The Altered (14 page)

He couldn’t
think clearly with Jordan touching him, and he pushed the confusing
thoughts to the back of his mind. Talking could wait until later.
Jordan’s mouth, hot and wet, was on Daniel’s neck as he nipped and
licked his way downward, and no way was Daniel interrupting
that.

“There.”
Jordan drew back just enough to meet Daniel’s gaze. “That’s
better.” He ran his tongue over the tip of a fang just barely
visible, and Daniel shivered as he thought about Jordan’s teeth on
his skin.

“Now we’ve got
that out of the way.” Daniel rolled his eyes and half laughed, half
moaned when Jordan nudged his thigh a little higher in response.
“Come on, you and Matt are as bad as each other. You don’t need to
mark your territory. I’m not anyone’s property.”

Jordan
grinned, letting his fangs drop farther. “I know that.” He pushed a
little closer, bracketing Daniel with his arms, his palms flat to
the wall either side of Daniel’s head. “But what if I wanted to?”
His voice took on a rough edge, and the last word came out more
like a growl. It sent shivers down Daniel’s spine.

He lowered his
head to the exposed skin between Daniel’s neck and shoulder, then
slowly pressed his teeth down enough for Daniel to feel it but not
to break the skin. “Would you let me?”

“Um….” Daniel
swallowed, struggling to focus on anything other than tilting his
head to the side and letting Jordan get on with it. “Yeah,” he
added when Jordan stopped. “Yeah, you could do that. But—
Oh
God
….”

Jordan pressed
a little harder, and Daniel panicked as he thought about turning up
for work covered in bite marks. “
Wait.”

Jordan stopped
immediately, and Daniel filed that away for later—both pleased and
surprised at how quickly he’d done as Daniel asked. Not that Daniel
expected any less, but full shifters weren’t exactly known for
their restraint. Maybe Daniel needed to stop believing everything
he read. After all, he hated it when crap was written about
seers.

Jordan pulled
back to look at him, and
oh right
.

Daniel tugged
at the collar of his T-shirt. “Not where anyone can see.”

In answer,
Jordan gently moved Daniel’s hand out of the way, flicked out one
of his claws, and proceeded to slice through Daniel’s T-shirt from
neck to hem.

Daniel glanced
down at his chest, now exposed to the air as the material hung
limply from his shoulders. “I could have just taken it off.” His
voice came out gravelly and so obviously turned on that he wanted
to hide his face. It was like something out of a flowery romance
novel, and Daniel was so glad he’d kicked Matt and Ash out of the
house.

“You liked
it.” Jordan breathed in deep and looked Daniel in the eye, daring
him to deny it.

Daniel still
hated that about altereds. “Don’t let it go to your head. You have
your thigh pressed up against my cock. You could do anything at
this point and I’d probably smell like that.”

“But you did
like it. Didn’t you?” Jordan trailed one finger, claws
sheathed—which Daniel was a little disappointed by—down the centre
of Daniel’s chest and hummed as Daniel sucked in a breath when it
got near the top of his jeans.

“Yeah.” Daniel
breathed, and swallowed thickly. He let his head drop back against
the wall and closed his eyes as Jordan dipped his finger inside the
waistband. “I liked it.”

He waited for
Jordan to either kiss him or, if Daniel was incredibly lucky, get
down on his knees, but Jordan tugged on Daniel’s belt, pulling him
forward.

Daniel looked
up as he stumbled forward a little, to find Jordan staring straight
at him. His irises glowed in the dim light of the hall, and that,
combined with his fangs, made him look more otherworldly than
Daniel had been expecting. He hadn’t thought it would affect him
like that, but now he felt the familiar tug deep in his belly,
stronger than it had been in a while. “Bed,” he whispered hoarsely,
wishing they were up there already.

Jordan kept
his gaze locked on Daniel’s. He licked his lips and nodded.
“Yeah.”

Neither of
them moved, too caught up in the weird connection winding around
them, stronger with every second. Daniel meant to push Jordan back
a little so he could move away from the wall and lead them
upstairs, but he couldn’t quite make himself move.

“We won’t get
there like this.” Jordan slid a hand up to cup Daniel’s jaw and ran
his thumb just under the cheekbone.

