Feral Northern Shifters 2

the
question. “Trey says your pack’s been a real shitty mess. Don’t worry. I don’t even have a pack. Only
family.”
Bram nodded again and Ethan jabbed his thumb backwards to the kitchen. “Well, how about some
lunch?”
“Sure,” said Liam.
    The rest of the visit was fairly awkward, given that Bram spoke in monosyllables, if at all. The first night of Liam’s visit, Bram had thought he and Ethan should sleep in separate beds, which left Ethan scratching his head.
    “Uh, why? Liam’s gay and married.”
“Married?”
“Yeah, he lives in Canada. Besides, he can smell us on each other. He knows we’re lovers.” At Bram’s expression, a strange mix of disappointment and relief, Ethan shook his head. “I wish you
    would talk to me more. I’m an open book and you, well, you don’t let me in. You know?” Bram let some of his feelings out, at least, by muttering, “He’s very pretty.”
“Come on,” said Ethan, pulling him into his lap. “You’re prettier.”
“I don’t even know why you say these things.”
“Because they’re true.”
Bram sniffed his neck. “You’re not even lying.” He sounded dumbfounded.
Ethan laughed and fell back, Bram falling with him. “I think you need some attention. I think you’re
    jealous.”
As Bram loomed over Ethan, his eyelashes fell. “Liam has a husband, eh?”
“ Exactement .” That word courtesy of Ethan’s one Quebecois lover.
Bram held himself above Ethan, staring down the length of his body, and Ethan expected Bram to go
    with what he seemed most comfortable, focusing on Ethan’s cock. Not that it wasn’t heaven, Bram’s mouth, but it had to make Ethan wonder what kind of sexual relationship he’d had with Doug. Perhaps best not to wonder.
But Bram eased down beside Ethan and instead spent time exploring Ethan’s chest in great detail, fingers tracing bone and muscle, mouth kissing such sensitive areas as his nipples, under his arm, his bellybutton.
Ethan palmed Bram’s face as he rose back to kiss him. “We’re taking the slow train.”
Bram stopped moving. “Too slow?”
“ No . I like it.” When Bram didn’t reply right away, Ethan asked, “Checking out whether or not I’m telling the truth?”
Bram just smiled to himself.
“But it’s not a race. You often talk about yourself being too slow. What’s that about?”
Bram fell into Ethan’s neck, and under his arm, Ethan felt him shrug. Ethan stroked Bram’s back, up and down.
“Doug got impatient,” Bram finally murmured.
Jesus. Ethan turned to kiss Bram’s temple. “I’m not Doug.”
“I know that .” Bram licked Ethan’s collarbone and he shivered a response. “I like being able to do all kinds of things with you.”
Ethan was back to wondering again. Being in bed with Bram was absolutely wonderful, and there were all kinds of things they still had to do. “I like you doing things with me too. If you ever want to fuck me…”
Bram reared back to stare, blinking at Ethan as anger and hurt pooled in those deep dark eyes of his. He retreated to sit away from Ethan.
“Okay, obviously not the right thing to say. I’m sorry. I wasn’t even talking about now.” Ethan could have kicked himself. So much for claims of being patient. But when he was with Bram in bed, he tended to share, or overshare, his feelings.
He reached for Bram who declared, “I don’t want to hurt you. Why do you think I want to hurt you?”
“I do not,” Ethan said slowly.
Bram rolled his eyes. “Oh, yeah, pretty it up.”
“Come here.” Ethan waited because when Bram tensed up, he reacted better to approaching Ethan than vice versa. “Bram. Come on. Do I seem keen on pain? I was not asking you to hurt me, believe me. Come here.”
“I’ll forget to be mad if I do.”
“That’s okay. Come here and explain what you mean by ‘pretty it up’.”
“Pleasure/pain and all that shit they talk about.”
Ethan waited, then pulled off his pants.
“What are you doing?”
“ Not preparing for you to fuck me. I like being naked in bed. You know that. I especially like being naked with you.”
With jerky movements, Bram divested himself of his own clothing and crawled into Ethan’s lap to wrap his arms around him. “Now I can’t relax.” It was almost a grumble.
“So Doug hurt you?”
“No.” Bram snorted. “He didn’t have sex with men.”
“Uh-uh.” Like hell. “Just you’d…”
“I took care of him.”
“All right.” Ethan paused, searching for what to say.
“That was