Out Of The Shadows Read online

  “Alpha, welcome,” the man said, going to greet them but speaking directly to Michael. As the lower rank, he tilted his head in a subtle imitation of the neck-bearing wolf greeting used when they were in private. “I’m Max, and this is Elizabeth.”

  “Michael, please, and this is my wife, Amy.” The Alpha accepted Max’s greeting before introducing Jai and Dane and following them out to the car.

  The introductions had been more for his benefit than the others’, Dane realised as they got into the car. Jai chatted with the two guards, whom he knew from previous visits, whilst Max drove. Dane listened to them, and for a moment it made him feel homesick for his old pack. It was easy to simply immerse himself in life within his new pack, with Jai, but visits such as these made him think of life outside of this town and these people. It was not as though they would ever take him back if they found out about Jai, but then again he didn’t know if his current pack would accept him if he told them. The only thing he did know was that, whatever happened, he wouldn’t give up Jai. It was difficult for his mind to process the fact that Jai had become so important to him in such a short space of time.

  * * * *

  They arrived at Eric’s house about five minutes later and Max got out to open the door for Amy. Leading them inside, Eric shook hands with the Alpha before greeting Amy warmly. Molly, Eric’s wife, hugged her and the two women traded complements on outfits and new hairstyles like old friends. At his invitation, Michael sat down in the armchair opposite Eric, making himself comfortable.

  “I think that Michael and I can manage on our own from here,” Eric told the guards. “I will call you when I require you to return, Max.”

  Michael glanced up at his guards also. “We will be fine.”

  “Well, we’ll leave you to talk as well,” Amy told them. She gave her husband a peck on the cheek and left, getting her coat. Molly batted her eyelashes at Eric and he handed over a silver credit card, rolling his eyes and smiling. “We’re going shopping.”

  Elizabeth hurried to catch up with them. “Do you need me to drive you?”

  Molly shook her head and held up a set of keys.. “No need, we’re taking Eric’s car,” she said.

  As the two women left, the guards followed them out of the house.

  “Jai, it’s good to see you again,” Elizabeth said. “Come on, let’s get out of here and let them talk in peace. We can go for a few drinks while we wait.”

  “Same place as usual?” Jai asked, thinking of the pub that the local pack frequented.

  Elizabeth smiled. “Of course,” she said, heading for the car. “Come on; the Alphas will call us if they need us.”

  When the reached the pub, a typical village pub with mock-Tudor beams and hanging baskets of flowers, Jai caught Dane’s arm and held him back. He let the other get inside, saying he’d catch them up in a moment and pressed Dane back into the shadows of the hedgerows. Where they had parked, in the small car park behind the pub, no one could see them and there was something he had needed since they set off. With one hand to the back of Dane’s head, he drew his mate close enough to press a hungry kiss to his mouth. Dane responded with the same ferociousness.

  “This is so unprofessional,” Dane murmured, drawing back a fraction. “We’re working.”

  “Well, we’d best be going inside, then,” Jai said, reluctantly breaking the kiss and turning to head into the pub.

  “Sorry—I needed to make a call,” Dane told Max as they walked in. “I thought I’d better call from outside. Less noise.”

  Max didn’t question further, just put their drink orders in at the bar. If he thought anything wasn’t right, he kept it to himself. This would be so much easier if Dane was out, Jai thought for the thousandth time. He needed more than the moments he managed to steal during the day, and the nights he could convince Dane to stay with him. It didn’t matter, though, as there was no way he would ever force Dane to out himself. He was content with the fact he was openly bisexual, but that didn’t mean that Dane would be and he had no inclination to see Dane hurt in any way.

  * * * *

  Three hours and numerous drinks later, Jai smiled as he watched Elizabeth and Dane. The woman had been flirting with him since they got to the pub, but he seemed completely unaware of it. That didn’t stop her trying, however. She laughed and touched his arm as he made a joke, pressing closer to him and batting her eyelashes.

  Max came to sit beside him, his gaze following the same path as Jai’s.

  “So, are you going to tell me?”