Daniel knew
that was where he’d got a bruise the day before. It hadn’t been
deep, and his healing should have taken care of it, but he wondered
if Jordan could still see it.

He got his
answer when Jordan suddenly broke eye contact and focused where his
thumb had paused on Daniel’s cheek. “What’s this from?”

The connection
they’d been wrapped up in seconds before felt as though it had been
severed, and Daniel reeled at the sudden loss.

It took him a
couple of seconds to answer. “Oh, um, I had a bruise there. I guess
it hasn’t fully healed, yet.”

“How did you
get it?” Jordan’s gaze swept farther down Daniel’s body.

Daniel didn’t
particularly like the way Jordan was frowning at him as though he
didn’t approve. “I played paintball with Matt, Ash, and a few of
Matt’s friends yesterday.” He shrugged. “Things got a bit
rough.”

Jordan
narrowed his eyes. “You played with altereds?”

Daniel did
push Jordan away then, needing some space between them. “Yes. Some
of them were altereds. What the fuck difference does that make?”
His earlier arousal faded away as Jordan’s expression turned
stormy.

“Are you hurt
elsewhere?”

“Not that it’s
any of your business, but I have a few more bruises, yes.”

A low rumbling
growl bubbled up from Jordan’s chest, and he immediately took a
step back.

“What the hell
is your problem?” Daniel followed him. It probably wasn’t a great
idea to provoke an angry shifter, but Daniel was struggling to
understand what had just happened, and he wanted some answers.
“Jordan?”

Jordan shook
his head as though trying to shake off whatever had upset him. When
he brought his hands up, his claws were out and he took another two
steps away from Daniel, a pleading look on his face. “Don’t. I
should go.”

“I don’t
understand.”

“I—” Jordan’s
lips caught on his fangs, and it took him a couple of goes to get
the words out. “It’s the… the moon.” He glanced behind him at the
door, then back at Daniel. “Spent the weekend… arguing. Keira’s not
happy about us—says you’re a liability. I defended you, but then
you do this.” He carefully lifted the remainder of Daniel’s shirt
out of the way, revealing more bruises.

Daniel stepped
away, out of Jordan’s reach. “It was just a game. Matt needed to
let off steam too, just like you and your friends.”

“And that’s
fine for Matt, because he heals!” Jordan snapped, catching his lip
on his teeth and hissing.

“So do I,”
Daniel spat back.

Jordan growled
again, frustration evident. “But a lot slower.” He moved to touch
Daniel but dropped his hands when Daniel flinched. “I can’t keep
you safe if you go doing stupid things like playing fucking
paintball
with altereds who could literally tear you limb
from limb!”

“I don’t need
you to keep me safe.” Daniel was so mad at Jordan for ruining their
evening and acting like this. On some level he knew it had a lot to
do with the full moon—a day away now—but he still thought it was a
shit excuse for Jordan acting like an arse.

“What if you’d
got hurt? What if you’d needed the hospital?” Jordan took a deep
breath, his hands curled into fists so tight that Daniel could see
blood oozing out where his claws cut into his palms. “They’d
know
, Daniel. They’d do blood tests, and they’d find out
what you are.”

Fuck.

Daniel hated
the fact that Jordan might have a point there, but he was still
fuming from everything else Jordan had said, so he chose to ignore
it.

Jordan gave
him an incredulous look. “Are you willing to risk your life so
readily? Are you willing to risk mine, or Matt’s? If they get you,
Daniel, then what do you think they’ll do with you?”

Daniel felt
his stomach lurch. He didn’t want to think about that, didn’t want
to imagine being used to capture his friends, so he looked down at
the floor, stubbornly saying nothing.

Had he been
reckless with his life? With Matt’s? He hadn’t thought so at the
time. He’d just wanted to get Matt out of the house and to spend
some time with him where he could let loose. And it had been
great—just what Matt needed.

But now that
Daniel thought about it….

Shit.

He looked up
to tell Jordan, just as the front door closed behind him.

Jordan didn’t
come back, and he didn’t call or text either.

Daniel sat on
the sofa in the living room, phone in hand. One minute he wanted to
call and apologise, the next he was so frustrated with the whole
bloody evening, and fuck Jordan for making him feel like this.

He was still
sitting there staring at his phone when Matt and Ash came home a
couple of hours later. They were laughing about something as they
unlocked the door, but their faces fell when they stumbled into the
living room and saw Daniel.

