Bitten By Mistake by Annabelle Jacobs

Jared’s arse cheeks, but where Jared expected to feel a hard cock pushing into his lower back, there wasn’t one. A surprised “oh!” escaped him.
    Warm breath tickled the back of his neck from Nathan’s sharp exhalation. “Seriously? You spend all night giving me fuck-off vibes and then act surprised when I’m not hard.”
    Jared felt a flare of irritation. “Well, it hasn’t stopped you before.”
    What a fucking nerve!
    “Maybe I’ve finally got the message.”
    Nathan’s body was as tense as Jared’s was now—the two of them as stiff as boards. Jared had the sudden urge to laugh, and he had no idea why. The situation was anything but funny.
    Nathan continued, sounding as if he was gritting his teeth. “I get it, okay. I don’t understand it. Sometimes you clearly find me attractive, and others you act as though you’re repulsed. But you keep saying no, so… I won’t mention it again. Sex is off the table.”
    “Good.” Jared hated the flare of disappointment the words brought with them.
    “Fine.”
    An uncomfortable silence settled between them.
    Jared was far too worked up for sleep. The questions from earlier slipped into his mind and he bit his lip, wondering if now was the time. Fuck it, Nathan had put him in this mood, so he could bloody well answer anything Jared wanted to know. “Why do I need to smell of you?”
    “You know why.”
    “Yes, but if I’m not leaving your flat for the duration, why does it matter how I smell?”
    Nathan relaxed behind him, and Jared fought not to lean into his warmth. “My pack are used to me smelling of humans. We’re around them all the time. Any one of the pack could drop by here unannounced, and if they come in and detect a human scent they don’t recognise—one that’s not on me, my clothes, or my van, but only in my home? They’re going to get suspicious really fast.”
    Jared mulled that over, realisation dawning slowly. “I don’t need to smell like you. You need to smell like me.”
    “Yes.” Whether unconsciously or not, Nathan tightened his grip and pressed his nose into the back of Jared’s neck. “More specifically, our smells need to mix, blend together, so that yours doesn’t stand out like a fucking beacon.”
    Shit. Was Jared being unreasonable? Was he acting like an arse and making a difficult situation even worse? Two days wasn’t nearly long enough to know whether or not Nathan could be trusted. But maybe he could cut him some slack. Their lives were on the line, after all. “Okay.”
    “Okay, what?”
    Jared reached down and grabbed Nathan’s hand where it rested high on his waist. Linking their fingers, he tugged it farther around him and finally relaxed into Nathan’s embrace. “I’m not gonna fight you on this anymore. If we need to be close to survive this month, then that’s what we’ll do. We’re adults, after all. So… goodnight.”
    “Night.”
    Jared closed his eyes and tried not to picture black hair and a vicious smile, focusing instead on the soft sounds of Nathan’s breathing until he finally fell asleep.
     

 
     
    CHAPTER SIX
     
    Nathan moaned, still half-asleep. The firm arse rubbed back against his cock again and again, and he tightened his grip without thinking, holding onto the hip bone under his hand. “Fuck,” he whispered, and licked at the warm skin under his lips, grazing his teeth over it afterwards. He’d been dreaming about Jared. Dreamt about fucking him in the shower and then pressing him face-first into his sheets. “Hmm.”
    “Nathan.” Jared’s whole body tensed.
    To Nathan’s sleep-hazy mind and aroused body, it felt like Jared had just come. That coupled with his name on Jared’s lips was enough to push him over the edge. He dug his fingers into Jared’s hip, shoved up against him one last time, and spilled into his underwear. What had been an awesome way to wake up took a decidedly bad turn seconds after.
    “Get your fucking hands off me!” Jared spat the words,