  Jai frowned. “Tell you what?”

  “Oh, come on; I’m not as daft as I look,” Max told him. “He’s yours, isn’t he? I’ve seen the looks that you keep giving each other, not to mention the fact that he doesn’t even seem to notice that Elizabeth has done everything but flash her tits at him.”

  “I can’t believe she hasn’t given up by now,” Jai agreed.

  Max grinned. “So, he is yours?”

  “Don’t mention it to anyone, will you? He’s going to be panicked enough when he knows you’ve figured it out.”

  * * * *

  Dane glanced at Jai, who chatted with Max, and sighed. At one of the tables across the pub sat two people, holding hands, talking, looking at each other with such affection it was clear to everyone that they were a couple. He wished he could be like that with his mate. It wasn’t fair to Jai, forcing him to hide away, even though he was at ease with his sexuality.

  At that moment, Max and Jai’s phones rang, the noise startling Dane out of his thoughts.

  “That was Michael,” Jai told the others after a very brief conversation. “He and Eric are having a few drinks and won’t be needing us anytime soon.”

  Max pocketed his own phone. “Molly has been cooking up a storm and so they’re having dinner as well. It looks as though they’re staying the night and leaving tomorrow morning.”

  He looked at Jai and Ret. “You two are welcome to stay at my place for the night, or there is a suite we hold at the Plaza in town for visitors.”

  “If not, you could stay at my house,” Elizabeth interjected, her eyes fixed on Dane as she spoke.

  The two opted for the hotel and Elizabeth looked on in disbelief, pouting, until Jai took pity on her. He excused them for a moment and took Dane aside.

  “You have to let her know you aren’t interested,” he said. “She’s been coming onto you since we got here, as if you haven’t noticed.”

  Dane sighed, glancing across at her then back to Jai. “What am I supposed to tell her?”

  “Say that you’re already seeing someone,” he suggested. “Or you could tell her the truth. Max knows, by the way; he guessed. He won’t say anything.”

  He saw the worry on Dane’s face and had to fight the urge to take him into his arms and reassure him.

  “I’ll come with you, if you want.”

  Dane took in a deep, shaking breath and nodded. He and Jai went back to Elizabeth.

  “So, how about that drink?” she asked. When he didn’t respond, she looked between them curiously.

  “I can’t,” Dane told her. “Look, Elizabeth, I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to lead you on. I, um…no, Jai, I have to do this,” he said as Jai looked ready to to intervene. He gulped in a breath. “I’m with Jai. Like a couple, I mean. He’s my mate.”

  Elizabeth groaned and covered her face with her hands. “I just made a bloody fool of myself, didn’t I? And you all just let me.” She glared up at Max, at the lack of reaction to their announcement. “You knew? You could have said something: thanks for nothing!”

  She strode out to the car but Max stopped Jai going after her. “Leave her to calm down.”

  * * * *

  The two wolves took them to the hotel, going via Max’s house to collect his car. He led them to the hotel, getting them checked in and taking them to the hotel shop so that they could get a few necessities since they had nothing with them for an overnight stay. The pack had an account with the shop for visi
tors. Max left then, leaving the first vehicle with them for use the next morning.

  When they were finally alone in their suite, Jai heaved a sigh of relief. At last. The stolen moment in the car park had done nothing to quash the desire he had been hiding for his mate all day. He had found himself counting down the minutes on the journey home, the need to get Dane alone, into bed, riding him hard.

  Dane watched as Jai locked the door, dropping his phone and keys on the table in the seating area. He took a quick look around their suite, smiling in approval at the pack’s choice, before going back to Jai. The moment he stepped through the door, he was pulled into a tight embrace as Jai closed his mouth over Dane’s. The kiss was born of desperation, passionate and rough, a way of taking the edge off.

  “Bed?”

  Dane nipped Jai’s lower lip between his teeth and grinned. “Hell, yes.”

  “Want you to fuck me, Jai,” Dane murmured, pressing a kiss to the curve of Jai’s neck. “I need you inside me.”

