“Set it on the table,” Sirinstructed.
Gabriel leaned forward and set the bowl on the coffee table an arm’s distance away from where they sat. When he settled, Sir turned at the hips and lifted a heavy blanket off the back of the couch. He draped it over Gabriel’s lap and spent time making sure that Gabriel’s lower half was covered before he pulled the remaining portion over himself. The gesture was subtle, but Gabriel didn’t overlook it—the evening was cold, and Sir was doing his best to make sure that Gabriel’s needs were taken intoconsideration.
Gabriel was glad for the blanket, because the heat radiating in his cheeks didn’t stop there—it seeped into his groin and woke his cock. It was shameful to be aroused by nothing at all, but Sir had been so kind to him that Gabriel couldn’t help it. Besides, Sir was handsome. More than once since he’d come to stay in Sir’s house, Gabriel had dreamed about what it might be like tobehis.
How Sir would feel on top of him, parting his thighs and pushing into histightbody.
How his knot would swell and leave Gabrielbreathless.
How Gabriel would enjoy it like he never had before, and how if he was good, Sir might let himcome,too.
There was nothing barring Sir from taking advantage of him. Every night for the past week, Gabriel had wondered if he’d wake up in the middle of the night with Sir in his bed, stripping him of his clothes while his erection bobbed between them. Long. Hard. Ready tofillhim…
Every night, Gabriel had closed his eyes, excited for the possibility that it might happen—that Sir might lay claim on him now that Garrison was no longer in the picture—but it had never happened. Maybe tonight, while they shared the same blanket, it would cometobe.
For the last five years, Gabriel had clung to the notion that Garrison was the only man in the world who cared for him, and that he was the only man who Gabriel could ever be happy with. Rescued from a household that had never appreciated him, and that had only become more toxic once he’d succumbed to his first heat, he’d been convinced that there was no other path for him. Being unloved was part of being an omega. He’d seen it happen to his brother, Adrian, who’d once been their father’s favorite before he’d manifested as his true self, and he’d seen it happen to himself, too. The withering looks his mother and father had given him when he’d come out from his room for the first time after his heat had ended, sweaty and exhausted, broke his heart, and their distance in the weeks afterward convinced him that there was nogoingback.
Garrison was the solution to a problem Gabriel couldn’t fix on his own. Getting out of the Lowe house had been reasonable. Even Garrison hadthoughtso.
But Gabriel had never thought that he could find love outside of the man who’d laid claim on him—that there might be someone else out there who’d want to take him in and save him fromhimself.
Love…
Love wasn’t what Gabriel thought it would be. The future Gabriel had lost wasn’t lost at all—it just needed to bereshaped.
The love he’d felt for Garrison hadn’t been love at all, he realized. It had all the hallmarks of love, but on the inside, it was a hollow mockery. Garrison had never loved him. The realization was bitter, but Gabriel hadn’t shied away from it. He’d been burying his head in the sand since the first day Garrison had brought him to the brothel. What Garrison loved was getting his way, and what he loved more than that was money. To him, Gabriel had been a physical release and a paycheck rolledintoone.
He hadn’t been the man Garrison wanted to marry. He wouldneverbe that man. Not unless Garrison changed his ways and opened his heart to Gabriel like he never had before, but that wouldn’t happen now, not even withSethgone.
Gabriel didn’t want it to happen, anyway. Now that he’d met Sir, he knew better. What he needed wasn’t a man who’d tolerate him as long as he continued to do whatever he asked—what he needed was a man who would treat him with kindness unconditionally, even when Gabriel was bad. He needed a man who wouldn’t hit him, even when he was being petulant, and who thought of him first even when their needs werethesame.
The future Gabriel wanted—a family he could take pride in, and somewhere quiet he could settle down—was still within his reach. All he had to do was re-envision the man who’d give ittohim.
With Sir sitting beside him on the couch, re-envisioningwasn’thard.
Every now and then, painful feelings rose back up to the surface, but he knew that was a product of habit rather than sincerity. With every passing day, the ache in his chest lessened… and the force that took its placeincreased.
Sir would take care of him. Sir would chase away the demons and keep the man without a name away. And as long as Gabriel stayed good, Sir would keep him. He’d never have to go back to his parents, and he’d never have to burden Adrian and Sterlingagain.
“Rabbit?” Sir asked. He lifted his arm, and Gabriel took the invitation gladly. He leaned against Sir’s side, and Sir draped his arm around Gabriel’s shoulders. The scent of him, as appealing as it had been on the first day they’d met, flooded Gabriel’s nostrils and sent pinpricks racing down his spine. He cuddled into Sir, unashamed that he was growing harder, and thought about thefuture.
If they started having babies with Gabriel’s upcoming heat, Gabriel could give him a large family he could be proud of. Beautiful black-haired babies with green eyes, the spitting image of their father. With the fair genes Gabriel had inherited from his mother, they would grow up into elegant, sophisticated individuals. Proud like Sir, but made gentle by Gabriel, they would break hearts and change history—and if they were omegas, Gabriel would not cast them aside. He’d help them find their forever mates, and they would breed beautiful babies, just like hewould.
There was no future sweeterthanthat.
When Gabriel was settled, Sir pushed a button on the remote and started the movie. Gabriel watched the screen without seeing what was on it. His mind was on the future, and what steps he might take to make it happen. Cuddling on the couch was step one, but if he wanted the family he’d dreamed of since he was sixteen, step one wasn’t where his journeyended.
He needed to get Sir in bed, and then he needed Sir to take his heat. The days were ticking. It wouldn’t be long before the first insatiable waves of arousal hit—a week, maybe, if he was unfortunate. Days, if he waslucky.
This time, Garrison wasn’t there to force him to take contraceptives, and the staff at Stonecrest weren’t on hand to suppress the symptoms ofhisheat.
He would breed with Sir, and Sir would give him the family he’d alwayswanted.
They’d behappy.
All Gabriel had to dowaswait.
23
