Feral Northern Shifters 2

then glanced up as he returned to see the wolf standing awkwardly, unsure about the new direction this conversation had taken.
That was good too, Ethan reflected. Bram didn’t appear particularly sophisticated or confident. Perhaps the alpha brought in dumb wolves to guard feral-cats-turned-test-cases. Ethan stared into those liquid brown eyes and Bram’s gaze sheered away. Obviously not an alpha. Thank God.
“I just needed to sleep,” Bram said eventually.
“Like me then.” Bram looked startled by that statement, so Ethan added, “Or wait. That won’t do. You wouldn’t want to be thought to be like me. Feral . In need of being forcibly contained. Apparently I might randomly attack all kinds of innocent creatures.”
Bram’s big brown eyes turned puppy-dog sad. “Ethan—”
“Aren’t you supposed to restrain, sorry, hold me? Keep the cat human and all that.”
Bram’s gaze turned more intense and despite everything else, Ethan was his stupid, sorry self and reacted to that gaze. He’d known it would be like this if he ever returned to the human world. His human needed intimacy, it seemed, and Bram was the logical choice. The only choice since Doug revolted him, which was straightforward thinking in its way, but absolutely insane. Dangerous.
“Never mind,” he muttered, turning away to grab a pair of sweats and pull them on. They held all the cards and they could use his need for human touch against him. He hadn’t realized, hadn’t wanted to realize, how lonely he’d become as cat. He sat on the edge of the bed, back to Bram.
“Ethan.” Bram’s palm came down on Ethan’s bare shoulder and he couldn’t hide his response, a welcoming shudder. But he also didn’t want what had become the embrace de rigueur—Bram’s chest against Ethan’s back. As Bram settled behind him, Ethan spun quickly and clasped his arms around Bram’s shoulders, sank his face into Bram’s neck, searching for his carotid.
Bram went rigid. His hands gripped Ethan’s upper arms as if to push him away, and Ethan held on more tightly. Before Bram tried to throw him off, Ethan kissed his neck and let out something like a purr. He should have been embarrassed by his body’s response—they were playing him beautifully—yet it simply felt right to hold someone.
Perhaps Bram expected an attack on his neck, but Ethan, despite Bram’s hard, stiff clasp on his arms, sank into him more, pressing his chest full against Bram’s, sitting deeper into his lap.
Ethan let out a groan of relief at this two-way embrace. It was a release of sorts to be held like a fellow human being and not like a captive. He traced Bram’s collarbone with his lips, intoxicated by Bram’s scent, by the taste of his skin. It no longer mattered that Bram was a wolf. An awful compulsion gripped Ethan’s body and all he felt was need. His dick grew hard against Bram’s stomach. And he wasn’t the only one. Bram’s cock was hardening, rising up to rest between Ethan’s ass cheeks, and Jesus that felt good.
Bram’s hands slid up to Ethan’s shoulders, to his neck, and anchored in his hair. Gently he pulled Ethan’s head back. He felt woozy in Bram’s grip, those strong palms cradling his skull.
“Listen, Ethan.” Bram sounded urgent.
Ethan pushed up on his knees, brought both hands to hold on to Bram’s biceps, stared at the wolf, at those dark eyes, pupils wide with desire and confusion. Thank God Ethan wasn’t the only one confused.
“What are we doing, Bram?”
Bram didn’t answer though there was a kind of despair in his expression that Ethan found encouraging. If Ethan had been the only one affected by these bizarre last few days in this bed, he would have lost all hope.
“Ease your hold on me, Bram,” Ethan said softly, applying slight pressure to Bram’s arms.
“Sorry. Am I hurting you?” Bram moved his hands down to Ethan’s shoulders.
He wasn’t, but Ethan used the opportunity to duck in and bring his mouth to Bram’s. He took it, delved inside before Bram, openmouthed, could stop him. Ethan swept his tongue across Bram’s, lapped at his mouth, tasting the wolf and wanting more, so much more. He wanted to fuck. Here. Now. He thrust against Bram’s belly.
Bram jolted backwards. “ No .”
At the wolf’s shock and retreat, Ethan could only blink. He’d seen desire. Bram had responded sexually, even if that kiss was all Ethan giving and Bram receiving.
“No?” Ethan repeated as Bram warily slid off the bed.
What were