“How do you even know who he is?” Gabriel sighed. “You’re not supposed to know whoheis.”
“Why?”
The question lingered between them. No matter how Gabriel turned it over, looking for an answer, he couldn’tfindit.
Why couldn’t Sir know about the man without a name? If he knew, then he could keep Gabriel safe. They were both alphas, after all—strong, imposing, and dominant. Gabriel didn’t stand a chance against a man like that, but Sir? Since Sir was an alpha, too, they were evenly matched—and if Gabriel had to guess, Sir wasstronger.
He could be safe here, in this haven in the middle of the forest, with Sir byhisside.
Sir, who was handsome like no one Gabriel had seen before. Sir, who was kind, even when Gabriel deserved punishment. Sir, who smelled sodamnedgood…
“You want to keep me?” Gabriel asked. He parted from Sir’s side only so that he could turn to face him. Sir looked away from the forest, his eyes the kind of green that would make the leaves jealous. “Why would you want to do that?I’mso…”
So boring. So plain. Sobroken.
Sir bridged the distance between them. His fingers tucked themselves beneath Gabriel’s jaw, and his thumb traced over Gabriel’s lips. On the outside, the touch was gentle, but inside, it was like Sir had struck flint against steel. Sparks, too brilliant and too hot for Gabriel to dare touch, cascaded insideofhim.
He never wanted Sir’s handtogo.
“So wonderful?” Sir asked. “So beautiful?Sogood?”
Sir’s thumb crossed Gabriel’s bottom lip, parting it from the top. Gabriel sucked in a tiny breath as arousal shot through him and flooded his gut. He was starting to get hard, even though he knew he shouldn’t. He wasn’t supposed to enjoy sexual contact withothermen.
But Sir? Sir was ice water after a hike through a desert, and the first warm day after a harsh winter. His touch was insistent, but it wasn’t demeaning. Gabriel didn’t shy away from it—hewantedmore.
“Iwantyou, Gabriel,” Sir whispered. The thumb crossed along his lip again, but this time, when it reached the plump middle, it ventured inward to trace along the tips of his teeth. “You don’t have to feel unwantedanymore.”
How did Sir know all the right things to say? How could he be so firm, and yet so kind? The tingling returned, but this time, it swept through Gabriel’s body and left him highly aware of himself—the butterflies in his stomach longing to escape, the goosebumps down his arms, and the way his cock now nuzzled against the fly of his pajamapants.
He parted his lips and let Sirinside.
The pad of Sir’s thumb traced over his tongue. Gabriel closed his eyes and set his lips around the digit, sucking gently as Sir explored his mouth. He could be good for Sir, if that was what Sir wanted. He could suck until his jaw was too sore to continue—until Sir became so aroused that taking Gabriel’s mouth wasn’t enoughanymore.
“Good boy,” Sir whispered, his lips so close to Gabriel’s ear that Gabriel couldn’t help but shiver in delight. “Good,beautifulboy.”
All Gabriel wanted was to know he was pretty. His cheeks grew hot, and he lifted his tongue and ran it across the bottom of Sir’s thumb, apprehensive of his reaction. Sometimes, when he was being too much of a slut, Garrison punished him—but Gabriel couldn’t help himself. Not now. Not when Sir had whispered such exquisite things to him, and especially not after he’d called Gabrielpretty.
Gabriel wanted to give himeverything.
“Do you know how good you feel?” Sir worked his thumb in deeper, and Gabriel hummed against it and let his tongue lave Sir with affection. “Do you know how beautiful you look, sucking me like that? You’re gorgeous, Gabriel. You’re the prettiest boy I’ve ever seen. He should have told you that. He should have told you that everydamnday.”
Tears swelled in the corners of Gabriel’s eyes, pushing out from beneath his lids. They weren’t born of sorrow—farfromit.
For the first time in a long time, Gabriel washappy.
“He’ll never give you the things you want from life.” Sir’s thumb caressed Gabriel’s tongue as it worked back and forth, almost escaping the confines of Gabriel’s mouth before pushing deep again. “He’ll never protect you from the men who want to hurt you. You deserve better. Youdeserveme.”
The tears fell fat and hot as they streamed down Gabriel’s cheeks. Why was he happy? He wasn’t with Garrison, and for so long, Garrison had been the only one he’d wanted. It was hard to imagine that he could be happy by the hand ofsomeoneelse.
“If you want me as much as I want you, then you’re going to let my thumb out of your mouth, and you’re going to turn around.” The words Sir spoke were stern, but they were not unkind. They offered Gabriel the chance to refuse if he wanted to, but Gabriel didn’t want to. He wasn’t sure he’d ever want to disobey Sir. “You’re going to push your pajama bottoms down, and you’re going to give your ass to me. You’re going into heat, aren’t you? I can smell your slick on the air. I want inside. I want to feel how wet your body is for me, and once I’m done feeling it, I’m going to be so slick with you that it’ll be no problem to slide inside and breed you,willit?”
Gabriel’s cheeks were on fire, and the loose sleep shirt he wore was too hot against his suddenly sweaty skin. Was he in heat? It seemed too soon, but who was he to argue? Slick already ran down his thighs, and his scent perfumed the air. Time didn’t matter when his body told him in no uncertain terms that he was ready toconceive.
He was finally going to get what Garrison had never given him—he was going to give Sir healthy, beautifulbabies.
The thumb parted from Gabriel’s mouth. Roasting in the flames of his heat, Gabriel turned and braced his arms against the screen paneling. The wires bit into his skin, but he didn’t care. For the first time ever, he was going to get what he trulywanted.
He was going to make afamily.