“Hey,” he
said, managing a small smile. “Good night?”

Matt looked
around and frowned. “Um, yeah. Where’s Jordan? I thought the two of
you would still be locked in your bedroom.”

Daniel sighed
and set his phone down on the table. “So did I.”

Ash came
farther into the room, nudging Matt out of the way and going to sit
down on the chair, leaving Matt to sit on the sofa with Daniel.
“Did something happen?” Ash asked. “I mean, other than”—he waved a
hand around—“you know.”

“God.” Daniel
buried his head in his hands for a second, and the laugh that came
out sounded bitter to his ears. “We didn’t get as far as
you
know
.”

“Really?” Matt
looked sceptical as he none too subtly breathed in deep. “Because
when we left, you two smelled well on your way to—”

“Well, we
didn’t, so drop it.”

“Okay, okay.”
Matt held his hands up and shared a look with Ash. “So come on,
then, Dan. What happened?”

Daniel
groaned. The last thing he wanted was to rehash his ridiculous row
with Jordan, but his friends were looking at him expectantly.

“Wait.” Matt
suddenly sat upright. His gaze flicked over Daniel as though
searching for something. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“No, nothing
like that.” Daniel shook his head at Matt’s concern. He should tell
them the truth before Matt jumped to any more wrong
conclusions.

So he did.

He glossed
over the licking, but basically retold their
conversation-turned-argument word for word. As well as he could
remember it, anyway.

When Daniel
got to the part where Jordan had left, he glanced up to see both
Ash and Matt appearing shocked. Whether it was at his behaviour,
Jordan’s, or the whole thing, he couldn’t be sure.

“I hate to say
this….” Matt looked down at his hands. He splayed his fingers, and
Daniel could imagine exactly what was going through his mind.

“Hey, Matt?”
He waited until Matt raised his head. “You didn’t put me in danger.
The whole paintball thing was my idea, and I loved every minute of
it.”

“Me too,” Ash
added, rubbing at his shoulder. “Despite being bruised to shit this
morning.”

Daniel winced,
because that wasn’t helping his case.
Thanks, Ash
.

Matt,
predictably, didn’t look convinced. “But I agreed. Jordan’s right
about one thing—they could’ve hurt you.
I
could have hurt
you, and hospital is the last place you need to end up. I know you
heal faster than a regular human, Dan, but what if it had been
serious?”

“Okay,
firstly, you would never hurt me, so don’t even pretend that was
ever a real risk. And secondly, yeah, maybe in retrospect it was a
little stupid to play that rough with altereds, but it’s done now,
and nothing happened.” He picked at the loose thread on the inside
of his thigh, remembering Jordan’s leg pressed there earlier. “I
still say Jordan overreacted.”

Matt hummed
under his breath. “Maybe, but I think you should cut him some
slack, with the full moon so close and everything.”

“It’s no
excuse for acting like a dick.”

Matt opened
his mouth, but whatever expression was on Daniel’s face seemed to
stop him in his tracks.

“Guys,” Ash
cut in softly, and Daniel and Matt turned to face him. “Maybe both
of you were a little to blame. Sorry, sorry,” he added quickly when
Daniel narrowed his eyes. “I’m on your side, of course I am. But I
think this will look better in the morning, and maybe you should
sleep on it before doing anything you might regret.”

Daniel thought
about how he’d sat for hours with his phone in his hand, and he
tried to imagine what he would have said if he’d made the call or
sent the text. Yeah. Maybe he should wait until morning.

He wanted to
fix this between them, not make it worse.

And that
surprised him more than anything. Yes, he’d been so bloody mad at
Jordan, but he didn’t want their relationship to end before it had
even begun. He liked Jordan a lot, could see himself falling for
him in a big way if they managed to get past this and sort out
their shit.

For once, the
idea of letting someone get that close wasn’t as scary as it
usually was. He managed a small smile, the tight knot of tension in
his chest easing a little. “Yeah, you’re absolutely right, Ash. I’m
going to bed now, deal with it tomorrow.”

Daniel stood
and stretched, feeling tired all of a sudden. Staying angry for
hours on end was too much like hard work. He said goodnight to
them, patted Matt on the shoulder, but paused when Matt asked if he
was really okay.