock. Dane’s head was back into the pillow, his hips thrusting up with each of Jai’s strokes. Jai angled the next stroke, causing Dane to buck off the bed as his fingers found Dane’s prostate.

Dane whimpered as Jai slid his fingers out but his disappointment was short lived. He felt the hot pressure as Jai’s cock nudged at his arse, easing into him in one smooth move until he was fully impaled on his mate’s shaft. Jai was moving infuriatingly slowly and he gripped the sheet on the bed.

“Oh, God. Fuck me, Jai. Please, fuck me.”

“It makes me so hot to hear you ask,” Jai murmured.

He thrust into Dane harder, leaning his body over Dane’s, pounding into him as Dane wrapped his calves around his back.

“Touch yourself,” he said. “I want to see you, want you to come with me.”

Dane eagerly closed his fist around his cock, matching his strokes to Jai’s.

“Damn, babe—close.”

* * * *

Dane kept his eyes on Jai’s, and he could see the desire, the affection, the need.  It was something he hadn’t seen before in the eyes of any of his male lovers. Jai was the only one to ever want to look him in the eyes whist they fucked, the only one wanting
him
. It was that thought that pushed him over the edge and he came with a yell, semen splashing over his hand and stomach. Above him, Jai watched, biting on his lower lip, until Dane felt his lover’s body tense before he filled Dane’s arse with his own seed.

Jai dropped down on top of Dane, breathing hard, and kissed his mate’s damp brow. He eased his softening cock out of Dane, the act causing secondary tremors through both their bodies, and rolled to lie beside him.

“We should get cleaned up,” he said, but Dane stopped him.

“Not yet,” he said, his hand reaching out to touch Jai’s face. “I’ve never spent time with a man after we’ve had sex; I want to just stay here with you for a while.” Dane paused, his confidence faltering slightly. “I-If that’s okay.”

Jai pulled him into his arms and Dane buried his face in the crook of Jai’s neck. He could get used to this, he thought; this wasn’t even sexual, just cuddling together, but it touched him somewhere deep inside.

* * * *

Two weeks later, Jai still hoped that Dane would find the confidence to admit their relationship to the outside world, but the certainty had faded a little. Dane still looked terrified at the prospect of someone else finding out that he was sleeping with Jai, looking over his shoulder if they were out together. It was though he expected everyone to point and yell “We know what you’re doing!” Of course, they wouldn’t; Jai had been careful not to make any overt move toward him if anyone at all would see them. He seemed to relax a bit once he realised that no one was even looking their way and Jai began to think that he was making progress.