  Jai smiled happily; how could he refuse such a request?

  Chapter Nine

  The intention to make this tender and lasting didn’t make it beyond the doorway. By the time they reached the bedroom, they were both down to jeans and nothing else. Boots, jackets, and shirts had been abandoned on the way here like a trail of breadcrumbs to the bedroom. It had been a challenge to undress whist still touching and kissing, but they made it. Jai separated them long enough to unfasten Dane’s jeans, stripping him out of them before kicking off his own. Dane snaked an arm around Jai’s waist and they both tumbled onto the bed.

  “’Wanted to take it slowly this time,” Jai said, hissing in a breath as Dane’s fingers found their way between their bodies and closed around his cock.

  “Later. I want you now,” Dane told him, his voice rough with desire. “Please.”

  Jai’s breath caught at the need in Dane’s voice, the knowledge that his mate wanted him as much as he wanted Dane. He broke away so that they could move fully onto the bed, reaching for the items he bought from the hotel shop. He wasn’t sure that the “necessities” the pack had in mind included what he’d bought, but it was necessary to him. He pulled out a tube of lubricant and squeezed a little out. Dane let out an anticipatory whimper, the sound becoming a groan as Jai slicked his fingers and traced one down Dane’s crease. He reached the puckered hole and began to slip the digit inside, slowly, and the muscles contracted instinctively, closing around him.

  “More,” Dane breathed, spreading his legs wide, opening himself up to Jai.

  Jai eased a second in, his other hand going to Dane’s cock. Wrapping his slick palm around the hard shaft, he pulled lightly, making Dane gasp. Dane pushed down onto his fingers and thrust into his grasp as Jai stretched him, making sure he was open enough.

  * * * *

  “Jai, now.”

  He mourned the loss as Jai slipped his fingers out, spreading more lube on himself. Then Dane felt the head of Jai’s cock pressing into him, filling him. As Jai began to move, Dane wrapped his legs around his mate, ankles hooked behind Jai’s back.

  “Fuck, Dane, you feel so good,” Jai murmured.

  He closed his hand back around Dane’s erect dick, moving in the same rhythm as he pumped into Dane’s arse.

  Dane pulled him in closer with each thrust, fingers digging into the flesh of Jai’s buttocks. He wasn’t going to last long this time, but it didn’t matter as he knew that Jai wouldn’t, either. They could take it slow next time. He loved that about Jai, that he wanted to make this about Dane, not just himself. His past lovers, if he could call them that, had mainly been concerned with getting themselves off. Not many of them had given a damn whether or not Dane had. Jai wasn’t like them, not in the slightest, and that was the thing he treasured most about him.

  “Close, Dane, so close.”

  He felt Jai’s body tense, throwing his head back as he came. Just watching him nudged Dane over the edge and his own cock pulsed, shooting semen over his stomach and Jai’s hand. Jai slipped his cock free so that he lay beside Dane, pulling him in for another hearty kiss.

  “That was…wow.”

  * * * *

  Jai nodded, knowing he had a stupid smile on his face, but he was too satisfied to care. “Definitely.”

  He eventually dragged himself out of bed to get a cloth from the bathroom. He cleaned himself up and found a fresh cloth, going back to Dane.

  “What are you doing?”

  Ignoring him, Jai continued to wipe away the stickiness on his stomach and cock.

  “You don’t have to—”

  Jai silenced him with a kiss. “I know I don’t. I want to, so just stop arguing and let me look after you for a bit.”

  Dane let him, parting his legs as Jai wiped away the semen now seeping back out of his arse. When he was done, Jai tossed the cloth on the floor and dragged the covers over them both, snuggling into Dane’s side.

  * * * *

  “Thank you,” he said, tilting his head up to look into Dane’s face, “for trusting me. I know it isn’t easy for you.” Dane hadn’t a clue how to respond to that, he could see it in his eyes, but it didn’t matter. He could see all he needed in the way his mate looked at him. “You don’t have to say anything; I just wanted you to hear it.”

  “Jai? I wanted you to know that I haven’t been back,” Dane said softly.

