Feral Northern Shifters 2

they doing to him, making him human like this? Making him desire Bram? The entire sequence of encounters was orchestrated, Ethan was sure of it. Was it to keep him on some kind of hook?
Ethan licked his lips and watched Bram observe his mouth. The wolf’s chest heaved once, and Ethan took some satisfaction in seeing that Bram was not unaffected. Bram might be part of the plan on how to treat a test case, but he was not sure of his role here. Nevertheless, the words that followed were flat, resisting. A rejection.
“This is not why I’m here.”
Something in Ethan deflated. What the hell was he thinking? He was a prisoner and he wanted to fuck his captor. How asinine was that? Bram was shocked Ethan had kissed him. Every time he thought he was getting his head on straight, he’d do something completely, completely wrong.
Ethan retreated to the headboard and strived to keep his composure. He pulled his knees up to hide his body’s reaction and tried to ignore his painful hard-on. “What’s the problem? Don’t like men? Don’t like cats? Don’t like ferals?”
“No.”
“No, what?” When no answer was forthcoming, Ethan added, “Sorry, I lost my head. I have to remember what I am.”
The earnestness on Bram’s face meant—what?
“Better go spit me out. Brush your teeth,” Ethan suggested.
Bram glanced away, something like desperation crossing his features before he sucked in a deep breath. Dragging a hand across his face, he looked back at Ethan. “I don’t want to take advantage of you.”
“Like hell.” Ethan snorted. But Bram looked miserable, and it occurred to Ethan that he’d better figure out how to be smart now , because otherwise he was not going to survive this ordeal. There was opportunity here and he needed to be quick enough to take it. His next words were calculating more than anything else. “You wouldn’t touch me with a ten-foot pole except it’s your job. It’s what your alpha has demanded you do. I hadn’t quite realized that till now.”
“No. That’s not true.” The words were softly spoken, with some distress.
Ethan let his head fall back and placed an arm over his face. He could play this convincingly because there was a strange fury in him for being spurned. After all, Bram was supposed to touch Ethan, to keep him human, to keep him sane. But Ethan was not supposed to touch Bram. Certainly not supposed to kiss him. Despite that Ethan was quite certain Bram had liked it, or at least reacted to it.
“Ethan.”
“Get the fuck away. You must have drawn the short straw to be given this job.” He had to be careful not to lay the petulance on too thick. That would be unattractive, and Ethan absolutely had to remain attractive to Bram.
“I wanted this job.” Carefully Bram placed a hand on Ethan’s ankle, and Ethan didn’t jerk away. His skin surrounding that joint soaked in the human touch. He even enjoyed it, goddammit.
“Yeah? Well, you know what it’s like after you’ve shifted to human after a long spell as cat or wolf. You know I’m primed for sex. My making a move can hardly have surprised you.” In the distant past, Ethan had always made a point of waking human alone so he hadn’t had to deal with insane sexual drives. But these wolves weren’t giving him that choice and they knew it.
“I’m sorry.” Bram sounded sincere. Ethan moved his arm away from his face and regarded the werewolf. “The truth is, I admire you.”
“ Admire me?” Ethan couldn’t help it, he laughed. What could Bram admire him for? Weeping? Sleeping? Eating? Kissing him?
“Yes.” There was a stubborn, rather endearing tilt to Bram’s chin, like he intended to stick to his point.
“So…what’s the problem?”
When Bram couldn’t seem to find words, Ethan came up with his own. “Do you somehow see this as a conflict of interest, is that what’s going on?”
“Yes. A conflict of interest.” Bram seized the term eagerly. “If it makes you feel any better. I-I don’t…” Bram became overwhelmed by whatever he was trying to say and Ethan got curious. He cocked his head.
“You don’t what?” he asked softly.
“I don’t kiss, get kissed. That’s just not me.” A wave of heat washed over Bram. Ethan could see it and didn’t know what to make of it or the odd declaration, but he slotted away that observation and that revelation for future use. “I wouldn’t say this to anyone else but…you’re so offended. I didn’t want to offend you, Ethan. I’m