Sailing Deep (6 page)

              “It does no-”

              “Shhh,” Blake shushed him by gently cupping his cheek and pressing his thumb to his lips. His face was close, and Dylan resisted the urge to squirm under the intense look in his eyes. “Although I frequently find your stubborn protests to be adorably endearing, this isn’t the time.” His thumb was stroking Dylan’s lip. His hand was surprisingly soft. “You need to get yourself into the mindset of being my mate. The first step to loosening your control on the wolf is to start accepting it now.”

              He leaned forward, moving his thumb out of the way and hovering his lips over Dylan’s. He was close enough that his eyes blurred together. Dylan was already pushed against the back of his chair. He had nowhere to go unless he scooted his chair away. He didn’t though. As much as he hated to admit it, what Blake was saying made sense. If he always flinched away in this form, it could transfer over to his wolf form. For a group of shifters who lived off instinct and passion, that would look strange.

              “I’m going to kiss you,” Blake whispered. He could feel the man’s breath against his lips.

              “Then get on with it.” He had meant to sound irritated and frustrated. Somehow it came out as breathless, and he tried not to visibly cringe.

              He thought Blake smiled, but he didn’t really get a chance to see it before the man was kissing him. It was gentle, a light pressure of lips against lips. Dylan closed his eyes and forced himself to relax.

              It was … surprisingly pleasant.

              It wasn’t the fact that Blake was a man. In fact, Dylan preferred men. But it had been so long since he had been with anyone, and he wasn’t exactly a fan of how Blake had suddenly thrust himself upon him. He understood why, but he had been surprised and defensive. Not to mention Blake’s cocky attitude was insufferable and irritating. Dylan would have never chosen someone like that to be his mate.

              But Blake was right about one thing: his body was responding well to him, even if his mind wasn’t. It was slightly alarming how quickly his body responded to Blake’s light touches. The man was barely kissing him, after all. But when his hand slid back around his neck and tilted his head slightly, Dylan moved instantly. His lips parted instinctually as his head tilted to the side to give Blake better access.

              Blake slid his tongue along Dylan’s lips before pulling back. He was smirking, but his eyes were soft and tender. “See? That wasn’t so hard.” Dylan just glared at him as he stood up straight. He wasn’t sure he trusted his voice just yet. The man held out a hand. “Come on, let’s go.”

              Dylan stared at it for a moment before looking up at him. “What? Now?”

              “Of course,” He said, nodding toward the window. “The sun has set, and the pack will be gathering.”

              Dylan took his hand and let Blake pull him to his feet. They left the room, with Blake locking the door behind them. He said he had a spare key that he’d give Dylan later, so he could come and go as he pleased. But he stressed that he should keep the door locked at all times. Blake stared at him with such intensity that Dylan nodded his understanding.

              Without letting go of his hand, Blake led him down the hall and toward the stairs. The touch seemed so casual and so innocent, but Dylan was uncomfortably aware of it. Blake’s hands were soft. The hands of a programmer and not of a soldier. Where his hands were rough, calloused, and broad, Blake’s hands were slender and soft, his fingers long, with knuckles larger than the rest of his fingers.

              He hadn’t held hands with someone in a romantic fashion in … he wasn’t even sure how long it had been. Years. His first boyfriend had lasted from age sixteen to age nineteen. It had been his longest relationship, and with his best friend at the time. When he had broken up with him, Dylan had lost a boyfriend and a friend. He had wanted to get out, to leave the small town and the small pack they had both been a part of. But he had no money, and his grades weren’t good enough for a university, so he had dropped out of community college and joined the Navy. It had been the best decision of his life.

              Since then, he had had a few flings while on leave, though they were nothing lasting. He even tried a relationship with his first bunkmate, but that had gotten messy and nearly gotten them into trouble, so he had called it off. It had been years since he had indulged himself in anything. He had found life was easier when he kept his body and his heart in check.

              Now, he was expected to fake an entire relationship.

              Unlike this morning when they had taken care to avoid anyone on their way to their room, Blake took no such precautions. He strode through the hallways toward the main grand staircase and not the small back stairs they had taken this morning. There were a lot of other people moving in the same direction, leaving their rooms and heading for the stairs. Blake waved to most of them and had a smile and friendly words for others. Most of them greeted him in response, but nearly all of them eyed Dylan curiously. He ignored them all, focusing on staring straight ahead.

              At least, he tried until they started asking about him. Blake finally released his hand, putting his arm around his shoulders instead, and pulling him against his side. “Yup, this is him.” He said to a small group of people who were peering around Blake to get a good look at Dylan. He forced himself to give them a small smile and lifted his hand in a small wave of greeting. “Forgive him, this is all a little overwhelming, and my love is a bit shy.”

              Dylan’s eyes snapped up to Blake’s as he straightened. Even at his full height, the other man was a few inches taller. “I am not!” He snapped.

              Blake threw back his head and laughed. “Of course, you aren’t.” He teased, then bent his head to nuzzle the side of Dylan’s. It was a loving and straightforward gesture, and Dylan automatically pulled slightly away from him. Then he whispered in his ear. “At least pretend you want to touch me.”

              Dylan sighed and leaned against him as they walked, leaning his head against Blake’s shoulder to keep from having to look up at him. Still, he knew the man was grinning happily.

              Once they reached the bottom of the stairs in the main entrance hall, Dylan was surprised to find the crowd turning to the right instead of heading for the main doors. They followed the surge of people through several large hallways toward a room at the back of the ground floor. The room was huge and had windows all along one wall. During the day, it would flood the room with natural light, but at night, the room was lit by artificial lighting. The room itself was filled with rows of lockers, looking more like a gym locker room than anything else.