  “Back where, babe?”

  Dane’s eyes met Jai’s.

  “You asked me to promise not to go to the bars any more, and I never promised you, but I haven’t. I didn’t want to.”

  He saw the relief in Jai’s eyes. “I’m glad. I don’t know if I would have been able to handle it if you had. You’re mine, and I don’t like to share,” he joked softly, hugging Dane closer and let himself drift off to sleep.

  * * * *

  Dane smiled, lying in his lover’s arms, feeling secure and wanted. He dozed a little but he couldn’t sleep. The need to reassure himself that Jai wouldn’t be gone when he opened his eyes kept surfacing—he was half-convinced that it was all a dream. He looked at Jai again, to make sure he was still there. Jai was real, though, and in his heart he knew that they were mated, that Jai wasn’t going to leave him. He lay there for a while, thinking, wishing that Jai would wake up.

  Then again, maybe he could amuse himself, he decided as he pushed the covers back. He rose to his knees and took the time to admire the sight before him; he’d seen Jai naked, but he hadn’t really taken the time to look. He had always felt too self-conscious. Now, his eyes took in every tiny detail before he reached out to touch. At the light touch of his fingers Jai shifted in his sleep. Dane kept exploring, moving lower, Jai moaning softly as Dane’s knuckles brushed his dick. He grinned and did it again.

  * * * *

  Jai awoke a short time later, lying on his back. He didn’t open his eyes straight away, instead relishing in the feeling of a hot, wet mouth closing over the tip of his cock. His breath caught as hands on his thighs moved them further apart, wide shoulders settling between, getting comfortable. His cock was licked base to tip, the tongue curling around it before lips closed over the head again. Dane, it appeared, had grown impatient of waiting for him to wake up and had taken matters into his own hands. Literally. Just a few weeks ago, Dane would never have initiated like this, but he seemed to have gained confidence and decided to let his hair down. Jai thought it figuratively but he also loved the way that Dane’s long hair tickled his inner thighs and groin.

  Opening his eyes, he propped himself on his elbows to look down his body at Dane. The other man’s head was buried in his groin he lapped and sucked.

  * * * *

  Dane looked up and his gaze locked with Jai’s. He smiled as he ran his tongue over the very tip of Jai’s cock, making the other man shudder in delight. Jai’s fingers raked through his hair, toying with him as he continued his ministrations. It gave him a rush of pleasure to see how much Jai appeared to be enjoying this. He continued until Jai began
to buck his hips up off the bed, finally shuddering, crying out as he came. He unclenched his fists from Dane’s hair and fell back onto the bed, panting for breath as Dane licked him clean and crawled up his body to drape himself full length over Jai.

  “I always wondered what it would be like to wake you that way,” he said. “I didn’t know if you would want me to—you didn’t mind, did you?”

  Jai chuckled and pulled him down to kiss him. “You can wake me up like that any time you like.” He slipped a hand between them, closing his hand around Dane’s erection. “Let me take care of that for you, babe.”

  Dane rolled onto his back, propped against the pillows, as Jai moved down the bed.

  * * * *

  When the phone rang the following morning, Jai and Dane had only just fallen asleep.

  “Dane, we’re collecting Michael in two hours,” he said after answering his phone.

  Seeing that Dane was drifting back to sleep, Jai got out of bed. He needed a shower before he dared go anywhere near Michael; a wolf would smell Dane’s scent on him straight away. They should have cleaned up before dozing off, but it had just been so lovely to laze in his mate’s arms afterwards.

  “If you get up now I’ll let you share my shower,” he said over his shoulder, heading for the ensuite.

  Before he even had the shower started, Dane was there. He grinned—bribery, he knew, would get him everywhere.

  An hour and a half later, Jai checked them out of the hotel as Dane went to start the car. They drove back to Eric’s house, where Max and Elizabeth were waiting outside.

  “It’s a damn good job they know,” Jai commented, noting the dopey grin on Dane’s face and the sated look in his eyes, “Because you look as though you’ve just been thoroughly fucked.”