He was worthwhile. He was important. Hewasable.
And now, he wasSir’s.
It didn’t matter how dangerous it was. To Gabriel, the risk wasworthit.
41
Cedric
The house wasquiet and the room was dark. It had to be closing in on four in the morning, but Cedric couldn’t sleep. Not only was he wired from the confrontation with the intruder, but his mind raced with what had happenedafterward.
The image of Gabriel, furious and panting as he stood over his abuser and took control of the situation, was etched into his mind. Cedric didn’t think he’d ever forget it. And now, that same young man was curled beside him beneath the blankets they shared, looking at him throughthedark.
“Sir?” Gabrielasked.
“Yes,Gabriel?”
“You’re not angry about what I did, are you? Or the things I said? I’m sorry that I spoke likethat.It’s—”
“No.” Cedric shifted closer. The sleeper sofa they shared was small enough that it didn’t take much until they were chest to chest. Gabriel adjusted his position so their bodies were flush. “Don’t be sorry about anything. I should be upset that you put yourself in danger like you did, but the truth is, without you, both of us would have been in even more danger. If you hadn’t stepped in, bad things would havehappened.”
“He would have taken us,” Gabriel murmured. His hand traced down Cedric’s side, and just like that, the air thickened with the chemistry they shared. It hit Cedric right away, filling his lungs and plunging to his groin. He might have wanted to go to sleep, but his cock had other ideas. “I heard him. I heard all the things he said to you. I was hiding in the kitchen while he spoke, waiting for a chance to creep closer without being heard so I could help you. I’m sorry I tooksolong.”
“No. I told you, don’t be sorry about anything.” Cedric traced his fingers over Gabriel’s cheek, aching to kiss him. “What you did was perfect. I’m okay, and you’re okay, and he’s going to jail, and that’s all thatmatters.”
“I should have told you about him.” Gabriel lowered his gaze. “From the very first day I came to your house, I picked up on his scent. You… you don’t forget something like that, after you spend so long living in a nightmare. I don’t think I’ll forget it for as long as I’malive.”
“I won’t forget it, either.” Cedric’s fingers traced down Gabriel’s neck, then under his jaw along his chin. Stubble prickedhisskin.
“I didn’t want to tell you about what happened to me because…” Gabriel hesitated, but his gaze flicked upward. His eyes were partially lidded, and his face relaxed. Physical contact had always been an excellent way to soothe him, and tonight it did the trick just fine. “Because everyone treats me like I’m broken, and I didn’t want to think it was true. I thought I was in love with Garrison, and that if I could trick you into thinking I was okay, that maybe you’d let your guard down and I could escape and find him. All I wanted to do was get back to him because I didn’t know how to be on my own. I still don’t, but the difference now is that Iunderstandit.”
All the times he’d run away, and all the times he’d clung to Cedric seeking comfort. Over the years, Garrison had turned Gabriel from an impressionable teen into a subservient young man who couldn’t function onhisown.
Subservient, notsubmissive.
Cedric understood the difference better than ever now that he had confronted thetruth.
“And I didn’t talk to you about the man without a name because I was ashamed of what I’d let him do to me. I didn’t try to fight when he took me out of The White Lotus. I didn’t even scream. I was scared by what was happening, and I wasn’t thinking straight, and… and so he took me, and he kept me in his house, and I hated it. I got out as soon as I could. I wish I would have told you. All of this could have been avoided if I was honest with you from thestart.”
Cedric’s hand cupped Gabriel’s cheek, and he waited until Gabriel was focused on him before he spoke. “If you were listening that whole time, then you know it wasn’t you who was responsible for what happened tonight. You didn’t cause any of this, and you don’t have to blame yourself. Whether you were in the picture or not, that man would have comeforme.”
“But—”
“Shh.” Cedric whispered. He let his hand wander back to stroke the short hairs on Gabriel’s nape. “I won’t argue with you, Rabbit. I’m here for you,remember?”
Gabriel was quiet, his lips parted the slightest bit, like he was waiting for a kiss. What he wouldn’t give to make thathappen…
“Let go of your pain,” Cedric whispered. His fingers caressed, teasing Gabriel’s hair. “Let me take your pain and make it my own. Let me shoulder it for you. I don’t ever want you to feel like you belong to me, but I want you to know that I’m here to bear the weight of your world alongside you. When it feels like it’s too much and you’re afraid of falling apart, entrust your struggles to me, and let me chasethemaway.”
The Gabriel Cedric had thought he knew wasn’t the Gabriel who laid in bed beside him now. The meek, frightened creature he’d been told to dominate was gone, and in his place was a young man who’d started to find his footing in theworld.
Cedric wasn’t delusional—he knew that Gabriel wasn’t cured. The warped mindset Garrison had instilled in him couldn’t be undone so easily, and there was a chance he would never fully recover. But the initiative Gabriel had taken proved that all hope wasn’t lost. Consent wasn’t impossible. If Gabriel had the force of will to stand up for himself and subdue the alpha who’d done him wrong, and if he had the presence of mind to admit that he was broken, they had achance.
The young man Cedric had fallen for had grown bolder, and the more confident he grew, the more Cedricwantedhim.
“Adrian says we can’t be together anymore,” Gabriel whispered. He came a little closer, the tips of their noses so close, they brushed. “He says that after what happened, we have to live apart… and I think he’sright.”
Cedric’s heart skipped a beat. “Youdo?”