              Blake led him through the maze of locker walls and stopped in front of one that was labeled “34b”, the same as his room number. His arm left Dylan’s shoulder and opened the locker before stepping back. It was empty.

              “What’re we doing here?” Dylan asked as he turned around, then froze. His eyes widened a fraction as he watched Blake tug his shirt off over his head. “What are you doing?” He asked flatly.

              Blake smirked, cocking his head to the side. His hair, usually pushed back, was flopping forward over his forehead, having been messed up by his shirt. “I’m stripping.”

              “I can see that.”

              “You should, too. Unless you plan on shifting while dressed?” He raised an eyebrow, tossing his shirt into the locker.

              It was only then that Dylan realized that there were others in the locker room who were stripping and throwing their clothes into their lockers. So that’s what this place was for. So none of them had to leave their rooms naked and there weren’t clothes just laying around everywhere during a full moon.

              “Shy?” Blake teased as bent to untie his shoes.

              “No.” Dylan scoffed, rolling his eyes as the insinuation that he could be shy. “This isn’t the first time I’ve been in a pack.” Being in packs tended to mean stripping in front of others. Shifting while dressed really wasn’t comfortable. So shifters in packs learned quickly not to be shy about their bodies. When everyone was doing it, there really wasn’t anything special about it.

              “No, I suppose it’s not.” Blake said, and Dylan saw something strange in the man’s eyes. “You were raised in a pack, weren’t you?”

              “Yes,” Dylan said slowly. He eyed Blake suspiciously. “How did you know?”

              Blake shrugged. “Most shifters are. Other than that it was just a hunch.”

              Dylan grunted acknowledgment. He supposed it was common to be raised in a pack. He hadn’t seen that pack in years. Gripping the bottom of his hoodie and shirt, he pulled them both over his head in one swift motion. Tugging them off his arms, he tossed them into the locker. He was half turned away and, therefore, was surprised when Blake’s hands were suddenly on his hips.

              The man was still kneeling down from when he was untying his shoes, but now he knelt on his knees. Dylan blinked down at him in surprise. Blake was grinning up at him and pressed a kiss right below his belly button. Dylan stiffened and put his hands on Blake’s shoulders. He could see the warning in Blake’s eyes.

              “Seriously? Now?” Dylan hissed, glancing around. With as many people as there were in the locker room, all of them at various stages of undress and most of them chatting, few were actually paying attention to them. Still, Dylan felt like there were a thousand eyes on him, watching and judging.

              Blake nuzzled his stomach. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself.” He muttered, pressing another quick kiss to his hip before pushing himself to his feet. He stepped close to Dylan, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him close. They were chest to chest, and the warmth of the other’s body was distracting and far too intimate. “You’re just far too gorgeous.” And then he bent to press a swift kiss to Dylan’s lips.

              Dylan’s hands were on the man’s chest, although they did little to push him away. He glared up at Blake. His eyes blurred together as they were nose to nose. “Don’t you think you’re overdoing it?” He whispered in a low voice. Shifters had sensitive hearing, and he had to make sure to keep his voice low enough that Blake could hear but those around them couldn’t.

              “The pack needs to believe I’m head over heels for you. There’s no other way to explain why I got a mate so quickly and why you were so eager to get here. Trust me.” His arm around Dylan tightened slightly, increasing the pressure between them. Blake subtly rolled his hips against Dylan’s, and his eyes widened a fraction in surprise. “And I’m trying to appeal to your body so your wolf will be more likely to accept me.” He leaned to the side, taking Dylan’s earlobe between his teeth and nibbling gently. Dylan tried his best to stifle a gasp as a shiver ran down his spine. “That’s it.” Blake purred in his ear. “Relax. Let your mind accept what your body already has.”

              Before he could protest, Blake was pulling back. He released Dylan and kicked off his shoes, tossing them into the locker. “Time to finish stripping.” He said playfully, slapping Dylan’s ass as he did so. Dylan glared at him.

              It had been a long time since he had been even remotely shy about stripping before shifting. It had become just a regular part of life. Almost business like. Especially in the past several years, he had spent in the military. They did it because they had to, and no one thought twice about it. In fact, he hadn’t felt any sort of self-consciousness since he was a pup in his family’s pack.

              But here, he felt some of it. That strange lack of confidence coupled with the knowledge that someone was watching. Not only watching but intensely curious about his body. It wasn’t any of the dozens of other shifters within sight. He couldn’t care less about their opinions on his body if any of them even bothered to pay attention. It was Blake stripping next to him, casually and nonchalantly. Dylan felt certain that he was being watched.

              Internally sighing and bracing himself, he dropped his sweatpants in one swift motion, stepping out of them and tossing them into the locker before turning to face Blake. The man was already naked and watching him. His eyes swept over Dylan’s body, missing nothing. There was so much appreciation, sincere curiosity, and hunger in his eyes. Dylan prayed that his blush wasn’t as visible as it felt.

              He took the moment to look at Blake, realizing with some surprise that the man was actually more attractive than he had initially given him credit for. Tall and lanky, with the lean muscles that could easily be hidden by clothes but which were obvious without them. He was pale and had a light dusting of blond chest hair. Dylan felt a strange clenching in his chest. He hadn’t expected the cocky man to be attractive. He didn’t necessarily consider himself to have a type, but if he looked back at all the men he had been with, there certainly seemed to be a pattern. And Blake fit it quite nicely.

              “What?” He snapped when he felt the staring had gone on long enough.

              “Hmm?” Blake asked wordlessly, eyes returning to Dylan’s face. He looked honestly surprised like Dylan had yanked him out of his thoughts.

              Dylan crossed his arms over his chest, standing up straight. He was aware it was a defensive stance. “Are you going to stare all night?”