Feral Northern Shifters 2

need to clean us up.”
Before Bram could protest, Ethan slipped out of him and away. The water was running, as sleep started to make its way through him again. Then Ethan was back with a damp cloth, cleaning Bram everywhere.
Slowly Bram blinked, thinking about how he’d always been the one to clean up, and how he simply couldn’t summon the energy.
Ethan returned and stroked fingertips across Bram’s brow. “So solemn.”
“I can barely stay awake.”
“You might be sore later, but it’ll be okay.”
Bram opened his arms. “Sleep with me?”
Ethan slid down beside him, and they wrapped themselves around each other as Bram slipped under.

Chapter Twenty-One
    Bram woke in an empty bed and jerked up to sitting, worried about where Ethan might be. Then he heard him in the kitchen, prowling softly but insistently, and smelled something cooking.
He was surprised how long he’d been out. Five hours, and he didn’t usually sleep like that during the day. Sex with Ethan was apparently a soporific.
Pulling his legs up to his chin, he sat there for a little while, trying to gather his thoughts and feelings together. He felt tender, and not only physically. He wanted to go directly to the kitchen because Ethan, even if he hadn’t been half so affected by the lovemaking, would still welcome him with open arms.
But Bram had intended to keep a part of himself away from Ethan, so that when he left it wouldn’t hurt so much. For both of them. This reasoning was unraveling completely.
He couldn’t last much longer here. Yet he wasn’t going to leave at this moment. There were a number of days left still, until the week of the full moon, when Bram would have to turn wolf anyway. He’d leave then, deal with Doug and, if he wasn’t dead or ruined, come back to Ethan afterwards. Perhaps Ethan would forgive him.
His heart hurt. Liam had been right. To Bram, Ethan was his mate and the idea of leaving him was wrenching. But Liam hadn’t, Bram didn’t think, told Ethan anything about mates.
Eventually Bram rolled off the bed, took a shower, dried himself, and decided to walk into the kitchen naked.
Ethan was stirring something in a pot, and he glanced over.
“Well, well,” Ethan mused. He turned off the stove. He himself had only a pair of shorts on. “What have we here? If I fuck you, then I get to have you around naked afterwards?”
Bram gazed at him. He couldn’t say I love you , or You have me , or I wish I didn’t have to go so I want to give and give and give . And none of that made much sense given that on top of all that, he felt shy.
Ethan leaned his butt against the edge of the table and spread his legs and arms. “Come here.”
Bram walked over and Ethan caught him, rubbing hands up and down his ribs, and turned him sideways between Ethan’s legs. He palmed Bram’s ass. “I think it’s too early for round two. Are you sore?”
Bram moved in against Ethan, still sideways, but twisting to hug Ethan. “Tender but in a good way.” He mouthed Ethan’s neck.
Ethan held him there, hand on Bram’s stomach, rubbing the soft area. Shifters always felt the most vulnerable there, at the belly, where all the critical organs were unprotected by bone or muscle, but it was relaxing to have Ethan’s palm on him stroking up and down, around and around.
The action continued and Bram sighed against Ethan’s collarbone. Odd how just one warm hand’s caress had Bram’s cock filling with blood.
Ethan’s hand slipped south. “What have we here?” He stroked Bram’s inner thigh, the crease between thigh and groin, then cupped Bram’s sac. “You are so relaxed, Bram. I love it.”
“This is…” Bram couldn’t find the words. In a leisurely fashion, Ethan wrapped his hand around Bram’s cock and slowly pumped up and down. His other arm encircled Bram’s waist and a hand returned to Bram’s belly, stroking that skin as Ethan alternated between cupping Bram’s balls and pumping Bram’s cock.
Bram hadn’t recovered from the body-melting fuck of earlier and he felt like he might slump to the floor. When he’d been younger, he’d had dreams of being held, but he’d never imagined it would be like this.
There was endless patience in Ethan’s touch as he continued his sensual assault on Bram, never stopping, never intensifying either. Bram kept expecting Ethan to explore his hole again, despite what had been said earlier, or for Ethan to kiss him mindless. But Ethan remained fascinated by these relatively