“What about my apartment, my car and things like that?” Sebastian took several calming breaths and placed his palms down on his thighs. “My lease isn’t up for renewal for another six months.”
“Life Mate will handle breaking your lease,” Blackwell said, a rough edge to his voice the only evidence of his lingering arousal. “And if you want me to send some movers to pack up your stuff, I can do that.”
“Most of my clothes and my computer and things like that are at my mom’s. I was staying with her until school starts and subletting my apartment.”
“Smart.” Viggo sounded approving. “I can have someone swing by there as well.”
“I could go.” Sebastian tried to keep his voice casual, but he didn’t do a good job. He wanted to know how much freedom Viggo was going to give him, and this was the perfect question to find out. “If that’s allowed, I mean.”
There was a tense second of quiet, Viggo’s jaw clenching.
“You’re not a prisoner,” he finally said, his tone aggressively defensive. Sebastian just gave him a look, feeling that the question was fully justified. Viggo narrowed his eyes. “You signed up for this, Sebastian. I didn’t kidnap you off the street.”
That was true. Viggo hadn’t kidnapped him. He’d just benefited from Sebastian’s desperate attempt to save his mother’s life.
“I know. I’d still like to know what the rules are.”
Viggo looked at him, jaw still clenched, but then he sighed and turned his focus back on the road.
“The rules are that I’m your alpha, and that means that I’m in charge.” Viggo reached over and cupped the nape of Sebastian’s neck. “But I’m not a tyrant. I’d appreciate it if you spent the next few weeks staying close to me and Bjorn, getting settled, but if you want to head home and visit your mom every once in a while, I’m not going to order you not to. You can pick up your stuff the next time you see her, or I can have someone collect your things tomorrow. Whichever way you want to do it.”
That was a lot more than Sebastian had expected.
“My mom would feel better if I visited her pretty soon,” Sebastian said. The memory of how guilty she’d sounded when he’d told her Viggo had picked him put a lump in his throat. “I’d like to go see her this weekend.”
There was a pause, stretching further than Sebastian would have liked.
“That’s fine,” Viggo finally said. “You can take Bjorn’s Jeep. He’s certainly not using it.”
Sebastian breathed a sigh of relief, pulling his phone out of his pocket.
“What are you doing?” Viggo asked, curious.
“Texting my mom that I’ll drop by sometime this weekend.” He glanced at Viggo to see if he would object. When Viggo just nodded, he typed out the message and sent it off.
If Viggo was going to be reasonable about things, Sebastian thought to himself, then he could make this work.
He had to.
5
VIGGO
“Here we are,” Viggo said, turning off the engine and looking at Sebastian in the seat next to him. “Home sweet home.”
Sebastian glanced at him and then quickly looked away, taking a deep breath and looking about one wrong move away from a panic attack.
Viggo reached over and squeezed his shoulder, moving slowly so as not to spook him, and when the touch didn’t earn him a flinch, he moved his hand up and cupped the back of his neck. He could feel Sebastian’s pulse throb against the pad of his thumb, rabbit fast, evidence of just how scared he was.
“Are you okay?” he asked, trying to soften the rumble of his voice into something more gentle.
Sebastian nodded, taking a deep breath and swallowing.
“It’s just a lot.”
“Take your time,” Viggo said, enjoying the way Sebastian’s breath stuttered when he rubbed a little circle into the skin behind his ear with his index finger. “When you’re ready, I’ll take you inside and give you a tour of the house.”
Viggo didn’t mention the blowjob he’d promised to give him, or the one he’d been promised in return. He didn’t want Sebastian to feel pressured, but at the same time, he was barely holding himself back from reaching over the center console and dragging Sebastian into his lap and stuffing him full of cock right then and there.
