“Something like that,” he agreed easily, still stroking my back. “Kind of a distant relation. How are you feeling?”
I sighed and tried to snuggle closer. “Fucking amazing.”
Sylas tsk’d. “That’s a dirty mouth you have there, Tiger.”
“Sorry,” I apologized automatically as I soaked in the deliciously masculine scent of the man holding me. “Please don’t go. I won’t swear, I promise.”
Sylas made another humming noise in his chest. “I wouldn’t do that to you, Tiger. I’ll help you through this.”
A moment later I was fast asleep.
Chapter Four
Sylas
Once Paul dozed off, I figured I’d put him down and continue holding his hand so he didn’t wake up stiff from sleeping all balled up. I stood and pulled back the covers on his bed to tuck him in. When I tried to lay him down, he clung to me like a little monkey.
“Stay,” he mumbled in his sleep, tightening his grip around my neck.
“I am,” I whispered in his ear, carefully untangling his arms. “I’ll be right here.”
A small, unhappy noise slipped through Paul’s lips and his brow furrowed when I placed him on the bed and took his hand. When his scent started to register distress despite the contact, I frowned and kicked my boots off.
“Okay, Tiger,” I murmured, pulling the covers back again and stretching out on the mattress beside him. He was shivering as he curled into me before I could even pull the covers up, struggling to get as close as possible.
Not good.
Well aware that I was crossing a line, I threw the covers back again and eased the lounge pants that Paul wore from his body before shoving my jeans over my hips and using my feet to drag them off and kick them away. I maneuvered Paul onto his back and promptly stretched over him, caging him beneath me and supporting my weight on my elbows and knees, pressing every inch of our bodies pressed together.
The sweet Omega beneath me gave a huge, shuddering sigh and mumbled something I didn’t quite catch, but from the immediate sweetening of his scent, I assumed it was approval. I held that position until the man beneath me relaxed completely and then rolled over to my back, pulling him with me and draping him over my body as he slept. Giving in to the hedonistic pleasure of the contact, I closed my eyes as well. After all, a little nap couldn’t hurt anything.
Or so I thought.
~*~
I heard the door creak open and was crouched next to the bed in an instant, claws and fangs on the knife’s point of control that had taken me centuries to perfect.
The light filtering in from the window was faint, suggesting that we had napped longer than anticipated, but it was still enough that I could see clearly. Breathing in through my mouth, I tasted the air. The rather unimpressive being storming through the room was human and gave off no Alpha, Beta, or Omega indicators, suggesting that he was a non-presenter. A full human.
“What the hell?” The angry man standing before me presented no true threat and I slowly rose to my full height, putting us mostly eye to eye. “Who the fuck are you and why are you in my son’s bed?”
Behind me, I heard a rustling in the covers. “Father?” Paul sounded confused and still half asleep. “What are you doing here?”
“Are you kidding me?” the man shouted. “I find you in bed with a man old enough to bemeand you want to know whatI’mdoing?”
I held in a laugh at the thought that I was old enough to be Paul’s father, but guessed that correcting him toold enough to be his ancient ancestorwasn’t really going to help. Still, when he tried to step closer to the bed, I stepped with him, blocking his path.
“Get out of my way, you fucking pervert!” Paul’s father shouted. “I’m taking my son with menow!”
No! No! No!
The terror emanating from Paul at his father’s declaration distracted me and it took a moment for the chant ofnoto register as more than background noise. Spinning around, I stared at Paul in open-mouthed amazement as I tried to remember how many hundreds of years it had been since I had heard another being in my mind.
Unsure if he could hear me in response, I focused on broadcasting my thoughts anyway.Try to relax. He’s not taking you anywhere, but you’ll have to trust me.
Paul’s eyes widened and I realized he actuallyhadheard me. At his slight nod, I turned back to his father.
“Paul is under my protection,” I said with deliberate calm. “You won’t be taking him anywhere.”
