Jude’s arm snaked out from under the duvet and rubbed Isaac’s back. “Why don’t you snuggle with Janet?” It was a reasonable question as nothing was more soothing than the scent of family in a time of crisis. The natural hierarchy went: Alpha scent, mate, family, and then pack. Without access to the first two, Janet should have been his first logical source of comfort.
Isaac snorted and raised an eyebrow. “She kicks in her sleep. I once woke with a black eye and three bruises on my ribs,” he grumbled, shaking his head. “Besides, she snores.”
It was impossible not to laugh. Janet was unique. Unpredictable didn’t begin to scratch the surface.
Gale didn’t have a problem with Isaac in his bed, snuggled in. It was so like Yosi he felt homesick.
The storm raged for hours, and midnight crept past. Gale decided it was time for an adjustment. “Why don’t you get changed, bud?” he suggested to Isaac. “Get sorted in the bathroom, and you can take my bed. Sleep comfortably knowing we’re in the room.”
Isaac was quick to agree, but Jude wasn’t easy to convince.
“What are you doing?” he asked, running a hand through his hair.
“I’d like to sleep tonight,” he argued without anger. “If he sleeps with us, one of us is falling off the bed, and I know who it’ll be. No point anyone being uncomfortable.” All Isaac needed was the safety of knowing they were close, and the comfort of their scent. He could get that across the room.
Gale sat up, pretending to read as Isaac emerged from the bathroom, said goodnight, and slipped into Gale’s bed across the room. Isaac snuggled under the covers and was asleep within ten minutes.
“Put the light out,” he whispered to Jude, who frowned but did as he was told.
In the dark, Gale tossed the book away and slipped down the bed to wrap an arm around Jude’s waist. The lean back and tight ass tucked nicely into his body, as Jude’s scent filled his nose. He could become addicted to that scent, but it wasn’t enough tonight.
This time, he’d come prepared. Removing the packet from the pocket of his shorts, he ripped it open and squirted the lubricant onto his fingers. With a kiss of Jude’s neck, he slipped his hand beneath the waistband of his joggers and nudged slick fingers between pert ass cheeks.
“Gale,” Jude whispered, grasping his arm and arching into the contact.
“Do you want this?” Gale asked quietly by his ear. He wouldn’t move unless he knew Jude wanted it, but he needed something to chase the demons away, to beat away the nightmares, to break through his thoughts from the past. He needed Jude to be his mate and offer the comfort that brought.
Taking a breath, Jude pulled Gale’s free arm around him to hold across his chest and wrapped fingers around his wrist. “Please.” He nudged his head into the crook of Gale’s neck, accepting, embracing everything he was offering.
Carefully, he rubbed the pad of his finger over Jude’s tight hole, teasing with a fingertip, getting him used to the contact, giving time to accept it. Before, they’d been worked up, and he hadn’t been thinking about Jude’s inexperience, and how a little self-exploration didn’t equal the real thing. This time, Jude was tense from the storm, needing slow and careful attention, rather than a rushed frenzy.
Jude pressed back for more, panting and biting his lip. As Gale pushed the tip of his finger inside, Jude hiccuped, and he reacted instinctively, putting a hand over Jude’s mouth.
The moan that followed was obscene. Two hands clamped over his and held it in place as Jude wriggled into his touch.
Gale nipped at his earlobe. “Like it, huh?” he teased, thrilled by the tentative nod. He teased with his finger, easing it in and out of Jude’s ass with care, as he nipped and licked at his neck, exploring. The hitched breaths behind his hand were so hot he was hard in his shorts.
Pressing closer, he repositioned Jude to rest his hip on Gale’s thigh, lifting him off the mattress to grant more access. Jude leaned forward to press his face into the pillow, never releasing Gale’s hand from his mouth, which let Gale focus on fingering those sounds from Jude’s throat, rubbing his hard cock against the curve of his ass.
Soon, he had Jude on his stomach, Gale grinding against one ass cheek and thrusting a single finger in and out of his ass, wringing sounds from Jude he’d never thought to hear. “More.” The word slipped between his fingers whenever Jude turned his head from the pillow to pull him closer.
Here, alone, he wasn’t afraid to ask for what he needed and to say what he wanted. Here, Jude was free, accepting their bond, accepting Gale. Here, he was vocal, sweet, and eager.
Gale needed…craved what he couldn’t have. He came with a muffled grunt, a special something settling deep in his mind when Jude followed.
As he fell from the high, Gale glanced across the room to see Isaac snuffling in his sleep. His scent was content and calm with no sign he’d heard them or been disturbed. He wasn’t sure he could say the same for Jude. Shaking in his arms, panting into the pillow, he’d released Gale’s hand the instant his orgasm hit. Instead of reaching for him, Jude gripped the pillow tight and shifted to lie on his side, facingawayfrom Gale.
Defeated by the clear physical rejection?though Jude’s scent said otherwise?he kissed the nape of Jude’s neck and slipped off the bed. He went into the bathroom, wet a cloth and wiped clean, changed his shorts into boxers, and returned to pull the duvet from Jude to clean him. He’d already discarded his joggers, so Gale bodily rolled Jude onto his back, grabbed the sheet and pulled it from under him to remove the wet spot.
“Go to sleep,” he whispered and returned to deposit the wet cloth and sheet into the laundry basket. He grabbed a jumper, ignoring Jude sitting up in bed, staring at Gale like he was a ghost. He had no right to look like that. He was the one who flipped a switch after getting what he wanted. Again.
Gale stole a pillow, walked to his bed and slipped in beside Isaac. The sweet kid cuddled against his back. At least someone wanted him.
As he closed his eyes and chased sleep, he cursed the ignorance of thinking what they did could solve anything. Jude had to accept or reject the bond soon to release him from this tailspin of relentless uncertainty. He was tired of the constant one step forward, ten steps back.
Chapter Eight
One Week Later
